Cup of Coffee

July 29, 2018: Fill ‘er Up

37 Comments

My daughter, a certifiable genius (no, really) and a senior in college, just called my wife and asked "would you talk me through how to put gas in the car? I'm at the pump."
....
I'm so proud. #parentfail?

37 thoughts on “July 29, 2018: Fill ‘er Up”

    1. Heh. I may suggest to her that Oregon and New Jersey are her two best options after graduation.

    2. I remember my one trip to Oregon. We pulled up to a station and started filling our tank. You would have thought I shot someone the way everyone reacted. Shame on me.

  2. Avocado Toast a'la NBBW

    1 slice of toast covered with mashed avocado, topped with a fried egg
    Citrus salt (ground with mortar/pestle):
    kosher salt
    red pepper flakes
    cumin
    lemon zest

    (inspired by dish at Le Pain Quotidien in NYC)

    1. This will be a hit at the zooomx home. However, I may replace the red pepper flakes with a drizzle of Sriracha.

      1. Looks awesome. Went to their site and was about to order 12 piroshkys (minimum order). Twould have been $212. Nein danke.

          1. NBBW ordering 7 (minimum order for the sweet ones) of them for her Pa - $49.65.

      2. Man, I need my piroshky fix. One beef & onion, one Moscow roll. Then up to El Diablo for a couple cortaditos. Then over to Mike’s chili parlor for lunch. Then over to Tony’s or Q’s for a bánh mì...

  3. Red Green Show

    Green
    3/4lb Skirt steak, sliced against the grain, and marinated with:
    Flat Italian parsley - chopped
    Garden mint - chopped
    Garden Greek Oregano - chopped
    Canola oil
    Jerez red wine vinegar
    Crushed red pepper flakes
    Minced garlic
    (let set for several hours in the fridge)

    Red
    Make Red Chimichurri sauce in mortar/pestle:
    Chopped Italian parsley
    Olive oil
    Red wine vinegar
    Garden Greek oregano
    Chopped Chipotle in Adobo
    Smoked paprika
    Red pepper flakes
    Minced garlic
    Salt/pepper

    Char the steak on both sides, rest, top with red chimichurri and parsley.
    Malbec? Tannat? Carmenere?

  4. Ernie De La Trinidad, one of the guys the Twins got in exchange for Eduardo Escobar, just hit a three-run homer for Fort Myers. The Miracle lead Daytona 3-1 in the second inning.

  6. I make my daughter tag along with me when I'm doing home repair projects so that she knows how to do things. Also, I informed her that next summer I will take her to ND and teach her how to drive. When I'm 12?, she said. Yes, honey.

    Can't have the girl be helpless.

    1. I taught the Boy how to drive stick. It took like 5 lessons before I was confident enough in him that we could go out on the streets.

      I taught the Girl how to drive stick. It took her one lesson.

      This is a girl who traveled by herself from St. Petersburg (Russia) to Berlin, through the continent, to London, to Ireland, and back to London. A girl who, with minimal teaching from me, now plans and cooks friday night Shabbat dinners for crowds up to 40 or so each week at her Hillel. But this is also a girl who lives with her head in the clouds half the time.

      1. I'll probably teach my kids the same way my mom taught me: feet to the fire. Back in those days I wanted to take the lazy way out and only ever drive automatics, but my mom told me if I wanted to learn how to drive with her it'd have to be in a manual because that's all she had.

        1. My dad used to drive stick and taught my brother because my brother was using the company vehicle. But he got old and tired and switched to automatic and I've never even practiced. One time I had a friend drive me to a party and she asked me to drive back home because she was tired but I couldn't because she had a stick. Otherwise, it's never come up.

      2. I worry about my daughter's ability to find her way when she's driving. I try to discuss how the city of Eagan is laid out, but she doesn't seem to know where we are at about 99% of the time.

        1. Maybe get her a map of the city? (Or printscreen from Google Maps, which is what I often do.)
          Having a map really helps my mental map crystallize. Maps of my hometown of New Ulm were plentiful, so I don't really recall life without having a printed map. to "fill in" mentally.
          I do remember navigating Minneapolis one night in high school (on a college visit to a friend at the U of M). I failed to notice the curve in the road (I wasn't the driver) and was surprised that we kept taking University west from Dinkytown but never crossed the River to Downtown. That wouldn't have happened as easily during daytime (unless it was overcast) because the direction of the sun would have informed me (not that I ever think about it though).

        2. I had a high school classmate who whenever she had to go from Point A to Point would drive home because she didn't know how to get to Point B without starting at her house. And Richfield is much smaller than Eagan.

          1. I have a pretty good sense of direction. I can find places that I've been to once without directions pretty much anytime. On the other hand, I've had my wife (in the past, she doesn't go there much anymore since her parents died, also cell phones have GPS) call me asking me how to get to her hometown from wherever she was. Couldn't find her way to the town that she grew up in.

        3. Runner daughter was never good at knowing how to get places, but she does fine now. A big part of the equation is paying attention, and that doesn't happen much when you're young and the passenger.

          1. Yep. Being the one driving changes the calculus a lot.

            I learned DC by getting lost a few times (plus Thomas Guides). Same with San Diego.

            Now, we just plug a destination into Waze or Google Maps and Comply. I can feel brain cells dying, but it is still better than the good old days when the Mrs, as navigator, would frantically gesture toward the passenger door while telling me "Turn LEFT!"

            1. I drive a lot for work, and if it's a place I know I'm going to be going to a monthly basis, I try to get there without the help of GPS (and leave early enough so I can get lost if I need to). I rarely need to use it then going forward

            2. I print out directions from Google Maps if I haven't been there before, or I'll make a quick sketch of the important roads at the end.

              Maybe a decade ago, EAR and I got stuck behind some Renaissance Festival Traffic on the way back to the Twin Cities from New Ulm, and I didn't know enough how to take an alternate route around it that we just had to sit through it.
              Shortly after that, I purchased my first DeLorme's Gazetteer. I bought an update/replacement a few years ago without shopping the alternatives. I now wish I would have... the updated version no longer shows Water Stabilization Ponds. (But having the maps bleed out of their frames, and a North-to-south, West-to-East arrangement were good improvements. (It was previously South-to-North, West-to-East.)
              My limited browsing since then makes me think the National Geographic Recreation Atlas is the best option for me.

            3. I have a horrible sense of direction. Back when I had no smart phone, I would have to call my no-wife to try to describe where I was, in hopes she could help me find my way back to our apartment in Santa Ana, CA. Happened regularly, and I was usually less than 5 miles away.

              Now, smartphone GPS is my best friend, and the only way I manage to find just about anything. It probably makes me weak, but it also makes me not lost.

              1. Sounds like my wife. She doesn't always recognize an intersection if coming from a different direction.

                1. I rely heavily on google maps. I try not to look at the screen much, just listen to the lady on my phone tell me where to go and I obediently follow. Huh...kind of like being married.

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