Out to Dinner

After the Bernie Sanders event, I went out to eat.  I have been craving fried oysters, so I went to Riversmiths which is downtown, not far from the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.  I have eaten there before, and the food has been good.

Not so today. The oysters were not well cooked.  I should have sent them back.  I did not. My bad.  They upset my stomach.  

The next time I want fired oysters, I will go somewhere else. 

Swai

I like fish and seafood, especially fresh.  But in Lubbock, we do not get much fresh fish or seafood.  For Easter, I went to Joe's Crab Shack http://www.joescrabshack.com.  Although I prefer steamed or grilled fish and seafood, I actually got a fried seafood meal. I wanted seafood, I just did not want to deal with the mess of cracking and opening shells.

Seafood is expensive, even on the coast, no matter what ocean or gulf. So you can guess it is even more expensive in Lubbock. Many years ago, I do not recall how many, a new to me fish came on the market:  Tilapia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilapia.  Tilapia is not as expensive as other fish, such as cod, salmon, or trout. Tilapia is okay, but for me the flavor is a little bland and mild. 

Recently, I purchased some swai http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2009/01/what-the-heck-is-swai/index.htm at the supermarket.  It was surprisingly fresh tasting and much more robust in flavor than tilapia.  I actually like a robust fish flavor.  Something I learned in Lubbock is that many people who eat fish do not like the heavy fish flavor, so want it covered or masked with lemon or something else.  I was surprised when I read the article on swai that is compared to catfish, because I do not especially care for catfish.  But I like swai. 

I LIke Seafood

I live in Lubbock, Texas and I like seafood. That does not seem to be a congruent or compatible combination. But, it is what it is.

When I first moved to West Texas some 37 years ago, I was traveling for business, and had to drive through Andrews, Texas some 100 miles or so to the south west of Lubbock. As I approached the town, I saw a billboard advertising a seafood restaurant in Andrews.  I had to stop.  Imagine my surprise when the menu was mostly variations of fried catfish, with one fried shrimp meal available.  I did not eat there.  Catfish is not seafood, and I am not a big fan of fried shrimp.  But, I do remember that experience.

I learned that people in Lubbock do not like seafood, and their biggest experience with seafood was Long John Silvers, http://www.ljsilvers.com/our-story, Red Lobster http://www.redlobster.com/, the Shrimp Galley http://shrimpgalley.com/wordpress/ or maybe River Smiths http://riversmiths.com/index.php.  The seafood was generally not fresh, and the menu was predominately fried food.

Later, Rockfish http://www.rockfish.com/lubbock.html and Joe's Crab Shack http://www.joescrabshack.com/ came to Lubbock.  Over the years, the selections at all the restaurants got better, with more fresh seafood, but usually, it is still previously frozen.

The supermarkets offer seafood, mostly previously frozen, but sometimes, especially at Sprouts, https://www.sprouts.com/ you can get some very fresh and tasty seafood.  Sometimes.

Recently, Joe's Crab Shack has been offering Southern Fried lobster. What idiot thought of that!  I cannot imagine a less imaginative way to spoil lobster!  Come on! That is disgusting, and a very good reason not to go to Joe's Crab Shack.

Often, when I eat out at other places, Mexican food or Italian food restaurants, I will get a seafood selection. Or buy something in a supermarket.  So, I eat seafood regularly.  Especially shrimp.  I eat a lot of shrimp.

Loose Lips Sink Ships...But Tingling Lips Get Our Attention...And Remind Us We Have Things To Say

So, it was late afternoon, my last day off of this past long weekend.  I was minding my own business, reading in the living room, when I realized that my lips were tingling.  That was strange.  I checked in the mirror, there was no discoloration and no swelling.  I checked myself for other symptoms:  slightly elevated pulse, which I attributed to nerves, no diaphoresis, no chest pain, no shortness of breath, no radiating pain, and as far as I could tell, no cognitive changes.

I "googled" tingling lips and discovered that one of the causes is a reaction to seafood.  Ah ha!  I had taken myself out to lunch at my favorite oriental buffet, The Hong Kong Buffet http://www.yellowpages.com/lubbock-tx/mip/hong-kong-restaurant-10222549.  I know better. This restaurant very often has multiple health issues when it is inspected. And, I could tell that the steam table was not hot enough.

