Visit "home"
Jul. 11th, 2022 08:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39Friday I did not have work.
I wanted to make steaks for Jameson and I, and he recently found a video touting "snacklebacks" on TikTok and they looked so good that I wanted to give them a try.
Not only that, I had promised to bring my sister Kate some passion fruit.
This promise was based on the mountain of passion fruit I'd seen last week at the Asian grocery store.
So OF COURSE when I went back today, there were ZERO passion fruit to be found.
They did, however, have the biggest dragonfruits I have ever seen (slightly smaller than a football).
So I grabbed her one of those, then went to Sprouts to get her some of the herbal sparkling waters that I love and hope she'll love too.
Then at Whole Foods I got our steaks, and some more exotic fruits for Kate:
eight passion fruits (that's all they had. Damn!), a mamey sapote, an extremely large guava, and a box of nice-looking rambutans.
Kate tries to have a plant-based diet, and is pretty good at maintaining it.
However she does live in Central Pennsylvania, so fresh exotic fruits are rare, expensive, and often are not of the best quality because they travel so far to reach PA. All of the fruits that I grabbed for her today are Florida grown except the rambutans (and I suspect the sapote is not local but whatever). Exotic fruits are expensive here too, but they're still cheaper than in PA and way more accessible and higher quality because they didn't have to travel far.
Anyway I hope she will like them.
Our steaks went into the sous vide for about 2.5 hours.
I was kinda disappointed in them. They were tasty, but kind of dry and tougher than usual. It was grass-fed beef which I don't usually get, so maybe that's why? The sous vide usually makes steaks juicy and delicious.
Ah well. The "snacklebacks" were the star of the show.
They are just tiny, grape-sized golden potatoes, sliced like hasselbacks.
You roast a head of garlic along with the potatoes, then squeeze the soft bulbs out and pulse them in a processor with salted butter, paprika, and pepper, and coat the potatoes in that.
I also added a sprinkling of chives, and made sure not to pulse too long so that there would be some nice garlic chunks in there too. I mixed mine with roasted broccoli.
It was a nice meal, just, I want to do it again because the steaks were lacking.
I didn't do much for the rest of the night, just packed a small suitcase (a duffle would have done the trick honestly) and a bag of snacks for myself for the road.
One thing that is good about driving up instead of flying is that I'll be able to stop at Buc-ee's on the way back down.
I've never had "Beaver Nugs" and want to get them for Jameson.
Also, I'm having to stay in an ULTRA-rural backwoods coal town since all of my hometown's hotels are booked for the 4-Wheel Jamboree.
While this is going to be inconvenient distance-wise, the one good thing is I'll be very close to an Amish farm stand that's very dear to my heart. I hope to pick up some locally-made treats, both to bring for the family gathering and to take back to Florida for Jameson to enjoy.
Specifically, I want to make peach bourbon pulled pork when I get back.
Using Amish-made peach jam or fruit butter for that would be AWESOME.
---------------------------------------------------
After about three hours of sleep, I woke up before my alarm.
Sleeping has been difficult anyway, but especially tonight because of the trip, and because Jameson was having more pain than in the past several days. I know that he will continue to have pain occasionally as scar tissue forms and as he continues to heal, but I am so jumpy about it.
My dad went to sleep one night, and never woke up again. I know that Jameson‘s situation is completely and utterly different, but there’s a very visceral fear that I can’t quite quash. I can’t help but worry a little.
My bags were already packed and by the door, I grabbed a few snacks from the fridge and hit the road.
My first gas stop was a Wawa, where I was surprised to see peanut butter fudge flavored coffee. It was black coffee but with the flavoring, and it smelled so good I couldn’t pass it up. Tasted just like regular gas station coffee; the main benefit here was the smell.
A Wawa photo promo of said coffee:
I stopped twice more before lunch, once for gas and once to use the restroom. Traffic was good and I made good time.
Did you know that there is a Buc-ee’s in South Carolina? I didn’t! Thinking that the nearest one was in Florida, I had planned to stop on the way back. But the one in South Carolina conveniently lined up with a bathroom break. Why not!
Well I'll tell you why not: it was absolutely batshi*t INSANE in there.
Like, standing room only. I couldn't even get to the bathroom, the line for it was almost at the front door (if you have ever been inside a Buc-ee's they are huge, try to imagine a line from the back of a Wal-mart about 2/3rds up to the front and you'll have an idea of the scale of what I saw). I did grab a bag of Beaver Nugs because they were right next to the registers and although the lines were long there at least they were moving quickly. But there was no way I was gonna explore when it was so packed people were INCHING through the aisles.
