Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
The weekend thus far
How’s everyone’s three-day weekend going? Except you Canadians, you don’t get a three-day weekend, do you? Nyah-nyah. And where IS everyone? I realize I never get comments on my game-related posts, but you folks have been quiet for several days now.
Yesterday, we took a drive down to LA to go on an eating binge. This is what we do for entertainment. If LA had the equivalent of a Roman vomitorium, we’d be there. Instead, we’ll indulge in anything from tasty holes-in-the-wall to snooty upscale eateries. Last night was more the latter than the former. Folks with long memories will recall that I’ve been jonesing for Ipswich clams, and Jar looked like a decent place to wallow in clamminess, so that’s what we did.
The group was: my wife and son, my sister, and my friend Mike. My family all liked Mike, which was great, since it’s never a given that your family will think your friend is as cool as you think he is. But he’s basically one of us (same age, not too dissimilar upbringing) which helps.
The food: yes, we had the clams. Two orders. Sadly, they didn’t bring enough; even two orders left us unsatisfied. My sister and I (the resident Ipswich clam experts) agreed that these were superior to every other west coast fried clam you might encounter, but still not up to 7E’s standards (a fried clam joint in New England). No bellies.
Karen and I had the soft shell crab special. Karen liked hers, but I thought it was a little disappointing. Soft shell crab is tricky; if they’re a little too old, the shell isn’t quite soft enough to crisp up in the deep fryer. We had some tasty French fries with it and some pea greens that were also very good.
My sister had sole, and while I thought it was excellent, I think it was a little undercooked for her taste. Jake had coq au vin (really, really good . . . in fact, I’m wishing we had taken home his leftovers) and Mike had a leg of lamb dish that also looked great. And we all did dessert. And we all lived to tell about it.
Come on, folks, chime in. You can’t ALL be doing fun stuff with families this weekend. I know some of you are on the ‘net.
D.
I’m a texture gal, so yes, it was a little undercooked for me, but it was still the best Dover sole I’ve ever had, my squash blossom was great, and the pea greens were so far removed from the s-peas we had to consume when we were kids, I even liked that too.
Sadly, 7-E’s no longer exists, but I have a friend who lives in Wareham, MA. She swears by Arnold’s Lobster and Clam Bar. Supposedly, they have the best fried clams on Cape Cod. Food and Wine Magazine says it’s the best fried clams in the world, and the onion rings are perfectly fried. So when are we going?
Wa at a friend’s pool party yesterday evening. The cole slaw (homemade) was taty – the burgers less so.
I’m here!
Finally enjoying a little cooling-off with the weather. We had a humid heat wave for a few days that made this preggers lady nearly want to die. It was horrific.
There was a baby shower for me on the weekend and we went for a dip in a local lake for the first time this year. The water was shockingly warm for May in Northern Canuckland. Seriously. We didn’t even have a sauna first before the swim (mainly because no one had lit the damned fire, but that’s okay).
I’m also very glad we don’t have a holiday today — if I’d had to keep my tantrumy, grumpy, miserable kid home today I probably would have strangled her. Or run away, myself. Not entirely sure.
But anyway, since the kidlet’s at school, today’s all about washing the new baby clothes/blankets/etc. and working on the baby’s room. At least I don’t feel nauseous today (not yet, anyway. We’ll see what the afternoon brings…)
Yah, no long weekend for us. Ours was last weekend, and I spent it working like a dog. LIKE A DOG. And not posting anything on my own blog.
In contrast to Kris back thar in the eastern stretches, we are cool and sodden. I am sick of rain and want to get back to a little warmth.
My sweet beautiful 27 year old daughter is visiting with her very nice boyfriend. He is here until Wednesday, and then she leaves Monday for St. Petersburg, Russia, where she will spend two months visiting with our youngest son who is living there. For the past week we have wined, dined and entertained them at all the newest, coolest and hippest spots we can muster here in Music City USA. My husband and I will soon be heading up to Maine as we do every summer. While there I will eat enough native lobster, fried clams (the really good kind), mussels, salmon and halibut to satisfy me for the rest of the year. I would never eat a fried clam outside of Maine because it would never be as good as the Maine ones.
Sis: one of these days I might have the ability to take a chunk of time off to travel east. One of these days . . .
Noxcat: pool parties are fun. We’ve been in Bako land of the backyard pools for nearly a year now, and nary an invite.
Kris: so, you naming the baby after me or Dean? Well? Which is it?
Dean, sorry to hear you’re working so hard . . . meanwhile, your wife has been staying in the lap of luxury, I see.
Lucie, I’m jealous. Do you own a home up there?
Sometimes we rent a house, sometimes we stay at the inn. It depends on how many wse are, but always in the same town where we have made many summer friends.
Oops – it depends on how many WE are.
i’m around! every weekend is a long weekend for me this summer…it’s kind of awesome. the only exciting thing this weekend was that i had a date today. a cute boy i met on jDate (yes i’ve stooped so low). lol. we’ll see how it goes 🙂
other than that i’ve been alone almost the whole time, le sigh.
I was curious about jdate and got halfway through their sign-up. Didn’t want to leave my email address. As it is, I still get pestered by eHarmony, which I messed with solely for a single blog post that I wrote! But anyway, with jdate, I did find it interesting that you could be a “man looking for a man” or a “woman looking for a woman.” Guess they want to build all kinds of Jewish families 🙂
so, you naming the baby after me or Dean? Well? Which is it?
Um…considering it’s a girl, neither, I’m afraid. 😉
We have a name picked out, but it’s a secret until she arrives in this world. In the meantime, we’ve taken to calling her Bigglesworth.
For a girl, I’ve always liked the name Sarah.
I didn’t get a three day weekend so thanks for rubbing it in. (I’m not empolyed outside the home so it’s not really a big deal)