Three Beautiful Things 12-19-2024: I Cruised the Uptown Gut, More Fun With the Wok, Watching the Wildcats Play Priest River

1. I vaulted into the Sube for a quick trip uptown to the Post Office. Some new life is and has been stirring uptown. Uphill Grill is open more days. Zany's Pizza is preparing a spot on McKinley to reopen after leaving the old Sunshine Inn building. Philly Cheesesteak is open -- I don't know how business is going. Beach Bum Bakery is working on locating its operations on the west side of Main Street. There might be more going on, but these are the stirrings I know about and observed when I cruised the gut today. 

2. I got the wok back out and used it to fry a package of chicken party wings. I took them out and in the melted fat at the bottom of the pan I added rings of white onion and sliced mushrooms, and, at the same time, steamed baby potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower. In a bowl I mixed two cans of coconut milk and two tablespoons each of red curry paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, and brown sugar. I returned the chicken wings to the wok, covered the chicken with curry sauce and added lime kefir leaves along with Thai Wheat Noodles. Last of all, I added the broccoli, cauliflower, and the potatoes, halved. I let this all simmer in the wok on low for about a half an hour and the result was a bowl of something like curried soup with curried chicken wings to remove and eat with our hands. 

Not entirely a convenient meal to eat, but the flavors and the curry sauce heat were nearly perfect. 

3. Ed swung by and we went to Andrews Gymnasium (I called it The Drew) at Kellogg High and watched the hometown Wildcats play the Priest River Spartans. 

From my point of view, the 'Cats played hard, hustled, did their best to push the ball up court and pick up the pace of the game. Two things stymied the 'Cats, I thought. The 'Cats committed quite a few turnovers and they struggled to score. Tonight, at least, the 'Cats didn't have a player or two they could turn to as reliable scorers and so despite holding the Spartans to 50 points, the Wildcats only scored 43 points and suffered a loss. 

I plan on returning to The Drew to watch this team some more, hoping that they commit fewer turnovers, continue to force their opponents into turnovers, and that they shoot better -- both their shots near the hoop and their outside shots.