Buc-ee's has been trending strongly on TikTok, all of the videos raving over the food and the crazy merch and just the experience.
And free promotion is great and all, but I think this was WAY out of hand. I mean it was claustrophobic in there, far too many people.
I am 100% certain fire codes were being violated.
Anyway I got my nugs and got out ASAP.
These nugs I'll bring to our family gathering.
I'll get some for Jameson on the way back, at the Florida Buc-ee's.
Speaking of Jameson, he informed me that he'd puked up our nice steak dinner last night after I'd left.
I don't think it was food poisoning from my cooking because I ate all the same stuff and wasn't sick.
He says he feels a lot better today, and doesn't have a fever or anything, so we don't think it's surgery-related. Just bad luck.
Possibly something else that he ate.
I continued my drive, which was uneventful but long, especially around VA and DC.
As the sun set I was winding my way through Coal Township (yes, a real place). It was rather beautiful.
I found the bar/inn with no difficulty. Tiny town, only bar.
I found the room even more easily. It was nice!
This must be their first season doing AirBnb. Everything is brand new, all of the furniture and even the mattresses.
(sorry the pic is blurry, it was a screenshot from a video that I sent to Jameson.)
The rooms are above the restaurant/bar, and there was live music for a while, but the band wrapped up well before midnight and it was actually kind of nice to hear. I got a shower and collapsed in bed.
----------------------------------------
I woke up at 8:30, feeling sore. Being in a car for 19 hours will do that to you.
I stretched and did some small deskercises to loosen up, then went out to find breakfast.
It was unfortunately Sunday in a backwater coal town, so nothing was open except the Dunkin' (which had a huge line as everyone in town was probably there) and the Weis (a PA-based grocery chain). So I chose the Weis and got a canned coffee, yogurt, a pear, and some "tea biscuits" which look like scones but are softer. Should have gotten something healthier but oh well.
After breakfast I realized the farm stand I'd wanted to visit would be closed as it's Sunday, so I went straight to my sister's house.
I was the first one there and it was nice to have a little time alone with her and her husband and my nephew/her son.
He stole my shoe.
I gave her the exotic fruits (which are all rather ripe at this point but not yet spoiled thank God) and described how to prep each one.
Then we chatted for a bit as she sliced some bread and cheese and such for a sort of brunch.
Soon my brother Jonah arrived, and we snacked and talked.
Jonah has gotten a lot of tattoos since I saw him last, he's working on a very complex sleeve. 36 hours invested in it so far, and another 20 expected. So cool!
(another screenshotted pic, sorry so blurry)
At some point we all grabbed either a beer or spiked seltzer and moved outside to sit on blankets in the sun. Kate's house is very rural, with a big wild backyard and woods. Deer often come right up to the house. No deer today, but we did see some orioles and finches and butterflies. I went around and identified some plants in their yard using an app on my phone, and we found one with loads of red berries that turned out to be extremely toxic indeed. Keep the baby away from that one!
Around dinnertime we made little veggie sandwiches (Kate is vegetarian), then my Aunt and Uncle arrived so we ordered pizza while they met the baby for the first time.
It was awesome to see my aunt so happy. She really doted on him the whole time, playing with him and holding him and interacting with him. I mean she raised two sons of her own so it's probably a good nostalgia/throwback feeling for her to interact with him, and/or she just loves babies. I can't relate, but did get a few smiles out of him while he was eating anyway.
The pizza arrived, and shortly thereafter my cousins Matt and David.
By this time the baby was in bed and it was getting late, so I only stayed another hour before heading out.
Driving back through coal country, it was dark and the roads were winding.
It felt...empty. Like a shell abandoned.
This is because my parents are no longer here.
All their history; all of our memories; all of the things that tied me to this place, really are gone.
The only reason I'd come back is for Kate, and for nostalgia.
There are no lights on for me any more. No welcoming hugs. No safety outside of that I can find for myself.
And that's ok. But it's sad. All that's left of my parents is old memories, scattering like dead leaves on the wind.
-----------------------------------------------------
I'm back at the AirBnb, checkout is tomorrow at 11.
I'll leave around 10, to be at the farm stand right when they open.
Then I'll visit with family until 5, and drive down to Richmond (having driven I-95 many times I know that Richmond is almost exactly five hours away so it is frequently my stopping point when I leave PA at night).
I'll stay in Richmond overnight, then get up at 4am so I can be in Florida around 3-4pm.
This is so that I have time to stop at Buc-ee's, get groceries, unpack, and prep my work clothes and lunch.
The next day will be my first day as an actual Verbatim Hearing Reporter.
