Coffee, not mine Mar 11
Breakfast: leftover spinach, followed by vanilla ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce and a slice of nut-and-seed tart.
Went to Silver Spring in the morning to hang about and write, then go to a noontime showing of Destry Rides Again at my favorite movie theater. While hanging about and writing, I had a double americano at the Fenton Cafe, a little Ethiopian-owned restaurant and coffee shop that specializes in crepes. I had never been in there before, although my husband and I had always thought it looked interesting. The place was close to empty and both employees (or owners?) were talking on headset phones while they worked, briefly interrupting their calls to respond to customers. One woman was making a takeout order, spreading crepes over a neat circular grill, waiting a few seconds for them to cook, flipping them, setting them aside, and then using the same circular grill to cook the fillings (in this case, fried eggs). It was fun to watch and looked as though it would be fun to do: compact, efficient, with delicious results. I wasn't hungry, however, and just sat in the near-empty cafe with my coffee and computer. They had wifi. I will come back and have a crepe sometime.
After a stint in the public library, I proceeded over to my movie, during which I ate a small bag of sweet potato chips and drank coffee from the concession. I enjoyed the movie but thematically it was a mess: comedy or tragedy? Villain or heroine? Which won out, violence or the rule of law? Everybody-dies followed by a bizarre happy ending.
Then a quick lunch at the Panera next to the theater: a steak-and-white-cheddar panini and an apple. This sandwich, which I like a lot, has, according to their menu, over 1000 calories. I would never have guessed it, which is why required calorie counts on chain restaurant menus are a wonderful thing. Even if it does make a visit to the IHOP (more) depressing.
Dinner: I was so not hungry when it came time for dinner. Nevertheless, it is my role in the household to make sure there are regular meals. I made what was essentially a seat-of-the-pants pasta primavera, with spaghetti noodles, onion, garlic, baby bok choy, red bell pepper, and spinach in a parmesan-cream sauce. We had modestly-sized bowls and no side dishes.
Snacks: Besides what was described above, an additional 2 cups of coffee, 1 regular, 1 decaf, with half and half.
Breakfast: leftover spinach, followed by vanilla ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce and a slice of nut-and-seed tart.
Went to Silver Spring in the morning to hang about and write, then go to a noontime showing of Destry Rides Again at my favorite movie theater. While hanging about and writing, I had a double americano at the Fenton Cafe, a little Ethiopian-owned restaurant and coffee shop that specializes in crepes. I had never been in there before, although my husband and I had always thought it looked interesting. The place was close to empty and both employees (or owners?) were talking on headset phones while they worked, briefly interrupting their calls to respond to customers. One woman was making a takeout order, spreading crepes over a neat circular grill, waiting a few seconds for them to cook, flipping them, setting them aside, and then using the same circular grill to cook the fillings (in this case, fried eggs). It was fun to watch and looked as though it would be fun to do: compact, efficient, with delicious results. I wasn't hungry, however, and just sat in the near-empty cafe with my coffee and computer. They had wifi. I will come back and have a crepe sometime.
After a stint in the public library, I proceeded over to my movie, during which I ate a small bag of sweet potato chips and drank coffee from the concession. I enjoyed the movie but thematically it was a mess: comedy or tragedy? Villain or heroine? Which won out, violence or the rule of law? Everybody-dies followed by a bizarre happy ending.
Then a quick lunch at the Panera next to the theater: a steak-and-white-cheddar panini and an apple. This sandwich, which I like a lot, has, according to their menu, over 1000 calories. I would never have guessed it, which is why required calorie counts on chain restaurant menus are a wonderful thing. Even if it does make a visit to the IHOP (more) depressing.
Dinner: I was so not hungry when it came time for dinner. Nevertheless, it is my role in the household to make sure there are regular meals. I made what was essentially a seat-of-the-pants pasta primavera, with spaghetti noodles, onion, garlic, baby bok choy, red bell pepper, and spinach in a parmesan-cream sauce. We had modestly-sized bowls and no side dishes.
Snacks: Besides what was described above, an additional 2 cups of coffee, 1 regular, 1 decaf, with half and half.
Aaaarrrrrggh. Mar 12
My husband and I are going on an overnight trip to Rehoboth Beach, DE, about 3 hours' drive away. I have never been there; he used to go there as a boy, but that was long ago and the beach towns have changed immensely. If only I had watched this 30-second video ahead of time, I would have known it was not really my kind of town.
Breakfast (before leaving): leftover spinach with sorrel, leftover pasta primavera, leftover nut-and-seed tart (just a little of each).
