What's For Dinner

What do you want for Dinner?

This is a question I pose to my wife nearly every day. " I don’t know" is the answer I usually get.  As exasperating as this answer is for me,  I totally understand why I get that response, and I’m good with it since I also have no idea what I want.  This evening’s dinner will be the 88,149^th in my life thus far. Since most meals are eaten at home, just think of all the decisions that had to be made.

There was no need for decisions for first few years of my life, mom just pushed her breast into my mouth and away I went. I've been told that I enjoyed that luxury a little too long, but that's another story. The next couple of decades were also a snap since that same mother made the supper (this is what we peasants called the evening meal) and there was no need for input from me.  Got married at nineteen and my wonderful bride was then given that nasty decision task.  I escaped again.  Hers was not an easy task as the children arrived, eventually a total of four, since their tastes did not jive with mine.  How she managed to keep us all happy at the table was short of a miracle, but she did it. 

As good practicing Catholics, Friday’s were a nightmare for her.  I love food and will eat just about anything and eating fish is far from a punishment or sacrifice for me, but unfortunately to get fish into the kids it had to be those “wonderful yuckie fish sticks”.  And let’s not talk about vegetables, one child (name kept out) detested string beans so strongly that it started to be funny.  Took her only a half a century to realize they were not that bad.

Well sitting back and enjoying having someone else make those decisions eventually came to an end.  With retirement and all the kids married and out of the house, it became my turn to do the cooking and make the resulting meal decisions.  At first it was rather easy, but after a few years it got tougher and tougher to maintain variety in the daily meals.  I found out how tough it must have been for my wife.  I enjoy food and love to cook so I’ve been very involved, even to the extent of putting together a family cookbook.

Even loving food and cooking still doesn’t make the daily dinner decision an easy one. The 88,149th meal should be a special one, don't you think? I’ve been thinking about just that all the while I was writing this little Blog. Took a while, but the answer finally came to me.

What a fabulous decision.........................we're go going out to eat!

Smokies Trip - 2015

I know you expected pictures of mountains, but I couldn't resist starting this Blog with flower pictures taken at our first stop on this bus trip, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.  These pictures were taken in the conservatory since most of the outside gardens and displays were not in bloom yet.  This place is spectacular and a visit should be included in your "Bucket List".
So, with just one stop, this trip beats the hell out of the last one.  We both felt healthy and looked forward to the week of traveling and stopping at places we'd never been to.  Our next stop was the "Natural Bridge" in Virginia, another spectacular work of mother nature.  The picture does not capture how impressive it is when you walk under that huge piece of rock.  A highway runs right over the top of the arch.

We then traveled to "The Biltmore Home" in Ashville, North Carolina.  Shown here are the Topiary gardens on the property.

The Biltmore is the largest private home in the country and continues to impress on every visit.  This visit was special for us because the Biltmore was featuring the costumes used on one of our favorite shows, (Downton Abbey).  A great deal of walking was involved and made me realize how terribly out of shape I was.


Onward now to Tennessee where we went through Pidgeon Forge and spent some time in Gatlinburg.

Just had to include a picture of Gibb's car.

We spent the next day in Dollywood which was far more enjoyable than I expected.

Even took a train ride, saw replica of Dolly's Tennessee home, saw shows which included one in a fifties type hamburger joint.

Next stop was Nashville where we stayed at the huge, beautiful Opry Land hotel complex.  Enjoyed a very interesting three hour guided bus tour of the city and its highlights.  Had a nice dinner at the Aquarium Restaurant, a back stage tour of the Opry theater and an evening performance of the "Grand Old Opry.  The nice plane ride back to Hartford gave us a chance to sit back and thank the Lord for the great trip and especially the good health to enjoy it.

Knew It Wouldn't Last

With April starting off so nice it appeared that any bad luck was placed on a back burner.  Somehow it got moved once again to the front.  I went to move Marge's car to make room for the carpet guys and discovered a totally dead Kia, not even whimper when I turned the key.  Not even a light on anywhere.  Appeared to be a dead battery.  Kia road service came out and was unable to start it with a boost.  Dead cell in the battery.  Crowley was then called for help.  Am sitting here waiting for their tow truck to pick up the car and replace the out of warranty (of course) battery.  Why they just can't bring out a battery and replace the bad one is something I don't quite understand.

