I very well could be the strangest person you know today

It all started earlier this week when Neavsey came into work with Chick-fil-A.
“I can’t believe you bought homophobic food,” I said indignantly.
“Don’t be mad at the chicken.” She then proceeded to show me a hilarious parody of three trans-ladies mocking Wilson Phillips and singing about Chick-Fil-A.

I confessed that I do, in fact, miss the waffle fries.

Next morning, Hurricane Benji graces us with his presence and he is munching on Whataburger. My taste buds immediately salivate and I think about getting drive-thru from an A-frame… mmm. It was like a Homer Simpson moment when Neavesy became a burger and Benji turned into an onion ring.

Since I haven’t been waking up on the right-side of the bed lately (literally, I’ve been getting up on the left) I didn’t bring a lunch. It’s Friday so going out felt like a good option. I texted my buddy Ford Prefect for a date…

Alright, you know what? I’m DOING this!
I’m sure it’s been done before, but I am actually going to three different fast food locales to get the best portions of a meal to make the ULTIMATE FAST FOOD BURGER LUNCH EXPERIENCE.

I left the office at 12pm and made it back at 1:05pm.
Here is the route I took:

I selected medium potato waffle fries from Chik-Fil-A (400 calories, 21 grams of fat, 48 carbs) with one packet of ketchup. Those were wolfed in-route to In-N-Out where I got a cheeseburger animal-style (480 calories, 27grams of fat, 39 carbs). Then next part of journey had me going up the access road with multiple red lights; I was able to finish the burger quite literally in line at the DRIVE THRU at Whataburger.

Here I was stumped. A milkshake? A dessert? I opted for a hot apple pie. OMG. I’m really stuffed and don’t want to eat this… but I must take at least a few bites or this was all for naught. Since I only had a few bites (which burnt the top of my mouth with its lava-like apple spew) I’m going to round down to half of the actual nutrition (130 calories, 114 grams of fat, 7 carbs)



Just to sum up: My ridiculousness took 65 minutes. I saw three private jets overhead. I listened (and sang along) to about 10 or so songs on KXT. I nearly rear-ended someone on Beltline. I learned Whataburger doesn’t have bottled water and I spent about $5.60 in total. I did it… but it’s not something I’d necessarily do again. Unless we figured in curly fries from Jack-In-the-Box, a hot fudge sundae from Dairy Queen… no NO NO!!! This is going to take 3 full work out sessions to negate my gluttony.

And just as I post this, I get another text from Ford, “How was crazy lunch?"

Chips and Chats

Elsa Cat is shooting a :30 :60 :90 spot for our company today, and as the Nosey Nellie I am, I wanted to go over and check it out. Before doing so, it was lunchtime and I asked Neavesy if she wanted to hit up Chuy's.
"Sure, I guess. I've never been."
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!?!?!
How is this possible? A Texas native who had not been to Chuy's?
I.
Was.
Floored.

Off we went. Chips were had. Jalapeno ranch was dipped. Tacos devoured. (No alcoholic beverages were consumed.)
Here is the range of topics we discussed in the space of an hour:

Oscars: nominations, movies, best pictures, what we need to see (Selma, American Soldier, Theory of Everything), most won awards and Disney
EGOTS
Whoppi Goldberg
Audrey Hepburn
Lewis CK
Black Jeopardy
Everything is Awesome
Lego movie not being made of legos

The conversation had a great cadence which continued on to the shoot where we met up with Elsa Cat and talked for two hours. I'm loving my team.

(I texted KelBel and PinTrish a photo of the chips and dips, just to rub it in their faces. They weren't too amused.)

Are You Going To Scarborough Fair?

It's that time of year again when North Texas goes back to the 16th century with the return of Scarborough Fair. Hubster and I made the hour south drive to Waxahatchie, Texas yesterday morning. (Quick tip: go early or be patient with the drive. It's bumper to bumper once you leave I-35.) The Renaissance Fair will be in town until end of May and usually we go towards the end. But last year was so freaking hot, we went now. Not sure that was the brightest move, many of the Artisans were focused on selling and not the demonstrations of their craft.

That said, we had fun with masks. 

 And had some foodies.

Which, were not entirely great; but unless you're camping out in the parking lot and grilling up your own meals, you have to take what you can get. And it's not cheap. 

At one o'clock they have the King's Parade. I felt bad for the drummer whose strap broke and he had to bail out early.  There were some interesting new additions this year. 

