Today's question

Now that my neighborhood (Capitol Hill, Seattle, USA) has one bar that serves that Quebecois delicacy, poutine, and will soon get a "Montreal-style" bagelry, the burning question is: When do we get a deli with smoked meat sandwiches??? Duddy Kravitz wants to know!

Clowns: They Love Popcorn!

 

...especially Popcorn the Clown!

This poor little clown has a full-time job
making popcorn for other clowns to enjoy....

Help me out here, people

I usually eat lunch at a hospital cafeteria right near my office, partly because it's a low-key place to read and eat and get away from work, and partly because I have a few choices for a lunch with a protein and two sides for six bucks.  This way I don't have to bring lunch in from home and eat at my desk or in the break room, and I don't have to go to one of the same few boring lunch places over and over again.  Also, this is when I try to eat my vegetables.



One thing that puzzles me, and I'm not getting any help from Google.  One cafeteria staple is the 'chicken quarter' -- a leg and thigh that have not been separated, and are served to you in one giant piece.  How exactly am I supposed to go about eating one of these big mothers?  I don't want to be all Henry VIII and pick it up and knaw on it, especially of it's some sort of messy tandoori-style preparation.  On the other hand, when I attempt to cut it up with a fork and knife, I can barely get enough off to feed a small child. 

Any ideas?  Is there a secret and civilized solution to this problem?  Or is it (as I suspect) just an easy and lazy way for the head chef to crank out a lot of substantial-looking entrees with extremely minimal effort?

Easy Poutine

Not a photo of what I made.

I finally made some full-on Poutine for a snack last Sunday.  Here's what I used:

• Frozen french fries, baked in the oven (obviously, fresh are better, but this was a quick and easy snack)
• Bisto gravy granules (really does make tasty gravy, and you can keep it forever in your cupboard)
• Beecher's fresh cheese curds (made locally--the most gourmet part of the snack)

1. Preheat oven, put your fries in.
2. Start boiling water for your Bisto.
3. Chip curds into slightly smaller bits.
4. Sprinkle curds over finished fries on a nice big platter.
5. Mix your gravy and then pour all over fries.
6. Open a beer and enjoy poutine while watching TV.  Offer some to the person who went to the store and bought the curds and fries for you.

Computers and Martinis

One thing you can say about evil 1970s supercomputers: They know their martini preparation.

In the good-bad 1970 film, Colossus: the Forbin Project, Dr. Forbin (Eric Braeden) is being held prisoner by his creation (Colossus), and has to trick it into letting his secretary visit him, by lying to the computer and saying she's his girlfriend. She's allowed to visit him, conjugally, as long as she takes all her clothes off to make sure she's not sneaking anything in (or that's your story anyway, right, Colossus?). In the guise as Forbin's lady, she makes him a martini. But the computer is watching her carefully! Earlier, Dr. Forbin had explained his vermouth method (pour a large quantity of it over the cubes to 'rinse' them, and then drain it out before adding the gin). Fortunately, the secretary is hip to this, and passes the test.

The best part is in the earlier scene, when Colossus texts THAT IS TOO MUCH VERMOUTH to Forbin.

In the bad-bad 1977 film Demon Seed, super-computer whiz Dr. Anderson (Fritz Weaver) has programmed his house to do everything by spoken instructions, which is not a good idea if it stops listening to you (as it does). In an early scene, however, he gets home from work and requests 'the usual', which turns out to be a martini that he compliments as 'perfect'. I had to wonder how much time he spent creating a robot arm that can spear an olive with a toothpick, though!

Foulard -- the Blog That Pays You Back!™

As a special "Thanks!" to all readers of Foulard, here's a special Early Bird coupon for the restaurant of your choice:

Clip this from your monitor

Just take it to your favorite local bistro and tell them Foulard sent you! If they give you any trouble, just keep repeating that phrase over and over in a loud, aggrieved voice without elaborating.

*Not valid in Delaware.

