It was retail mania in Oklahoma at Wall's Bargain Center and the two "crazy shopping ladies" (= my friend Ulli and I as described by her two daughters) were at it again. Whenever my travels lead me to visit the Schoenknecht family in the Sooner State, a trip to this Mecca of consumerism is part of the program, and quite necessary so as to beef up my wardrobe every year. Most of you know about Wall's - located in a semi-abandoned shopping mall on the outskirts of town, it is kind of like a Marshall's on steroids - the place is jam-packed with stuff, from clothes to mattresses, household items, garbage cans, carpets, pillows - you name it. Of course we were not there for the garbage cans, but for the fancy schmancy clothes at rock bottom prices. One has to dig a path through the piles of not so nice clothes to get to the good loot, but it is soooo worth it. Once you purchase a satin skirt fit to be worn for the opera for 1 dollar or a Ralph Lauren Sweater for less than ten bucks, there is no going back. The frenzy we found ourselves in was heightened by the fact that Wall's was having a "bucket sale" - one could stuff all the goodies collected into a 5-gallon bucket and that entitled the happy shopper to an additional 15% off. The bucket size, as we learned later, was not restricted to a five-gallon specimen, and as one of the cashier's told us "if you can drag a 55-gallon bucket in here, that would work for us too". Ulli and I contemplated finding a trailer and declaring it a bucket, and I think the very liberal staff at Wall's would have given us the discount on a trailer full of clothes accompanied by a big smile.
I had traveled out west this past Thursday and after experiencing the first signs of fall in Boston, I was welcomed in Tulsa with some roasty-toasty temps of 99 degrees. We managed to stay cool inside and divert ourselves quite nicely over the holiday weekend. Among the highlights was a trip to Tulsa to the Gilcrease Museum (http://www.gilcrease.org/) to see an Ansel Adams exhibit and the museum's vast collection of American art and history. The Adams exhibit featured about 140 prints of America's favorite nature photographer, and a whole slew of his cameras. The Osage Restaurant (http://www.gilcrease.org/osage.aspx) in the museum, aptly named after the Osage Hills surrounding the site, provided a stellar brunch buffet, and we all moved a little slower post-gluttony ( I remember going for refills on whipped cream.... everything else is a blur).
Labor Day was spent in the town of Guthrie, a Midwestern town established in the late 19th century following the Oklahoma Land Run (Wikipedia says it grew from nothing to 10,000 inhabitants in a day) - with its wonderfully preserved Victorian architecture (http://www.guthrieok.com/) it certainly is a favorite of mine. It was Oklahoma's first state capital and is now a Historic Landmark. The downtown area features quite a few antique shops, a Victorian tea room, a drug store museum - and the city has several claims to movie fame - among them the movie "Rain Man" - the scene were Dustin Hoffman crosses the road but stops because the sign says "Don't Walk" - you guessed right, it is Guthrie!! The movie "Twister" with Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton also features some street scenes from Guthrie.
What else did we do? Oh yes, we went to the Payne County Fair and did us some shootin' - nothing real, just shooting little cork bits at plastic cups, but we had quite a fun time and brought home some nice stuffed animals for the kids. We went to Shake's for their delicious frozen custard ice cream (http://www.shakesfrozencustard.com/) and to the newly minted Texas Road House (http://www.texasroadhouse.com/) where we enjoyed some Grade A fillet mignon, threw peanuts on the floor and watched the wait staff do some line dancin". Yiihaah!
Overall it was a wonderful visit and I had a stellar time; very relaxing and enjoyable. The pace of life is so much less hectic, the skies are vast and blue, and the people are friendly - so what's not to like?
I got back Tuesday, and after one day in Boston fell back into crazy-busy mode - everyone is back from their summer vacation, ready to get crackin', and hence it was a bit of a stressful week. The weather has been very summery, we enjoyed (or not) 87 degrees today, but fall is definitely in the air, and starting tomorrow temperatures will (hopefully) drop back into a more moderate range.
My first social outing this week took place last night, when yours truly had cashed in a gift certificate and attended a "sushi and sake" pairing at Gordon's Fine Wine and Liquors" in Waltham (http://www.gordonswine.com/). Not only do they have an exquisite wine and spirit selection, but their classes are fabulous (and affordable). The Asian-infused evening featured a presentation by Sake expert and imported Michael John Simkin (www.mjssakeselections.com) who brought with him a series of five sakes from the Ichishima Sake Brewery in the Niigata province of Japan (these sakes are not going to be available in the US until October, so we were the first US audience to try them). This guy was quite on top of it, knew everything there was to know about Sake, and the very educated audience certainly appreciated his efforts. Now the food, people, OHMYGOD - sushi chef Kenji Alt, a chef on America's Test Kitchen (http://www.americastestkitchen.com/) , writes for Cooks Illustrated (http://www.cooksillustrated.com/) and for several other magazines around Boston, together with his sous-chef Paco, dished up some of the best Japanese food I have ever tasted - here is the menu:
**diver scallop sashimi with fresh wasabi, myoga and mustard see caviar
**hamachi sashimi with ginger-watermelon juice, basil seeds and shiso chips
**salmon sashimi with fermented soy beans, scallions and liquid nori
**simmered duck breast with yu choy and onions
**miso-glazed eggplant with charred sea urchin
I have never ever had scallops this good, safe to say - every dish was an amazing combination of flavors and presented to perfection. The sakes were wonderful, except for the Koshu, which had aged for five years, and (to me) smelled a bit too much like old cheese. My favorites were the Junmai Genshu and the Silk Deluxe Junmai, a desert sake. The organizers meant well and filled our glasses quite nicely, which meant we all left Gordon's in a very good mood. I have been pretty abstinent from alcohol over the past few months, and as you can imagine, my head was a little fuzzy this morning after all that tasting and such. Things moved a little slower than usual....
It's late, gotta go, the weekend is upon us. I spent the evening with my friend Hillary and her charming son Atticus, who I am so in love with!!! At 7 weeks, he is quite the charmer, and kept smiling at me, which I hope is true affection and not something related to his digestive tract. We enjoyed a nice evening out at 1369 Coffee House at Central Square (http://www.1369coffeehouse.com/), browsed the book shelves at Rodney's book store (http://www.rodneysbookstore.com/) - where the Little A seemed mesmerized by a calendar from Cape Cod - and had a nice evening overall.
Tomorrow I am heading to Southern New Hampshire to find a final and lovely resting place to spread the ashes of my beloved avian companion Oscar - may his spirit enjoy the mountains as much as I do.
Until soon my friends,
pet:)
Saturday, September 6, 2008
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