Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 15th, 2019 in Food, Main 
Last month at a Christmas party, Susan handed me a small glass containing a mysterious alcoholic beverage and told me to try it. I did. The drink was fruity, super sweet, and super, super strong. These Irish lips have tasted their fair share of booze, and I’ve never tasted anything like that! Later in the evening we tracked down the gentleman who had brought the homemade-looking jar of alcohol to the party. The man was Swedish, and the concoction he had brought was called “Rumtopf.” According to Wikipedia, Rumtopf (which translates to “rum pot”) is a “German and Danish dessert,… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on July 12th, 2018 in Food, MainWe’ve had so much fun shopping at the Chinatown Supermarket since discovering it last year. I love weird stuff packaged in bright colors, and have had fun wandering up and down the aisles picking random drinks, bags of candy, and packages of Ramen based solely on the cute and colorful packaging. Last week I spotted this item in the checkout lane, and tossed it into the basket on a whim. What I thought I was buying was a little box filled with sushi-shaped candy. What we got was so much weirder. Back at home while unpacking our bags, I noticed… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 14th, 2018 in Food, Main 
There was a time not so many years ago when my work friends and I used to go lunch together almost every single day. Increased job duties, the introduction of teleworking, and conflicting meeting schedules have mostly put an end to those frequent outings. These days, getting three or four of us together for lunch involves blocking out time on calendars, coordinating schedules, and a lot of finger-crossing. I really miss those days when we could all just hop in a car and go somewhere for lunch. One of our frequent lunch destinations was the Pizza Inn on the corner… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on July 7th, 2017 in Food, Main 
I have had many conversations with doctors in regards to my weight throughout the years. Some were lighthearted, like the short chats I used to have with my fellow morbidly-obese doctor back in the early 2000s. “You need to lose some weight,” he would say. “You first!” I would counter, and then we would both share a good belly laugh. Conversations with other doctors were more awkward. My last doctor regularly competed in Iron Man competitions. Googling his name turns up hits of marathon photos. Every conversation I had with him about my weight ended with a condescending “tsk.” Last… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on May 22nd, 2017 in Food 
I like sushi, and ramen, and colorful packaging, so I’m not sure why I hadn’t visited any of Oklahoma City’s several authentic Asian grocery stores before. Yesterday, in search of ingredients for Susan’s sushi night for her Girl Scouts, she and I did. It was awesome. Much like the Thai place I visit in Kansas city named “Thai Place,” this supermarket in Chinatown (OKC’s Asian district) was named “Chinatown Supermarket.” I like businesses with names that get to the point, and this certainly does. On the way in, an older Asian man stopped me in the parking lot. “Lovely weather… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on May 13th, 2017 in Adventures, Food 
That escalated quickly. Six months ago, after years of searching, I purchased an ice cream cone drinking cup similar to one I owned as a child. The one I found was very, very similar to the one I had owned, but it wasn’t 100% identical. I spent close to ten years looking for one of those cups, so “very, very similar” was good enough for me at the time. One week after I purchased that cup, my mom found a second green one for a quarter at a garage sale exactly like the ones we had growing up. With a… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on October 24th, 2016 in Food, Main 
When I was a little kid — this would have been the late 1970s, possibly early 1980s — I owned a cup that looked like an ice cream cone. The bottom part of the cup looked like a cone. The “lid” looked like a scoop of ice cream. The plastic ice cream was covered with a removable brown piece of plastic that looked like melted chocolate. There was a hole to accommodate a straw. We owned two of these cups. Mine had a scoop of vanilla on top; my sister’s was mint green. I don’t remember where they came from… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on August 10th, 2016 in Food, Toys 
I’ve written 50,000 words on my next book, A Collector of Collections. The more I write, the more I begin to suspect that I’m less of a collector and more of a hoarder. Many of the things I claim to collect are just things I’ve amassed over time and can’t seem to part with. Last Friday, I decided to take a stand. Last Friday, I decided to get rid of something. Anything. With gusto, I walked over to my toy shelves and scanned them for something I could get rid of. Just one thing. Anything. After looking for a minute… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on October 21st, 2014 in FoodThe kids were out of school two days last week for Fall Break, so the four of us loaded up the car and headed toward Denver. In between this month’s horror reviews, I’ll be writing a bit about our trip. We left for Denver Thursday morning, early enough that we made it to Casa Bonita in time for dinner. There used to be a Casa Bonita in Oklahoma City and Susan has many fond memories of it. This was our second time as a family to eat at the Casina Bonita in Denver. Sadly, it will probably be our last.… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on June 4th, 2014 in FoodSusan has a knack for finding tours that are both interesting and free. One she found during this trip was a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory, located in Farifield, California. Outside the factory are several “bean-wrapped” cars, including this one, a van, a VW bug, and several box trucks. These must be a great deterrent for road rage. How can you get mad at a car covered in jelly beans, even in California traffic?? The festive look continues inside the factory lobby. While waiting for the tour to begin visitors are encouraged to visit the free Jelly Belly bar,… (read more)
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