bossymarmalade: shack on maracas beach (shark and bake for all)
miss maggie ([personal profile] bossymarmalade) wrote2007-09-30 05:41 pm

my construction outfit "valdezzo brothers olive oil" is poised to help

It's rainy today. I can feel the onset of winter in the rain these days, and have dreadful misgivings about the creeping potential for winter depression in myself. I don't need this! I already get summer depression, isn't that enough in terms of season-related moods?!?

At any rate, I need to go out soon and purchase a tea-cosy. My father will be heading down to Texas in a week or so to meet up with my mother, who is staying at my auntie's in Whitesboro, and she told me to buy a tea-cosy and send it down with dad. Are there truly no places to find a decent tea-cosy in smalltown Texas? How do they keep their teapots warm?

Not that Auntie Ronnie would have run into the problem of cooling teapots before -- she's not big on tea -- but she recently married a lovely Iranian gentleman who drinks a lot more of it. My uncle Bobby is one of Ali Daie's brothers, which is pretty nifty; my other uncles are not nearly so interesting. Except for Uncle Lolly, who we dreaded visiting when we were girls because he and my aunt Doodoo and cousins all lived in a shack in the country, and it was cramped and uncomfortable and had (horrors!) an *outhouse*. Then a few years ago after the parents visited Trinidad, Dad mentioned that Uncle Lolly's fortunes had reversed, and he now owned an enormous mansion and multiple luxury cars and wore gold chains like they'd been bequeathed to him by Mr. T. Upon our incredulous demands for explanations, my poor dear trusting father said, "oh, he's doing a lot of contracting jobs now."

"Dad," said Lori and I as we prodigiously employed air-quotes, "usually, 'contractors' don't become millionaires in a couple of years or get letters from people threatening to kidnap their sons."

"He's very good at his job," our father said haplessly. We left it at that, but whenever we refer to Uncle Lolly's business we use the finger-quotes. I have to admit, it *does* add a little excitement to the family, considering the rest of my uncles teach math or work for Kodak or are petrochemical engineers.

For no good reason, I am craving shark and bake. Actually, there's a very good reason: I haven't had it in years and shark and bake is sublime, yes oui.

[identity profile] indirajames.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
It's Shark'n'Bake, and ah hayelped?

Ah, the depths I'll go for cheap laffs.

In Texas, I think they keep their teapots warm with oil.

See second line.
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Cheap laughs are the best kind! They go well with my cheap morals.
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[identity profile] glendaglamazon.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Are there truly no places to find a decent tea-cosy in smalltown Texas? How do they keep their teapots warm?

Oh, honey. Hee! I'd wager the majority of Americans--and especially southerners and Texans--would have no idea what on earth a tea cosy was. Once you explained it to them, the bafflement would continue. A pot? Warm? Huh?

If you order tea in most restaurants in Texas, it will come in a glass with ice. If you want hot tea, you'll get a cup of hot water and a bag of Lipton's. When they ask if you want a refill, they'll pour more hot water and expect you to use the same bag. We are tea heathens (at least to hear my English grandmother tell it). ;)

[identity profile] indirajames.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I think hot tea is a lot more popular in the south than you've made it sound...of course, I'm in North Carolina, but hot tea, the only good kind of tea, is everywhere around here.

Just to defend my geographical area, for some reason.
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
ahahah! We are somewhere in-between, I think -- we drink enough tea to make the distinction between hot and iced, but when you order tea in restaurants they do give you water refills to use with the same bag. *g*

[identity profile] djinnj.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I have not had shark and bake in 30 years.

:(

I found a recipe off the internet last year. I might have to try and make it myself. But it just won't be the same.
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Dude! Did you last have it in Trinidad? I was not aware that anyplace else had shark and bake!

