Sunday, October 23, 2005

How Can I Be Mad?

Cranky has confounded himself. He's actually happy, and he's not used to that. All of a sudden, he's relaxed and he likes hanging around the house, and he's not used to that, either.
Oddest of all, he feels more and more like a vegetarian — and he's liking it.
I don't eat a lot of meat, which means we don't buy much of it, so when we go to restaurants, Cranky indulges his meat lust by ordering steak. But the last couple of times we ate at a place known for its rather good steaks, he had a bowl of French onion soup instead.
Now, Cranky is indulging my lust, which he's always been happy to do — but he's surprised at how much he enjoys it himself.
I tend to order "from the top of the menu" — y'know, little dishes, rich with flavor, varied in textures. Nothing I hate more than what I call "a plate of same." Who wants to saw through mouthful after mouthful of unmitigated animal protein? How about a little spark? Some visual gratification? Some fun?
So Cranky has been concocting meals of gem-like bites. The week before last, it was gorgeous, silly Fubars. Tonight we're doing a sequel, but using broccoli and oyster mushrooms on top of the tofu puffs. A couple of days ago, we finished off (most of) the rest of the tiny jar of truffled caviar on these lovelies: New potatoes cut in half, roasted cut-side down on an oiled sheet. Cooled off a little. Smeared with Cowgirl Creamery crème fraîche. Topped with dem fish eggs.
I eat.

8 comments:

Sam said...

you two know how to live

Mona said...

cool blog! love the title and description. just found you off comments at snackish. will be staying tuned now more often!

Guy said...

"Who wants to saw through mouthful after mouthful of unmitigated animal protein?"
You didn't really want to know who, right?
Don't forget the gravy, it helps with large portions of protein.

Biggles

cookiecrumb said...

Sam: Sigh. Blush. :-)
Mona: Howdy! Thanks for stopping by. Now I'll come and visit you.
Bigs: Oh, yeah, baby, I had you in mind when that sentence came spilling out. However, two things: 1) Gravy doesn't count. Gravy -- oh, I am the turkey gravy maker of your dreams. I only roast the bird for the gravy; would rather not have to lubricate meat to get it down my throat, though. 2) And cured meats don't count. There is bacon and a Kentucky ham in my fridge at this very moment.

Greg said...

What Biggles said!
G.

Jamie said...

All too often I have been guilty of joylessly grazing through "a plate of same." I love your method of ordering little stuff from the top of the menu. I think I'll do that more often!

Anonymous said...

Tofu puffs? Please, elaborate!

cookiecrumb said...

Kathy: Tofu puffs. Deep fried. Commercial, or you can fry them yourself.