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Same Great Food, Same Lousy Service

Remember last May when we had dinner at 51 Lincoln with Barbara and Jerry, and the food was outstanding but the service ... well, not so much? Same thing just happened again tonight. It was surprisingly busy for a Monday night, but even that couldn't excuse the service. We waited far too long to order, to receive each course, and—always worst of all—to pay and get out of there. We didn't even have time for Andy to order the freshly baked cookies for dessert, because we'd been there over 2 hours already and had to get home to put the kids to bed.

All I ask is for a waiter to stop by the table and say, "Your entrees will be out in just a moment; I apologize for the delay" or "Here are your dessert menus; I promise I'll be back in a minute to take your order." But he just ignored us, as if somehow we might forget how long we'd been waiting if he didn't show his face. He also totally blew it on the vodka front. In case you're not familiar with the history of my vodka preferences, go read this and then come back. OK, ready? So I order my Absolut Citron and the waiter says they have only Svedka Citron. I say "No, that won't do," and he rolls his eyes at me without actually rolling his eyes and says snippily, "They're exactly the same." WRONG! They are so very much not the same that I drink far too much of one and yet can't even bear a tiny sip of the other, even when I don't know that's what's in my glass.

In this case, I'm afraid, two strikes and they're out. Next May we will seek out somewhere else to splurge on delicious food—served with a smile.

Not So Fair and Balanced, As It Turns Out

You've got to watch this really funny, spot-on impression of Hillary. Really, I mean it, regardless of whether or not you support her.

Who/what is younger than John McCain? For starters, Pat Buchanan, the state of Alaska, both of Barack Obama's parents, the polio vaccine, McDonald's, and Mount Rushmore. More here.

And, when Obama wins ... then what? Keep hitting Refresh.

They Like Me! They Really Like Me!

Hey, I forgot to tell you about something exciting that happened this past week: I got a call from the editor who gave me that cookbook proofreading job over the winter, and she asked me to copyedit two—count 'em, two!—cookbooks coming up from the same author. One is a revision of an existing book (about pickling), and the other is a new book (about jams, jellies, and preserves). I'm just thrilled—I do so much prefer copyediting to proofreading, although of course I'll take whatever I can get when it comes to cookbooks. The schedule is going to be a bear and will take me right through the summer, but I don't care. (Ask me again during our vacation week in July....)

Another Mother's Day, Another Pasta Salad

Mother's Day started off in the usual way, with Andy telling me to stay in bed so he and the kids could prepare a breakfast tray for me. They came in with all my favorite Sunday morning things—tea, toast, Times, MacBookPro—plus lots of hugs and kisses and cards and drawings. Then they all left me alone! Bliss.

Later was the annual Mother's Day party, but without Grandma for the first time. It was of course obvious that she wasn't there, but no one got weepy, and it didn't feel as though there was such a gaping hole when I wasn't thinking about her.

I tried out a new pasta salad recipe from Pam Anderson. It was a wee bit too lemony for me, so I think next time I will leave out the grated lemon peel. It also wasn't the most colorful dish there; I think a few halved cherry tomatoes or roasted red pepper strips would do the trick.

Pasta Salad with Asparagus, Mushrooms, Artichoke Hearts, and Parmesan

2 Tbsp salt
1 lb. bite-size pasta (I used the new mini-penne from Barilla. So cute!)
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cute into 1" pieces
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained; artichokes rinsed and cut into bite-size pieces
½ cup shaved or grated Parmesan cheese
3 large scallions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
creamy vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil. Add salt and pasta and cook until just tender, adding the asparagus for the last 1 minute of cooking. Drain in a colander, then spread the pasta and asparagus out in a shallow baking pan, and let cool to room temperature.

Transfer pasta, asparagus, and remaining ingredients, except dressing, to a large bowl; do not mix. (At this point, you can cover and refrigerate it for up to 2 hours.) When ready to serve, add dressing, toss to coat, and let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Creamy Vinaigrette

¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 large garlic clove, minced
⅔ cup olive oil

Put lemon juice and mayonnaise in in a Pyrex measuring cup. With a small whisk, stir in garlic, a big pinch of salt, and a couple grinds of pepper. Slowly whisk in oil in a slow, steady stream to make an emulsified vinaigrette. (Vinaigrette can be made and refrigerated 1 day in advance.)

Friday Random iPod Ten - on Saturday

Whoops, I knew I forgot to do something yesterday!

1. Busted - George Jones*
2. Wish We Were Back in Missouri - Emmylou Harris
3. Hold Me Back (Frankie & Johnny) - Michelle Shocked
4. The River in Reverse - Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
5. Here Am I, Oh Lord, Send Me - Alvin Youngblood Hart 
6. Harry's Wall - Loudon Wainwright III
7. You Can't Resist It - Lyle Lovett 
8. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon
9. Willin' - Little Feat & Ry Cooder
10. Canned Goods - Greg Brown

*This one wasn't really random; it just happened to be the last song I purchased. I heard it on BootLiquor and immediately had to click over to Amazon and download the single. Wow. Ol' George almost out-Rays Ray here, and I love the sound of that Cajun fiddle.

You, Our Listeners—And That Editor

This week I happened upon a way to unite two of the more obsessive parts of my persona: the Relentless Copyeditor and the NPR Junkie. Via Twitter, I "met" Ken George, who is the New Media Guy at WBUR, my local NPR affiliate. He recently started a blog called The ConverStation, which is meant to be a public forum about how public radio can connect with listeners through "Web 2.0 and other things." He put out a call for anyone who might be interested in getting involved and taking home a really high salary and lots of extravagant perks. Oh wait, I got that wrong. He wanted to know if anyone would be willing to help out for nothing more than the satisfaction of a job well done and an occasional WBUR mug or T-shirt from the station's closet o' swag.

