Just want to add that we've also had nice meals at these other places (below) recently. Funny how 2 lousy experiences just taints the whole memory though...the proverbial bad apples.
Tasty eats at:
Anatolia's Turkish Restaurant
Shanti Indian Restaurant
The Irish Lion
Domo Japanest Restaurant
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Good eatery, The Bad news, and the Ugly truth
To offset my negative reviews of the two previous restaurants I mentioned, I do want to add that we had some tasty sandwiches at the Bloomington Sandwich Company yesterday. The owner is such a nice guy, and the sandwiches, while not totally outstanding (but then again, you just can't get a great muffaletta outside of New Orleans or a great Reuben outside of NYC), are quite delicious (their club is huge and tasty).
The bad news? Mabel, our old chicken from my friend Jami, died. She was acting pretty droopy for the past week, and today, our only free day of the week, dh was going to put her out of her misery. But, when he went to clean out the chicken house, he found that she had already died. It's not the worst news, really. She was old and was never one of our favorites, but I feel bad that she may have been feeling sick for a few days before she died.
And the ugly truth: my memory is aging faster than I am. When we were visiting my FIL yesterday, he was remarking how his memory has gotten so bad that he needs to write things down as he thinks of them or he'll forget. I didn't want to seem like I was one-upping him, so I didn't say what I was thinking, which was "You are 82 years old; you are expected to have some memory lapses every now and then. I'm only 43, and my memory is probably worse than yours!" The gingko pills aren't working.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
The bad news? Mabel, our old chicken from my friend Jami, died. She was acting pretty droopy for the past week, and today, our only free day of the week, dh was going to put her out of her misery. But, when he went to clean out the chicken house, he found that she had already died. It's not the worst news, really. She was old and was never one of our favorites, but I feel bad that she may have been feeling sick for a few days before she died.
And the ugly truth: my memory is aging faster than I am. When we were visiting my FIL yesterday, he was remarking how his memory has gotten so bad that he needs to write things down as he thinks of them or he'll forget. I didn't want to seem like I was one-upping him, so I didn't say what I was thinking, which was "You are 82 years old; you are expected to have some memory lapses every now and then. I'm only 43, and my memory is probably worse than yours!" The gingko pills aren't working.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Friday, October 26, 2007
Restaurant boycotts
It's not that we're extremely impatient people, but dh does have a lot of stress in his life right now and when a meal exceeds an allotted time, it makes him unbearable to be with.
Even if that were not the case, restaurateurs should realize that mediocre food might be saved by brilliant service, but that good food can be completely annihilated by poor or slow service. Note that I am referring to good food, not excellent food - for truly excellent, Iron Chef Morimoto type food, one might put up with a bit of slow service. Fortunately, when one is paying $40+ a plate, one doesn't often get lousy service.
So the first place to piss dh off recently was Truffles. The food was quite tasty, as, for an average of $25 a person, it should be. But, the service went from slow to nearly a dead stop. Dh was not happy as we still had to drop by his dad's place afterwards and he had had a long day prior. The kids were not happy as we had to cancel our dessert order because it was taking forever. As dh said, how long does it take to dish out a few scoops of sorbet?
The other place we will not be going back to for a while is Casablanca Cafe. Here's the review I posted at Google Maps:
"We have always had terrific meals at Casablanca Cafe in the past. The food, such as their charmoula sauce, was delicious, and the service was reasonable. Today, we went for lunch, as usual, but not only was the hummus overly salty and not enough yogurt sauce was served with the gyros, but the service was extremely slow. In this downtown/university area, people who run restaurants should know that people have to be back at certain times and don't have over an hour to spare for eating.
To top it off, their excuse for being slow in bringing our food was that our gyros sandwich orders (my husband and son ordered that) were taking a long time so they had to switch them to "plate orders" to make it come faster. Maybe it's because we don't know the food biz (more likely, they're just lying), but that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
And, here's the kicker, whereas the sandwich order would have been under $8 each, they charged us $11+ dollars per order when they changed them to plate orders, something we had NOT asked them to do. A good restaurant would have charged the same (what the customer ordered to begin with), no matter what "special changes" or embellishments they felt they did to the dish."
