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Jefferson Starship? WHAT? I Can’t Hear You!

Posted in From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, tagged , , , , , , , on August 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Gold (Jefferson Starship album)

Gold (Jefferson Starship album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It helps to be somewhat hard of hearing when you go to a Jefferson Starship concert.  If you’re not, don’t worry, you will be for the next one.  I really can’t remember the last time I was at a real rock concert…ok yes I can. Last one was about 2004 when I saw Courtney Love in San Francisco and that only counts as half an attendance because I was seated in the reserved  balcony seats (relegated to those special friends of a band member) and so the din was more or less concentrated on the mosh pit people.  The time before that was about 1990 when I went to a Neil Young concert (don’t ask).

Last night we had tickets to see Tommy James and the Shondels and the warm-up act was supposed to be The Young Rascals.  Ok fitting enough for an aging bunch of baby boomers.  Well about a week ago, an email went out explaining how the Rascals road trip was taking a detour and Jefferson Starship would be replacing them AND if we wanted out money back we could have it.  I really didn’t want to exchange the tickets or return them; The pickin’s were slim enough this year for us.

So far we’ve been to The Raise the  Roof benefit concert and The Lettermen, who were just great.  Saturday night and the auditorium was pretty full.  Out comes a short stocky gray-haired man, a lanky blonde wearing black and white spandex tights similar to a court jester and then a youngish bald-headed guitarist and another aging-hippie type gray-haired guitarist with a bandana around his head.  So that’s what a rock group of the early 70’s looks like 40 plus years later!

Jefferson Starship was/is a rock band formed in the early 1970’s by several members of the psychedelic rock band, Jefferson Airplane.  I think some of them were still on an acid trip.  And for sure the guy sitting behind was definitely pharmaceutically happy.  It was a most unpleasant experience!  The music was loud and that’s an understatement.  The guy behind us was just as loud trying to carry on a conversation with a person two seats away.  I didn’t understand ONE WORD they sang.

And added to my general dismay over the music, I wasn’t feeling well either.  The night before, I felt a raspy throat and told Peter I was sure I was coming down with something.  By Saturday night, I was sucking on hard candy and Hall’s trying not to cough during the concert.  Not that anyone could have possibly heard my coughing anyway.  Well I did get sick and am still in the throes of a sinus infection post bronchitis.  Why do I mention this?  This blog was started July 23rd and here we are at August 2nd and I haven’t had the energy to finish this post or write another.  I hope to be on the mend soon and back to writing blog posts on a more regular basis.

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Cousins In The Kitchen!

Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , , on July 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A cooked rasher. Raw bacon rashers are an esse...

Mmmm bacon, bacon, BACON

OH what a good time we had!  Well I had a good time anyway, not so sure about Janet and Marian.  I say this because Marian had actually specified a couple of weeks ago, that we eat out -“No grilling”!  I wasn’t planning on grilling but I also didn’t particularly want to go out to dinner because we would never be able to “hang” out there for a long time.  I haven’t seen my cousins in more than a few months.

We have our rituals (thank goodness for some).  READ Janet and Danny brought all the mixin’ s for Mojitos.  What can I say?  Mojitos are the perfect summer drink, hands down.  If you remember from a previous post my cousin Janet travels with a well-stocked pantry, er I mean trunk.  You just never know what might come out of there!  So out came the simple syrup, the bunch of fresh mint leaves, the white rum, the bag of limes AND their own muddler.  Really!  I’ve said it before and will say it again, Danny is the master mixer of Mojitos.  Tart and slightly sweet, icy cold and laden with limes and mint, this drink just refreshes you with every sip.  We even got I-only-drink-gin-Peter to try one. Clearly he didn’t have as much rum in his as I had in mine (but then again no one else does have as much rum in theirs as I have in mine) because he was slurping that down like iced tea.  And then he made himself a martin-some things never change.

We had drinks and cheese and crackers and salsa and chips and all sat around in the air-conditioned living room – no beach, no front porch for us, no backyard barbecue – it was just too damn hot.  Actually I felt like I was recovering from heat stroke anyway from being on the beach for an hour.

