Weekends

I haven't blogged in a few days so I guess it is time to catch up. Friday night last week, we took Michelle, Gwenda, Michelle's step daughter Ella and Little Ben out to dinner at our favorite Thai place, Bangkok Thai Super Buffet at 3313 East 32nd Place (32nd and Harvard) in Midtown Tulsa.   The food is always good and our friend Ott, the head waiter, was especially attentive since Little Ben was with us and we needed a little extra help.  As usual the food was great and we had a good time. Sheila, of course, had a great time playing with Little Ben while Mommie Michelle ate.

Bangkok is a great restaurant run by especially nice people. While it is not fancy, the food is superb, the facilities are immaculately clean and the prices are reasonable.  Bangkok is frequented by a lot of people from the nearby wealthy neighborhoods who can afford to eat anyplace in town they want to and choose to eat there.

Yesterday, we cleaned house and office most of the morning and by early afternoon were ready to hit the town.

We started at El Burrito on Admiral and Pittsburg.  El Burrito is darn near my second home.  I eat there at least twice a week and sometimes more often.  It is owned by Oscar and Veronica. Oscar is a native of Guadalajara and Veronica hails from Long Beach, CA.  For many years, Oscar was the chef at the highly touted El Rio Verde.  I think his food is better now that he has his own place. Don't let the run down convenience store location or the iron bars on the windows fool you. These folks serve the best authentic Mexican food in town. The prices are reasonable, the place is clean and service is friendly. Frequently, Sheila and I may be the only gringos in the place on the weekends since it is a favorite of the large Mexican community on the northside.  But, the atmosphere is always warm and welcoming.

I started the meal with a Mexican "morning after" favorite, a Michelada, some chips and salsa and a small order of Oscar's made from scratch when ordered guacamole.  A Michelada starts as large beer mug half full of ice and tomato juice with a touch of spices or hot sauce.  You then pour your favorite beer over it all.  The rim of the the mug is coated with salt and chili powder.  While spicy, it is not really hot and I can see how it would work wonders on a queasy stomach. But, you don't need to overindulge the night before to enjoy one.  They are just plain good at any time.

Sheila and I split a torta ahogada. Torta ahogada literally means "drowned sandwich."  It consists of a huge Mexican roll split in half. The filling is the meat of your choice, refried beans, lettuce, onions, cilantro and avocado.  The top roll is then put back on and the whole thing is "drowned" in a spicy red sauce. They are huge and remarkably good.  I can eat one by myself easily but prefer to split one with Sheila since the sandwich alone is nearly a thousand calories.  For a Mexican working man, that is a good lunch that will hold him through until supper. For a sendentary gringo lawyer, a thousand calories is big chunk of the amount of food you should eat all day.

We then spent an hour at Sheila sister's house in Broken Arrow.  While the ladies caught up on family gossip, I fixed an error in the operating system of Gwenda's computer which had been ailing.

Mid-afternoon found us at the WalMart near Gwenda's house.  We only needed to buy a few grocery items but when we got there we found that summer clearance sale was going on.  This is a great time to buy knock around clothes, beach wear, etc.  It is often priced ridiculously low. Sheila bought two casual "weekend" tops, a dress/swimsuit cover up and two exercise tops for less than ten dollars.  Who says you have to be under thirty (or even under fifty) to wear a mini?

And a good time was had by all.