Two Posts

Humble Pie

Saturday, September 23


We went to Salsa Under the Stars tonight, meeting some friends and friends of theirs for salsa with live bands at Jack London Square. Given the rain this morning, and the fact that Jack London Square is right on the water, I thought it would be cold but actually it was quite nice. The dance floor was pitifully small, even for salsa, especially at a free event, but the Square has a big flat concrete design in the center that a lot of people used for a dance floor.



It's been awhile since Zirpu and I danced and we were definitely out of practice. We didn't really remember steps that we used to know well. The dancing surface was a little sticky, and the shoes I was wearing (not dance shoes) have stretched out so they don't stick on my heels, making spins difficult.


Of course there were some good salseros there, and lots of different styles being danced, as well as some not-salsa being danced. I felt clumsy and uncertain most of the night, and though a woman commented to Zirpu that he was a good dancer, I didn't feel like I was dancing very well. Not that it matters when you're dancing for fun, and I did have fun.



Hot Dog!

Sunday, September 24


I stopped eating hot dogs when I was eight. I don't remember why, but it probably had something to do with hearing that hot dogs were made out of pig snouts and ears. I stopped eating baloney then too, which makes sense since baloney is really like a flattened hot dog (in fact, No used to eat baloney sandwiches with ketchup). I even refused a hot dog at a time when I knew I was being a pain in the butt by insisting on cheese for my bun instead.


The only exception to my no-hot dog rule involved grills. On the stovetop at home, we cooked hot dogs in boiling water rather than other ways. However, if someone was grilling hot dogs I would eat one if it was burnt black and crunchy and if there was was mustard. I like my marshmallows toasted golden but if the hot dog was red I would ask to have it put back on the grill. More often I would opt for a hamburger, if they were offered. I still like hamburgers better but now and then I crave that weird hot dog taste. I think it's the nitrates.


I didn't eat hot dogs for eighteen years. I started eating them, and baloney, again when I was working at Harry's Mother. One night one of my fellow res counselors fried up hot dogs in butter on a pancake grill for dinner for the clients. The browned hot dogs looked promising so I tried one, and am back eating hot dogs from time to time. I prefer them grilled, but I don't require that they be burnt to a crisp. I still like lots of mustard on my dogs and my baloney sandwiches could be considered a mustard delivery system more than anything else.


I am into beef hot dogs, and not all those fancy-pants sausages: Chicken and apple sausage? Please! Those are for breakfast! The former Program Coordinator at the food bank loved hot dogs with lots and lots of ketchup, and she introduced me to some dogs from Trader Joe's (I could recognize the label but I don't remember the brand). On the occasions when I buy hot dogs, it's usually Hebrew National, but usually Nathan's and back east there's a brand called Kahn's which is also good but unfortunately unavailable out here.


At this time we have two bottles of interesting mustards in the fridge: A Jack Daniel's Southwestern mustard I found at Mom's and a (an?) habanero garlic mustard from a local firm. I'm planning to pick up some hot dogs for some mustard eating. Zirpu has the final word on hot dogs and baloney: "It's a random food to eat, once in a while."