Night Out & Smokey Likes Banana Shakes

Happy Sunday!

It has been a fun and busy weekend so far, with some rain, but mostly a blue sky, cloudy weekend.

Friday night I went out with some friends of mine for "Dia das Amigas"---translated to Girls' Day/Night Out. We went out to dinner at the Improv and saw a few comedians. The first one I didn't care too much for (how many times can you say the F word and the word "like" in one sentence), but headliner, Arj Barker and the other cute guy with the guitar (for the life of me I can't remember his name) were pretty good.


Arg Barker, pretty cute, huh?

It was a nice night out, and I met a few other nice ladies. I still don't know too many women in the town I live in, so it's always nice to meet new people-I still feel like an outsider in big ole' San Jose. San Jose is BIG--not many people know it's a lot bigger than San Francisco. Surprisingly enough, I was the only woman who knew how to get to downtown San Jose to get to the Improv, and they've all lived here longer. The only reason I know the area is because I used to taxi my daughter down there all the time to all her art and theatre events through school. Lizzy on the other hand knows this town much better than I do.

Speaking of Lizzy, she is in South Lake Tahoe with her boyfriend and his family. She is having a real fun time in the snow-ice skating, and sledding around, making snowballs. She had a brush with a celebrity last night at the Fat Burger. Guess who she met?



Yep, she met Smokey! Apparently, her and her boyfriend were in the casino waiting in line at the Fat Burger in Tahoe, when she said out loud:

"I don't know what I want. The chocolate shake or the banana."

Suddenly from behind them came Smokey's smooth as satin chocolate voice:

"May I suggest the banana. It's my favorite!"

Lizzy almost peed her pants, and of course she called me right away laughing hysterically. I'm really glad Smokey prompted the call because I had been waiting for hours to hear from her yesterday. I just wish she had taken a picture of this chance meeting. Having a picture with Liz and Smokey holding their banana shakes together would have been a priceless edition to any photo album. I would have made Christmas cards with it---I would just cut and paste the rest of the family into the picture! Yeah, I like Smokey! So does Boy George; I read somewhere that Smokey was/is his idol. Oh well..

Saturday was a nice day. I cleaned the house, Rich took the boys out to see a movie, and I had a few hours to do some shopping and try a new recipe. I have been in a recipe slump. I am so sick of making the same thing for dinner everyday for my family, and they are getting sick of the same meals. I'm trying new recipes. I made the following last night, and it came out pretty good: (It comes from cooks.com

PORK CHOPS A LA MEXICANA

6 pork chops, browned
2 jalapeno peppers, cut in thin strips
1 can tomato sauce
1 can whole tomatoes (or 2-3 fresh ripe tomatoes cut in wedges)
1 lg. onion, sliced in rings
1-2 celery stalks, thin sliced horizontally
2 pods garlic, chopped fine

Brown pork chops. Remove from pan. Pour off all but small amount of grease. Saute peppers, onions, celery and garlic. Place pork chops back in skillet with sauteed ingredients on top of chops. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Season with little salt, if desired, lemon pepper, dash lemon juice, several dashes Worcestershire sauce, sprinkling of parsley flakes. Simmer about 45 minutes covered.
Serve with mashed potatoes. Yummy! Steak or chicken breasts may be substituted for pork chops.

So, today is Sunday. The weather is a little overcast, but I hope to drive up to Santa Cruz and pick up my son from my mom's house. I may just take a walk near the ocean before I do. I took a nice 30 minute walk around the neighborhood last night and it felt so good afterwards. Must continue!

Have a great rest of the weekend!!