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Even if that were not the case, restaurateurs should realize that mediocre food might be saved by brilliant service, but that good food can be completely annihilated by poor or slow service. Note that I am referring to good food, not excellent food - for truly excellent, Iron Chef Morimoto type food, one might put up with a bit of slow service. Fortunately, when one is paying $40+ a plate, one doesn't often get lousy service.
So the first place to piss dh off recently was Truffles. The food was quite tasty, as, for an average of $25 a person, it should be. But, the service went from slow to nearly a dead stop. Dh was not happy as we still had to drop by his dad's place afterwards and he had had a long day prior. The kids were not happy as we had to cancel our dessert order because it was taking forever. As dh said, how long does it take to dish out a few scoops of sorbet?
The other place we will not be going back to for a while is Casablanca Cafe. Here's the review I posted at Google Maps:
"We have always had terrific meals at Casablanca Cafe in the past. The food, such as their charmoula sauce, was delicious, and the service was reasonable. Today, we went for lunch, as usual, but not only was the hummus overly salty and not enough yogurt sauce was served with the gyros, but the service was extremely slow. In this downtown/university area, people who run restaurants should know that people have to be back at certain times and don't have over an hour to spare for eating.
To top it off, their excuse for being slow in bringing our food was that our gyros sandwich orders (my husband and son ordered that) were taking a long time so they had to switch them to "plate orders" to make it come faster. Maybe it's because we don't know the food biz (more likely, they're just lying), but that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
And, here's the kicker, whereas the sandwich order would have been under $8 each, they charged us $11+ dollars per order when they changed them to plate orders, something we had NOT asked them to do. A good restaurant would have charged the same (what the customer ordered to begin with), no matter what "special changes" or embellishments they felt they did to the dish."
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Blogthings - fun diversion
| You Are Superman |
 Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. And pretty cute too. No wonder you're the most popular superhero ever! |
Next...
| Your Brain's Pattern |
 You have a tempered, reasonable way of thinking. You tend to take every new idea in, and meld it with your world view. For you, everything is always changing. Each moment is different. Your thinking process tends to be very natural - with no beginnings or endings. |
And finally...
| Your Brain is 60% Female, 40% Male |
 Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve |
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Things I've learned
1) Events I dread almost always turn out much better than I anticipated. (I shouldn't say this one too soon; Thanksgiving this year has not yet come, and I face an invasion of relatives by marriage with nowhere to hide.)
2) Trust the kids, but only as far as I can throw a refrigerator (thanks to Stephen King for that clever phrase).
3) Trust my calendar more than my friends (but love them anyway).
4) Mumble, mumble, mumble...there are things that should not be put on my blog.
5) Say less, listen more. Things I hear can't bite me in the butt as much as things I say. Don't let warm, fuzzy feelings of comraderie squeeze words out of my mouth that I'll regret later.
More to add as I get wiser. Speaking of wiser, there's an interesting little display at National Geographic online on memory that you should check out.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
2) Trust the kids, but only as far as I can throw a refrigerator (thanks to Stephen King for that clever phrase).
3) Trust my calendar more than my friends (but love them anyway).
4) Mumble, mumble, mumble...there are things that should not be put on my blog.
5) Say less, listen more. Things I hear can't bite me in the butt as much as things I say. Don't let warm, fuzzy feelings of comraderie squeeze words out of my mouth that I'll regret later.
More to add as I get wiser. Speaking of wiser, there's an interesting little display at National Geographic online on memory that you should check out.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Poor, mystery bird
Yesterday, while the boys were on a walk with the dog on the hilltop (yes, I made them go out in the pouring rain), Gali chanced upon a bird on the ground. Ds#1 made her drop it and picked it up. He couldn't ID it, so I told him to bring it back to the house so we can look it up.
Poor thing was soaked through and not very lively, so I thought that drying it off with a paper towel and letting it rest undisturbed for a while might be good for it. It did try up, but it may have some injuries due to being picked up by the dog and then dropped on its head as ds tried to hold on to it while fending off the dog.
Still, it perked up enough (and left some lovely poop for us as you can see from the photo) by morning that we released it. Hopefully, getting dried off and warmed up, plus a good night's rest, helped it recuperate some.
