YEAH!!! Driving to Eugene, OR for a "family" party, leaving either tonight or very early in the morning. Can't wait. Four days off of work and a nice, long drive. Makes me happy just thinking about it.
For the last many years, my kids' Dad's step-daughter's husband, which means the kids' step-sister's husband (whew!) has thrown a summer party, the Sethapalooza. Gabe has gone several times, Jenn went last year and this will be my first time. Seth and Christina live on about 20 acres and the party will be there. There will be a whole roast pig (in the ground), many kegs of micro-brewery Oregon beer, wine, a band, tons of food and about 100 people. Some people will camp out, some others will sleep at John's house (my ex) and some of us will actually be sleeping outside, on his porch. Honestly, it sounds like a total blast. I am dragging my brother Steve with me (and little Cooper) because he needs to get out of town and this is the perfect opportunity. Big dinner Friday night at John's, party on Saturday, recoup on Sunday and drive home on Monday, back to work on Tuesday.
Report will follow........
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Thursday, August 22, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Zazu Restaurant vs Spinster Sisters
Right up front I must admit that I have eaten at Spinster Sisters about ten times in this past year, their first year in business. I have eaten at Zazu only once, last night. As much as I would like to be impartial, perhaps I do have a little loyalty to SS, although I was very excited to eat at Zazu, since the reviews have been consistently good.
Both restaurants have a similar concept: a few very small bites like olives and blistered peppers, an extensive list of small plates to share and a few (three or four) main courses. Both have good wine lists, both have good service. Both are in buildings that are simple, almost industrial and both can be very loud when full. Too many hard surfaces, nothing to cushion the noise.
I ate with three other people on Saturday at SS and last night with three other people at Zazu. At each dinner we had at least 8 of the small plates to share, two different wines and at SS we also had one main course. We shared two desserts at each place.
The clear winner was Spinster Sisters because of one factor: everything tasted really, really good. We had corn fritters, an outstanding wilted kale salad, sautéed calamari, caramelized pork belly, burrata cheese, tomatoes, pork shoulder, a couple of other things and dessert. We had two different wines in 500 ml beakers, both were very nice with the food. We left full and happy. Each dish was distinctive and each dish had most of us at the table saying "Oh, man, this is really good."
Only one of the plates at Zazu had us saying that. This is not to say that anything at Zazu was bad, there just wasn't enough taste there. Yes, a few things were very good: one plate, the "Pig-strami" slider was great: pork pastrami on a small bun, excellent bread-and-butter pickles on the side. The basil they used on the plate with the burrata and toasts was large-leafed and oh, so tasty. The peanut-butter cookies with the chocolate fondue (served over a tiny flame) were nice. But everything else was just.... meh. Portions were small, prices were not. We had the above mentioned burrata and pig-strami, a small pulled pork slider, a small Margherita pizza, a tiny mac and cheese, teeny buccatini with clams and pork belly, something else I forgot, two desserts. (The menu is heavy on carbs, obviously.) All sounded great but the food was simply much too bland. No one ever said "Oh, yum, this is great" which is surprising all on its own, knowing the four of us and how much we like food. Would I go back? Yes, I would like to give it one more try. I must say we had one of the best Rhone blend white wines I have ever had, I would go back and drink that again tomorrow.
That's my review. Go and try them yourselves. Zazu does have a full bar and their cocktail list looked interesting. But given that Spinster Sisters is less than 3 miles from my house and Zazu is in Sebastopol, at least a 15 minute drive away, SS will get my vote for dinner more often than not.
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Both restaurants have a similar concept: a few very small bites like olives and blistered peppers, an extensive list of small plates to share and a few (three or four) main courses. Both have good wine lists, both have good service. Both are in buildings that are simple, almost industrial and both can be very loud when full. Too many hard surfaces, nothing to cushion the noise.
I ate with three other people on Saturday at SS and last night with three other people at Zazu. At each dinner we had at least 8 of the small plates to share, two different wines and at SS we also had one main course. We shared two desserts at each place.
