1. Debbie had a 4:00 spa appointment in CdA this afternoon. She asked me to drive her to it. No problem. We piled into the Camry at 7:00 this morning, I drove her to work, and then picked her up at 3:15 for an easy drive. While Debbie was meeting her appointment, I wandered around Costco, looked at some clothes, didn't buy any, picked up a few pantry items, looked for a wok, didn't see one, and, by then, it was time for me to head back to the spa and pick up Debbie.
2. We then made a very smart move. The spa is just a few blocks east of Daft Badger and we decided to go over with the idea of enjoying a beer together. I knew, however, if I were going to drink a mighty craft beer at Daft Badger, I also needed to eat -- and Debbie agreed!
I ordered a 12 oz glass of Daft Badger's mightiest IPA, the Daft Bounty, weighing in at 9.0% ABV. It had been many many weeks since I'd drunk an Imperial IPA, but I looked forward to tasting Daft Bounty's aggressive pine and grapefruit, hints of sweetness, and its pleasing bitterness. The beer came through! I very slowly made my way through the beer and then our food arrived.
We split this week's sandwich special, a chicken torta. I'll quote the eloquent words of the menu to describe this most pleasing and delicious special: A Mexican style sandwich made with tender chicken on a telera roll with a house-made pico de gallo, an avocado spread, refried beans, and Monterey Jack cheese.
We also split the garbanzo bean salad that came with the sandwich.
Everything about our visit to Daft Badger was perfect.
My beer and Debbie's Blood Orange IPA were most satisfying. Our server was friendly, attentive, and responded perfectly to our request to have some time to enjoy our beers before we ordered our food.
In addition, Daft Badger is a most comfortable and handsome physical space. I hadn't been to Daft Badger for quite a while and, today, I marveled anew at its simple, efficient, and attractive use of a relatively small area and how this brewery and eatery can serve a good number of people but not feel crowded.
I credit all of this -- the great beer, the delicious food, and the superb environment to the genius of Darrel Dloughy. What I see at Daft Badger is a vision of a brewery and eatery tucked comfortably in a residential neighborhood that is integrated into its surroundings and mindful of being a good neighbor to the people who live nearby and that produces superb craft beer and perfectly conceived and executed menu items. It embodies the best in what a locally owned business deeply invested in the culinary and cultural well being of its city can be.
3. Since Christmas, I have been sitting on a gift card from Amazon. This evening, I consulted Wirecutter, the product testing site at the New York Times, to find out what woks they had tested and what Wirecutter recommended. It turns out I liked the sounds of their #2 recommendation. Yes, it cost more, but it's pre-seasoned and is heavier than the their top choice. So I ordered it along with an iron wok cover and two long-handled utensils, a wok ladle and a wok spatula.
It's about time I made this move.
The only thing that's held me back is my aversion to adding new kitchen stuff to our small kitchen space or to our storage shelves in the basement.
Tonight, though, I overcame that aversion, trusted that I would figure out a good way to store the wok in the basement, and threw aversion to the wind and made the order!
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