Evil lettuce....Blech! Blech!

Have you ever suffered from food poisoning? If you haven't, consider yourself VERY lucky.  But if you have, you know that you'll probably associate the last thing you ate with the gut wrenching (literally) illness, whether it was the real culprit or not.  I once ate an Arby's sandwich, then got deathly sick that night. I can't eat Arby's to this day.

A few years ago after a Christmas party K and I both got violently ill.  So did bro and my SIL and several other people from the same party.  SIL reported this to her doctor and he asked what was served.  She ran down the list, and when she said salad, he said "Whoa. That's it.  Lettuce is notorious for harboring all kinds of nasty 'wee beasties'" (my term).

I've always been extremely careful with lettuce ever since.  I usually buy fresh red or green leaf lettuce from Central Market, then wash it myself and use one of those spin dryer things before I put it away in Tupperware.  Until this week.  BIG MISTAKE!

Tuesday night for dinner we had some grilled home made hamburgers.  They were excellent as always, K and I both having the same thing except I put lettuce on mine.  Lettuce I bought in a hurry from evilWalmart.  (Yes, it's all one word:  evilWalmart.)  It was pre-packaged, sealed, and prominently labeled "Triple Washed". 

Triple washed my ass!

By midnight I had taken up residence in the bathroom.  I'll spare you the details.  It was one of those illnesses where you actually start to think about what kind of accommodations you'll have in your afterlife.

I'm hoping this episode doesn't develop into a personal life-long phobia against lettuce as I do like me a good salad bar now and then.  I am 0 for 2, after all.

You know how they say you should get right back on a horse if you ever fall off?  If that's really true, I'm thinking I'll need to go visit Jason's Deli salad bar soon.

Wish me luck.

S

Smooth jazz and Italian coffee

K is a recruiter for a major national company, and recently one of her district managers sent her a very nice Bose radio to say "thank you" for sending him good candidates for a very hard-to-staff area on the East coast.  Apparently they're working out just fine and his bonus was substantial.  (Anything Bose isn't cheap, you know.)

Very nice of him, to say the least.  :)

This week is "Italia Week" at Central Market.  This is a high-end grocery store that carries a variety of specialty produce and such....no paper towels or laundry detergent-type merchandise.

This is the type of theme stuff they do, in this case an Italian guy (?) walking around the store playing accordion music.  (Do Italians wear berets, too?  I thought that was just the French?)

Their bakery offered lots of specialty things to celebrate Italia Week, like this Chocolate Chocolate Biscotti.  (Are you paying attention Dana and Betina?)

K bought herself some Italian Coffee.  I wish she hadn't.

This stuff should come with a warning label:  CAUTION....DRINKING THIS ITALIAN COFFEE WILL MAKE YOUR MOUTH MOVE INCESSANTLY AND AT SUPERSONIC SPEED.

This morning we had the Bose thingy tuned to smooth jazz on Pandora.  It was a nice calming background to compliment my morning newspapers.  Then she came into the Great Room.

"I'm gonna call my mother now and tell her all about the new underwear I bought over the weekend.  Hey, since we're going over to see her next weekend for Mother's Day maybe I can take her to Macy's so she can get herself some new underwear, too.  I really like these....they're so cool, perfect for summer wear."

*the radio gets turned up*

"I'll be ready to go to work in just a minute.  I need to get me a new tube of Chap Stick.  You know I can't leave the house without my Chap Stick.  My lips dry out so quickly.  I'm thinking it's the low humidity in our office.  They keep that place so cold!  I'll be ready in just a minute....hold on."

*the radio gets turned up some more*

"Oh, and I need a little plate to take to work. I bought some of those Italian cookies, and I'm gonna put them on a plate.  Italian cookies need to be served on a plate.  I'm pretty sure that's how the Italians do it.  Not that I've ever been to Italy, but that just seems like that's something they would do, you know....being Italian and all."

*the radio is now maxed out*

"Tonight we're having sausage....you know....the kind we found at Central Market that's won awards in Houston?  And they apparently know their sausage in Houston, 'cause that is GOOD stuff.   Oh, and sweet potatoes.  Remember when you used to not eat sweet potatoes?  Boy have you come around!  They're SO good, huh?  It's that little bit of brown sugar on top that does it.  OK, I'm leaving now."

