Carolina-style Pork Sandwich c/o Fresh Market

The next day we had to do a bit of a grocery run in preparation for the meal we'd make that evening. We didn't really have lunch so while we were at Fresh Market we were taken in by the idea of a sandwich made right at their deli counter. I chose to try their barbeque pork tenderloin with coleslaw. I forget what CPM had, but I believe it involved Brie. Neither of us were terribly impressed, though the sandwiches did sit for about 45 minutes due to my thinking I knew how to take us on a nice back route...except I had no idea what I was doing so it took a pretty long time. In any case, the bbq sauce on my sandwich was extremely sweet. I would have preferred a more vinegar-based sauce. Lesson learned.

Work Lunch

From time to time I actually make my own food. These days even when that happens I don't really document the meals, even when successful. In this instance, I made myself a little work lunch of olives, cucumber, horseradish artichoke tuna fish salad, one pickle, half an avocado and a handful of carrots. When I have lunches like this I feel slightly better about myself.

Sushi and Sandwich

Another week, more meals. I'm not sharing the curry from King of Tandoor because it really isn't that much to look at, but I enjoyed it at the time. Another meal was from Kansai. I believe I went with the spicy/crunchy crab roll, eel and avocado, and smoked salmon with cream cheese. Very authentic sushi, no doubt. Satisfying though.
And then a turkey, pickle etc sandwich from Rybread. Their definition of a brioche is kind of off the mark.

Korean and Hoagie Lunches

The lunches kept coming. The dragon, however, isn't as young as it used to be and finds the whole thing more of a challenge. Another bad landing and wing loss in the Kim Chi stew from Koja Grill.
The dragon was able to enjoy the rice with no problem.
And on another day, another Primo's hoagie. I think this was the Sicilian.

Roast Beef Sandwich c/o Rybread

Another subsidized lunch meal at work. This time from Rybread. I believe this was roast beef, cheddar cheese and horseradish mayo grilled paninni-style. The beef didn't really have a lot of goodness to it, which meant the whole thing was a little flat; not Rybread's best, I didn't think.

Pulled Pork, Slaw and Cornbread to Start 2012

On the first I had to complete a bit of work in the morning, but helped with the lunch for the day. A.'s mother, M., shredded the remaining pork shoulder and then I made my version of pulled pork, which is definitely some amalgamation of a few different styles and totally inauthentic. T. whipped up some slaw, which I enjoyed mightily, and gluten-free cornbread to boot. A good final meal with this crew.
Then we played one more game of Catan before I headed back to Philly. Pretty sure I didn't win this game either, though I did have a pretty long road until I was stymied...by whom I can't quite remember. A. or C. probably.
I do like when the same thing happens in consecutive years; the sense of at least a fleeting tradition. I'm sure that as A. and M. and their respective families grow and change New Year's won't be at this location or include me, but for this year and last, it was a wonderful and relaxing time...except for the work, of course. By that I mean: thanks to S. for hosting us all and to the whole crew for their contributions to broadening my palate's experience with Italian wines and Wegman cheeses.

Work Meals and Dragon Flight

The free lunches kept rolling at work. This particular day was hot and sour soup and some chicken dish. The dragon really wanted to bathe itself in the thick viscosity of the soup, but lost control in its approach, ultimately parting with a wing. Soup dreams dashed.
The next day, however, the dragon was renewed and had far more success when landing on my salad from Luigi's (complete with fried zuchini sticks).
The dragon really is a little sneak and a mooch. Always getting bites of my meals. But what has it ever done for anyone! Nothing. Just sits and stares at me til lunch time. That's it.

Primo's Hoagie

The busy work times continued. At some point I enjoyed this hoagie from primo's. From the look of it, it's probably a 'Big T' with pickles, long hots, tomato and mayonnaise. I don't remember being disappointed.

String Beans and Tofu c/o New Place

For lunch the day after dart night I rallied the office troops and we tried out a new Chinese place in the neighborhood. I ordered the sauteed string beans in garlic sauce and added fried tofu to that mix. LW and I also split steamed pork dumplings. All was better than some places but worse than others. Hunan Szehuan still wins as far as green beans and tofu are concerned.

No Fanfare Hoagie

After a while even the most satisfying of food gets kind of shruggable. That's how I felt about this particular sandwich from Primo's. It had all the things I loved about sandwiches, but I didn't really get all that excited.

Korean-Style Cheese Steak c/o Koja Grill

The last time we had ordered from Koja Grill I felt myself strangely drawn to the Korean Spicy Beef Cheese Steak option but in the end opted for the slightly less heart clogging spicy tofu stew. This time around, however, I was having none of that (even though it was good) and didn't agonize in the least about this choice. And I will tell you what, this was a really interesting and tasty take on the cheese steak. The meat and onions and peppers really did have a little kick to them and the melty provolone aspect managed to meld into those flavors in a surprisingly good way.
I could have done with a little more cheese, but the portion and quantity of beef was entirely worth $7.99 in my opinion.

