Monday, October 19, 2009

My Trip to Madison Wisconsin



With my trusty doggy companions, I visited my second Number 1 Son in Madison this past weekend, and had some fun bento-related times.

First of all, I was able to salvage his damaged rice cooker. This lovely Zojirushi rice cooker with 'smart' brains had been left with some rice inside until it rotted and became too terrifying to deal with. So son and friend moved it from their previous abode, onto the back deck of their present abode, but did not deal with it any further. It was there last June, and there it remained this October.

I got it cleaned up and ran a load of rice through. There were strange pincher-backed bugs inside it who rushed out when it began to heat. But the rice was cooked to perfection. All Hail Zojirushi, who make a rice cooker that can withstand several months in the sun and rain with rotting rice inside and an interior bug colony, and still cook up perfect rice!!!!!

OK, that was gross.

We did have some more positive food-related times. But first here's aphoto of my son the geneticist:



Oh my am I proud of this dude. Yes he trashed his rice cooker, but he is working on a genetic cure for eye diseases which might have a spin-off for Alzheimer's. He manipulates DNA all day long. He is awesome.

So back to our food in Madison: we had great sushi



at a place where the waitress was so cold she was like an angry relative. But the sushi was divine and the green tea was like dynamite to the brain.

And the next night we went to the Flat Top Grill where you select your ingredients and then they are grilled for you on a giant grill surface:



This was most educational because it showed how easy it is to make awesome Asian grilled dinners. We chose rice or noodles, veggie ingredients, sauces, and meat or tofu, then at the end you could put a pick into your bowl to indicate what extras you wanted: egg, flat bread, shrimp skewer, etc.

It was all then thrown into the grill and brought to your table when done. I had noodles and veggies and a coconut curry sauce with hotness; it was divine.

My dogs indicate their support of the Wisconsin Badgers here but alas! the Badgers lost their homecoming game this same weekend -- an event we noted mainly as it caused ghastly traffic problems as we went about our business.

6 comments:

  1. Okay my first comment is... boys are gross! That is SUCH A guy thing to do: "Hmm, this situation has gone beyond my comfort-zone. I will just put it out of site - out of mind" HA HA HA!! So Funny! And you are such a sweet mamma to take care of it for him! ^^

    OH we just got a place here in Tulsa called Ganghis Grill and it is just like that! It is SOOOO yummy!

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  2. Avie, you have everything in Tulsa. I am so jealous!! You are right: they put it just out of sight line so they could pretend it didn't exist. It was snuggled in a corner against the house wall, not visible from the plate glass door. And when rice goes bad, it goes over with a vengeance...

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  3. Those dogs are adorable. I have a Zojurushi bread machine. Might have to pick up their rice cooker one of these days. It sounds nice, sans the bugs. I use a Black & Decker food steamer for rice right now. It does a good job. (Still haven't made any Bento lunches since I bought my 3 little bento boxes months ago...I'm stuck.)
    Bravao to your son and his good work.

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  4. OnceUpon: How do you like your Z breadmaker? I have thought about getting one but ,,, not sure I'd use it if it's hard!

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  5. 'so cold she was like an angry relative'
    Too funny! I had no idea you knew my relatives!
    Flat Top Grill sounds amazing!

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  6. Kathy, that restaurant was so much fun - it was like recreational dining out. When you next visit Madison, go there!!!

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