Back from Tucson

The nether regions of the state proved culinarily delicious. Or at least interesting. We got to our friends' house and they sustained us with delicious sirloins, potatoes and asparagus. Sirloin from Costco is as tender and flavorful as tenderloins elsewhere. We also went to a new In and Out burger for lunch the next day, further ensuring that I die of a heart attack or guilt from eating so many cows. Our friends also made a breakfast of overnight-egg soaked bread and cinnamon apples and baked it into French Toast.
We went to Maynard's Market in Kitchen which was in an old train depot--possibly my favorite restaurant venue. Their Black Box special was pork loin sous vide meaning it was boiled (I mean vacuum sealed and immersed in a water bath preheated to an exact temperature--like 160 degrees although I'm guessing at the precise number). It came with apples and potatoes sauteed with pork belly, meaning you couldn't go wrong there. Overall, it was good although not to-die-for good. A fine texture. We'll see if I follow through with this month's Food and Wine magazine's lesson on cooking sous vide. They say you can do it with a regular pot and a candy thermometer although they suggest that buying a $450 sous vider is the way to go. Overall, a thumb sideways for the restaurant overall because the poutine had no gravy and just cheese curds which meant the fries were strangely unflavorful and $16 pizzas. The pizzas were delicious but $16! Zoe ordered one!
Speaking of which, here's a difficulty: Zoe, Erik and I ordered food and drinks. Our friends, kid-less, ordered pizza. Erik and I ordered regularly priced ($25 plus) dinners. We divided the bill evenly because, unlike in Grand Rapids, the servers frown on the practice. We got the tip but still. They paid $70 bucks for two pizzas, poutine and 2 drinks. Erik went to the store after for more beer and wine but still, things did not, in this case, come out in the wash. Next time, I'll just bring my sous vider (or candy thermometer) to their house and boil them some meat. And serve it with bacon, which will make everyone happy.