Perfection c/o Hunan Sczehuan

I think I've finally found my go-to dish from my go-to place. I've struggled with this, as far as Chinese food is concerned. I generally like some sort of tofu and... dish in some garlicky/brown sauce, but there's always something off with the tofu. Not fried, too dry, sparse, etc. But on this particular day I ordered the string bean and tofu in garlic sauce dish and I loved it. Loved it I tell you. Is it really fancy and sustainably made? No and probably not. Did it have texture and flavor and satiate my very soul? Indeed it did. Was this the day after darts and was I in desperate need of hearty, filling food? Yes I was. Does this lessen anything I've said above? I'll leave that one to the historians...who will clearly slobber over this blog as an anthroplogical marvel of what it once meant to be a 24-etc year old white woman in the United States in the early 2000s. Is my self-importance overblown. Well, I'll be the judge of that.
The dragon couldn't help but jump right into the dish, it was so clearly delicious.

Turkey Sandwich c/o Rybread

Another work day, another sandwich. This time I went with a turkey and cheddar sandwich c/o Rybread. I forget what its name was, but I can tell you that I enjoyed it. Don't have much to say past that.

Gyro c/o Zorba's

On another day I ordered the gyro sandwich from Zorba's - with extra tomatoes. It was a good move and a tasty hit-the-spot treat.
The dragon was overwhelmed by the extra tomatoes.

Lunch Special c/o King of Tandoor

The lunches kept rolling this past week, or maybe last week, whatever week it was. On this particular day I had the veggie lunch special c/o King of tandoor. I enjoyed the spinach/chick pea dish but I wasn't as enamored of the other element of the meal. I forget what it was though, so I can't really tell you to avoid it.

Dinosaur Progress and Primo's

Overnight the dinosaurs grew. I had hoped they would grow so big they would become alive and would be stomping around the office in all their neon glory. This did not happen, but you will note that they certainly grew.
Lunch was Primo's on this day. Maybe a Tuesday? I went with the Sicilian with long hots and tomatoes. It was a satisfying sandwich though the dragon tried to photo bomb this photograph, which I found quite rude.
Eventually it got its levitation on and all was better with the world.

The Dragon Returns ... With Primo's

The last couple of weeks have marked an uptick as far as work goes, which makes sense if you knew what I did. As has been the case in previous years, this means that my employers pay for lunch. Or inaugural lunch came to us care of Primo's. I went with a "Big T" with long hots, pickles and tomatoes. I was entirely satisfied until this dragon, whom I hadn't laid eyes on in months, suddenly was mugging for the camera like you wouldn't believe. Some dragons. No sense of humility.

Brutus, Louie, Sushi, Laundry and Me

Last Saturday I went over to C. and R.'s to keep Brutus company while they were away for the day. This gave me the opportunity to play with my iPhone's Instagram App, do laundry, catch up on episodes of the very-good television show Louie and decide that I was entitled to sushi for lunch. It was a very busy afternoon, believe you me. Brutus was wiped.
I ordered from Kansai and walked over to pick it up. I went with their two roll lunch special - Alaskan Rolls and now I can't remember what else. But I ordered the soup that came with the special, and then a real super fancy roll - the Tod Roll - that had seaweed salad and spicy tuna and shrimp tempura and a million other things I like.
Louie C.K. is a funny guy and an interesting writer/director/producer/editor. That man is busy all of the time. Terry Gross interviewed him as of late and he's an interesting person in that context too. If you haven't already converted, try watching Louie. Some episodes are available free on Hulu.
Brutus and I had a good time together. I left full and with a lot of clean laundry, and Brutus got a walk, a photo shoot and someone to appreciate his bone. That sounded dirty, but I'm not cutting it because it's accurate (dog loves his bone and likes to show it off between sleep sessions). So pretty much a winning experience for all involved.

Work Hoagie c/o Primos

We've got a few new folks in the office as of late, and in honor of their first week and getting to know them, the whole office sat down and had hoagies some time last week. I went with the Sulmona with pesto. Proble was that the sandwich didn't come like I thought it would. This is - in retrospect - partially because I was ordering the wrong sandwich ... but also because they didn't actually give me what I had ordered in terms of specializing the hoagie for my personal enjoyment. Primo's was pretty quick to get me a new sandwich, even if it too had mayo when I asked for none (I'm a mayo lover, but even I sometimes need a break). I think my love affair with Primo's may be, at least for the moment, an oversaturated love. Or desaturated? Can love be saturated? Probably.

DIY Pseudo Nicoise

For lunch that second day I commandeered some of Dad's left over tuna steak, repurposed one of the grilled potatoes and created my low-rent version of a Salad Nicoise, rounding it out with mixed greens and olives. I think I just did a little salt and nothing else in terms of dressing. The lack of dressing was the salad's main flaw, but it was still good on the whole.