Bistro Bijou

[unpredictablebijou]

Only if you don't mind stepping over what is spreadeagled on the floor

Gods, I love this Bistro.

bj

 

[Angeline]

heh heh. good luck keeping her quiet...

nice survey answers, too.

Just recently (a few pages back) I declared a Viking Thing in the Bistro, and it went so well I think I'll make it perpetual and put a link up front for it. The basic gist is that when Vikings drink, they ceremonialize it into a series (a lengthy and very complete series) of toasts, breaking down into three categories:

Toasting (offering gratitude to ancestors, deities and so on)
Boasting
and Roasting (they call it Flyting - harsh truth-telling)

This has been such a ridiculously tough week for me that I'm keeping the Thing going, because it cheers me up, so here's today's Thing. Nobody minds if I fill the giant drinking horn with Oban 16, right?

*donning silly and anachronistic horned helmet with attached blond braids*

My Toast:
Gratitude to all the people who have watched over me, taken care of me and generally kept me under their various wings this week. Gratitude to the weather for being gratifyingly stormy. Gratitude to the Bistro for giving me something to do, day and night, so that I don't have to think too much.

My Boast:
When I really needed it, I had at least six people who were willing to step up and babysit me for lengthy periods of time, handing me off one to another to make sure I was under someone's care. This implies a) that I have managed to cultivate an extraordinary, high-quality circle of friends and b) they believe that for some reason I am worth taking care of.

My Roast: Ms. L, who is not on lit, has decided that in order to save her new husband the Real Story of her stripper days, she will lie about some history that I was involved in. Soon, we will have a serious moment of Truth Telling.

Personally, I have been called much Worse by much Better than ms. L, however, I have the reputation of my organization to consider, and she is about to discover that lying is never, never a good idea.

right then.

What's for lunch? I'm starved!

Could I have this on a bed of lettuce?

bj

(it's not a signature. It's a religion)

Tarzan & Jane on your salad? Hmmm. I have a lovely Italian chopped salad with oil and vinegar and salt and pepper. Very simple and delicious. Thin crust pizza with sausage, tomatos and ricotta. Chocolate cupcakes with mascarpone cream icing.

Holds out trays.

Oh and fresh iced tea in case Shankara shows up. Well and the rest of you...

 

[The_Fool]

Oh.....I just had a brain fart for a wicked STC....

Think about it for a bit and see if the gas wears away.

 

[unpredictablebijou]

Tarzan & Jane on your salad? Hmmm. I have a lovely Italian chopped salad with oil and vinegar and salt and pepper. Very simple and delicious. Thin crust pizza with sausage, tomatos and ricotta. Chocolate cupcakes with mascarpone cream icing.

Holds out trays.

Oh and fresh iced tea in case Shankara shows up. Well and the rest of you...

Good lord, yum. But not so much Tarzan and Jane as Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. They're quite obviously not Italian, either one of them, but I'm a syncretist. I think they'd go fine.

But where are you getting tomatoes? Okay, it's true that I've been eating in diners for six straight days now, but there's not a tomato to be found for love or money around here this week cause of whatever that was that happened. That thing, y'know, with the tomatoes. I dunno, I don't really pay attention.

And mascarpone...

The list of things I will do for mascarpone is a long one. I have been known to spoon it straight out of the container.

Ack. Help me think of a really eye-catching name for the thread where we're going to ask a bunch of survey questions to get people to talk about sex.

bj

 

[Angeline]

Good lord, yum. But not so much Tarzan and Jane as Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. They're quite obviously not Italian, either one of them, but I'm a syncretist. I think they'd go fine.

But where are you getting tomatoes? Okay, it's true that I've been eating in diners for six straight days now, but there's not a tomato to be found for love or money around here this week cause of whatever that was that happened. That thing, y'know, with the tomatoes. I dunno, I don't really pay attention.

And mascarpone...

The list of things I will do for mascarpone is a long one. I have been known to spoon it straight out of the container.

Ack. Help me think of a really eye-catching name for the thread where we're going to ask a bunch of survey questions to get people to talk about sex.

bj

They're Cali tomatoes I got last weekend. They should be fine. And the tomatoes on the pizza are um cooked.

Oh. Whenever I wanted people in a thread I'd say something like "I'm having hot lesbo sex with Lauren Hynde" in the title. That always brought in the crowds.

 

[unpredictablebijou]

Oh.....I just had a brain fart for a wicked STC....

