The MODEL (Mystics On Deck Examining Life) mostly went to the beach this past weekend. I declined going; the beach, while quite lovely, just didn’t appeal to me this time around.
So as an alternative suggestion, my friend Chris suggested I come over and have dinner with him and Jim. This had been a suggestion several months ago, and of course, I try to comply with other peoples’ schedules and never knew when they were available, then entered my month-long hiatus and, well, yeah.
I thought, why not? We’ll take this opportunity so that I can see their home and have dinner together.
Chris and Jim have an incredibly lovely home. Jim’s done a great deal of work to the house, especially the front porch, and I do love big, old houses that have been remodeled and fixed up. Sturdy houses such as those are rarely made these days.
Their kitchen is enormous- one of the largest kitchens I’ve seen in this area. I’m a huge fan of big open kitchens after working in so many that are cramped and tiny for no apparent reason.
Also, the house, being old, had interesting features, including what I call the Zombie Window that’s in the front room. I was not terrified by it, per se, but it was a bit unnerving to know that someone could be looking down on me.
We had several good foods. I brought French bread that unfortunately turned out to be too dry, but of course, anytime I take food anywhere, the food invariably isn’t good or turns out bad and makes me want to try. I also took a bottle of the Sparkling White Grape Juice since none of us really drink.
There was so much food. SO MUCH FOOD! I also met their dog, a chihuahua (I think) named Osiris. They were amazed that Osiris flocked to me and made friends with me so quickly. He’s adorable, and I really love him! If he were my dog, I could have him as my mascot in the way that Salvador has become Veggie Table’s mascot.
I’ll try to remember everything that we had.
First, we had pierogies by my specific request. Jim DEEP-FRIED them- so they were like gourmet French fries. I do prefer pierogies fried to boiled, but boiling is an easier affair for me.
Next, we also had potato salad, though I can’t remember anything specific to remark about it. I love potato salad!
A pasta salad came in next, featuring crab meat that may or may not have been imitation crab meat. This was one of my favorite parts of the meal.
Another part of the meal I really enjoyed was the spaghetti squash and spaghetti sauce. I’ve never had the good fortune of eating spaghetti squash, and now I know that some powerful entity must have been holding me back, because spaghetti squash is amazing. The homemade spaghetti sauce to go with it featured eggplant and mushrooms, and Jim said that eggplant had mostly just dissolved into the sauce and left it with a rather meaty taste and texture.
Spaghetti squash is better than actual spaghetti, as the squash’s tanginess mixes well with the spaghetti sauce, and you aren’t eating pure strands of carbs. This recommendation comes from a carboholic, so you know that’s some good stuff.
Jim had green onions set out in a glass of water. He explained that you can keep green onions this way for weeks at a time in a fridge and they’ll stay crisp. A very excellent foodie tip!
We also had grilled salmon; I love salmon but ended up saving it for last and was too full to really eat my piece by the time I got around to it. I felt bad for only having half a piece of salmon, but that’s the price I paid for eating so much.
Dessert was a cake Jim made according to his mother’s recipe, a sort of pineapple-upside-down cake. The fruit was on the bottom: pineapples and cherries, and no icing topped the cake. Jim explained that the fruit keeps the cake moist as its on the inside, and that the general idea of icing on cakes is to keep the cake moist, not to add 5000 calories to it.
The cake turned out to be sweet on the perfect level- sweet enough to be good, not so sweet as to give toothaches and stomach problems!
Enjoy all the beautiful pictures from my phone!
Beaux
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Jim’s Delicious Cake with Cherries and Pinepples
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Grilled Salmon! Deeeeelicious!
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100% Homemade Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce!
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Green onions in the glass of cool water.
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I love clocks, so I had to take a picture of this one in the dining room. They also have a grandfather clock that they ACTUALLY USE!
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French bread with butter seasoned with bread seasoning. That stuff was good; the bread was not.
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Pierogies, my best friend ever!
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Spaghetti Squash!
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Osiris! He turned away and looked up at Chris.
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The terrifying ZOMBIE WINDOW! Yes, that’s in the ceiling, above a chair.
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