Everything I Like Causes Cancer

Curious about the genesis of our Memorial Day holiday I consulted my #1 research tool, wikipedia, and was particularly moved to learn this:

Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died. Some of the places creating an early memorial day include Sharpsburg, Maryland, located near Antietam Battlefield; Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Petersburg, Virginia; Carbondale, Illinois; Columbus, Mississippi; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns. These observances coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and the several Confederate Memorial Days.

According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first memorial day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic Washington Race Course (today the location of Hampton Park) in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who died in captivity.

The freed slaves disinterred the dead Union soldiers from the mass grave to be inhumed properly reposed with individual graves, built a fence around the graveyard with an entry arch, declaring it a Union graveyard. A daring action for freed slaves to take such in the South just shortly after the Union's victory. On May 30, 1868, the freed slaves returned to the graveyard with flowers they had picked from the countryside and decorated the individual gravesites, thereby creating the first Decoration Day. Thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers paraded from the area, followed by much patriotic singing and a picnic.

This morning I took my car to a shop a couple blocks away for its bi-annual inspections and an oil change.  As I was walking home I decided to finally stop at the Bosnian bakery near my house.  I had zero expectation since I know nothing about Bosnian food despite the fact that I have lived in this predominantly Bosnian neighborhood five years.  Shame on me.

I can't remember where or how or who I learned this from but this recipe is so good you will always have to make two batches.  It's name, Fat Fat Sugar, will make sense in about three more lines:

1 Feraro's pizza with ham, mushrooms, and black olives

I am writing today to say thank you for selling smaller cans of the staple vegetables like green beans and corn. I'm a single gal who isn't fond of leftovers but can't eat a whole regular-sized can of vegetables in one meal. So thank you, I appreciate the thought you've put into your packaging.

I feel a bit ridiculous with these in my basket at the grocery as I don't generally run in the same circles as Dora the Explorer and Spongebob Squarepants. I'm sure Ms. Explorer and Mr. Squarepants are fine people but I live in fear of the day that an eligible hottie sees me with them and asks if the characters make it easier to get my little ones to eat their veggies.

You see, if I'm honest and admit that I don't have any children he will know that I am a sad, single woman who is forced to buy children's vegetables because I take all of my meals alone. Not good.

And if I shamefacedly say, "Why yes, kind sir, it does." then our marriage will be based on a lie and I will be forced to buy children on the black market in order to maintain the pretense. Also not good. Or easy or cheap.

So, can we do away with the cartoon characters on the little cans? Ankle biters aren't the only ones who eat small portions and it's hard enough to meet quality men at the grocery without your cock-blocking corn making a mess of things.

Thanking you in advance,

Gwen

St. Louis, MO

Maybe I'll ride back up to the shop today and buy a basket.

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm: I browsed up and down every aisle in Big Lots. I like to do this occasionally just to see what they have in the store because you never know what treasure is around the corner, marked $1. I found some really nice planters for next to nothing - a nested set of 3 for $12 and an urn for $20. They also had reed diffusers for $5 so I picked up a couple.

Last year's batch.

3 pm to 3:30 pm: I finally make it to Blues City. This place makes the best sandwich in town. Period. No argument. The owner is a drummer who I met years and years ago when he played in my very favorite STL blues band, so it's also one of those places where everyone knows my name. My personal connection does not bias my judgment of the sandwiches, though. Seriously, look at it. This one is The Vino: fresh locally baked bread, roast beef, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and a sweet red pepper sauce so tasty it'll make you wanna slap yo momma, which is why I never go there with her.

I sat there, ignoring my book because the people watching was so awesome, eating my sandwich, enjoying the view, and listening to the musical talents of Jim "Ribtip" McClaren. It felt good to be alive.

3:30 pm to 4:30 pm: Again, up and down every aisle, but this time at Target. I had a list but I also had time so I browsed and browsed. I also spent double what I was expecting and had budgeted, but I had fun and got some great stuff.

4:45 pm to 6:30 pm: Carrying in bags, putting away goods and lounging on the couch.

6:30 pm to 11 pm: Hung out at Heathybear's new apartment. We intended to continue unpacking her stuff but when I got there she had popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate her new place so we sat on her couch drinking mimosas and watching Arrested Development until I couldn't keep my eyes open any more.

Well, I'm off to take my shower and then make sure we have all the ingredients we need to make pickles. If I already had that basket, I'd ride my bike to the store. Maybe I will anyway and take my backpack.

UPDATED TO ADD, 12:20 PM: I'm so glad I didn't take the bike. The bike shop was closed and the first grocery I went to didn't have fresh dill. The second one had everything I needed, but after having scanned my items in the self-checkout lane I realized I hadn't brought my wallet and had to go back home to get it. Add in that it's hotter than the underside of Satan's balls out there today, and you've got one me who never runs errands on her bike again. Crisis averted by laziness.

