Hi, friends!
Happy Tuesday!
What’s on the menu tonight? It’s been taco salads for me for a few days since I had all the ingredients that were at that stage of ohhh this needs to get used soon.
What’s cooking? [NOT 2/1/24]
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I made deep dish pizza and was pretty happy with how it came out. I can’t say it was authentic Chicago or Detroit pizza, but the crust came out cooked all the way through and the ton of cheese on top worked.
I love deep-dish pizza, to the horror of my friends. There used to be precisely one Pizzeria Uno (!) in Manhattan and it was at the old South Street Seaport mall (!) It was fab. It had outdoor seating overlooking the harbor and it was really overpriced and touristy, but the touristy thing was part of its charm. As a self-appointed NYC ambassador/nut I used to engage people at the tables that I could overhear if they had any questions. And I was only about 30, and in full possession of my faculties. I met so many Aussies there. That Pizzeria Uno must have been in a guidebook popular in Australia at the time. A Rough Guide, I suppose, or more likely a Lonely Planet.
I’d like to be able to make really good thin crust pizza, but you need an oven that goes up to about 120,000 degrees and can melt tungsten.
Finally able to take it easy. Tonight it’s tuna rice with frozen peas.
Do your in-laws stay with you? That can get a little wearying. But they’re probably thrilled to hang out with the grand bébés. My mother was an absolute shrew to my oldest brother’s wife and practically danced around the maypole when she announced that she was leaving my brother. And my sister’s MIL was quite a piece of work herself. I don’t know what it was with my (extended) family. You always hear about how no man is good enough for Daddy’s little girl. But the mothers and their daughters-in-law…I mean, I know that MIL jokes have been around for decades, if not centuries, but to observe it yourself when the mothers turn their hairy eyeballs on a daughter-in-law and not a son-in-law is very strange.
Luckily, as I just mentioned recently, my own mother loved Better Half so we were spared opprobrium. What she thought about her son coupling off with a Black man as opposed to a white woman I don’t know, but my siblings assured me that Mom never said a bad word against him, and we used to gossip about our parents all the time, so I have no doubt that they were telling the truth.
My family in law are very nice. They mean well and love our kids. They are just not very helpful, are a bit racist, and are incredibly boring. Unless engaged with the kids, they don’t converse much. Their silence at meal times is what kills me. If you’re not going to be present while eating home cooked meals, then you deserve to be served microwave dinners. It feels like my efforts are un(der)appreciated. Thanking me for a meal is not the same thing as participating in the meal. Honestly, I rather eat alone.
I will tell you one thing. Before the pandemic, when we had people over all the time for dinner (and I’m not an Italian or Jewish woman; I just love to feed people) a couple of boyfriends or friends of BH showed up at different times, would gobble down their food, and retreat to the couch and get on their phones or tablets. It was always men. We know a gay couple who stayed with us and they’d be sitting next to each other and they’d text each other from their tablets. Does anyone realize how rude and insulting that is?
Anyway, the whole point of dinner is to yuk it up or get into fights or whatever, and not to retreat into your own online reality. That’s the great thing about my (extended) family. No one ever shuts up once the food arrives on the table, and dinner can take hours of non-stop chit-chat. It’s not for everyone, but I enjoy it.
I made a Tater Tot hot dish!
What happened was [Oh God, please spare us] Better Half came home with a 3-lb. bag of Tater Tots. He said, “I thought we could have these hash browns for breakfast.”
I rolled my eyes and said, “Yes, of course. But you know what these are also good for…bring out some of that hamburger and get that baking dish for me, can you? The 8×8.”
This apartment is so snug. I really don’t leave it much, and it always feels plenty warm. While baking my hot dish Better Half suited up and took the Faithful Hound out for his constitutional. I took my shirt off because I was so warm (believe me, you do not want to see the current Cousin Mattie shirtless) and then they came back and I asked, “What are you doing? Why does the dog have his coat on?”
“Mattie, it’s freezing outside. We’ll take a walk at lunchtime tomorrow. Good exercise, and you can feel the changing of the seasons.”
