Sandwich Without The Bread

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I made a stop by Lemongrass Cafe on my way to work yesterday to grab some takeout. This time, I decided to try something a little different, and went with the shrimp egg fu yung lunch special.

Now, as far as I can recall, I don't remember ever having egg fu yung before. I think what probably triggered my decision was a program I saw on KET last week. It was a program on regional sandwiches produced by WQED of Pittsburgh. One sandwich mentioned in the program was a local specialty in St. Louis called a "St. Paul Sandwich." (No, I don't know why it's called that.) This sandwich is a serving of egg fu yung slapped between two pieces of bread.

I don't live in St. Louis, but I think that part of the program got me curious enough to try egg fu yung. and as is the case with their other lunch specials, Lemongrass Cafe serves a generous portion. I know there was stuff in the egg fu yung besides just the shrimp, but unfortunately, I really couldn't tell what was in it. Well, I do know that there weren't any bell peppers.

I thoroughly enjoyed the egg fu yung, as well as the brown rice that came with the meal. And of course, there was the fortune cookie at the end of the meal. The fortune inside the cookie read as follows:

"It is the hope and dreams we have that make us great."

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Lemongrass Before Work

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I made a quick stop by Lemongrass Cafe about 30 minutes ago. I wasn't on my way to work -- that will be in a few hours. But I'm at a meeting at the St. Matthews/Eline library, and Lemongrass Cafe is only about two blocks away from the library.

I ordered the shrimp lo mein lunch special. While the food has always been enjoyable when I've had it at work, it was absolutely delicious when I was able to eat it while it was still hot.

And this was one time when I opened the fortune cookie with my meal, since I would be writing this entry right away. Here's what the fortune had to say:

"A thrilling time is in store for you."

I'm trying to decide if this is a good thing or not.

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Jumbo Lunch

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As often as I grab Chinese takeout for lunch at work, you might think that I would want to steer clear from any and all restaurants serving that cuisine on my day off. Well, you would be wrong.

I had lunch this afternoon at Jumbo Buffet. I was in the mood for sushi, especially when I realized that it had been several months since I had any. I would say that there are at least five Asian buffets that serve sushi that are within a reasonable distance from where I live. I also couldn't remember when the last time I ate at Jumbo Buffet, so it was as good a choice as any.

The sushi was good. I would have preferred more nigiri sushi choiices, but it might been a matter of timing. I might have been there when the restaurant thought people might want more maki sushi.

And I did make selections other than the sushi. I even picked a few things that I suspect are more inspired by American cuisine than any Asian cuisine. Things like green beans and corn. For the record, you can eat both with chopsticks. The green beans are quite easy to eat with chopsticks, albeit one at a time. The corn . . . takes a little more patience.

And with the bill, the server brought my fortune cookie. Here's what the fortune said:

"You have a friendly heart and are well admired."

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A Twin-Fortuned Cookie

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Yesterday, I grabbed takeout from China 1 on my way to work. I decided to go for something a little different, and I ordered the honey chicken combination. It's something they serve as one of their lunch specials, but as I mentioned the last time I ordered from China 1, those are unavailable after 3:00 PM, and it was almost 6:00 when I placed my order.

From what I can tell, the honey chicken is batter dipped chunks of chicken, sinilar to how chicken is prepared for sweet and sour chicken. It was served with some sort of honey sauce, which could be get on the overly sweet side if not handled correctly.

The meal also came with fried rice. The remaining sauce could have been a little on the too sweet side, but mixing it with some soy sauce and hot mustard cut the sweetness just a little.

The big surprise came with the fortune cookie. The cookie contained two fortunes -- rather like an egg that has two yolks, I suppose. I suppose it would have been strange if the two fortunes had been identical, but they were different. Fraternal rather than identical twins, you might say. And here is what those fortunes said:

"You are original and creative."
"You are talented in many ways."

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Linda Collection 4

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Since I haven't indulged in takeout for the past few days, I thought I would dive into the bag of fortune cookies that my friend Linda gave me. In other words, it's time for another Linda Collection.

I only grabbed three cookies out of the bag this time. Here are the fortunes, in alphabetical order:

"Do not be afraid of competition."
"There is no fear for the one whose thought is not confused."
"You have much skill in expressing yourself to be effective."

I would like to think that that last one applied to me.

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A Baci Is Just A Baci

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I finally unwrapped the other Baci in the package I got recently. Now, I have discovered that if you want to get the lovenote in readable condition, you need to unwrap the chocolate carefully. Of course, I had figured that out before I ever unwrapped my first Baci.

The note inside was in at least one other language that I hadn't seen previously. I recognize it as Greek, but again, I couldn't read anything other than the English version. Here's what it said:

"The more I love you the more you flee from me my darling."

This was attributed to a C. Baudelaire. Not recognizing who that might be, though.

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Sealed With A Baci

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A few entries back, I mentioned Perugina's Baci chocolates, and how each chocolate contains a lovenote inside the wrapper. At the time I wrote the entry, I mentioned that I hadn't tried a Baci, so I had no firsthand knowledge.

Well, that has changed. Not too long ago, I was in World Market, and was looking through the candy section when I noticed Baci on one of the shelves. Obviously, I grabbed a box right away.

The box contained only two chocolates. Not much more than a sample, but to tell the truth, that was all I really wanted at the moment. I just wanted to get an idea of both the candy and the notes.

The chocolate was delightful. A dark chocolate ganache with chopped hazelnuts, topped with a whole hazelnut and covered in dark chocolate.

What really interested me was the lovenote inside the blue and silver foil wrapper. It was printed on a slip of translucent paper. It had what I assume was the same message printed in several languages. Besides English (the only one I can read), it was also printed in what looks to be Italian, French, Spanish, and one other language. Here's the English message:

"We've spoken a lot about love. Now let's try to listen to it, shall we?"

I haven't seen what is inside the other chocolate yet. That's for another entry.

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Back To The Fortunes

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Most of last week, my lunchtime urges were satisfied by Jimmy John's, Subway, and Calistoga Artisan Sandwiches. All very satisfying, all very tasty . . . but unfortunately, none of those places put fortune cookies in with their sandwiches.

On my way to work Saturday, though, I decided that I wanted Chinese, and I went to China 1. (At the time, it was the closest place.) I decided on a a shrimp lo mein combination. Basically, it's the same as their lunch specials, except that China 1 only offers the lunch specials until 3:00 PM. And you guessed it, by the time I got there, it was after 3:00.

The combination was shrimp lo mein, pork fried rice, and an egg roll. As I have mentioned before, China 1's fried rice is a little heavier on the onion flavor than I usually prefer, but it wasn't too bad. It was tasty, it was filling, and that was the most important thing. I think I was even able to eat my meal in less than an hour.

Rounding out the meal was the fortune cookie. Here's what the fortune said:

"Your determination will bring you much success."

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