Dinner With Cousin E. c/o Han Dynasty

A few years back I met up with a West Coast cousin, E., for dinner whilst he was on the coast for business. At some point in June he reached out to me to say he was going to be in town yet again. I inquired as to where he was staying and then determined that a good place to meet up for dinner might be Han Dynasty. This was threefold. One, it wasn't too far away from his hotel. Two, I had long been wanting to return after my first visit with the GS crew. And three, I had darts on that night and Han Dynasty was a nice mid-point between my home and the dart night location. And so a plan was created. It was one of the first of excessively hot days we've been having throughout the spring/summer. We were seated quickly and I suggested we share the spicy cucumber appetizer.

I then chose the chicken 'long hot pepper style.' Tasty stuff, though I think that my first visit's eggplant garlic style might have been more of a standout favorite.

The cousin had tofu, I forget which style. Their tofu is much different from that of so many takeout Chinese places: little strips, firm, with more the look of eggplant than tofu.

A good meal and lovely to catch up with a distant cousin. This was the second of three out of town visitor experiences of the week, which certainly made it different than many. Thanks to E. for dinner and for the avocado and beet treats!

Dim Sum c/o Good Fortune

Our last adventure in Maryland brought us to Good Fortune for dim sum. We were there quite early, but that only meant that the fried food was hot and crispy as opposed to slightly tepid after hours on a cart. We tried most of the standard things and a few newbies.
Meat and things.
Taro! Such a strangely pleasing mass of starch.
Good eating.
Dad left from Wheaton while I returned to the house with the T.s because I hadn't wanted to leave many of my new gifts in a car. As we pulled in we all had the collective moment of 'oh, well there's Milo the dog on the front porch ... wait a second, why is Milo the dog on the front porch!' It's a good thing he's straight up geriatric these days, as he was free of leash and could have done any number of dangerous unattended things. Luckily it seems like he probably just lay in the sun wondering what had happened to his collective owners' minds.
A great and deeply felt thank you goes to the whole T. clan. To B. for her great attitude and hosting abilities, to D. for his cooking prowess (not that B. isn't a good cook), and to R. for his affable nature. It was a great weekend and I'm so glad Dad and I were a part of it. Also thanks goes to all who gifted me presents for my b-day!

Salad and Steak

On Friday evening B&D fixed dinner for me and their two friends from out of town. I'm not sure I know what cut of beef it was but it was good. And the grilled asparagus were also delightful.
A pleasant evening was had by all I would think...except for B.'s sofa and Milo the dog maybe. It was really great to see B&D, and so kind of them to let me bunk in their guest room over the weekend.

Cheese, Quesadillas, Ice Cream and Silliness c/o J & J

On my last night in Philly before heading back to Nashville I drove over to J&J's for dinner. As always he-J had a nice spread of cheese and snacks to start the evening. This time I was introduced to a cheese with Dragon in its title that had a nice kick to it. I forget its full name. Dragon's Breath? Dragon's Fire? Dragon's Teeth? I think maybe it was Red Dragon. S. tried a bit and promptly spit it out; it was not a cheese for a four year old's (almost five I think) palate.
As has become the norm, soon after my arrival S. went up to his room and came back down in an entirely new outfit and persona. Who might this be, you ask? Well, obviously it is PAJAMA MAN!
For dinner he-J cooked up tasty quesadillas. One had shrimp and beans as well as cheese, the other mushrooms and cheese. I was especially fond of the mushroom version. It was delicious.
N. is seen here biting on something I think we were considering cookies.
S. made yet another clothing change...though only in the sense that the top-most outfit was changed, he still had the pajamas and maybe even his original outfit underneath. Only now he was a pirate chef. We heard the tell-tale sound of the ice cream truck and went out on their corner to flag it down. Ha ha. Get it? Flag?!
Same exact lighting conditions, two different color casts. Stephen Shore would be so disappointed with me.
Whilst waiting for the ice cream truck to appear, we sipped on he-J's always excellent homemade limoncello. Man, I love that stuff. I also tried a Japanese ginger beer.
You can't really see it, but she-J and he-J are dancing/jumping in the background.

S. asked for a spider man popsicle while N. had a cone. I abstained.
Something went awry with the foot of S. so we made preparations to cut it off. Not really.
Look how cute N. looks while I, on the other hand, give the camera my full-on crazy eye.
The sink.
I think my presence riled the kids up pretty fierce, which flatters me while making their parents' lives more difficult. I just love it when kids love hanging out with me. And I don't think I'm wrong in saying that S. and N. really do enjoy my company. God, what if they don't? Won't that just be the the biggest of all embarrassments? Hm. Well. Alas. Thanks, as always, goes to the whole clan for their food, libations and company.

Cheese, Pizza and Pajamas c/o J. & J. (and S. and N.)

Last weekend I went over to J. and J.'s for a little face time. There was a lot of cheese, and I love cheese....and hummus, who doesn't love hummus!?
Mmmmmm. Cheeeeese.