I wanted to make steaks for Jameson and I, and he recently found a video touting "snacklebacks" on TikTok and they looked so good that I wanted to give them a try.
Not only that, I had promised to bring my sister Kate some passion fruit.
This promise was based on the mountain of passion fruit I'd seen last week at the Asian grocery store.
So OF COURSE when I went back today, there were ZERO passion fruit to be found.
They did, however, have the biggest dragonfruits I have ever seen (slightly smaller than a football).
So I grabbed her one of those, then went to Sprouts to get her some of the herbal sparkling waters that I love and hope she'll love too.
Then at Whole Foods I got our steaks, and some more exotic fruits for Kate:
eight passion fruits (that's all they had. Damn!), a mamey sapote, an extremely large guava, and a box of nice-looking rambutans.
Kate tries to have a plant-based diet, and is pretty good at maintaining it.
However she does live in Central Pennsylvania, so fresh exotic fruits are rare, expensive, and often are not of the best quality because they travel so far to reach PA. All of the fruits that I grabbed for her today are Florida grown except the rambutans (and I suspect the sapote is not local but whatever). Exotic fruits are expensive here too, but they're still cheaper than in PA and way more accessible and higher quality because they didn't have to travel far.
Anyway I hope she will like them.
Our steaks went into the sous vide for about 2.5 hours.
I was kinda disappointed in them. They were tasty, but kind of dry and tougher than usual. It was grass-fed beef which I don't usually get, so maybe that's why? The sous vide usually makes steaks juicy and delicious.
Ah well. The "snacklebacks" were the star of the show.
They are just tiny, grape-sized golden potatoes, sliced like hasselbacks.
You roast a head of garlic along with the potatoes, then squeeze the soft bulbs out and pulse them in a processor with salted butter, paprika, and pepper, and coat the potatoes in that.
I also added a sprinkling of chives, and made sure not to pulse too long so that there would be some nice garlic chunks in there too. I mixed mine with roasted broccoli.
It was a nice meal, just, I want to do it again because the steaks were lacking.
I didn't do much for the rest of the night, just packed a small suitcase (a duffle would have done the trick honestly) and a bag of snacks for myself for the road.
One thing that is good about driving up instead of flying is that I'll be able to stop at Buc-ee's on the way back down.
I've never had "Beaver Nugs" and want to get them for Jameson.
Also, I'm having to stay in an ULTRA-rural backwoods coal town since all of my hometown's hotels are booked for the 4-Wheel Jamboree.
While this is going to be inconvenient distance-wise, the one good thing is I'll be very close to an Amish farm stand that's very dear to my heart. I hope to pick up some locally-made treats, both to bring for the family gathering and to take back to Florida for Jameson to enjoy.
Specifically, I want to make peach bourbon pulled pork when I get back.
Using Amish-made peach jam or fruit butter for that would be AWESOME.
---------------------------------------------------
After about three hours of sleep, I woke up before my alarm.
Sleeping has been difficult anyway, but especially tonight because of the trip, and because Jameson was having more pain than in the past several days. I know that he will continue to have pain occasionally as scar tissue forms and as he continues to heal, but I am so jumpy about it.
My dad went to sleep one night, and never woke up again. I know that Jameson‘s situation is completely and utterly different, but there’s a very visceral fear that I can’t quite quash. I can’t help but worry a little.
My bags were already packed and by the door, I grabbed a few snacks from the fridge and hit the road.
My first gas stop was a Wawa, where I was surprised to see peanut butter fudge flavored coffee. It was black coffee but with the flavoring, and it smelled so good I couldn’t pass it up. Tasted just like regular gas station coffee; the main benefit here was the smell.
A Wawa photo promo of said coffee:
I stopped twice more before lunch, once for gas and once to use the restroom. Traffic was good and I made good time.
Did you know that there is a Buc-ee’s in South Carolina? I didn’t! Thinking that the nearest one was in Florida, I had planned to stop on the way back. But the one in South Carolina conveniently lined up with a bathroom break. Why not!
Well I'll tell you why not: it was absolutely batshi*t INSANE in there.
Like, standing room only. I couldn't even get to the bathroom, the line for it was almost at the front door (if you have ever been inside a Buc-ee's they are huge, try to imagine a line from the back of a Wal-mart about 2/3rds up to the front and you'll have an idea of the scale of what I saw). I did grab a bag of Beaver Nugs because they were right next to the registers and although the lines were long there at least they were moving quickly. But there was no way I was gonna explore when it was so packed people were INCHING through the aisles.
Buc-ee's has been trending strongly on TikTok, all of the videos raving over the food and the crazy merch and just the experience.