On the bright side the carpet people were able to use the other half of the garage to get the carpet in and do their thing.  They did a great job and everything else surprisingly went well.  Cellar is starting to look as good, and even better than it did before.  Now of course comes the tough stuff, moving furniture, computer, printers and everything else (six loaded boxes) back in and sorted.  New rug, cleaned and painted furnace room has actually put a little smile on this usually sour looking puss of mine.

House has been a little crazy this week.  Grandchildren all over the place.  Watching two of them while parents are vacationing on Kiawah Island, but we ended up with three more sleeping over one night after they treated us to a dinner at Gobi Restaurant.  They gave me a lesson on procedures in the Mongolian type grill.  Good fun except for my bloody nose which appeared to put a damper on the experience.  Food was good, however, and we had a great time.

Still waiting for the tow truck.  Entire situation is screwing things up.  Marge had a scheduled meeting to go to.  Now of course I could drive her, but who's going to wait for the tow truck.  I guess I'll go start lunch, that should bring them here to interrupt things. 

Will keep you posted.  I'm sure you're all very excited to hear about all the things going on in my life.....................lol. 

April Arrives

April is into its sixth day and it's still cold, even snowing in some places...unbelievable, what a terrible winter.  Spring might never come, we're probably going directly to summer when we can start bitching about the heat.

On a happier note Marge and I are back to normal health wise. Followup appointments with doctors have had favorable results.  Cellar office has been totally emptied in preparation for the installation of a new rug.  The leak that caused the big problem has been fixed and with any luck I'll be able to begin putting the cellar together.  It will be a pleasure to get all the computer and printer stuff off the dining room table and back downstairs.  Hosting an Easter dinner for twelve without a dining room table was not the easiest task, but we managed to set the porch up to handle it.

In keeping with family tradition  our egg conking contest was held with Sarah Palko taking the Mary Shield's trophy, (to honor Marge's mother who introduced the family to egg conking) keeping it in her family after mother Karolin had taken it home last year.  Following the contest the lamb and kielbasa (smoked and fresh) were savagely attacked along with homemade cheesy potatoes contributed by Jodi Wisk, beet salad, cole slaw, the now peeled hard boiled eggs, assorted breads, and wonderful pastries from New Jersey compliments of our Grandson Corey who joined us along with his girlfriend Lisa.

Just had two new toilets installed to take care of some persistent  problems>  Not exciting, but a trouble free  installation is quite uncommon.  Clean up of the furnace room was also completed including a paint job on the floor and even the walls. Carpets coming tomorrow.....wow, what a start to April, even the Uconn girls helping by playing for tenth championship.

Now to stay healthy, especially since we're going on another trip later this month.  No cruise this time, most of the traveling will be by bus.  At least the driver would be able to drop me right off at the nearest hospital instead of me having to suffer in a stateroom for six days.  Itinerary will be in Pennsylvania and Tennessee and will include Longwood Gardens, The Biltmore, Dollywood, Grand Old Opry, and the scenery of the Smokie Mountains.

I've got to stop now because I'm starting to feel funny writing about all this good stuff. Starting to have bitchy withdrawal's.

Onward to March

After writing about the "February from Hell" I was hoping I could write a happy, positive one now that March had arrived.  Unfortunately it appeared that March wasn't going to be much better.  Still cold, still more snow storms and when a little thaw started the leaks into the house started .  Ice laden gutters blocking the melting snow forcing the water under the shingles and sending it into the house and porch.  Three days of squeezing towels gave me great hand exercise I never planned for.  Thanks to continued warming the leaks have dried up and some patches of grass have begun to peek out of the snow banks. Hooray!.

I'm sure those patches of grass are a welcome sight to the deer herd residing in the orchard adjoining our property.  With the several feet of snow covering the ground the deer have pretty much had to strip the buds off all the branches they could reach.  They have started to feast on all our shrubs.  The elegant yews in our front yard now sport naked twigs instead of the nice luscious green ones they once sported.  They've even resorted to eating junipers so it's hard to be angry.

On the bright side, Marge and I have pretty much recovered from our February illnesses and getting things back to normal at the house has been very satisfying.  Still a lot to do, but progress has been made.

