lunch in mountain view

i met loosestrife at frost.bob 2 a few years ago, but we hadn't had any particular contact since then. however, since i heard she was going to be in town this weekend, i offered to take her to lunch. so today i drove down to Mountain View and picked her up, and we spent an enjoyable couple of hours eating insufficiently hot Thai food and wandering around a bookstore chatting. she's one of those people with whom conversation flows organically -- topics drift into each other unnoticed, and one winds up bouncing from light topics to very serious ones and back to light ones with the greatest of ease. it's always a pleasure to talk to someone so articulate. perhaps we'll get to hang out again sometime if i ever make it up to Montreal to visit zadcat, which i've been wanting to do for some time anyway.

unfortunately, last night i was awoken by the world's most effective alarm clock -- iceberg throwing up -- at some outrageous hour, and couldn't get back to sleep for some time. so rather than my optimistic plan of waking up, getting some work done, meeting Andrea for lunch, and then getting more work done, i woke up just in time to hop in the shower and get on the road, and am now suffering from post-lunch brain-deadness -- and i have group tonight, so there's not much time left in between to accomplish anything. the best laid plans, etc.

hot paradise

dmw has unexpectedly sent me a gift -- a jar of "Hot Paradise" habanero salsa. for your reading pleasure, i have just now opened it, and am about to taste it...

damn, that's good stuff! a very pleasant level of heat, too -- hot enough to get your attention, but not so hot it's inedible. excellent flavor, as well -- sweetish, with plenty of the flavor of the habaneros still recognizable.

thanks, damien!

embarrassment of eggs

ok, so my neighbor Shirley just came over with a bunch of extra groceries -- she bought stuff 2 for 1 at Safeway, got too much, and then found out her husband will be going out of town for the week and she won't be able to use everything up. so she brought me: 18 eggs. a pound of butter. and five pounds of potatoes.

the franks, i will eat in short order -- i never buy hot dogs because they're so bad for me, but boy do i love 'em. i'm not sure how i'm going to use up the rest of this stuff.

anyone have any good recipes that involve a whole lot of eggs and butter?