Ds thinks it's a flycatcher, judging from the beak and size. He speculates it might be an acadian flycatcher, but we couldn't tell for sure.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Happiness is...
having a salad from your own garden in mid-October!
We had a wonderful salad to go with the lamb masala that dh made last night. In the salad were, all from our own garden: celery, oak-leaf lettuce, frisee (curly chicory; some call it endive), dill, parsley, beet greens, spinach, and cilantro. Veggies, and herbs, are incomparable when eaten within a half-hour of being picked.
As I was washing the dill, its intoxicating aroma made me realize why ds#2 eats it like candy straight out of the garden. It's really tasty stuff! Either that, or, as dh says, ds#2 is nuts. Both are equally plausible.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
We had a wonderful salad to go with the lamb masala that dh made last night. In the salad were, all from our own garden: celery, oak-leaf lettuce, frisee (curly chicory; some call it endive), dill, parsley, beet greens, spinach, and cilantro. Veggies, and herbs, are incomparable when eaten within a half-hour of being picked.
As I was washing the dill, its intoxicating aroma made me realize why ds#2 eats it like candy straight out of the garden. It's really tasty stuff! Either that, or, as dh says, ds#2 is nuts. Both are equally plausible.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Thursday, October 18, 2007
My laughs for the day
(besides something I read at P-Momma's)
Despair.com's latest cards!
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Despair.com's latest cards!
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
NaNoWriMo is here again!
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is in November. For a good description of it, check out the Fiction Writing forum at About.com.
I am trying to decide if I want to do it in an attempt to wrestle another novel out of me. I admit that I'm generally a slug and if not given a deadline, I don't get things done (dang, don't tell the kids that; I'm trying to set a good example for them). So, the good side is that this will give me a deadline; the bad side is that I don't want to totally stress out because of the pressure.
What to do, what to do?
Ok, no more hand-wringing. I signed up for it. Now I'm trying to convince ds#1 to try it too. There's a Young Writers Program equivalent.
Also did yoga for the first time in months. Ow. I'll be stiff tomorrow. Still can't find my favorite video for yoga, but I made do with the harder one.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
I am trying to decide if I want to do it in an attempt to wrestle another novel out of me. I admit that I'm generally a slug and if not given a deadline, I don't get things done (dang, don't tell the kids that; I'm trying to set a good example for them). So, the good side is that this will give me a deadline; the bad side is that I don't want to totally stress out because of the pressure.
What to do, what to do?
Ok, no more hand-wringing. I signed up for it. Now I'm trying to convince ds#1 to try it too. There's a Young Writers Program equivalent.
Also did yoga for the first time in months. Ow. I'll be stiff tomorrow. Still can't find my favorite video for yoga, but I made do with the harder one.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Homeschooling is working!
While reading an issue of Scientic American this morning, our 11 year old was reminded of an incident in one of their music theory classes.
He said that the teacher asked if anyone knows what "calando" means, and nobody did. So then he gave them a clue and asked if they knew what "calorie" meant. Ds#1 was the only one in the class who did (and half the class are teenagers). He said that a calorie is a unit of heat...or, specificially, the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of an amount of water (he did forget it was 1 gram, but I forgive him since I thought a calorie is what makes you fat...haha) one degree celcius.
I am impressed that he knew it, and also that the music teacher knew it (not trying to imply that musicians are dumb!). I can't pat myself on the back that the teacher is smart, but I'll take some credit for ds being smart (well, ok, most of the smart genes are from dh; maybe I'll just take credit for his good looks instead *grin*).
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
He said that the teacher asked if anyone knows what "calando" means, and nobody did. So then he gave them a clue and asked if they knew what "calorie" meant. Ds#1 was the only one in the class who did (and half the class are teenagers). He said that a calorie is a unit of heat...or, specificially, the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of an amount of water (he did forget it was 1 gram, but I forgive him since I thought a calorie is what makes you fat...haha) one degree celcius.
I am impressed that he knew it, and also that the music teacher knew it (not trying to imply that musicians are dumb!). I can't pat myself on the back that the teacher is smart, but I'll take some credit for ds being smart (well, ok, most of the smart genes are from dh; maybe I'll just take credit for his good looks instead *grin*).
