Chick-fil-a on a Sunday (Homemade DIY Chick-fil-a)
Any Southerner can tell you that the biggest problem with Sunday is that Chick-fil-a is closed. Why does that matter? Well, for one, we all want what we can’t have. Another issue is that if one indulges on a Saturday night, there is no warm delicious chick-fil-a waiting for them Sunday morning(ish). In college, my Sundays usually involved waking or being waked up by my roomate, to roll over to McDonalds for nuggets or a big mac, and orange drank. Every once in a while, my girlfriend would get us Chick-fil-a on Saturday, and warm it up Sunday (part of the reason she is now my wife). After a night of partying, there is nothing better than a king of the hill marathon, and Chick-fil-a. I saw an article the other day about making your own Chick-fil-a. The wife and I did some googling, and got down to business.
The results were awesome. The sandwich and waffle fries were very close. The Chick-fil-a sauce was spot on. The polynesian sauce was close, but definitely the weak point. Its easy to find copies of the recipe online, and they’re all basically the same.
Some Virginia trivia before I end the post: Chick-fil-a sauce was created at a franchise in Fredericksburg VA.
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Firing up a new pipe
My uncle gave me some pipe tobacco the last time I went for a visit. I have an old Peterson, and a few corncobs, but I’m not really much of a pipe smoker. I’ve always wanted a churchill, so I did a little research and went with a well known, highly recommended brand. Netflix has a documentary called, Everything or Nothing, about James Bond. While Bond was not a pipe smoker himself, I channeled my inner M, and lit up a quarter bowl to break her in. It was a nice way to spend about an hour, and my office smells amazing. Pipe smoking is something of a lost art. Perhaps its time to look into it.
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Rose Gold Everything
I started this post for VDay week, but never finished it. Way back in 2009/10, I decided to go pick out an engagement ring. Since jewelry/jewelry stores were not my forte, I asked my dad and family for help. My dad took me to his guy in DC. He asked me some questions about myself and my potential fiance, and then showed me some options. I like to think of myself as a fairly traditional guy, but I ended up with a fairly modern looking solitaire in platinum. I can’t find an image that looks like what I got, but to get an idea of how modern it is, here is the jeweler, and the collection. Rose gold is not for everybody, and I think my wife’s platinum rings are perfect for her. When it came time to get my ring, I had a decision to make. I knew I wanted something subtle and traditional, but gold or silver tone? My dad has gold, as most men of his generation do. Every single one of my married friends opted for silver tone, be it platinum, silver, white gold, tungsten, or titanium. My jeweler, seeing that I wasn’t completely sold on yellow gold or silver tone, brought me something I’d never heard of before: rose gold. I loved it, and still do. The addition of copper makes a unique color that stands out in a subtle way, and looks great (as long as you keep at least a base tan, assuming you’re caucasian). I couldn’t be happier with my choice, and have since, gotten a few rose gold accessories:
The three watches pictures above are not automatic, and fairly inexpensive. They are not solid rose gold, but have held up very well. If you’re young, on a budget, or not that into watches, these make very good choices. All are Invicta brand. The silver watch on the upper left of the winder is automatic, and also Invicta. They make very good watches at a great value. The silver one, while not rose gold, approximates a bond watch I’ve always been a fan of:
Much more about the bond watch and strap here:
I’m sold on rose gold. The only drawback I’ve experienced is that I’ve not found a set of tuxedo studs in rose gold.
If you have the means and inclination, here are some more rose gold options:
If yellow gold is more your style, enjoy the following (probably NSFW, language) videos:
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Make your own ginger cocktail bar, blenheim ginger ale, Rush
My dad needed to borrow my truck, so I went over to my parents place to exchange cars and have some dinner. I brought the movie All is Lost, and thought we might have some rum drinks, and enjoy the movie. I juiced some limes, put out some ginger syrup and ginger ale. I bought the red (magenta) and gold capped blenheim ginger ale locally at red white and bleu. The red cap version is pretty spicy. I think it really makes a cocktail if you’re really into the flavor of ginger. Its not subtle, but you don’t always want subtle ingredients. For my drink, I poured about 2 oz or so of mount gay eclipse over rocks, added some lime juice, topped with blenheim red, mixed it, and then poured some el dorado 15 over a lime slice to top it.
