Getting Gourmet Culture

Various people we've known have regularly teased Chase and I about our lack of culture. Nebraska has much to offer in my mind, but in the minds of most, there are merely Runzas and Huskers and cows and corn. Let me say to you all, there's much more than that! But in the light of such delights as always eating home-grown, corn-fed beef, hand-picked sweetcorn, and tomatoes straight off the vine, why would one eat anything else? We were raised on "meat and potatoes" because that was the best Nebraska had to offer. Why go for imported escargo or caviar?

*side note* Speaking of escargo, otherwise known as snails, and caviar, otherwise known as fish eggs, why is it that they can't call the food item what it really is? It's almost like in order to get people to eat such items, they have to call the food item some exotic-sounding foreign word that means "snails" or "fish eggs." Ever notice how steak is called "steak" and corn is called "corn." Yeah. I'm a fan of that.*

So since we're in a new area with lots of new things to offer, Chase is on a kick where he's willing to go "out there" and try new things. I'm doing my best to keep up, but I still want to like what I paid to eat, you know? On Friday we went out with Will and Shannon, parents of Nataly who was featured a week or two ago on the blog. The four of us went to a spiffy restaraunt called Alto Plaza that serves Latin cuisine - Mexican, Puerto Rican, Peruvian, and Spanish. It was a fun place to go, and they had some interesting things on the menu. below is what Chase got....

It's a mix of seafood cooked in a plantain leaf. Alongside that is a bunch of rice, a lemon wrapped in a yellow cloth and a cactus salad. Yes, I said a CACTUS salad. This is the riskiest Chase has been yet. It was an interesting "salad." It tasted more like pickled cactus, to tell you the truth, and looked a lot like green beans. It was very briney and had an extremely strong flavor. All in all, I think Chase is glad to say he's had cactus, but I don't know that he's terribly likely to get it again.

I had huge shrimp stuffed with chiuaua cheese and wrapped in bacon. That was pretty good. No complaints from me, but it was kind of safe. At any rate we had a great time with Will and Shannon, a lovely double-date!

The weekend also included a trip to Eastern Market, a small farmer's market in the city, a visist with a couple of fellow Hillsdale alumns, and a trip to McLean shopping center - always a good thing!

Sunday was such a beautiful way to end the weekend. It was maybe 70 degrees with a soft breeze that had the crispness of fall in it. It was a cold breeze, but sharp, you know? So I decided to get off the couch and quit pretending I was doing homework (when really I was napping) and take the dogs for a walk to the dog park. I've discovered that there are some trails that I can take as short cuts that get me to the dog park in less than 15 minutes, so we can walk there, play for a half an hour and walk back all in less than an hour! So on the way back to the house, I took this picture of the trail that runs part way there. I felt like it was a "screen saver" moment...

We really enjoy where we live and the more we learn and discover about the area, the more we enjoy it. It may not be Nebraska, but little by little this area is feeling more like home.