T
The Ranger
Guest
In another thread, in another message, Frogleg <[email protected]> asked:
> Well. rfc is pretty chatty, and we all have stories of bad meals (and from the length of the
> thread so far, many willing to share), but why concentrate on the negative? "What's the worst
> thing you've ever eaten?" is thought-provoking, but what about 'good' meals? Perhaps not the best
> in the sense of perfect wine/perfect dish, but maybe a memory of good company, or a great potato
> salad at an otherwise unremarkable picnic, or the first time you tried some really good thing?
I have experienced many good meals, and been very lucky to enjoy a number of excellent meals. Both
my Sainted Mother(tm) and Father-unit were gifted cooks that could create magical moments from
seemingly limited stock via a four-burner GE coil stove and a 14" cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven.
I've posted recipes for many of those meals over time but the most memorable meal I've ever
enjoyed was...
SWMBO[1] and I did A Date[2]. (Gran'mah and Paw-puh were pullin' down prison duty at Castle Ranger,
planning their own evening of partying, popcorn, and movies.) We took advantage of their generous
offer of hospitality by going out to one of our favorite restaurants a mere 40 miles distant.
The evening started off like most of Real Life's® hopeful evenings: one "disaster" after another but
nothing a little patience (and two 800 mg Motrin[3]) couldn't fix.
We arrived at the restaurant to find we had it to ourselves! [Bonus!] I'm one of those type of
patrons that enjoys a good pampering and an empty restaurant means that the servers often hover like
yellow jackets at a picnic table. I like this. As we were seated, the staff converged (as predicted)
like we were magnetized and they were iron filings. We had bread, water, drinks, a running
conversation (not with ourselves) with the owner/proprietor, and immediately started to relax. Ten
minutes into this spa-like setting, a trio of silver foxes arrived. They were greeted like long-lost
family and seated at the table next to us.
At first, I felt a toddler-like Jealousy coursing through my entire being like poison. Here we had
the ENTIRE restaurant (staff and floor) all to ourselves and now we had to share. During my private
grousing, the similarity between what I was thinking and Spawn's philosophy as Center of the Known
Universe surfaced. That revelation and comparison was unpleasant and almost enough to spoil the
remaining portion of my evening. But SWMBO saw my sulk forming -- and being a mom to multiples --
started to massage my smarting ego.
Ibrahim, the owner, came out to tell us all about the food he was preparing that night. Duck with
port sauce, Pork Marsala, Beef Wellington, Sautéed Salmon, and Pheasant were the specials. Stuffed
Portabello, crab cakes, creme d'asperagus soup, and a salad with walnuts [<YEESH!> A more VILE-
tasting nut there isn't! Yuck! Ick! Phooey!] were described in gory detail. I didn't remember
anything after the Pork Marsala, though, because I tuned out. I'd made my choice and I was stickin'
to it. This made remembering what I wanted with the rest of the meal sort of difficult but SWMBO is
a more-attentive listener so she was able to (more-or-less) recite the specials I missed. Our server
came back and we placed our order for food and wine.
During this time, I happen to glance over at the trio. The lone male looked down quickly and turned
an interesting shade of crimson. I didn't understand the reaction because all we'd done was talk
about food, the menu, the difficulty that She was having deciding between Salmon, Beef, Pork, Duck,
Pheasant, Pasta, wine, salad, soup, appetizer, and the kids... <Ding!> The proverbial light bulb
clicked bright.
I dropped my voice and Herself nodded. She'd witnessed a similar event with one of the women. We
dropped our voices conspiratorially.
It took a few minutes to get "back in the mood" but the restaurant's ambiance worked its magic;
pretty soon we were back to joking and talking about every topic that was verboten around the daughter-
units. As we talked, there were pauses between topics (normal for us) which seemed to get filled by
noises coming from the trio's table. Our pauses lengthened -- usually in mid-thought... It was at
one such point where I was talking about writing Da Book[4] and heard, "...it was the largest
kielbasa I'd ever seen! And it just kept coming!" The two women of the trio were guffawing, SWMBO
was shaking with laughter, and I was burning from my ears to my toes because I was definitely only
half-listening when the punchline was delivered.
The male fox was grinning that pleased look of "Gotchya!" at our table and asked, "Have either of
you been to Poland?"
I'm sure I looked like both my daughter-units, Alpha and Beta, after I caught them filching Oreo's
that afternoon. I could feel the heat pulsing through the neck of my Oxford white. I didn't,
couldn't, answer.
"Well?" he continued good-naturedly, "Have you?"
SWMBO smiled, very sheepishly, and answered him, "No. Only Germany."
"Ah... Germany's beautiful, too, but Poland's stunningly beautiful! You would both like it. By the
way, I've been shamefully eaves-dropping on your conversation, too. How'd you like to 'join' us,
since we're obviously wanting to hear each other's stories?"
And that's how we got caught. We closed the restaurant and a local bar after... It was a stunningly
successful date!
[1] She Who Must Be Obeyed
[2] This is becoming "regular" again -- we have a full corral of baby-sitters just chompin' at their
bits -- which means that all those restaurants, plays, concerts, and movies that we've been
meaning to see we're now able!
[3] Better living through the US Pharmaceutical Industry!
[4] SWMBO took it amazingly well, considering her viewpoints on my sharing family "secrets."
The Ranger
--
"I've often wondered just how much you share... 'Da Book' needs some
changing. You'll _start_ with my title."