The clear winner was Spinster Sisters because of one factor: everything tasted really, really good. We had corn fritters, an outstanding wilted kale salad, sautéed calamari, caramelized pork belly, burrata cheese, tomatoes, pork shoulder, a couple of other things and dessert. We had two different wines in 500 ml beakers, both were very nice with the food. We left full and happy. Each dish was distinctive and each dish had most of us at the table saying "Oh, man, this is really good."
Only one of the plates at Zazu had us saying that. This is not to say that anything at Zazu was bad, there just wasn't enough taste there. Yes, a few things were very good: one plate, the "Pig-strami" slider was great: pork pastrami on a small bun, excellent bread-and-butter pickles on the side. The basil they used on the plate with the burrata and toasts was large-leafed and oh, so tasty. The peanut-butter cookies with the chocolate fondue (served over a tiny flame) were nice. But everything else was just.... meh. Portions were small, prices were not. We had the above mentioned burrata and pig-strami, a small pulled pork slider, a small Margherita pizza, a tiny mac and cheese, teeny buccatini with clams and pork belly, something else I forgot, two desserts. (The menu is heavy on carbs, obviously.) All sounded great but the food was simply much too bland. No one ever said "Oh, yum, this is great" which is surprising all on its own, knowing the four of us and how much we like food. Would I go back? Yes, I would like to give it one more try. I must say we had one of the best Rhone blend white wines I have ever had, I would go back and drink that again tomorrow.
That's my review. Go and try them yourselves. Zazu does have a full bar and their cocktail list looked interesting. But given that Spinster Sisters is less than 3 miles from my house and Zazu is in Sebastopol, at least a 15 minute drive away, SS will get my vote for dinner more often than not.
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Sunday, August 11, 2013
A different birth day
My lovely daughter had a birthday yesterday. She turned 40. It is almost unimaginable to me that I have a 40 year old grown up kid. Where did all those years go? I remember turning 40 myself, and 50 and 60 and more, and each year it astounds me that another decade has zipped by. But 40 years?
I won't bore you with memories of Jennifer when she was one year old or five or ten or 23. Those kinds of memories are best told at the dinner table with family gathered around, mainly to make the birthday person a tiny bit embarrassed or possibly proud. Memories can go either way. But while I remember a lot of those 40 years, there is so much that I have forgotten as well. Big blank spaces in her life that are so elusive to me now. Is it that way with everyone? We raise our kids while we are raising ourselves and so much goes on in our day-to-day lives that I guess it is no wonder that some of it fades away. But I wish it wasn't so.
I know Jenn doesn't read this blog very often but if she did, I would simply want to tell her how happy I am she is the daughter I have. Wherever her spirit came from, I am so glad it came to rest in her and that she came alive with us. Our life together for the past 40 years has been contentious at times, that's for sure! But it has been full of love, too, and no one can be anything but grateful for that.
Happy Birthday, my best girl!
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Dead Fruit Crumble
That has got to be the best post title ever.
Yes, it should be something like "Languishing Fruit Crumble" or "Bruised Fruit Crisp" or simply "Fruit Crumbles to Its Death" which I rather like. But no. "Dead Fruit Crumble" will stand, although adding an 's' to the end sort of changes the entire meaning, don't you think?
OK. The point is that when you have gathered too much fruit and it is starting (or already half on its way) to go bad and is bruised or almost too mushy, you hate to toss it. It's a waste, and we are all too pc to waste food, given all those starving Pagan Babies without pennies in those cans (see former posts on this) and so we need to find a way to make that food yummy enough to eat. So we make a fruit crumble.
Anything will go in a crumble. It is sort of like a crisp, and actually it is exactly like a crisp but the word "crumble" seems more summery than "crisp" which is more autumn-like. But I digress.