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
"Swarm Stupidity"
Read a funny article in The Green Guide, so I sent myself an e-mail to share here:
"...thought you'd be interested in this post from The Green Guide,
a widely read and respected consumer source for practical everyday
actions benefiting environmental and personal health.
Swarm Stupidity
If ant colonies and bee swarms are so smart, what's wrong with us?
Read More at:
http://www.thegreenguide.com/blog/alix/946
Visit The Green Guide
http://www.thegreenguide.com/
Subscribe to The Green Guide:
https://ssl.thegreenguide.com/sub/"
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
"...thought you'd be interested in this post from The Green Guide,
a widely read and respected consumer source for practical everyday
actions benefiting environmental and personal health.
Swarm Stupidity
If ant colonies and bee swarms are so smart, what's wrong with us?
Read More at:
http://www.thegreenguide.com/blog/alix/946
Visit The Green Guide
http://www.thegreenguide.com/
Subscribe to The Green Guide:
https://ssl.thegreenguide.com/sub/"
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Last O' the Tomatoes
I finally used up all the tomatoes that we had picked a few weeks ago (all starting to go south very nicely on our picnic table on the porch). It's pretty much the last of our tomatoes. As well, tomatoes this time of year, even if we still had any on the plants, don't taste very good. The seeds inside some of them have sprouted too. When I cut them open, the sprouts look like little worms. Not very appetizing.
I made one of the kids' favorites: savory tomato pie. It's a variation of the one found in the book Tomatoes by Lee Bailey.
It asked for basil but I don't think we have any viable basil plants anymore; we had a light frost last week. I was too lazy to walk 300 feet to find out. We do, however, have tons of garlic chives - right off the back steps, in fact. So, I put in lots and lots of that.
We'll need to remember to bring in the rosemary and lemon verbena to over-winter. The cuttings we started didn't take, so we will try to prune the plants back and bring them in.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
I made one of the kids' favorites: savory tomato pie. It's a variation of the one found in the book Tomatoes by Lee Bailey.
It asked for basil but I don't think we have any viable basil plants anymore; we had a light frost last week. I was too lazy to walk 300 feet to find out. We do, however, have tons of garlic chives - right off the back steps, in fact. So, I put in lots and lots of that.
We'll need to remember to bring in the rosemary and lemon verbena to over-winter. The cuttings we started didn't take, so we will try to prune the plants back and bring them in.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thanks, Blogger!
Thanks to the heads-up by Blogger, I've added some cool environmentally-aware blogs to my list of "Blogs to Watch". Check them out, along with a perennial favorite: James Randi Educational Foundation. :)
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Monday, October 15, 2007
Land-locked eleven
I couldn't think of a cute word-play (it was a toss-up between a parody of "Ocean's Eleven" or "And Then There Were None") for the subject line. We finally culled the annoying little roosters on Saturday. My sister got a hefty taste of the homesteading life. She helped with the plucking. Next time, she can eviscerate. Heh heh
Speaking of my sister, she has left after a three-week visit here. Didn't seem like it had been three weeks already. She was a huge help around here and it was really nice to have her around to chat with and do things with, although we didn't do as much as I had intended to.
We have 5 chickens in the fridge now. This will last us maybe a couple of months. Luckily, we have found folks at the Farmers' Market who are selling free-range, grass-eating, organic chickens. I'm so excited! My wrist is killing me from working on the 5 chickens, and my sister suggests just buying chicken from these lovely folks from now on. They are really the nicest couple; we don't even know them, but they offered us the use of their plucker.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Speaking of my sister, she has left after a three-week visit here. Didn't seem like it had been three weeks already. She was a huge help around here and it was really nice to have her around to chat with and do things with, although we didn't do as much as I had intended to.
We have 5 chickens in the fridge now. This will last us maybe a couple of months. Luckily, we have found folks at the Farmers' Market who are selling free-range, grass-eating, organic chickens. I'm so excited! My wrist is killing me from working on the 5 chickens, and my sister suggests just buying chicken from these lovely folks from now on. They are really the nicest couple; we don't even know them, but they offered us the use of their plucker.
"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)