*Kiss-kiss. Love you, mean it*

Wonder how long-lasting Italian caffeine is?  Tell me again how laid back and slow moving the Italians are?  Don't they drink their own coffee?

Now where was I?  Yes, smooth jazz and the newspaper.

Have a good day everyone.  :)

S

Can you see me now? OK, how about now?

Very funny, Doc.  Veeeeeery funny.

I'll be on the phone first thing this morning trying to set up an appointment with an opthamologist.  My right peeper is acting up, and the pain in my ass is unbearable.  That would be due to K kicking me there, pestering me to go see an opthamolgist.  *ouch...yes dear...I prom...ouch...OK, I will...ouch*

A week ago my eye felt irritated, which I thought was just due to the cold and wind.  Some OTC drops didn't help at all.  Then I rubbed them (my bad) and that just compounded the problem.  *sigh*  I'm tired of this.  K's right, I need some doctoring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The running joke is I'm some sort of raging bacon-holic.  Truth is, yes, I do enjoy some crispy bacon now and then, but that's usually only on Sunday when I have my customary bacon and egg brunch, and occasionally on Saturday if we eat lunch at Central Market.  Then I'll have their BLTA.  That's it.

Turns out the real bacon heavyweights (pardon the pun) are assembling this week at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, NJ for their annual Bacon Week celebration.  Check this:

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Get ready for bacon like you've never eaten, drunk or worn it before.

Bacon milkshakes. Chocolate-covered bacon shaped like roses. Bacon-flavored toothpaste, dental floss and lip balm. Bacon bourbon, margaritas, beer and vodka.   Bacon ice cream sundaes. A BLT sandwich with a full pound of bacon.

"Hey baby, can I buy you a bacon margarita?"  I'm guessing the traditional "What's your sign?" would be a better ice breaker.  'Course, that never worked for me back in the day either, so....   :)

Check here for Tropicana Bacon Week news.  (I really couldn't make this up, folks.)

S

Beware of things labeled "old fashioned". They're NOT!

Big Day #1 has come and gone, and Big Day #2 (chronologically speaking) is still nearly a month away. I think by then I will have recovered from the trauma of eating "old fashioned cornbread dressing" from....well, in the spirit of the season I won't embarrass them by mentioning Central Market's name. 

Our Thanksgiving get-together was a very nice affair at the home of my in-laws.  For age and health reasons they don't travel well, so we all go to them and have our traditional meal there.  

I say "traditional", but honestly, over the years we've slowly integrated many store-bought food items into our feast.  First it was a pie or two, then a "dip sampler" tray, followed by (occasionally) a Honey Baked Ham.

I think 2013 was the year everyone just threw in the towel and said, "everything online, baby!"  Mr & Mrs M ordered a very good smoked turkey and a side dish, K's sis brought more side dishes and some sort of an apple bundt cake dessert, while we brought from Central Market one of their afore mentioned dip samplers, a sweet potato casserole, 2 varieties of dressing (what you people the other side of the Mason/Dixon line call "stuffing"), and a chess pie.

It was all very good, with one glaring exception:  the dish labeled "old fashioned cornbread dressing", traditionally my favorite side dish of them all.  For starters, there are no kernels corn in old fashioned cornbread dressing, or chunks of some unidentifiable red stuff.  Or croutons.  Or leaves.  Everyone tasted it, kind of gave up a sick smile, but did in the interest of politeness refrain from slipping it into their napkin.

I'm thinking, when the Central Market manager told their chef to make a big batch of "old fashioned cornbread dressing", he should have made sure the chef was from this side of one of those big ponds that separates us from those who eat....umm....THAT stuff.  Having a working knowledge of what cornbread consists of would be a definite plus, too.  

All things considered, it was a wonderful meal and a great time with her family, but next year, I'M in charge of acquiring the cornbread dressing.  :)

Lesson learned....when something is labeled "old fashioned", "home cooked", or "just like mom used to make"....RUN!  Run fast, run far.  Those seem to be the code words for "we don't have a clue."

S

The Bird In A Box

Here's a question for you....I should preface this by saying you Americans who observe Thanksgiving:  Do you cook your own big bird feast or do you buy it pre-cooked or dine out? 

