so this happened: vol. 5, week 42

Autumn rolls…

My better half recently returned from Atlanta with a bounty of hand-knit scarves and hats courtesy of my mother-in-law, and I couldn’t be more excited about this. We’ve had some unusually warm days here in New England this October (no one is complaining) so I was very excited to finally audition one of the scarves into regular rotation.

You know that thing people do when they check out what someone else is wearing? It’s the difference between checking someone out and checking out someone–it’s a completely different type of glance. For starters, the latter involves zero eye contact–this is strictly some sort of mental-pinterest-mind-cataloging event. So, as a 42 year old dude, I understand what is happening when someone is glancing in my direction: where did he get that scarf?

Really, nothing compares to hand-knit anything. There is a rumor that Cosmo is getting his very own hand-knit doggy sweater.

Speaking of Cosmo…

It’s a good thing pumpkin is good for dogs.

I made a roasted pumpkin coconut curry soup (recipe here) and additionally made my annual pumpkin infused vodka (recipe here).

With all of this pumpkin goodness it’s only fitting to carve a jack-o-lantern. Well stupid, stupid  me… I really should’ve known better than to leave a FULL PUMPKIN on the counter. Came home to this…

I love the teeth marks.

It’s a good thing he is so cute… kind of hard to fault his artistic addition to my jack-o-lantern.

I, too, was left alone for a few days…

I did not annihilate a pumpkin* but I did make a few things best served for one. Because I was recovering from my half-marathon, but mostly from an early morning jaunt to Logan Airfield, I started my alone-time with my favorite brunch item of all time: lox and bagels. In this case, hot smoked salmon. Deserved of it’s own post–I present this sole photo in lieu of many more to come. Also, stay-at-home Monday brunch is so much more satisfying than regular brunch for some reason.

(*citation needed.)

And then I made the most bizarre left-over throw-down combine-it-all casserole ever. First, I filled a glass loaf pan with chicken sausage bolognese. Next, I layered potato home fries and sautéed vegetables–and finally I topped the whole thing with a béchamel sauce and then broiled. Was pretty fantastic actually.

I love my hood but…

We need new places to eat in my neighborhood, and for the love of God, is Boston’s Jamaica Plain incapable of hiring a professional graphic designer? I’m not saying it’s me. It’s just for all of the “keep it local” bullshit that keeps everything but Dunkin Donuts, CVS, Ace Hardware… well, most every other chain out of JP that’s not in direct competition with a certain local grocer, at least put some pride into your identity. Also, not to get all ranty, but… BUT… I love that it’s entirely acceptable for a developer to tear down an “affordable” ($480,000) single family home only to build a three-unit condo each selling for just under $1,000,000 and no one blinks an eye–but holy shit if Caffé Nero or Whole Foods wants to open a location, devoid of theft-detterant metal roller shutters and bad logos, it’s the end of the neighborhood. Keep it local, man. Dude. 

Until there is affordable housing–a much bigger problem in my estimation than where I buy my stupid fucking coffee–I, for one, accept Caffé Nero as our new coffee overlords.

Also, last rant I swear, but what is it with the fascination with Andale Mono? Two coffee places opened this year in Jamaica Plain and both establishments use this typeface as their logo. This font comes standard with a Mac–as does iMovie and Garageband. What’s with the impossibility of hiring a graphic designer in 02130? I have to pay $38 for 2 sandwiches, 2 lattes and 2 bags of chips, yet the concept of paying a professional to develop the backbone of every single facet of a business’s identity is left to some shitty fucking typeface that comes preinstalled on a MacBook Air.

 

[End rant.]

 

One shining spot we particularly enjoy in Jamaica Plain is J.P. Seafood–a mostly sushi/Japanese restaurant, but as is in Boston, one will find a few other Asian dishes spanning the Pacific Rim, i.e. Thai and Korean. A heavy favorite in Autumn and Winter is Ok Dal Bi Bim Bop. This is a Korean dish served in a piping hot stone dish.

The bed of rice becomes almost fried as it continually cooks throughout the entire dining process–thus, the meal is served with a special spoon to scrape the rice from the oily stone bowl. Actually, the bowl may be cast-iron… but I feel like it’s very stone-like. And yes, that’s a fried egg on top.

Speaking of the wont for new dining options…

Although not in my neighborhood, a new restaurant is opening near my office in the Leather District on the ground floor of the new Radian Building. I pass by here everyday, so when a typographical T, that is not comprised of the font Andale Mono, prompts you to check out a website, you do so.

And so here we are…

With all week ends, otherwise known as a “weekend”, there are many o’ week ending treats. I forgot about the simplicity of scotch and soda. Sometimes, the flavor of scotch is all that’s needed. And sometimes, scotch can just be a tad heavy-handed on its own even despite a well-paced sip. Scotch and soda is perfect when the heavy is poured on the soda side. Think of it as a splash of scotch as opposed to a splash of soda.

The prefect accompaniment? A sriracha pizza! This turned out much better than I thought. The sriracha was less gimmicky and actually mellowed out during the baking. I didn’t use it so much as a complete sauce–but I definitely added a healthy bit of sriracha with a blend of olive oil.

For toppings I used left over roasted chicken that I sautéed with ginger, garlic and onion.

Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

[End blog essay.]