The parade was running a little behind and poor King Henry was literally jogging to keep up.

After the parade, we kept wandering around discovering the village. 

 I ended up buying a set of amazing wind chimes, a new leather satchel and a wooden hair clip. 

Right before we left, we visited the "Coin Men" who create customized bronze and silver coins that you wear as medallions. You have a range of images to select from for the front and back of the coin.

They employ a machine invented by Da Vinci that utilizes weight and gravity to stamp into metal. It revolutionized coin making. 

Two years ago I got Pan on one side and Bacchus on the other. As you can imagine, it was a wild year. This time around I asked for two coins: one with the sun and moon, the other with a Fleur de lis and Family Heart.

But the best part of Ren Fair is the cosplay. 

This year had an unusually high number of mythical folk. 

Elves.

And quite a large number of Pirates.

You always get a good show with the men who like to wear skirts kilts.

And the ladies who just want to show skin.

The baby was a nice touch though. 

And the handful of people who pick out their costume from Party City, or make their on attempt to participate. 

 

And then the ones who REALLY get into it. 

Even though it was a mild 85 degrees, I don't know how they do it. Probably why you end up seeing more and more skin as we get closer to summer. 

Fox tails were quite popular this year. 

And at the end of the day, when it's time to part ways and get back to reality in the 21st century, you're reminded why you came here in the first place.

To unplug.

Silence of the Braised Lamb's Neck

I had a lunch date planned with a colleague today, but he rescheduled an hour before for a later date. This now bumps him down on the "G's Favorite Pilot List" which stands as thus:

1. Captain Blue Eyes (no one is going to take away his number one spot. Just not going to happen.)
2. Dougie Doug
3. Mister Jim
4. Tommy P
5. Cantabene (Because he left us, other wise he'd be above Tommy.)
6. Duane (Yeah, that's right Duane. You just got kicked to the bottom!)

He doesn't care. Trust me.

So with time on my hands I went to the gym for 20 minutes of intense elliptical, 20 minutes weights, 10 minutes treadmill. Felt pretty good! From there I hopped over to Sprouts to figure out what I wanted to create for dinner. On special? Lamb necks for $2.99 a pound.

Well there you go.

Figuring that it would be similar to a shank, I decided to get a few key ingredients and head home.

 

Lamb necks, flour, garlic salt, black pepper, lemon, onion, tomatoes, white onion, butter, olive oil, potato (I actually decided on couscous instead, but the photo was already taken.)  

I could have added fresh rosemary from the garden, but decided against it this time. 

First step, get the necks dredged in the flour and spice mixture. 

While you are coating these, put one tablespoon of olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a good pot. You want the heat high enough to crisp the lamb but not so high to create a smoke bomb. 

For me? It's the range at 7.

Lamb has a lot of fat, especially this cut, but you need to crisp up the exterior and eventually saute the onions and tomatoes. You may remove the fat later. 

 

Once the lamb is coated, put it in the pot. This applies to shanks as well.

It's not rocket science. 

 

Sorry for the blurry photo, but I needed to be quick at this point. 

You need to get the onions and tomatoes chopped and ready to go in the pan once you remove the lamb. 

 Now you need to remove the lamb to another plate. Place the chopped onion in the pot and lower the heat. Toss in the tomatoes once the heat is reduced and you're at a low, low simmer. 

BE CAREFUL OF GREASE! Too much and you need to remove it from the pot. 

 

You can see it's slightly smoky. 

Now, I used fresh tomatoes but it's completely acceptable to use diced canned tomatoes. Just make sure they aren't seasoned or have something weird like jalapenos in the can. 

Fresh is best!

Wine. 

There will be people who disagree with me, but I think a good, long braise should include wine. 

Just a cupful of a non-expensive but a trusty tasting Cab Sav. 

 

Today I used a 2012 BV which is more than adequate with which to cook. 

One you pour in the wine and add tomatoes to the onions, it should look like this:

Sorry it's upside down, but you can figure it out. You're smart. 

Note that we are on absolute low, simmer. Here's when you add the lamb back. 

 If you wanted to add a starch like potato, do it here. Just place them quartered around the meat. 

Cover. 

I'm opting for couscous so that won't be until the final five minutes of cookery.

Oh, maybe I'll have a glass myself while we wait. 

Because now you just LEAVE IT ALONE! Let it simmer for two hours or so. When the meat falls off the bone, it's done. This method can be applied to any cut that is more bone-in than flat cut. In fact, you could probably braise pretty much everything.