But it has selections that I like: some kind of green bean selection, at least one shrimp selection, fish, and mushroom selections.  So, as always, I ate too much, including some sushi selections, including one that had a seaweed topping.  I do not usually eat seaweed. Everything else I ate, I usually eat, including the hot and sour soup. 

So, I am thinking that the tingling lips are a reaction to something I ate, specifically, but speculatively, the seaweed.  To be on the safe side, I took some aspirin.  But in about an hour, the tingling in my lips went away.

That was a weird sensation. But it reminded me that I wanted to write about the good and bad about eating at the Hong Kong Buffet.

Sprouts

Quite some time ago, a new grocery store opened in Lubbock.  The original name has been changed to Sprouts http://www.sprouts.com/.  I had never been there.  There was  a time in my life when I would have made a point to go to a new store, especially one like Sprouts. Sprouts emphasizes locally grown, fresh, and organic foods.  I used to be really drawn to that, but for some reason, I have become so disenchanted with shopping that I could not be bothered to go out of my way to access this store.

Some friends and coworkers have highly endorsed Sprouts to me, but I just could not bring my self to do the extra work of shopping at more than one store. I have become a very lazy shopper:  I go to Wal-Mart supercenters, and buy everything there: food, household items, clothes, cat products, hardware, you name.  I sometimes go to the Dollar Tree, Home Depot, Target, all of which are close to my house, and even, between my house and work.  Often, in the middle of the week, I stop at the local United Supermarket that is between my work place and my house, but a little north of where I live, on the way home from work.

Well, last week, a coworker shared some oven roasted vegetables with me. She purchased them from Sprouts. Friday, I went to Sprouts and purchased quite a bit. I have eaten them as snacks, and also as vegetables for a meal.  I wondered around the store and found some other things to buy:

They had shrimp at a very good price.  I cooked those shrimp yesterday, and when I tasted them, I was amazed.  I have written before about my Lubbock seafood fiascoes:  I have been to the East or West coast, and had wonderfully fresh seafood.  I return to Lubbock, and buy seafood, and am so disappointed at the quality:  it is obvious it is previously frozen.  Well, these shrimp are so FRESH tasting, they would have been worth more than I paid for them.  I also purchased sushi, which I buy at United a lot.  The quality did not differ from that of which I buy at United.

So, even if it is out of the way and more work, Sprouts is now on my radar.

Thrift Seafood

I was at the supermarket last night, and saw some seafood marked $1 and use or freeze by 1/5/12.   I thought, what the heck, so I purchased it. I thought if it was too bad, I could cook it up and give it to the outside wild cats.

I did cook it tonight, and have sampled some of the shrimp.  It was as good as not for Lubbock, but not fresh caught quality. 

Seafood is very expensive in Lubbock, and I purchase it sparingly.  Hmmm, I am wondering if this might be a strategy to get more seafood at a lower price.

My Bad Habits

I went to Market Street http://www.unitedtexas.com/, the yuppie supermarket near my house, before I went home from work tonight.  I know better.   I walk in for one thing, and especially when I am hungry, I can not leave without buying sushi and the bacon wrapped, shrimp and cream cheese stuffed jalapeño that I really like.  Sometimes I buy other exotic or unique things that I can not get at Wal-Mart http://www.walmart.com/, which is where I do most of my grocery shopping.

I do not have to succumb to these habits.  But I do.  I live alone.  I can afford these things, and they are not the worst bad habits I could have.

Seafood

One of the best things about being in Seattle was the fresh seafood.  I grew up in New England, and fresh fish and fresh seafood was so very available. In Lubbock, this is not so, of course.

So, fresh seafood in Seattle was great.  I went to a Chinese food restaurant, and ordered a seafood dish. The proprietress told me it would be frozen seafood, so I picked another dish, and did get fresh seafood. That was so intuitive, thoughtful, and aware...

I had several seafood meals while I was in Seattle.  I spent more money on food than I normally do on a vacation, but the fresh seafood was MARVELOUS!