use real butter

Everyone knows that I hate coffee, but Jeremy loves it. I don’t hate coffee itself, just the culture that has grown around it. I actually like it in baking or desserts, and all of the prep is fun. Anyway, I ordered this for his office today:

baby espresso machine: i dub thee Happy Jr.

Except his isn’t yellow, it’s orange (called passion/orange - whatever that means). The tectonics group had one at my old workplace and even though I never wanted to drink any, I was always volunteering to make it for someone because it’s so easy - it’s so FUN! This is the baby version of what the group had. I think it’s perfect for Jeremy. I also think when he walks into his office after trudging through the cold his world will light up when he sees: 1) Happy Jr. and 2) his G5 - because what else is more beautiful and functional at the same time?!

But it didn’t end there. I also got him an Aerolatte milk frother. E gave us one as a gift and we love it (again, I use it to froth milk, but lactose intolerance means I can only play and not consume). Then after work I took Jeremy to the flats to pick up some other items. He’s not just going to have an espresso machine, I’m setting him up with a small Refreshment Center. We picked up a small thermo-electric refrigerator, raw sugar, black dish towel (because espresso stains the hell out of white), and…

a set of 4 demitasse cups and saucers: caffeine fuels science

This time, he didn’t fight me on this. I think he’s really going to enjoy having this available in his office - their department doesn’t have squat! No kitchen, no coffee, barely a bathroom… This weekend we’ll rearrange the furniture, clean up the space, hang some pictures (he can finally have a place to hang the damn 60-inch Milky Way!), take the extra microwave to his office, and turn it into a happy place. I’m thrilled he has accepted Happy Jr. with such ease.

This evening, we reviewed Chez Thuy after work. It is a Vietnamese restaurant. The food was quite good. Not really on par with some of the finer establishments we have been reviewing, but I wanted some variety - something Asian. Interestingly, most of the Asian places I’ve eaten don’t put much investment in “service”. In fact, the places that serve the best Chinese food are notoriously rude and disinterested in the customers. But the Chinese clientele couldn’t care less - they don’t go to a Chinese restaurant for service, they go for a good bargain on awesome food. They are as equally rude and inconsiderate to their servers and other guests as the servers and other guests are to them.

soft shell crab with rice noodles, lettuce, mint, cucumbers, sprouts, cilantro

delicious crispy duck with vegetables

The food was great. I ordered this lychee slushie that was heavenly. Lychee puts me in a good mood. The wait staff was mixed, and the dessert menu… I have never been terribly inspired by Asian desserts, with good reason. They suck. We didn’t order any, but we’ve also been battling some sort of strange visitor in the lower GI department in the past 24 hours (36 hours for Jeremy) so we couldn’t eat much anyway.

I had a most delicious salad today, prompted by a particular blog. It was all organic except for the avocado and cucumber. This was definitely much healthier than eating that vat of bacon grease! Thanks Kell. I even passed along some suggestions to Ro.

the kell-inspired salad

Now to see how much writing I can crank out in the next hour…