Thursday, March 26, 2009

Let's Do Lunch

Three other friends are joining me in the creation of a new blog about (what else!) food and cooking. We are working through the set up, but as soon as we work out a few kinks, I'll include it in my blog roll. In the interim, here's my latest post:


Today I did something decadent. Something out of the ordinary, definitely not part of my normal routine. I met my husband for lunch. At a hole-in-a-wall Vietnamese place near his hospital, we giggled over Pho and spring rolls.

My husband works. A lot. Some friends think he is only a figment of my imagination because they never see him. But, despite his long hours- he does call me. All the time. Seriously. Like 20 times a day. I'm supposed to fill his drive home with witty banter, or occupy his time if he has to walk across the street. It can be charming, it can be disruptive, but it's never boring.

This morning he called to find out what I was up to. I had an hour to kill before picking the kids up, so he suggested I swing by and pick him up for a quick lunch. Over a Vietnamese iced coffee (Guys! Have you ever tried this? The coffee is mixed with condensed milk to give it a caramel, rich flavor that puts Starbucks to shame), we wondered why we didn't do this more.

We started our stolen lunch with spring rolls. Perfect for the heat wave we are currently experiencing. Rolled in a rice wrapper were freshly steamed shrimp, mixed with cilantro, bean sprouts, basil and mint. After dipping it into a hoisin sauce, it's like a bit of summer exploding in your mouth.

We then moved on to Pho. Ours was chicken broth based, with floating pieces of poached chicken breast, cilantro and glassine noodles. Our server brought over a platter of bean sprouts, basil leaves, lime wedges and spicy peppers to add to our soup. Matt and I also liberally added the chili sauce on the table, and a couple of unmarked bottles that I have no idea what they were.

Maybe it was the coffee. It could have been the fresh ingredients and the awesome combination of basil, mint and lime that flavored everything. But I think it was the company that made this impromptu lunch get away the most fun of all

2 comments:

Heather said...

Lunch dates are the best!
-h

Unknown said...

so glad you got to sneak away for a lunch date! Rob and I ahve had one in the two years since moving here - but it was fabulous! I need to remind him that we promised to do it semi-regularly. (that was back in December)