On the Road Again

No, not that Willie Nelson road. We’re back on the Connecticut Wine Trail “Road again”. This year like the past three or four will be another attempt to win a trip in the Passport program run each year by the Connecticut wineries and vineyards. As you recall, a passport book can be picked up at any participating winery. When you make a visit to one they will happily stamp it for you just like a regular passport book. After you have had the book stamped by the required number of wineries you submit the book to be drawn in a lottery. The list of Connecticut wineries now numbers thirty with new ones coming on board every year. Last year Marge and I and another couple visited nineteen and even with a late start this year we’ve already been to thirteen.

While it would be great to win one of those trips to Spain or France, our excursions to our Connecticut wineries have still been a lot of fun. I was joking, however, that with what we’ve spent doing it these past years we could have financed one of those trips by ourselves. Our trips begin with a picnic lunch. Most locations have areas where they allow you to picnic, but this past Friday we had ours at the great facilities in Salmon River State Park. We even have a hot lunch occasionally since our friends purchased a small grill just for that purpose. On this trip we got real ambitious and were able to get the book stamped five times with visits to Maugle Sierra in Ledyard, three in North Stonington, Jonathan Edwards, Stonington Vineyards, and Dalice Elizabeth along with a last minute stop at Chamard in Clinton. This was a helluva day since we included dinner at Lenny and Joe’s Fishtail. Good stop for me, haven’t had oysters on the half shell since Myrtle Beach. A dozen along with a bowl of clam chowder helped make the day. Made Marge's day too, because she's been longing for a lobster roll all summer and the Fishtail visit took care of that.

All of these wineries offer wine tasting for a nominal fee, usually $5.00 to $7.00 dollars. You get a chance to sample the vineyards six or seven wines and take home the glass. Can’t do this much anymore since our cabinet now has over thirty monogrammed glasses we would need to throw out some pots, pans and dishes to find room for more. Besides that we now know which wines we like, so we just buy a bottle, borrow four of their glasses and go out sit around one of their tables and enjoy the scenery and the wine. I suggest you try one of these excursions yourself, I know you will enjoy it. With so many wineries all around the state now the drives aren’t that long anymore. You can check them all out by going on the web and punching in: www.ctwine.com

Heat Wave and More

Any of you who have read some of my previous Blog entries know that on occasion I bitch about the lack of benefits provided by aging. I joke about the only benefits from advancing age being an occasional senior discount and hitting from the gold tees when I play golf.

Well, lo and behold, I found another one. Sitting here in my air conditioned office hiding from another oppressive day of heat, the result of a now seven day heat wave, I realized that I don’t work anymore, I’m retired. I can remember those miserable 90 and 100 degree days when I had my business. Trying to work at the desk with papers sticking to my arms, listening to office staff complaining about the heat and still others bitching that the air conditioning was too cold. Worrying about my poor warehouse workers sweltering in the non-air conditioned warehouse, should I send them home early? If I do that then the office will be pissed, pardon my language. How do I run the business when everyone wants their vacation time in July, dilemma after dilemma? And don’t forget fighting the bees that always seem to find a home somewhere in my walls. Well thank heaven these are only memories and I can continue my quest for additional benefits.

On a lighter side, I want you to know that I have continued my attempts at farming. These last few years I have planted some vegetables in the fifty foot wall bordering our pool. Have tried a few things, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers etc., but I’ve had the most fun growing butternut squash which we love, especially in a soup on those cold fall and winter days. I always save the biggest for last and when preparing for a meal, I take all the seeds, dry them and start them in small pots the following spring. I figure that if I keep using the biggest every year, some day I’ll be growing some real monsters….lol. The crop looks good this year in spite of some early cold snaps which really hurt the start. In addition to the squash, I’ve got a few pots of tomatoes along with something new for me.

This spring a friend of mine presented me with a tiny plant that he said was a pumpkin. I planted it and nursed it along until it began to develop what looked like a zucchini, but has now developed into an honest to goodness pumpkin. Right now it’s the size of a medium sized watermelon. I’ve decided to feed the hell out of it and bring it to one of those contests at a local fair this fall. Only kidding, but it’s going to be fun seeing how big I can grow it.

Surprise in the Morning

 

 

 

 

Wooosh, wooosh. A familiar sound at several times a year, but rarely is the wooosh accompanied by a surprise landing at 7:15 on a Sunday morning. Quite a surprise as this beautiful balloon with five passengers landed on my driveway. I quess our cul de' sac made a great target for journeys end from nearby Cheshire, Connecticut. Almost got my self in trouble when I told them had I known they were dropping in, I would have had bacon and eggs ready for them. THey had the right answer that shut me right up.....we can wait was their reply. All in all a very interesting way to start the day.
Was able to document the activity with pictures, so here they are.

