Weekend Roundup

I've been eating some mighty fine food this weekend, although cooked mostly by other people. Friday brought me to Rochester for work. My co-worker, who joined me, used to live in Rochester and she was dying to go to her favorite Thai place, The King and I. No sooner had we ordered than two cups of steaming, chicken soup, redolent with lemongrass and fish sauce, were brought to the table. The only thing I didn't love, weirdly, were the small pieces of chicken in the soup; it kinda got in my way of the real deal. Then I had a chicken dish in a red curry-coconut sauce that disappeared quickly.

You'd think since I had a late, and very filling lunch that I wouldn't have been keen on going out for a fish fry-that hallowed, Friday evening tradition. But pops had a hankering and I happily agreed to join him. I'm still trying to figure out where my favorite fish fry in Buffalo is. As a default, we go to the neighborhood joint, which is pretty good but this time the fish was a bit tough. But it's fast and cheap and they now serve REAL french fries, not those awful crinkle-cut ones.


(This is not my picture, nor my fish fry and sadly, not my martini)


And finally, I was invited over to a friend's house for banana-cream pie and coffee. Interestingly, my hosts are lactose-intolerant, so the filling was made with soy milk (delicious still) and instead of whipped cream, we had unbaked meringue on top. I have never had meringue that wasn't baked on top of a luscious lemon pie and I was surprised by how much I liked it, not too sweet.

Saturday night, I went to a party that featured green chili and roast pork on an outdoor spit. Yes ma'am! We could hardly believe we were having an outdoor party in Buffalo in November! With a fire, some mulled cider and that steaming chili, full of tender chunks of beef and pork, tomatoes and fresh, plump corn kernels, we were perfectly content.

This afternoon, I have a date with D. to make Vietnamese pho. I do love that rich broth of beef shank, lemongrass and star anise but I've never made it before so I'll report back later on that. Cilantro, bean sprouts, lime and recao, mmmmm. I'm ready for lunch and I haven't even had breakfast!