I met up with Ms. Laura for a quick lunch before she left town today – got to meet her sister, who’s accompanying her on the drive out West, and we lunched at Lulu’s down on the Blvd. I’m going to miss seeing her & chatting with her – but I’ll accept her excuse (her wedding/honeymoon). While the company was excellent & our conversation good, the food itself was… OK. I appreciated the copious quantity of vegetables, but I was struck again by the comparison in my head to Thai Place/Thai House. It’s just not there for me, what they’re serving. I put my finger on what was missing (beyond the obvious: sauce), and realized it was fresh herbs. Seasonings. The condiment tray consisted of sugar, ground red pepper, and jalapenos floating in vinegar. I doctored my noodles up some, but found myself wishing for a tangy brown sauce. It’s kind of “Thai-Lite”.
So, I thought I’d swing through Starbucks on the way back, and try out one of these new smoothie milk-shake thingies. Except it’s not actually a milk shake. I got the banana-chocolate Vivanno, and even after I got past the fact that ice cream hadn’t even walked down the same sidewalk as this beverage, I still couldn’t find much joy in it. Tossed. Because $4 drinks grow on trees, natch. Sigh. I realized when I looked it up that any beverage that employs whey powder isn’t going to remotely parallel a smoothie or milkshake, and while it’s moderately healthy & contains all sorts of good things, again, I was reminded of the Dessert Tray of Disappointment. (This was from our trip long ago to Puerto Vallarta, where “desserts” were artfully arranged and displayed in such a way to promise sweet finishings to your meal, only to discover they had less sweetness than a biscuit.)
All I can say is that the pressure is on for dinner tonight.