Frog and Goat

This weekend we’ve been the entertaining fiends. Friday night, the better-half’s friends came over for dinner. All three of the guys who came over for dinner were friends of the better-half from high school. I don’t have that kind of history and think it is great when they get together. Normally, they go out and hit Applebee’s or O’Charley’s and whichever bookstore is the closest to the restaurant. I don’t usually get to see them since it is a guy thing.

Saturday night our friends D&J came over for dinner and hung out. J brought me some cookbooks that she’s culling from her collection and one is from the mid-1970s–Military Wives Cookbook or something like that. It cracks me up. I think the cookbook was sponsored by General Mills. She also brought over a household tips book that has some really great tips even if it is making me laugh–old school housekeeping. She also brought over “In the Kitchen with Rosie–Oprah’s Favorite Recipes”. That book is out on ebay as of this morning…we both dished on Oprah and then railed against Dr. Fill (I know that’s not how to spell his name but I don’t want any google hits for him). And I think Dr. Fill is accurate since he’s filled up with himself.

Today it is grey and looks like rain. I guess there won’t be any leaf raking in my future and I can’t say that I’m sad about it.

Waking up and making brownies first thing is a good thing.

Filling orders from ebay sales–the pile o’ stuff dwindles.

Thinking about the nice time you had last night at dinner with a friend.

Grooving to tunes.

Today we have sustained winds of 20-something with gusts up to 40mph. Yeehaw, I just saw a tumbleweed.

Last night we tried to have dinner at Capital Ale House but it was packed to the gills so no beer at the ice bar. They have a 40 foot bar with a block of ice in the center of the bar–keeps your glass frosty. Instead we ended up eating dinner at the new place in the recently reopened John Marshall Hotel called, oddly enough, John Marshall’s Martini Kitchen and Bubble Bar. We both broke bad and had neither a martini nor a bubble drink. I got the sherried she crab soup and crab cakes. Some of the best crab cakes ever. The better-half ordered the tomato bisque but they were out and instead had a couple of spoonfuls of my soup. He had the paprikash–which he said was excellent and he wants to make it sometime soon. I can’t help but thinking of “When Harry Met Sally” whenever I hear that word.

The restaurant was hosting a party of the name tag wearing sort so we had to eat in the lounge and then that filled up. The service was outstanding even with way too many people running around.

After dinner, we walked over to the Carpenter Center and were treated to 2 hours and 45 minutes of Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (no typo there—2 hours and 45 minutes!). The music was unbelievable and every single person on stage was beyond talented. At the end of the concert a local gospel group came out and made the crowd crazy. I’m always impressed with how talented the locals are.

Walking back to the car we noticed that a new place called Manhattans has opened next to Steve’s. Manhattans looks very cool and clean (design-wise) and we want to check it out. I mention the location next to Steve’s because Steve’s is the exact opposite of the new place–greasy spoon with the actual greasy spoons to prove it. Some excellent cobblers though.

It also looks like Penny Lane Pub is nearly ready to reopen in their new spot after the city kicked them out of the old place. I think the new digs are even better and I can’t wait to see what they’ve done with the space.

When I was in the 5th grade, my friend Jennifer and I spent copious amounts of time drawing what we called Tiki Torture Chambers on the backs of our social studies tests and quizzes. Sometimes we had access to a red pen to make some of the scenes more realistic. The drawings were gross depictions of a mad scientist removing body parts from his victims as they were transported on a conveyor belt. I have no idea why we started doing it but I know our social studies teacher hated it. We continued to do it because we weren’t that fond of her.

Nowadays, that kind of thing would have us suspended.