A Spring Cape Cod Breakfast: Hangar B, Chatham.

More from the (sort of, maybe) hurricane. Being home all afternoon is rare for me, so I've been taking advantage of the weather, cleaning off my desk & paging through my sketchbooks. Apparently I have some catching up to do.
Here's one moment I found: a breakfast, on Cape Cod, early June, rainy Saturday, at the surprisingly (why surprisingly? Because we are both really good cooks & live in Massachusetts & have developed low restaurant expectations in general I guess) excellent Hangar B. 

6.11.2011: Breakfast in Chatham. 

I had a smoked salmon, goat's cheese & arugula omelet, with avocado slices & fried potatoes & toast & Owen had the famous Red Flannel Hash (Beets, Yukon Gold Patoes, Sweet Potatoes, Bacon), with toast & poached egggs & horseradish creme fraiche.
Mine was brilliant anyway, but the avocado slices but it over the top. Owen's was the best use of beets I have ever tasted. The toast was homemade & wonderful & there was housemade jam too. Good potatoes (which is both very important in a breakfast & not as common as you'd think).
I'm very into going out to breakfast as a thing & this meal made it into my Top Three Restaurant Breakfast List. It didn't quite beat out the amazing breakfast sandwich at the Sunny Point Cafe in Asheville, NC but comes in second before brunch at the The Green Bean & I do love the Green Bean,
Despite the rain, it was a lovely Cape Cod Saturday. After breakfast, we drove to the beach & collected seaweed & shells for our garden in a torrential downpour.
Standing on a beach on the bay on Cape Cod in red boots & a dress in pouring rain with someone you love & a hound dog, holding a bucket of ocean matter, after a really good breakfast is the kind of moment that makes for a satisfying life, I believe.
Here, in Northampton, in the present, the sun just came out.

Cali Part Three: Family Drinking & Mall Culture

& We're back.

At this point in our trip, I can say truthfully that we were losing our minds.

Here's what that looks like, Cali-style:

A Pair Of Chicken Dinners:

Part A: Old School Chicken, Carrots, Potatoes & Peas with Gramma, Grampa & Cousin Amy (following pinto grigio at 5 pm in the hot tub as went our Corona custom)

& Part B: Chicken, Onion, & Green Pepper Sandwiches at Uncle Bob's House, aka The Diamond Family Bar. With Top Gun (Ali, was it Top Gun? Now I'm blocking out the details?!) & copious amounts of scotch. Yup, weird night. Thank Christ it included the adorable puppy Bailey!

What could follow up a night of drinking at your family's own personal bar better then a truly old fashioned day of SO-CAL MALL CULTURE. Oh yes, the Diamond sisters meet a GIANT MALL. In the desert.

In short, our visit caused us to become addicted to Jamba Juice & Ross Dress for Less (actually, these are both re-addictions for me, I acquired them living in San Francisco & have been coping with the withdrawal ever since).

When Liz & Ali drove a red Ford Mustang convertible through the Hills:

to drink smoothies in flavors such as Green Tea Matcha & Pumpkin Pie & purchase discount Marc Jacobs scarves, gigantic Le Sportsac totes & sequined dresses of no brand name whatsoever but still beautiful,

(thank you Ali, I stll remember that is one of my Christmas presents)

So I mentioned Romano's Macaroni Grill? Same mall as the smoothies & shopping, 4:45pm on the dot, Diamond Cousin Reunion.

This type of crap food still makes me angry, but on the other hand I haven't had dinner with all four Diamond grandchildren in about ten years, so maybe I'll let this one go (Cousin Erin seems to have become a grown-up now, who knew?).

However, I must mention the following: that the waiter drew on the table with a crayon, offered the house Chianti as his wine selection, took his half hour break during our dinner, & served me a glass of wine I had ordered approximately 45 minutes before after the check came. Did I mention the food was crap? & Really quite expensive? How do places like this shithole get away with these shenanigans? Are we really that stupid as a food culture? (yes yes I know I know) (I guess I haven't let it go but REALLY?! In ten minutes with $3 I could have made better food for four with ten dollars I could have had better wine too) But anyway,

Seafood Linguine & Loster Ravioli, aka Mediocre Food & An Excellent Family,

(love&thanks Ali, Gramma, Grampa, Amy & Erin)

We did have one truly great meal, Ali & I, & eventually, I'll end this saga on that note.

Hint: Deep Fried Zucchini & Carne Asada. & That meal carried us through LAX & home again.

My Archives Apparently Contain Bacon & Cheese.

One more from the archives before the EnD Turkey Fest begins later today.

This Grilled Cheese was born & consumed on this historic night. Oh Kathy's, so many late night of summer 2009 were spent eating really greasy things in you.

8.14.09, 1:20am, Kathy's Diner, Northampton.

A Bacon Grilled Cheese, With Tomato (the best way.)

From The Archives: Still More Onion Rings.

Onion Rings, an ongoing theme 'round here. This long lost, almost tragically forgotten meal came from this day. We were indeed a couple of sad hipsters, but at least we ate reasonably well (meaning the fries, bacon, & grease food groups were included). & like the last time we ate together at the Northampton Brewery, we were exhausted & hungry. Which I think is why this meal was so good. Plus we were sad. What cures sadness? Onion rings. At least on this blog, they do (Commandments of EnD).

I guess being a food thief has been a tradition here long before I swiped that mocha the other day.

Bacon Cheese Onion Rings: That Which Never Fails Us.

I used to hate ham, but cuban sandwiches won me over. Plus I am a sucker for the words 'spicy cajun' even though I've been back in New England long enough that I shouldn't be fooled anymore.

(& spelling? still fuck you).

I still really only love the Brewery for the mussels & beer sampler combination, most of the other food, while good bar food, isn't worth the money if you're poor, might as well go to Packard's for the jalapeno cheese stuffed deep fried burger. (hell I need to go eat that so I can draw it, very very soon, note to self & anyone who wants to come with me. Or hell, I once made it myself, that could also happen).

See, isn't revisiting the past fun? Yup, that could have been sarcasm (don't tell my work).

Tea & Mocha Related Crimes.

In which my partner-in-crime Rin & I consume hot beverages on a rainy November afternoon at the lovely Esselon Cafe in Hadley. I really shouldn't be drawing right now due to the hand injury, but I did these very slowly & over lots of whipped creme (which everyone knows is a healing substance). As anyone who ever draws with me can attest, one & a half drawings over a couple of hours is a VERY slow pace for me.

& Rin helped me out with this one, by drawing his version of my mocha on the opposite page. & by accusing me of being a

MOCHA THIEF !

(fuck spelling on this blog too apparently)

But that's ok, because then Rin HID from our server, making his pot of tea extremely difficult to deliver. What a jerk! Hiding from your server wtf?!

We were on the porch under the heat lamps, so the lighting was really that red. The whole experience was rather like drinking coffee in a bordello. Which is not at all a bad thing, obviously. The delighfully fake plants & insanely ornate mirror we were seated next to contributed to the overall experience. I like Esselon, all the food near us looked & smelled delicious but we are poor & didn't order any.

Hint: TAKE RIN & I OUT TO LUNCH. WE ARE ADORABLE. WE PROMISE WE'LL KEEP THE BEVERAGE RELATED HI-JINKS TO A MINIMUM.

Oh wait, no we don't. YAY HI-JINKS!

XOXO.