Everyone seems to hold on to the nostalgic vision of the Thanksgiving meal as presented by Norman Rockwell.  Days and days of shopping, cooking, baking, etc, leading up to the presentation and ceremonial carving of the turkey before the assembled family.  But is that really accurate anymore?

I ask this because I'm wondering if we here in Dallas celebrate Thanksgiving the same as people everywhere else or are we an aberration?  It's well known that very few people in Dallas ever cook.  

Restaurateurs I know tell me it's true that Dallas has four-times as many restaurants per capita as New York City.  I don't know if we're too busy or too lazy, but we just seem to prefer to graze for food away from home.

Yesterday I received an urgent text from K asking me to call Central Market and place our Thanksgiving order.  It seems K and her sister threw in the towel and decided it would just be better for all (not to mention easier) if we got The Bird In A Box from CM, then took it to their parents house. 

This is all perfectly OK with me as I come from a long line of the cooking challenged, K excluded, of course.  Besides, I never could justify in my mind the days and days of planning and cooking when the meal itself is over with in 30 minutes.  And The Bird In A Box is really very good.  :)

So, do you cook, or do you import?

S

It was sheer pandolerium!

This was the scene yesterday at the new Trader Joe's that opened in Plano, just a couple of miles away from us.  We had dinner out last night, then thought we'd drive by TJ's and check it out.  It was crazy!  People began camping out the night before to be among the first ones inside on opening day.  We didn't dare buy anything because there were 20 people deep at every check out.  We just did a quick reconnoiter, found the snack aisle and the Three Buck Chuck (wine) display, then fought our way back outside.  Whew!  Maybe we'll try again in a couple o' weeks. 

One disappointment:  It's a tiny little store.  I thought it would be like a regular grocery store, but it's maybe 20% as large as Central Market or Whole Foods.  Maybe they're trading quantity for quality.  I'll let you know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I took Luke The Yorkshire Terrier out this morning as usual to find the weather had changed dramatically from yesterday's 104 degrees.  As forecast, the wind was howling at 20+ mph and the temp was in the mid-60's.  I was lovin' it, but the Lukester....not so much.  The poor little dude would find himself a nice tree and hoist his leg....and then he'd blow over.  Another tree, another try, same result.  (His "trees" were more like a big bushes, but when you're as small as he is, I guess even a bush looks like a tree.)  I finally took him over to the construction site a block away where he used one of their big orange "road closed" barrels as a wind break and completed his mission. I wish I'd had my camera....it was a hoot!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday they opened a 41-mile-long stretch of toll road between San Antonio and Austin, TX.  With a speed limit of 85 mph it's billed as "the fastest road in America".  I hate to be the one to break the bad news to the toll road authorities, but no one is going to pay money to slow down to 85 when they can drive 90 (illegally) for free everywhere else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Going back outside to get me some more cool.  :)  

Have a great Saturday, everyone.

S

Trader Joe's is coming!

I don't know why that title deserves an exclamation point, but according to everyone familiar with Trader Joe's it's at the very pinnacle of the grocery store pyramid, so I'll go along, too.  I know my friend Bruce is posting regular updates on the progress of the Trader Joe's being built in his hometown in AZ and is just giddy with anticipation.  K spent years in California when she was in the Navy saving the rest of us from the scourge of creeping communism and swears TJ's (as I'll hereafter refer to it) is indeed special.


We got the word yesterday that TJ's is opening 2 stores in the Dallas area, one being in Plano just 2 miles from where we live.  I hope they're not over-hyping it to the point it opens and people just yawn.  I think that's what happened when they opened In and Out Burgers in Dallas.  The lines were huge at first, but then people decided it was just another burger.  (Mooyah's has better ones.)  Right now Central Market and Market Street are our prefered specialty "foodie" grocers.  It's gonna be interesting when they all go head-to-head in a few months.


Today is the first of 4 holiday days off for K.  For me, considering how little I have to do at work right now, this will make it number 8 of 11 days off.  If I'd started learning a foreign language last Friday I could be fluent in it by the time I go back to work next Tuesday.  Another missed opportunity.  Darn!


Have a great weekend everyone.  :)


S