Cruise News II

Those of you who know me are quite aware of my passion for cooking and obviously eating based on my size and appetite. It is then natural for me to be keenly interested in all things food aboard a cruise ship. The cruise on the Maasdam included not only many great meals, but several cooking demonstrations ( you can be sure I went to them all) by a master chef and even a tour of the kitchens. I found out that every day over 6,000 meals are served on the ship by a dining room staff of 84. It was interesting to see how they handled that many meals it in the kitchen and what the kitchen itself looked like. Some of us panic when we have a few guests for dinner. Can you just imagine how organized you have to be to handle that many meals. After you finish the tour you begin to think about the quantity of food consumed when you dish out 6,000 meals a day and a total of 84,000 for our 14 day trip. Well, of course I found out for you folks and thought it might be interesting to pass it on.

Here’s the consumption for a fourteen day cruise:

17,000 pounds of meat and meat products
8,000 pounds of poultry
4,000 pounds of fish
5,000 pounds of seafood
2,200 pounds of butter and margarine
24,000 pounds of fresh vegetables
9,000 pounds of potatoes
3,600 pounds of watermelon
36,000 eggs
8,000 quarts of dairy
1,400 pounds of sugar
40,000 individual sugar packages
4,200 pounds of rice for the crew
40 pounds of caviar
5,800 pounds of flour
400 gallons of ice cream

Oh, and I also calculated that they needed 40,000 chocolates to leave on the beds each night. Can you just imagine the consumption on the really big ships. This list doesn’t even take into consideration what the baker produces daily. The baker and his staff of four prepare over 20 different kinds of breads that include 120 loaves of bread, 100 loaves of French bread, 4,000 dinner rolls, 800 croissants and 800 Danish and sweet rolls.

And just think of the dish washing involved. Each evening 3,000 dinner plates, 7,000 dessert plates, 2,000 side plates, and 5,000 glasses are washed, not to speak of ramekins, plate covers, silver cutlery, trays, and other odds and ends. Unbelievable!

Cruise News

If any of you have been wondering about my long absence from this blog site this picture is part of the reason. This ship is called Maasdam and is part of Holland America’s cruise fleet of 14 vessels. By the way, Holland is part of the Carnival conglomerate that also owns several other cruise lines such as Princess, Carnival etc. Marge and I recently spent 14 days aboard the Maasdam as it cruised from Boston to Montreal stopping on the way in Bar Harbor, Halifax, Sydney,Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec City. From Montreal we reversed direction and headed back, stopping again at all these ports.

This is the third cruise we’ve taken, all with Holland America. We think Holland America is the cruise for us at our age, no climbing rock walls, surfing down pool waves and late night dance parties. A more sophisticated crowd (but not everyone), but you do have to dodge the wheel chairs, walkers and motorized vehicles carrying people who aren’t quite sure where they’re going.

The Maasdam is an older ship that was built in 1993 and is scheduled for a makeover in spring, 2011. It’s much smaller than the huge new ships they are building, but not small in class or service. Its size also allows it to make some ports that the big boys can’t make. She’s 720 feet long, carries 1258 passengers and a crew of 572. It has its share of amenities, beautiful dining room, casino, computer area, library, pools spa’s etc. Entertainment was phenomenal. Went to the shows every evening and had opportunities to meet a several of the entertainers. I was even part of the act one night, but that’s another story.

Obviously whenever anyone thinks about cruises they think about the food. The Maasdam didn’t disappoint. We had a nice gourmet dinner very night which included Alaskan king crab, Tenderloin, Lobster, Duck, Salmon, Chicken, Pheasant and so on. Appetizers started me off right by offering me Escargot on two occasions and great shrimp on many others. If you didn’t want to be waited on elegantly you could choose to enjoy a buffet type dinner up on what they call the Lido deck. Food was very good up there too, and the view from that top deck was great.

We had the good fortune to meet a great number of very nice and interesting people during the cruise. Trivia was played somewhere every day and we were fortunate to meet and team up with a very nice couple from Wales who were retired doctors. They were pretty sharp and the four of us had about four victories and many, many second places over the fourteen days. Seems we lost by one point almost every day.

Enjoyed the tours we took at the ports and visited many of Canada’s historic places. The excellent tour guides did a super job relating a great deal about Canada’s history, which frankly, I knew nothing about.

I really feel that a cruise is the way to go vacationing. If you want to do nothing you can do nothing. Want to live it up, you can. Want to read a book, grab a deck chair and enjoy the book along with the ocean. Marge and I took advantage of just about everything offered to us, and filled our time between events playing Gin Rummy (often by the way, 44 games in all. Score: Marge 22, Bill 22).

Stopping now because you’re all probably bored and fourteen days creates two many stories to include in a short blog. You’ll have to wait to be bored during a future face to face.

Loved this on our Alaska cruise a few years ago.

Taku Smokeries Famous Pate

1 pound smoked sockeye salmon
16 oz. cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tsp. dill weed
A few turns of fresh ground pepper

Remove skin and finely shred the smoked salmon. Add softened cream cheese in small chunks. Process all ingredients in food processor. Enjoy on crackers, bagels etc.

A Tiny Bitch

“Live to Eat or Eat to Live”. I think we’ve all heard that phrase. I’m sure I fall into the first category and, I guess like being there, but at times I envy the picky eaters who care little about eating but tolerate it just to stay alive. That first category makes it difficult to stay trim and healthy, while the ones in the other category are the ones we look at and say how the hell do they stay that skinny?

While I’m not quite like Andrew Zimmer on the Travel Channel, I must confess that it’s difficult for me to find foods I won’t taste or foods I dislike. Only one exception, I don’t care for bananas. Can’t stand the texture, but they’re fine in a nice banana bread. My love for so many foods creates a problem for me when going out to eat in restaurants. It’s very difficult to make up my mind. The problem is even worst when we eat at diners, especially those real authentic Greek ones. No one page menu specials for them, oh no, you’re handed a menu book, and if you’re there with a few people almost too heavy for the waitress to carry.

You begin to thumb through the six or seven pages and begin to wonder how the hell can they have all these types of food and keep them fresh. Then to top it all off the waitress comes back in a flash and says “are you ready to order”? Are you kidding, I need the whole damn afternoon to read this thing. For us indiscriminant eaters we are now in trouble. We find so many things that we like in the damn thing, how the hell can we possibly make the right choice. Oh please, please give me a single sheet special sheet and end my frustration.

Such a minor problem in my life that I’m ashamed to write about it, but I can’t enter a blog with out a little bitch, I’d lose my reputation. By the way we stopped in one of these diners last Sunday after the play I wrote about. One of only a few bad diner experiences I’ve ever had. Only one inexperienced waiter who got trapped having to make my coffee, and tried to take the order from a table of six who each asked him questions about every menu item they were interested in. We sat there for a half an hour without ever even giving him our order out of one of those huge menu books. Rarely walk out of restaurants, but gave him two bucks for my coffee and got the hell out of there,

The diner pictured here along Pennsylvania route 209, however, was an exception. One sheet of specials, great service and great food. Once in awhile I get lucky.

Here’s a little diner type recipe from one of my Mother-in-Law’s handwritten notes.

Simple Bread Pudding – Mary Shields

2-1/2 cups stale bread, broken in small pieces (about 4 slices)
1-1/2 cups milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup pecans
Cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except butter. Stir to mix well. Pour into buttered loaf pan. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Serves 4

My Blog Block

In the past I’ve expressed my admiration for prolific writers like Stephen King and others who can sit down and bang out 1000 pages of script. I don’t know how they do it, I know I’m not one of them. I really enjoy entering these one page Blogs, but even the one page becomes a challenge at times. During the course of a day many things I consider interesting cross my mind, but when I come downstairs rigor mortise seems to set in my fingers and the thoughts just die. Oh well, I sold screws and bolts for a living, a far cry from creative writing.

But guess what? I think I’ve got my fingers moving. I was fortunate enough to receive two tickets from my brother and Kathy for a performance of The Producers. The play took place at the Warner Theater in Torrington, CT. The Warner, I learned is a renovated movie house that was built in 1931 by Warner Brothers. Now, with the exception of one year, I have lived in Connecticut all my life and never once attended anything in this 79 year old theater. What a wonderful thing it is to keep from tearing down these wonderful structures. I have also attended a concert at one of these in Poughkeepsie, New York. They are absolutely gorgeous and certainly too costly to build today. They’re a far cry from the multi-room theaters of today, which, for my book are pretty boring.

Anyway, back to my tale. I’m certainly familiar with the play and the movie of the same name, which never impressed me, but not anymore. Marge and I were treated to an absolutely great performance. I thought this was being performed by a traveling group of professionals until Marge told me that this was Community Theater. Unbelievable!! Thirty six in the cast, all with wonderful voices and professional acting. Sets and costumes were outstanding. What have I been missing all these years? I wish you all could see it, but unfortunately this was the last performance.

My thanks to both of you for a very nice birthday present.

Dinner after the theater is another story, but I’m going to hold off since I decided not to include any of my bitches in this Blog.

I’ve been thinking about menus for some of our summer pool picnics and pulled pork sandwiches keep cropping up in my head. I thought I’d research a few recipes. Found these two which look not only tasty, but easy to make. One is real easy because it’s a crock pot one while the other is an oven creation. Haven’t tried either one yet so I can’t give you a review. If you make it before me let me know how it turned out.

Bon Appetite!!

Pork Barbecue North Carolina Style

4 lb. Boston butt roast
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoon. brown sugar
2 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon each red pepper and black pepper

Mix all ingredients except roast in large 4 quart Pyrex dish. Place roast in mixture after mixing well. Cover with lid and bake at 325 degrees for 5 hours. Remove from oven and let cool. Remove roast from sauce. Remove meat from bone and spread meat with fork. It falls apart. Return meat to sauce in pan and stir the sauce into the meat. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated. May be served over rice or on hamburger rolls.



Easy Crock-pot Pulled Pork

1/2 Cup Ketchup
1/3 Cup Worcestershire
1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Ground Mustard
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke
Dash Red Chili Pepper Flakes
Pinch Salt and Pepper
1 Medium Sweet Onion, Chopped
3 Pounds Pork Shoulder, Trimmed of Fat.

1. Combine all ingredients except for onion and pork into crock pot. Whisk all ingredients until well blended.
2. Place pork and onions into mixture, coating both sides of meat.
3. Cook for 8 to 10 hours under "low" slow cooker setting.
4. After meat is cooked, remove from slow cooker onto plate and break apart with fork. If meat has any bones, please discard at this time.
5. Place meat back into warm sauce to reheat.
6. Serve on hamburger buns or Kaiser Rolls.

A Blog about nothing much

I set up this blog site a few years ago and have enjoyed using it to not only vent a little with some of my pet bitches, but also in an attempt to entertain. Some of you have actually written and told me you enjoy these little written escapes from my weird mind. These compliments have made my efforts rewarding. This has, however, created a problem for me. When I don’t write anything for extended periods of time I begin to start feeling guilty. The guilt then makes it hard for me to write because I feel I must write something great, and I really don’t have greatness in me.

When I returned from my annual Myrtle Beach golf trip, I said to myself…”self, you’re all set now, you’ve got gobs of stuff to write about”. I was wrong; nothing seemed exciting enough to pass on so here I sit laden with guilt and frustration. Then I thought, these people I write for are my friends, I’ll just let them know what’s going on in my mundane life and they’ll forgive me for this unexciting blog entry.

Ten years ago, my family and friends held a retirement party for me. At the party a few of my friends and family roasted me a little along with extending me best wishes. During his little roast my brother expounded on the number of speeding tickets his older brother accumulated during his lifetime. I think the counting stopped at around fourteen and some most have been strange ones, like getting one in Vermont for going thirty miles and hour. Well you can add another to the ever growing list. I was able to support the town of Nichols, South Carolina on the way home. Got a speeding ticket for endangering many lives as I sped thru their little hamlet at an astounding 41 miles per hour (35 mile an hour zone). Hope they put the 81 dollars to good use.

Few days later I was coming home from one of my shopping trips and daydreaming as I was entering the garage. Banged up the front fender and scratched up the doors when I hit the door entrance trim. Tried like hell to touch it up, still looked like crap so it’s at the body shop with a couple of thousand dollar work to be done. Can’t believe what they charge. Well, the only consolation is that I get back some of the thousands they’ve collected from me every year.

What else has happened? Heavy rains we had flooded the backyard and pool. Put under five inches of water. Septic system completely saturated and spouting water from the ground like old faithful. My small pump ran 24 hours a day for 4 days. By the way, life without a septic system and not being able to use water is not pleasant. Peeing in a coffee can was a very new experience for me. I won’t expound any further.

As you all know, Marge is a very, very, very avid fan of UCONN women’s basketball. During the course of the season, we keep the blood pressure machine on the table next to her chair. Yes, I’m not kidding. I thought it might have to be used during that final game, but thank heaven the girls did it again. I don’t know what she’ll do for these next seven months until they start to play again. There is a plus for me with the season ending; I’ll be able to watch NCIS again. Can’t believe the number of times the games were on Tuesdays.

Back to Myrtle Beach; in case any of you golfers are interested, the old guys were the champs this year. My partner and I beat the young fellow’s five matches to two.

Oops, almost forget to add a recipe. Tried this one out last night and thought it was worth passing on, easy to do, inexpensive and pleasant flavor.


HONEY MUSTARD COATED CHICKEN
________________________________________
1/4 cup Dijon style mustard
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2/3 cup bread crumbs, seasoned or plain
1-1/4 pound boneless, skinless, chicken thighs or breasts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Combine mustard, honey and lemon juice in shallow dish or pie plate. Place bread crumbs in another dish or pie plate. Dip chicken pieces in mustard mixture, turning to coat and then in bread crumbs. Place on cookie sheet that has been lightly greased or sprayed with non-stick vegetable oil cooking spray. Drizzle chicken evenly with oil. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Reading

I really enjoy reading, but I have terrible reading habits. Once I pick up a book and start to read it’s like a horse race with a gallop to the finish line. Can’t keep the damn things down, take them with me to bed, bathroom and even stop watching the boob tube after dinner. Over the past year or so two of my daughters, who think I should be reading more instead of sitting at this computer, keep giving me books in an attempt to make me pick one up. My eldest recently gave me a copy of one of Stephen King’s book of short stories. I figured, how can I go wrong with a book of short stories, I can always stop after each one? Well, wrong, wrong, wrong. I knocked that one down in a couple of days. Into second week I’m on number three. Four hundred ninety eight pages and only one hundred thirteen pages to go.

Trip to Myrtle Beach next week will put an end to the marathon and give my eyes a rest. Actually, except for a few weird dreams while reading Stephen King’s, I’m quite happy I started again. Along with my little exercise program I hope I’m able to keep it up……not bad habits to have.

At the same time I still want to hit the computer, delete all the crap emails and occasionally enter something on the blog site. Don’t want you people to forget all me. I doubt that many of you are that interested in getting a recipe along with my blogs, but I don’t really care, I’m going to keep sending them. Here’s one that I haven’t made yet, but it looks interesting and I’ll be sure to try it when I get back from swinging my clubs six hundred or so times next week. Hope they don’t take too much money from me, so I’ll have enough for the ingredients.

Garden Skillet Dinner

12 oz. Pennsylvania Dutch Broad Ribbons

1 lb uncooked chicken diced

1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

1/2 cup red bell peppers cut into strips

1/2 cup carrots, peeled and cut julienne

1/2 cup celery, sliced

1/2 up broccoli florets

1 tablespoon dried basil

3/4 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook ribbons according to package directions. Toss chicken in flour. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté coated chicken in oil until browned. Add garlic, vegetables, basil, and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, slowly stir in chicken broth and then cream. When the mixture has slightly thickened, stir in hot ribbons. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serves: 4 – 6

Food for Thought

The other day I was scooping some stuffed green olives into our daily salad and got to wondering. Who was the first person that said to themself, let’s squeeze the hell out of these and see what happens. Well, we know what happens, turns into that glorious liquid called olive oil…..thanks be to him. But what about all that other brave souls who took a chance on some strange looking food. Imagine the one who cracked open the first egg and released that slimy looking white stuff and that glob of yellow. How did he get the courage to taste it?

And who is the brave individual fellow that tried the stuff inside those hard shelled creatures, oysters, clams, snails, and the nastiest looking of all, that Pacific Geoduck Clam that even puts the ugly black tipped steamer clam to shame.

I’m also looking in the history books for the first person who cleaned out a chicken and said oh boy, those things look yummy. They took the risk and now we have great giblet gravy and for some, tasty fried chicken livers and pate. We cringe watching that brave Andrew Zimmer on the Travel Channel sampling strange foods from cultures around the world, but thinking about it, we’re as brave as he is. Squid and octopus aren’t the prettiest fellows, but some pasta dishes from Italy would sorely miss them. Even lobsters are kind of scary if you take a good look at them, but still we’re willing to pay $12.00 a pound, and they’re not even cooked.

I’m sure you can think of many, many more examples of our courage at the dinner table.

Here’s the recipe of the week that doesn’t have any nasty looking stuff in it.

Irish Beef Stew Recipe

1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 pounds well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (NOT extra-lean)
6 large garlic cloves, minced
6 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
I cup of Guinness beer
1 cup of fine red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1. Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Lightly salt the beef pieces. Working in batches if necessary, add the beef (do not crowd the pan, or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook, without stirring, until nicely browned on one side, then use tongs to turn the pieces over. Continue to cook in this manner until all sides are browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
2. While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.
3. Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.) Serves 4 to 6.

Something to consider

You are unique. You are today, at this moment, the sum of all things that have transpired in your life. As a result there is no one exactly like you, nor has there ever been anyone like you and likewise never will be. Think for a moment, you are special, unique in the universe and you’ve been given talents that no one else shares. It is up to each of us to use these talents to the best of our ability and never let them go to waste.

Although not in his exact words, these are some of the thoughts and wisdom I gathered from a talk given the other night by our Pastor Emeritus of Saint Dominic Church, Father Henry Frascadore. Obviously this is quite a deviation from my usual blog prose, but for some reason these thoughts made an impression on me and I felt that I needed to pass them on.

Enough serious stuff, here’s the recipe of the week. Can’t vouch for this one, because I haven’t made it yet. But it looks interesting and sounds perfect for one of these cold weekends. If you happen to make it before me, let me know the results.

White Chili Recipe

1 lb large white beans, soaked overnight in water, drained
6 cups chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped (divided)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 4-ounce cans chopped green chilies
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cups diced cooked chicken
3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, chopped (optional)

1. Combine beans, chicken broth, garlic and half the onions in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are very soft, 3 hours or more. Add additional water (or watered-down broth), if necessary.
2. In a skillet, sauté remaining onions in oil until tender. Add chilies and seasonings and mix thoroughly. Add to bean mixture. Add chicken and continue to simmer 1 hour.
3. Check seasoning; add jalapeno or serrano to level of desired hotness. Serve topped with grated cheese. Garnish with cilantro, chopped fresh tomato, salsa, chopped scallions, and/or guacamole. Serve with fresh warmed flour tortillas or tortilla chips. Serves 8 to 10

A little more food talk

If you’re one of those people who, like myself, ”live to eat” as opposed to those unfortunates who only “eat to live”, then you probably went to see “Julie and Julia” the movie. The movie, in case you know nothing about the film, is about a culinary legend who provides a frustrated office worker with a new recipe for life. The film depicts events in the life of chef Julia Child in the early years in her culinary career, contrasting her life with Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes from Child's cookbook during a single year, a challenge she described on her popular blog that would make her a published author.

If memory serves me correctly, the first recipe that Julie attempted was a soup called Potage Parmenter, a simple potato and leek soup, but a real tasty combination.

POTAGE PARMENTER

1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced

1 pound leeks (or onions), diced

3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

4-6 tablespoons heavy cream

2-4 tablespoons minced chives and parsley

Sliced radishes for garnish

1. Simmer the potatoes and leeks in salted water for 40 to 50 minutes, until soft.

2. Puree the vegetables with an immersion blender. Add the butter bits; then salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cream.

3. Pour into soup bowls and sprinkle on chives, parsley, and radishes. ~ “Bon Appetite”.

Soups have been on my mind for about a month now. The Men’s Club at my church started a Scholarship Program and to help finance this year’s awards they decided to hold a “Soup Night”. Well guess who opened his big mouth again? If you guessed yours truly then you guessed right. The Parish was invited to stop in after the Saturday Mass and partake of three different soups created by “Chef Rhino”. We didn’t charge (only requested a donation), so I had no idea how much to make. Well, I must have guessed right because at the end we were scraping the bottom of three big pots of, Cheese and Corn Chowder, Tuscan Chicken and Minestrone, one hundred and fifty servings. I’m getting a little too old for this kind of stuff, but the satisfaction of putting on a successful event keeps me saying yes and coming back for more.

I've made a decision

I enjoy sharing my thoughts with all of you on the blog site, but am constantly struggling to come up with things that will be at least a little interesting to you. I had wild aspirations of entering stuff every week, but gave up on that a long time ago. Then it dawned on me, I love to eat and love to cook. Why not devote some of this site to eating and cooking?

Anyone with similar interests probably has the same problem I do…..we download and print recipes off the internet, clip them from magazines and accumulate handwritten ones from relatives and friends. They pile up in a drawer somewhere, most never to be seen again. Well, a couple of months ago I took on the daunting task of putting my collection into cookbook form. Not an easy task, and one that needs to be added to regularly, but I got it done. I put the recipes into sections, indexed them, printed them, put them into a binder and distributed them to all my kids. Now even after I’m gone the book called “Rhino’s Recipes” will be there to haunt them......lol

One of the real pleasures I got out of the project was to preserve many of the handwritten family recipes. Hopefully, my mother, mother-in-law and even grandmothers are smiling down, real happy that they’ve been remembered.

I’m starting to get a little long winded so I’ll cut to the chase. I will attempt to enter a blog weekly with some of my thoughts and will include a recipe from the book….. hope you enjoy. My first entry is a recipe for salmon which our daughter Karolin made for us on a visit with friends to Governor’s Island, New York, when my son-in-law Bob was stationed there during his tour of duty in the Coast Guard.

Salmon with Mustard Sauce – a recipe from Karolin Palko

2 pounds salmon fillets

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup white wine

2/3 cup heavy cream

1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

4 shallots, finely chopped

Juice of one lemon

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Arrange salmon in single layer on a large baking dish. Drizzle with butter and lemon juice. Cook uncovered in 400 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes. In a small saucepan, simmer shallots and wine together on low heat until wine has evaporated and shallots are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in cream, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour sauce over fish, return to oven and bake for additional 5 minutes or until fish is glazed but not browned. Serves 6

First trip to the YMCA

Just got back from the YMCA after my first attempt at reconditioning this old body. Walking into the exercise room I did a quick survey to see if there were any people I knew. I had to stay away from them, not ready for any public displays of my athletic prowess, so I spotted a vacant tread mill far away from everyone. Didn’t want anyone seeing my very slight incline and slow start up speed. At least I was smart enough to start intelligently. Well, here I go, press the start button Bill you’ve got this far, don’t chicken out. Looked around as I started my “turtle” walk and was totally embarrassed at what I had or had not done to my body. Some of these people were going so damn fast I thought they would take off, even without a runway. Right next to me was an elderly fellow, older than me anyway, setting a smooth fabulous pace at an incline I only aspired to in a week or so. Talk about being embarrassed. To make matters worse I felt someone tapping me on my shoulder. I turned to see an old fellow that I see in church every Sunday. Well now there’s someone who’s seen my pathetic attempt at exercising. After what seemed like 30 minutes, but was more likely 10, I began to struggle with my breathing and gained about 30 beats on the heart rate. Enough of this, but it’s at least a start.

Got on some solid ground, regained my sea legs and headed over to the Concept2 rowing machines. This looked better; at least I can sit down. As I positioned myself I looked over and saw my fellow church member rowing away as though he were in scull going down the Thames. I think all was I was able to row around was a very small pond (about 11 minutes of rowing). Now I was even sweating. I thought, that’s good, must be a sign that I was actually exercising.

Still felt pretty good so I asked for a basketball and went to the gym to shoot a few. In my day I was a pretty good player, but my debut in the gym was another embarrassment, I had trouble even reaching the basket, and that was only from the foul line. For I three pointer I’d need a cannon. After a bit I actually made a few shots. I'm a little achy right now as I sit here, but all in all not bad for a sedentary, out of shape, old guy. And guess what; I’m going back for more tomorrow.

Happy New Year

Have you noticed that the older we get the faster time goes by? It seems like we just watched the ball go down for 2008 and here it goes, down for 2009, and I can’t believe it’s already ten years since we were panicking over the coming of Y2K and everything that would happen. I for one could have used a few more months of 2009, but here I am, already into a couple of days of 2010.

Every year when we watch this event and marvel at the crazy million people standing in the street we ask the same question, where the hell do all these people pee. They must have the bladders of elephants or the bulges in their clothes are nothing more than Depends. Well we weren’t there and bladder problems didn’t exist. Had our friends over where it was nice and warm, the bubbly was poured, hugs, kisses and best wishes were extended and we gave ourselves the usual pat on the back for staying awake long enough to experience another goodbye to the old and hello to the new.

What’s the new going to bring? Obviously none of us know, but we’re going to again declare a whole bunch of resolutions, all designed to keep us healthy enough to carry us through another year. Most will be quickly abandoned, but I’m happy to announce that I kept one going for all of 2009.

Last year I resolved to lose some weight. No crash thing, just an attempt to alter my life style a little. I’m proud to say that it worked, total weight loss for the year, forty six pounds. Planned to do my best and continue the adjustment in 2010, want to lose another fifteen (twenty would be great, but I have to be realistic). Am also going to try and set up an exercise program at the YMCA, but that might be a tougher resolution to keep. Will keep my fingers crossed.

Here’s wishing you success with yours if you’ve made them for 2010.

Why, why, why?

I was sitting peacefully perusing a Jacque Pepin recipe when I heard it, the sound of my friend Jim’s plow. I opened the garage door to say hello and was surprised to see that last night’s snowstorm had dropped about six inches of that white stuff. After my hello’s I turned to go back inside and spotted my golf clubs standing in the corner like a lonely, cold sentinel beckoning me to walk over there and embrace them and once again put them to use. We’ve had a few years where golf was played far into the winter, but not much of a chance this year as at least 14 inches have already fallen in Southington and much more in other parts of the state.
It was then that a familiar thought came back into my head. Why in the world did my Polish ancestors settle up here in merry old New England? Why not Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia (Savannah is nice). Without question, New England has its charm, wonderful fall foliage, and a lot more, but on a morning like this it really “sucks”, unless of course you’re young and have no problem propelling yourself down a frozen slope. This aging body has reached a point where sitting by a roaring fire is the preferred activity. I’m not one who enjoys hot weather, but I feel I could probably have learned to adjust to sweating a little more.

Well at least everyone will get that wished for White Christmas, don’t see a thaw coming to melt it away. Another thought just popped in. Why to bears get to sleep away the winter. Have to try that some day.

Wait Staff Do's and Don'ts

While surfing the Yahoo website I ran across an article by a New York Times writer who outlined fifty no-no’s for restaurant staffers. I found it quite interesting and thought I would pass it on to my fellow restaurant goers. Although the list is quite thorough, I’m sure we can even add to the list.

50 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do

1. Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting.
2. Do not make a singleton feel bad. Do not say, “Are you waiting for someone?” Ask for a reservation. Ask if he or she would like to sit at the bar.
3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived.
4. If a table is not ready within a reasonable length of time, offer a free drink and/or amuse-bouche. The guests may be tired and hungry and thirsty, and they did everything right.
5. Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated.
6. Do not lead the witness with, “Bottled water or just tap?” Both are fine. Remain neutral.
7. Do not announce your name. No jokes, no flirting, no cuteness.
8. Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment.
9. Do not recite the specials too fast or robotically or dramatically. It is not a soliloquy. This is not an audition.
10. Do not inject your personal favorites when explaining the specials.
11. Do not hustle the lobsters. That is, do not say, “We only have two lobsters left.” Even if there are only two lobsters left.
12. Do not touch the rim of a water glass. Or any other glass.
13. Handle wine glasses by their stems and silverware by the handles.
14. When you ask, “How’s everything?” or “How was the meal?” listen to the answer and fix whatever is not right.
15. Never say “I don’t know” to any question without following with, “I’ll find out.”
16. If someone requests more sauce or gravy or cheese, bring a side dish of same. No pouring. Let them help themselves.
17. Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait.
18. Know before approaching a table who has ordered what. Do not ask, “Who’s having the shrimp?”
19. Offer guests butter and/or olive oil with their bread.
20. Never refuse to substitute one vegetable for another.
21. Never serve anything that looks creepy or runny or wrong.
22. If someone is unsure about a wine choice, help him. That might mean sending someone else to the table or offering a taste or two.
23. If someone likes a wine, steam the label off the bottle and give it to the guest with the bill. It has the year, the vintner, the importer, etc.
24. Never use the same glass for a second drink.
25. Make sure the glasses are clean. Inspect them before placing them on the table.
26. Never assume people want their white wine in an ice bucket. Inquire.
27. For red wine, ask if the guests want to pour their own or prefer the waiter to pour.
28. Do not put your hands all over the spout of a wine bottle while removing the cork.
29. Do not pop a champagne cork. Remove it quietly, gracefully. The less noise the better.
30. Never let the wine bottle touch the glass into which you are pouring. No one wants to drink the dust or dirt from the bottle.
31. Never remove a plate full of food without asking what went wrong. Obviously, something went wrong.
32. Never touch a customer. No excuses. Do not do it. Do not brush them, move them, wipe them or dust them.
33. Do not bang into chairs or tables when passing by.
34. Do not have a personal conversation with another server within earshot of customers.
35. Do not eat or drink in plain view of guests.
36. Never reek from perfume or cigarettes. People want to smell the food and beverage.
37. Do not drink alcohol on the job, even if invited by the guests. “Not when I’m on duty” will suffice.
38. Do not call a guy a “dude.”
39. Do not call a woman “lady.”
40. Never say, “Good choice,” implying that other choices are bad.
41. Saying, “No problem” is a problem. It has a tone of insincerity or sarcasm. “My pleasure” or “You’re welcome” will do.
42. Do not compliment a guest’s attire or hairdo or makeup. You are insulting someone else.
43. Never mention what your favorite dessert is. It’s irrelevant.
44. Do not discuss your own eating habits, be you vegan or lactose intolerant or diabetic.
45. Do not curse, no matter how young or hip the guests.
46. Never acknowledge any one guest over and above any other. All guests are equal.
47. Do not gossip about co-workers or guests within earshot of guests.
48. Do not ask what someone is eating or drinking when they ask for more; remember or consult the order.
49. Never mention the tip, unless asked.
50. Do not turn on the charm when it’s tip time. Be consistent throughout.

The End of the Quest

I think everyone has had a meal that they consider memorable. Most, I’m sure remember the good one, while I on the other hand remember the bad. Years ago, not sure how many, Marge and I joined our friends on a trip to Amish Country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. While there we did all the usual touristy things, one of which is driving through the beautiful, and peaceful countryside. The Sunday of this particular trip we headed out into the Amish farm country and headed toward Blue Ball, Pa, one of the many small towns with the strange and sometime suggestive names like, Blue Ball, Intercourse, Bird-in-Hand, and Paradise etc. Blue Ball being especially intriguing, became our destination. After enjoying the scenery for quite some time, we realized that we were all a little hungry so we began looking for a restaurant. This became a bit of a problem, weren’t many places to eat in good old Blue Ball Pa. Finally spotted a place and pulled in. I don’t think they were too happy to see us, no other customers, and the wait staff looked as though they wanted to close and go home. They did, however, seat us and took our orders. Marge and our friends ordered a turkey dinner while me, always the different one, ordered roasted chicken.

Well, let me tell you, this chicken must have spent the previous few weeks in the coop doing pushups, deep knee bends and running miles and miles on a chicken tread mill, because this was absolutely the toughest, rubbery chicken imaginable. I literally could not chew or break this meat down to a point of swallowing and for a man with my appetite; this had to be a first. Honestly, you coud not believe how tough this bird was. At the time, I was, needlessly disturbed (you think), but later we had many laughs about the “Rubber Chicken of Blue Balls”. It really has been a lot of fun talking about it over the years.
Our friends have been back to the area many times and tried to find that “Rubber Chicken Restaurant” again, but with no success.

Well, guess what? We were back in Amish land this past week and decided to give the quest another shot. During our quest we decided that perhaps it was not in Blue Ball after all, but in an adjoining town so we continued down the road to New Holland and lo and behold before our eyes stood the Peoples Restaurant (now we even had a name) alias the “Rubber Chicken Restaurant”. We even decided to have lunch there in honor of our memorable rubber chicken episode. None of the same excitement this time, there were new owners and no chickens exercising in the back yard. I even ordered chicken rice soup, with the hope of a new adventure, but no tough meat in this one. Although the one piece of meat the size of a dime was a little laughable, but pretty tender.

We’re all quite saddened that the quest is over, but I will still occasionally bore people with my rubber chicken escapade.

Here we go again

First of all, before I proceed with this Blog entry I need to apologize. When I decided to create a Blog Site I intended to come up with some real entertaining and stimulating stuff. In reviewing my previous entries I found that many dealt with the trials and tribulations of advancing age. In all honesty I do not need to be reminded, but I’m sorry to say that conversations amongst friends and acquaintances all revolve around the effects of advancing age. Are any of you experiencing the same thing?

As an example, yesterday I played in a golf tournament sponsored by the Calendar House which is the Senior Center in Southington, Connecticut. Here’s four guys out for a good time on the links. Know what we talked about? Frequency of nighttime urination, new procedures on enlarged prostates, how many times we get up during the night. How come so many of us are wide awake at 4:00 A.M. in the morning, shouldn’t we form some kind of early bird club. Strange how we slept like rocks till all hours a few years back and now we’re clicking away madly on our remotes to find something decent to watch at 4:00 besides infomercials.

You must agree that all of this is not even remotely exciting, but that’s not the worst of it. Never, and I mean never, ask any of these elderly gentlemen how they’re feeling, because by God you better be prepared to find out. I now know more about bypass surgery, high blood pressure, high sugar counts and enough other medical problems to create a little journal.

Then there’s the discussion about the diminished length of their tee shots. All the technology available today doesn’t appear to add the necessary yardage. I must say that hitting the ball from the senior tees does help a little. That’s one of the very few advantages of advancing age along with an occasional senior discount and getting away with some things that only seniors can get away with.

I will say that I did have a pleasant surprise this past weekend. Our High School Class of 1952 held a little class reunion pizza party. We had our 55^th a couple of years ago, but we decided that at our age we shouldn’t wait every five years. The surprise was that everyone was so much older looking than me…….lol. See how boring this stuff is.

Now you know why I apologized right at the start.

Well, let's away from the old stuff. Marge and I, along with our friends once again completed the Connecticut Wine Trail. We visited 19 of the possible 24 wineries on the trail. Now we wait to see if they pick our passports at the drawing for many trips including a couple to Spain. This was our third year doing it. Of course with what we spend on these winery trips it would be smarter for us to just pay for the trip.