Think about it for a bit and see if the gas wears away.

Do it. I dare ya.

They're Cali tomatoes I got last weekend. They should be fine. And the tomatoes on the pizza are um cooked.

Oh. Whenever I wanted people in a thread I'd say something like "I'm having hot lesbo sex with Lauren Hynde" in the title. That always brought in the crowds.

I'll just bet it did at that. Hmmmm.

bj

 

[BooMerengue]

*pokes head in door*

sestina.

muahahaha

*runs away*

bj

lol Thats ok, Bijou. You have one to get even w/ me for anyway. Just for practice I did a piece on the 5 Senses Challenge and I stuck you in there just for the hell of it and I knew you'd get a kick out of it. But either the thread is taboo, or folks are reading but not commenting.

NOT EVEN TO SAY IT SUCKS!!

Thats alright. I'll just keep trying. *sigh

 

[unpredictablebijou]

lol Thats ok, Bijou. You have one to get even w/ me for anyway. Just for practice I did a piece on the 5 Senses Challenge and I stuck you in there just for the hell of it and I knew you'd get a kick out of it. But either the thread is taboo, or folks are reading but not commenting.

NOT EVEN TO SAY IT SUCKS!!

Thats alright. I'll just keep trying. *sigh

No no, darlin', that's not it. You've got a fabulous piece there, and the new list is inspiring except for the taste suggestion, which has them completely stumped since everyone knows I have no taste.

Don't take it personally. I lol'ed, anyway. and worried deeply about what would happen to your pristine reputation...

bj

 

[Homburg]

Tarzan & Jane on your salad? Hmmm. I have a lovely Italian chopped salad with oil and vinegar and salt and pepper. Very simple and delicious. Thin crust pizza with sausage, tomatos and ricotta. Chocolate cupcakes with mascarpone cream icing.

Holds out trays.

Oh and fresh iced tea in case Shankara shows up. Well and the rest of you...

So while I was only in New York for a very short period (slightly more than 24 hours all told), I did manage to sit down with MIS at a small pizzeria and have a slice (something I make a point of doing when I have the time in NYC area). Also had something called a pinwheel.

Bloody fucking hell.

What in the name of all that is holy is wrong with the pizzerias of virtually every other state in the Union (exceptions being apparently parts of Jersey and Chicago) that they can't get the pizza to taste and work even remotely close to the pizza in New York? It can't be that damned hard to make a crust with the proper consistency and bake it the right way.

The next time I see a sign for "real New York pizza" outside of New York that tastes nothing even slightly like New York pizza, that I'm going to bloody well commit arson.

The pinwheel, by the way, was better than the pizza slice. I won't even talk about the pinwheel. Words would sully the culinary memory. MIS noted my enjoyment and bought another one for me for the ride home. We stopped at a good bakery afterwards for a quick dessert, and the canoli was excellent, as expected, but I would've traded it and three like it for another pepperoni pinwheel. Dayum.

The pinwheel caused me to think, for the first and only time, that I could stand to live in New York. It was that good.

 

[unpredictablebijou]

Gods, Chicago style pizza. The original pizza PIE. Two inches thick, with two thick crusts and so much cheese you can stretch it all the way across the room. Man, do I miss that. Can't get it anywhere. Fuck those Chicago style pizza chains; they don't know what they're talkin' about.

*reminiscing*
Little place called Augustano's, on the far south side, I wonder if it still exists. Seated about 40 people, max. Best pie around. I had a party there for my 16th birthday. It was not a "have your birthday party here" sorta place, and they were extremely weirded out, but they dealt. Damn good pizza. The best.

 

[Eluard]

bienvenue, bistrovians!


And El, you are so right about Hedy. I just haven't gotten around to her yet.

bj

Did you actually read the story in that article… I thought it deserved at least a 'Wow".

(And if you now just say 'wow' I shall… well, I'll knock over a chair.)

 

[unpredictablebijou]

Did you actually read the story in that article… I thought it deserved at least a 'Wow".

(And if you now just say 'wow' I shall… well, I'll knock over a chair.)

Honestly, baby, I haven't had time yet. I will tomorrow, but currently I'm a little distracted by other things, not the least of which is a TORNADO.

see ya in a bit.

bj

 

[Homburg]

Honestly, baby, I haven't had time yet. I will tomorrow, but currently I'm a little distracted by other things, not the least of which is a TORNADO.

see ya in a bit.

bj

And all that pro-Kansas propaganda goes right out the window as people realise that all that Wizard of Oz stuff happened because of a lil recurring phenomenon known as "tornado"

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Did you actually read the story in that article… I thought it deserved at least a 'Wow".

