Rigoddamndiculous

Woman calls 911 over lack of shrimp in fried rice
04/07/2009 5:08:47 PM

A woman called 911 to report she didn't get as much shrimp as she wanted in her fried rice at a Fort Worth-area restaurant. Police on Tuesday released the taped emergency call, in which the customer is heard telling the dispatcher, "to get a police officer up here, what has to happen?" The customer also said: "He didn't even put extra shrimp in there."
The upset customer was gone when an officer arrived Monday afternoon.
Restaurant workers said the woman had been denied a refund after leaving with her order, then returning to complain.
Cook June Lee said there was nothing wrong with the meal, and that "some customers are happy. Some are not."
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Information from Fort Worth Star-Telegram & KDFW-TV:
http://www.star-telegram.com & http://www.myfoxdfw.com

Odd....usually they just call the health department.

Watching

Fish Tacos: revisited

So once again tonight I opted for fish tacos, but with a different and much lighter presentation, perfect for a light summer meal.

The broiled, seasoned fish I topped with roasted red and green bell peppers and onions stuffed into a warm, white corn tortilla and served with a side of fresh pico de gallo (loaded with diced jalepenos and cilantro) and accompanied by lime wedges. The pico de gallo is served in a shot glass, which is about the right amount for two tacos (and will be suitably apt for a special fish marinade I'll use when making this dish again).

Fish Taco

The cooking endeavour tonight took me south of the border (no passport required). Using what I had on hand here, I concocted a blackened fish taco served over a bed of black bean, roasted jalepeno, and lime salsa along with sides of fresh pico de gallo (lots and lots of cilantro added) and tortillas with an uber secret dip. The dip and tortillas would normally be served as an appetizer, but as I was cooking for one, I really didn't care too much about staggering the courses.

Cool Video

Two years ago...

This was the vista two years ago this weekend. Batad village and rice terraces on Luzon in the Philippines. I had arrived in Banaue around six in the morning, having taken the overnight bus from Manila, and almost immediately found myself, along with a few other tourists who happened to be standing nearby, in the back of a Jeepney bouncing along a road towards the ridge above with a guide and her family in tow. The shot was taken from the ridge overlooking the village right before the climb down. And so without sleep, or coffee, or breakfast, the climb down to Batad was underway, during which I made several unsuccessful attempts at falling to my death. The adventure did not stop upon reaching the village. The guide spoke of a great waterfall at the bottom of the valley just beyond the village. Seeing this as yet another great opportunity to fall to my death, I immediately set off across the rice terraces, up the corresponding ridge, and then descended into the valley along a narrow and winding path comprised in part of dirt track, steps, and a good measure of faith, as one can see below.

The guide had called the way down to the waterfall somewhat "difficult" which, in retrospect, rivals "it's just a scratch, a flesh wound!" in terms of the greatest understatements in history. I recall that day being terribly hot and humid, which made the rough and treacherous trail even more rough and treacherous and the goal of the fall's cool waters even cooler and more inviting.

After several delightful hours resting in the spray of the falls, the trek up was underway. If gravity was a foe on the way down, it was even more of a nemesis on the climb up, reaching out with its invisible hand to tug at you whenever your sandaled foot lighted upon unsteady terrain, which was often. During a break upon reaching the ridge of the valley from which one could again see Batad, I took a few moments to scribble in the journal these words: "...most gruelling hike ever. Great!.." (though not in italics as featured here) along with other similar nonsense that suggested heat and fatigue induced madness, or simply just the thrill of adventure and successful conquest, though I subsequently did try to fall to my death a few more times while crossing the rice terraces themselves. Otherwise, the trek back up to the ridge where the adventure began was uneventful.

So as the day drew to a close, the Jeepney navigated the road back to Banaue where accomodations were found and after the most refreshing shower in history, I immediately fell off to the equally most refreshing sleep in history. More adventures were in store for the next day, with the trip to Sagada and its intriguing hanging coffins.

Wet Spring Morning

About halfway through the second coffee of the morning and will shortly be making a sally to the office to take care of some paperwork, including wrapping up a personnel project that I began last Saturday. The hope is to be finished by noon or thereabouts, though I will stay as long as necessary since there's really nothing else on the agenda today. And besides, I'm on call this weekend, so am more or less chained in town should something arise that requires my attention.

As I might have mentioned on here previously, I've never really minded going in to work on weekends. The office is wonderfully deserted and quiet and so much more can be accomplished in a few hours on, say, a Saturday morning than what one normally could on an entire weekday, with phones steadily ringing and staff floating in and out of my office. So this morning I'll throw on a pot of coffee immediately upon arrival, bring up the playlist on the Blackberry and click "shuffle song," and enjoy a few hours of uninterrupted, highly-caffeinated productivity.

At any rate, off now to ready myself for the day. Perhaps more later.

Quote of the Day

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist."

-- Dom Hélder Câmara

Break from the Kitchen

A quick cup of coffee and a few lines whilst taking a break from the evening's cooking. The evening's culinary creativity tonight manifests itself in the blending two recipes, one for coffee-roasted beef and my usual shepherd's pie concoction.* So I guess the end result might be coffee-roasted shepherd's pie. Or something to that effect. Will invent the name later on, but am open to suggestions.

So anyway, the balance of the day was spent in the most delightful of ways: reading. After morning errands and chores and a light lunch, I curled up with Don Quixote and read for the entire afternoon. The Knight of the Sorrowful Face and his trusty Sancho have once again taken to the field, with their misadventures leading from the cart of Death to the encounter with the Knight of the Woods. As I've said before: absolutely delightful.




*Note: No recipe link for the shepherd's pie. I make it up as I go along, so I guess "usual" is somwhat of a misnomer in the sense that it's different each time I make it.

In My Shell

A sunny, but cold Sunday morning here in Norfolk. Laundry is just now underway and I'm on the third coffee of the morning. At present today's agenda remains largely undecided beyond laundry and associated chores which I'll get to eventually. Under consideration is a sally to the office to wrap up some things I didn't quite finish yesterday. I'm not super excited as to this prospect as I was there about six hours yesterday even though the plan was for a maximum of three. Working both Saturday and Sunday usually sets the stage for mid-week burnout and there's far too much this coming week's agenda for such to occur. So we'll just have to assess the level of motivation once laundry is done in about an hour and a half.

It seems that I've been in a bit of a rut as of late. The extent of variation in life has over the last couple of months devolved to the point of consisting of no more than long hours at work or solitary puttering about at home. A cursory review of the daily journal reveals that I've allowed myself only one social activity this year and that was meeting up with an old friend for dinner (which probably doesn't technically count since I found the outing so very miserable from the outset that I paid my tab even before the food was brought out, called it an early night, and retreated home with to-go box in hand to read and enjoy blissful solitude). To examine this phenomenon even further, a review of the cell phone bill reveals only one personal (non-work related) call in the past month and that one was simply a quick test of the new Blackberry on Day 1.

From time to time I've been known to retreat into my shell from which no one can drag me, but I don't recall such episodes being as pronounced as the one at present. The interesting thing is that thoughts of socializing on weekends or evenings do not even cross my mind when considering how to spend leisure time. I'm perfectly content to run my errands, make my solitary trips to Barnes and Noble, read my books, cook long and involved dinners for one, and simply be left alone. And woe unto anyone should they dare to disturb the glorious solitude.

So at any rate....off to take care of laundry and start the day.