Saturday, March 20, 2010

Adventures In Food


Yesterday Scott and I decided to try out the Vietnamese Restaurant in town, Bambu. I loved the "feel" of the place. The decor and soft lighting worked well together and the whole place was very clean and structured. We had the crab rangoons and egg rolls as appetizers and were both very pleased with them. Because we watch a lot of Anthony Bourdain, we both ordered a Boba tea to drink (pictured above) and they were very interesting. Boba tea is a sweet flavored, smoothie type drink which contains large tapioca pearls. Good flavor on the drink, but the "pearls" ended up being too annoying after the novelty of the whole thing wore off. Next time we go, I'll just get a diet soda.

I was very surprised to find that the menu was not nearly as strange as I expected. There were basically two types of dishes you could choose from, various meats over vermicelli and various meats over rice.

I ordered the Chom Cha Thi Nuong - shredded pork, bbq pork and a pork & egg pancake served with rice, a carrot medley and a side of fish sauce. The bbq pork had a sweet glaze on it and I poured the fish sauce over the rice and mixed it together with the shredded pork. Very delicious.



Scott ordered the house specialty, the Bon Bo Hue soup. The description said it was spicy beef noodle soup and the broth came from cooked beef bones. It also said it contained beef, oxtail and pig knuckles. He thought it was a great chance to be adventurous and I encouraged him to order it. He was a little skeptical of the pig knuckle, but I helped convince him that with the meat pieces all diced up and mixed together he'd never even know. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. The meat was not diced into small pieces at all. In fact, in the center of his bowl was an entire huge pig knuckle. Just sitting there staring at him. Combine that with the unique (ie kinda gross) smell and he didn't manage to eat very much of it. But I totally applaud the effort. And it looked cool.



We both decided we would definitely eat there again, But I'm pretty sure Scott will simply order one of the rice dishes next time. I love trying new things and enjoyed the whole experience immensely. I highly recommend this place to anyone who likes food adventures.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

An Open Letter To My Checkbook

Dear Checkbook,
Why do you enjoy making me anxious? Are you trying to get me to cry? Because if you are, it's working. I remember just last month when you were full to the brim with all of my gooey tax return goodness. We were so happy then. We went shopping together and drove wherever we wanted without worrying about gas prices. I paid off some bills completely and sent in the rest a few weeks early. Those were great times.

But now I look at you and I just can't believe what I'm seeing. There's an emptiness surrounding you that I can't explain. Just last month we paid all of our bills early together. Now we'll be paying everything a week late. How did this happen? Is it because I've been frequently visiting Ebay? Is that what's hurting you? I promise I will stop. I have to stop. I can't stand to see you this way. Especially since I only have 8 days of work left before my job ends. I know that as a dislocated worker I will be able to provide you with some unemployment money, but it's going to be such a difference I'm just not sure it's going to be enough for you. I know it won't be enough.

We have to stick together, Checkbook. I won't be able to survive the job hunt without you. Please pull yourself together. Show me the error of my ways. Show me the places and things that hurt you unnecessarily. And promise me you'll hold on as long as possible. Promise me you'll learn to both stretch yourself and limit yourself all at the same time. I will do the same for you. It's the only way we're going to be able to enjoy having this upcoming free time. I mean, what's the fun in not having to go to work if you can't afford to go fishing?

Love,
Kristy

Friday, March 05, 2010

Poetic Dreams

Poetic Dreams

Looking at the screen
Watching myself type
Hoping I can find the words
To create some sort of hype

In my dreams I’m famous
Wealthy as can be
Writing for a living
So happy and free

But then when I awaken
I remember that’s not true
So I put my dreams behind me
And pretend that I’m not blue

In my life I’m happy
Not too much keeps me down
But I know that I’d be better off
If I could just make some damn money writing these poems.