(And if you now just say 'wow' I shall… well, I'll knock over a chair.)

It wouldn't open for me said it was unknown or some such thing

 

[unpredictablebijou]

Yeah yeah, they always come up with that eventually.

here's the thing.

A tornado can form less than a mile from your house and you might not even know. I know because this happened to me. We had pure blue sky overhead. Our clue was the Channel 5 helicopter hovering over the house. We turned on channel 5, and I'llbedamned if there wasn't a small tornado taking a couple of roofs off sheds just to the north of us about half a mile. The total damage from that one was three telephone poles and two shed roofs.

Conversely:

Floods: not going to miss your house.
Earthquakes: not going to miss your house.
Hurricanes: not going to miss your house.
Volcanoes: not going to miss your house.

 

[Tzara]

Did you actually read the story in that article… I thought it deserved at least a 'Wow".

(And if you now just say 'wow' I shall… well, I'll knock over a chair.)

I came across that story from the other direction, sort of. I am very fond of the music of George Antheil, self-titled "Bad Boy of Music," and encountered the spread spectrum patent from that side.

That Hedy was beautiful is obvious. That she was way smart makes her interesting.

I've never seen Extase. Supposedly the director evoked her reactions in the lovemaking sequences in part by poking her ass with a pin.

Maybe our BDSMers have that sex thing nailed right. Book suggestions, anyone?

 

[midwestyankee]

So while I was only in New York for a very short period (slightly more than 24 hours all told), I did manage to sit down with MIS at a small pizzeria and have a slice (something I make a point of doing when I have the time in NYC area). Also had something called a pinwheel.

Bloody fucking hell.

What in the name of all that is holy is wrong with the pizzerias of virtually every other state in the Union (exceptions being apparently parts of Jersey and Chicago) that they can't get the pizza to taste and work even remotely close to the pizza in New York? It can't be that damned hard to make a crust with the proper consistency and bake it the right way.

The next time I see a sign for "real New York pizza" outside of New York that tastes nothing even slightly like New York pizza, that I'm going to bloody well commit arson.

The pinwheel, by the way, was better than the pizza slice. I won't even talk about the pinwheel. Words would sully the culinary memory. MIS noted my enjoyment and bought another one for me for the ride home. We stopped at a good bakery afterwards for a quick dessert, and the canoli was excellent, as expected, but I would've traded it and three like it for another pepperoni pinwheel. Dayum.

The pinwheel caused me to think, for the first and only time, that I could stand to live in New York. It was that good.

This reminds me of a short bit of dialogue from Casablanca:

Inspector Renaud: Tell me, Rick, why did you come to Casablanca?

Rick: I came for the waters.

Renaud: But this is the desert. There is no water here.

Rick: I was misinformed.

 

[midwestyankee]

Gods, Chicago style pizza. The original pizza PIE. Two inches thick, with two thick crusts and so much cheese you can stretch it all the way across the room. Man, do I miss that. Can't get it anywhere. Fuck those Chicago style pizza chains; they don't know what they're talkin' about.

*reminiscing*
Little place called Augustano's, on the far south side, I wonder if it still exists. Seated about 40 people, max. Best pie around. I had a party there for my 16th birthday. It was not a "have your birthday party here" sorta place, and they were extremely weirded out, but they dealt. Damn good pizza. The best.

The Uno's chain bought the rights to the name but they did not get the recipe for the pizza, as any Chicagoan can tell from the damned parking lot. That which most other cities call pizza, especially in those demented corners where baseball players in pinstripes are worshiped, eat soggy saltine crackers topped with generic ketchup in comparison. I should pity them, of course, but their arrogance abrogates any such offering.

 

[BooMerengue]

No no, darlin', that's not it. You've got a fabulous piece there, and the new list is inspiring except for the taste suggestion, which has them completely stumped since everyone knows I have no taste.

Don't take it personally. I lol'ed, anyway. and worried deeply about what would happen to your pristine reputation...

bj

My What!?!? You got the wrong one for that, babe. lol My reputation may be a lot of things but pristine isn't one of them. Thats just how I look. Can't help that. Blonde, blueyed brick shithouses get away with an awful lot!! lol


The brick shithouse is no more, though. More like a lumpy mattress.