I thought I had planned a fairly simple meal and I DID NOT ask either of my cousins to help me in the kitchen BUT even so, they meandered in and once again we had cousins cooking in the kitchen!  I think it’s great fun, I love having them there with me as we put together a meal.  I started frying bacon, Marian sliced tomatoes, I made a platter of lettuce leaves.  Somehow Marian felt putting the toast in the toaster was not befitting to her talents so instead she sliced the avocado and perfectly I might add.  Janet ended up finishing the bacon, I started getting out plates, platters and bowls.  There was a small problem;

My kitchen table seats four and we were six, the table itself could not hold all the food and the plates.  Janet figured out that if we put napkins and silverware on the plate we garnered a few inches and if we put the corn and salads on the counter and just put the sandwich fixings on the table it might work.  I’m sure this is a genetic characteristic she inherited from her mother, my Aunt Marian who always  managed to seat 24 people at table that sat 18 or some such number.  It has to do with exactly how much space (read width) one needs to be able to cut food using a fork and knife and get it into your mouth without bumping into your neighbor on your right. It worked.

Just in case you were thinking that the only thing we were serving was corn on the cob and BLT‘s, you’re wrong.  We had potatoe salad, two kinds of macaroni salad,  AND we had two kinds of bacon and tomato sandwiches.  You could opt for the traditional on white toast (the only acceptable bread for a BLT) OR you could have a bacon, avocado, tomato and sprouts sandwich on rustic Italian bread.  Yes I was channeling Martha, I admit it.

Dessert was a little of this and a little of that.  We had brandy cake backed by Marian, chocolate-covered strawberries from the ladies tea on Thursday, a few pieces of watermelon, and some cookies.  Sorry I even mentioned making hot tea….

Bob and Marian were considering taking the train home but Danny came to the rescue and offered to drive them back into the City before he and Janet wended their way back to their NJ hometown.  It being Friday night, I hoped they would make decent time – surely they would be going against the traffic.  

I did forget to mention one little thing and that is that although I think I am a cleaner-upper and put-it-away freak, my cousin Marian  has me beat.  If I was slicing something and laid the knife down for a moment to go into the other room and say something, when I came back the knife was washed and she was drying it!!! For Heaven’s Sake Marian!  I asked her to restrain herself till we at least were done with plates, pans and utensils before she was hell-bent on washing them.  I had to let her dry the dishes once the meal was over otherwise……..

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SOOooo When Life Gives You Lemons…..

Posted in BY THE WAY, Thursday's Top Ten, tagged , , , , , , , on July 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This image shows a whole and a cut lemon.

LEMONS

Yeah, yeah, we all know; “Make lemonade”

But what if you’re not thirsty?  What if it’s a cold day in March and really all you want is a cup of hot coffee?  And what if your mother, best friend, grandmother, business associate, sent you a bag of lemons from Florida?  Mmmmm why didn’t they send oranges or grapefruit?  Oh well, what to do?

1.  MENTAL HEALTH- (especially in February)

Lemon water can also prep up your mood and relieve you from depression and stress. Long distance walkers and world travelers as well as explorers look upon the lemon as a Godsend. When fatigue begins, a lemon is sucked through a hole in the top. Quick acting medicine it is, giving almost unbelievable refreshments.

2. COOKING CAULIFLOWER

Cauliflower tend to turn brown with even the slightest cooking. You can make sure the white vegetables stay white by squeezing a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice on them before heating.

3. REFRESH CUTTING BOARDS

No wonder your kitchen cutting board smells! After all, you use it to chop onions, crush garlic, and prepare fish. To get rid of the smell and help sanitize the cutting board, rub it all over with the cut side of half a lemon or wash it in undiluted juice straight from the bottle.

4. KEEP INSECTS OUT OF THE KITCHEN

You don’t need insecticides or ant traps to ant-proof your kitchen. Just give it the lemon treatment. First squirt some lemon juice on door thresholds and windowsills. Then squeeze lemon juice into any holes or cracks where the ants are getting in. Finally, scatter small slices of lemon peel around the outdoor entrance. The ants will get the message that they aren’t welcome. Lemons are also effective against roaches and fleas: Simply mix the juice of 4 lemons (along with the rinds) with 1/2 gallon (2 liters) water and wash your floors with it; then watch the fleas and roaches flee. They hate the smell.

5. KEEP GUACAMOLE GREEN

You’ve been making guacamole all day long for the big party, and you don’t want it to turn brown on top before the guests arrive. The solution: Sprinkle a liberal amount of fresh lemon juice over it and it will stay fresh and green. The flavor of the lemon juice is a natural complement to the avocados in the guacamole. Make the fruit salad hours in advance too. Just squeeze some lemon juice onto the apple slices, and they’ll stay snowy white.