The topper looked best with the black seal rum, but tasted best with the el dorado. The ladies mixed the topper in, so looks probably mattered more in their case.
The blenheim red is just spectacular. Very spicy bite on the end, great ginger flavor. I highly recommend you check it out. A friend of mine recommended it to me at the cheese shoppe in Williamsburg, and I’ve been a fan ever since.
I still had chicken and waffles on the brain, and in the freezer, so I put threw a quick dinner together on short notice. Nobody was feeling my movie pick, so we ordered Rush on demand. I thought it was very well done. If you’re a race fan, check it out.
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Salteñas, Review of Luzmila’s Cuisine in Falls Church City
If you live in Falls Church City and have not been to Luzmila’s Cuisine, you are doing yourself a disservice. The food here is excellence, very affordable, and comes in huge portions. There are lots of interesting options on the menu. When we dine in, we usually try something different. However, when we want some take out on a lazy weekend, we go for the saltenas. The Falls Church News Press has this to say about Luzmila’s saltenas:
“At $2 a piece, the saltenas on the appetizer menu should be the start of every meal at this establishment. Pieces of meat (chicken or beef), vegetables, olives, and hard boiled egg are mixed in gravy and served inside a hard, sweet pastry shell, served up with a small spoon to help hungry patrons fight past the outer shell. Most diners, however, are happy to pick the fist-sized treats and dig in, accepting the inevitable mess as the price to pay for enjoying the delicious turnovers more quickly.”
If you thought about going previously, but the hours of operation didn’t work for you, check again. I don’t recollect how recently it was, but Luzmilas changed their hours so that they’re now open after 5pm pretty often (it used to be more of a lunch and weekend spot). If you dine in, you may get a waiter/waitress doesn’t speak english very well, but they’re always friendly and helpful. There is really no excuse not to stop by and give Luzmila’s a try.
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NASCARs back
If you still have it on the DVR, I won’t ruin it for you. I don’t really have a driver right now, but the manufacturer I wanted to win did cross first. I used to be a Clint Bowyer fan when he was in a Chevy, but I can’t in good conscience root for a ‘yota. I at least need to get behind a team so I can be more into it this season. I’ll leave y’all with a couple of clips to get you in the racing mood.
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Evening out in DC
The wife and I got some Wizard tickets from my parents that they couldn’t use, and I made some reservations at Zaytinya. Neither of us had been to Zaytinya in about 5 years or so, so we were excited. We started out with cocktails (3pm in Istanbul for her, Turkish Storm for me), and butternut squash hummus.
The hummus was crazy. Its going to be hard to go back to plain hummus. The next three mezza to come out were the snail kibbeh, octopus santorini, and loucaniko sausage.
Everything was so good, its hard to find a standout. That said, the snails were particular good. I wouldn’t miss the octopus either.
The last two courses were the meatballs, and lamb kleftico (a special, and probably the best food of the night).
We order a couple more drinks, the fashionably date and a serefe, and a mini greek apricot yogurt dessert to share. Everything tasted amazing. This is definitely one of the best meals I’ve had in a good while. I’ll probably try to recreate or at least use some of the drinks as a muse. The fashionably date is essentially a manhattan with date syrup, and the turkish storm would just require one to make some syrup flavored with cardamom.
The game was insane. Awesome ending. And we saw Wolf again, but not as close this time.
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Quick Lunch
More often than not, I end up eating lunch at my desk. Just a quick protein questbar. Other days, when I’m working from home and have time, I’ll whip up something quick. Today I made an egg burrito. Just a tortilla, two eggs, sour creme, and some cholula. The other day, I made the tuna fish sandwich shown above. There is nothing sexy about a tuna fish sandwich, but I do enjoy one now and again. A friend of mine had never had a fried bologna sandwich, so who knows, maybe you don’t know how to whip up a quick tuna fish sandwich. I don’t use recipes and don’t often measure, so my basic method is below:
Put two pieces of bread in the toaster. I use my wife’s homemade bread, but any will do. Get a bowl, and put one can of tuna in. I prefer tuna in olive oil, and add olive oil to drained tuna in water when I don’t have it. Next, squeeze some mayo (I like the kind that has olive oil in it) and pickle relish in the bowl. Slice up a stick of celery. Add red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, or both. Mix it up. About this time, the toast should be ready, so assemble the sandwich and you’re good to go.
