Overkill - Ice Cream Fail

Peanut M&M + Snickers Milkshake garnished w/ Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

This weekend snack was an exercise in excess. As we were returning from a Canuck wing feast, we encountered a child who was selling candy out of one of those big fundraiser boxes that such children wear around their necks. He was a polite boy who wore a t-shirt with the logo of the group for which he was fundraising. This supported the idea that he was not scamming us, so we decided to purchase a giant Snickers and some Peanut M&Ms. * We returned and ground the candy up with some butter pecan ice cream. The solid material suspended in the milkshake made it a little tough to properly enjoy.

* Compare to the girl who approached me at the Kroger on Poplar and Highland asking me to buy candy for her "cheerleading squad." She was dressed like a junior prostitute and had five or six types of jawbreakers and similar gross candies clutched in her grimy little mitt.

Me: "I don't really like fruity chewy candy."

Child: "Would you like to make a donation?"

Me: "I would feel better about that if you had a uniform on, or some literature. Do you have some literature?"

Child: "What's literature?." (Should you not be familiar with that term by age 12? Gah. By the time you are parading about in a cheerleading uniform, I would expect you to have at least an elementary school vocabulary.)

Me: "A handout of some sort that tells me about your organization. Do you have an adult with you? Is there a sign of some sort?"

Child: "Well we had a sign up but they told us to take it down."

Me: "So Kroger does not want you around here asking for money?"

Child: "Yes."

Sure. And then she would not leave the side of my car as I loaded the groceries. Beware.

Saigon Le - It's Feast O'Clock

This was menu item #153, soup containing squid, pork, crab, and a few juicy shrimp.  Also floating in the broth were plenty of scallions and some whole garlic cloves, as well as the expected mung bean sprouts and rice noodles.  Nom nom nom.  

Mmmm.....fish eggs

Carr's Water Cracker with sour cream, chives, trout roe, and red onion.  NOM NOM NOM. 

Feast on Fish / Miss Cordelia's angers me

Mahi Mahi * with Cucumber-Tomato Relish

This was quite tasty.  I adapted this from a recipe I found on the internet to make a spicy cold salsa to heap upon lemon-pepper mahi. 

1 cup of cucumber (remove seeds and chop into little cubes)

1 large tomato 

1 leek, sliced very thinly

2 cups of cooked shrimp, cut into small pieces

about half a cup of diced jalapeno pepper (the kind in the jar worked for me)

juice from 2 limes

shit ton of fresh dill

Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning 

salt

1 ripe avocado

lemon pepper seasoning (commercial kind in the spice section)

4 pieces of mahi mahi

4 tbsp of butter

Put the tomato, cucumber, dill, peppers, leeks, lime juice, shrimp, salt, and Tony's into a bowl.  Let it marinade for 1 hour.   

Then, pan-fry the fish with the lemon pepper on both sides in the butter.  Put some of the relish and some avocado slices on top.  

NOM NOM NOM NOM.  

* This recipe was really tasty, but the mahi itself was mediocre because Miss Cordelia's sucks.  This relish would also have tasted great on some tilapia, grouper, or mahi mahi from Fresh Market. The fish at Cordelia's is hit or miss.  The night after the mahi mahi, we got some catfish that was not good.  

Don't cry for Miss Cordelia though, despite my rant, there is no doubt whatsoever that I will continue to drop a large percent of my resources on overpriced Triscuits, warm beer, and milk that is about to expire.  I might just trek on out to the wilderness of Not Downtown for my future fish needs.  

Fish that Feast

I like animals, in that I like to feast on them.  On rare occasions, however, I enjoy watching animals feast themselves.   

These scary carp are at the Memphis Botanic Garden.  They are the only fish I have ever seen actually BEG for food.  They swarm and follow people standing above the pond.  Some of these fish are so massive that it is actually unnerving.  These photos fail to capture the mouth size of these beasts.  Buy several bags of food.  

The polar bear feeding at the Memphis Zoo is somewhat less impressive, actually.  The bears get tiny, repeat tiny fish.  They resemble moiku (tiny Finnish fish that are fried and consumed in one bite, bones and all) when Payton, Cranbearry, and Hailey get ahold of them.  I was really expecting a whale carcass or a baby seal.  I suppose the polar bear feeding is okay if one has the proper expectations, but the carp are a real sight to behold.  

Wasabi Salmon Sandwich

I created a new feast last night.  I took 4 sinus pills (epic fail) and turned to Japanese horseradish instead.  

Salmon Sandwich

2 big pieces of salmon

wasabi powder

light mayo (since I was using it for texture and not flavor, the light was acceptable)

hamburger rolls (the cheap kind have the fewest calories)

Cook salmon in skillet with salt & pepper, then remove the skin.  Add water to wasabi powder, then add a tablespoon or so of mayo for the sauce.  Spread the sauce on a toasted roll.

Veggie Stir Fry

bean sprouts

shredded carrots

bagged spinach

rice vinegar

chili sesame oil

mirin

soy sauce

Put about two tablespoons of mirin, sesame oil, and rice vinegar into a skillet.  Then add about a quarter cup of soy sauce.  Next, add the sprouts and carrots.  When they get soft (but not mushy! Nom Nom fail) then throw in some spinach.  Cook until the spinach is soft.  

Mmmmm.  Nom nom nom nom.  Serve with beer, wasabi is spicy!

Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana

If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in Germantown, TN, I recommend mitigating the lameness with a visit to Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana.

The owner is from Mexico City, and this delicious restaurant prides itself on serving fresh, authentic feasts. The choices are served in either a giant sandwich (Tortuga) or in about 5 mini tacos. I chose pork & pineapple in the Tortuga. It was filled with mild cheese, fresh avocado, fresh tomatoes, etc. Mmmmm, NOM NOM NOM.

Despite the large size of the feast, I did not experience the urge to disgorge myself * that typically follows a queso-and-grease-drenched feast from a typical Mexican restaurant. I like to imagine that the Deli Mexicana is fairly healthy. The ingredients were flavorful. I will be back.

So, brave the horrendous Poplar traffic, congestion, and video-camera traffic lights (right to confront your accuser? Ha, suburbs recognize that the Constitution is so quaint!) and go to the Deli. The feast will be eaten so fast that Germantown will not have sufficient time to extract your soul.

* This may also be attributed to the fact that I typically drink anywhere from three to five 22-ounce draught Dos Equis Ambers.