Girls' Night Out

"Ten bucks he doesn't remember why he has my name and number tomorrow," I said sauntering out of the restaurant we held girls' night also known as Fat Friday and God-I-Really-Need-A-Cosmo-After-The-Week-I-Had. I know I am in a committed relationship going on seven years, but come on, he was so cute! I had to give him my number...

***

"I love this place," my friend said as we sat down near the hull of the pirate ship. "Let's split something."

Considering that all the food is cooked in a glorified Fry Daddy or is dipped in cheese, we decided on one of each. It all started with three friends sitting at a bar, a seemingly innocuous Cosmo handed to me by a bartender named Lisa, and our own personal fondue pot at 9 p.m. As we fished in the boiling oil for the escaping piece of vegetable or to rescue the meat that sat in there too long, we caught up life, work and love, bubbling over with stories like the hot oil. 

"Oh look! That's Dante!" my friend exclaims. The four of turn in our seats to see a little older gentleman dressed as a sea captain posing in front of his ship next to a guy throwing up deuces and making a duck face. Dante makes his way around the restaurant, greeting patrons, shaking hands and making conversation. He hits our seats at the bar.

"Hello ladies! Are you all having a good time?" he asks. We answered that of course we were.

"Well what are your names and what do you?" are the next questions we answer. He left us for a bit. While he was gone, I got tired of the clips hold my hair. I pulled them out, letting my frizzy waves to fall around my face. He came back, ordered a Coke from the bartender and grabbed some of my hair. "You have beautiful hair!" he said. "I used to cut my sisters' hair for them growing up. I love cutting hair. Your's is so thick. I bet it would be fun to cut."

Then he regaled us with the story of how he got his name (something to do with his music director father discovering an Italian boy for some chorus, then meeting him again in the Great War...). We were enthralled. This socialite man is incredibly interesting, having created a restaurant that stands as a tribute to his networking skills; there are pictures of him with Jimmy Carter and magazine covers with his face on it. 

Next thing I know, we are poking around his office upstairs, which is cluttered with an eclectic mix of bottles, artifacts from trips to Africa, pictures and piles of papers. We were there to meet his giant fluffy white dog, who comes to work with him everyday. 

"I live on a 1920s train car. Beautiful thing. It has a marble bathtub," he said, stories transitioning from his charity work in Africa to save the cheetahs to traveling along the railways in luxury train cars. 

"Give me your number and we'll get together so I can cut your hair. You can come to my house and we'll do it on a Sunday."

I gave him my number and the girls and I trailed out of the restaurant.

"I promise I'll go with you," my friend said on our way to our cars. 

Four weeks later and he still hasn't called. I'm a little bummed that I don't get to hear more of this man's story because he obviously forgot why he wrote down my name and phone number. 

Not Another Hobby...

As a sat at my computer this evening, with every real intention of writing something, I was at a loss at what to write about. No writing inspiration struck me. Instead, I was walloped by the overwhelming need to run and cook (a new hobby and a neglected one). Cooking (more so eating) is one of my creative outlets. I get excited about new spices, recipes and feeding people. (Don't worry, Dad. You get to try some.)

After running a 5k, I tucked into my own recipe (with a little pinterest direction as to a couple ingredients, oven heat and time). In lieu of a post about my writing this evening, I give you my recipe.  

Stuffed Acorn Squash

1 acorn squash

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1 pound of Italian Sausage unpacked (I used sweet)

1 tbsp butter

1/3 cup almonds*

½ medium sweet onion

1 Roma tomato

1 can corn

¼ cup brie, cut into chunks*

¼ cup sharp cheddar, shredded*

salt

pepper

olive oil

Italian Seasonings

*Amounts are estimated, because I don't believe in excessive use of measuring cups. 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut acorn squash in half then scoop out seeds and goo. Drizzle halves with olive oil, a little salt and Italian spices (I used a Tuscan blend with rosemary and sun dried tomatoes).  Bake for 45 minutes.
3. As the squash is baking, prepare quinoa as package states, which should simply be bring 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water to a boil, then turn down to a simmer until water is evaporated. This should take around 35 minutes.
4. In a large skillet/wok, brown Italian sausage until fully cooked. Use a strainer to drip off the oil. Set aside. Wipe out residue oil from pan.
5. Melt a pat of butter in the pan the sausage was cooked in. Drop in onions and almonds. Cook until onions are translucent and almonds are lightly browned.
6. Once the onion and almond mixture is cooked, add the sausage back to the pan along with the quinoa, corn, tomatoes and cheeses. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste.
7. After the 45 minutes, stuff the squash halves with the mixture. There will be extra, probably enough to stuff another squash. (I am freezing my extras.) Bake for 10 minutes, and then broil for 2 minutes. Voila! 

     Be warned, friends. I wanted to rub my face in this. It was AH-MAZING! Happy Monday!