SWMBO, 7/28/03
> Well. rfc is pretty chatty, and we all have stories of bad meals (and from the length of the
> thread so far, many willing to share), but why concentrate on the negative? "What's the worst
> thing you've ever eaten?" is thought-provoking, but what about 'good' meals? Perhaps not the best
> in the sense of perfect wine/perfect dish, but maybe a memory of good company, or a great potato
> salad at an otherwise unremarkable picnic, or the first time you tried some really good thing?
I have experienced many good meals, and been very lucky to enjoy a number of excellent meals. Both
my Sainted Mother(tm) and Father-unit were gifted cooks that could create magical moments from
seemingly limited stock via a four-burner GE coil stove and a 14" cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven.
I've posted recipes for many of those meals over time but the most memorable meal I've ever
enjoyed was...
SWMBO[1] and I did A Date[2]. (Gran'mah and Paw-puh were pullin' down prison duty at Castle Ranger,
planning their own evening of partying, popcorn, and movies.) We took advantage of their generous
offer of hospitality by going out to one of our favorite restaurants a mere 40 miles distant.
The evening started off like most of Real Life's® hopeful evenings: one "disaster" after another but
nothing a little patience (and two 800 mg Motrin[3]) couldn't fix.
We arrived at the restaurant to find we had it to ourselves! [Bonus!] I'm one of those type of
patrons that enjoys a good pampering and an empty restaurant means that the servers often hover like
yellow jackets at a picnic table. I like this. As we were seated, the staff converged (as predicted)
like we were magnetized and they were iron filings. We had bread, water, drinks, a running
conversation (not with ourselves) with the owner/proprietor, and immediately started to relax. Ten
minutes into this spa-like setting, a trio of silver foxes arrived. They were greeted like long-lost
family and seated at the table next to us.
At first, I felt a toddler-like Jealousy coursing through my entire being like poison. Here we had
the ENTIRE restaurant (staff and floor) all to ourselves and now we had to share. During my private
grousing, the similarity between what I was thinking and Spawn's philosophy as Center of the Known
Universe surfaced. That revelation and comparison was unpleasant and almost enough to spoil the
remaining portion of my evening. But SWMBO saw my sulk forming -- and being a mom to multiples --
started to massage my smarting ego.
Ibrahim, the owner, came out to tell us all about the food he was preparing that night. Duck with
port sauce, Pork Marsala, Beef Wellington, Sautéed Salmon, and Pheasant were the specials. Stuffed
Portabello, crab cakes, creme d'asperagus soup, and a salad with walnuts [<YEESH!> A more VILE-
tasting nut there isn't! Yuck! Ick! Phooey!] were described in gory detail. I didn't remember
anything after the Pork Marsala, though, because I tuned out. I'd made my choice and I was stickin'
to it. This made remembering what I wanted with the rest of the meal sort of difficult but SWMBO is
a more-attentive listener so she was able to (more-or-less) recite the specials I missed. Our server
came back and we placed our order for food and wine.
During this time, I happen to glance over at the trio. The lone male looked down quickly and turned
an interesting shade of crimson. I didn't understand the reaction because all we'd done was talk
about food, the menu, the difficulty that She was having deciding between Salmon, Beef, Pork, Duck,
Pheasant, Pasta, wine, salad, soup, appetizer, and the kids... <Ding!> The proverbial light bulb
clicked bright.
I dropped my voice and Herself nodded. She'd witnessed a similar event with one of the women. We
dropped our voices conspiratorially.
It took a few minutes to get "back in the mood" but the restaurant's ambiance worked its magic;
pretty soon we were back to joking and talking about every topic that was verboten around the daughter-
units. As we talked, there were pauses between topics (normal for us) which seemed to get filled by
noises coming from the trio's table. Our pauses lengthened -- usually in mid-thought... It was at
one such point where I was talking about writing Da Book[4] and heard, "...it was the largest
kielbasa I'd ever seen! And it just kept coming!" The two women of the trio were guffawing, SWMBO
was shaking with laughter, and I was burning from my ears to my toes because I was definitely only
half-listening when the punchline was delivered.
The male fox was grinning that pleased look of "Gotchya!" at our table and asked, "Have either of
you been to Poland?"
I'm sure I looked like both my daughter-units, Alpha and Beta, after I caught them filching Oreo's
that afternoon. I could feel the heat pulsing through the neck of my Oxford white. I didn't,
couldn't, answer.
"Well?" he continued good-naturedly, "Have you?"
SWMBO smiled, very sheepishly, and answered him, "No. Only Germany."
"Ah... Germany's beautiful, too, but Poland's stunningly beautiful! You would both like it. By the
way, I've been shamefully eaves-dropping on your conversation, too. How'd you like to 'join' us,
since we're obviously wanting to hear each other's stories?"
And that's how we got caught. We closed the restaurant and a local bar after... It was a stunningly
successful date!
[1] She Who Must Be Obeyed
[2] This is becoming "regular" again -- we have a full corral of baby-sitters just chompin' at their
bits -- which means that all those restaurants, plays, concerts, and movies that we've been
meaning to see we're now able!
[3] Better living through the US Pharmaceutical Industry!
[4] SWMBO took it amazingly well, considering her viewpoints on my sharing family "secrets."
The Ranger
--
"I've often wondered just how much you share... 'Da Book' needs some
changing. You'll _start_ with my title."
SWMBO, 7/28/03