Cut up any fruit except citrus. I suppose even melon would work although I have never done melon in a crumble, but go ahead, do it! Peaches, plums, nectarines, all stone fruit, berries. apples, even hard asian pears.... they all will work. If the fruit is soft, cut them in sort of larger pieces. If they are crunchy, like those stubborn asian pears, cut them smaller. Toss them with a little sugar if you want, but it's usually not necessary. I grate a little fresh nutmeg on the fruit and add pinch of salt; mix up, put in a baking dish. Blend together some butter and brown sugar, maybe half cup butter, 3/4 cup sugar, then add some flour and oats, perhaps a generous total of a cup together, mix (do all the mixing with your fingers) and it should be sort of clumpy. Sprinkle the clumps on the fruit and bake for about 30-40 minutes til the clumps are golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. That's it. The exact measurements don't matter that much. Eat with plain yogurt, yogurt mixed with a little honey or vanilla ice cream.
There you have it, all that bruised fruit turned into something delicious. You don't need dinner, just eat the dessert.
Dead Fruit Dinner!
Yes, it should be something like "Languishing Fruit Crumble" or "Bruised Fruit Crisp" or simply "Fruit Crumbles to Its Death" which I rather like. But no. "Dead Fruit Crumble" will stand, although adding an 's' to the end sort of changes the entire meaning, don't you think?
OK. The point is that when you have gathered too much fruit and it is starting (or already half on its way) to go bad and is bruised or almost too mushy, you hate to toss it. It's a waste, and we are all too pc to waste food, given all those starving Pagan Babies without pennies in those cans (see former posts on this) and so we need to find a way to make that food yummy enough to eat. So we make a fruit crumble.
Anything will go in a crumble. It is sort of like a crisp, and actually it is exactly like a crisp but the word "crumble" seems more summery than "crisp" which is more autumn-like. But I digress.
Cut up any fruit except citrus. I suppose even melon would work although I have never done melon in a crumble, but go ahead, do it! Peaches, plums, nectarines, all stone fruit, berries. apples, even hard asian pears.... they all will work. If the fruit is soft, cut them in sort of larger pieces. If they are crunchy, like those stubborn asian pears, cut them smaller. Toss them with a little sugar if you want, but it's usually not necessary. I grate a little fresh nutmeg on the fruit and add pinch of salt; mix up, put in a baking dish. Blend together some butter and brown sugar, maybe half cup butter, 3/4 cup sugar, then add some flour and oats, perhaps a generous total of a cup together, mix (do all the mixing with your fingers) and it should be sort of clumpy. Sprinkle the clumps on the fruit and bake for about 30-40 minutes til the clumps are golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. That's it. The exact measurements don't matter that much. Eat with plain yogurt, yogurt mixed with a little honey or vanilla ice cream.
There you have it, all that bruised fruit turned into something delicious. You don't need dinner, just eat the dessert.
Dead Fruit Dinner!
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Book, movie, TV show and tomatoes
Something for everyone in this past-due posting! Tomatoes first: from my very tall, very skinny tomato plants I have picked three (!) home-grown tomatoes! One beefsteak and two Brandywines. They could have all benefited from another day or two or three on the vine but I couldn't wait and they were all delicious! So red inside, juicy, sweet, and for me, a genuine gardening triumph. There are many more still ripening and I could pick one a day for the next month and still have some left over.
Book: The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer is a very good read and a very strange tale. When I say it involves time travel, I know many people will roll their eyes but it's just a tool to give us Greer's take on actions and consequences and control. Greta gets to zip back and forth between 1985, 1918 and 1941. She encounters the same people in each era but because of how the world is (or isn't) she must deal with them in different ways, given the constraints of the time. What results from a particular action in 1918 is totally different from the result of that same action in 1985. The world in 1918, just as World War I ends, is not like the world in 1941, just as the US is joining WWII, and nothing in the past is like 1985. Greta sees what the past, the present and the future can hold and yet cannot change what happens in any way, no matter what decisions she makes.
