This morning I was so sad. I got up at a decent hour, got dressed, put on makeup, and got Gracie ready to go and headed down to our local touristy town just south of my house. I love the antique shop there; the proprietor has lots of stuff from the early part of the 20th century, which is right up my alley. Plus the lady who owns the place is really sweet and dotes on Gracie (who doesn't?), so going there is really a treat. It also helps that she gives me a "frequent buyer" discount.
The thing is, she doesn't need the business from the antique store to make ends meet. Apparently she and her husband are quite wealthy, and they only run the store as a hobby. As a result, she's been able to cut her hours WAY down. She's down to only being open Friday through Monday because she takes care of her elderly parents two of those days and she needs time off the other day.
When I got downtown this morning (and found a parking spot right on the main street -- score!!!), I was so sad to see she was closed today. There was a sign on the door saying that she would reopen tomorrow, so she must be on vacation or something. They're planning on selling the business, and now I see that there are For Sale signs in her window.
It really is a shame.
How can you not like a store that displays the Major Award from A Christmas Story in its front window from Thanksgiving through New Year's??
On a food note... I made a really yummy dinner last night. I'm not sure how many others would have liked my meal, but Kurt loved it. See, I was watching "Martin Yan's Quick and Easy" (remember "Yan Can Cook"?? Same guy) on PBS one day, and he was featuring sidewalk fare, the stuff you buy from street vendors when you're in another country. These Vietnamese Street Sandwiches looked really good, so I gave them a shot.
They were so incredibly good, and fast too!! You marinate thinly sliced beef (see, none for you, Chele!) in a mix of fish sauce and soy sauce and chili garlic sauce and mint and lemongrass (which I didn't have, so I left it out) and minced garlic and sugar, and then grill it or saute it till it's cooked through. The spread for the rolls is composed of mayonnaise, chili garlic sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. You toast four hoagie rolls, spread them with the mayo mixture, and add the beef with grated carrots and fresh chopped cilantro. Mmmmm heaven on a roll!
Of course, my house smelled a little weird as soon as I opened the bottle of fish sauce... man, that stuff is strong!
Kurt ate two rolls last night, and then had half of one (Grace ate half of one for dinner last night) for his breakfast this morning.
I am so glad Kurt isn't a picky eater. I've known so many Navy guys who will only eat steak and potatoes. Kurt will eat pretty much whatever I set in front of him. I asked him last night if there is anything he doesn't like, and he said brussels sprouts. But since I don't like them either, I doubt I'll be serving them any time soon.
And Gracie is an adventurous eater as well. She thought last night's dinner was pretty good, although I had to convince her to eat the beef. She's not much of a fan of beef, though, so I wasn't surprised she needed coercion. But once she started eating it, she ate almost all her beef.
Just wait, though... I bet my next kid will be an extremely picky eater!!!
Edit regarding Chaos's comment: I misspoke! You marinate the beef in the one sauce, and then just cook it thoroughly and throw out the remaining marinade. The other sauce, the one with mayonnaise, doesn't touch the raw beef at all. It's just something you put on the bread for the finished product. Thanks for the health department tip!