3 posts tagged “dinner”

L and I eat quite a lot of brussels sprouts. At least, every time we stop by Veggie Shack (okay, Sigona's in Palo Alto) to pick up groceries for the week, we end up with a little bag of brussels sprouts. A splash of olive oil, a sprinkling of salt and thirty minutes in the oven are all it takes to turn a hated vegetable into crunchy goodness. We almost always end up with leftovers, which is consumed the next day at lunch by one of us.

A while ago, after we had packed our dinner leftovers into a little bento box for L to bring to work the next day, the strangest thing happened. L discovered that whenever he waved his hand in front of his bento box, a little brussels sprout leaf would bob up and down. This went on for quite a while -- long enough for me to locate my camera and take a little video. Neither of us can explain why this is happening. Was it heat or light that was causing this phenomenon? Were our brussels sprouts possessed by a demon? How do you even perform a Google search for this?

Take a look for yourself. There are no camera tricks, I promise you. I took the video remember? The most I can do with my camera is turn off the automatic flash and turn on the macro setting.

If anyone can tell us just what on earth is going on here, I would appreciate it muchly. Perhaps we can rule out demon possession -- none of us had a stomach upset or vomited ectoplasm from our dinner.

I really like In-N-Out and I actually regret not dining there more often. L. insists on forcing nutritious meals down my gullet, though I think it's slightly hypocritical of him as he would drink liquefied bacon fat by the gallon without the slightest provocation.

After working late one day, he felt guilty enough to obey my orders for an In-N-Out dinner. Besides, didn't I promise my three readers photographic evidence of In-N-Out's religiousity?

On the packet containing my cheeseburger, Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

On the bottom of the cup containing my medium Diet Coke, John 3:16:  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

Hmm, isn't John 3:16 as cliched as bible sayings go? I even know it by heart. I suppose it's comforting to know that one will live on, even after dying of a massive heart attack.

We are living in the golden age of burgers, it seems. Fine, I'm light-years behind in making this pronouncement, but this IS the first time I've mentioned burgers in a blog and burger trends are better tracked elsewhere. Anyway, I like  burgers. I liked burgers then as a kid who thought McDonald's was the last word in burgers; I like burgers now as an adult who orders hers with blue cheese but eats only half the bun. I've long outgrown the hockey pucks made of ground rat meat sold as burgers in my elementary school canteen, but I could cultivate a fashionable liking for the unfashionable Ramly burgers sold at roadside stalls in Malaysia had my father not seen a stall operator's little girl defecate not five feet away from her mama's business.

If there's a good burger to be had in town, I will try it. This is, however, a fairly recent resolution that came after I withdrew a self-imposed moratorium on french fries a mere two years ago. It came in time for me to enjoy a couple of Shake Shack burgers in NYC last year, so when I arrived in California, In-N-Out was a natural destination.

In-N-Out is a fast food joint with a very basic menu--an easy choice for dinner when one can't think of anything else, a logical choice when one has to fuel up before an IKEA research trip an hour an a half before the store closes. I wasn't feeling terribly hungry, so I got a cheeseburger (US$1.49) and shared the cook's Animal Style fries which he got with his double-double cheeseburger (also Animal Style).

Animal-style fries means fries with this strange onions, chives and thousand island dressing gunk on top. It is weirdly delicious and one has to eat them with a fork because the mixture binds everything together. Animal Style fries or burgers, as well as items like the X by Y, Protein Style burger and Fries Light are part of the 'secret menu' and are not listed in restaurant menus.

Beef that's never been frozen, preservative-free buns, hand-leafed lettuce, this sure is wholesome, innit? The owners of In-N-Out also very discreetly print, as a reflection of their beliefs, references to bible verses on their paper utensils, which is disconcerting to hell-bound heathens like me only when we think about it... after the meal, of course.  I didn't get a photo, but I will the next time.