THE FEBRUARY FROM HELL

Why the February from Hell?  You'll see.  Instead of boring you with all the horrid details I'm merely going to outline my reasons for the title.  It all started with February 2nd scheduled 11 or 12 day cruise to the Caribbean.
1. February 1st....weather looks bad for tomorrow. Bus taking us a day ahead to an overnight stay at a New Jersey motel.
2.Weather turned out ok for us, boarded and sailed away.
3.Semi enjoyed the next four days on board. Not crazy about this huge ship.  To me, not as good as previous cruise ships...too big.  We were even able to see "Mama Mia" nice show.
4. Good days end, shaking like a leaf, dizzy, wobbly.  Marge got wheel chair for me, went to infirmary.  Took tests, found nothing at the time.  Went to stateroom and Marge and I spent the next six days isolated and feeling like s..t.
5. Somehow managed to get off the ship and on to the bus home.  Don't remember the ride.
6. Got me home and into bed. So very sick they called 911.  Sent ambulance for me and took me to New Britain hospital.
7. Spent next five days in the hospital.  Had the flu along with other complications.
8. Finally released and recuperating at home.  Coming along I think, but still weak with some congestion.
9. On top pf all this we sprung a water leak and flooded the cellar with two inches of water.
10. Carpets destroyed, furnace needed some repairs.  New computer had a few problems, but is now functioning well on the dining room table.
11. Still a few days left in February but I'm praying and keeping my fingers crossed.

Now you know why I'm calling it the February from Hell.

What's Going On?

Doesn't this look great compared to the current

view from our windows.  We'll be looking at these type of views next week.  Taking a cruise on the new Royal Caribbean "Quantum of the Seas".  Looking forward to getting away from this wonderful New England winter wonderland.  

It's been a hectic month so far. Our children and spouses  recently treated Marge and I to a party to celebrate both our 80th birthdays.  The party started with a real surprise when we were greeted at the door by my sister, who came all the way from California. We had no clue that she was coming.  A very pleasant surprise because we had not seen each other in years.  A few others also traveled a good distance to join us, Marge's sister and Carol from New York, a Grandchild from New Jersey and my nephew Andrew and his wife Courtney from Maryland.  It was a super evening even though it was interrupted  by me when I had a little dizzy spell, went to sit down,missed my chair and ended on my ass.  Fortunately it is a fairly soft, large one, so no damage ensued.

All in all it was a wonderful end to a day that started out pretty crappy.  In the morning when we were headed to breakfast I began to back out of the garage, cut the wheel too sharply, bumped into  sewing machine cabinet (destined for the dump), pushed it into the wall, and made a hole.  Pulled forward and began to again back out, cut the wheel the other way and overcompensated, tore my side mirror of (by, by $400 or $500 dollars).  I have to say, however, that I maintained my composure fairly well, didn't throw anything, and didn't swear too much, only internally. I do have to admit that breakfast did not taste as good as usual after my unsafe driving performance.

Balance of the month did not fair much better.  Physical exam time at the doctors.  EKG showed some irregularity, so you know what that means.  See another doctor, more tests, 24 hour monitor, blood tests and you name it.  I'll tell you, getting old is a "Bitch" and don't tell me about those "Golden Years".  But it appears that I'll live to bore you some more with my tails of woe.

Oh, by the way, did I tell you I'm going to Myrtle Beach again with the boys to play some golf.  It's been two years since I've played.  There should be a ton of good stuff to write about after that trip...lol

I'm Back

I think I've run out of excuses for not posting anything to my Blog spot.  After complaining about my computer for months, I finally bit the bullet and went south for a new computer.  Once I finally made the mood I went hog wild and bought a new monitor (nice and big to accommodate an aging vision), a new laser printer, a new faster modem and even a new router (kept losing Wifi on the old one.  What a difference, now I only have to find the inspiration to get started again.  You kind of lose it after awhile.  I'm not sure that today is the day for any literary gems. This cellar office is so cold my fingers are getting stiff so I'm not sure I'll be able to jump start my brain.  I'll be satisfied to get a few words on paper. It would be a great start for 2015.  I really do enjoy writing  them and look forward to hopefully making my posts a regular, at least twice monthly, thing.

I thought today might be the time to update you about golf.  If you've read my past Blogs you know that I've pretty much given up on the game, not for lack of desire, but for a pronounced decline in golfing performance.  In fact the last serious golf I engaged in was back in March of 2013.  I was able to survive 7 complete rounds of golf in seven days in Myrtle Beach.  Since then the clubs have been gathering dust in the garage.  I have no idea how it happened, but in some sort of lost weekend type trance I am told that I said yes to joining the group on this years trip.  Heaven help me, these days I'm out of breath after one of my nocturnal bathroom trips.  This should be a trip to remember.  It should at least provide me with a great deal of Blog material when I get back.

