Friday, February 27, 2009

X-Minus 231

Ok, I'm going to include a bunch of new items at once, as things like work, errands, and painful, invasive surgery have kept me from the frequency of postings I had hoped for.

On the produce front, we recently tried cheyote (chai-OAT-ee) squash, a squash that is popular in cuisines from South America as well as Indian and Asian dishes. Also known as "old woman's lips," the squash has a great delicate flavor, and we enjoyed it grilled with a steak.

As a solo act, I tried some wonderful fruit called "lemon plums," which are all plum and no lemon, but which get their names from a yellow tint and slightly more tart flavor than their purple brethren.

It was a challenge, but I forced myself to try some new beers: Ranier Ale, the local el cheapo, as well as Belhaven's Scottish Ale and Tetley's English Ale. The Ranier seems like a good fishin' beer, Belhaven was really creamy but otherwise rather boring, and Tetley should stick with tea. As Peter Griffin put it, English beer tends to taste like "a warm glass of tobacco chewer's spit." I'll stick with Newcastle, Bass, and Boddington's when I need to toast the queen.

I also tried some new ethnic foods recently: ceviche and authentic tacos filled with goat and bone marrow. Dee-lish. Both of these were at our new favorite Mexican joint, Vuelve a la Vida in Tacoma. If you've never enjoyed the flesh of the adorable and delicious capris, know this: it smells like week old corpse and tastes like the meat of the gods. Marrow tastes like marrow; if you've never sucked it out of the bone on a ribeye or had it as the filling in a taco, you'll never know.

Ceviche is fish cooked without heat, just with the acidity of lemon juice. That's right, chemicals cooking can be done through chemical contact and without heat. Doesn't sound right? Shampoo with Drano.

A cheyote squash. If you like squash, you'll like this one. Rock your world, try it.

"Lemon plums." When you get done laughing at the shape, you can enjoy the sweet, tangy taste. And then laugh at fond memories of your favorite "Far Side" panels.



Ceviche, capiche?


Yes, I ate goat and bone marrow tacos. Judge me if you want to. They're still better than Taco Bell beef.

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