Stillwater Stole My Heart

You guys know I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Sooners and Norman and everything about the two.  So you're probably wondering how our in-state rival town won my heart.  I know I wasn't expecting it.  The boyfriend and I went to Stillwater to go to Calf Fry and so he could finally meet Bubba.

Calf Fry is a big 3-day country music concert where they serve calf fries.  If you don't know what that is, well... it's fried bull testicles... but they're soooo good!!!

We stayed at the apartment of one of boyfriend's good friends.  He was pretty kick ass.  I got to meet some of his really good friends and loved them all!

I was pretty nervous about Bubba meeting him.  He's only liked one of the people I've dated and well, that one ended really well... Boyfriend got major points for having gone to OSU and not liking the Dallas Cowboys even before he met Bubba.  Getting ready for us all to go to lunch was nerve racking!  We got to Eskimo Joe's late, which drives Bubba crazy because I'm hardly ever on time to things like that.  Lunch went great!  Bubba and I talked the whole time, while Boyfriend laughed at us.  Honestly, we did sound like a couple of gossiping beauty shop ladies.  When he slipped off to the restroom, Bub told me that he liked him even though he's quiet.  HUGE sigh of relief there.  Bub is the person whose opinion I respect the most out of my family.

That night, we decided to skip Calf Fry and let me check out the bar scene.  First stop: Stonewall.  A dive of a techno bar that I fell in love with!  We ran into people we knew, it was great to see my friend T again.  I would have been perfectly happy to stay there all night.  Boyfriend had other plans though.  We went to The Strip, which is basically their version of Campus Corner (collection of bars/clubs in one area where all the college kids go).  He showed me College Bar and after about 5 minutes I realized he had taken me to the college aged version of Hudson's (where I work).  It was pretty awesome.  When a place has an old Mortal Combat arcade game, I'm in.  I challenged him to a future, sober game of said game--which I intend to make good on and kick his ass at!  He countered with saying he finds it hot that I love old video games.  Cheater lol.

After that, we finished the night at Outlaws.  It's basically Sooner Corral (a country dance club in Moore) but for 21 and up only and they actually have liquor lol.  Talk about heaven!!  Boyfriend is not a country music fan, but he takes me to places like this because he knows it makes me happy and giddy and that makes him happy apparently.  I swear he's perfect.  He even knows how to two-step and dances with me!  This was no exception.  By the time they were closing, I was out of breath from dancing.

The next day, we were pretty damn lazy.  We went to his best friend's place around 7 and stayed there until Bub was ready to go to Calf Fry.  We got there pretty late.  I had to listen to Cody Canada and his new band (he was the lead singer of Cross Canadian Ragweed until they broke up) while we were waiting in line, but it was still great.  I'm not entirely sure what I think of the new sound since I loved CCRW, but its pretty good.  We finally got in and got to see Randy Rogers' Band.  I love them!!!  Kiss Me In The Dark is an awesome song and I got to see it performed!!  Made my weekend.  We had a few beers, even got a few for free from some random guys (who gave me a little shit for being from OU, but it was all in fun which is somewhat new to me.  People aren't that nice in Norman most of the time...).

We had to leave early yesterday morning so we could both go to work... I didn't want to leave... People in Stillwater are much more down-to-earth and accepting.  I made friends in the bathroom at Stonewall because I have piercings and at College Bar because I wasn't from there.  Things like that are getting rarer in Norman, it seems.  The pace of the town seems more laid back, as well.  I'm going to have to make a habit of visiting now I'm afraid.

*Yawn*  Oh its been a long day.  Considering I haven't been off work long, I still consider it yesterday.  I'll leave you guys with some pictures and then I'm off to bed!

Randy Rogers' Band

Boyfriend and I

More Randy Rogers'

Boyfriend, bubba and I!

Love!!!

I got the itch to cook lobster!

Salmon, beef, and chicken are starting to bore me.  My girl Lo introduced me to an Asian market in the city which got my attention really quickly!  I had already cooked octopus, so even though they had huge octopus and baby ones (which you can cook completely differently) I wanted something different.  I've never cooked any sort of shellfish but I decided lobster would be a great idea.  However, with the new job I'm a little strapped for cash.  Wanna know a cheap but delicious way to cook lobster? 

Buy lobster claws.  Seriously.  The claws have a lot of meat in them and taste just as good as the tails.  The only difference is that they're much harder to get into.  Cook some scallops for the side and you have an awesome meal.

Lobster is actually pretty easy to cook.  So if you're looking for something fancy but not that difficult, you should try it!  I'll share what I did.

Bring a large pot of slightly salted water to a rolling boil.  I added crab/seafood seasoning (powder), cajun seasoning, freshly ground black pepper, and Grill Mates garlic & herb seasoning.  Add quartered potatoes (smaller if you use large potatoes).  Let them boil for about 10-15 minutes.  Throw in small ears of corn.  After about 5 minutes add a teaspoon (I just poured some) of Zataran's liquid crab boil.  When it is at a rolling boil again, place lobster(s) in the pot.  Bring back to boil, cook until bright red (around 10-15 minutes).  If you want mushrooms, add these a few minutes before you remove everything because they cook very quickly.

Pretty damn easy, right?

The difficult part was the scallops.  They are finicky.  I thawed mine and then let them sit in a mixture of melted butter and garlic powder until I was ready to saute them.

Usually people just saute them alone, but I wanted to do something crazy.  I found a recipe by Rachel Ray that I changed up and made my own.

In a skillet, I sauteed artichoke hearts in olive oil until they were hot.  You kinda have to remove the oil after so they aren't dripping, so I placed them between layers of paper towels while I sauteed scallions, sweet onions, fresh garlic, and tomatoes.  Then I added the scallops to the mix.  Most recipes tell you to saute them until they're slightly browned, however, mine never turned brown.  I cooked them until they lost the fishy taste that so many people complain about when cooking scallops.  It took about twenty minutes, but will probably take less if I do it again.

Arrange artichoke hearts on a serving dish (or your plate, whichever way you want to do it) and place scallop mixture on top.

Scallops, grape tomatoes, onions, scallions, and artichoke hearts.

Lobster claw with potatoes, shitake (sp?) mushrooms, sweet corn, and scallop mixture.

The boyfriend loved it!  Make sure you have a good shellfish cracker or one of those culinary mallets lol.

Have a wonderful Thursday night!!

Love!!!