A postcard after sunrise
Flavors for fickle weather
Posted Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 3 comments
We tried to drive home in the middle of some insane rainfall on Friday night. My honey could barely see the road with all that hard rain. So we ended up taking shelter inside Frances O'Dooleys in Topeka.
I warmed up with a pint or two or three of Guinness. I loved the little clover that tops off the foam. Just like how some spots serve it in the Temple Bar. Slainte! After a few drinks, it was easy to warm-up to the rowdy music scene, with pub patrons clapping and singing along in their Irish hymnals. The bar flights flickered throughout the storm and we could hear the thunder ranting through the fireplace. I kept my eye on the entrance and each time the door opened, Mother Nature treated us to this violent spectacle of rain attacking other people looking for a spot to dry off.
By the way...do most stores on Massachusetts need a feline mascot? I met three of the cats who haunt Love Garden in Lawrence this weekend.
This is Mickey Roy. He's quite friendly. I think I found my next addictive habit inside this music store. I had to stop myself from picking up a couple dozen CD's off of Little Darla, Rough Rider and other great indie labels. I did walk out with albums by Kid 606, Entre Rios and Casiotones for the Painfully Alone.
We also celebrated our one year anniversary with drinks and dinner in Lawrence. I convinced my honey it would be a good idea to try to out the vodka infused with hot peppers at the Bourgeois Pig. Now the bartender said most folks would add this vodka to their bloody marys...I guess we're not most folks. It tasted like hot liquid magma! But it was a fun. The bartender said there's a group of locals who come in once a week to do shots of the hot pepper vodka.
We had dinner reservations at Pachamamas on New Hampshire. It serves up classy new world fusion cuisine. We did a flight of red wine tastings. I'm not a huge fan of raw meat, but I enjoyed the Kobe beef tartare topped with quail eggs and horseradish foam...succulent, delicate and out of this world. I snapped this picture of my entree, the peach bbq duck with chanterelle mushrooms.....the duck tasted tender, savory and fatty - but in a good way. Sometimes lean cuts of meat are over-rated.
It felt chilly the other day. That put me in the mood for hearty soup, so I tried out the Tome Yum soup recipe from Nancie McDermott's "Real Vegetarian Thai". According to the author, "tome" translates to "cooked in broth" and "yum" is a verb that describes mixing up dishes with traditional Thai seasonings. For some reason, I wasn't in the mood for veggie food. So I subbed out the vegetable broth for chicken and the tofu chunks for chicken slices. And since I ran out of sugar, I used Splenda instead. The soup had a nice chili and citrus kick. I dipped in rice to soak up all the juices. Next time, I'll try the tofu version and use real sugar.
We said good-bye to our weekend producer Katie...she went on to bigger and better things -- a sweet gig with the Chiefs...plus she has to finish up her studies at KU. We'll miss Katie!
And finally, say hello to the FunTV Gnome! He likes to lurk inside the booth every now and then...
Comments
Aug. 30, 2006 at 8:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)fruzik (Fally Afani Ruzik)
I'll forgive you for not posting pictures of your dog in this blog only because you went to Love Garden.
Aug. 31, 2006 at 2:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)kveraphillips (Kris Vera-Phillips)
Fally, I think deep down inside, you really like cats :P
Just admit it.
Sep. 6, 2006 at 1:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)mbrennan (Matt Brennan)
what's wrong with cats?
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