A brief intermission for how the Steelers didn't win the superbowl...oh well, fewer riots for me to see. The Giant Eagle had a great STEELERS soda display but it was changed too fast afterwards for me to get a picture, but here's some NCAA excitement instead:
Back to the food: Mom was extremely kind and reserved us dinner for valentine’s day at whole foods. Unfortunately the employees had no idea what to do with us when we told them we had a food reservation code (one said “we’re hippies, we’re not that organized”) so we were shuffled around for quite a while until we found a manager that pulled our order together. It was worth the wait, though – lobster tails, herb butter, and chocolate French boule, yum yum!
We also attended the south side soup crawl again, which was great fun! Soups this year were great – especially the Yo Rita parsnip soup, which surprised everyone, I think, by being delicious. This year we planned out our gluttony and hit the milkshake factory after we were done souping (versus in the middle), which worked much better. I didn’t actually get a milkshake but their chocolate pieces are also good… Then we went home and had a food coma nap, I believe. =D
Spring must be near, by the way! Our basil, which tenaciously survived the winter, is starting to freak out and it’s becoming more complicated to spot all the blooms before they erupt. Which is kind of fun anyway, actually.
Speaking of exciting, we finally hit one of the newest restaurant hotspots - Salt of the Earth – with a few friends. The food was so good! I was initially hesitant because every appetizer had something in it that I’d never had. It worked out beautifully in the end, though. I got a udon, broth, brussels sprouts, preserved lemons, and steak soup-like plate, which was impressive. Others got interesting fish preparations, with pomegranate sauces and all sorts of interesting features. Dessert was quite complicated; white chocolate custards with pink peppercorns, local honey, sots of fragrance and goat cheese ice cream (which was kind of like soft-serve cheesecake, bizarre). Drinks were also fancy – I had a coconut / citrus / coffee rum drink that read like it wouldn’t blend, but actually came together very nicely. A nice night for everyone!
February was not all lighthearted, however - after a very promising few weeks at home, Willy caught a cold and died very quickly thereafter on February 11, 2011. He had been well and making valentine's day cards for Amy, Angie and Brenna (and sending Johnny back to AC Moore's for the "right" materials) and was planning to get orchids for them all. Johnny fulfilled that request after the fact. It was very hard to hear, especially since it was so sudden and he seemed to be so much happier at home. I was not able to attend the funeral but plan to go up when they spread his ashes on the lake in the summer. It is very upsetting to think that the lighthearted pirate that taught me to drive a boat and had the strongest grip of anyone I ever met won't be around to meet Peter or take us on the lake in the summer. I wish I had asked him more about his construction expertise. I wish that January visit hadn’t been the last. I wish a lot of things. But I mostly wish Amy and her family well, because there's not much else to do.
