tradition accomplished, 2007
12/30 November 12, 2007
After a quick library stop, to pay my fine and score something new to read, we got our shelter shopping done on Saturday morning, and dropped it off at the center. It wasn�t the best we�ve ever done, but with the prices shooting up right now, I was pretty proud of what we were able to do on the $100 budget. We figured out that it�s about 24 people�s worth of Thanksgiving this year.
Once we finished that, we stopped at Red Robin for lunch. Now I�m not crazy about that place, and I think any place that is supposedly famous for their burgers, but doesn�t dare to offer a simple one that you can actually taste the meat on, is suspect. I find their burgers to be overpriced for the quality, and as I�ve mentioned before, the food is salt-and-grease to the max.
But. Spouse loves it, and I was too hungry to argue.
So I�m perusing the menu, looking for a non-burger alternative, and I tell Spouse I think I�ll have the fish and chips. He laughed and said he was surprised I wasn�t ordering the fried clams.
Which I�d overlooked, and as soon as he said that I was dying for fried clams. I love �em. Since I got double-dared by my cousin when I was 14, and tried them for the first time, I�ve loved �em. Of course, I tried them for the first time at the old restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier, and that can spoil you a bit when it comes to quality.
I briefly debated the wisdom of ordering clams in Wisconsin, at a burger joint, but I threw caution to the winds and ordered up. Glad I did, because they were fairly awesome. And the tartar sauce and fresh lemon (vital components in a good fried clam basket) were entirely up to the mark as well. Served with big old steak fries, I got my salt and grease MY way.
The only quibble I had was the portion size. I ended up leaving almost as many clams as I left, and let me tell you, I wasn�t exactly holding back. The portions are typically American, oversized to the point of the absurd. And that place even offers all you can eat on the fries! Nuts. It�s just insane.
But damn. I really enjoyed that lunch. Spouse had some kind of a pseudo-Fatburger thing that had bacon, egg, cheese, and a ton of other stuff on it. He liked it, but he said it tasted more like breakfast than lunch.
After we finished, we had planned to get some other stuff done, errands and some stuff around the house. But I think we were both too stuffed to do anything but lounge around. So that meant I was busy as hell on Sunday, trying to catch up.
Yesterday�s accomplishments included:
- Getting my oil changed.
- Getting MY grocery shopping done.
- Seven--seven--loads of laundry!
- Giving my refrigerator a vigorous cleaning
- Hauling out the trash, the garbage, and the recycling
- Making a pan of scalloped corn
- Baking a devil�s food cake
Spouse did most of the dinner work, as we had a turkey breast and stuffing, along with the scalloped corn, for dinner. Not really a lot of work�stick the turkey, the extra pan of stuffing he�d frozen the last time he made turkey for dinner, and the corn in the oven and bake. And all the pans were foil, so even the cleanup went fast. Yeah, I know it isn�t the greenest way of doing it, but I�m open to anyone who want to come over and scrub my dirty pans for me.
I had a baking itch on Friday night, and it wouldn�t go away. I rifled through some apple recipes, but couldn�t find one that both challenged me and appealed to my taste. But as I read the cookbook, I realized I had all the ingredients on hand to make a pineapple upside-down cake. I love pineapple upside-down cake, and interestingly enough, I don�t think I�ve ever made it. Not by myself, anyway. I have a dim memory of making it once a long time ago, but in a group. It was either Home Ec class or Girl Scouts, and I think it was probably the latter. We made it in an iron skillet, so Scouts seems likely.Anyway�Yes! Baking Adventure! I got busy and melted the butter and mixed up the scratch batter and got it all arranged and into the oven.
Where it ran over just a little and caused a stink that still isn�t completely gone.
But smoky oozing aside, it smelled great, and turned out of the pan looking fantastic. I set it on the cooktop to cool for awhile and went in to putter on the computer till it was ready to eat.
When I came out of the bedroom to slice myself a piece off the great experiment, I found that I�d been beaten to the punch.
The pineapple slices, all of the glaze, and approximately half the cake were gone.
And Mr. B was cowering in a corner of the dining room, peering fearfully at mommy.
I know for sure now that I�m not a person who beats her dog. Because if I didn�t beat him Friday night, I�m never gonna.
Reading: �The Rottweiler�, by Ruth Rendell. The library didn�t have "The Water�s Lovely", but I found this one I haven�t read.
Beading: Black and silver beaded dangle earrings.
Listening: Nancy Pearl on NPR. Now I really want to read Cryptonomicon!
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