Gwyneth B. McGlinn

This saturday is the big cookoff thing.  I’m really looking forward to it.  It will be great to get together with our friends and do something I enjoy.  And the best part is there is no eating at a restaurant involved.

I can’t wait to see what people come up with.  And the local is good.  It’s in the area I grew up in.  I think J.P. and I will drive up there in his car.  Aaron wanted us to take the Vanagon but I don’t think we’ll do that.  He can bring power on his own.  I hear Alex is letting J.P. borrow his grill so I must say thank you to him.  If they’re busy going off and doing the radio and dog thing I don’t think I’ll be spending much time them for a while.  But who knows.

That is another reason this weekend will be fun.  My interests and the interests of our friends are going in two radically different directions at the moment.  So I’m glad there is something we can all enjoy.  It’s just reminding me why we have so many friends with a wide range of interests.  That is not a bad thing.

So good luck to all competing.  I’m sure it will be hard to pick a winner.  J.P. has a few great ideas.  I don’t know what he’ll finally end up making but get ready for him to win.  I assume I’ll end up as a judge but we’ll see how many people want to do that.  An odd number might be better.  Plus I am a little biased towards my man.

I haven’t decided what to bring to drink.  I thought about getting some beer but a good old rum and coke might be even better to wash down the delicious food.  Last night I got an apple martini at Union Square Grill lounge.  Next time I would get a different flavor.  I picked it at the last minute not knowing it wasn’t listed on the menu.  So there was no apple slice in it and it tasted too much like apple syrup or something.

I sat and thought about it yesterday.  The last time I remember enjoying what I ate at a restaurant was at La Palmera.  It’s a mexican restaurant in Mill Creek.  That changed last night when we had dinner at Union Square Grill last night.

All the other places I’ve eaten at that I can remember have been less than thrilling.  I hate going to Claim Jumper but I only go there once every couple years so I have plenty of time to forget how much I hate it.  The portions are huge, the prices are high and there is nothing special about the food.  The only reason to eat there is the cake.  The soup was pretty good though so I’ll order that if I get stuck there again.

I think I need to make a list of places I end up eating at and what I can stand to eat there.  A big part of it is that I make bad choices.  I buy the burger that has lots of good stuff on it and find out it’s not what I expected.  I’ve ordered the same burger twice at Applebees (having forgotten if it was good) and found out both times that it sucks.  The cheese balls need to be melted or at least warm, the sauce is too bland, and the garlic fries are all grease.

At Red Robin I should stick to ordering the cheese burger.  Denny’s is breakfast only and don’t get the pancakes.  Pagliccis the centioli is good but the pizza is greasy.  So I should get a salad and eat a slice of the small pizza J.P. orders.

I shouldn’t be eating out anyway.  It’s really not healthy so I must learn to cook.  What I can cook well is limited, but with practice that can change.

Another problem I have is food prices.  I’m the one at the grocery store who doesn’t buy an item unless I like the price.  I tend to think things are overpriced so I try to avoid grocery shopping in general.  It’s the same thing when eating out.  I order something that fits within my budget and not what might be the better tasting meal.  That is also why I’m more than willing to get bad things like doughnuts because they tend to be cheap.

I must be getting used to the liquid they pass off as coffee at work. I’ve been putting less sugar in. I’m nearly down to a normal (for me) amount.

Music I must get- Death Cab for Cutie’s Translanticism. I heard Expo 86 on the radio this morning and recognized the voice so I looked it up. Guess there is a reason that album is already on my list of vinyl to buy.

I didn’t buy a dress yesterday. I meant to blog about it when we got home but that didn’t happen. We ended up going out to dinner with Ben and Sam instead. We had mexican at Jalisco’s in Kirkland. It was pretty good.

Tonight we went dress shopping. I found nothing. We’re going to try to get to Bellevue Square tomorrow. I found something good looking on Arden B.’s website so hopefully they’ll have it in the store.

Important things:
Death Cab for Cutie
Jalisco’s
Seattle’s Best Coffee
Arden B.