Last night to celebrate my 38th (!!!!!) birthday PJ took me out for dinner and entertainment. I had noticed the Fort Wayne Derby Girls coming into the Plex when we would leave from watching his soccer games, and it got me thinking. We decided to try the new Ethiopian place down the street (Colleen gave it a good review) and do the roller derby. It was even better than anticipated!!!
We decided to do an early dinner and then the Derby (not sure if I would reverse the order next time) which started at 7 p.m. We were only the second couple in the restaurant (it was early, 5:30) but that quickly changed and by the time we left the place was full! The lady taking our order said she was on her own as her help was all gone attending a graduation. Before we left for dinner I called Jason for a primer on what to order, and he suggested we do a Wat and a Tibs and a vegetable combo- there could always be more if we needed it! He was so excited for us, and instructed me to call and leave him a message after dinner letting him know the details of our meal. Of course I did forget. But that's because it was that good! We looked over the menu and decided to do one meat dish and one vegetarian dish. Some Ethiopian restaurant menus have the vegetable sides separate, but this one did not. We found a nice vegetable wat, Yetakelt Wat, which is was a mix of vegetables prepared with a blend of ethiopian spices, onions, garlic, and seasoned oil. The main vegetables were carrots and potatoes, but there were onions and spinich as well as something we didn't identify but now wonder if it wasn't smashed chickpeas. We also ordered Awaze Tibs, which was beef sauteed in a mild red pepper chile paste. Both items were not eaten with utensils. As a matter of fact there were no utensils on the table. Instead we ate with injera, which is a spongy, thin, pancake like flatbread made from teff* flour and we used it to scoop up and wrap the food in place of utensils. (*Teff is an ancient grain of Ethiopia). There was spice to it but not too much, and it was extremely satisfying. Almost like comfort food. I can imagine craving it a bunch when the weather turns cold. But that I cannot imagine for a while as it is cruising around 90* here lately!
After dinner we decided there wasn't time for dessert before the main event, so we headed right for the Plex to see some flat track roller derby. I knew it was going to be fun, but it was REALLY fun! I want to take Ava. This is not your '70's Raquel Welch roller derby- it's all on a flat area and it's all for reals folks. No faking. PJ commented during one jam that it was a cross between Nascar and WWF. In some ways he is totally right! There are 3 teams on the Fort Wayne Derby Girls, and last night the Bomb Squad took on the St. Louis Arch Rivals. Each girl had an alternate name and a number. One girls number was 8H. One was 1914. My favorite was the square root of 23. Some examples of alternate names were Miss Jane Redrum, Artemishief, Bang Bang la Desh, The Educator, and Chokehold Chanel No. 5. That girl went down hard twice- the first time I didn't think she was coming back but she came back with a vengeance and scored a bunch of points. It was awesome. The 2 girls in the back (Jammers) have to get through the pack, which is not easy as the pack of 8 (4 from each team) makes sure that they do their best not to let the girls get through, and the first Jammer to get to the front is the lead jammer. She has to go around and when she gets back to the pack, she scores by passing as many of the opposing team possible, up to 4 points. Each team has an opportunity to score, and sometimes they don't get any points. After the Jammer has passed and scored, she calls off the jam, which lasts no more than 2 minutes. Let's just say these girls were WORKING! There were all kinds of folks there, young, old, preppy, alternative, breeders, girls who like girls, all kinds. Some people had their kids there, and it really is family friendly. Towards the end of the second half the score was TIED and holy cow that got really exciting. It's more fun to watch if you kind of figure out how it works, and they give you the info in the program as well as a photo essay of the calls the referees can make. It was awesome. These girls also have a mission statement, and they work hard to give back to the community- they have raised over 26K since 2006. Pretty great if you ask me.
After it was over, we went to Baskin Robbins to partake of some creamy icy goodness. We were home a little before 10, but we had been gone 4 hours, so it was still a great night out. The kids were good for the sitter, except Ava who decided to pitch a bit of a fit for not getting any attention whatsoever when James was being put to bed, but she quickly recovered and all in all must have gotten a good workout because she was passed out cold when I went up to kiss her goodnight. She usually stirs a bit when I do that, but last night it was nothing. It was awesome to see her though, Ava and James both, sleeping like little angels. I watched them for a few minutes, and it was pretty funny that both kids were sleeping in the same position- on their backs with one arm up and one arm down. Both precious.
So I am here to heartily recommend Ethiopian food, and there is much more we didn't try that I look forward to consuming. Also heartily recommend the Roller Derby- very exciting, and simply a lot of fun.
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