One more little Blog

Well, all those good omen signs that I wrote about in the first Blog of 2013 didn’t even last the day.  I consider myself a very decent cook who rarely experiences any real gastronomic failures, but I didn’t even get through the first day of 2013 without having one. I decided to bake some nice boneless chicken thighs coated with a Chutney mixture, herb roasted potatoes and accompany them with those previously discussed Chinese peas. Preheated the oven, popped everything in and went to read my Kindle book. After a very nice salad I went to remove my anticipated wonderful meal from the oven.  Could not believe my eyes. The bottom of the chicken dish was coated with a crusty black Chutney residue and the potatoes looked like little pieces of coal.  After the initial shock I looked at the temperature I had set the oven at.  Well you guessed it, 475 degrees, which was a wee bit higher than I wanted. Actually it looked real bad, but it did prove edible so we made our way through this disaster that altered my thinking concerning the direction 2013 was taking.  And by the way, those Chinese peas sucked, hard as little green marbles I used to play with when I was a kid.  We ate some of them, but dumped the rest.  I think I’ll stay with fresh.

To make my day even worse, I was criticized by a good (I thought) friend for using a picture that misrepresented my true age on my Blogs. As you can see I replaced it with a picture taken on our Grand Canyon trip.  I did explain that I have very few photos of myself since I’m usually the one taking pictures and no one else seems to be interested in taking mine.  By the way this friend was also on the same trip and was where I met him and his lovely and nice wife.

I apologize for overloading you with these entries…..don’t know what’s gotten into me.

First Blog of 2013

Except for the usual morning visit of my nasty friend “Art Ritus”,  2013 started out real great.  Like the good Catholic that I am, the first order of the year was a visit to church to celebrate a New Year’s Day Mass.  It seems that Rome doesn’t know who they wish to honor on this day, but this year they decided it should be Mary.  The church trip might have set the year on a good path, because our first breakfast of 2013 was great.  Got a parking space right in front of the entrance, my sausage egg and cheese on a grilled hard roll with mayonnaise and thin slices of raw onion was done to perfection and even Marge’s

Pancakes and sausage drew no complaints. Coffee cup was bottomless and waitress was pleasant and efficient.  What the hell is happening here, is this an “Omen” of things to come?  What will I be able to bitch about if this continues?

Well, I did immediately think of something, the Fiscal Cliff!!  Are you as sick of this bullshit as I am?  Do they know that this isn’t a race with the clock like the food network “Chopped”?  What the hell were these elected fools doing the rest of the year.  America, we better get smart come next election and do some house cleaning, both parties.

In my last Blog I wrote how things develop a life of their own when they drop on the floor and scurry into the darkest inaccessible corners.  The only exception is a buttered piece of bread which doesn’t run away, but plops itself, always on its buttered side….how come, is it because that side is heavier or does it develop a nasty streak on its downward flight? It’s hard to enforce the 5 second rule when this happens.

A couple of days ago I was at Price Chopper getting a few things for dinner.  We don’t often buy canned vegetables, but I figured I’d be lazy on New Year’s Day so I strolled down the can goods section.  I immediately spotted a can of peas that was wearing a strange but attractive label. yellow with a picture of nice looking small (I like the small ones) peas.  It even had a neat name, First Harvest.  If it was the first harvest, they had to be good.  This morning I was displaying this brilliant purchase to Marge and began reading the back of the label.  Can you believe that even these peas came form China?  How can the grow them, can them, ship them, distribute them and sell them for 68 cents a can?  And what the hell is wrong with this country when we have to import peas.  The worse part is that I’m wondering what the stuff in this can is……I’ll let you know if I’m still able to.