Our Plan B did come with a mission: to find a most excellent juicer. One of the tiny addictions we picked up in Buenos Aires was fresh squeezed orange juice. The stuff was everywhere down there. Cafes, bars, street corners. A little glass came with breakfast in our favorite cafe, and in the busier neighborhoods, you could get a plastic tumbler full from a street vendor for less than $1.
Our apartment had a lever-operated manual juicer, and juice oranges were cheap and plentiful in any grocery, large or small. Since we returned home, we'd been making do on the weekends (the only time we have it...as delicious as fresh-squeezed juice is, we don't drink a lot of juice on principle) with our little low-tech Pyrex juicer.We knew we wanted an OrangeX juicer, and we were hoping to find it for less than the slightly discounted price on Amazon. Which we did ($40 less) at Dick's Restaurant Supply. That's it in the middle of the top shelf. The white one. Sturdy as hell, and a thing of beauty.
But the real story begins when I walked into the back room of used merchandise. Dear reader, I do believe my heart went a pitter-pat. You see, I have a deep and abiding love for chunky, plain, off-white china that was born to live in a diner or no-nonsense bistro. Like-new 9-inch Buffalo china plates for $2 each? Hand me a paper bag, please, I think I might hyperventilate. Hearty little teacups that allow for just the right proportion of espresso shot-to-hot water (for an Americano) or milk (for a cafe con leche)...for only 50 cents each? How I limited myself to six, I'll never know. Short, round dishwasher-safe wineglasses, the stemware equivalent of eating off a smaller plate, for $2 each? I'll take four, please."When I die," I whispered to J after he wandered over, "I want to be buried here!"
Even at those prices, I didn't buy everything that captured my fancy (wouldn't be prudent!), but I came home with enough goodies that I had to do an impromptu reorganization of my kitchen cabinets (and run the dishwasher...my babies were dusty!)I was pleased that my new Buffalo china almost exactly matched the four Syracuse china dinner plates that we bought 12 or 13 years ago at a Pottery Barn/Williams Sonoma outlet in Manhattan. A real outlet mind you: It was in this funky unfinished space (truly unfinished, not "shabby chic" unfinished) space in Chelsea, where the goods were helter skelter with no discernible method of organization. Those plates have held up with nary a chip or crack, despite almost daily use for more than 10 years. That's quality merchandise, people! I might note that W-S sells the 8-inch Buffalo plate for $36 each...the 10-inch for $60 each. Ahem!
One more deal of the day: The extra-fantastic-super-delicious 9 Pound Porter from Georgetown Brewing Co., only $6 for a half-gallon growler of goodness. Slurp!P.S. If you haven't seen the movie "In Bruges," please do. It's very funny, and a hit with both the male and female constituencies in our household (even though the male one claimed the cold he was coming down with was making him too tired to stay up and watch a movie and he couldn't possibly make it through more than 10 minutes....he was laughing harder than I was).
Saturday, March 28
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs; 1 piece sprouted grain toast w/ natural peanut butter (1 tbs) and marmalade (2 tsp); cafe au lait; 4 oz. fresh squeezed orange juice; 16 oz. water.
Snack: Apple + 10 almonds; a few Costco samples; 16 oz. water.
Lunch: 1 c. chili w/ 1/4 avocado, 1 tbs. LF sour cream, salsa; large mixed green salad w/ oil and vinegar; 16 oz. water; cafe Americano.
Afternoon workout: "Rhythm Workout" DVD
Snack: 12 oz. Porter + 1 oz peanuts.
Dinner: 2 oz. (dry weight) whole-wheat pasta; 1 c. sauce (tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, onion, grass-fed ground beef, herbs and spices); 1 grilled Italian sausage; mixed green salad w/ oil & vinegar and tomatoes; 6 oz. red wine; 16 oz. water; cafe Americano.
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