Hummus Say What?

After the BBQ experience on our last camping trip of the season left us less than impressed, we were looking for some redemption on Friday as we headed into the town of Gaylord, MI. I had to get gas in the truck, @mrsbozz needed a few things at Walmart, and we needed to find some firewood to get us through the rest of the weekend. We made the quick drive into town from Otsego Lake State Park and got the first few things on our list done.

Then we decided to drive through the downtown part of Gaylord which has a distinct "Bavarian" feel to it. We didn't bother going to any stores, but I had never really been to that part of town before, so it was nice to see what it looks like. By the time we finished up with all of that, it was getting close to lunch.

As I said, we didn't want to repeat the mistakes of the previous night, so my wife reached out to one of her friends who spends a bit of time in the Gaylord area. She gave us a few options of places to check out, and that's what led us to the The Pine Squirrel Bar and Grill just outside of the downtown area in Gaylord.

I've been to bars with volleyball courts outside of them, but I have never been to one that has their own softball/baseball field. However, that seemed to be the case with the Pine Squirrel and I guess now I can no longer say that. I thought maybe this field belonged to a park that was adjacent to the business, but when you look at the satellite view on Google Maps, it is pretty clear that this field belongs to the bar.

The also have their own "buck pole" outside along the parking lot. In just a few months hunters from all over will visit the Pine Squirrel and show off their most recent kill. The buck pole is a longstanding tradition and according to the Internet, it serves a couple of purposes. Most importantly, it allows the carcass to cool and keeps it off the ground. Second, it gives people a way to socialize and brag about their recent kill. I'm more of a fisherman than a hunger, so I've never really experienced this phenomenon.

Although the exterior makes it look like a more modern building, the interior of the Pine Squirrel is the type of decor you would expect for a town that brands themselves as the "gateway to the north". The beams and exposed wood is pretty impressive and it gave a nice comfy feel as we sat down to enjoy our lunch.

As soon as she saw they had Blood Orange Honey from Cheboygan Brewing Company, @mrsbozz knew that is what she wanted to order. She said it was delicious. I decided to stick with tradition and I got the Yuengling Lager which is the oldest brewery in America. We just recently started being able to get Yuengling in Michigan, but I have been bootlegging it across the border from Ohio for close to a decade now.

As has become our tradition, @mrsbozz and I decided to share a couple appetizers along with our beer instead of us both getting a full meal as well as a starter. On this occasion, we decided to go with a half order of the chicken nachos. We were also looking for something else to get and that's when my wife noticed the hummus flatbread on the menu.

I was a bit skeptical, but since I was already getting nachos, I couldn't really complain, so I agreed to the hummus flatbread as well.

First off, let me just say, getting a half order of nachos was a good call. Even the half order was huge and I don't think we would have had room for anything else if we had gotten a full order. They were delicious with a good mix of flavors, but as amazing as they tasted, they ended up coming in a distant second as soon as I tasted the hummus flatbread.

We were talking to the waitress about the hummus flatbread and she confided in us that it was actually her idea to put it on the menu. She said travelers kept coming in and being disappointed that they didn't have hummus on their appetizer menu, so she told the cooks they needed to add something with hummus. The flatbread became that item and it was freaking amazing. The flavors were so bright and worked together in a magical dance that still has me reeling a bit.

You might be surprised to find out that hummus is one of the most popular dishes in the US. In fact, North America drives nearly half the global hummus market share buying a million pounds of hummus a year. The global hummus market is worth about 3.3 billion US dollars and is expected to eventually climb over 8 billion dollars.

Which isn't really surprising given how people are looking for more healthy alternatives these days and hummus fits that bill perfectly. Aside from the flatbread, this was actually a pretty healthy dish. I'm becoming more and more impressed by Mediterranean flavors the older I get. @mrsbozz was pretty confident we could easily make something like this at home, but I don't know what the specific root vegetables were that they used on the dish. I guess you could use some trial and error to get it right.

Obviously, if you are ever in the Gaylord, MI area, The Pine Squirrel is a place you definitely have to check out!

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