Lobstah!

I just got back from 5 days in Maine. And yes, I got my Lob-stah! See lobster roll to the left from Gilbert's Chowdah House. And, we got a home cooked lobster meal the evening before our departure -- it was all I had dreamt and more! The lobster was sweet and tender and delicious dipped in melted butter. Oh, yeah. Other highlights was a fabulous scallop and shrimp linguini from a wonderful place called Azure in Freeport. Yum! Time to get back to the workout schedule....

Rotating Sushi

I'm a fan of the conveyer belt sushi -- as long as the sushi is good. So Aa Sushi in Juanita will do -- as long as you go early enough in the dinner service. Go too late and the selection goes down. The fun part of this is that there is no waiting. You eat as much or as little as you want. Plus, they seem to anticipate what you need....it's time for tuna, or a roll or cream puffs for dessert. Karl loved it! So, we will go back when we want a quick bite. And you can never beat sushi for a nice, light dinner.

It Beats the Heat

It's been nightmarishly hot these last few days. One treat that came out of it was an evening viewing of Tropic Thunder. I've become a matinee kind of gal these last copule of years. Parking is easier. You never have to share a row with anyone. You can do a double feature if you are so inclined. So, the matinee experience has become one that I have come to cherish. But anyway -- we went to the 8:10 Friday evening showing of Tropic Thunder and it was a riot. The theater was packed (where are all the Chinese people coming from?) and it was fun to laugh along with the rest of the crowd. This movie was pretty hi-larious. And how can you really go wrong with Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downy Jr? The mock previews at the beginning of the movie pretty much set the tone and I was hooked from minute one.

Not for my birthday....

But I'll take it! For Karl's b-day celebration (a couple of weeks early) we went to a matinee showing of Pineapple Express. From the team that brought you Superbad, is one man's tale of life on pot. It takes awhile, but it actually turns out to be a pretty hilarious film. Alot of it is mindless meanderings of non-coherence, but it ends up having sort of a plot (albeit a ridiculous one) and a message of friendship.

The highlight was dinner at Lola. This is Tom Douglas' newest venture. Greek-inspired, I found it to be warm and inviting, with the clientele only somewhat pretentious (is it me, or am I turning into a suburbanite?)

Our selections:

Suckling pig

slow roasted lamb

green beans with tomato and dill

smashed garlic fried potatoes

Loukoumathes (doughnuts)

chocolate pot de creme

We also tried to order the sampler plate which had a whole slew of greek munchies, but our server kindly told us that would be over the top in terms of quantity of food. So we passed and still had leftovers to take home! I guess it gives a reason to go back. The highlights -- a wonderful server who recommded a wonderful wine to us. She was so excellent and cool. This great cocktail -- a fresca vodka or something like that. A mixture of grapefruit juice, vodka and apparently, magic. The company, of course. And....we had a celebrity sighting of Tom Douglas himself. Maybe that's why it seemed so yummy!

He's Irish and He's Proud....

My new favorite television discovery is the Graham Norton Show on BBC America. He's a flamboyant Irish guy with a biting wit. I regularly guffaw out loud for more than 5 seconds straight when I watch this show!


A typical chat show on the surface, Graham interjects a lot of audience participation, current events, and many-a-joke that makes this refreshing and hilarious.
Check it out!

Movies Continue...

I took last week off from movies, so there were a couple to catch up on. I heard the X-Files movie was quite bad, so I've decided to wait for dvd. I went to see Step Brothers -- not really meant to be high art or anything, but it really did lack any sort of class or depth, or warmth. There were some funny moments, but the jokes wore thin and after awhile, you were just embarrased for them.

Maybe next week I'll go see the Mummy Returns. It did not fare much better with the critics, but hopefully it will be good fun.

On the other hand, I did a repeat viewing of Once -- one of my favorite movies of 2006. And this never happens, but I was every bit as moved as the first time. Maybe ever more so. It's so worth multiple viewings. And the music is SO good. This may be one of the sweetest stories of all time. And the music is so good.

Blueberry Season

2 blueberry pies

1 batch lemon poppy seed, blueberry scones

1 batch blueberry muffins

That's what I've made so far with the bounty of blueberries I picked along with the family. We amassed a total of 11 pounds among the 5 of us. Still on the "to make list": peach and blueberry shortcakes, blueberry pancakes, and enough to freeze for the upcoming months. Still weeks of berry picking left so I'll be out in the fields again soon. Blueberries are one of the "perfect" foods that you should eat as much as possible because it's full of anti-oxidents. I'll just say that they are full of yumminess!

Obon 2008

My dad was not in charge of the Beef Bowl booth at the annual Japanese folk dance festival at my parent's church this year. So, I did not have to cook like I've done every year for the last 10 years or so. But, I did take a shift serving up the dish in the booth. Not quite the same, but it was ok. I ran into old friends from highschool, which is always a trip. Now I don't have to go to the highschool reunion!