6. CREATE BLONDE HIGHLIGHTS

For salon-worthy highlights, add 1/4 cup lemon juice to 3/4 cup water and rinse your hair with the mixture. Then, sit in the sun until your hair dries. To maximize the effect, repeat once daily for up to a week.

7. ALL AROUND MIRACLE MEDICINE

Lemon contains potassium which controls high blood pressure and reduces the effect of nausea and dizziness. Lemon water can reduce phlegm; and can also help you breathe properly and aids a person suffering with asthma.  Lemon is a diuretic – assists in the production of urine which helps you to reduce inflammation by flushing out toxins and bacteria while also giving you relief from arthritis and rheumatism.  Lemon water can fight throat infections thanks to its antibacterial property. If salt water does not work for you, try lime and water for gargling.

8. MAKES SOGGY LETTUCE CRISP

Don’t toss that soggy lettuce into the garbage. With the help of a little lemon juice you can toss it in a salad instead. Add the juice of half a lemon to a bowl of cold water. Then put the soggy lettuce in it and refrigerate for 1 hour. Make sure to dry the leaves completely before putting them into salads or sandwiches.

9. GET RID OF TOUGH STAINS ON MARBLE

You probably think of marble as stone, but it is really petrified calcium (also known as old seashells). That explains why it is so porous and easily stained and damaged. Those stains can be hard to remove. If washing won’t remove a stubborn stain, try this: Cut a lemon in half, dip the exposed flesh into some table salt, and rub it vigorously on the stain. But do this only as a last resort; acid can damage marble. Rinse well.

10. SOOTHE POISON IVY RASH

You won’t need an ocean of calamine lotion the next time poison ivy comes a-creeping. Just apply lemon juice directly to the affected area to soothe itching and alleviate the rash.

Stay tuned for more helpful ways to use lemons in a future blog.  In the meantime you now know what to do “when life gives you lemons”

 Special thanks to my friend Gail for leading me to the lemons!

 

 

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It’s All In The Eyes Of The Beholder!!!!!!

Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 30, 2013| 2 Comments »

I’m going to start with the back story….

Living near the ocean does have a few drawbacks, really very, very few;  in fact the only one I’m talking about is the dampness.  Not the kind that seeps in through the screen door and windows and makes the furniture feel damp and cool  – no, not that kind.  But living near the ocean, things like snails and slugs tend to appear unwelcome on my porch or sidewalk now and again.  I have abhorrent fear and anxiety about slugs in particular.

I mean they are so slimy and icky looking – like some kind of spineless blob from outer space that seems to traverse without legs.  I literally can’t stand the sight of them.  We’ve come home a couple of evenings over the years and found a long slug on the sidewalk and I got the willies whatever they are!!  I make Peter pick up the slug on a piece of cardboard or newspaper and insist that he toss it over the fence into our neighbor’s yard.  They (slugs) are SO GROSS.

Two days ago, my contact lens was bothering me and those of you who know me, know that I have a history of problems with the lens in my eye because I have some scarring on my cornea, but that’s another story.  I’ve been giving the eye a vacation from the lens and trying to use glasses.  However, my glasses are not prescription, just readers and since they are really only good for close up reading or work, I didn’t have them on when I went upstairs to change my clothes.  It was dark and the door to the porch was open and our neighbors across the backyard were home – thank God their doors were shut, they must have had their air conditioners on.  I took off my clothes and put on pajamas and hung up my pants and I was barefoot.   I moved the door to a more open position now that I was dressed and stepped away.  When I looked back and down, this is what I saw…..

OMG!!!!

OMG!!!!

 Needless to say I screamed, “Peter, Peter, PETER!”  Still no answer;  The TV was on upstairs and downstairs and he was in the kitchen.  I grabbed the remote, hit mute, went to the top of the stairs and screamed again, “Peter! You better come up here NOW”!  He came flying up the stairs, out of breath and said, “What is it? What? Is there a bat”?  I pointed to the floor and said, “LOOK! You better get it out of here, OMG how did it get in the house? OMG I could have stepped on it” 

With wife on the verge of hysteria, my husband runs downstairs and grabs paper towels while noting OUT LOUD that there were no more paper towels!!  He returned and got on his hands and knees while I fretted and fumed and worried sitting on the bed.  He stood up quickly with paper towel crumpled in his fist and I said, “What did you do with it?” He showed me……

A Hair Clip ! REALLY??

A Hair Clip ! REALLY??

I laughed so hard I thought I would either cry or pee in my pants!  I mean, “Really, really?”  All in the life and times of living with Lori.

