Category: Food (Page 1 of 159)

I recently received some dried dates. They are not from a grocery store – they’re from a family business that makes them locally.

I was always a little afraid of dates, because when the monkey in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” dies from eating a date that a villain has poisoned, Indiana’s friend Sallah says: “Bad dates,” as if he wasn’t surprised that a date would kill someone. It made me think that when dates spoil, they become poisonous. Yikes! Who would ever eat them?

I got brave once and tried a grocery store date. It was ok. It was kind of like a weird raisin. I preferred raisins.

But then I tried these dates. Holy cow! They are sooo good! They have more moisture in them than grocery store dates. They are soft and sweet and huge. They taste like something made with caramel and brown sugar.

Our first day of parent/teacher conferences was yesterday. One couple of parents came in, and said they brought me something. Then they opened a bag and gave me this:

It was stir fried rice that they had made! Yum! It was so good! I ate some of course, but saved the rest for later.

The conferences went well, but it was a long day. Today we have a half day of school and then more conferences. It’s a lighter day for me though, so I should be heading home earlier than last night. Nice!

Happy Halloween! And Happy Reformation!

Church handbell and choir practice was last night, so after school I just stayed through. I needed dinner, and was craving steak, so I went to a steakhouse. Yum!

It’s funny, because this meal wasn’t all that much more than going to a diner. Or to a fast food place, when it comes down to it. Maybe I should eat at real restaurants on Thursdays more often.

On a related note, while I was sitting at the restaurant, I didn’t have a book, so I got out my phone. Everything I would normally spend time doing was blocked by my Brick device, so I went to my browser. I read all about John Locke, since we talked about him in American History class. I read the whole Wikipedia page about him – plus some side links, like the Glorious Revolution. I was still looking at a screen, but at least I was learning something, I guess.

Someone at school brought more produce! This time, it was persimmons.

I’ve had these big ones before. They are kind of firm/crunchy, mildly sweet, and fresh-tasting. I was so excited to eat a home-grown one!

Ack! It was SUPER astringent. When I bit it, it felt like my mouth had all the moisture sucked out, and my lips sucked into a pucker.

I threw it away.

The internet says when persimmons aren’t ripe, they are filled with tannins, which makes your mouth feel like that.

I think it’s going to be a while before a try a persimmon again.

In Baltimore, there were Dunkin Donuts everywhere. Here in Los Angeles, they are few and far between. Instead, there are mom-and-pop donut shops, and there are a LOT of them.

I sometimes stop for donuts on the way to school. Sometimes it’s for kids, but yesterday it was for the teacher break room. I have been trying different places on my route from home. Yesterday was a new place:

It was cheaper than other places I’ve stopped, so that was good. But the real test is how the glazed donuts taste. It’s surprising how differently the donut shops do glazed donuts.

It was good! I liked the glazed donut a lot. I think it might become a regular stop.