Food And Romance

On Friday, John took me to The Chalkboard, a charming place to eat. The appetizer was terrific, Olive Tapenade Topped Hummus with Roasted Garlic. The Salad was very good, with unusual proportions of Dried Cherries, Dried Apricot, and Candied Nuts - could have been a dessert, but since we shared it, it was nice. The main dishes were the reason we won't go back. John's Sea Bass smelled a little too fishy, but was OK - just OK. My Beef Wellington was awful. If you've never made it, you might not know that it's one of the easiest fancy entrees you can make. Almost impossible to wreck, unless you burn it. And the whole bottom of it was. Oh well, there are other places in Tulsa to try. And it was a sweet place for a romantic evening.

In a romantic vein, since John knew he was away on business for Valentine's Day, we spent a little more time together the weekend before, even going to Target together. Since our Target has a Starbucks, John got me a Chai Tea Latte. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't like the taste of coffee, (je n'aime pas le café), so I have never actually had a Latte of any kind. Who knew they made them with Tea? But I am so hooked now - that warm, frothy creaminess and sweetness from all the spices. Oooh!

What I Ate Today And Who I Ate It With

I ate so much yesterday that the planned white jeans and top outfit didn't happen. Instead I wore this Eileen Fisher sweater that I got at the Orange County "by the pound" Goodwill outlet for less than $1. And since there was still a little room in it, we decided to hit another Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives spot. This time it was Gatsby's. Neat place with Benihana style grills in the center of the room, but tables to sit at. The FIRE Burger is a perfect balance of heat and flavor. And the fries are double fried in the French tradition and are absolutely fabulous! My husband is on his Blackberry, making a good living for his family, next to my sister Claire in blue. And the petite blonde (OK, she has gone grey, but she will always be blonde to me) - that's one of the world's best woman, (and foremost Biblical scholar in my family - just call and ask her anything), Marya (can you tell she is originally from the South by the spelling of her name?) who is married to my oldest brother Don, who is preaching this Sunday at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Riverside. We are so lucky to have her as part of our family.

What I Ate Today

I have lots of nieces, but only one of them has red hair and she is the one getting married this weekend. I've always liked the groom, but today I found out that his whole family is just as nice as he is, (and that includes a group of friends that are as close as family to them). What a lovely weekend this is turning out to be. Since the weddings is taking place in Sacramento, I am getting a chance to eat at a few of the places featured on the Food Network's quirky show, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, with my sister Claire and her husband John. (Yes, he is smiling - for him that is an exceptionally good smile, 30 years of teaching high school band has taken a slight toll.) We all ate at the Squeeze-In and had their famous burgers with the cheese skirt. Here you can see them both ways, with the cheese skirt framing the patty and with the cheese skirt folder up under the bun showing the browned and crunchy underside. Disclaimer: These are not actually my burgers. I had planned on photographing my burger before eating it, but heck, I looked down at one point and realized that I had eaten the whole thing without even thinking of my camera. My sister dared me to ask someone else to let me photograph their burger. No problem. One patron even told me to wait while he staged the burgers just right. Then they said, "Bye Bye Oklahoma" to me as I left. I'll be back someday!