Now I know what's your going to ask... can I do this in a crock pot or oven? 

The answer is yes. 

But you're going to need to sear the meat in a pan anyway. So unless the pan is also oven-proof, don't make a bigger mess in your kitchen than you need to. And crock pot cooking is better for a lamb stew than a bone-in cut. Just my POV. 

Okay, it's been an hour and a half, let's take a look.

 The meat is pretty soft on the bone, so I'm going to flip it and keep waiting.

 

Now the other side will soak in the yummy goodness of onion, garlic, tomato and wine. 

Lamb is good. It's described as "gamey" but I don't really know what that means. I lived in New Zealand for a while and ate it rather frequently. 

Fun fact: There are seven sheep for every person in New Zealand.

But I prefer lamb over beef. And I don't dig pig. Unless it's bacon.

Huh. Apparently "Wine Wednesday" is trending on Twitter. 

I suppose another few sips are therefore sanctioned by my Twitter following. 

Oh yes, I'm big on Twitter. 

Like, 45 whole followers!

More than my very silent three readers here. 

(cough cough)

Time to roast the Brussels sprouts.

I like to keep it simple with sea salt and white truffle oil. They get nice and crispy. 

Roast for 15 minutes MAX at 350 degrees F.

When the BSprouts are nearly done, I'll remove the lamb from the pot to rest and put in the couscous. 

Five minutes covered, turn off the heat. That's it. 

Try not to get the couscous all over the stove like I did.

Uh, where did the wine go?

Let's take a look at the final product.

Mmm. 

Verdict? 

Tasty.

Next time I would try grilling to get more crispy bits and remove more fat.

Here's a trick for the leftover sauce. Strain it, refrigerate, remove the fat and use for a base for the next meal.

Bon appetite!

See what happens when a Pilot stands me up for lunch?

Unofficial MAGICAL MYSTERY BURGER TOUR! - Henry's Tavern

Perhaps I should have had Totes McCoates make an unofficial MMBT! logo, as this tour stop was not planned by Scro nor a Texas independent burger joint.

I wanted to have lunch with CC and she suggested Henry's Tavern in Plano since it was just up the street from me and down the way from her new job. (I found out later that she had a coupon.)

Took a fun selfie outside because it was so gorgeous today. My smile doesn't translate well in this pic. Let's look at CC's selfie instead.

Much better! We got a table and dove into all the latest gossip. After our waiter, Cody, took our order the place started to fill up. And I mean PACKED with guys cheering on the US Hockey team. At one point, it felt like CC and I were shouting at each other. 

This is a before photo. You can see the bar and big screen before the place got slammed. We waited 35 minutes for our meal and I finally had to track down the hostess to ask about the delay. She was apologetic and blamed the game, but we still didn't see Cody anywhere. I got the burger, nothing fancy, and had asked for it medium.

Lovely brioche bun and crisp seasoned fries. The pickle was rather spicy and that's garlic mayo on the side. 

That's not medium, but I was hungry.The tavern started to really fill up.

A lot of cursing when Canada scored. I felt bad for CC and wanted to cover her ears. 

I don't remember taking this photo. It looks like my camera is on an acid trip. 

Finished everything on my plate (which I regret 3 hours later... ugh, burger baby.) Before we left, I made a quick stop to the Ladies. It's really large. 

Six stalls and three sinks! It definitely is more of a tavern bar than a restaurant, that's for sure.

I tipped Cody $4, even though our food was late and he barely checked on us. Didn't seem like there was a lot of waitstaff, so I didn't want to punish him for that. 

Ambiance – 5 (Sports bar, uncomfortable chairs, no outside patio.)
Burger – 5.5 (Overdone.)
Cleanliness – 8. (Very tidy.)

Drinks – 8 (Two different ciders on tap.)
Location – 7 (Parking is easiest in the complex, though they offer valet.)
Misc. – 5 (Open bar and televisions throughout, very loud.)
Restroom – 8 (HUGE!)
Sides – 9 (The fries were actually better than the burger. Hold on the pickle though.)
Staff – 3 (Sorry Cody, you were charming to begin with, but lost us once you left the table.)

Bonus points – 5 (Cloth napkin.)

TOTAL SCORE: 58.5 of a possible 100. 

Since it was an unofficial burger stop, they have room for improvement before I would head back.
Happy Friday!