Temptation? What Temptation?

Last night, I looked temptation square in its beady little eyes. I mean a nose to nose, smelling its hot stinky breath, an actual face off. And I laughed; laughed in the face of temptation.
Let me start from the beginning. When I set my whole week-day vegetarian goal this week I promised that if Wednesday rolled around and I was dying for meat I would cheat a bit at dinner. Just so I didn't back myself into a corner that I couldn't get out of. So naturally when Monday morning rolled around and my Mother called I knew exactly which night would be best to schedule a trip home to visit. WEDNESDAY!

I'm from a small, small town on the Tennessee/Kentucky border called Elkton, with a population under 2000 on our best day. Our of college I married and moved about 30 minutes South to Clarksville, Tennessee. The one thing I miss from my home town nearly as much as my family is the DAIRY MART!

The Dairy Mart is exactly what you just pictured in your mind without even realizing it. A drive-up restaurant that hasn't changed their menu much (or painted or remodeled) from the day it opened. But why would you with such a winning combo of burgers, fries and shakes? Hamptons Dairy Mart is the biggest small town monopoly, and it’s got the market cornered on good food. It's a cult classic that I never fully appreciated until I left home.

I've introduced my husband to the Dairy Mary. We have been known to drive all the way to Elkton on a Sunday afternoon just for a burger and shake and drive straight back. The shakes are made the old fashioned way and are so thick you have trouble getting the first icy sip to creep up the straw. Burgers are cooked on a flat top and pressed thin so they have just the right about of crisp on the outside and grease on the inside. Yes, it’s the kind of meal where the grease shows through the crisp white bag when the hand it out the window.

Whoever says you can’t go home again has never been handed a bag out of the Dairy Mart window.

Now that you know the ledged behind the Dairy Mart, I can proceed. After my husband got off work yesterday we both had the best intentions of heading straight to the gym. But neither one were too amped about it. After 30 minutes of back and forth banter we found our truck heading for the Kentucky line a day early to visit my family.

GASP, on Vegetarian Tuesday, not Meaty-Cheaty Wednesday?

I was plotting my own excuses in my head as we got closer to the Elkton city limit. Berating myself with the normal questions: “What was I going to eat? I can cheat today; just have to do no meat again tomorrow. But that's not the deal you made with yourself Amanda. Can you not see this one thing through?”

Fear not my friends, I did not buckle under pressure.  By the time we were ready to call in or order for pick up I had my vegetarian delight picked out pineapple and cheese pizza!
My Mother made fun of me; my husband verbally accosted me for not getting "the burger". But I stood my ground. I enjoyed every minute of my two and a half slices of pineapple pizza, and I laughed at the devil that sat on my left shoulder sulking in defeat.

But I have to say, should you ever find yourself in Elkton on any given day and you’re trying to Dairy Mart for the first time you must throw all you deals with yourself out and go for it.
My expert recommendation: 1 cheeseburger, 1 order of fries, extra crispy (say that when you order or they are wimpy cafeteria style fries), 1 small sweet tea, and 1 chocolate shake for after. You won’t regret one calorie!