A post in which it is movie night!

I was lazy and worthless today. This heat just seems to suck the life right out of me.

I went to White Horse Road flea market this morning. I had to go see the gourmet food lady, since she always has Drano and cleaners for cheap, and she’s not open on Sundays. I scored my Drano. I also scored a Bubble Glass platter. I have been wanting one to go with my set, and came very close to paying more than retail for one I found recently, but talked myself out of getting that one. I paid $2 for this one. The woman selling it didn’t have any change, and all I had was a 20. She walked across to the vegetable stand to get some change, and handed me 18 ones. But that was fine. I had plenty of change for other stuff. There wasn’t much else out there. I got some little seedless watermelon for fruit this week, and came on home. It was HOT. When I left, at 9:30, it was already 84F.

12" Bubble Glass platter in Sapphire Blue by Anchor Hocking, circa 1940-1965

I got home and worked on the bathroom sink drain for a bit. I don’t know what Terry had been shoving down it, and probably don’t want to know, but that drain has been a problem ever since I bought the house. With Drano and boiling water though, I had it going again in about a half hour. It’s draining as well as it ever has.

After that, I kind of lost my will to really do anything. I lay around and messed about on the computer. I took a nap for a while. I basically wasted the day. But I had cleaned up the house (at least to the point of looking OK) on Thursday night, and although it needs work it was just way too hot to get out in the yard. So I was lazy.

Eventually, I talked to Anna, and got ready and went over there.

She was very excited about taking me to a great new restaurant she had found, called the Latin Express Café. We walked around downtown for a while, since she wasn’t 100% sure where it was, but it was a beautiful evening, everyone was out walking, and I was enjoying walking with her. When we got there, the welcome and the food more than made up for any inconvenience. Anna of course exercises a strange and mystical charm over all service people. It’s not just that she’s pleasant and tries to treat them like people. I don’t know what it is, but it goes beyond that. I have been in convenience stores with her where battle-hardened clerks who seem permanently affixed to their stools with granite-like scowls drag out smiles for her that haven't seen daylight since the Eisenhower administration. It’s just a gift that Anna has.

But I digress. So of course when we go in, Anna knows everyone’s name, where they’re from, what relationship they have to each other; and can ask about their children, progress in school, and dog’s recent hernia surgery. So we got the big welcome. And then we started ordering. Everything was wonderful! Homemade empanadas with pastry so crisply and perfectly cooked that the filling was almost, almost superfluous, had it not added yet another layer of flavor. There was a decadently creamy family recipe potato salad with carrots and peas. The potatoes were perfectly done and tender; the sauce smoothly flavorful, but not interfering with the taste of the vegetables. After that I had a pizza with a spicy tomato sauce, boiled eggs, goat cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes. It was almost nothing like Italian pizza, but absolutely delicious. The crust was from scratch. Anna had a zucchini pie that was basically like a quiche, but the zucchini done perfectly, crisp tender and flavorful, while yet not watering down the pie. I have no idea how they do that. And again nestled in a tender, beautifully browned hand-made and crimped crust.

I also discovered the Argentenian version of pesto sauce tonight, called Chimichurri. It's a mix of fresh parsley, lemon juice, mint, garlic and oil. Apparently it is intended to be a relish to accompany meat, but it tasted good on everything we put it on, which was pretty much everything that hit the table. I have some definite plans to play with that stuff. I should be able to make it without too much trouble. I'm thinking an alternative pesto pasta, maybe with roasted vegetables tossed in...

Since Anna, as previously mentioned, was invited to the confirmations of the children of all of the staff already, they came out to talk to us while we finished our meal. I told them how wonderful everything was, and tried to make sure they’re going to make a run of it. The place has only been open for three months, and they already have a good lunch trade, and are picking up some breakfast trade too. I raved about the food to the point that the owner gave us coffee and dessert, both of which were scrumptious. Tiny cups of sweetened espresso that I can’t remember the name of, topped with foam thick and rich enough to practically hold the spoon (*note* per Michael, my coffee expert, I later found out that this is called a cortadito), plus flan topped with dulce de leche. Fabulous. And every dish was delicious.

My tiny delicious cup of sweetened espresso (with my hand for scale). Isn't that adorable little spatterware? And the little spoons too!

Anna and our incredibly sweet waitress (daughter of the owners), best of friends of course LOL

Well after such a sumptuous repast, it was actually pleasant to stroll back to the car, enjoying a post-prandial cigarette. We then went back to Anna’s to watch movies. I had taken a couple of things that I didn’t think Anna or her parents had seen, and we ended up watching Die Mommie Die!, which I could pretty much watch over and over. Anna and her folks are great people, and totally get snarky, sarcastic humor, which I love. It’s nice to hang out with people (especially straight people) who not only get, but appreciate kitch. It’s always nice to hang with people and not have to tell them when the commercials are on. The movie was a big hit. I’m excited about getting them into some heavy John Waters.

Anna’s mom was so funny tonight. We were talking about the M incident briefly – they were disappointed for me, and had been thinking about me, which I thought was very sweet. I had ventured “M just can’t help being what he is, it really isn’t his fault.” Anna’s Mom was like “We hate M.” very quietly from her chair. I thought that was pretty funny, actually; but I was touched too.

Anna and I stayed up and watched Girls Will Be Girls after the folks went to bed. Anna says they have to see that one too, but that’s another one I can watch any time. By the end of the movie, I was pretty beat, as was Anna. I headed on home. It was a great evening, and I really enjoyed myself. And it was only about 12:30 when I hit the road, which was good. I’m going to Barnyard in the morning...