Lunch (in Rehoboth Beach, slightly stunned and overwhelmed by the sheer number of restaurants and storefronts and gangs of tourists strolling about): I am seduced by a sign outside Zogg's Raw Bar and Grill advertising the best fish tacos in town. I love fish tacos. I convince my husband that we can go in and he can get a burger. His burger is good, but the fried grouper "tacos" I order are barely adequate. And also not plural: there is a single soft tortilla with a bunch of stuff piled on top of it, much of it cabbage that is shredded so coarsely you have to cut it with a knife and fork in order to eat it. So there is no picking up this taco, alas. The fish is kinda mushy too. I got seasoned waffle fries on the side, which were fine. Not sure why they advertise the fish tacos especially. One thing that was cool-- but which I didn't explore because it was only lunchtime-- was that they carried probably over 100 different kinds of rum from all over the world. I would be curious about this, but not curious enough to go back and eat there a second time.
Dinner: at Confucius, an upscale Chinese restaurant recommended to me by a customer at my own restaurant (thanks, Steve!). Confucius was a lovely place aesthetically: not large, but a beautiful use of color and space, and actually quite nice art on the walls. I would have enjoyed it for that reason alone. My husband and I ordered a pot of green tea, which was also excellent, and the pork & cilantro "thin-skinned dumplings," which we both agreed were some of the best dumplings we had ever had in our lives. They were stuffed full of cilantro, but the cilantro was cooked, which mellowed its flavor to the point that even my husband could handle a large mouthful. Delicious and novel.
Unfortunately, my luck ran out when it came to the main dish; I think I simply ordered the wrong thing. The problem was, I was eating meals because I was on vacation and it was mealtime, but I was not really hungry. My recent state of being chronically overfed was catching up to me, I expect. So, when it came time to choose an entree, I chose-- uncharacteristically-- Buddhist Delight, a tofu-and-vegetable stirfry. And I knew it was a mistake when I asked the server what kind of sauce it came with, and she said "a brown sauce," and I asked for some added spice and ordered the dish anyway. It was bland, and in particular the tofu (deep-fried) was actively unpleasant: bitter and oily. I ate the vegetables and brown rice (the brown rice was really nice) and left almost all the tofu on my plate: another uncharacteristic move. I also ate a bit of my husband's Kung Pao chicken (fine, not amazing) off his dish. Unlike with Zogg's, though, I would be willing to try this restaurant again and not order like such a doofus. Maybe just get half a dozen orders of dumplings??
Snacks: A cup of regular and a cup of decaf coffee at home, with half and half, before leaving. A handful of almonds while driving in the car; my husband was eating them because he hadn't had breakfast. A cup of regular coffee with half and half bought from a coffee shop in Rehoboth after lunch, and carried with me as we drove to this nearby state park to take a walk. A cup of decaf, with half and half, at a Starbucks that was en route between our hotel and dinner. ...I whole-heartedly recommend the hotel, by the way, which cost us $68/night during the off-season, was light and colorful and clean, and was also a little ways off the main drag in a residential neighborhood (and therefore quiet). (If you should happen to click the link, know that the hotel was much nicer than its garish website! And turn your volume down.)
Mar 13
Breakfast: our hotel had a very standard, chain-hotel-style continental breakfast, despite being an independent hotel. How did they manage that? Anyway, I had a packet of instant oatmeal (outrageously, painfully sweet), a sealed plastic cup of grapefruit slices, and a second-rate cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese. And coffee, of course. It was free. I was satisfied.
My husband and I are going on an overnight trip to Rehoboth Beach, DE, about 3 hours' drive away. I have never been there; he used to go there as a boy, but that was long ago and the beach towns have changed immensely. If only I had watched this 30-second video ahead of time, I would have known it was not really my kind of town.
Breakfast (before leaving): leftover spinach with sorrel, leftover pasta primavera, leftover nut-and-seed tart (just a little of each).
Lunch (in Rehoboth Beach, slightly stunned and overwhelmed by the sheer number of restaurants and storefronts and gangs of tourists strolling about): I am seduced by a sign outside Zogg's Raw Bar and Grill advertising the best fish tacos in town. I love fish tacos. I convince my husband that we can go in and he can get a burger. His burger is good, but the fried grouper "tacos" I order are barely adequate. And also not plural: there is a single soft tortilla with a bunch of stuff piled on top of it, much of it cabbage that is shredded so coarsely you have to cut it with a knife and fork in order to eat it. So there is no picking up this taco, alas. The fish is kinda mushy too. I got seasoned waffle fries on the side, which were fine. Not sure why they advertise the fish tacos especially. One thing that was cool-- but which I didn't explore because it was only lunchtime-- was that they carried probably over 100 different kinds of rum from all over the world. I would be curious about this, but not curious enough to go back and eat there a second time.
Dinner: at Confucius, an upscale Chinese restaurant recommended to me by a customer at my own restaurant (thanks, Steve!). Confucius was a lovely place aesthetically: not large, but a beautiful use of color and space, and actually quite nice art on the walls. I would have enjoyed it for that reason alone. My husband and I ordered a pot of green tea, which was also excellent, and the pork & cilantro "thin-skinned dumplings," which we both agreed were some of the best dumplings we had ever had in our lives. They were stuffed full of cilantro, but the cilantro was cooked, which mellowed its flavor to the point that even my husband could handle a large mouthful. Delicious and novel.
