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Well, being as how I am "trying" to lose weight...cough cough...those days of Old Country Buffet are behind me...with occasional lapses like last week when I took BEAST to lunch after shopping. So yesterday when she suggested lunch, I was relieved when she wanted to go to the Olive Garden for the endless soup and and salad (doesn't "endless" sound less Homerish than "all you can eat?"). Actually, since I have placed this concept into the Simpson's world, I would imagine that "All you can eat" came from Homer, "All you CARE to eat" would have been Marge's, "Endless" would be Lisa's and something rude like "Chow like a cow" would have been Bart's. I have yet to see that one, although the concept is obviously there in all such establishments.

I digress.

On our way, we changed our minds for a healthier alternative. "Sweet Tomatoes" is a Salad-bar Buffet. Doesn't that sound like a smarter choice? SURE it is!

You start out by going through a massive salad array. They'll make you a fresh Caesar salad if you like, or you can just go down the line and pile on every conceivable salad type item. Oh sure, you got you regular garden fixings like crisp lettuce, endive, shredded carrots, cucumber, assorted squashes, tomatoes, peppers. There are chopped boiled eggs, FOUR types of cheeses, THREE kinds of olives, TWO kinds of croutons, and a partridge in a pear tree. Oh. And 12 salad dressings from which to choose. Yummy? I guess.

But you see, that's the front of the place. You make you giant salad, and then you pay your fee, pick up your beverage glass, and find a place to sit. THEN. You go to fill your glass with the liquid of your choice and LOW AND BEHOLD! You got your freshly baked breads with your choice cups of whipped butter or honey butter. Vats of home made chili, chicken noodle soup and garden vegetable barley soup. Foccacia bread topped with garlic and parmesan. Foccacia bread pizzas (pepperoni and three cheese). A fresh pasta bar, freshly baked muffins, and ice cream bar top off the "Back" room.

So I ate my healthy salad. I inhaled several squares of foccacias, and enjoyed 2 teeny weenie trays of freshly prepared-before-my-eyes beef stroganoff. A slice of yummy warm sour dough bread with honey butter. Not quite full, and feeling like I should have a vegetable in such an establishment, I finished off my main meal with a baked potato...with 3 little cups of shipped butter. Oooh yeah, health! Let's see...I sampled the chocolate chip muffin, the chocolate brownie and a small dish of vanilla soft serve ice cream covered with crushed peppermint candy. Of course it was all washed down with a diet coke. Of course.

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