I checked out the blog and got excited about the content but wasn't sure how I could contribute. Then I spotted a typo. And another. And another! Fast forward to Ken asking if I'd mind editing all the blog posts—and possibly posting something on occasion. Yes, yes, yes! Armed with my new WordPress username and password, I went in and cleaned up errant hyphens and typos in every post that's gone up so far. I was positively giddy, fantasizing about having the skeleton key to every blog so I could do my own version of the Typo Hunt Across America—but all across the blogosphere instead! I'm just delighted to be involved.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer: When someone smiles at you, do you smile back?

Always.

Soup: Describe the flooring in your home.  Do you have carpet, hardwood, vinyl, a mix?

Ceramic tile in the kitchen, something old and icky and unidentifiable in the bathrooms, hardwood (beautiful parquet) throughout the downstairs, carpeting in all the bedrooms.

Salad: Write a sentence with only 5 words, but all of the words have to start with the first letter of your first name.

Karen keeps kissing kindergarten kid.

Main Course: Do you know anyone whose life has been touched by adoption?

Yes, Andy and his sister were both adopted, and I have quite a few friends who have adopted children.

Dessert: Name 2 blue things.

My jeans and my T-shirt.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. The bread I made had an extra secret ingredient; it was vital wheat gluten!
2. I see a "Sale Pending" sign on the house next door   through my window.
3. Right now, I need to go pick up Julie from school .
4. Straight to bed  is where I went Thursday night; it was still not enough sleep .
5. Why does a tiny fricking paper cut  hurt so much?
6. All I can think of is the city budget override vote next week.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to seeing Jen , tomorrow my plans include two (probably rained-out) kids' sporting events, and Sunday, I want to be surrounded by family for Mother's Day !

Worth It or Not?

Today on Twitter, Fritinancy presented these two lists:

• Things I don't spend money on: facials, manicures, massages, housecleaner, DVDs, travel, coffee shops. Just don't see the point.
• Things I splurge on: haircut/color, shoes, clothes, live theater, dance. Did I mention shoes?

So, not surprisingly, that got me thinking. I'm quite frugal by nature. I clip coupons, I shop sales, I reuse, I do without. But I don't deprive myself. Specifically:

• I have had only a few facials, manicures, and massages in my life—and most of those were from gift certificates. I do get a few pedicures each year, though, and am more than happy to shell out the cash to have someone scrape all the horrible calluses off my feet and massage my calves and paint my toenails a purty color.
• I most certainly do have a housecleaner, and with a family of 5, I can think of a lot of things I'd be willing to do without before that. I still do all the laundry, but I no longer clean the kitchen floor or the toilets, vacuum, dust, or wipe down the range.
• As I mentioned yesterday, I rent but do not purchase DVDs, unless they're for the kids and will thus end up "buying" me some peace and quiet.
• Andy and I used to travel a lot before we had kids. Now? Not so much. I hope someday we will get to show the kids some of the world.
• Hate coffee, as you well know.
• I go to a nice salon to have my hair cut and colored—not the nicest salon on Newbury Street, mind you, but a nice-enough place here in town. After all those years of the long graying ponytail, I now love getting my hair bobbed and dyed.
• I used to be a bit of an Imelda Marcos in terms of shoes. At one point I had more pairs of black shoes than Andy had pairs of shoes period. (Famously, Andy once asked me why I needed to pack more pairs of shoes than days of our impending vacation. Silly, silly boy.) But not anymore. I can't stand the pencil-sharpener effect anymore and will buy only comfy shoes. Fortunately, these days one can find cute shoes that are also comfy, but I don't buy as many pairs as I used to—nor do I spend a fortune on any one pair. I can't even remember the last time I bought a pair of shoes.
  
• I've never been much of a clothes horse. 99% of my clothing comes from Lands' End, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, and J. Jill. Jeans and a T-shirt is pretty much my official uniform.
• Live theater and dance? Nope. Don't mind going to theater, but don't seek it out—and frankly can't justify the expense. No interest in dance.

In addition:

• I will spend a lot on certain skin-care products if I can't find an equivalent knock-off. I buy some things from Origins and others from CVS. I'm happy to pay less if I like it, but it doesn't bother me to spend a little extra on the good stuff when necessary.
• I buy nearly all my meat at Whole Foods (and a small amount at Trader Joe's). I trust Whole Foods to do the research I want done but don't have the time, energy, or resources to do in order to make good choices in terms of ethical treatment of animals and healthy food for my family. I am more than willing to pay more for this service and for this food. Likewise, I will pay more for organic berries, grapes, peppers, and other produce that doesn't get peeled and is covered with pesticides that just don't wash off. We also just plain love cooking and eating and drinking around here, so I will spend happily extra for gourmet items, unusual ingredients, cookbooks and cooking magazines,  fancy kitchen gadgets, wine, and so on.
• In the goes-without-saying category: Books, books, and more books. Can't live without books, must be surrounded by books.  And music.

And you, my pretties, what do you spend on? What don't you spend on?

Thursday Link Dump

Here's "A Typical Conversation with My Mother" (or your mother, or anyone's mother—or, probably, me sometime in the not-so-distant future).

I dig (get it? get it?) these rolling planters! It would be so easy to move your plants according to the sun and time of day. Maybe that's what I need to get my dream of a small herb and veggie garden going. I wonder if I'd save enough on produce to justify the steep pricetag, though.

Last time I made this recipe, I think I forgot Step #2.