Genghis Grill

My sister and I discovered a new restaurant during her visit last week.

Genghis Grill is a Mongolian Grill/BBQ. Now, that's nothing new. I've been eating at Mongolian BBQs for decades. This one had some new twists:

. the decor is upscale casual. Well, as upscale as you can be in the ring of restaurants outside a multi-plex theater.
. there are actually pieces of the protein options, not shavings. Big chunks.
. they offer white, brown or fried rice, udon noodles, spiral pasta and tortillas. You can choose more than one.
. the sauce choices include barbecue.
. they offer sour cream and cheddar cheese with each order. What?!

The sour cream and cheese go with the tortillas. If you combine tortillas and grilled peppers and onions with beef or chicken you get fajitas. Or burritos.

There were many "super veggies" to choose from: broccoli, spinach, and some lovely sugar snap peas. There were the usual carrots, celery, onion and pineapple, but also fresh green beans, a bell pepper mix and more. There were raw eggs, for scrambling into your fried rice.

A note to veg'ns: while there are many, many suitable food choices, it's all cooked on one grill.

The end result is a place where everyone can eat, unless someone can't live without potatoes. Heavy on the meat? covered. Vegan? covered, other than the common grill. Low carb? covered. Whole foods? covered.

The price is $7.99 for one trip or $11.99 for a bottom-less bowl. The single trip seems a little high, since they don't offer soup or salad, and you don't serve your own starch, but the all-you-care-to eat option is in line with other buffets. The Future Warrior (child's) portion is $3.99.(?)They offer ooey, gooey, big enough to share desserts for an additional charge.

In Tempe Genghis Grill is located near the theater at Tempe Marketplace, Rio Salado & McClintock.

It's not looking good for photographing the eclipse.

There's a total lunar eclipse this evening. In Arizona it starts in just about one hour.

Although the forecast called for clouds, there were beautifully clear skies for the last few hours. The operative word is "were."

When the sky cleared I charged my camera batteries and lay down for a little while.

I was really looking forward to photographing this event, but the sky is getting darker by the minute, and it's not due solely to the rotation of the earth. I just checked the satellite map, and it doesn't look promising.

I shot the last eclipse, in August 2007, but I went out at the last minute. I lacked both the skills and the preparation to get the shots I wanted. I was looking at tonight as an opportunity for a "do-over."

I guess not. As I've written this the cloud cover has become nearly complete.

I admit, though, that I'm tired. I have a batch of broth simmering on the stove and laundry needing to be switched to the dryer. Staying home might be best.

Update, 7:17 pm: The forecast has been modified to rain with a possibility of thunder. I think I'll stay indoors!

Where did the time go?

No, I didn't drop off the earth for the first half of February. My sister dropped into Arizona.

We had a great time! We attended a two day convention together. We ate. We went computer shopping. We ate. We did fun stuff. We ate. We did necessary stuff, like laundry and throwing out old paper. And we ate.

And we talked and laughed and scrapped and stayed up too late.

And I didn't spend much time on the computer, other than editing and uploading photos.

And it was good.

Flo

My other blood tests....

I got the results of my other blood tests today, my regular diabetes / metabolic syndrome test. As I expected, they were worse, with one exception. For some reason my triglycerides dropped, which makes no sense at all.

My Vitamin D level is still unmeasurably low. Dr. Smith prescribed a liquid prescription supplement. My pharmacy didn't have any, and couldn't find any locally; they have to order it. Apparently no one else in Arizona is so low on Vit. D that they need a liquid supplement.

On the bright side, I took her photo. It came out pretty well on first try.

And we compromised. I need to have my bone density checked again, after discovering 18 months ago that I have osteopenia, but only in my hips, not my spine. I agreed to have a mammogram, but only one.

There is a large body of peer-reviewed research, from around the world, that suggests that mammograms do not increase life expectancy and may, in fact, be harmful. I gave them up maybe ten years ago, but this doctor has never been happy with that decision. She seems especially concerned now that I have leukemia.

So we compromised. I agreed to have one, now, without agreeing to routine checks in the future.