Birthday, suspended

Last night we enjoyed a belated birthday dinner at Tuscany Grill, right down the street. Belated due to

1) having diner dinner plans on my actual birthday, the 24th
2) the restaurant being closed on the 26th, due to a liquor license suspension for serving a minor alcohol. You can't serve a minor booze here in CT of course, but for the time being you can still hand your friend a beer when you pick them up at the airport.



Third time's the charm, as they say. I was graciuosly gifted a gift certificate to Tuscany Grill from Mrs. Cupcake's parents. Mrs. Cupcakes had the puttanesca, and I enjoyed the frutti di mare. For you non-link clickers, both dishes are delicious, but with names that mean "prostitute" and "fruit of the sea", respectively.

Earlier this week, we went to Priya for chaat night. Chaat as in Indian snack foods, not internet or small talk or whathaveyou. The buffet was great, but I ate way too much, finished off with this dessert...



...which was all very sweet and delicious, but looked very odd, like rice noodles cooked with a highlighter, and tapioca pearls that had somehow had black sesame seeds inserted into each of them. The ping pong ball is a sweet, honey-soaked orb of some dairy-related composition.

Today it was 55° here, so I cracked open one of these.



It's a very summertime beer. Sadly, I only bought one, and just for the label. Oh, and also the bottlecap.



OWLS!

I like owls.

$titch 'n' Fish

Valex and Heather attempted to stop by the weekly meeting of the Middletown SnB on Saturday meeting, but we saw noone there. We still had a fine time, and maybe next time we'll send out word that we're planning on attending.



Also, there is a battle raging over the "term" Stitch and Bitch, which is the title of this very popular book, Stitch 'n Bitch, but also has been layed claim to by a different company that wants to clamp down on the term useage and stop individuals and groups from using it to describe their little, or not so little gatherings for knitters. There is, of course, a boycott, let me be clear here, NOT OF THE BOOK BY DEBBIE STOLLER, but of the bullying company that claims they have the rights to the phrase. Anyway, the Middletown group (which meets in Cromwell?) has changed their name from Middletown SNB to Knitting in Middletown or some such thing due to the fact that bully has been shutting down Yahoo! Groups with the term in their title, etc.



After knitting time, we hopped in the wagon and headed north, to Wethersfield. Our destination was City Fish Market, where we procured catfish, salmon, tuna, and mussells. We steamed the mussells on Saturday night and ate them with olive oil ciabatta for dinner. The catfish is in the freezer, awaiting it's BBQ sauced fate, and the salmon I marinated overnight and broiled for last night's dinner. Poached is the easiest, but broiling is a very close second. The marinade included, but was not limited to, soy sauce, smashed garlic cloves, rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, ginger slices, and salt and pepper. Served with yukon golds and a salad topped with a tomato ginger dressing I got at Bliss Market, which is where we stopped right after City Fish.

Sunday was all brunchin' and nappin'.

Dinner is served...via AMBULANCE!

What's that????



Just like the title says...



...dinner is served. Poached salmon (poached in vermouth, water, carrots, onion, dried dill, fresh parsley, salt) with green beans and Yukon gold potatoes. The sauce on the side is yogurt with minced capers, more dried dill, salt and pepper.



OK, it wasn't SERVED via ambulance. Here's the story. My new Sub wagon had it's unveiling today at work. Stephen, not a co-worker exactly, but my buddy at work, shares my enthusiasm for station wagons, but he wasn't too excited about me getting a white Subaru ("piece of junk!"). Clearly, the only way to rectify the situation was to make it a STATION WAGON AMBULANCE, which Stephen and I had previously agreed was one of the finest kinds of station wagons. Noble, virtuous, small and white, clean and bright. I asked Scott for some red vinyl crosses so that I could properly present the wagon to Stephen upon his arrival. Turned out great. Stephen warmed right up to the Sub, with the crosses. VIVA VINYL!