Unfortunately, my luck ran out when it came to the main dish; I think I simply ordered the wrong thing. The problem was, I was eating meals because I was on vacation and it was mealtime, but I was not really hungry. My recent state of being chronically overfed was catching up to me, I expect. So, when it came time to choose an entree, I chose-- uncharacteristically-- Buddhist Delight, a tofu-and-vegetable stirfry. And I knew it was a mistake when I asked the server what kind of sauce it came with, and she said "a brown sauce," and I asked for some added spice and ordered the dish anyway. It was bland, and in particular the tofu (deep-fried) was actively unpleasant: bitter and oily. I ate the vegetables and brown rice (the brown rice was really nice) and left almost all the tofu on my plate: another uncharacteristic move. I also ate a bit of my husband's Kung Pao chicken (fine, not amazing) off his dish. Unlike with Zogg's, though, I would be willing to try this restaurant again and not order like such a doofus. Maybe just get half a dozen orders of dumplings??
Snacks: A cup of regular and a cup of decaf coffee at home, with half and half, before leaving. A handful of almonds while driving in the car; my husband was eating them because he hadn't had breakfast. A cup of regular coffee with half and half bought from a coffee shop in Rehoboth after lunch, and carried with me as we drove to this nearby state park to take a walk. A cup of decaf, with half and half, at a Starbucks that was en route between our hotel and dinner. ...I whole-heartedly recommend the hotel, by the way, which cost us $68/night during the off-season, was light and colorful and clean, and was also a little ways off the main drag in a residential neighborhood (and therefore quiet). (If you should happen to click the link, know that the hotel was much nicer than its garish website! And turn your volume down.)
Mar 13
Breakfast: our hotel had a very standard, chain-hotel-style continental breakfast, despite being an independent hotel. How did they manage that? Anyway, I had a packet of instant oatmeal (outrageously, painfully sweet), a sealed plastic cup of grapefruit slices, and a second-rate cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese. And coffee, of course. It was free. I was satisfied.
Way better.
After a walk on the boardwalk, we stopped in to the same coffee shop we'd visited yesterday to have another cup before heading out of town. This time, sitting down at one of their little tables, details began to enter my consciousness that I had missed the day before. On the tables, there were little flipbooks, and all the pages seemed to be advertising for just one single real estate business. The walls were covered with "art" consisting of floor plans for various houses, paintings of kitchen interiors, and happy-go-lucky photographs of community pride events (often literally Pride events). Wait, was that the name of the realtors printed on pretty much every item in the coffeehouse: each mug, each t-shirt, each jar of coffee beans? Was this just some kind of giant sales office? It was. How bizarre. Good coffee, though
I only had one, though. Lunch: By lunchtime we had already driven smack-dab into the heart of rural Delaware, where restaurants were few and far-between, and those that there were looked a bit intimidating. At least we were white and straight, but we did have that Obama sticker on the car, and the giant "Not From Around Here" signs emblazoned on our foreheads... we continued on to the larger (and more diverse!) town of Delmar, where there were a couple of strip malls with various options. And ate at McDonald's. I had a Filet-o'-Fish, demonstrating that advertising works (I'd seen a number of billboards for them on the trip), and a large fries, and coffee. I'd attempted to order a medium fries, but the employee said the large fries would be cheaper.
Next thing you know I'll be buying a house from Schell Brothers.
Shopping (Co-op, at home, upon return): coffee, 3 rolls toilet paper, organic colby cheese, rye bread. $29 (really?).
Dinner: At home. Again, I wasn't in the least hungry, but I knew I had to feed my family something. Toast with melted colby cheese on top (some of this was the end of the rosemary loaf, some the new rye loaf), mixed fruit (mango, mandarin orange, and strawberries), half an avocado apiece. The strawberries are terrible.
Next thing you know I'll be buying a house from Schell Brothers.
Shopping (Co-op, at home, upon return): coffee, 3 rolls toilet paper, organic colby cheese, rye bread. $29 (really?).
Dinner: At home. Again, I wasn't in the least hungry, but I knew I had to feed my family something. Toast with melted colby cheese on top (some of this was the end of the rosemary loaf, some the new rye loaf), mixed fruit (mango, mandarin orange, and strawberries), half an avocado apiece. The strawberries are terrible.
Brightly colored, though.
Stupidhead. Snacks: a big honkin' chai latte, which I bought at a Panera in Easton, MD. It gave me indigestion for the next 24 hours, because I am lactose-intolerant and stupid. Handful of almonds before bed, because I hadn't eaten enough dinner. Half a glass of milk in the middle of the night because my throat was itchy (but this didn't help with the indigestion), and a handful of cashews just because.