It’s Monday, March 01, 2010 and all is right with the world. For starts, we went to Costco on Saturday and the Yelling Guy was back. He was giving away samples of some chewable vitamins and in addition to being full of anti-oxidants, they’re great for exercising your jaw muscles.
Then, it’s March! No more February! I hate February. I always feel like I’m being ripped off with February. It’s like the people who made our calendar decided to knock off early and left in some half-ass, unfinished month. It just feels to be lacking quality.
Don’t get me wrong, some mighty good things have happened in Februarys past. My youngest child was born in a February, so it’s not without some achievement. I just think they should take a couple days from months with 31 days (say August and January since I don’t like those either) and make February a proper month. In leap years, it could have 31 days. Why does it always have to be me to figure this sort of thing out?
But it is still Monday and we endure another chapter in:
Saturday found us dining at a place recommend to me by two people whose palates I trust. Bobbe thinks my jambalaya is great as well as my brisket, so it’s obvious that she has discerning tastes. Even though Lynette thinks it’s okay to put chicken on pizza (or worse, on nachos) she digs Italian food and knows what it’s supposed to taste like.
So it was that we found ourselves at Ciao Mambo. First thing, the food is excellent. Billings is a veritable wasteland when it comes to proper Italian food. I mean, Olive Garden won the Billings Gazette’s “Reader’s Choice” award for Best Italian Food. I like Johny Carino’s, but when it comes to genuine Italian cuisine, it falls a little shy of the mark.
Not so with Ciao Mambo. This is real-deal Italian, the likes of which I’ve not enjoyed since our trip to Boston, lo some six years ago. The food reminded me a lot of the place we found in Boston’s “Little Italy.”
I had the Frutti di Mare, which is a seafood pasta dish containing shrimp, clams, mussels and halibut in a thin marinara sauce. This was well-prepared and quite tasty. The clams and mussels were slightly over-cooked. Once they pop open, stop with the cooking. Still, this wasn’t enough to gripe about. The rest was perfection. I ordered the spicy version and it was so, but not to the point of being overpowering. Too often a cook thinks that spicy means it should make you sweat. Fine and good for chili, not so much for anything else. The pasta for this sort of dish is tricky in that the sauce is thin and if the pasta is cooked too long, it goes to mush. The chef here knew his/her stuff and halted the cooking process at precisely the correct instant.
The wife had the Fettuccine Ala Rustica, which is shrimp, grilled chicken, prosciutto and peas in an aged Parmesan cream sauce. This was likewise evidence of a chef who understands how cheese reacts to heat. If you rush things, the basic structures come apart and you wind up with an oily glop. The sauce was smooth and creamy with a rich Parmesan flavor that was obviously prepared slowly.
Be warned: Portions here are (as in Italy) quite generous. I walked away, regretting having left some on the plate, but it was alas, not enough to warrant a takeout box. I have an appetite for good Italian food and it do take a ration of pasta to fill me up. The wife could only get about halfway through hers but fortunately took away enough to make a hearty lunch. We made the mistake of ordering the Italian nachos, which should be labeled on the menu as “Huge plate of yum!” While not traditional Italian chow, they were mighty fine eats. Holy smokes, but this was probably enough for four hearty eaters. Perhaps a half order next time.
The service was good. Our server (Lauren) seemed to be handling the bar as well as our small section, but acquitted herself quite well, earning a better than average tip. My tea glass did become empty, but I attribute this to it being a relatively small glass to start with. She was otherwise adequately attentive.
Now to the parts I didn’t like. Lynette warned me that this place was loud and she grossly understated this fact. A cacophonous din hammered away on my ears from the time we entered until we left. If you crave quiet conversation with your meal, this is not the place to be. The kitchen is open and every so often I could hear someone bellowing orders to the cooking staff.
We arrived shortly before 6 and our wait was about 15 minutes. People arriving as we were leaving (at 7) were being told their wait would be nearly an hour. Granted, this was Saturday evening and it’s obvious that word has gotten out about this place, but I would highly recommend taking reservations (they don’t except for parties of 8 or more) at least on Friday and Saturday evenings. I would also recommend removing a few tables by the door to put in a waiting area. People waiting to be seating shouldn’t be spilling out into the dining areas. One nice touch was that the manager brought out a big pan of pizza and handed out slices to the waiting masses.
All in all, this was good dining and is on the list of places we’ll visit again. They’re in the Old Yellowstone Garage at 2301 Montana Avenue. The phone number is 325-5100 and their website is here.
