I think that it's brainless

So happy holidays everyone! Even though I am temporarily across the country, visiting the folks in Santa Barbara, I still have a few things to talk about.
First up is an account of my last day in New York City 2008 and how it was spent in a beautiful way: holed up in the apartment with some beer and cheap pizza!

Of course my customary late night post airport burrito from Freebird's.

Then is the play by play of my christmas dinner for one.


So my flight out was relatively early Monday morning and Alex wanted to "bro it up" the day before. Unfortunately, it was freezing and we didn't have a solid plan aside from go to the neighborhood bar and have lunch. Instead we decided to avoid the outdoors as much as possible and be hermits. Because we were tired of wanting hot wings pizza and being disappointed when they say "[they] don't make that," we sorted through our pile of menus looking for a better pizza joint. Though Il Forno is usually our go to spot, when we saw what tony's was offering, it was too good to pass up: 1 Large Pie, 1 order of garlic knots, and 1 order of hot wings...all for just 15.00 dollars! We knew that that was the order for us. To settle the matter of beer, and who would make a dash across the street, we put on our gloves and booted up the classic Wii Boxing. Alex cleanly KO'd me in the second round and I snowsuited up! It was rough going but I made it out and back before the delivery guy. And when he arrived it was glorious (because we were starved). Alex and I settled on the couch to the first few episodes of Heroes while we ate ourselves sick. The pizza was hot and floppy, just as cheap pizza should be: you can fold it over itself many times over and make a sort of pizza stack. The garlic knots were greasy and rich. And the only problem were the disappointing hot wings. Not traditional, these more closely resembled the "sauceless hot wings" kfc tried to market as awesome when in reality was dumb. What can I say, I am a traditionalist. I mean they were still fried meat, so it was tasty, just not what one expects. And then we spent the rest of the day watching tv, playing starcraft, and continually eating/drinking.

A side note: the only thing worse than fast food is fast food in an airport. I was secretly disappointed when I couldn't find a burger king in LAX (it has become my traveling tradition to eat shitty burger king while in transit) but McDonald's sufficed. And certainly qualified in the shitty, overpriced area.

But when my plane landed, despite being delayed twice, losing my luggage, and being sicker than expected, it was all made better when my dear mother picked me up and took me for a delicious and hot midnight burrito. Freebird's, while tangentially related to the chain in Texas is unconnected in practice now. This place caters to the Isla Vista/UCSB crowd, knowing being open 24 hours is the best thing for business and serving up burritos bigger than expected. I forgot what it was like, after living in NYC, and even my regular burrito would put the nyc chipotles and qdobas to shame. This thing was a behemoth. Packed with seasoned rice, refried pinto beans (my favorite kind), grilled chicken, sour cream, fresh guac, pico de gallo, and tomatillo salsa, it was heavenly. I took that first bite and it felt like home. It was amazing.


Christmas was a lowkey event here. Because of the dietary restrictions of the folks (coupled with the different natural eating schedules) we parted ways over how to serve Christmas dinner and I was left to my own devices.
My Christmas menu:
Grilled Stuffed Pork Chops (I removed the fruits from the recipe and made it a little more savory, less sweet)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas (I didn't follow a recipe but this is pretty close to what I did)
Grands Biscuits
IBC Soda (one of my all time favorite things)
Caramelized Apples over Vanilla ice cream (Again I didn't follow this recipe, it just seems an okay approximation of what I did)

How was it? Okay. Something about my kitchen here (maybe because it's all electric) that things never quite turn out how I expect them (mostly the potatoes and dessert). I guess a hot glass surface can never replace a true flame. Or something.