Gas Station Pies

If you're a regular reader, you may recall that we had a wonderful weekend in New Orleans earlier this year. Part of that trip included a delicious meal at Herbsaint, where we had this delectable fried strawberry pie.


I loooooved it -- warm and golden and sweet! To quote myself, "[T]his bordered on being divine." My pal Doppelganger informed me, however, that my beloved dessert was nothing more than a hot gas station pie.

Gas station pie? I didn't know what that was.

Not long after our New Orleans visit, we got this package in the mail.


It was from Doppelganger!

Look at all the flavors!


I didn't know where to start!

My first gas station pie ever...


....didn't disappoint. Mmm. Particularly tasty when popped into the microwave for a few seconds before being stuffed in my face.

The box also included this shirt.

Mr. Monkey has worn it a couple times already. Stylin'.

Were these as amazing as Herbsaint's dessert? Not quite. But they were still damn good, and we enjoyed every single one. We were sad when we finished the box.

Thank you so much, Doppelganger! You are the best!

If you'd like to get your own New Orleans gas station pies, head to Hubig's website.

Sass and Class

I'm really lucky I have such good friends at work. They give me lots of love and kind advice when I'm down. Glam even brought some treats to cheer me up.

A big hug! In a tank top! Glam said she's Worry Bear, and...well, we all know who I am. So perfect for kickin' it during the summer! I love it!

And, of course, food always makes me happy. My Paul Frank tank was accompanied by warm fresh Chinese bread.

Yummy! Thank you to all of my friends who take such great care of me!

Photography class with Amber and tater raised my spirits, too. I was amused when we got shushed. Yes, we got shushed in class. Bad kids are we!

And, yes, I took pictures while sitting in class. What? Are you surprised by this? Look at what our instructor wrote! How could I not memorialize that?

Other people were checking out their f-stops.

I figured it was a good time to snap.

Not Operatic at All

For Administrative Professionals Day, we went to Caffe Opera per the Shark's rec.





My Arnold Palmer. Too much tea. Not enough lemonade. Bah.

New York strip loin paillard, Danish Havarti, and eggplant panini ($12). Meh.

Wienerdude's nicoise salad ($13). Didn't eat it. No comment.

Apple tart in a veritable cinnamon avalanche. Bleh.

Bah + Meh + Bleh = Very Average = No Return Visit.

The flowers I got from Jacob Maarse were waiting for my assistant at the CIA.

She said she liked them.

I got my own gift a couple weeks later for my belated one-year anniversary at the CIA. The box was huge and deceptive.

See how big? It dwarfed my highlighter.

The opening process -- even the bubble wrap was branded with labeled tape.




Whee. Yes, sans exclamation point. Wienerdude said I should return it for store credit. We looked it up. $30. I guess I'm keeping it. To the CIA's credit, it was a nice thought. Neither of my former firms acknowledged my first anniversary, so $30 > $0. Yay.

The weirdest thing, however, was that my tiny crystal bowl was accompanied by a yearbook-like photo of...myself. The CIA gave me a picture of myself, people.

What do I do with this? Place it next to my monitor and gaze longingly at my own face? I'm pretty conceited, but this doesn't appeal to even my egotistical ass.

Hmm.

Nothing says "Happy Mother's Day" like a corporate photo of your daughter and an itty-bitty bowl in a ginormous Tiffany box, right?

Another Freebie Day

We tried Rock'N Fish at L.A. Live on Saturday with Mr. Monkey's family.

Ugh. What a stupid name.

It's a local chain with a typical chain feel.

With crayons and fries, it was the perfect destination for Little Monkey Niece.

The dungeness crabmeat cocktail ($14.95) came with aioli and cocktail sauce.

Fresh, meaty, and zero work. Thumbs up.

The San Francisco garlic cheese toast ($7.95) was a crowd-pleaser.

Mr. Monkey's father went to town on a large bowl of clam chowder ($7.95).

And then he devoured these Manila clam steamers ($14.95) in wine broth with Andouille sausage, fire-roasted corn, red pepper, onion, and garlic.

Little Monkey Niece liked her spaghetti.

Mr. Monkey ordered the oak grilled shrimp and garlic brochettes ($14.95) with sauteed spinach and fries. He enjoyed the whole garlic cloves.

I got the crab cakes ($14.95) with spicy mac 'n' cheese and sweet potato fries.

Good enough. It's hard to be unhappy with these components.

Little Monkey Niece's parents shared a warm chocolate lava cake ($7.95).

Mr. Monkey and I dug into the sticky toffee pudding ($7.95).

Best thing of the day in my opinion.

Little Monkey Niece is constantly moving.

It's hard to get a good photo of her. She's almost always a blur.

She and her parents gave me this.

Suh-weet.

After a free lunch (and free shoes), we checked into another free hotel room.


The sunset from our window was pretty cool.

We love free stuff.