Chocolate Meat

Sounds good doesn't it? This is a filipino specialty dish that they haul out for parties and special occasions. We had a party yesterday and invited everyone we knew so it was a huge mix of cultures. My brother in law made chocolate meat, otherwise known as dinaguan. Many of my non-filipino friends just went on and on about how much they liked it. I didn't have the heart to tell them that it is made of pork cooked in blood. One person did comment that it didn't taste at all sweet, though.

The Party

We had a great little party for New Year's day yesterday. The whole family was over as well as lots of friends. Most of our friends have never experienced the full force of Arlina's family, and it was fun to see their reaction to a house of screaming kids.

Lots and lots of food. I spend the whole day before the 1st baking and prepping. My sourdough starter was ready, so I made sourdough french bread that kicked ass. For breakfast, I prepared cranberry orange scones. We had a turkey, ribs, blackeyed peas, ham, scalloped potatoes, greens, and lots of filipino food. I even baked a birthday cake (from scratch) for my sister in law, using the hand mixer she gave me for christmas.

I would like to retire and spend my days baking things that taste good.

The Fellowship of the Pizza

My sister took us to see the Two Towers as a late birthday present on monday. Actually it wasn't really late--she made the offer on my birthday, but we didn't get around to actually seeing it until now. She probably didn't count on taking two extra people either (Arlina and my nephew Chris), but she was gracious and bought tickets for everyone. Since she was so generous, I offered to buy pizza, since we had 1 1/2 hours until the movie started. So while they were buying tickets, I walked over to the pizza place and ordered a large half greek and half combo.

Soon after ordering they joined us, and we waited. And we waited. And we waited. Finally, I asked what was up with the pizza and the guy said they were really busy, and it should be up in 5 minutes. 10 minutes later, no pizza. I ask another guy and he says, "five more minutes". I explain to him that we already got the five minute speech and that we had tickets to see The Two Towers in 35 minutes. He shrugged.

I will accept almost any reasonable explanation for poor service, but don't shrug at me. It pisses me off and makes it clear that I, as a customer, mean nothing to you. Standing to my full 5' 5", I strode briskly to the counter and asked to see the manager. She was cool. After only a minimal explanation of my situation, she refunded me the whole amount for the pizza, gave me a coupon for another free pizza, and found my pizza and boxed it up. Great, but what are we going to do with the pizza, now that the movie is about to start?

We stood outside the theater trying to decide how to sneak a large pizza in. My nephew, bless his heart, offered to stuff it down the front of his jacket and hunch over. As we walked through the door, I told the ticket taker she had the most beautiful eyes (they really were--a pale blue). This distracted her long enough for Chris to sneak through.The pizza survived its ordeal without getting too badly mashed up, and it tasted great.

The Two Towers was excellent. I think it was even better than the first one. I too had some problem with the Faramir thing, but all in all it was very well adapted.