charlotteann

Quite possibly the most discussed topic in the world, the weather influences everything we do. Obviously. I had something sort of prepared to write about the weather but I’ve already bored myself, so I won’t burden you, dear readers. The idea was that the recent boon of heat had me preparing decidedly “summery” food. Temperatures exceeded 90 degrees (f) in San Francisco this week and we all complained about it. We loved it, but we complained nevertheless. We spent our unemployed days in the park instead of in cheap coffee shops, and we bared our pale skin after applying SPF 75 sunblock. We also went to the farmers’ market to purchase lemons in order to indulge a particularly intense craving for lemonade.

Since today is half over and still overcast, my enthusiasm to write about how fabulous this lemonade was on a hot summer’s day is waning quickly. But I shall do my best.

The coldest summer in 40 years came to an abrupt, record-setting end at the beginning of this week and anyone who had to go to work was probably pretty bummed out. But I don’t feel bad for them because they have jobs. Anyway, I got really sweaty and gross from the heat and just felt like a glass of lemonade. I wandered down to the farmers’ market in shorts of all things and loaded up my bag with summery things like strawberries, lemons, figs, and tomatoes. I also bought an enormous bunch of basil that had seen better days but I needed it for Super Summer Salad Event: Insalata Caprese!

Raw tomatoes are another not-favorite of mine (like eggs). I met someone recently who shares my distaste for raw tomatoes. Or rather, they shared my distaste because they had systematically forced their taste buds to reverse their opinion and start loving tomatoes. Why? Who knows. Maybe because tomatoes are like, but not as bad as, eggs when it comes to things like sandwiches: they’re all over the place and it would behoove oneself to tolerate them. Otherwise you’ll be saying “no tomatoes” for the rest of your life. What a waste of time. But with a homemade caprese salad, I discovered I can handle a thick slice of raw tomato because it’s smothered in balsamic vinegar and olive oil and topped with basil and mozzarella (in case you didn’t know). Is this the beginning of a taste bud-turning journey? Will I someday enjoy raw tomatoes on my sandwich? Only time will tell…

So I flew from San Francisco to Long Beach, then took a red eye flight to Boston yesterday and/or today. Even though it took the check-in guy and I some time to sort out how I could avoid paying $50 for my overweight bag, I still like jetBlue - they actually have free snacks. Alas, I have no pictures of those blue potato chips or the animal crackers because I was asleep when they were handing them out. But before I got on my plane to Long Beach, I hit up the Firewood Grill café near gate 12 in the international terminal at SFO. Not the one you see immediately after security, mind you. This was that perfectly fine airport bar & restaurant’s loser little brother. All of their pre-made sandwiches (prices unmarked) had tomatoes, the service was pretty slow, and my Italian sausage sandwich looked like this:

I know what you’re thinking. Well, maybe not exactly, but it’s something like, “Gee, who orders a fatty, greasy sandwich before a long flight?” or “Duh, airport food sucks!” You’re right about the first thing. However, I have had some totally decent airport grub after I got over how much it cost. Not at the Firewood Grill. You know what else sucked about the Firewood Grill? It took a long time because they botched my order. Not cool in an airport, dudes. Also, what’s up with that hexagon to-go container? I’d never bring that thing on an airplane. Maybe I am a little cranky because it’s raining over here in New England and the A’s lost to the Red Sox, but step it up little Firewood Grill brother! Even though we jetBluers have free snacks we always appreciate a real meal before flying.