cooking


A great tragedy occurred today. The Popeyes in the city I go to school in closed down. But that’s not the tragedy. The tragedy is that I still ordered chicken from the “restaurant” that took over. To fully understand the extent of this disaster, lemme give ya’ll a little background: there once was a girl (me) who with her best friend and roommate, Dawg, (so called for reasons of anonymity) used to give plasma for cash while in college at LSU. Now the first place that the girl and Dawg used to visit after giving the blood from their bodies was Popeyes, where the girl would order a number two (with the upcharge) and the Dawg liked to drink strawberry drink. So you see, it could be said that Popeyes is in the girl’s blood.

Now this other, fake Popeyes took down the sign from outside but is in the same building. When I went in (I was suspicious and didn’t want to go through the drive-thru) they still had the same menu pictures up, only there were these stickers on the edge that said “Cajun Cooking.” I should’ve walked out the door when I ordered cajun rice and red beans n rice and they were “out.” But the girl behind the counter said the chicken tasted the same when I commented, “So I guess Popeyes closed down.” Now the manager (another young woman) got a little pissy when I said that (she didn’t exactly slam chicken around, but you get the idea). While I was waiting for my order, another customer came in and when girl #1 asked what she could get him he said he needed a minute because he was expecting Popeyes. I shook my head up and down vigorously and said “Me too!” I maybe should’ve also been clued in by the fact that they didn’t put my chicken in a box, but instead put it in a ghetto little container like what you’d eat a hamburger n fries out of if you were dining in.

It gets worse! When I got back to the car and started driving, I thought to myself: this doesn’t have the same good chicken smell that Popeyes does.

No.

It smelled like peanut oil.

"Cajun cooking" chicken

"Cajun cooking" chicken

So while driving, I did a little chicken picken (you know how you do) and that’s when I realized the extent of the mistake I had made. This was NOT Popeyes. The girl misspoke when she said it tasted the same. A Louisianian can tell. Especially one that has spicy chicken in the blood. So what’s a girl to do but call a Dawg and bitch? Dawg definitely felt my pain and misery (even though she evilly asked if my phone had camera capabilities . . . meaning she was gonna go to a REAL Popeyes and take a picture to send me). But the final insult came when I got home. The cajun mashed potatoes that I ordered instead of either cajun rice or red beans n rice had WHITE gravy on them. Insult added to injury.Now the nearest Popeyes is two hours away, and I could justify driving that distance if there weren’t a plasma center closer. What’s a girl to do?

tiretread

low tread

Yesterday I spent the day studying. So today I had to do everything that has to get done on the weekend. Laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, taking out the trash, etc. On top of that I had to get my oil changed. Which is why I go to the Big Store (Wal-Mart). I don’t particularly like going to Wal-Mart, but where else can you get your oil and air filter changed while you shop? Wal-Mart is, perhaps, the ultimate multi-tasker. And even when the wait for an oil change is long (2 hrs!) I can take my time shopping and then only have to wait about 30 minutes (and hope my frozen stuff doesn’t melt too quickly). But the final caveat I received before leaving was that my tire tread is low.  On all 4 tires! Totally wasn’t expecting that. I looked at them after I transferred all my stuff from the cart to the car and they’re not balding. I guess I am rather pissed b/c all 4 tires are only a year old. Aren’t tires supposed to last longer than that? Next time I WON’T be buying my tires from Wal-Mart. Cheap ass tires.

cilantro

how to store fresh cilantro

In other news, I picked up a quick kitchen trick that may come in handy. I usually buy a bunch of cilantro about every week or so. It’s only about $1, but leaving it in the veggie bag in the fridge wasn’t working–it was going bad too soon. So I googled the issue and found an easy solution. Snip the ends of the stems (as you would flowers) and put just enough water in a jar to keep the end of the stems covered. Then use a plastic bag (I used the bag they came in) and cover the herb and jar with the bag and refrigerate. It should keep fresh for up to 2 weeks. Remove any pieces that are yellowing or starting to turn mushy (and if the water gets murky, just rinse it out and use some fresh water). I’ll take two weeks over the 5 days I was getting. Now I can use the cilantro for more than one meal.  And that concludes today’s kitchen tip.