The kids were in good moods.
He-J. made pizzas. Delicious pizzas. This one, poorly flashed it's true, had corn and mushrooms and lovely, ooey, gooey cheese. The other pizza had pineapples and was quite tasty as well.
N. is seriously digging Buzz Lightyear. S. continues to dig storm troopers.
The evening waned, and S. put his sleeping gear on, complete with Eagles hat and gloves. It was quite a great ensemble, and I wanted to get a real nice picture of it...but S. was a little over the photograph taking, so these are the best I could get.

Serious stylin'.
Thanks to the whole clan for a lovely evening and dinner!

More Rain, Soup and Costumes

After my walk I returned home, futzed for a bit, then went over to Ak's and A2's for a good amount of tv-watching (I no longer have television, if you can believe it) and 17 Again. Once the moving pictures part of my evening was complete, I headed over to J. and J.'s for a little soup and conversation. The soup, I think, was lentil with pumpkin (but maybe I'm making up the pumpkin part?). Driving to their place was treacherous, as the rain had gone from steady to torrential in the hours after my walk, and Kelly Drive was verging on flooded.
S. took a few photographs with the camera.

Limoncello was consumed.
S. is going to be a storm trooper for Halloween, while N. is going to be Batman. S. thought was in high spirits and quite enjoyed running around with the cape. As he should have.
It was worth braving the rain and, upon my return, the 45 minute search for a parking space (stupid Eastern State Penitentiary scare-fest, why must you make my neighborhood's parking situation any more perplexing than it already is?) for the company of J. and J. and N. and S. Maybe I should paint my room today.

Guacamole, Chicken Satay and Corn

On Saturday A.'s father whipped up bowl chock full of avocado awsomeness with a side of lime tortilla chips, which we snacked on while A. and her mother put together the rest of that night's dinner.
Earlier in the day A. mixed up some satay marinade and placed a good number of chicken slices in the ginger, soy etc deliciousness. Those chicken pieces, a good number of hours later, were then put in the oven to cook. Meanwhile, a peanut sauce was made, rice was cooked and broccoli steamed.
Oh yes, and corn boiled. The corn was purchased not at the Amish produce stand but at the stand with the flowers. I believe it was $4.50 for a dozen.

We then sat down and ate it all. Thanks to A. and her parents for all the preparation!

Lovely Evening on a New Deck

On Monday I went over to Ak's to check out her new digs and enjoy her roof top deck. The photograph below is not her deck, but a deck across the way that I admired for its large collection of plants and cherry tomatoes...see the floor of the deck, just littered with the little guys.
It was a gorgeous day, warm but definitely fitting into the late summer/early fall part of the season. The clouds were also in top form.


The previous 'room owner' of Ak's new room left behind a few pairs of shoes and it is because of this that I now own a pair of brown leather calf length boots. I had every intention of going home early after a drink with Ak, but, alas, instead we went from wine to jollyrancher flavored vodka drinks, which you can see in this series of photographs.
Note the boot slipper boot patterning.

It was a lovely night. Thanks to AK, and her new roommate A. for the company, drinks and shoes.

Company Team Event Dinner c/o Dos Segundos

Last week my office-mates, a number of off-site coworkers and boss-men had dinner at Dos Segundos as a team event. We sat in the back at one long table. Earlier in the afternoon it had rained, so the patio was closed. From my indoor perspective it looked like a pretty outside spot? We started with the chips and salsa, I stuck mainly to the green salsa because it was right in front of me and had a satisfying taste, sweet not too hot. Green. Photoshopped.
The margarita consumption, or possible consumption, was out of control. At one point our side of the table had finally gotten down to one pitcher (none of which we ordered, they would just appear) when one of our boss-men came and transferred the majority of one of their pitcher's contents into our pitcher. They varied in goodness, they were sometimes very sweet.
I ordered the fruit gazpacho in order to try something new. A mixture of grapes, shredded coconut, cantaloupe and apples in a one part o.j. broth (and maybe other juices) and some really sneaky pepper. It was a sweet soup but it had a slow heat that came on without a fuss but could build itself up. I ate half. All the ingredients combined, though light and freshing, were a little rich for me.
Oh Photoshop, sometimes I do like playing with your features. Look, everyone is lit up all neon like.
The last time I dined at Dos Segundos I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed the goat tacos. I recommended them to others but when it came my turn to order I went with one of the specials, the barbequed salmon tacos. This, unfortunately, was not the best decision I could have made. It just, I don't know, didn't really work. The flavor of the fish wasn't all that enticing and that had an impact. I did try C.'s steak and it was de-licious. And another C. ordered the goat tacos and really enjoyed them. Sigh.
Even though the tacos weren't my favorite I'm not going to hate on them too much. It was still a really lovely meal, and it was nice to see all my work people in a slightly less worky atmosphere. I thank my two boss-men, who are also the founders of the company, very much for the meal, and for the job I actually like doing.