The Birds & The Bugs
Food. It’s all about the food. Except for when it isn’t.
Years ago I was criticized for only evaluating restaurants based on the output from the kitchen and not paying appropriate attention to the physical trappings of the experience. It’s never been true. I’ve always payed attention to the details.
I asses the weight, quality, and design of the utensils. I care deeply about the choice of glassware and the occasional but unfortunate presence of seams on its stems. I see dust in places where people never think to look. Seriously people, it’s hiding in plain sight.
Right now, the weather is finally warming up, so I wanted to take a few moments and talk about eating outside. Mostly because the promise of outdoor dining is so lovely. But in my experience, especially in the Capital Region, it leaves a lot to be desired.
Drink The Good Stuff
Sigh. I don’t know what to say. Last night the United States apparently launched over 50 Tomahawk missiles at a military base in Syria. I’m no ballistics expert, but that feels like overkill.
Doing a quick internet search, the value of each missile is somewhere between $750k and $1.5m. I think you get a discount when you buy them in bulk. So let’s be conservative and say that show of force cost the American taxpayer $37.5m in ammunition alone.
On the flip side, let’s look at a high estimate for resettling refugees in the United States. The highest one I found, which comes from Breitbart, puts the five year number per person at $64,370.
That means, at the very least, we could have saved 11 people from the horrors of this war for the price of one missile. But the executive branch has decided we aren’t going to accept any refugees from this country, even though Syrian babies have been dying horrible deaths long before 72 more people died from the chemical agent released on Tuesday.
Maybe this will end well. Maybe it won’t. But mostly, I’m just scratching my head, dumbstruck in disbelief. What I know for sure, is that it’s time to drink the good stuff.
What Makes You Smile?
Man, I really need to update the blog roll. Right now in my head, I’m hearing those clear, ringing bugle notes of Taps. So many blogs continue to fall by the wayside. Maintaining a blog over the years requires a special kind of crazy.
Taps is really the appropriate song for the moment. If you’re not in a dark spot these days, you probably have been avoiding pictures of the situation in Syria. And while neither you nor I can control what’s happening on the ground a world away, at least one might hope that a compassionate people might open up their borders to those trying desperately to escape this horror.
Food blog. I’ve got a food blog. This is a food blog.
So, let’s try and put the darkness aside for a moment, and think about what makes you smile? For the sake of full disclosure, it’s not a question I’ve ever asked. It’s a question that comes from a relatively new local food blog called, ONECHEESETOGO.
Trader Joe’s Tradeoffs
Without a doubt the existence of a Trader Joe’s in the Capital Region makes my life better. Granted, it would be better still if our local TJ’s was allowed to sell wine and spirits. But that’s life in New York. At least for now.
Call me naive, but I’m still hopeful that one day the will of the people might convince our elected officials to loosen regulations on the sale of alcoholic beverages.
Unlike most people, I shop everywhere. And I mean everywhere. From little ethnic markets to the biggest of the big box retailers. Part of this is because I’m always looking for the best deal on household staples. It’s all about price to value ratios. Sometimes a $30+ bottle of olive oil can be a great value if the oil itself is knock-you-socks-off delicious, like the last one I found at The Cheese Traveler.
That said, most of our groceries come from Trader Joe’s. But TJ’s has one significant drawback.
Searching For a Snack in Schenectady
I’m questioning my choices. The last time I went on a diet, it was driven by my doctor’s ultimatum that I either clean up my act or go on a lifetime of medication. And it turns out that was highly motivating.
This time, the motivation isn’t there. So while I’m making better choices, and limiting my intake of certain fun foods, the results aren’t nearly as rapid as before. Maybe that’s okay. But it’s frustrating.
The problem with being on a diet is that there are so many foods one shouldn’t eat. So when Little Miss Fussy needed a snack while out running errands in Schenectady, instead of grabbing a slice of pizza or popping into a diner to split an order of fries, I was at a loss for what to eat.
Then I remembered hearing something good about an Afghani restaurant in the area.
Wonderful Watervliet
Yesterday on Facebook, I got a gander of one of those listicles from last summer. Those things really take on a life of their own.
My point today is not to discuss how the author got the 12 Best Food Cities in Upstate New York totally wrong. The answer to that should be clear on its face. Sure, my Capital Region pride swells when the big prize is given to Schenectady. But if Morrette’s is the crown jewel in the best food city of Upstate New York, we all have a much bigger problem.
Luckily, it’s not.
All the same, that piece got me thinking about all the municipalities that didn’t make the cut. One of the things that I love about living in the Capital Region is how many interesting small towns, villages, and hamlets are within an hour’s drive. Each of them has something notable. Each has a certain character. And the all have rich histories.
Which made me think of Watervliet.
The Capital Region’s Most Entrenched
What can I tell you, I’m a glutton for punishment. Every year, when the Times Union’s Best of the Capital Region poll results come out, I’m curious to know what those who vote in this survey think are the area’s crowning jewels.
Sometimes it fills me with hope. Other times it’s despair. Usually, it’s a combination of both.
We talked about this year’s poll a couple of months ago when the voting was open. And no longer do I care enough about this long standing barometer to execute a formal campaign to try and sway the results. This year, it seems like Tipsy Moose did a pretty good job of that.
Congratulations to them. I’m serious. It’s no small feat. But besides the accomplishment of being able to achieve some movement in the poll results, more importantly it helped to put some fresh new businesses on the list, which by and large are fairly lacking.
Much like Albany itself, this is a town where reputations are long entrenched. Things get done the way they’ve always been done. So Uber has an uphill climb, we’re not getting wine in grocery stores anytime soon, and the fact we can now have a mimosa with brunch is somehow a staggering political accomplishment.
Grumpiness aside, let’s look at some of the highs and lows of this year’s results.
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