Alright! I'm trying to get jazzed for maximum TCB day. I've got tons of laundry to do, plus cleaning up in general, grocery shopping, getting my head in the game. It is going to require more coffee.
So yesterday after a big day at the restaurant where I kept making things until I had to force myself to stop and go home, we went to Gulifty's for dinner. It was a matter of convenience really since we had to go to the bank in Squill, and Gulifty's is right there. The thing about Gulifty's is that I have almost always been underwhelmed by my meals there and figure that the point is really dessert, right? But this time it was different. I got a grilled salmon fillet that was fantastic, with the most gorgeous, flavorful steamed veggie assortment I have ever encountered. Seriously, it was zucchini, of which I am normally not a fan in the steamed state, broccoli, and carrots. Just steamed, nothing on them at all, but damn, they were perfect. The salmon was a little overcooked for my taste but still delicious. We also shared the baked garlic appetizer which is hunks of bread covered in cheese, a head of baked garlic and some marinara sauce. This was also surprisingly well prepared. Rebby also thoroughly enjoyed her tuna niscoise. (I would not have enjoyed it I could tell because although I can get behind a slightly overcooked salmon, if the tuna isn't pink in the middle you can forget about it.) We shared a piece of Deep Dish Apple Walnut Pie, which was really nice too. I particularly enjoyed the crust, as I am turning into something of a crust connoisseur. Speaking of which, the gorgeous quiche I constructed on Thursday with zucchini and tomato and basil had to go right in the trash yesterday morning because the guy I asked to put it in the fridge after it cooled forgot and left it on the counter all night long. Dammit. The crust was not one of my best, but the quiche looked so nice with the overlapping layers of zucchini and tomato slices that it made my heart break. But I am not one to take chances with eggs left out overnight in a hot room. Next time I am just going to have to babysit my own quiche, I guess.
Okay, so after Gulifty's we had a nap, or at least we tried to have a nap. The Gazelle seemed to be having some sort of Friday afternoon throwdown with some other members of the animal kingdom, including an elephant with no rhythm who kept stomping on the floor in random patterns, and a monkey who would shriek at odd intervals. So it was hard to actually sleep. Eventually the zoo party left, and as they were leaving I heard one of them exclaim "RAINBOW!" and looked out the window to see a giant and very distinct rainbow going basically from one window to the other across East Liberty. It was gorgeous, but only lasted about 5 minutes. I got a little more napping in and then we girded ourselves to go to South Oakland to see STAINLESS.
It took a long ass time to find a place to park, and the walk through south oakland was gross. College students in their natural habitat are just icky. We got to the place and went upstairs and paid our cover. The night was being presented by KOOL cigarettes so there was lots of cigarette propaganda everywhere. Got some beers and settled in to the back bar area to see the show. The members of STAINLESS appear to be about my age, the kind of dudes you see working in guitar shops in Swissvale. Big dudes with "metal hair" and ill fitting leather pants. The lead singer looks a little like Brett Michaels looks now. However, they seriously rock the 80's hair metal. Their Guns'n'Roses and Poison repertoire was spot on. They also played some pretty spot on Metallica and Maiden. From my personal hit parade (besides the expected G'n'R and Poison) they did "18 And Life",and "I'll Remember You",(Skid Row!!) and "Cherry Pie". They also did some really unwise attempts at Aerosmith and Black Sabbath. I realized that while it is possible to cover 80's hair metal and make it sound sort of authentic, when you cover Aerosmith (Dream On, mind you, not Love in an Elevator or something) you just sound like a cover band. They also did some things that I flat out disapproved of (Bryan Adams and Journey) but the college kids were into it so I have to give them points for playing to their audience. All in all, it was a really, really fun night. We got to see some great rock, we got to drink some beers, and we got to see a slice of life which we would never, ever, ever get to see otherwise. At one point a very drunken college girl tried to dirty dance with me. She was wearing a t-shirt that said FREEDOM across her boobs and had angel wings silkscreened on the back. She was also looking at her drunken boyfriend the whole time she was attempting to hump my leg. Ah, college.
