Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Good Coffee, Bad Coffee, Chicken Parm and Chicken Dumpling Soup

Yeah, it's been that kind of day and, no, I didn't have all of them at the same time (ok - there was some slight overlapping of good coffee and bad coffee).


This morning was spent doing Word 2007 homework and waiting for word on my landlord who underwent surgery this morning for a hernia (today actually being yesterday since it's already past midnight). When Tom texted me to let me know his dad (my landlord) was out of surgery and would be coming home today, I texted back that it sure would be nice if someone brought me some coffee and a sausage, egg and cheese croissant from Dunkin Donuts. Lo and behold, in walks Thomas with said hot coffee and hot sandwich just as I was relaxing from having completed four of five assignments. It was wonderful!!


Later in the day, he asked me to drive him to the train station so he could go into the city and do some bar hopping with friends. I could keep the car. I agreed if he promised to not get soused and not wait until 1 AM to come home like he did the last time (big fight, lots of yelling, all by him, not ever to be repeated). Dropped him off at the station and came home just in time for his brother to call. I assumed he was calling about his money (my daughter bought a car from him and pays him each month), but he was also interested in going to eat. I took him up on it because the breakfast sandwich was losing its steam. (Made sure he was paying, too, since I didn't really have any disposable cash lying about.)


So, dinner was at Olive Garden where I enjoyed a bowl of Pasta Fagiole and a plate of chicken Parmesan. They seem to have cut back on how much pasta they put on the plate (which is odd since it's the cheapest thing on the plate), but there were two nice sized pieces of chicken. I ate one with the pasta and brought the second one home. After dinner, brother dearest (yes, I am making that subtle connection to the infamous movie) wanted to go for coffee at Starbucks. Since that's usually what Tom and I do, it annoyed me, but I said OK as long as we didn't go to the same one Tom and I go to. We went to the one in Barnes and Noble which was across the street from Olive Garden. Big mistake!!


First of all, the coffee I got, which I get regularly at another location, was the absolute worst coffee I've ever had from Starbucks!! It tasted like someone had left it in the pot all day and it had cooked down to sludge after which they added some water and ice and then some milk to sell as iced coffee. ICK!!! How can a chain coffee shop selling the same coffee made by the same company have coffee that tastes so different in each location??? I've had some in malls that tasted pretty much like iced milk with sweet n low. What I get where Tom and I go is wonderful and consistent, regardless of who's behind the counter. But, this stuff was just plain nasty! I couldn't wait to get the taste out of my mouth.


Secondly, I spent money there. I bought another cookbook (shhhhh - do NOT tell my daughter. She hates that I have so many!) Yes, I know - I didn't have disposable cash for dinner, but books last forever! (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.)


Finally, we left and he took me home.where I did a few things online and watched a little TV. Tom finally contacted me to let me know he'd be taking the 11:42 train back to Jersey. I left to go to the station around 11:38 and got to the station just as his train was arriving. Don't ask me to do that again because it was a total accident!! LOL


We pulled out to come home and Tom wanted to go get something to eat, presumably to absorb some of the five or so cocktails he'd had since going to Philly, so we went to a local diner where he ordered a chicken croquette and Brussels sprouts with Chicken Dumpling soup. That sounded good to me, so I also ordered soup along with a chicken bacon ranch wrap and fries (knowing I'd be taking most of it home). I also ordered some decaf coffee. The soup was delicious! The wrap was OK, but should have had the ranch dressing ON it instead of along side it. It was very dry. The fries were actually pretty nice. They looked hand cut and still had skins. The coffee was also very good and succeeded in removing that bitter burnt taste I was suffering from since Starbucks. I packed my fries and just over half of the wrap to bring home, dropped Tom off at his house and came home. While I was gone, my daughter ate the piece of chicken Parm I had brought her from Olive Garden. Now she has a bacon chicken wrap she can take to work tomorrow. This was a huge wrap!!


So, that's how today's food went. It's just been too hot to want to really get down to cooking, but now that the nights are getting cooler (for a while), I might get back into it. Besides, it's cheaper (unless I can again get someone else to pay for my meal.) 

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