And free promotion is great and all, but I think this was WAY out of hand. I mean it was claustrophobic in there, far too many people.
I am 100% certain fire codes were being violated.
Anyway I got my nugs and got out ASAP.
These nugs I'll bring to our family gathering.
I'll get some for Jameson on the way back, at the Florida Buc-ee's.
Speaking of Jameson, he informed me that he'd puked up our nice steak dinner last night after I'd left.
I don't think it was food poisoning from my cooking because I ate all the same stuff and wasn't sick.
He says he feels a lot better today, and doesn't have a fever or anything, so we don't think it's surgery-related. Just bad luck.
Possibly something else that he ate.
I continued my drive, which was uneventful but long, especially around VA and DC.
As the sun set I was winding my way through Coal Township (yes, a real place). It was rather beautiful.
https://instagram.com/p/Cf1OJ4NguP1
I found the bar/inn with no difficulty. Tiny town, only bar.
I found the room even more easily. It was nice!
This must be their first season doing AirBnb. Everything is brand new, all of the furniture and even the mattresses.
(sorry the pic is blurry, it was a screenshot from a video that I sent to Jameson.)
The rooms are above the restaurant/bar, and there was live music for a while, but the band wrapped up well before midnight and it was actually kind of nice to hear. I got a shower and collapsed in bed.
----------------------------------------
I woke up at 8:30, feeling sore. Being in a car for 19 hours will do that to you.
I stretched and did some small deskercises to loosen up, then went out to find breakfast.
It was unfortunately Sunday in a backwater coal town, so nothing was open except the Dunkin' (which had a huge line as everyone in town was probably there) and the Weis (a PA-based grocery chain). So I chose the Weis and got a canned coffee, yogurt, a pear, and some "tea biscuits" which look like scones but are softer. Should have gotten something healthier but oh well.
After breakfast I realized the farm stand I'd wanted to visit would be closed as it's Sunday, so I went straight to my sister's house.
I was the first one there and it was nice to have a little time alone with her and her husband and my nephew/her son.
He stole my shoe.
I gave her the exotic fruits (which are all rather ripe at this point but not yet spoiled thank God) and described how to prep each one.
Then we chatted for a bit as she sliced some bread and cheese and such for a sort of brunch.
Soon my brother Jonah arrived, and we snacked and talked.
Jonah has gotten a lot of tattoos since I saw him last, he's working on a very complex sleeve. 36 hours invested in it so far, and another 20 expected. So cool!
(another screenshotted pic, sorry so blurry)
At some point we all grabbed either a beer or spiked seltzer and moved outside to sit on blankets in the sun. Kate's house is very rural, with a big wild backyard and woods. Deer often come right up to the house. No deer today, but we did see some orioles and finches and butterflies. I went around and identified some plants in their yard using an app on my phone, and we found one with loads of red berries that turned out to be extremely toxic indeed. Keep the baby away from that one!
Around dinnertime we made little veggie sandwiches (Kate is vegetarian), then my Aunt and Uncle arrived so we ordered pizza while they met the baby for the first time.
It was awesome to see my aunt so happy. She really doted on him the whole time, playing with him and holding him and interacting with him. I mean she raised two sons of her own so it's probably a good nostalgia/throwback feeling for her to interact with him, and/or she just loves babies. I can't relate, but did get a few smiles out of him while he was eating anyway.
The pizza arrived, and shortly thereafter my cousins Matt and David.
By this time the baby was in bed and it was getting late, so I only stayed another hour before heading out.
Driving back through coal country, it was dark and the roads were winding.
It felt...empty. Like a shell abandoned.
This is because my parents are no longer here.
All their history; all of our memories; all of the things that tied me to this place, really are gone.
The only reason I'd come back is for Kate, and for nostalgia.
There are no lights on for me any more. No welcoming hugs. No safety outside of that I can find for myself.
And that's ok. But it's sad. All that's left of my parents is old memories, scattering like dead leaves on the wind.
-----------------------------------------------------
I'm back at the AirBnb, checkout is tomorrow at 11.
I'll leave around 10, to be at the farm stand right when they open.
Then I'll visit with family until 5, and drive down to Richmond (having driven I-95 many times I know that Richmond is almost exactly five hours away so it is frequently my stopping point when I leave PA at night).
I'll stay in Richmond overnight, then get up at 4am so I can be in Florida around 3-4pm.
This is so that I have time to stop at Buc-ee's, get groceries, unpack, and prep my work clothes and lunch.
The next day will be my first day as an actual Verbatim Hearing Reporter.
Tags:
