Daily Ramblings - Weekend recap

Can't believe I missed Foto Friday!  I was running between my house (waiting for our new fridge) and my in-laws' house where we were depositing the contents of our freezer overnight.

Here's my favorite shot from last week.  Husband's grandmother has been giving me her vintage buttons and this crest just has to be my favorite!


  

Speaking of the new fridge though, check out our new toy!  We didn't have a fancy side-by-side before, and this fits into the space with a quarter inch to spare on either side.  I'm thrilled that we now have an ice/water dispense, that the freezer isn't leaking into the fridge space, that we now have room to put all our frozen foods without having to stack them on top of each other so we can't find anything...

I'm also very glad that I had to take everything out of the old fridge and inspect some of the things that were in there - like the very expired bottle of BBQ sauce, or some other things that could now pass as pickled (despite that not being the original intent).  Note to self...be better about finding things that may be lurking in the fridge!

Of course, in the never ending pit of home ownership, we will at some point want to switch out the (currently white) stove and dishwasher to match.  One thing at a time though.

The other highlight from the weekend was checking out a Pho restaurant that husband and I found up the street from his grandparents' new apartment.  It's called Pho-King Delicious - seriously, how could we NOT eat there?!  The Pho itself wasn't as good as the place near our house, but the egg rolls were pretty pho-king good.  I would go back there for the great name and the egg rolls alone.  

In the meantime, still trying to get over this damn cold/cough thing.  It's keeping me pretty exhausted really.  Hoping you're all able to stay healthy!

Daily Dish - What the pho?

Pho is one of those bizarre phenomenons that seemed to me as if it popped up out of nowhere.  One day everybody started raving about how fantastic it is and I felt a bit like a loser for having no clue what the hell they were talking about.  Nevermind the fact that I also didn't really know the right way to pronounce it - "fo" (as in fe fi ) or "fuh" (rhymes with duh).  In any case, a while back I dragged my husband to a local place to try this mystery dish that is revered by so many.

Now, for those of you that may have never tried it, Pho is a Vietnamese dish and while I haven't really tried the dry vermicelli noodle version yet, think of it as a big steaming bowl of broth with noodles, beef, and veggies.  Ours was accompanied by a plate of beansprouts, jalapenos and some kind of leafy green (which I found out later are Thai basil leaves).  The first time eating this, I had no idea what the exact protocol was so we decided to tip it all into the broth and go from there.  This seemed to be a reasonable technique, and one that I think I'll be sticking to. 

I definitely enjoyed that first meal but couldn't quite see myself having the mad craving for it that other people seem to get.  Of course, the craving finally hit me over the last few weeks so last night, while husband was out for the evening, I headed on over to the local Pho joint, with a couple of photography magazines to entertain myself.  I decided to go with the brisket because, as much as I am pretty adventurous with my food choices, I can't quite bring myself to order tripe.  With the obligatory dips made from a mixture of chili and Hoisin sauces, I had a fine time chowing down and left with a satisfied stomach and a glistening brow from the steam rising off the soup bowl.  (A filling meal and a spa facial for the bargain price of $6?!)  I wouldn't consider myself a pho-natic but at least I think I "get it" now.