8.31.2004
mmm... almond limeade...
So I had dinner at Henrietta's Table with my mom and two of my mom's friends from college, one of whom brought along her husband and two kids. It's such a gas to think that in x-number of years, some of my friends from college and I will get together and act just as strange and reminisce in front of our (god forbid) kids and scare them with stories. I made great friends in college, and it is always a treat to see them and talk about our formative years at America's top university.
I'd like to say for the record, while I'm on the topic, that the dart-throwing nudniks of US News and World Report should be ashamed of themselves for hyping schools based on the most ridiculous of criteria (alumni giving rate?) and pretending that their rankings are objective. No newsweekly, no, not even this newsweekly, can choose a college for you. Think for yourself and don't buy into the hype. Interestingly, I don't think I have ever seen anyone actually read a non-ranking-touting special edition of US News and World Report. Why don't they just give up on the actual reporting and simply acknowledge that they exist to release the yearly rankings of America's Top __fill_in_blank__?
But anyway, it's been a long time since I've had a good gazpacho (how's that for a segue?). The last one I tried was from Olive's in Princeton, NJ. The chunks were chunks, the liquid portion of the soup was not soup, it was tomato run-off, and the whole thing tasted like a Minnesotan attempt at salsa: no spice, no kick, no melding of flavor: just a super-watery salsa. Tonight, I ordered a delicious gazpacho with a hint of jalapeño: it was delicious and refreshing on a hot and gross day such as today. Dinner was a lamb shank with a sherry mushroom sauce. This sucker just fell off the bone the minute I even approached with a fork. My only complaint would have been that the lamb was so delicate that the delicious gaminess of the lamb was gone and I just as easily could have been eating pork or veal. Still, it was an excellent meal.
Which is why I'm so bummed that I have to get a CAT scan tomorrow (again, how's *that* segue?). No, I'm not telling you what it's for, or anything like that. Just to say that I've been drinking this barium sulfate suspension smoothie and it's GROSS. Absolutely foul, and it ruined the lingering memories of a wonderful dinner. This stuff has hints of almond (not bad). It's also got the tang vaguely reminiscent of, perhaps, limeade (again, not bad). Unfortunately, almonds do not belong in limeade, nor limes anywhere near almonds. The whole concoction has, making matters just *that* much worse, the consistency of glue. So no, I'm not happy. And I'm certainly not looking forward to drinking another two 450mL bottles of it tomorrow. ...on an empty stomach.
I'd like to say for the record, while I'm on the topic, that the dart-throwing nudniks of US News and World Report should be ashamed of themselves for hyping schools based on the most ridiculous of criteria (alumni giving rate?) and pretending that their rankings are objective. No newsweekly, no, not even this newsweekly, can choose a college for you. Think for yourself and don't buy into the hype. Interestingly, I don't think I have ever seen anyone actually read a non-ranking-touting special edition of US News and World Report. Why don't they just give up on the actual reporting and simply acknowledge that they exist to release the yearly rankings of America's Top __fill_in_blank__?
But anyway, it's been a long time since I've had a good gazpacho (how's that for a segue?). The last one I tried was from Olive's in Princeton, NJ. The chunks were chunks, the liquid portion of the soup was not soup, it was tomato run-off, and the whole thing tasted like a Minnesotan attempt at salsa: no spice, no kick, no melding of flavor: just a super-watery salsa. Tonight, I ordered a delicious gazpacho with a hint of jalapeño: it was delicious and refreshing on a hot and gross day such as today. Dinner was a lamb shank with a sherry mushroom sauce. This sucker just fell off the bone the minute I even approached with a fork. My only complaint would have been that the lamb was so delicate that the delicious gaminess of the lamb was gone and I just as easily could have been eating pork or veal. Still, it was an excellent meal.
Which is why I'm so bummed that I have to get a CAT scan tomorrow (again, how's *that* segue?). No, I'm not telling you what it's for, or anything like that. Just to say that I've been drinking this barium sulfate suspension smoothie and it's GROSS. Absolutely foul, and it ruined the lingering memories of a wonderful dinner. This stuff has hints of almond (not bad). It's also got the tang vaguely reminiscent of, perhaps, limeade (again, not bad). Unfortunately, almonds do not belong in limeade, nor limes anywhere near almonds. The whole concoction has, making matters just *that* much worse, the consistency of glue. So no, I'm not happy. And I'm certainly not looking forward to drinking another two 450mL bottles of it tomorrow. ...on an empty stomach.
