Smashburger

What can I say?  The burger is still amazing.  The fries, known as Smashfries that have rosemary and sea salt seasoning, were a little eh, but it's really all about the burger.  Isn't it always about the burger?  Though I recently went, without the BNC, the burger has remained the same; succulent, juicy, orgasmicy, and overall yummy. 



Troop loves it.  It's a small price to pay for me having lost his gun. 

Because I Can

That's right, I totally purchased these from Williams-Sonoma.  Why?  For evil cooking.  Holla.

They're flexible spatulas, able to withstand temperatures up to 480º.  Cooking in hell?  No problem. 

Evil meeting her evil cooking utensils.  Empire omelette, anyone?

Poor Troop, trying to take an Onda photo with his Empire Family only to be photobombed by Bitty Girl. 



Ah, that's better except for that shadow.  Nice.  I'm a huge Star Wars fan and, for a while in my 20s, I was actively searching and collecting with the BNC.  We have a tiny collection that includes our childhood toys that weren't buried after they were destroyed in combat.  I'm looking forward to using these because I can.  Ooooo, I wonder if the internet can find me a Death Star cookie jar!  BRB

Found it!

Romano's Pizza, Etc.

Friday night we finally decided to start tackling The List.  There are 24 places listed and, if we average 2 a month, we'll be good for the year (not including any last minute additions). 

I was in the mood for pizza, and since we had a couple of errands to run, we opted for Romano's, which was in the general area.  B worked here over 10 years ago, after he quit working at the movie theater next door where the BNC and I saw many movies for free.  Romano's is also the place where B met his current girlfriend, a lovely girl that is soooo totally in.  I had only eaten at this place once before and never bothered to return so this year, since it's the Year of Try It, it was placed on The List.  Dudes, I really, really, really wanted to love this place.  It would have made me happy to find a pizza place that was closer and thus more easily accessible than my beloved Brother's.  However, it's not going to happen.  We ordered a regular pepperoni pizza because, if they can't make a basic then why bother.  It was so bland that the first words out of our mouths were, "It ain't Brother's."  I was so disappointed.  The pizza was just a small notch above pizza from the mall.  But, my disappointment doesn't go far since, afterall, this is the whole point of this; to try (and retry) new places.  The pizza may have failed but our mission hasn't.

There are a couple of more pizza places on The List but, after talking to B about them, I have learned that Pink's Pizza is bad.  I'll most likely end up going anyhow for researching sake because it's a permanent notecard.  It's the law and I am no lawbreaker.

Galtin's BBQ, which recently got a great review in the Houston Press, will be the next place to tackle.  Wish us luck.

In other food news, Troop, Chapa and I went to Wings-n-More Sunday afternoon as a precursor to the NFC and AFC Championship games.  As usual, a great time was had.

That is, until I lost Troop's gun at the BNC's show Sunday night.  Yea, I suck.  Troop gonna have to learn MMA. 

Troop and I

Having Spider-Man has been pretty awesome BUT, it's no fun to play with him while he's on his invisible motorcycle.  So, I did what any normal person would do, I bought a toy; A Storm Trooper whom I call, Troop. 

I was really looking for Han, Chewy or Darth, but they were gone.  I'm not too fond of Luke and Leia so no.  Troop though, being part of the Empire and pure evil, was the logical choice.  (I root for the underdog, ok?)  And now, our adventures begin.  First up, Smashburger.

Troop and I, along with Chapa, headed out to Smashburger, a location on The List to find out for ourselves whether it was still the best burger I ever ate.  The burger was juicy, seasoned very well, cooked to perfection (medium) and oh man, there aren't enough words to describe how awesome it was.  For realsies, I cannot wait to go back and eat another one.  The fries went down to ok after being ranked yum a few years ago.  But, who cares when you have that burger, the one I forgot to take a picture of because it was delicious.

You so silly, Troop.  This isn't Return of the Jedi.



Sundays typically are House of Pies days for us, and Troop was happy to join in.  So far, we're having a good time and no waitstaff have given me the you crazy eye from playing with Troop as we wait for our food. 

Bitty Girl, on the other hand, isn't too frazzled by another evil entity in house.  Not while it's time to clean the fur, that is.  Will they join forces or will a war break out?  Stay tuned.