Becoming routine

[rikibeth]

I very rarely have to ask any more HOW MUCH of a specific item I should prep. Some things have standard quantities, some vary according to how busy it is, but I know what most of them are supposed to be like.

They've found a fatigue mat for me! Between that and the new boots (gently-used 10-eye UK Docs found on eBay for cheap, because I'm not paying retail new prices for the Chinese-made ones), possibly I'll come home with my feet hurting a little less. I already like not coming home with my socks wet.

Burgers I've eaten since the last time I posted:

New England: Lobster, smoked Gouda, roasted onion, corn spread. This was disappointing. You couldn't taste the lobster against the flavor of the burger, and the roasted onion and the corn spread competed too. There was just too much going on.

Ultimate Cheese: 4 cheeses, 2 on top, 2 melted inside, lettuce and tomato. Good, but not outstanding.

West Coast: A fried egg, avocado, and Greek live mayo. Whoa. This one was AMAZING. I was dubious about the concept of a fried egg on a burger, but it wasn't gross, and the avocado and the olive mayo were spectacular. You could actually taste the avocado in this one, unlike the Baja Burger, where the chipotles overwhelmed everything else. I think I'm going to try a chicken burger with the avocado/olive combination, hold the fried egg, add lettuce and tomato.

Phili Steak: Sliced steak, garlic mayo, mushrooms, onions, and American cheese sauce. FANTASTIC. Just to clarify, that's 2oz of shaved chuck on TOP of the already huge burger, plus the toppings. The sauce is made in-house, not nasty nacho goo out of a can. Delicious!

I have now eaten every beef burger on the menu except the Double Double (which, dear God, that's enough calories for two days for me, so, no) and the Low Carb (cheeseburger no bun, iceberg lettuce, tomato, red onion -- meh, who cares?) I still have the grilled portobello "burger" to try, and the Italian-style chicken burger as opposed to the Buffalo one, and the pork/beef combo burger, but none of those sounded appealing today, so I had the beer battered rock shrimp with jalapeno chips -- they call this an appetizer, but shrimp+jalapenos+batter is weighed at 16oz before it goes in the fryer, so most people could make a meal of it. They serve it on a bed of salad greens and dress it with the burger "special sauce," which is just mayo, ketchup, and Red Hot, but is very tasty. I had a side of "green fries" with it -- for those of you who aren't kebbykate or bigbrotherinlaw, "green fries" are just nice long green beans, dropped naked into the fryer, cooked tender-crisp, and sprinkled with our fry salt, which is kosher salt mixed with chopped rosemary. They are yummy.

I'm getting better at making the stuffed chicken breasts. EP didn't explain that they were a specific weight when he showed me the first time -- the butterflied and pounded chicken breast is supposed to be 10 ounces, and 6 ounces of the jalapeno cornbread stuffing. This helps because most chicken breast halves weigh out more like 12 ounces, so once I've butterflied and flattened them, I can trim off the scraggly edges until I have something neatly oblong and 10 ounces, which makes a much prettier roll.

I'm REALLY getting good at Freezer Tetris. Did I mention that it was empty enough before delivery one of the times this past week that I was able to get under the shelves with a broom? No more frozen peas and pearl onions rattling around the floor! Yay! And now I see how busy we are -- because the freezer that was stocked totally full with two boxes of rustic rolls on the floor after Friday's deliveries went in was half-empty by Saturday afternoon! That's a lot of burger buns moved out the door. And a lot of fries.

Some of my co-workers can lift the slicer all by themselves. Not me. I can hold up my half of it if I'm getting it with someone else, but I can't lift it at all. I don't know how much it weighs other than "more than 50 pounds," because I can lift 50 pound flour sacks, but a 70 pound case of pork butt is still beyond me. Also I can't carry a case with three boneless chucks in it -- I have to open the cases and do two at a time. I hope that I'll build up to being able to do the 70 pound thing in time, but I do NOT have the energy to do weight training in my off time to hasten it. It'll just have to come by workouts at work. Meanwhile if I can catch the City Line delivery guy and have him stick the case of pork butts on the shelf, I'll do that. Dragging it sucks.

My cheapo iPod dock broke. It may be fixable -- the door came unhinged, so the part that plays doesn't connect to the speaker part any more, and if I can get it open and stick it back together, I may have some success. If not, I certainly got my $12.50 worth out of it. In the meantime, I've reclaimed my baby speakers from eternaleponine, so I'll have music again tomorrow.

It's late. I need to sleep. Goodnight, everyone.

Comments

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

West Coast: A fried egg, avocado, and Greek live mayo.

*mourns* I swear, I live in the largest city not to have a really good burger place.

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

I know you can't do pull ups, but would you believe that keeping on attempting them would be a good, cheap way to achieve that 70 lb fitness goal?

[bunnygoth.livejournal.com]

Where do you work now again? The more I read your posts, the more I drool. Sounds TASTY.

[bigbrotherinlaw.livejournal.com]

Plan B Burger Bar & Tavern. rikibeth works at the Simsbury location (in the old railroad depot), the other locations are in West Hartford on Park Road and Glastonbury.

If you're anywhere near central Connecticut, you can satisfy the craving.

[bigbrotherinlaw.livejournal.com]

http://www.planbtavern.com/

[bunnygoth.livejournal.com]

Thanx! I will have to bring my boyfriend...he's a huge burger fan.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I have no pull-up bar and no money for a gym membership (although I could check if there are any who need 5AM desk people, I guess). And I am not brave enough to go to a playground to do them. Are there any similar exercises that we DIDN'T do in gym class while I wriggled like a trapped and dying bug?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Plan B Tavern -- same people who own Tisane. I'm at the Simsbury location, you're probably closest to the Glastonbury.

Any interest in Haven tomorrow?

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

Do you have anything just heavy around the apartment? Fill a laundry basket full of heavy stuff, etc? Fill a bucket full of water...

There's nothing magic about strength training. Rocks work. It's just pick up something heavy, put it down.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I think I'll make a habit of challenging myself by loading the grinder tray with the disassembled parts and carrying it all up to the dish station together. It's heavy enough that even the dishwashers prefer to carry the parts and the tray separately, but I can do it. Only drawback is that it leaves bruises where I balance it against my body.

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

we should hit it next time we go to or from Mum's in Greenwich.
Beef and lobster never play well together for me

[dpolicar]

You rock like a rocking thing.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Check Bed, Bath & Beyond for a cheap replacement docking station. They tend to have decent ones, especially toward the end of summer with the "off to college" stuff.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

That was where I got THIS one, on after-Christmas super-double clearance: 50% off done twice, so a $50 "waterproof" dock/radio/CD player was $12.50.

Okay, I did shell out for an AC adapter for it, but AC adapters are generally useful.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to try the lobster sliders (basically mini lobster rolls) and the pot pie, so maybe I can actually taste the lobster.

Park Rd. in West Hartford is closest if you go on 84, Glastonbury if you're taking 91/15.

Burgers

[trowa-barton.livejournal.com]

There is a burger place in Davis Square. It recently opened. Among the specialties, you have a choice of 6 types of fries and 3 types of patties (beef, turkey, and veggie). All freshly made. (Even their potato chips are homemade.) There is even a conch burger.