I interrupt our regularly scheduled question and answer session to memorialize the passing of a St. Louis institution, Chuy Arzola's, an authentic Tex-Mex restaurant that closed it's doors permanently last night. In business since 1989, it was my good friend Brian's most beloved of all restaurants. I was skeptical of going on the last night, wondering if they'd have any food, drink, or places to sit, but Brian was so forlorn that I relented and met him there around 4:30. He and I sat at the bar until 9 drinking margaritas, eating what he dubbed The Last Supper, reliving past drunken dinners and commiserating with other loyal patrons.

Chuy's was an interesting place. I was never crazy about the food. It was good but it didn't rock my palette. Brian, on the other hand, loved the Austin. I'm not sure he ever ordered anything else.

Brian's last Austin.

For me, it was about the atmosphere and the margaritas. One reviewer summed it up nicely, "The scene is ultra-casual. You could dine here in pink plastic flip-flops with your hair still wet after a soak in your hot tub, and no one would look at you twice. In fact, the menu demands that diners "maintain a happy and relaxed attitude to conform to our atmosphere." In keeping with Chuy's laid-back character, the servers are dressed down, but don't let their casual appearance fool you. They're pros who know how to keep their customers happy."

Speaking of the service, there was a chip basket full of pens and note cards on the bar last night so that heartbroken patrons could write final messages to the management and staff. A photo album filled with these cards told stories of first dates, proposals, parties, and family gatherings, stories of children who would only behave and/or eat there, and tales of drunkenness, but the most common sentiment was love for the staff: Angel, Santos, Eddie, Chuy, Vanessa, and many others whose names I can't remember after my 5 margaritas. Noticeably absent, in my mind, was any mention of the host of many years who left a while back to open his own Mexican restaurant. Whoops.





I suspect that the rest of you were also out given that today is a national holiday. Hope you had a good time. I'll be back later with some more answered questions. In the meantime, enjoy the someecards.com card I'd have sent you if I wasn't too lazy to cut and paste all your email addys.

Re-entry into The Work's atmosphere this week has been difficult. I'm having a hard time focusing, my mind keeps wandering off and daydreaming about bright sunny beaches. But today? Today, we held our First Annual Chili Cook-Off in the office. It was so much fun and reminded me just how awesome my office really is.

Given that there are only abut 30 people in the office I was impressed that we had six chili entrants.

Each one was different in some way but they were all equally delicious. One was marinating in a whole poblano pepper, another was made with beer, and one was made with steak. One, the first prize winner, was made with four different ground meats.

Here's my gal KR, also an outside-the-office friend, with her blue ribbon and prize. Her chili was hands-down my personal favorite. Guess she knows her way around the ground meats.

I took second place with a low fat version. It's really tasty and so easy to make that a monkey could do it. Leave me your email and I'll send you the recipe. In honor of the event I wore my new dress from Mexico. You can't see the pretty little yellow embroidered flowers because they are hidden behind my arm and at the bottom of the dress. It also has a swishy skirt, perfect for the tango. I was totally in costume for the party but also rocking my new dress. And my new tan.

Third place went to a traditional chili made with turkey which I loved also. Isn't the new gal adorable?

As you can see there were prizes and after we finished eating our body weight in beans, we got to hit a pinata until it burst with chocolate goodies. There were lots of jokes about swinging a bat at each other (we didn't have the most ideal or safe set-up) and "banging the pepper." It was a grand day at the office.

I guess if I have to work, I'm glad it's here and with these people.

Soon I'm off for drinks and dinner with friends. We're having cocktails at Brian and Tracie's followed by dinner at 1111 Mississippi.

Since it is also Brian's birthday(!), he worked with the restaurant to design a menu that includes filet and seafood risotto. I cannot wait for this meal. Red meat, seafood and wine? Divine.

Oh! And also? I am finally going to wear the shoes featured in this post, yay! I won't be back for a while, I'm staying at Pallet Day HQ. I packed clean clothes and my toothbrush. Rules are made to be broken.

While shopping yesterday at lunch I spotted this old favorite that had been completely forgotten. These cookies are so yummy . . . shortbread with a hint of some spice that I learned this morning is anise.

This show is, hands-down, the most entertaining food show ever aired. It's about a bakery in Baltimore that is owned and operated by Duff Goldman, his silly, funny crew, and the amazing cakes they make. Not a one of the crew is what you would expect. Duff is in a hard-core band, used to be a graffiti artist and looks more like he should tend bar at The Black Thorn than own a krazee-succesful bakery. Actually, they all do.

These people are the most droll food tv personalities I've seen. They create wicked amazing cakes but do so without any pretense. In fact, they are often stopping production to go make snow angels or to take target practice using cakes. My favorite cakes so far have been the Taj Mahal (complete with the surrounding grounds), a gumabll machine (real gumballs inside!), and a Scrabble board. He has even put fireworks in cakes. It's awesome. The first explosive cake he did was for his dad.

Last night was the Season Premiere. One of the cakes they had been hired to make was a beaver. Their twelve-year-old giggling and snickering was enough to keep me laughing out loud through the whole thing. At one point Duff comes out with, ''I hired her to ice cakes and she just whipped out this beaver that was incredible."

Watch it or be bored. Thursday nights at 9 pm on Food Network.

DON'T YOU LET ME EAT ANY MORE OF THIS STUFF!