Speaking of trips, we did go on one since the last time I posted anything.  Finally took that Branson trip that everyone talks about. 

Trip started out in Saint Louis, saw the famous arch, went to Hannibal, Mark Twain's home town, then to Branson, Mo., where we were able to enjoy five different shows in three days.

Pre show entertainment

  Unbelievable how many are available.  For the record, every audience was filled with no one but senior citizens.  Tour bus companies would file for bankruptcy without us.

Sun Studios where music history was made

Elvis's Graceland. Purchased when he was only 22

Final destination was Memphis Tenn where we toured Elvis Pressley's Graceland, Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated, and the recording studio, Sun Studio where Elvis and the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Perkins and Johnny Cash made an impact on the music world.

I've been trying to avoid all those getting old jokes that enter the internet.  Getting old is tough enough without being constantly reminded. The aches and pains are quite enough to keep us posted.. Unfortunately it's impossible to escape from one of those so-called  momentous birthdays, our 80th. Marge celebrated hers in December as will I in February so the kids are planning something next week to remind us.  I do hope they sent down to St. Augustine for a glass of water from that fountain of youth that Ponce De Leon was looking for.

Till the next time.

 

Finally a couple of diner visits

My desire to write about diners has been a real bust: an entire weekend in Pennsylvania without even one visit to a diner, what a bummer.  I started to feel that maybe I should abandon the project and just continue to fill my Blog pages with my current bitches.  I decided to continue my quest this past weekend after having breakfast twice at the “Blue Plate Diner” in Middletown, RI.  Middletown is right outside of Newport where most of our family (seventeen, missing three) was helping Marge and I celebrate our 60^th wedding anniversary.  Seventeen people walking into a restaurant without prior notice would send most places into a tailspin, but not a Greek diner.  Service was prompt, smooth, accurate, and the food wasn’t bad either.  Typical of the way diners handle things.  This diner could not be called classic, not built like a locomotive car but still loaded with chrome everywhere.  The diner appears to have been built on the spot, not transported from the factory or moved from another location.  Helping to make the diner a real diner was the usual 7 to 9 page menu.  Don’t you wonder how they can keep that many menu items on hand and still serve a meal that tastes fresh? I can’t remember ever having anything at a diner that I considered bad, but based on diner reviews I’ve read I guess I’m just lucky to have ordered the right meals.  Then again, it might be that I don’t have a very discriminating pallet.

Speaking of reviews, I read quite a few on the Athenian Diner in Middletown Connecticut where happened upon on our way from Newport.  The Athenian is in area I rarely travel in and was quite surprised to see it.  We decided to finish up our trip by having dinner there…wow, two diners.  This diner is one of three Athenians in the state.  It certainly was typical, large, lots of chrome, very clean and again about nine pages to read.  Quickly I might add because invariably after sitting and just opening the large batch of plastic covered pages, a waitress will appear with the dreaded question, are you ready to order?  I would need about thirty minutes of reading to make a decision that satisfied me since it’s not likely that there would be anything on the nine pages that I wouldn’t eat.  I settled for pastrami Rueben which was quite good.  Too big, but if that’s my only complaint, I guess I shouldn’t.  The rest of our party seemed to also be satisfied, with the only complaint being too large a portion. On a one to ten scale I think the reviews would have placed it at no better than a six.  Hopefully, some day I’ll be able to give it another shot.

Pennsylvania Reunion

My hopes and dreams for exciting new Blog material were dashed like a size thirteen landing on an unsuspecting spider.  The long planned excursion to Pennsylvania which filled me with hopes of visits to old, classic Pennsylvania diners and a side trip to see how my favorite (Yuengling Beer) was brewed never happened.   Road repairs detoured us from the diners I planned for, the Yuengling plant was not operating on Saturday, the only day we could visit and the only diner visit was the Milford on 209 for an impromptu hasty pit stop.

Did the next best thing, had a few frosty glasses of Yuengling at a Pizza get together with a bunch of Marge’s relatives the night before the reunion.  It seems that Marge has some influential cousins in Pottsville who rented or used the entire pavilion and facilities of a Pottsville park.  More Yuengling and a lot of tasty food catered by the same Pizza Restaurant we were at the night before.  Plenty to do, basketball, volley ball, horseshoes, and my favorite, sitting and people watching.  This was a “Shields Reunion” that hadn’t been done for years.  Our Shields contingency looked pretty sharp with everyone wearing dark blue T-shirts emblazoned with a picture of Marge’s deceased mom, dad and brother……very impressive.

