"For Your Good Luck, Hug This Post"

Thursday, June 15

Franco, Wisa, PJ, & Pam do a school show @ the Iowa City Public Library. The building is brand-spankin' new, right in the middle of the pedestrian mall, and absolutely gorgeous.




Watching the show puts me in the mood for snacks, so Yumi & I head down the block to the Cottage Bakery (http://www.cottagebakerycafe.com/). I get an almond croissant, tied in a knot instead of in a traditional crescent shape. Cute and yummy, not too sweet.

Rotary Club lunch @ the UI Athletic Club. Buffet: green salad (well, kinda green), fruit salad (ok), red jello (hm), some mayo-y salads (I'll pass, thanks), wee potatoes with butter & parsley (one of my elementary school cafeteria favorites), and swiss steak (ooh, how retro).

Before we play our mini set, the meeting is called to order with the singing of 'America'. Two verses. We only know the first verse. There is a lot of humming.



Dinner @ 126. Recommended by Ron & Dan. It's a charming bistro-type place with brick walls and giant windows that opens to the street (looks a lot like Sonsie in Boston). I have jambalaya, which is good and heavy on the shrimp (which are all perfectly cooked) but a leeettle too salty. Not as intense as Marshalltown's smoked porkchop, but pretty close. As usual, I manage to eat the whole thing, then look around for dessert...




















Dessert @ Ron & Dan's house! We buy brownie ingredients @ Taits (a Whole Foods-like store) - GREEN things in the salad bar! Asian ingredients! Vegetables! But we're just there to get brownie fixin's.


Then we go to an ice cream shop to get a pint o' vanilla. The name of the shop? Whitey's. Wow. No joke.












Ron & Dan have graciously offered to let play in their kitchen, which, along with the rest of the house, is impeccably decorated. We make gooey brownies, ganache, and caramel sauce. Ron has made a rustic pear tart, flavored with basil, rosemary, and orange zest. YUM. The next time I make a pear tart, I'm gonna make this one.





Friday, June 16

In the morning: a workshop with 30 summer camp kids in a hot, hot gym.

Afterwards, we go to the mall, which houses the Iowa Children's Museum (the location of our next event). In the food court is a branch of the Bread Garden, a local (I think) bakery. Yumi and I split a giant turkey/smoked gouda sandwich and beef stew. Not bad.

Craft time @ Children's Museum! Roy, Yumz, Adam, and I help kids make drums out of oatmeal containers, while the others do the skit & school show.






We help out the school show team by playing Gendai along with them on our new drums.









In the evening, a short teaser performance at an outdoor festival on the ped mall. Downtown Iowa City is adorable - lots of interesting indy shops & restaurants, almost like a mini Berkeley.



And speaking of Berkeley-ish things... dinner with Ron & Dan @ Thai Flavors, a community restaurant. The owners donate money to local organizations and volunteer their time for community events. There are political fliers & community notices all over the walls, although the restaurant owners don't seem to take themselves too seriously. Among the decorations: a proclamation declaring January 17th (I think) to be National Hot & Spicy Food Day, and a giant pole that requires hugs.





















Oh, yes - the food.

Yumi starts with a Cherry Blossom: sweet candy-flavored syrup and soy milk. Franco tries to steal it. Yumi knees him in the groin.















As usual, we are starving, so we order many, many things. Among them: garlic tofu. Tofu! Yippee! I wait for PJ to scrape all the cilantro off of the top, then I dive in.


















We order curry fried rice, drunken noodles (karai!), green papaya salad, chicken basil, and a bunch of other stuff. It is all very, very good.




It was really great to have yummy asian food. We all love the Iowa pork, but three weeks is a long time to go without shoyu.






And we had some seriously good eats. If you're ever in Iowa City, put Thai Flavors on your list. All of Ron & Dan's restaurant recommendations have been winners, but this one's my favorite, so far. Tastes like home.

We all hug the pole on our way out.