And yeah, making it yourself just isn't the same. I think eating it on the beach is half the deliciousness. *g*

[identity profile] djinnj.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, we spent about half a year in Trinidad when I was little. My father was transferred there for work, and we were supposed to stay for a few years, but it didn't pan out. But I still remember shark and bake with this halo of perfection about it. Also hiding in the car on the drive to the beach because the mountain roads freaked me out. :D
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
the mountain roads freaked me out

With the terracing and the steep drop and the other drivers!! Lori and I used to distract ourselves by singing all the way to the beach ... which was a good three hours' drive from our home. I'm surprised our parents managed with their sanity intact!

[identity profile] lancebelle.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Hot tea is not a common occurance in Texas, so tea cosy's wouldn't be easy to find. I think the only ones I've ever seen have been handmade. My mother-in-law has pretty much given up the search... she boils the water in a kettle, has a cup and, if she wants another, re-boils the water if it's gotten too cold.

In a restuarant, ordering "tea" would mean unsweetened iced tea, unless you specified otherwise (hot or sweet). For hot tea, they'll bring you a cup of hot water and a tea bag (usually Lipton's, sometimes a generic substitute).
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:31 pm (UTC)(link)
she boils the water in a kettle, has a cup and, if she wants another, re-boils the water if it's gotten too cold.

Apparently this is what my aunt has been doing as well! My mother was horrified to see that she only had a one-cup teapot, heh.

[identity profile] star-maple.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Dude, forget Texas. There are no tea cosies in AMERICA.

We do not coddle tea-drinkers in America... if you wanted all your tea hot, you should have prepared it by the cup or drunk it faster.

[identity profile] navia.livejournal.com 2007-10-01 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Hahahaha! Tea cosies are for the WEAK. That's not how we do things in the U.S. of A.
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)
AHAHAHAHHAH! GodDAMMIT I miss you.

[identity profile] star-maple.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
I miss you too!

Also, you know that new show Cane? Where Jimmy Smits runs a sugar cane plantation?

ALL I can think of whenever I see an ad for it is that quote from Simpsons: "First, we get the sugar. Then, we get the money. Then, we get the women!" It has completely ruined my ability to even contemplate that show with a straight face.

[identity profile] melisus.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooh. I've never even had shark let alone shark and bake.
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
It's SOOOO fantastic! You order it from a little stall on the beach and then eat it hot, sitting on the sand with the ocean breezes for flavour. I would go so far as to say that it's an experience more than a mere food!!

[identity profile] indirajames.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
The responses to your post have confused me! I must live in a tea bubble.
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Perhaps you do! But is it really any surprise to you that you are Not Like the Other Girls?

[identity profile] glockgal.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Did you get your quilt, tho? Or did you forego The Bay altogether? :D
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-09-30 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I saw one quilt that I might get! Today I just bought a pillow, a blouse, and some sheets; oddly, they do not have tea-cosies. I'll have to check a speciality store!

[identity profile] marej.livejournal.com 2007-10-01 12:28 am (UTC)(link)
do you have time order one on net? i'm wiling to bet there're tea-cosy selling sites. not that i've seen one or anything, but i'm sure there would be some. also, i think you should post about your fam and extended fam at least once a week. at the very least i demand a fam post for my bday and babyjesus's bday? though--- can i really make demands on behalf of babyjesus? i think migraine meds are affecting more than i think they would. oops? okay i'm gonna stop now, but unt until i ask what does shark taste like?
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Shark inhabits a middle space between halibut and cod; it's meaty and white, but there's a little more meltiness due to its cartilaginious nature. It's not as dry as tuna, as rubbery as catfish, or as flaky as salmon. It is pretty much the PERFECT fish!

at the very least i demand a fam post for my bday and babyjesus's bday? though--- can i really make demands on behalf of babyjesus?

I think babyjesus would be very pleased that you were looking out for his entertainment needs. *g* ahahahahah! Your interest in my family is sweetly endearing x infinity!!!
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[identity profile] rosebee.livejournal.com 2007-10-01 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
The good news about winter depression (aka seasonal affective disorder) is that a lightbox works wonders for it!
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[identity profile] bossymarmalade.livejournal.com 2007-10-06 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Now that's a good idea! My sister has an artist lightbox, and her roommate has a seasonal-depression lightbox -- I should just go to their house, turn them both on, and bask. *g*