Also on Saturday, we gave Pete another run. Guessing from his responses, I’m thinking, Pete might have tied one off Friday night.
Set caller ID to Hat Stomper Dan, select the Baitshop Guy soundboard and dial.
PETE: ‘lo?
BSG: They told me you could answer anything I wanted to know.
PETE: Huh?
BSG: They told me you could answer anything I wanted to know.
PETE: Who did?
BSG: Who killed John F Kennedy?
PETE: Who is this?
BSG: Douglas Quaid.
PETE: Douglas…
BSG: Who killed John F Kennedy?
PETE: What time is it?
BSG: That’s none of your ******* business anyways.
PETE: It’s 6:30! Who is this?
BSG: Who am I? Who the **** are you?!!!
PETE: You got the wrong number!
CLICK
Redial
PETE: Hello?
BSG: Who killed John F Kennedy?
PETE: Who told you call me?
BSG: What is this, some kind of ******* cult?
PETE: What?!
BSG: You wanna do something for me; I wanna know who killed John F Kennedy.
PETE: I have no idea.
BSG: Texas a good place to live?
PETE: Texas?
BSG: Yeah!
PETE: I don’t know!
BSG: Why not?
PETE: I’ve never been to Texas!
BSG: You speaking from the heavens or you here on ******* Earth?
PETE: What are you talking about?
BSG: I’d love to live in Texas.
PETE: Okay, so move there!
BSG: Oh yeah, you want me to join that cult.
PETE: Cult? What cult?
BSG: Yeah, I’m glad you answered that way.
PETE: Huh?
BSG: You’re ******* nuts!
PETE: You’re the one calling at 6:30 in the morning wanting to know who killed John F Kennedy!
BSG: Maybe.
PETE: What do you mean maybe?!
BSG: You’re the one who phoned here; what do you want?
PETE: I didn’t call you!
BSG: I don’t even ******* know you!
PETE: I don’t know you either! Why did you call me at …
BSG: They told me you could answer anything I wanted to know.
PETE: WHO told you?
BSG: You don’t know?!
PETE: No! I don’t know! Who told you to call me?!
BSG: What the **** are you talking about?
PETE: I don’t know who killed John F Kennedy. Whoever told you to call me is an asshole!
BSG: I told you before! Lick my ******* nuts!
PETE: Go to hell!
BSG: Who killed John F Kennedy?
PETE: You did!
BSG: Well **** you. Goodbye!
CLICK
In other news, I can’t say I’m surprised at all that she thinks this way, but I am somewhat perplexed that she would actually come out and say it. I speak of course of Nancy Pelosi who urged fellow Obamacrats to pass the Obama-approved “healthcare” plan, even if it meant they’d be voted out of office in the fall. I guess that silly, old, worn out notion of doing the will of the governed no longer applies in Washington these days. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone takes her up on this offering.
To even further illustrate her disconnect from reality, Pelosi said that while the Tea Party is under the control of the Republican Party, it shares a lot of common ground with the democrats.
Apparently, the Tea Partiers are very much up in arms about special interest groups derailing important legislative initiatives. I’m not sure whose talking points she’s reading, but this chick is clearly out of touch with reality. That or she’s spending all of her time in the alternate universe.
One thing is for certain though, the Tea Party folks are gonna remember and they’re gonna make sure everyone remembers who voted to pass this “healthcare” crap and who did not.
In other news, if you hate your dog this much,
Then just shoot the poor thing. My dogs (even the beagle) would gnaw my face off if I tried to subject them to this indignity. I guess it’d be okay if you’ve got one of those nervous, little dog-like creatures that shivers all the time, but for a real dog? No sir, that’s how you get your shoes chewed up.
I’m not sure what it was, but it seems the callers got progressively dumber as the day wore on. My first caller was actually someone I enjoy chatting with in that she usually knows what she wants and how to ask for it. My kind of chick. The rest however just got dumber and dumberer until I’m finally arguing with some hick about getting email on his Blackberry (maybe I should have confirmed it wasn’t the berry kind) whose trying to tell me he uses email that requires no password.
I finally told him to use that kind because the kind we have needs a password. I need to go pull their file, figure out who the salesperson was and shove them into traffic.
That’s about it for this first day of March that came in pretty swell. No telling what it’ll go out like. Tune in tomorrow for Story Time and find out what’s really in Uncle Sal’s bait bucket!
