That was the first of two weekends I’m flying solo, while the wife is in KC visiting family. It’s been just a little crazy here. When the cat is away, the mice will play, as they say. The mice might also sit on the couch and watch Netflix all weekend… Probably closer to accurate. Maybe somewhere in the middle. I certainly didn’t get too carried away. Friday night I went down to Placerville and met a friend at a new brewery that opened recently. The owners were the only ones running the place, and did a good job of keeping up. Great day for a pint on their nice patio. And, while it was a nice new place to try, I was at least, if not more, interested in the small grocery next door, which is also new. Oh my, what a fascinating place. They also serve food to order, so we grabbed a burrito and a few tacos and took them back over to the brewery. I am going to have to go back and explore that fascinating meat counter shown on the website. Being ninety degrees out and me without a cooler, it didn’t sound like a safe option this time. I shall be back.
Saturday was similarly low-key. I met a friend up in Camino at my new favorite restaurant, the same bbq spot I went to last weekend. Same as last weekend, I ordered poorly. Also the same as last weekend, mine was delicious, hers just looked MORE delicious. I had the tater tots, smothered in queso and pulled pork, while she ordered the brisket plate with mac ‘n cheese. My tots were fantastic, but man did that brisket look tasty. One of these visits I’ll get it right. I may well go back every weekend until then.
Sunday I stayed home, and some friends came over for dinner. (** Qualifier, the “friend” mentioned in all three paragraphs is actually the same person. I just don’t know that many people out west, and it makes me sound like a social butterfly if I keep it generic. Her hubby was up in Tahoe on a guys trip, so we kept each other company. **) Anyway, I cooked up some country style ribs on the Traeger, and they came out passable. I’d seen a video this guy I follow did last week, and it sounded like a fun day, so I went with it. I made about four times more than necessary, which I seem to have a problem with, but I guess now I have leftovers. (Oddly, that video is eight years old… Not sure why it showed up last week. Who cares.) Random complaint of the week: I popped over to my friendly neighborhood grocery to pick up said ribs, and they were $5.99 per pound!! (Random complaint 2: on the way there I put gas in my car and it was $6.69. This shocked me less than the meat price though.) I decided that kind of took the fun out of the idea, heck I can buy real ribs for that price. I ended up driving to the store about 12 miles away, and the same meat was $1.79 per pound. Yeah, I burned up some of that overpriced gas getting there, but holy smokes I think I made up the difference. I’m gonna put the nearby grocery on my “LIST” if they keep this up. (They made Donette’s list over a year ago, she won’t go there. I keep trying.)
