The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 3)

rotuts · March 4, 2020

Awesome Calamari

congratulations @Anna N

Anna N · March 4, 2020

Just now, rotuts said:

Awesome Calamari

congratulations @Anna N

It really was awesome. I enjoyed everything at lunch today.

KennethT · March 4, 2020

I'm with you @Anna N hold the truffle oil please. To me it tastes nothing like truffles - it's just way too overpowering

Margaret Pilgrim · March 4, 2020

24 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I'm with you @Anna N hold the truffle oil please. To me it tastes nothing like truffles - it's just way too overpowering

Normally, I'd be with both of you, having jettisoned more truffle oil than I care to admit. But I got hooked on the oil and salt at Amphora Nueva. While waiting for service, i casually helped myself to a little cup of popcorn anointed with their truffle oil and truffle salt. Then another little cup. And another. I sheepishly told the shopman when my turn came that "I'd come for lunch." He told me that he was delighted because most of his customers dropped in after lunch and didn't feel up to tastings.

We bought small bottles of each. I've happily used tiny amounts of each.

FWIW, all of their infused oils and vinegars are sublime. I could drink the Blenheim apricot vinegar straight. Husband is addicted to the blood orange EVOO for which olives are crushed with the oranges.

Anna N · March 4, 2020

50 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

While waiting for service, i casually helped myself to a little cup of popcorn anointed with their truffle oil and truffle salt.

Did I ever mention how I felt about popcorn?

blue_dolphin · March 4, 2020

3 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Did I ever mention how I felt about popcorn?

Hmmm. If I recall correctly, it's similar to the opinion of a French postdoc I worked with. She tossed her head with Gallic disgust and said, "Oh, I don't understand why you Americans love popcorn. It has no taste and only a terrible smell!

Anna N · March 4, 2020

23 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Hmmm. If I recall correctly, it's similar to the opinion of a French postdoc I worked with. She tossed her head with Gallic disgust and said, "Oh, I don't understand why you Americans love popcorn. It has no taste and only a terrible smell!

That is it in a nutshell or should that be a kernel? I’m working on that Gallic toss.

rotuts · March 5, 2020

the only truffle oil Have had was inexpensive

possibly from TJ's when they had it

it tasted , or course , of refined Tunisian Crankcase Oil.

from which it originally derived.

maybe , just maybe . an angstrom of truffle passed through it.

sort of like Budwiser Beer : "" BeechWood Aged "

I am pleased Ive never had the really good stuff.

that would put a magnificent whole in my budget for sure !

Edited March 5, 2020 by rotuts (log)

Margaret Pilgrim · March 5, 2020

Like with most, no, more importantly than with most ingredients, quality will out. But like a great perfume, a drop is intoxicating; more a turn off.

Anna N · March 12, 2020

Yesterday @Kerry Beal and I were joined by an honorary “lady” who is the inspiration behind the blimp campaign. He proved to be a delightful lunch companion. He wanted to return to Bangkok Spoon in Dundas.

Cold sake for me.

Ginger tea for Kerry and our guest.

Then we shared appetizers and desserts.

Calamari.

Sticky rice with peanut dipping sauce.

Deep fried hiDeep fried Thai Spring rolls.

Beef skewers.

honey bananas.

Kerry and I each took a bite from one of these and then burst out laughing as we both realized that we did not like bananas!

coconut rice with mango. This was the dish our guest was looking forward to most.

KennethT · March 12, 2020

I LOVE mango with sticky rice. It could be my favorite dessert, and usually I'm a chocolate person... BUT - it is extremely dependent on using an awesome mango. I've had decent mangos here in the US (the ataulfo ones, not the Tommy Atkins variety) but in Asia there are so many incredible varieties. @Anna N Your mango looks good - it looks like a nicely ripe Ataulfo - do you know? Or is the restaurant bringing in special mangoes from elsewhere? I know that in NYC, the Indian stores will bring in Indian mangoes. They sell them for a small fortune, but I had to try one one day. I was disappointed - it was not nearly as good as some of the even mediocre ones I've had in SE Asia, forget the best. I think it's because, due to the shipping, they harvest them green and "ripen" them on the way over, which is really not ripening but controlled rotting. I would kill for a good tree ripened mango right about now....

shain · March 12, 2020

Circumstance brought me to the same place again. This time I went for hummus & shakshuka combo.

Anna N · March 12, 2020

18 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I LOVE mango with sticky rice. It could be my favorite dessert, and usually I'm a chocolate person... BUT - it is extremely dependent on using an awesome mango. I've had decent mangos here in the US (the ataulfo ones, not the Tommy Atkins variety) but in Asia there are so many incredible varieties. @Anna N Your mango looks good - it looks like a nicely ripe Ataulfo - do you know? Or is the restaurant bringing in special mangoes from elsewhere? I know that in NYC, the Indian stores will bring in Indian mangoes. They sell them for a small fortune, but I had to try one one day. I was disappointed - it was not nearly as good as some of the even mediocre ones I've had in SE Asia, forget the best. I think it's because, due to the shipping, they harvest them green and "ripen" them on the way over, which is really not ripening but controlled rotting. I would kill for a good tree ripened mango right about now....

I would love to brag to you that I am a mango connoisseur. It is completely untrue. I thought this was a fine mango. It did not reach the heights of some mangos that @Kerry Beal. found in of all places Costco in Sudberry! Still it seemed ripe and juicy.

rotuts · March 12, 2020

@Anna N

calamari , like the ones in your picture

always brighten my day.

Kerry Beal · March 27, 2020

Today it will have to be the Lady who Lunches!

I had noticed that Hamilton has an Owl of Minerva that Anna and I have not yet made it to - I corrected that today - became a line of 1 and picked up Kimchi jigae.

Next teleconference starts in 7 minutes!

Anna N · March 27, 2020

19 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Today it will have to be the Lady who Lunches!

The other lady who lunches enjoyed

A leg and thigh from a Costco rotisserie chicken that my daughter just purchased washed down by a glass of white wine dropped off at my house by this very lady who is lunching at the Owl of Minerva. There’s a downside to your best friend being a doctor when you are one of the most vulnerable. I offered to get her a bell so she could wander around calling out, “Unclean. Unclean”. Sometimes gallows humour is vital to survival.

Kerry Beal · March 28, 2020

7 hours ago, Anna N said:

The other lady who lunches enjoyed

A leg and thigh from a Costco rotisserie chicken that my daughter just purchased washed down by a glass of white wine dropped off at my house by this very lady who is lunching at the Owl of Minerva. There’s a downside to your best friend being a doctor when you are one of the most vulnerable. I offered to get her a bell so she could wander around calling out, “Unclean. Unclean”. Sometimes gallows humour is vital to survival.

And the reason that we were both doing leprosy research online last night. We do amuse ourselves!

shain · June 10, 2020

Lunch with a friend. Catching up over OKish Thai food (it's hard to get really good east Asian food in Israel, due to the lack of major immigration from those countries. There's a few good restaurants in the larger cities).

A nice and spicy som tam with sticky rice.

Shrimp and crab egg rolls with nice pickles.

A massaman curry with roasted potatoes and tofu. More of a phanaeng curry, in flavor, with lots of kaffir lime leaves (which i love) but not much of the warm spices that makes a massaman. Also a tad too sweet.

Phat kaphrao, which I was told was good and spicy. The egg was nice and runny,

We had a couple of local beers, amber ale and a pale ale. Israel's local brewery scene is quite decent. I just wish we had better local IPAs.

shain · June 21, 2020

Out for Ethiopian this time. Simple food, but made with care. Fantastic injeras, tart, elastic but tender and flavorful.

heidih · June 21, 2020

@shain Nice meal. Beautiful little bubble holes on the injera. A friend told me last night that her mom's former caregiver dropped some off last week. I am on the giftee list. They freeze well.

shain · June 21, 2020

16 minutes ago, heidih said:

@shain Nice meal. Beautiful little bubble holes on the injera. A friend told me last night that her mom's former caregiver dropped some off last week. I am on the giftee list. They freeze well.

Thanks

They do freeze well, I bought a few to take home. An Ethiopian meal is on the horizon.

Anna N · June 23, 2020

@shain

Nice looking lunches!

Well this is as close as it’s going to be for a while as far as the ladies who lunch is concerned.

@Kerry Bealhad business in my end of the region today so she stopped by the Vietnamese restaurant in Oakville to grab me a Pork Wreck.

and while I ate it alone I knew I was virtually connected because she had picked up two more of these for herself and her colleague who was waiting patiently back at the office.

Menu.

Margaret Pilgrim · June 23, 2020

Virtual connections are indeed the mode.

Anna, is your daughter in your visitation cocoon? Or is she also in hand-off mode?

Our son comes over for bsckyard visits, and we occasionally drive across town, park in front of his house and have tailgate to top of steps conversations. Not grand but of some comfort.

Anna N · July 3, 2020

On 6/23/2020 at 12:59 PM, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Virtual connections are indeed the mode.

Anna, is your daughter in your visitation cocoon? Or is she also in hand-off mode?

Our son comes over for bsckyard visits, and we occasionally drive across town, park in front of his house and have tailgate to top of steps conversations. Not grand but of some comfort.

Sorry I missed your question. When you posted it we were all still in drop off mode but since then we have had a couple of visits while respecting social distancing. Still have not left the house since mid March!

Anna N · July 23, 2020

what a welcome change this was! Today @Kerry Beal brought lunch over to my house and we had a very pleasant and very long visit, always observing social distancing!

The meal came from a place in Hamilton called The Arch Noodle House chosen because they offered scallion pancakes and Kerry was hankering after some.