neighborhood tourist

I truly regret that I haven't cooked a meal in a week.  My poor utensils are dry and my pots are getting dusty (yes, I did just unearth them tonight).  I still haven't found and unwrapped my plates, dishes, and cups and we're unwrapping a new mug every day for matcha and coffee.  My mission is to locate and unpack the things upon which we eat and from which we drink (other than my wineglasses, which are unpacked and ready for action); I plan to embark upon that mission shortly after filling you in on exactly what we have been stuffing our guts with, if not home-made food.

I have mentioned before how fortunate we are to live where we live and we are both ecstatic that we were able to move into a home only two blocks from our previous apartment, thereby staying in our happy little neighborhood.  Other folks actually make an effort to drive, bike, or otherwise make their way to my neighborhood for their social activities; all I have to do is walk out my front door.  As such, it has been rare over the past few years for me to really take advantage of everything my neighborhood has to offer - I plead guilty to taking it for granted.  That changed with this move.

With no food in either home and no plates or other dishes to serve dinner, Mister and I have been creative in our meals and have taken advantage of being even closer to some of our favorite convenient restaurants.  We visited the South Street Diner for the first time in a while, possibly over a year, and found the new management has made some great improvements, including the delightful Mediterranean Focaccia I ate two nights in a row, along with perfectly cooked fries and water I slurped down like I would never drink again.  We also made our way over to South Street Philly Bagels - I am ashamed to admit that although I've lived in Queen Village for 6 years, I have never gone to this bagel store.  Never, that is, until yesterday, when I went with Mister and got a whole wheat everything bagel, toasted, with a thick hummus slathered between the top and bottom.  It was heavenly and my little gray angel was happy to lick the hummus off the paper they wrapped it in.

In the absence of our coffeemaker, we remembered how perfect Wawa coffee is and Mister didn't mind getting a nice big hoagie or his Swedish fish.  In the relative dearth of fresh veggies, I was happy to pay a visit to the prepared foods bar at Essene.  We were both quite content by our post-Valentine's Day date at Pietro's - the food, chianti, and ambiance more than made up for not going to Horizons as originally planned, and we hadn't been to Pietro's in at least a year, generally favoring La Fourno since it was ever-so-slightly closer to the old apartment.  Pietro's is notably closer to our new home, so I'm sure it will become our new Italian home-away-from-home.

I was actually looking forward to making dinner tonight, going so far as to stop at Superfresh on my way home to pick up provisions for just one dinner.  As I walked home, I realized we had no dishes or water glasses unpacked, but I figured I could just locate and unpack them while the dinner cooked.  I also ignored that the recipe I selected requires two pots and I had only unearthed one.  All these things could have been overcome, but when I got home, I discovered that my poor Mister had worn himself down to the point of being sick all day.  He's okay now (we think), but he had no interest in eating, so at least now I can say we're ready for dinner tomorrow. 

I've already found the pots.  Now, let me go search for our dishes...