 

[Homburg]

Yeah yeah, they always come up with that eventually.

here's the thing.

A tornado can form less than a mile from your house and you might not even know. I know because this happened to me. We had pure blue sky overhead. Our clue was the Channel 5 helicopter hovering over the house. We turned on channel 5, and I'llbedamned if there wasn't a small tornado taking a couple of roofs off sheds just to the north of us about half a mile. The total damage from that one was three telephone poles and two shed roofs.

Conversely:

Floods: not going to miss your house.
Earthquakes: not going to miss your house.
Hurricanes: not going to miss your house.
Volcanoes: not going to miss your house.

Floods - we don't have those here.
Earthquakes - we don't have those here.
Volcanoes - we don't have those here.
Hurricanes - hey, no place is perfect

And, interestingly enough, a tornado came through a year or so ago that flattened a few houses less than a mile from where I sit. That said we get hurricanes way less often than you get tornados.

----

I've never seen Extase. Supposedly the director evoked her reactions in the lovemaking sequences in part by poking her ass with a pin.

Maybe our BDSMers have that sex thing nailed right. Book suggestions, anyone?

Well, duh. Of course we do.

Good intro book - "Screw the Roses, give me the thorns"

----

The Uno's chain bought the rights to the name but they did not get the recipe for the pizza, as any Chicagoan can tell from the damned parking lot. That which most other cities call pizza, especially in those demented corners where baseball players in pinstripes are worshiped, eat soggy saltine crackers topped with generic ketchup in comparison. I should pity them, of course, but their arrogance abrogates any such offering.

I have never had pizza in Chicago, but I have had pizza in an Uno's. Even then, I knew it was not Chicago pizza. It was... uninspiring, and constructed nothing like the Chicago pizza I'd had described to me.

 

[midwestyankee]

I have never had pizza in Chicago, but I have had pizza in an Uno's. Even then, I knew it was not Chicago pizza. It was... uninspiring, and constructed nothing like the Chicago pizza I'd had described to me.

To say that Unos makes Chicago pizza is a bit like saying that McDonalds does good biscuits and gravy, no?

 

[Homburg]

To say that Unos makes Chicago pizza is a bit like saying that McDonalds does good biscuits and gravy, no?

Makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, my many visits to Chicago have all been to the same spot - O'Hare Airport for a layover. Bah.

 

[midwestyankee]

Makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, my many visits to Chicago have all been to the same spot - O'Hare Airport for a layover. Bah.

If you poke around you might find some local pizza in one of the terminal restaurants. I usually don't have to look for the restaurants at O'Hare because I live only 10 minutes away, but I'm sure I've seen some that would provide a decent taste of the real thing. Barring that, Lou Malnati's makes an excellent Chicago pizza available by overnight FedEx. Everyone to whom I've sent a Lou's has raved about it.

 

[Angeline]

So while I was only in New York for a very short period (slightly more than 24 hours all told), I did manage to sit down with MIS at a small pizzeria and have a slice (something I make a point of doing when I have the time in NYC area). Also had something called a pinwheel.

Bloody fucking hell.

What in the name of all that is holy is wrong with the pizzerias of virtually every other state in the Union (exceptions being apparently parts of Jersey and Chicago) that they can't get the pizza to taste and work even remotely close to the pizza in New York? It can't be that damned hard to make a crust with the proper consistency and bake it the right way.

The next time I see a sign for "real New York pizza" outside of New York that tastes nothing even slightly like New York pizza, that I'm going to bloody well commit arson.

The pinwheel, by the way, was better than the pizza slice. I won't even talk about the pinwheel. Words would sully the culinary memory. MIS noted my enjoyment and bought another one for me for the ride home. We stopped at a good bakery afterwards for a quick dessert, and the canoli was excellent, as expected, but I would've traded it and three like it for another pepperoni pinwheel. Dayum.

The pinwheel caused me to think, for the first and only time, that I could stand to live in New York. It was that good.

I promise I will get a pizza recipe up on the blog, and if you follow it you will have New York style pizza: great sauce, thin crispy crust, really good.

I will do that tonight or tomorrow. And I'll tell you.

 

[midwestyankee]

I promise I will get a pizza recipe up on the blog, and if you follow it you will have New York style pizza: great sauce, thin crispy crust, really good.

I will do that tonight or tomorrow. And I'll tell you.

Is this a Red Sox fan writing this or are my eyes deceiving me?