Odds and ends

It's been an eventful week here in Raleigh Foodieville, folks. I still have to come up with reviews for Enoteca Vin and Ruth's Chris -- but I wanted to take a moment to ponder the pleasures of eating party leftovers.

Truly it has been a great week to eat at home, if only because we have more than our share of chips, cheese, olives, wine, beer and dips galore. It's wonderful to open the fridge, produce a handful of containers, shuffle over to the dining-room table, and have a meal at your fingertips.

Perhaps the biggest and best surprise was the olives. We put out the kalamatas Friday night and barely managed to get rid of them over the course of the 4-hour shindig. Which meant we had two packages of olives from Whole Foods remaining: the spicy ones with the red-peppery brine, and the garlic-stuffed ones.

My eating partner didn't love the garlic-stuffed ones. The garlic was quasi-pickled and thus more subdued than expected. Also, the olives themselves were rather firm and young-tasting. A little crunchier than expected. I didn't at first love them, but they grew on me.

The spicy ones, however, were heavenly. The texture was altogether pleasing, and the hot finish was a delight. And just when I didn't think I could get any more enjoyment out of them, I ripped off a piece of my rosemary baguette and dipped it into the pool of leftover red-flecked brine. It was fantastic.

Still remaining: the quartet of hummus flavors bought at Trader Joe's to go with the tortilla chips. Apparently we didn't have much of a hummus crowd. I consider hummus generally a tricked-out bean dip and thus mostly universally appealing; I guess that was my mistake. Upon finally tasting it this weekend, however, perhaps it was the overarching blandness that kept people away. The green hummus tasted vaguely of parsley, or perhaps cilantro -- maybe spinach? The red and "natural"-colored hummuses tasted pretty much the same, though one tasted slightly more garlicky than the others. *sigh* Oh, well. Next time I'll make my own, and add plenty of lemon, garlic and cracked black pepper.

The at-home buffet odyssey is probably nearing a close, though we have plenty of beer left and some fruit and veggies. Oh, and does anyone want a gallon of sweet tea? I bought it to appease our teetotalers, but I can't touch the stuff myself. Blech.