Text 848, 113 rader
Skriven 2006-04-28 10:51:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: land o chains 2 584
===========================
Applebee's in Fayetteville. Even on Saturday night, it seemed
that the B team was working: we were 6, and there was a corner
table big enough for our party, but the manager noted that it
was a little dirty, and instead of having someone just pick
up the 2 or 3 dishes there and swab the table with a cloth,
he elected to put two 4-tops together to make a 6. When we
sat down, it was found that the two 4s weren't clean either.
Oh, well. We ended up with an assortment of burgers, which
although done gray, were decent-tasting half-pounders. Along
with came decent fries and surprisingly good pickles. There
was also a crispy orange chicken salad, which was sort of like
General Tso's mass-produced chicken over greens, and an onion
soup (didn't try or see it - it was at the other end of the
table). For afters, Ella Lou got a maple extravaganza thing
that I didn't pay much attention to, as it appeared to be
heavy dairy. We got out for around $10 a head. Surprisingly,
there were good things to be said about the place. The food
was tolerable, the waiter pleasant, and Michelob Amber Bock
$2.50 for an Imperial pint (12 oz are $1.50). Also, on the
TV they had the news, including coverage of the run/walk for
the cure event of that morning, and Kristen and Barry's older
son appeared in one of the shots. Bad things: despite the
manager's bustling around, the table we got was dirty anyhow;
the food came out at random intervals (it was hypothesized that
the kitchen knew how to cook only one burger at a time); and,
it was, after all, Applebee's.

The other meals I had on this trip were as follows:

Airline food:

Salmon teriyaki on mixed greens with water chestnuts, snow pea
slivers, and canned Mandarin orange segments - this was served
with two tubs of Asian sesame ginger dressing, and it was of
a size to almost require both tubs - 6 oz of fish, very fresh-
tasting, slightly overdone though still tender, in an as ever
too-sweet but not horrid teri sauce draped over a pint of salad.
Restaurant quality, but not from a restaurant I'd willingly
frequent - perhaps like Applebee's.

I had a chance to upgrade my other United flight, but the only
seat that was left, 1B, is on the aisle (I love windows) and
had not as much legroom as the bulkhead economy seat I took.
Plus it was outside of mealtime, plus I didn't want to return
to Carol with large quantities of booze on my breath. Well, if
I'd known we wouldn't be cleared for takeoff for over 2 hours
after sitting out on the tarmac (there's a special place for
this - it's known by pilots less than affectionately as the
Penalty Box) I might have taken the seat, which was empty. And
the delay, caused by heavy rain and thunder on our projected
path, took us well into the luncheon hour, so they ended up
serving a hot meal in first class, which I could only smell
from the next row behind. I did manage to get some grapefruit
juice at the various clubs, though.

At Ella Lou's:

Lots of disgusting snack things, which I've discussed.

A precooked gray burger, cooked by Ella's sister-in-law
Donna and abandoned when Donna and Steve left the
previous week. It tasted just like what you used to get
for a nickel (okay, they were up to 15 or 20c the only
time I actually got one) at the automat.

At Ella Lou's, bought of Wal-Mart:

The ribeye steak from purgatory, mentioned before - this
turned out to have an almost ribeye steak texture; after
cooking, most of the 10% solution had cooked out, but the
inside of the meat had this lurid oh-my-god alien reddish
color, perhaps cochineal or something; the flavor was
mostly of salt and pepper (and a touch of garlic that was
sprinkled on by us in an effort to appease the taste buds).

A Nathan's hot dog. These cost $4 to 5 a pound down there,
and I pointed out to Ella Lou that for somewhat less she
could get Hebrew National reduced-fat dogs, but she
brusquely pooh-poohed that suggestion.

Something called something like Sam's zesty Cajun mix,
which comes in big bags - these are corn crunchies of
various kinds mixed in with peanuts and other savories;
they're notably salty and not notably spicy. Ella ate a cup
or two of these after every rehearsal. After one experimental
taste I decided they weren't worth the calories.

Great Value chocolate soymilk - okay only slightly chalky
taste, decent texture, just slightly oversweet, but when
I cut it with water, it was sweet enough but the texture
had gone to hell.

At Kristen and Barry's:

Ziti with Ragu chunky sauce and turkey sausage, followed
by a chocolate cream pie made by Faye, who is dating
Barry's widowed father: the former was as expected; the
latter was extremely rich and black (I believe that Faye
said that it was a recipe from her family's slaves, but
she talks with a fairly heavy accent, and I could be
mistaken; anyhow, was there much chocolate available
before 1865 in the southern USA, I wonder?) and kept me
awake and/or in the bathroom for much of the night.

At the Walton Arts Center:

An almond Danish, which was excellent, and a croissant,
which was the Wonder Bread of the croissant world, both
donations from the Atlanta Baking Company, one of the
corporate sponsors.
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