Chinese Food, Gin, & A Visit With HL

Wednesday evening of our Thanksgiving trip, we went over to my grandmother's house for dinner. SP had not yet met her. During the winter-spring of 2008, when we were dating and not yet engaged, SP visited me several times in Las Vegas (I spent 4 months there), but we didn't get together with my grandmother. She's 88 years old now and still recovering a bit from hip replacement surgery earlier this year. She no longer goes to the casino to gamble, but she is as sharp as a tack. I hope I am that sharp when (if) I reach 88!

SP also had not yet met my grandmother's husband, HL.

HL likes to drink gin, so as soon as it was 4:10 pm, it was gin time. HL drinks Boodles and he drinks it on the rocks. No tonic or soda. Just gin over ice. Did I mention HL is 83 years old?! SP had no choice but to partake in the gin imbibing. My dad and I opened a bottle of sauvignon blanc -- thank goodness HL doesn't expect me to drink gin because that is one liquor I do not like!

HL also likes to have shrimp cocktail with his gin. He had a bag of jumbo shrimp and my mom mixed up a cocktail sauce with lots of horseradish since HL likes spicy. HL also enjoys rare beef (just wave it over the grill) and I've seen him bite into an onion like it was an apple and chomp away. As my mom says, he must have a cast iron stomach! HL still goes to the casino twice a week to gamble and every 3 years he trades in his 'old' Lexus for a new Lexus. He still plays the stock market, keeps track of his finances and bills on his computer, is a Philadelphia Flyers & Eagles fan, and watches TV shows like 'Lost' and '24'! He's a character.

Dinner was Chinese food from a place near my parents. It's called Little Dumpling. There are a lot of places named Little Dumpling in Las Vegas. 'Our' Little Dumpling is Chinese & Thai food and 'our' location is on Decatur Road by the Walmart and across from Costco.

There was a lot of food for 6 people. There were crispy fried noodles: SP had some Hot & Sour Soup:There was combination fried rice:Dumplings (pot stickers):BBQ spare ribs, salt & pepper chicken in foil, fried shrimp:BBQ sliced pork:Sesame Chicken:Duck:Eggrolls & Crab Rangoon:SP had some Thai dish - Chicken with Mint Chili:Despite my grandmother picking at her food and eating maybe 5 pieces of food, nearly everything was consumed. Dad and HL loved the duck and SP tried some, too. Mom and I ate a lot of the sesame chicken. She & I also snarfed up the fried goodies (noodles, shrimp, crab rangoon). And of course dad ate a lot of fried rice, which he really, really likes. There were enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

I like Chinese food. I don't love Chinese food. I don't usually want/crave Chinese food. So it might not be fair for me to critique our food from Little Dumpling. There's also the fact that my parents picked up the food around 2:30 pm (since it's near their house) and reheated it at my grandmother's house (which is 20-30 minutes from my parents' house) around 6 pm. So some things, like the duck and BBQ sliced pork, were a little dry. Nothing stood out as super duper amazing food, but nothing stood out as below average, either (and yes, I've had horrible dumplings and crab rangoon before!). It certainly isn't worth a special trip if you are visiting Las Vegas, but if, like us, you are in the area and staying with family, it's decent Chinese food.