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HOC again, thought-provoking
Another house of cards post. No real spoilers, and anybody interested in Virginia/Civil War history should have their attention held. I won’t go into the details of the show, but basically, Frank is in Spotsy, for a museum opening, and reinactment. He says, “I personally take no pride in the Confederacy. Avoid wars you can’t win and never raise your flag for an asinine cause like slavery.” One wonders if Frank thinks slavery was an asinine cause because of its moral implications, or simply how futile its defense was. One probably doesn’t wonder long, if Frank cared about the morality of the issue, he probably would have chose a word other than asinine.
This episode of HOC got me thinking about American culture and the romanticism of the Civil War. The episode foils those who fought, and in many cases died, for what they believed in (however misguided you may happen to believe them to be), with Frank’s more contemporary yet Machavellian FU style of politics. In the latter, one does whatever one must at whatever cost (including their beliefs) to gain more power.
Its easy to see how WWII is romanticized. We fought Evil Nazis, and ended a holocaust. Thats just about as close to black and white, good vs evil as it gets. Romanticizing a fight to maintain slavery is more challenging. If you frame it as being about State’s Rights, that helps. But what this HOC episode really got me thinking about is this: Despite what you’re righting for, if you sacrifice yourself for a cause, your state, land, way of life, family, the man next to you, etc., it is at least to some degree romantic. Its probably the same reason suicide bombers are revered by some people, in some parts of the world, despite how evil and horrific what they do really is. I think its difficult to argue that there is not something innately romantic about self sacrifice. The Machivellian pursuit of power is much less romantic, and its going to be harder and harder to cheer for Frank as the story continues.
Later in the episode, another character who lost a relative who fought for Mao Zedong, says to Frank, “Your ancestor fought for the losing side, there is no sacred ground for the conquered.” In the context of the episode, and despite coming from a man from China, it really speaks to the American (but I guess more generally capitalist) idea best stated by Ricky Bobby. If you ain’t first, you’re last.
I consider myself a proud Virginian, American, and Capitalist, but HOC is a very good thought-provoking show that will get you in a reflective philosophical mood. Check it out.
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Brick House
I went into the office yesterday morning, but came home for some lunch, and to work the rest of the day from home. It was approaching 60, so I thought I might try to catch up on some calls and emails on the porch while I enjoyed a cigar. Unfortunately, my new work laptop was not bright enough and had too much glare, and I did have some work I had to get done, so I defeatedly headed back in to my home office. I picked up a sampler when I last ordered some cigars. The name of one of the brands enticed me. I have a friend, who’s dad often says that his wife is built like a brick shithouse. While I was not familiar with the saying when I first heard it, I was able to ascertain that it was a compliment, and though context, that it meant she is voluptuous. I figured I’d try one, and if it was good, buy a few for next time I go over to his place to enjoy his company, amazing cooking, and pool.
The sampler has four different cigars made by JC Newman. I think the main reason I ordered these is that I don’t know much about JC Newman or its brands. I picked the Brick House mighty mighty natural. I generally go for a robusto or petite corona, so to me, this was a gigantic cigar. I got a belated xmas present from a close friend the other day, so I poured a glass of it as well.
The Woodford Reserve Distillers Select was surprisingly good. I’ve had more than my fair share of brown sauce (many of which have just been OK), so whenever I have a new one I like, I’m pleasantly surprised. The Woodford had a very traditional bourbon flavor profile, and I found no real issue with it. It reminds me of Elmer T Lee in that regard. I would say this is very good, but not outstanding. That said, like Elmer, I’ll probably be reaching for it often. For a more artistic and detailed review, check this canuck out.
The cigar was also surprisingly good. The construction and burn were good, though I felt the draw was a little open. It might be my fault for cutting it too much, but with such a huge stick, without punching, I’m not sure how one would cut less. I found the flavor fairly one dimensional, but there was a sweet spot when the stick became about the length of a robusto, or maybe a little shorter. There was far more pepper present than I’m typically used to. It may have been a stronger or younger cigar than I usually smoke. By the end, I was feeling a little light headed, but I’m going to guess that had as much to do with the size as the overall strength. It made for a long smoke. At the price point, I think this is a very good value. If the make a smaller size, I’m going to pick at least a few up. Check more out here and here.
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