Ugh... darn you, Applebee's

I went to visit my parents this weekend. My parents are in love with Applebee's, and go about twice a week (ALWAYS for dinner on Friday). I don't understand their Applebee's obsession, but since they like it, I don't kick up a fuss or get snotty about it if that's where they decide to go. The food isn't terrible, there's Yuengling on tap... I can deal with Applebee's. For what it is, it's not bad.

So, I got home on Friday, and off to glorious Applebee's we went. I got myself a large Yuengling and a grilled chicken cordon bleu concoction. It wasn't bad actually... until a couple of hours later, by which point, I was in the bathroom praying for sweet death. Holy hell, I have never felt so awful in my life. I won't get into the grosser details, but I remember burning up so much that I pushed the bathmat out of the way and was lying on the tile floor with no shirt on, just to try to cool down.

By yesterday morning, I was about 75% back to normal, and I was fine by last night. All things considered, this was a pretty minor case of food poisoning... I feel so terrible for anyone who's gone through multiple DAYS like that.

However, this makes two times now that Applebee's has made me ill (the first time was nowhere near this bad, but was still fairly icky). Is this justifiable cause for me to suggest that we please, for the love of God, go somewhere other than Applebee's next time?

Other than that, it was a really nice weekend. No, that's not sarcasm. We had a good time AT Applebee's, and I was feeling decent enough by yesterday afternoon to go for a walk with my parents. Thankfully, my appetite was back in time for dinner last night (London broil and scalloped potatoes, which is one of my favorite meals ever). I even got in my mandatory scrapple* breakfast this morning (there was no way I was springing scrapple on my system yesterday morning).


* If you're not familiar with scrapple... you may be better off not knowing. From a New York Times article about Philly cuisine:

"As the name implies, it is made from the scraps of pork left over after most of the pig has been turned into ham, bacon, pork roasts and pork chops. These scraps are cooked with spices (usually sage and pepper), cornmeal and sometimes buckwheat or whole wheat flour. The resulting loaf is cooled and cut into half-inch slices, which are fried in butter or shortening until they turn a crisp, ruddy brown on the outside."

This is actually the least disgusting scrapple description I've ever read, which is why I had to share it. Personally, I like mine sliced closer to quarter-inch slices than half-inch, with a healthy dose of ketchup. I'll have to try it with maple syrup eventually, since that's apparently also popular.