Well, That’s a First…

One of my favourite movies, well a movie I really enjoy; is “The ‘Burbs” with Tom Hanks as a suburban cul-de-sac dweller and Carrie Fisher as his frazzled wife. Ray and his two friends Rumsfield and Art get it in their heads that Ray’s new neighbors have killed the previous occupants of their house and possibly the old man down the street…who’s dog has a penchant for pooping on Rumsfield’s lawn. Art even goes so far as to say, “Ray, do you want them to take your family, kidnap them, tear their livers out and make some kind of satanic pate?!?!?”
One scene that always gets me…every time, I wait for it comes towards the middle. Hanks' character, Ray, has just seen one of his suspicious neighbors drive his car down to the sidewalk from the garage, heft a large bag into the trash can and then violently pummel it with a hoe. Ray; equally unaffected and nonplussed; responds by saying, “I've never seen that before. I've never seen anybody drive their garbage down to the street and then bang the hell out of it with a stick. I’ve, I've never seen that.”
Well, the other night I had one of those moments. I was having dinner with my mom and her husband for Mother's Day; yeah, that's right, I'm a good son.
Everything was pretty much your standard fare, although our "bottled" water arrived at our table in opened, in one of those long-necked, Grolsh-style bottles that could've easily have been filled from the tap; and after our waiter brought the bottle of Haut Medoc I’d selected for me to inspect, he disappeared, only to return again with the open bottle. Why he couldn't open it table-side, I have no idea. I'm not accusing them of any funny business (like decanting my nice bottle of wine and replacing it with some donkey bottle of Trader Joe’s Finest), but I did find it a bit odd.
After dinner though, was the real kicker. My mom decided to take her Soft Shell Crab dish home and her husband took the rest of his Bolognese. Several minutes went by and their leftovers did not make a return appearance at the table. As I was getting ready to flag down our scared, college-aged, waiter; he returned and placed two coat check tokens on the table.
“You can use these to collect your food when you leave. Thanks again for dining with us,” he said.
I was slightly confused for a moment. You mean, we turn in these coat check tickets and then we get our food...? Yeah, I've, I've never seen that before. I've never seen a restaurant give me a coat check ticket so I can pick up my leftovers, instead of just bringing them to the table, I’ve never seen that before.

What’s On My Mind This Week:

Cooking dinner for some friends this week, we haven’t seen each other in a while and I’m planning to blow the doors off. This is what I’m thinking of so far: Chilled Pea & Mint Soup; Baby Octopus with Chorizo, Chicories & White Beans; an as yet to be determined Third Course; and a Mixed Berry Trifle with Lemon Verbena Sweet Cream.