Lunch Special

Every week after spending a 3-day weekend in NY, Significant Eater heads back down to DC, mostly via the Bolt Bus or some other similar service (i.e. not a Chinatown bus).  Usually, it’s quite an easy trip, as she leaves at a time of day when traffic is fairly light; it’s also affordable at around $25, which compared to Amtrak, is a relative bargain.  Yes, the Chinatown buses are cheaper, but after 1 or 2 trips sitting next to someone eating fish maw soup for lunch, Bolt became the de facto choice (not that there’s anything wrong with fish maw soup, mind you).

Anyway, being the wonderful husband that I am, I try to make sure she has something special to take along to remind her of just that fact. Easy enough, because in SE’s case, that’s food.

So, about an hour before she’s ready to leave, I make her a nice lunch and pack it up…

Today’s lunch: Roast pork sandwich on Pain d’Avignon bakery ciabatta, carrot and celery sticks, goldfish (!) and a Milano mint cookie.  I mean, how much better does it get?

Oh yeah, it’s packed in a clean, Chinese restaurant take-out carton.  Don’t worry though – I never order the fish maw soup. 

It's Not Nice To Fool Mother Nature

I'm sure you all...okay, some of you...remember that great ad campaign which ran for almost 10 years back in the '70s. It featured Mother Nature (or an actor portraying her) getting all pissed off when she's fooled by the taste and texture of a certain product.

And I'm sure you all...okay, some of you...remember a blog I wrote a while back about trying to get Significant Eater to eat her oatmeal...well, I didn't have much success then, but that doesn't mean I don't get to keep trying.

In another one of my vain attempts to get SE to eat some healthy cereals, today I tried a new approach with a cereal she really doesn't like. That be this stuff...

I've stopped making it when we have breakfast together, since it undoubtedly will just sit in the bowl; oh, it gets pushed around enough, but eaten? No way.

So, in my sneaky, underhanded mind I figured there had to be a way. And the aha moment came when I simply read the side of the package and decided to use one of these...

I mixed up the batter (it's a quick bread, but you knew that) and glopped it into the cups...

Baked 'em for about 17 minutes and they looked like this...

And this...

Not bad looking, huh? And guess what - they didn't taste bad. I mean, how bad could they be? After all, they do have sugar and salt in them, along with a little vanilla.

Interesting then, that the first thing I heard from the other room, as Significant Eater was downing her half, was something along the lines of: "So what are these, health muffins? Stick with the cookies, will ya!?"

It's not nice to fool mother nature, now is it? Or Significant Eater either.