by Ethan Johnson
April 21, 2002

Much has been happening in ethmar.com-land, so rather than let this web site sit idly by, here are some random thoughts to entertain and inform for the time being:

Dallas Short List: It needs an overhaul, totally. There are things to add and things to subtract. I won't go on about the additions just yet, since that defeats the purpose of updating the list, but I will segue neatly into...

Central Market: Good God, man! It only exists in Texas. Which is not to say that there's no other place like it on Earth, or in the US, more to the point, but hot damn! It's both a blessing and a curse to have such a great grocery nearby such as this. I got 2 Maine lobster tails the other day for $6.99 apiece, and to go with it, I got the infamous Normandy butter (as seen on Food Network). Oh. My. God. This butter, coupled with this lobster, is the meaning of life. Thousands of years of philosophy and theology have been laid waste by a single bite of dinner. I remarked that the lobster tails (which actually is the only part of the lobster we like anyway) cost less than it did for the whole shootin' match in Maine itself. We just went back today and bought more. We're bad, bad people.

Food Network: We've been watching this quite a bit. Actually, it got me interested in really cooking, and not from a can. Mar has been alternately amused and aggravated as I have made my assault on the kitchen. Yesterday I went nutso and made the following:

• Portugese Tomato Rice
• Saffron Aioli (as consumed at Chamberlain's in Dallas)
• Filet Mignon, Grilled Lobster Tail, and what was supposed to be rice cakes, kinda like crab cakes only it's rice. It was billed as Nuevo Cubano in my rice cookbook. It bombed, badly. Argh.

This weekend is the "Couch Potato Weekend", and tying in with it is a contest where they're giving away trips to Boise Idaho, among other things. Mar keeps registering every day. I told her we'll win the DVD player. They showed central Idaho on one of the shows. Maybe we'll see Jeanne and Jeff on Food TV's dime!

Home Improvements: When I haven't been being all "Iron Chef" in the kitchen, we've been doing things like paint our boring home interior. I have come completely to grips with the fact that I'm what I like to call an "idea rat" (in tribute to Ratbert in the Dilbert strip). I like to come up with grandiose, easy-sounding plans (on paper), but the problems start when I actually try to do the work. Next paint job, I'll buy the paint, I'll even drive it home, but I am NOT putting roller to wall. I will call someone and part with my filthy lucre in order to a) retain my sanity and b) brag to visitors with the staple "my idea, you know" phrase.

One thing we did do by our lonesome selves was add a metal rack to our pantry door for canned goods. It's about 6 and a half feet long, and I not-thinkingly went to the Container Store to buy it with the Beetle. I'm here to tell everyone that is wondering if the new Beetles have enough interior room that you've got about 7 and a half feet from the inside lip of the trunk hatch to the farthest edge of the windshield. Translation: Don't be hauling any lumber home. Anyway, the rack was just what the doctor ordered, and it basically emptied one shelf in our paltry pantry. But we can see all of our canned goods at long last, and we're both feeling alternately smug and like legitimate home owners.

Coming Up: Mar is off to Indianapolis to visit her sister, as well as the majority of her family that is coming over for Matthew's (her nephew) first Communion. While she's away, I'm going to cause all kinds of calamity doing the "self-taught" thing in the kitchen. On the agenda: Steamed mussels.

Brian (my brother) is coming down the first weekend of May. We're ordering stuff from Lobster Gram with the gift certificate he gave us for Christmas. So it's Filet Mignon and Maine lobster tails for the 3 of us! Woohoo! Plus we'll show him the latest sights. And failing that, there's always Food TV.

I'm also plotting a weekend getaway to Memphis the 3rd week of May for the "Memphis in May" festival. There's (in this case) a big barbeque bash right on the Mississippi River. I called Danny (Mar's brother) and asked hom when it was and what the deal was. He advised that the festival is "all about drinking, eating, getting hot and sweaty, and being obnoxious."

We are so there! <EM>