Month: May 2005

Iniquity/inequity

For some reason which neither of us can remember, John and I were talking about iniquities this morning. He pointed out that if there is iniquity or wickedness then there should be iquity or righteousness. This being the kind of conversation we love to beat to death, I looked up iniquity on www.etymonline.com. It seems that iniquity comes from the Latin in (not) and aequus (equal, just). While iniquity does mean a gross injustice, most people think of it as wickedness. Taking this one step further, why do we have the word inequity when we already have a perfectly good meaning in iniquity? The reason for this, I think, is that we have the word equity and to make the opposite somebody stuck “in” in front of it.

Jen’s Favorites

In case you don’t read the comments, here are Jen’s favorite restaurants.

In no particular order:
Darrell’s, Manteo, NC (still the best hush puppies and crabcakes I’ve ever tasted)
Old Ebbitt Grill, Washington, DC (asparagus and ham strata on a Sunday morning…and the closest I’ll ever get to eating at the White House)
Fire & Ice, Middlebury, VT (grossly overpriced but very tasty entrees, and my favorite salad/bread/cheese bar)
The Keg, Toronto, Ontario (fantastic steakhouse with incredible service, every time)
Chef Geoff’s, Washington, DC (cozy atmosphere with an adventurous chef who does lovely things with potatoes)
E&O Trading Co., San Francisco, CA (a pomegranate margarita) (or two)
Five Guys, Alexandria, VA (the best fresh hamburgers and fries, with a giant box of peanuts available while you wait)

Thanks so much, Jen, for sending them along.

MOSQUITO MISERY

TODAY’S WORRY

If a mosquito were blogging its “A” list restaurants (see below), I would be on the top of the list. There is just something so delectable about Marymom to a mosquito.

Have you ever noticed that there are some people who can sit on a porch at dusk and never get bitten while another person has a cloud of mosquitoes around them? Mosquitoes find their prey by smell. Their antennae pick up the wafting carbon dioxide and heat emanating from people. People who give off more carbon dioxide and heat and a host of other smells tend to get bitten more. People who perspire get bit more than those who don’t.

So I can imagine that when I stepped out of the car here in Marco Island, a buzz went up, “SHE’S BACK!!!!”

Pheromone

Actually, when I was thinking about why I got bit so much by mosquitos, I originally thought it was because I gave off pheromones which were attractive to them. But my pheromones wouldn’t attract a mosquito, hopefully they would attract John.

pheromone – A chemical secreted by an animal, especially an insect, that influences the behavior or development of others of the same species, often functioning as an attractant of the opposite sex. (dictionary.com)

The “A” List

I’ve been taking to task by one of my blog readers. She feels I am too negative in my restaurant reviews and I would improve my life if I could take a more positive view of things. I think that I try to give credit where credit is due. But just to let you know that I do find many restaurants really good, here is my “A” list. Some of these restaurants may no longer be in business and some may have gone downhill since I was there, but the meals I had at them were great at the time.

The overall best restaurant I have ever eaten at –
Enoteca Pinchiorri, Florence, Italy

Other “A” List Restuarants
Bernard Morillon, Beaune, France (foie gras in a gingerbread crust)
Oak City Grill, Menlo Park, CA (scallops)
Cafe Des Artistes, Key West, Florida ( vegetables)
Pastavino, Florence, Italy
Jacques, Chicago, Illinois (fish en croute with 2 sauces)
L’eperlan, Quebec, Quebec (coquilles St. Jacques)
Le Filles du Roy, Montreal, Quebec (assiette Canadienne)
Domaine Chandon, Yountville, CA
Starz, Oakville, CA (no longer in business but the best fried calamari ever!)
Nob Hill, Las Vegas, NV (mashed potato sampler!)
Braverman’s Deli, Chicago (John’s #1 favorite)

And there are more but I am hoping to go back to them and do a more current review.

What are your favorites and why?

HAPPY WHAT?

TODAY’S QUANDARY

As we were sitting out on the lanai having our excellent dinner (more to follow about this), all of a sudden there were all kinds of small explosions, the kind you get from firecrackers and the like. So we sat there trying to figure out what holiday we were missing. Hmmmm, May 2, May Day +1? Dos de Mayo?, Almost Mother’s Day? Now I am a person who likes holidays and fireworks. When we were kids we always had sparklers on Fourth of July. My mom bought them from Prown’s in Red Bank. They sold them under the counter to customers they knew. And although we could have hurt ourselves, we never did. Anyway, back to the story. So I yelled out into the darkness, “What are we celebrating?” But there was no answer. Do you know what holiday May 2nd is?

Fastidious

There are two chain grocery stores that you can go to here on Marco Island. One is Winn-Dixie and the other is Publix. We often go to the Winn-Dixie because the Publix is really crowded. Maybe this is the reason why. As we approached the Winn-Dixie checkout, I noticed that the bagger was busily removing the gum from her mouth, saving it in one of her hands and then putting it back in her mouth. Then she continued to bag groceries. Yuck. The cashier was using her knot of hair as a receptacle for the pen she handed to customers to sign credit card receipts. Yuck again. I used my own pen and washed off a bunch of stuff that the bagger touched. It’s Publix for us even though it’s crowded.

fastidious – Possessing or displaying careful, meticulous attention to detail.

I expected the bagger and cashier at Winn-Dixie to be fastidious in their hygiene.

Cap’n Mom’s Kitchen

I’m using this title in jest since I’ve already written in a previous post about our family’s avoidance of certain words in the names of restaurants. But in this case, I’m Mom and John’s the Cap’n and the kitchen is our kitchen here in Marco Island. Last night we made an excellent meal. We started by visiting the local fish market, Paradise Fish Co.,and followed that with a trip to Publix for those tiny green beans that you can also find at Trader Joe’s. We grilled the escolar (quite a yummy fish) with some olive oil, lemon and salt, cooked the green beans ala Jacques Pepin (a little water and butter and by the time the water has evaporated the beans are cooked and are then sauteing in the butter), and enhanced some rice with chicken stock, a bay leaf, sauteed onions and garlic and lemon zest. We opened a nice bottle of white wine and, voila, a great dinner which cost about $25 to make and would have cost at least three times as much in a restaurant. Plus we could eat it next to the pool in our bathing suits! Sometimes I wonder why eating out seems so appealing.

PAVLOV’S CHILDREN

TODAY’S WORRY

If you eat your dinner, you can have dessert. I’ll pay you $5 for every A you get on your report card. If you clean up your room, you can stay up late tonight. How many modern parents have uttered those words? When did we start rewarding normal, expected behavior? Why is there a treat for the child who doesn’t get up and run around a restaurant? What does this teach them? We have ended up with children who are brats and parents who can’t cope. We have a workforce of dissatisfied, or worse, underachieving employees. So, when our nephew, Andy, responded to all the accolades and gifts that were being showered on him upon his graduation from college, he looked a little abashed and said that he had only done what he expected of himself. Andy, you are a real mensch.