So that’s on my agenda.
Your version of the angry Midwestern housewife hot dish?
Oh, I’m not angry, I’m never happier than when I’m at the stove and listening to one-hit wonders and dancing as well as I can with the Faithful Hound, who loves to do his tap dance routine whenever food is in the offing.
Still working through the daughters food request list. Â Tonight is garlic shrimp, Kim Chee fried rice & Brussel sprouts
I’m sorry, I can’t help myself.
While eating our Tater Tot hot dish we tuned into “Hawaii 5-0,” again. In tonight’s episode a woman is murdered and the 5-0 is on it. We go back to the hospital, where Marion Ross was once a nurse, and the suspect is in an oxygen tent. I don’t think they do this to humans anymore, but our previous dog was once seen by this lunatic of a vet who I think was a trainee and she got so freaked out that she had to be intubated and rushed off to a 24-hour animal hospital, where she was put in an oxygen tent. I should have sued the scrubs off that woman but I’m not a particularly litigious type. She still works at that practice, much to our dismay, but when we have occasion to go there we make sure to request that that woman goes nowhere near our latest dog, the 10 1/2-year-old Faithful Hound. And the staff doesn’t seem to think this is a strange request, which is troubling. But they have a thriving cat practice, so maybe she’s a cat lady.
What did I want to say? There was another aspect of 1970-era tech. Anyway, at one point Chin Ho and Steve McGarrett are having a late Japanese takeout dinner in Steve’s office and Steve says, “I thought you were Chinese.” And Chin Ho says, “I am, but my uncle grew up and lives in a Japanese neighborhood, so he’s Japanese by association [or something like that.]”
Oh, I know, there’s lots of great 1970 language. People are “digging” things and stolen jewelry is “ice” that must be “hot” if the perp is so eager to get rid of it. And of course, because it’s “Hawaii 5-0” circa 1970 everyone has a gun, which is a plot point. And of course once again they have “The Rock” (Oahu) on lockdown and all the doctors are “doc.” And there’s at least one “brah” and one “bruddah,” but who can keep track. But sadly there’s no HPD chopper.
Oh wait! My final comment. The special guest star in this episode is Jackie Cooper, who was a child actor in the “Our Gang” shorts from the Depression era.
This series really deserves all your attention, but don’t binge. Take it one episode at a time so you can really savor them, preferably accompanied by a good stiff drink. A mai tai. A Blue Hawaiian. Whatever you have at hand.
I went on a quesadilla spree with all the leftover Christmas turkey, and I see no reason to really stop, so I’m cooking chicken thighs to continue my descent into madness. I might be forced to make fish or shrimp tacos this week.
The right wingers win again. They just wouldn’t stop until they wore her down.
https://apple.news/Ag1bbFLnCQ0ublHDbUPuFCg
Vegetable? What’s that? Is it cheese shaped?
Off-topic, but a screaming tabloid headline that just came across my HQ:
New York really is a very interesting place to live. Too interesting, sometimes.
I made a crab corn chowder. It made enough for 5 meals plus a meal for the neighbor. I figure I need to feed him to make up for the boys, who will bark at a strong breeze.
They are very good boys.
In my old neighborhood there was a very controversial dog-run topic. There was going to be a new development a block away that was going to be 12 stories. The long-time resident NIMBYs were out in force. They also objected to the redesign of the dog run, to the point where they filed a lawsuit.
Anyway, at one point I snapped, and I said, “You’re living in Manhattan for God’s sake. If you want low-rise peace and quiet move to Kansas. Honestly.” But no hard feelings, and that is the good/bad thing about New York. We’re all supposed to yell at each other and then make up over a couple of slices and a beverage or six.
i intended to make spicey tuna pasta….nothing fancy just pasta, red sauce a bunch of veggies and a habanero
and i did….but the spicey didnt happen
my habanero was a dud……lol
ive had cayenne peppers fail to be spicey before…..but honestly didnt know habaneros could do that too