Fish Sauce

We went to sign the lease and get the keys for our new apartment last night. Afterward, we walked to dinner at a Thai restaurant a block or so from the new abode. For the first 20 or so minutes of our meal, I was distracted by a guy at the next table. As we sat down, he was tasting the dish he'd just been brought, and was insistent that it contained fish sauce, which was apparently abhorrent to him. I don't know if he was a full-on vegetarian, or just had an intense aversion to fish sauce. His girlfriend said she couldn't taste it in hers, but he made the waiter take back both dishes. Then he spent the next 15 minutes standing back in front of the kitchen window arguing with the manager, saying "So you were watching them the whole time, and you know they didn't put any fish sauce in it?". It was more relaxing when they finally left!

Coffee Table Book Idea

Generic Pizza Boxes

a variation on the theme of 'Italian guy with mustache and chef's hat,
with optional pie/slice and ingredients'.

Our Long National Nightmare has Ended

Update: I found Angostura Bitters at QFC yesterday! Huzzah!
Mood: Enjoying a Manhattan

Bad Martini Anxiety Dream

Last night I dreamed that one of my supervisors at work, Dr. V, announced she was going to treat the 'team' to a martini at a fancy hotel bar to celebrate finishing a project. I'm not that much into work socializing, but I went along with it, since I'm not the type to turn down a good free martini. I invited Beebo and a couple of other people along, figuring I could get my drink and then wander off to their table hang out with them.

After work, we get to the lounge, which is a large, fancy old-fashioned room like this photo:

(Copley Plaza Oak Bar, Boston)

and I find that, contrary to my expectations, we're not going to sit down in the swank chairs and wait for the cocktail waitress to come around and take our orders. Instead, in one corner of the room there has been set up a long fold-out event table with a bunch of drink fixings set out on it. It's got a couple of 1.75 liter plastic bottles of inexpensive domestic gin and vodka, a couple of lemons, and a jar of small olives, like what you'd find at a drug store's food section. This is where our celebratory martinis are coming from, not from the real bar. And to make matters worse, the mixologist will be Dr. V! One thing I don't really like is an amateur martini, and I have no faith that the doctor can make a competent one.

I'm looking around, trying to figure out if I can just slip over to my friends' table and order a real drink, but Dr. V says "Hey [Foulard], come over here if you want your martini!", and I have to comply. I request my normal gin up with a twist, and look back a moment later to see that a disturbing 'dirty martini' is being made. It's a cocktail glass stuffed with mashed-up bits of olive. "You've got to let it steep" Dr. V says, but I manage to correct her and then get a passable martini of the kind I requested, and eventually I drift over to Beebo & Co.

I think this dream is definitely influenced by my discomfort at work-related events, since they tend to be dreary (with a few exceptions), and my dislike of having to stand in line to get served. Most of the time I'd rather pay more to have a good experience. As far as martinis go, I can make one at home that's as good or better than most places, so I'm very picky.

Mem-Phis

We are now in Memphis, staying in and avoiding the St Paddy's day celebration on Beale Street. We had a fun day, though!

First, we drove out of Nashville and ate at the Loveless Cafe,

and then spent a few hours in the car listening to trucking music
and trucking to Memphis. Our hotel is swanky (but we got a good rate), and we've gone out and had barbecue at the Rendezvous restaurant.

We also stopped at the Lansky Bros store in the Peabody Hotel, and Beebo got me a version of this super-cool Elvis jacket from Speedway--a jacket I had long admired in photos. Thanks, Beebo!

Best Amazing Race challenge ever

Last night, we were watching my favorite reality tv show, The Amazing Race, and they had a 'Detour' that actually looked pleasant to me, even though several of the racers were bitching and moaning about it.

The episode was set in Hamburg, Germany, and after some bungee jumping (not my thing), the racers had the choice of trying to kick soccer balls into five targets in a net, or sharing a big plate of sauerkraut, trying to finish it before a folkloric band finished a song. Now, I love cabbage, and eating a big plate of kraut doesn't seem at all bad to me, especially if I had the help of Beebo the Human Eating Machine. But a few of the people on the show ate daintily and one of them even held her nose while eating (see photo).