One of the highlights of the trip was a guided tour Marge gave us of the small town of New Philadelphia where she was born and lived some of her younger years. I think it gave her great pleasure showing some of our kids and grandchildren the house she was born in and the school she went to.  Amazingly a 96 year old neighbor still lived a couple of houses down and remembered most of her family.

I guess I’ll have to settle on a few local excursions to some of Connecticut’s classics, we do have 125 of them in our state.

Diner Quest Update

After doing my last Blog about the “Lost” Franklin Square Diner, I was quite excited about making some trips to visit some more classic diners.  Unfortunately it seems that so many of my plans, or call them mini bucket lists never seem to happen.  Since that first momentous diner discovery a few weeks ago the closest I’ve come has been multiple visits to the Liberty Diner here in Southington.  Liberty is diner by name only, no chrome, no train car appearance, no grill area to watch food being prepared and not even a nine page menu to confuse the hell out of you (their’s is only about 5 pages).  Can’t say that it doesn’t have other diner attributes, simple meals, good quantity, tasty, inexpensive and served by some very nice staff….been going there for years and have yet to be disappointed.

My plans to visit some of the classics is still on an active to-do list and in the next few days there’s a good chance I’ll be able to resume the quest.  We’re going to a family reunion (Marge’s) in Pennsylvania,  Pottsville area in particular.  Pennsylvania is home to many, many diners that fall into a classic category.  Hopefully I’ll be able visit a couple and bring you back some interesting reports. 

There might even be chance to visit the country’s oldest brewery and sample my favorite beer brewed by D.G. Yuengling & Son that has managed to produce quality beer in Pottsville since 1829.  They should know how to do it by this time.

CLASSIC DINERS AND MORE

Classic Diner on route 209 in Pennsylvania

Classic diners of Connecticut was the subject of a recent presentation at the Southington Library.  Marge and I, along with our very good winery touring friends (subject of prior Blogs) attended this very interesting program.  Later over “coffee and” we began to discuss the many interesting diners we’ve eaten in over the years.  One diner in particular peaked my interest.  When Marge was seven or eight her parents moved to a different area of town.  She didn’t want to change schools mid year, but not changing created a problem that does not exist in this day and age.  In those days, kids had to walk back home for lunch and then back again to school. Because of their new home location it wasn’t possible in her case because of the distance involved.  To solve the problem her mother bought a meal ticket at a diner near her school, Saint Joseph’s which was in walking distance for Marge to have a lunch.  Daily she would go to the Franklin Square Diner on Franklin Square, had her ticket punched and ate her lunch at her special booth in the diner.  The diner is not there anymore and hasn’t been for quite a few years.

I thought it would be interesting to do some research on the diner and learn about its history.  After days of Googling, Asking, and Binging with no results I was about ready to give up.  I made one last inquiry and only inquired about the Franklin Square area of town.  Lo and behold I found a reference to the diner in one tiny little paragraph.  It seems that the diner was moved over fifty years ago to a location in East Berlin, CT.  It’s still there, but from the outside it doesn’t resemble the classic diner that it once was.  A strip mall type structure has been built around it, but inside the old diner still remains with only cosmetic changes and a few additions.  During these years the diner has had many names beginning with Route 72 Diner and finally ending with its current name of Uncle D’s – Diner,  Hometown Grill.

With this discovery, we decided to begin making Connecticut diner visits instead of our usual winery tours.  What better place to start but to revisit the place where Marge enjoyed her solitary lunches so many years ago.  During our lunch Marge even visited the booth she sat in over seventy years ago. 

Lunch turned out to be quite good.  I opted for a late breakfast of poached eggs with their home made hash. Very good by the way.  Other meals included a very nice ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cole slaw and a huge pickle.  One of those old fashion Jewish Deli types.  A nicely cooked large hot dog was accompanied by some very good home made baked beans that had a great tangy flavor. Our waitress had my favorite three “P’S - polite, prompt, pleasant.  Prices were also very reasonable.  We’ll go back again when the opportunity arises.

On to the next Classic Connecticut diner.  I’m going to try to make this a regular feature along with a few food tidbits.