So yesterday after a big day at the restaurant where I kept making things until I had to force myself to stop and go home, we went to Gulifty's for dinner. It was a matter of convenience really since we had to go to the bank in Squill, and Gulifty's is right there. The thing about Gulifty's is that I have almost always been underwhelmed by my meals there and figure that the point is really dessert, right? But this time it was different. I got a grilled salmon fillet that was fantastic, with the most gorgeous, flavorful steamed veggie assortment I have ever encountered. Seriously, it was zucchini, of which I am normally not a fan in the steamed state, broccoli, and carrots. Just steamed, nothing on them at all, but damn, they were perfect. The salmon was a little overcooked for my taste but still delicious. We also shared the baked garlic appetizer which is hunks of bread covered in cheese, a head of baked garlic and some marinara sauce. This was also surprisingly well prepared. Rebby also thoroughly enjoyed her tuna niscoise. (I would not have enjoyed it I could tell because although I can get behind a slightly overcooked salmon, if the tuna isn't pink in the middle you can forget about it.) We shared a piece of Deep Dish Apple Walnut Pie, which was really nice too. I particularly enjoyed the crust, as I am turning into something of a crust connoisseur. Speaking of which, the gorgeous quiche I constructed on Thursday with zucchini and tomato and basil had to go right in the trash yesterday morning because the guy I asked to put it in the fridge after it cooled forgot and left it on the counter all night long. Dammit. The crust was not one of my best, but the quiche looked so nice with the overlapping layers of zucchini and tomato slices that it made my heart break. But I am not one to take chances with eggs left out overnight in a hot room. Next time I am just going to have to babysit my own quiche, I guess.
Okay, so after Gulifty's we had a nap, or at least we tried to have a nap. The Gazelle seemed to be having some sort of Friday afternoon throwdown with some other members of the animal kingdom, including an elephant with no rhythm who kept stomping on the floor in random patterns, and a monkey who would shriek at odd intervals. So it was hard to actually sleep. Eventually the zoo party left, and as they were leaving I heard one of them exclaim "RAINBOW!" and looked out the window to see a giant and very distinct rainbow going basically from one window to the other across East Liberty. It was gorgeous, but only lasted about 5 minutes. I got a little more napping in and then we girded ourselves to go to South Oakland to see STAINLESS.
It took a long ass time to find a place to park, and the walk through south oakland was gross. College students in their natural habitat are just icky. We got to the place and went upstairs and paid our cover. The night was being presented by KOOL cigarettes so there was lots of cigarette propaganda everywhere. Got some beers and settled in to the back bar area to see the show. The members of STAINLESS appear to be about my age, the kind of dudes you see working in guitar shops in Swissvale. Big dudes with "metal hair" and ill fitting leather pants. The lead singer looks a little like Brett Michaels looks now. However, they seriously rock the 80's hair metal. Their Guns'n'Roses and Poison repertoire was spot on. They also played some pretty spot on Metallica and Maiden. From my personal hit parade (besides the expected G'n'R and Poison) they did "18 And Life",and "I'll Remember You",(Skid Row!!) and "Cherry Pie". They also did some really unwise attempts at Aerosmith and Black Sabbath. I realized that while it is possible to cover 80's hair metal and make it sound sort of authentic, when you cover Aerosmith (Dream On, mind you, not Love in an Elevator or something) you just sound like a cover band. They also did some things that I flat out disapproved of (Bryan Adams and Journey) but the college kids were into it so I have to give them points for playing to their audience. All in all, it was a really, really fun night. We got to see some great rock, we got to drink some beers, and we got to see a slice of life which we would never, ever, ever get to see otherwise. At one point a very drunken college girl tried to dirty dance with me. She was wearing a t-shirt that said FREEDOM across her boobs and had angel wings silkscreened on the back. She was also looking at her drunken boyfriend the whole time she was attempting to hump my leg. Ah, college.
posted by sheryl at 10:17 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home