The second task (post-kraut or football) was to go to a place called the Haifischbar and share a boot of pilsner beer. I think that would be a total treat after eating a big plate of pickled cabbage, but there were even worse reactions from some of the racers, as if they had to drink a pitcher of bile or something. One young dude actually went out on the sidewalk and barfed. A sad performance. Only a couple approached the task with appropriate gusto (again, see photo).

Considering that the eating tasks in the past have included things like eating a giant ostrich egg omelet and eating four pounds of offal, this was a tasty walk in the park!

Bisto!

...and now back to tonight's programming:

"Etienne"

Beebo and I have been cooking at home more and more, because it doesn't seem that hard anymore, and most of time, it's more fun and cheaper than going out. Our division of labor usually goes this way: Foulard cooks meat and does the dishes; Beebo grocery-shops and does most of the other cooking.


Lately, my favorite instrument for cooking meat has been a non-stick two-burner griddle. It's very handy because it has a large surface area--you can cook meat on one side and potatoes or vegetables on the other side. You can also toast hamburger buns on it, make scrambled eggs, pancakes, or grilled cheese sandwiches. I enjoy the efficiency of cooking everything on one area--it makes me feel like a short order cook (somehow, I find this appealing).

We bought the griddle around the same time we bought an extra-larger frying pan. For some reason, we gave them names in an effort to differentiate them from each other--the griddle became 'Etienne' and the frying pan became...I forget what we called it--the name didn't stick (no pun intended).

For such a cheap item, it's been extremely useful.

Here's to you, Etienne! Or should I say, à votre santé!

The Great Taste of Convenience

Our local grocery store has (for the moment) an international foods section. The most interesting part (to me) is the British foods. I'm fascinated by things like HP Sauce, digestive biscuits, salad cream, and Spotted Dick. Last week, Beebo picked up some Bisto Favourite Gravy Granules, a truly weird product that made me a bit apprehensive at first.

The package we got (a sort of cardboard can) says "Aah! Wednesday", which is apparently part of some Bisto re-branding to "inspire more families to eat together on weekdays, not just Sundays", apparently by consuming a lot of sodium. Bisto has been around in England in various forms since 1908, and the granules were introduced in 1979.

The gravy 'granules' were pretty unappetizing looking in their dehydrated state, but Sunday I got suddenly hungry and was scanning the kitchen for something to eat. Beebo had also gotten a bag of frozen french fries, so I was able to have a snack I like, fries with gravy, which is a sort of casual version of poutine. You make Bisto 'gravy' by mixing a cup of hot water with four teaspoons of granules, and surprisingly, it made a pretty decent-looking gravy. I was quite pleased with my snack!

I'm glad he finally made some friends!

Fast Food (regional edition)

Beebo's post about McDonald's ('s?) new breakfast sandwich started me thinking--what kind of fast food do I still like? In general, I've been over it for many, many years, but a few items still get my mouth watering: Arby's roast beef sandwiches, Ivar's fish and chips, the Dick's Deluxe with fresh-cut fries, and this little item:The mighty (tasty) Chick-fil-a sandwich! I can never really get my hands on one of these, since I live in Seattle, and their restaurants are pretty sparse in this part of the country. However, I'm going deep into the heart of CFA country in March, so I plan on having a few of these babies while I have the chance (and when I'm not eating barbecue).

Fondue

Beebo and I were invited over to our friends' house in Ballard for fondue on Saturday. It was delicious, and my idea of a perfect meal, especially on such a chilly night.

(their cat and resident photographer, Buckminster, took this picture to commemorate the event)

Proof of God's Existence; Kirk Cameron's Bananas

Thanksgiving is coming!

In the Foulard household, it's a tradition for the whole family to watch this special holiday presentation together: