5 things on my mind: Pujols on Apple, finding a great Caesar salad, and a birthday salute
Friday is here, so let's get into it.
Friday is here and the weekend is close, so pay attention and let's make the best of a weather transition here in St. Louis.
Wednesday at this time, it was in the upper 90s and skin-melting, nearing triple digits. The next day, it was 72 degrees and cool. That's the weather in my city in a nutshell, where you keep all year's clothing out of the boxes at all times.
~If Albert Pujols hits #700 on Apple TV Plus tomorrow, it'll be fine. In a perfect world, he waits a bit and hits it during the last series at Busch Stadium against Pittsburgh. But there's a good chance he gets to swing away for the final road trip through San Diego, Los Angeles, and Milwaukee. If he doesn't bash it in what used to be known as Miller Park, that will be shocking.
At this point, I want him to get to 700 and have no care in whether I see it live or where it plays. Baseball doesn't rearrange its fate for us.
~Make a month out of it. Just spend the extra $5-6 dollars and subscribe to Apple TV Plus for a month. You can get into great shows like "Black Bird" and "Five Days at Memorial," or get your Tom Hanks fix with "Greyhound" and "Finch." You can finish it all off with "Ted Lasso," which is taking the world (not just the USA) by storm.
~Sauce on the Side may have terrific calzones, but the sneaky treat there is the caesar salad with pesto chicken added. Making a Caesar right is thinking "less is more" with the dressing and making sure the number of croutons and parmesan cheese isn't thin. Few have this particular salad for its health benefits. If they wanted that, the thing would have fruit on it.
~Prices are up! Thanks to the pandemic putting a stranglehold on coveted goods and the raw reliance on delivery and online ordering allowed the increase in dollar. My lunch is rarely cheap, and I’m not looking for Michelin star level cuisine. Fuck, give me a burrito! That small Caesar salad with chicken added at Sauce on the Side came up close to $12 after tax. It was fucking worth it for the record, for the pesto croutons alone. That’s one tasty plate of ruffage.
Allow me to geek out about my favorite salad. Locating a well above average Caesar isn’t as easy as it seems. Simple ingredients; delicate when it comes to the specific amounts used and how they’re mixed. Also, restaurants need to routinely switch out their lettuce or leaf of choice. Expired lettuce shouldn’t cost $8 or more. Thankfully, Sauce on the Side had very fresh produce.
Inflation has taken a half in the gas prices department, but turned its attention towards food and drink. If people haven't started cooking at home, that's going up this quarter and on into 2023. It's just too expensive to eat cheap anywhere, except for Eovaldi's on The Hill here in St. Louis. Still, a half sandwich and half salad comes out to less than $9, and it fills a big boy like myself easily.
Happy birthday, Beth Buffa. Sept. 23 means my lovely mom has completed another trip around this rock. She was a nurse at St. Louis Children’s Hospital for decades, and raised two kids with my dad, Richard. She still makes me meals upon entry to their house, and I am 40 by the way. With my mom, it doesn’t matter. Like her late mother, Henrietta, cooking for people is just a given. I just adore her.
Until next time.
Salads are overrated. Or so I’ve heard. I’m still in the midst of my never-eaten-a-salad perfect game.
I don’t care when or where AP hits 700; I’ll just be happy if it happens. Anyone can go a few weeks without hitting two homers. Nothing is a given.
Apple’s baseball broadcasts provide insight into the question of what a game might sound like if they held a drawing and let three lucky random fans call the game. I’ll employ the tactic that I typically only use when I hear Brad Thompson’s voice: sound muted, earbuds in, music/podcasts on.