Look closely
Monday, 13 July 2009
They call him “Big Boy;” I call him “Bun Boy.”
How had I missed until now that the Big Boy statues have a slingshot in the back pocket?
Note: for those into details, this is really a Frisch’s Big Boy….
Musings
Excess in food artistry
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Okay, I admit that this picture was from last night’s near-excess, in downtown EL. Actually, we were fairly sedate, although this shot may suggest otherwise.
I thought I was ordering a simple salad, but when it arrived it was perhaps the tallest Tall Food I’ve ever seen, or at least had placed before me. BTW, that’s salmon crusted with panko and almond slivers on the skewers, tripoded atop a mixed green salad with goat cheese bits and other goodies. And, I can’t forget the lemon slice tying the architecture together….
Otherwise, we mostly sipped Guinness, easing our way through the evening, and there was a luxurious spinach–artichoke appetizer, too—how could I forget that!
The wrapping for all this dietary fun, of course, were lots of laughs and some speculation about the current economics of Michigan’s automotive industry….
Happy Jack’s
Friday, 3 July 2009
I get a happy feeling when I see the sign for Jack’s in Rapid River. I haven’t stopped since I can’t remember when, but we used to try to drop in about 10 am, when the pies were fresh out of the oven. Yum!
Blushing fruit
Monday, 15 June 2009
Contrast this pair with their May 9th scale.
Also, none of the other tomato plants I put in have any fruit this large. And none are blushing, either.
The cherry tomato has nice modest marble-sized-and-a-bit-more tomatoes, but the six Rutgers at this stage are all floppy plant with a few blossoms.
But first, I need to pick some herbs (sage, thyme, etc.) to go in the split pea soup I made over the weekend, and transform it into a fresh, summer version of what most people consider a winter dish….
99¢ at dim sum
Sunday, 14 June 2009
At dim sum today, which we decided is something like tapas in Chinese cuisine, we bought a new favorite iPhone app, the Ocarina (99¢). Somehow all the excitement of dining (thanks, J&R) and new-app buying did not distract me from the magic golden—and I’m sure lucky—pig in the display by the cash register.
Life in the deluxe lane
Monday, 8 June 2009
Yup, when there’s a basket of these fresh-picked from the garden on the kitchen table, and it’s starting to sprinkle after a dry spell, life is pretty darned good.
Locally, anyway.
Rhubarbing days
Thursday, 4 June 2009
The Botanist found this exceptional rhubarb somewhere and planted it here in the Northland, and it is as tasty as it looks. I promise, there’s no food coloring in this sauce—just rhubarb, sugar, and a little water. The red continues through the heart of the stalk most of the way up to the leaf, instead of just at the base, as with other rhubarbs I’ve examined.
Look, potential produce!
Saturday, 9 May 2009
As the wheel of the seasons turns, lemme note that there are wee ’maters on the “patio tomato” plant. The Botanist mentioned in passing that some tomatoes like to have the blooms tapped a bit to be, I guess, pollenated. I’ve been tapping gently. I guess it works. (I can say that in the absence of a control sample. harhar)
Of mysteries and rhubarb
Thursday, 7 May 2009
The mystery plant is back. Is it a jack-in-the-pulpit (briefly: JITP) or not? That’s the way I was leaning last year, but I’m not The Botanist. Note that last year it was at this stage almost a week later than this year. I perceive this as a slightly cooler, much wetter year than last year. Perhaps the more important variable is that the plant is returning this year, and so, as an established plant, is “ahead” of where it was on its first year.
Or not.
I’ve another mystery to comment on. In March, an SGA member asked: who made this brick? I did a simple Internet search and got some idea, but nothing like the whole story. The complex interwoven story is worth a read.
Okay. Now the rhubarb part. I love rhubarb sauce. I don’t think people grow rhubarb around here—possibly it’s too hot—so it’s a bit of a mystery to many Southerners, like my neighbor, an Alabama native. We went on a mission a while back to the State Farmers’ Market and didn’t even find a vendor who knew what it was (not a comprehensive search, however).
However, I recently did find a few stalks in another market, and picked the best specimens to make a rhubarb sauce. To be shared with my neighbor when she gets back from the coast…. Recipe here. It’s quite easy; no muss, no fuss. And yummy!
…and “my” horse lost
Sunday, 3 May 2009
(Yes, I know this is yesterday’s news. Tough.)
I won a Kentucky Derby hat contest! Well, many hats won; mine was a lesser prize. Still, I’ve never eaten a chocolate horse sculpture before!