Phoning it in

I call The Boy every evening before I leave work so we can check in with each other and say goodnight. Last weekend The Boy's Mother suggested that I read books to him over the phone. Deciding that was a good idea, I went to the library and took out my old childhood favorites (I'm a big Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak fan) and I've read to him every night this week.

Last night when I called, The Boy's Mother answered the phone and said that The Boy really seems to enjoy listening to me read to him. On speakerphone I heard the boy chime in, "Yeah, it works for me!"

I don't have a daughter named Amy.

Home alone one day early in my marriage, I answered the phone to a woman's voice on the line who said, without any introduction or salutation: "your wife is having an affair with a man named Tony who works at the Landmark restaurant. If you don't believe me, ask your daughter Amy. She saw them together."

Click.

It's just as well that I'm already divorced

I have an office with a door that has a double coat hook on the back. Eternal Sunshine works in a cubicle outside my office. She has nowhere to hang her coat. So, she's been hanging it on the back of my door next to my jacket.

On Monday evening as I was preparing to leave work, I grabbed my wool jacket off the hook. As I was putting it on, I noticed that it smelled strongly of a woman's perfume.

Hmm, Turkey

I need to find out how Kosta cooks his turkey.

Reading my own blog had given me a hankering for souvlaki from Greek Deli (see "Souvlaki"). Unfortunately, I arrived after the lunch rush and they were out of lamb. I was offered a souvlaki made with roast turkey (I'm a little unclear on the finer points of Souvlaki - I'm not sure a pita sandwhich can be souvlaki without lamb). All too often turkey is cooked dry. I've tried with some success to roast a moist and flavorful turkey, but the turkey in my souvlaki that day was dripping and tasty. I got over my disapointment about the lamb real fast.

This time there was no doughy taste to the pita.

Is this starting to read like a Greek Deli fan blog?

Oh, well.

So, what does he eat?

As you may recall, The Boy recently informed me that he does not eat vegetables (see "Kids say the darndest things"). Now his mother informs me that he has stopped eating meat too.

Pat the Butter

Around about the time The Boy was 18 months old he developed a taste for butter (actually it was dairy free margerine - The Boy is deathly allergic to dairy products - but we always called it butter). One day I was buttering toast for the two of us and he was standing next to me at the counter on a stool. He stuck out his hand and said, "put some here!" He was very upset when I said no.

Souvlaki

My plan to review restaurants has been stymied by my habit of eating at only a few places. On Friday I was back at Greek Deli.

Kosta has a flair for the dramatic and a hearty sense of humor. With a line of people patiently waiting their turns for service, Kosta yelled out sternly: "There is plenty of food for everyone! No fighting!" Then he looked out to his customers and smiled, before getting back to serving-up lunches.

I can't seem to get enough of Kosta's succulent lamb, but I decided to try having it a different way this time. I ordered the souvlaki. Kosta's souvlaki is a simple yet tasty interpretation of the Greek standard: a pita spread with tzakiki wrapped around a piece of stewed lamb with lettuce and chunks of ripe tomato and cucumber. The juices from the lamb dripped out as I was eating, making a mess all over my hands. My only disapointment was with two bites toward the middle that tasted doughy. Perhaps the pita was undercooked.

See also Naan and Beyond.

File under Great food; no atmosphere