It arrived today. A gift from my friend, Amy, that will likely forever change the way I cook pasta. It's a "Fasta Pasta" cooker that cooks all types of pasta in the microwave with no boil-over (guaranteed) and eliminates the need for large cauldrons of boiling water. I used it tonight to make a fantastic fettuccine carbonara where the "sauce" consists of crisped bacon, a little bit of sauteed onion for flavor, egg, and heavy cream. What's not to like? Here is a photo of the finished product:
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| There's supposed to be parsley on this to give it a little color, but the grocery store was out. Trust me, though, it was delicious! |
My only complaint is that I didn't think of this device myself (it's utterly simple) and make the millions of dollars I'm sure its inventor is making! For dessert, I had black cherry sorbet, which was perfect compliment to the rich pasta. It was all very delicious, and I've already downloaded the cookbook and will be experimenting with other pasta dishes in the coming weeks. Amy, you'll also be glad to know I took the Prius to the carwash for the first time since arriving here two months ago. Gave it a thorough wash and wax, washed the mats, vacuumed the interior, and even used the dust mitt you bought me to clean the dashboard!
Backing up to Monday, the day started out nicely at a new restaurant recommended by my bicycle buddies, called the Sunflower Cafe, about five miles from my apartment on Summerlin and San Carlos Blvd. A very typical Greek family restaurant with reasonable prices and some of the fastest cooks known to mankind. My egg/sausage/hashbrown platter was delivered lightening quick and piping hot. Hash browns were especially delicious. The total bill, with coffee and tip, came to under $10, which makes this probably one of the few breakfast places in Fort Myers to rival Janesville prices, and of course I'm only speaking of restaurants that serve actual food; McDonald's and their ilk do not count.
From there, Monday took on an air of futility. I looked at a couple of bikes from a Craigslist seller. One was a Huffy that was an utter piece of junk. The other was a Fuji that, while it fit me well, needed too much work for the price the guy was asking. The clincher on the Fuji was that the kickstand was busted, and the guy wouldn't swap it with for another kickstand from one of the other junker bikes he had laying around. So I left empty-handed.
My next shopping adventure for athletic shoes was equally fruitless. I went to two "Famous Footwear" locations, one in Fort Myers, the other way the hell out in northern Cape Coral, only to find out that the Famous Footwear stores here in Florida do not give the same deal as the ones in Wisconsin where you get half off the second pair when you buy the first pair at regular price. So the two pair of shoes I was looking at -- one pair of Nike "Air Relentless" and one pair of New Balance "Trail Running Shoes" -- would have cost me $150 with tax. And Famous Footwear's beneficent discount -- keep in mind one of the stores was supposedly a discount outlet -- was a mere $10 a pair off suggested retail. Is it just me, or has to the world of athletic footwear gone off its rocker? Hey, I don't deny anyone's right to make a reasonable profit here, but I just can't see forking over $75 for a pair of shoes made completely of synthetic materials, made in Vietnam to boot (no pun intended), and which probably cost Nike/New Balance less than 10 bucks a pair. So I'm switching to Plan B (finding the same or similar shoes at Fleamasters on Friday) or Plan C, ordering them from an eBay seller. The goal is to have new "sneaks" in time for the cruise which sails Monday, or if not the old smelly ones will have to last for another week.
The good news is that all this shopping crap happened with the sun shining, the temperature hovering around 80 degrees, and the roadways clear of any ice or snow. It's hard to complain a whole lot (and to get any sympathy I suppose) when I'm in one of the few locations in the country where people aren't freezing their butts off. So onward.
Bruce
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