St Paddy's 2015

We've done our St Patrick's already.  The parade was held on the Saturday past, fine times were had by all provided you didn't need the men's room.  We went home and had our corned beef and cabbie and it was good.  We wore our green and had our family time.  We then on Sunday had corned beef and cabbie again w'me fam.  It was good but I thought the rolls we had on Saturday were better.

Something of note, the wee new bae, Boo, took to the pipebands fine.  She held to her mommy but she didn't fuss.  The lad was much more interested in the parade this year, pointing at things I should take pictures of.  He pet unfamiliar wolfhounds, waved at the numerous pols that use the parade to... well, parade.  It was good.

I think I would probably feel different if we had something more to do this evening to celebrate.  I think I should make the time for something.  Art, perhaps.  I need more art.

In which I am a glutton once again.

There is a podcast that I listen to, The Let's Go Eat Show.  It was started by on of the morning show hosts from Radio From Hell, Bill Allred.  Bill is an adamant supporter of local businesses and fond of good food and drink.  He also happens to be a great interviewer and quite knowledgeable, he does his homework and generally doesn't come off as a mook.  Anyhow, on The LGES's most recent show he talked to Froddy Volgger, the Sausage King.  As you may have guessed already I was interested in what this man had to say.

Two words.

Two words that made me drool.

Buffalo.  Pastrami.

I loves me a good pastrami and given the opportunity I usually don't shy away from taking a bite out of something new.  This sounds up my alley to be sure.  Unfortunately it seems it is a little difficult to get a hold of.  However in searching for this buttery sounding delicacy I've found jalapeno chedder buffalo brats, so not all is lost.

The Boy has been labouring under a cough for the last few days and it seems it has transferred to The Girl.  The wee thing does not like it when I suck her nose with the bulb but thankfully she calms quickly.  It didn't stop her from keeping me up quite a bit last night.  Burbling as babies are wont to do.

The loneliness of a middle distance runner.

I am tired.  It is something to be expected with a newborn as any parent will share.  Its kind of like our version of scar stories.  You talk about how at X am so and so puked up and I had to scrub the floor in the dark or how it was like in the Exorcist when she puked but in your case it wasn't puke.  I feel guilty though because I know I get more sleep at night than my wife.  I've been averaging 5 hours, she is probably at 2.

We are getting there though, every day it seems like the Girl sleeps more at night and that is a victory of a kind.  She does however balance it out with 5 diapers in 5 minutes poop fests.  More poop for more sleep is apparently how it works out for this baby.  I'll take it, I'm not proud but I am sleepy.

It's Tuesday, that means food according to my tags and so I present to you an experiment that I am going to try soon.  I say experiment and that makes it sound grand however it really is just more laziness.  One of my favorite side dishes growing up was broccoli and cheese or green beans with cheese.  My mom would melt Velveeta on top of the veg as they cooked and I couldn't get enough.  What I am going to try is putting Alfredo sauce on top the veg as it would need much less cooking time/prep.  If it works it means a cheaper way of getting tasty vegetables with dairy goo and that is a good thing.

Also bacon, I've got bacon that I am going to add to it.

The memories of food.

As I continue writing these posts I feel that having one day a week where I talk about food strikes me as a bit... glutton-y?  I like food, I really do but I don't wish to give the impression that it is all I think about.  This may be the last Tuesday Foods post for some time.  We'll see.

I hesitate to cut this out though because so many shared memories come from meals or food experiences with friends.  I love sharp cheddar because it is something that my grandpa shared with me.  Its special.  I have a fondness for mac 'n' cheese with corn on the cob because it is one of my favorite meals that my mom made when I was growing up.  I imagine that anyone reading this has similar memories that they could share.  It's another of those connections that seems, no matter where you grew up, to be similar for everyone.  Is it genetic?  Who knows.  Maybe it comes from far back when we huddled together under the stars and told tales by the fire while sharing food.

If I were to replace the food section I would probably switch it out with something geeky, seeing as that is the sort of thing that I enjoy and it is my blog.  Honestly I probably should use it as an update day for the comic that has been languishing.  Maybe I will use it as a review day?  I don't know.  I need to think about these things in advance rather than stream of thought-ing them.

Raspberries

One of my favorite experiences from my childhood was of eating the stuff that came from my mother's garden.  We would grow corn on occasion and decided that the very best way to have corn was to pop it off the stalk, shuck it and plop it in the pot.  Corn on the cob that was picked no more than a half hour ago.  mmmmm.  We would have Mac 'n' Cheese along side and for some reason, my parents would have a shimp salad.

However.  The tip top.  The best to my little child hands was the raspberries.  So tart, a little squishy at times, ever so messy.  These are the hallmarks of a good finger food, at least to the young me.  I loved when they came in and was really sad, probably more than I let on, when my mom decided to stop growing them.

Imagine then my surprise this last weekend when we went to Bear Lake and found that everything was raspberried to death.  Raspberry shakes at every food joint.  Berry stands (unfortunately closed, not berry season yet).  It was delightful and, in all honesty, comforting.  I am twenty years beyond picking those berries from my mother's garden and yet I am right back there once again when I have a really good raspberry.

That, I think, is part of why we can enjoy food.  We tie memories into the experience and when we smell those familiar smells or see the colors of our favorite foods.  When we get that taste we are reminded of those better times,of our friends, our family or our childhood.  We can all get those sorts of experiences and that is pretty wonderful.  Not only does it allow us a way to revisit our past but it is a fully repeatable thing.  New friends, new foods, new experiences and opportunities to share and remember.