Can we change the past? Can the past change the present? Greer points out that we change the past all the time: we have memories that we can tweak so that the past is better than it actually was, or less painful, or more colorful. So, yes, we change the past in our minds more often than we realize and that becomes the reality. And we, as flawed beings, ask ourselves the "what if" questions: what if we had taken the later train or what if we had stopped for five minutes to finish that cup of coffee? How would our life be changed if we had simply made a different decision that at the moment seemed so insignificant? Would arriving ten minutes later have made any difference? Or are our lives already mapped out in the larger time-space continuum?
Movie: "Robot and Frank" sounds too silly to be good. An aging man is given a robot that should help him with daily tasks and offset his encroaching battle with memory loss. It's funny, poignant, serious and totally enjoyable. Frank Langella is great as the crotchety old guy, teaching the robot how to pick locks and break into houses in exchange for the robot making him more nutritious meals. The lovely Susan Sarandon is whimsically charming as the local librarian. I can't say too much about it without giving it away, but rent it from Netflix or from the library and watch it. It's a fine film.
TV show: "Orange is the New Black" is another Netflix series that you can instantly download and watch. Following their earlier series "House of Cards" (which was excellent), Netflix is getting into producing their own shows. "Orange" is crazier than "House of Cards" and rather far-fetched in the depiction of prison, but it's like eating popcorn, you just keep reaching for a little more. Women in prison, cut-throat deals, sex, drugs, despair, intrigue, laugh-out-loud scenarios, it's all here. I hope Netflix keeps making series like these, they are smart, quick and addictive.
OK, that's the report for today. I have the morning off from work, going in for the afternoon shift for the next few days. As much as I dislike working the late shift, I do like having a morning at home. Good coffee, a book, dogs curled up on the bed, it's all good.
.
Book: The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer is a very good read and a very strange tale. When I say it involves time travel, I know many people will roll their eyes but it's just a tool to give us Greer's take on actions and consequences and control. Greta gets to zip back and forth between 1985, 1918 and 1941. She encounters the same people in each era but because of how the world is (or isn't) she must deal with them in different ways, given the constraints of the time. What results from a particular action in 1918 is totally different from the result of that same action in 1985. The world in 1918, just as World War I ends, is not like the world in 1941, just as the US is joining WWII, and nothing in the past is like 1985. Greta sees what the past, the present and the future can hold and yet cannot change what happens in any way, no matter what decisions she makes.
Can we change the past? Can the past change the present? Greer points out that we change the past all the time: we have memories that we can tweak so that the past is better than it actually was, or less painful, or more colorful. So, yes, we change the past in our minds more often than we realize and that becomes the reality. And we, as flawed beings, ask ourselves the "what if" questions: what if we had taken the later train or what if we had stopped for five minutes to finish that cup of coffee? How would our life be changed if we had simply made a different decision that at the moment seemed so insignificant? Would arriving ten minutes later have made any difference? Or are our lives already mapped out in the larger time-space continuum?
Movie: "Robot and Frank" sounds too silly to be good. An aging man is given a robot that should help him with daily tasks and offset his encroaching battle with memory loss. It's funny, poignant, serious and totally enjoyable. Frank Langella is great as the crotchety old guy, teaching the robot how to pick locks and break into houses in exchange for the robot making him more nutritious meals. The lovely Susan Sarandon is whimsically charming as the local librarian. I can't say too much about it without giving it away, but rent it from Netflix or from the library and watch it. It's a fine film.
TV show: "Orange is the New Black" is another Netflix series that you can instantly download and watch. Following their earlier series "House of Cards" (which was excellent), Netflix is getting into producing their own shows. "Orange" is crazier than "House of Cards" and rather far-fetched in the depiction of prison, but it's like eating popcorn, you just keep reaching for a little more. Women in prison, cut-throat deals, sex, drugs, despair, intrigue, laugh-out-loud scenarios, it's all here. I hope Netflix keeps making series like these, they are smart, quick and addictive.
OK, that's the report for today. I have the morning off from work, going in for the afternoon shift for the next few days. As much as I dislike working the late shift, I do like having a morning at home. Good coffee, a book, dogs curled up on the bed, it's all good.
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