2001-06-15
feeling kinda
so i got my lobster. made me a happy, happy girl. which i needed, as i had managed to do something phenomenally stupid right before he and i got together last night (mr. p, not the lobster, silly). fucking around with the resolution on my monitor at work (which was clearly key to my workload - not), and the system didn't ask me if i really, really wanted that particular resolution, nor did it warn me that while the vid card would support it, the monitor wouldn't. nope. just wham bam screw you ma'am, as it slapped up the new res and rendered my monitor a very expensive paperweight. gah! so i ran around announcing that i was an idiot, and could anyone fix it for me please? of course, turns out the only way to fix it was to log on to the machine from the network and reset the res. phooey. of course, i hadn't finished the project du jour. no, no. because that would violate the Code of Procrastination. so here i am, with a nonfunctional monitor, a deadline, and a boss who was still hanging around. :sigh: lesson #357 in how not to be a productive employee.
anyway... so we hooked up after work, and i asked if he was ready for dinner. 'sure.' 'good. we're going to Jasper's.' fortunately, this was acceptable. i'd been fixated on the idea of a lobster dinner since the night before, as writing about summers on the Cape had gotten me thinking about them.
y'know, Jasper's (actually, it's Jasper White's Summer Shack, but nobody ever calls it that) is the ultimate destination for seafood. everything is fantastic. it's not super fancy contructed food. it's good food, plain and simple. he gets stunningly good ingredients, cooks them simply, and lets the ingredients shine through. of course, i can only vouch for the seafood specials by proxy. every time i've gone there, i get a steamed lobster. Every. Time. i said to mr. p last night that i'd have to eat there for 3 or 4 nights running to get past the lobster and try anything else. much as i love lobster, i would actually want to try something else by night #3. i think.
we hung out in the Tiki Room for a bit, just generally decompressing from the day. the whole space used to be a horrifically bad Chinese restaurant, and while the bar is actually named something else, it will always be the Tiki Room in my head. i was very happy to have a few Dark n' Stormys - excellent summer drink, if you haven't had it; Jamaican ginger beer and dark rum, preferably Goslings. nice bite to it makes it pretty refreshing. be warned that they're deceptively tasty, tho. ;) and while we were decompressing, we caught part of the Sox game on TV. aw, man - my boy, Daubach, hit his career first grand slam! you go, boy. very exciting. pulled the Sox ahead in the 4th, and they ended up winning the game. whoo hoo!
after we unwound, we managed to get a booth, which was nice because it baffles the sound a bit. the main dining room is just this big open space with lots of picnic tables and a few booths along the side. started with a fish chowder (him) and lobster tomalley toasts (me). *groan* oh, my, god. much excitement for the tastebuds. seasoned tomalley spread on toast points and a dipping sauce made from some other obscure part of the lobster. heavenly.
and then the lobster arrived, in all its steaming red glory. it was so hot, in fact, that i ducked out to the ladies' room for a minute, then came back to deal with it. 'alright, baby, you and me, right now.' 'um... you know you're talking to your food?' 'oh, yeah, baby. he and i are gonna get it goin' on right now.' if you haven't had lobster done right at least once in your life, you owe it to yourself. it is one of the most all encompassing sensory treats going. your nose is treated with the aroma of salty, buttery goodness. a well-presented lobster looks wonderful. and of course, the only proper way to eat the bugger? hands on. so we both had lobster. silence descended upon the table. for nearly half an hour, no conversation, just the sounds of shells cracking, sweet sweet lobster being sucked out of little legs (the seafood equivalent of Pixy Stix), empty remnants being pitched into the bucket. and every so often, me groaning in blissful satisfaction as i sat there, covered to the elbows in lobster bits. my lobster was exceptionally good - every one of those little legs was jam packed full of meat, which doesn't always happen.
okay - so what's the best part of the lobster? i say the claws, so i save them for last. confused me to no end to see mr. p start with the claws. but he says the tail is the best part, so he saves that for last. :pause: yeah, i see it, too. but i'm not going there. feel free to run with your own double entendre at will. ;)
and perfectly steamed sweet corn on the cob to go with it. it's one of my ideal meals - beer, steamed lobster with drawn butter, corn on the cob. that's it. soul satisfying in its simplicity and perfection.
okay, so i see a road trip in my future. mr. p mentioned this place in Rhode Island, the Nordic Lodge. they have - get this - an all you can eat lobster buffet. i've died and gone to heaven, no joke. and peaches also knows about this place, so the four of us will most likely drive down at some point. oh, how funny is this - i mentioned my crustacean fixation to CB the night before last, so she ended up with the same craving. and of course, they had to go to Jasper's.
they tried to time it so that we'd be gone by the time they got there (how cute is that, trying to not intrude on the date?), and they came pretty close. they hung in the Tiki Room a bit, waiting for a table. but when they got buzzed (for the table! gawd...), i was standing by the hostess desk, reading some article on the wall. they try to skulk by, but i happened to turn and see someone who had hair just like peaches. in fact, it was CB's girlfriend. and she wouldn't go to dinner without... 'ChicaBeanie!' i yelped, while i sprinted around the corner to catch them, nearly taking out a waiter in the process. it was all very funny, especially as i had to call across to mr. p, who looked like he looked over at us and then kept walking (just didn't hear me, but it was funnier to think he didn't want to be seen with us). so pretty much, i'm the crazy yelling lady from the restaurant to everyone else that was there. heh. hey, everyone should have a reputation like that, don't you think? ;)
