The past several days have resembled a rollercoaster ride.
The days moved at 1000 miles an hour; the ups and downs were
dizzying, nauseating and exhilarating; the activity felt like it was never
going to stop, and I had little sense of control. Oh, and when it was over, it
was over and the world re-settled.
The reasons for this craziness were varied and many and,
really, are so mundane that there is no sense talking about them...with one
exception that I’ll get to. Essentially, Peter and I were so busy that there
was a lack of planning for meals that shouldn’t have happened. The good part is
that we learned some important lessons.
We relied a bit too much on restaurants and quickly found about
those that offered us delicious selections and those that didn’t. We are
surrounded by Thai places and learned that not all Thai is the same.We also found out that a close-by burger and beer joint is a happy place for vegans.
Our place of choice for Thai is usually Veranda Thai. The place is close to our home and family run, the food is fresh, flavorful
and generous in portions and delivery is quick and reliable. The menu offers
tofu in everything, as well as vegan spring rolls (fresh and fried), terrific
curry sauces and a drunken noodle to die for. The tofu, which we usually get
fried, is in fairly thin strips and fried to a crispy crust so quickly that there is no
greasiness at all. When we eat there, the service is attentive, quick and
friendly and the place is clean enough to eat off…well, the tables. Who would
really want to eat off anyone’s floor? veranda thai
Veranda Thai is not, however, on my way home. Seng Chai Thai is, right on Forest
Avenue. I was late in getting home on Thursday night, as was Peter and neither
of us had done anything about dinner, as we both rushed out of the house that morning.
I resorted to asking Siri, my iPhone girlfriend, for a list of Thai restaurants
on Forest Avenue and I began dialing. Without seeing a menu, I ordered from
Seng Chai some standard Thai items for us – drunken noodle with tofu, spicy basil
leaves with tofu and brown rice.
Vegan, yes. Delicious? Not really. Sauces lacked flavor. The drunken noodle lacked spice, almost completely. The brown rice tasted like it
had been sitting around and was a very small portion. The tofu was in very
large chunks, was not fried to a point where it had a crispy skin and tasted
greasy. Actually it tasted of old oil. Seng Chai comes off the list.
Saturday even was supposed to be dinner out with neighbors
at Yosaku and then Portland Stage for The Sisters Rosensweig. But, alas, the universe
had other plans for us.
About 3:30, I heard the sound of Peter’s table saw from the
basement and guessed, quite correctly, that he was working on beehives. The saw
stopped about 15 minutes later, some other kind of tool started making noises
and then came the call. Peter calls my name often, but rarely with a heightened
sound of panic and urgency.
“You need to take me to the emergency room”, he called, as
he walked up the basement stairs. I expected blood, lots of it, having listened
to the table saw whir for a ¼ of an hour. There was none. He walked into the
kitchen holding a ¾-finished frame made from 3 pieces of wood…that he had
nailed to his thumb with a nail gun.
Well, suffice it to say that a Maine Med nurse who couldn’t
help but be both fascinated and amused quickly brought Peter into triage. After
a quick examination, he was walked back to a room. The wise cracks began during
the walk. “When you bring your own furniture, you get a room quickly” quipped
one Doc. “You’re really attached to that, aren’t you?” “We love it when folks
bring us gifts”. And on and on.
It had been a slow and difficult day in the Maine Med ER, so
Peter quickly became the amusement for every tech, nurse and doctor in the
place. There was a steady stream of ER personnel into his room to see his
injury. Pictures of the x-rays were passed around so everyone could see how
close to the bone the nail had come – so close that it actually bent the bone without
piercing it.
Nurse Carrie couldn’t help but deliver wisecrack after wisecrack,
each funnier then the last. Doctor Liz proceeded to give Peter a digital block,
numbing his entire thumb. Once she and Peter and I managed to detach the wooden
frame from Peter’s hand, she quickly pulled out the inch and a half nail.
3 hours later we were home, having cancelled our evening’s
plans. But what about dinner? Peter was jonesing for Japanese food, which we
had been looking forward to. A quick call to Yosaku let us know that there was
over an hour’s wait for take out. Fuji,
though, could have it ready in 15 minutes.
A quick check with the hostess on vegan concerns left us
smiling. No egg in the tempura batter. Vegetable tempura, miso soup, yaki udon (stir
fried noodles)with veg and tofu and 3 vegetable maki (rolls) – inari (sweet
tofu), shitake and vegetable - rounded out the meal. All was delicious,
flavorful and really ready in 15 minutes. Finally, 4½ hours after we entered
the ER, we sat down to our meal.
Our restaurant madness continued over the next day or so, as
I took my little sister (through Big Bothers Big Sisters) to The Pepper Club where the Pho with tofu
was soul-satisfying and the fluffy vegan tapioca pudding brought me back to my
childhood. Lots of vegan choices there and all delicious.
A visit from Peter’s 86-year-old Uncle Dan on a busy work
night prompted us to explore The Great
Lost Bear, which is a 3-minute walk from our house. SCORE! We knew there was a veggie burger on the menu, but there was so much
more that the kitchen would gladly veganize. We both ended up with a rice and bean
burrito with veggie (vegan) chili and fresh salsa that was enormous and spicily
delicious. And they came with fries. And the beer was cold.
Thank God French fries
and beer are vegan.
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