Text 19434, 111 rader
Skriven 2011-12-26 03:40:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip cotd 410
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Conchita pina colada soft drink - the family likes this; I thought
it just a tad too canned-tasting, the fat rather mouth-coating.
The flavors were pretty good I suppose and were much improved by
the addition of a tot of rum.

I'd planned to do a raw meat extravaganza, so Dave took me out
to the 90 Meat Market in West Springfield, where despite the
mostly disappointing offerings we picked up a round tip roast
- ten meaty pounds - to play with. It strikes me that last time
I'd been, the prices were better and the selection more
interesting, but that might be my rose-colored hindsight.

We took a sobering drive through tornado-devastated downtown
Springfield, though we noted with pleasure that many of the
local places are rebuilding and reopening, including Milano's,
the best cold cuts in town and not coincidentally owned by Dave's
b-i-l Nick's cousin Nick.

Excitement of the day: we saw a big piece of sheet metal fall off
an old red truck and mash the front end of a passing Beemer, just
missing bisecting a couple of pedestrians on the rebound. The
truck, of course, fled. (Next day at Home Depot we saw a guy with
a big piece of sheet metal - Dave said that he would have LOLed
mightily if it had been loaded onto a battered red truck, but
it wasn't.)

As red-cooked pig feet was on my mind, the Food Zone, Dave's
paragon of chain-bucking independent grocery storedom, was our
next stop. As it's a multiethnic market, there's always cool
stuff to look at, and we did find reasonably clean pig feet
there - we picked up a couple of big ones for us and a pork
butt so the ladies would have something to eat. This place has
also seen better days, and there were obvious signs of salvage
from the big storm. The pig balls, which Dave had thought about
experimenting with, showed signs of freezer burn, and when we
went to replace the frozen treats that Dave had lost in his own
little disaster, we found that the stock had also suffered
refreezing, plus some showed rodent damage (ugh) and one even
had human bite marks (double ugh). We refrained from buying
any of the dodgier things.

Shopping among less appetizing things is hard work; so we
stopped in at the Saigon Market down the street and got a pair
of big pork baos - these turned out to hold steamed pork, a
bit of salted egg, and a tiny but delicious slice of lop
cheong. Not what I had in mind, so I resolved to make roast
pork baos back home later.

La Visita chicharrones were the big winner from the Food Zone
- big pieces of pigskin fried crisp but not quite hard, good
but not excessive porky flavor, not too salty.

It was time for the family reunion, where the Clean Clan and
sibs and various friends and hangers-on (myself included) met
for an afternoon of excessive eating and surprisingly modest
drinking. This was held at sister Lori (very cute) and b-i-l
Nick's comfortable home right over the Massachusetts border.
I've been there a few times before and remembered a thickly
forested back yard - this is now tree-free, looking like a
logging operation, complete with logs, the storm having taking
a large toll, and the house being lucky not to have been crushed
by falling lumber. Grandma Lynn was there, as well as her sister
Sandy. Also brother Bruce the hitman (well, Lynnie used to think
he looked like a hitman) and sister Lisa (also very cute). Also
various offspring of some of the above.

I was served a bottle of Mike's black cherry lemonade, which
was pleasantly tart, mildly cherried, and 5.8% alcohol, so
that was good; also the respectable for a cheap wine Columbia
Crest Two Vines Chardonnay, which Grandma insisted on diluting
with ice. A peculiar taste: Gustare 12-y-o balsamic with dark
chocolate - this tasted like any cheap balsamic, more
vinegary than most, slightly more pruny than normal, with
a weird undertone of cocoa: I've not a clue what it would
be used for.

The usual Italian groaning board of nuts, olives, crudites,
salad, cheeses, and most importantly a charcuterie plate from
Milano's - a good standard capicolla, some of the best
mortadella I remember having eaten this century, and an
excellent silky smooth prosciutto that could have been
better only if it had more fat.

Escarole soup with meatballs and cheese tortellini was
a cooperative venture; enjoyable. I am not one for
cheese tortellini, for obvious reasons, but tried one
because Grandma had made them. It was tasty and did
not do me in.

I may be prejudiced, having had a small part in the
manufacture, but I think the overall highlights were
Dave's crabcakes and stuffed clams, both with a higher
percentage of shellfish than the standard and with more
assertive seasoning than one is accustomed to. Okay, the
crabcake I had seemed a touch salty, but I'm watching my
sodium, and further had been salted out after my gluttony
with the cold cuts, so take my salt with a grain of salt.

About when everyone was full, out came the main course,
ziti Bolognese. It was pretty authentic, almost exactly
as I make it, though I am generally lighter on the cheese.
Much of this went away in doggy bags.

After sweets - I had a Mike's Hard Limeade instead, it
was pretty good - it was time to pack it in and head
southward toward home, where another few days of food
adventure beckoned.

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