WHOA.

100,000 people.

image via www.barackobama.com

Weekend To-Do

Finally have a day to get some stuff done around the house. I'm half-way following the AT Fall Cure, and have pretty much no money so most of my work is going to be in the way of cleaning and getting rid of junk. Was going to go to the Obama rally but couldn't face the crowds...I'm sure it will be amazing though! Really excited that now it's fall weather and I can take the A/Cs out of the windows (they are so ugly), but not worry about the furnace just yet. And best of all, I can cook and bake to my hearts content without sweating buckets. Hooray!

On the list for this weekend (it's quite industrious, we'll see how reality pans out):

1. Vacuum, sweep, mop all my floors, and baseboards (whoa that means moving furniture).
2. Cleaning glass on windows, and dusting/scrubbing windowsills.
3. Laundry - as many loads as my dwindling stash of quarters will allow.
4. Dishes - never seem to catch up.
5. Bake the latest incarnation of no-knead bread.
6. Make something for the week, like soup, mac 'n cheese, or quiche.
7. Go through my paperwork piles and put everything away.
8. Drop off some old clothes at Goodwill.
9. Take both ginormous AC units out of the windows, clean them, and store in basement.
10. Take other junk down to storage (cleaning that out, though not so bad right now, will probably need to wait till another day).

Well, I've put it all out there, now I better get moving. It's almost noon and all I've accomplished is drinking several cups of coffee. :)

Food-Filled Weekend

It seems as though the vast majority of my free time, weekend or not, is somehow tied to food.  Going out to eat, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning up after cooking, thinking about what to eat, thinking about where to eat, etc.  Heck, I've been known to take a cookbook or two to bed for a little light reading before falling asleep.

None of this is really that big of a surprise, I suppose.  I guess my biggest hobby is just "food".  It should also be "running", since the two would complement each other oh-so-well but that concept has yet to click in my head.

This weekend especially has been all about food.  Last night was spent wondering where to go, then going out to eat, then discussing the restaurant and service, then passing out stuffed from an over-sized bowl of thank-you-very-much-for-the-5-lb-weight-gain St. Louis Style pasta.  

We finally went to eat at La Gra and our admittedly low expectations were met.  This place is a fine neighborhood restaurant and they seem to be doing alright from the crowds I see as I pass by on Tamm.  I hope it sticks around, at least for the fact that I like having Cairdeas, the attached coffee shop, around and I think they did a great job on the outside of the building.  It brings back a bit of dignity after the Lehman building debacle around the corner.

The dinner made me wish that I could be a restaurant consultant, someone who got to dine out specifically to make suggestions and observations that the owners would actually take to heart.  It seems like so many people get it almost right and the changes they'd need to make wouldn't be so difficult.  But they don't always see the forest for the trees and wind up not really winning people over.

At La Gra it was that sort of story. We started with a super-salty tapenade HEAPED into a ramekin with some crumbly toasts that mostly went to waste (we used all the toasts and had over half left).  The bartender who served our wine (just teach the servers! It's not that hard!) took like five minutes to get the cork out (I know both of us were just like, let me do it!).  The server was a super fast talker who seemed a bit scripted, maybe nervous, but mostly made us feel rushed. We were asked (same line I had already heard three times at other tables) if "anyone had a sweet tooth tonight" no more than 5 minutes into trying to make a dent in my enormous bowl of penne.  The rich, creamy risotto fritters were served with a rich creamy sauce - and were just screaming for some simple tomatoes.  For $55+tip you just expect a bit better (oh, and a "La Gra" salad was totally uneventul, not worth mentioning).

We will most likely be back, though, only because they offer a $10 corkage and hey, they've got toasted raviolis.  And you can't really mess those up ;)

Luckily, this morning started off on a much better footing thanks to a text from my brother saying he was hawking Mangia's wares up at the TG Farmer's Market.  Already sort of planning to hit it up looking for various fall-like ingredients, I headed down Kingshighway.  Things started looking good for the day when I got the last pack of pasta sheets from the bro (and some cute tri-colored spiral things) and some local chard and salsciccias to make a tasty lasagne for dinner.  A good crowd at the market for the almost-end-of-season weekend, which is great.  I wish I lived closer, and could walk!

I also felt like baking, and banana bread was long overdue on my list of things to make (and perfect-sounding for Sun. morning breakfast).  So after cooking the tomato sauce and salsiccias, assembling the lasagne, and cleaning up my mess, I got to baking.  I usually have a hard time getting my banana breads to cook all the way through without burning on the edges.  This time, my patience, some foil, and and hour and a half did the trick just right.  Hooray!

I'm hoping the lasagne turns out well, too.  I'm going to try roasting a bulb of garlic, too, and if that all goes off without a hitch, well I'll be one proud girl.  The only problem is I'll also likely be totally zonked tomorrow from all this cooking!  But with a happy tummy and that's what really matters :)

And now, here is a little article from the NY Times about gender roles and dining.  I found it interesting, especially since I've thought about this a little bit before.  On the one hand, I dislike anything patronizing.  On the other, I like being taken care of when I am plopping down several dozen hard-earned benjamins.  We've noticed that when it's just the two of us eating out, I tend to do most of the talking (unless it's wine related, but that's not exclusive).  If we are with a group, I usually just sit back and let someone else take the reins.  But not always.  Any other girls out there ever think about this?  I'm totally curious now.

St. Louis' New Chief

The City of St. Louis has a new police chief today, finally allowing us to move on a bit past the drama and uncovered corruption surrounding former Chief Mokwa and the tow-yard scandal.  I am really excited to see this new guy in action, I have a feeling he'll do great.  He even has a blog! Haha :)  Well, of course blogs don't fight crime, or lead those who do (not directly at least) but I have a great feeling about Chief Isom.  I look forward to seeing what he can do to help all across our city, especially in some of the tough neighborhoods where my work has many of our developments.  Real change has been needed in those places for a long time and the new chief seems have the personal experience required to see the problems as they truly are and to hopefully get things taken care of - in an open and honest manner of course.  I look forward to hearing more from him soon!