Nov 30
We’re spending a few days in Vancouver. The main reason is to catch up with a couple I knew during my postdoc days in Dallas. They live in Nova Scotia and don’t get west of Ontario very often. However, we don’t need much of an excuse to visit Vancouver. It’s less than three hours away …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/11/30/north-of-the-border/
Nov 01
We moved to Bothell from Seattle almost three years ago. My first experience of our fair city was when I wrote grants for a now-defunct biotech start-up our first year in Washington. I fell in love with the quaint downtown and the Yakima Fruit Market. The latter reminds me of the fruit stands near my …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/11/01/beautiful-downtown-bothell/
Oct 25
I’m sure many of you are thinking that Julian and I have been together for WAY too long if my idea of a hot date is grocery shopping. One can always put twists into any mundane activity. We had to get some provisions for home and for the annual Spiediefest the following night. Our errands …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/25/date-night-at-costco/
Oct 18
I like the fact that Seattle is not a stagnant community. The unemployment rate is low, and new restaurants are opening all the time. Unfortunately, there are some changes that are not welcome. A few examples: 1. Hing Loon closed earlier this year. It was a Chinese restaurant in the International District that served the …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/18/changes-not-for-the-better/
Oct 17
Diners are a primarily Northeast phenomenon. You rarely find them in the South or on the West Coast. I’m not sure why this is. It could be due to the proliferation of fast-food and family restaurant (e.g., Applebee’s) franchises, where everything is prepackaged, portion-controlled, and lacking creativity. There’s also the cafeteria culture in the South …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/17/diners/
Oct 08
We left Hannibal this morning to spend the day in Ithaca. Julian and I both got degrees from Cornell, and this is where we met. So how much nostalgia can two people cram into one day? Plenty! We started off in Collegetown, which has a few leftover establishments from our time here. First we went …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/08/nostalgia-day/
Oct 08
Rudy’s (generally referred to in my family as the fish fry stand) is an institution in Oswego. Generations of locals and more than a few tourists have made pilgrimages there during the seven months that the restaurant is open each year. Naturally, we had to do so on this trip. When I was a kid, …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/10/08/rudys/
Jul 18
We ate and drank very well while we were in France. Yet neither of us gained any weight while we were on the trip. How’d we manage that? We did do a lot of walking around Paris and southern France, sure. However, I think a bigger reason was the concept of assez (enough); in other …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/07/18/an-americans-take-on-the-french-paradox/
Jun 13
“Why a duck? Why a no chicken?” (Chico Marx, The Cocoanuts) The Millau Viaduct is the highest bridge in the world, and the tallest structure of any kind in France. It opened for traffic in 2005. It’s an amazing bit of engineering and good-looking to boot. We had lunch at the rest stop/visitors’ center just …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/06/13/more-on-rest-stops-the-millau-viaduct/
Jun 04
Your standard American rest area on an interstate toll road is little more than a bad vending machine. Forty years ago rest areas were run by Howard Johnson in the northeast, Stuckey’s in the south, and other chains elsewhere. If you drive the New Jersey Turnpike these days, you might find a Roy Rogers, Subway, …
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/06/04/rest-stops-a-la-francais/
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