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10 Things Turning 30 This Year – and Gail…

Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, tagged , , , , , , , on June 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The second logo for AOL, used from 2006–2009

The second logo for AOL, used from 2006–2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Gail who turns…. uh well actually that’s not a known fact, so instead in honor of her birthday and because it was she who sent me this information, here are 10 of the 30 things that turned 30 this year!

1. McNuggets

McDonald’s executive chef Rene Arend created the Chicken McNugget way back in 1979, but it wasn’t available in McDonald’s restaurants nationwide until 1983 because there simply wasn’t enough processed chicken to go around.

2. Swatch Watch

The Swatch Watch was introduced in March, putting a decidedly ’80s twist on classic Swiss craftsmanship. An analog Swiss wristwatch, Swatch competed with the trend of digital watches of the day.

3. Moonwalk

Michael Jackson introduced his signature “moonwalk” dance move during the TV special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever in which he reunited with his brothers from the Jackson 5. The move was shown during a performance of “Billie Jean,” and the crowd went wild as it happened. Of course, similar moves had been used before, but 1983 was the first time we called it the moonwalk, and the first time Michael Jackson did it.

4. Mario Brothers Arcade Game

Nintendo released the original Mario Bros. arcade game, unleashing the Italian plumbers Mario and Luigi into the game-playing world. Mario had first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981, but he was then named “Jumpman” and was a carpenter—presumably he spent the next two years learning the plumbing trade and developing a hatred of turtles. The same year, the laserdisc-based “Dragon’s Lair” was introduced, with fully animated graphics but annoyingly difficult gameplay.

5. Hooters

Hooters launched its first restaurant in Clearwater, Florida on October 4, 1983. Today the chain has more than 450 locations, and continues its reliance on waitresses wearing jogging shorts and tight tee shirts. From the official Hooters History:

Hooters was appropriately incorporated on April Fool’s Day, 1983, when six businessmen with absolutely no previous restaurant experience got together and decided to open a place they couldn’t get kicked out of.

6. AOL

AOL was founded in 1983, though at the time it was called Control Video Corporation (CVC). CVC’s first offering was “GameLine,” a modem-based game service for the Atari 2600 video game console. The company experimented with different business models (all involving online components) before hitting it big in the 1990s with its AOL dialup service.

7. Cabbage Patch Kids

Though Xavier Roberts’s hand-sewn “Little Person” dolls were first available for adoption in 1976, most people had never been to Cleveland, Georgia’s “Babyland General Hospital” to pick one out. Roberts worked with Coleco to mass-market the dolls under their new name, Cabbage Patch Kids. Though a few early-adopters picked up their Kids in 1982, the official launch (and the height of their popularity) came in 1983.

8. Disney Channel

On April 18, 1983 at 7am, the Disney Channel launched with Good Morning, Mickey!, a 30-minute compilation program featuring classic Disney shorts and a brief fitness segment called Mousercize (Jazzercise had been a staple of American fitness since the late 1960s).

9. Care Bears

Before the cartoons, plushes, and books, Care Bears were a line of greeting cards developed by American Greetings. When the characters premiered to the general public in February 1983 at the New York City Toy Fair, a series of six books and the Bears’ first animated TV special (“The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings“) soon followed.

10. J. Crew

Originally branded as “Popular Club Brand,” J.Crew launched in 1983 as a lower cost alternative to Ralph Lauren’s near monopoly on preppie-only clothing. The brand has been back in the public eye over the past half decade largely because of Michelle Obama’s fondness for the company’s clean lines and affordable prices.

So Gail, exactly how old are you now?  Happy Birthday tomorrow!!

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Alive and Well

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , on June 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

English: Albert Einstein, official 1921 Nobel ...

Albert Einstein

Seriously, yes I am! I know I have been MIA for a couple of weeks and one might think the worst;  like “oh dear, she must be really sick” or “oh my things must be going badly for her right now”…

Well I’m here to say NOT SO!  I have been busy, busy, busy.  And of course I am over-committed so unlike Einstein, for some reason I don’t have enough hours in the day to do all that I want to do and I have pushed off writing a blog.  On the other hand since I am a staunch believer in the fact that people do what they want to do all the time, I may have to try to be more honest with myself and my readers.  

It’s true I have been working and the fruits of those labors came true when I was able to list a property for sale in my building.  It took a few visits and a lot of time spent staging it but it was well worth it.  I put it on the market on Friday and the first showings and Open House were on Sunday and on Monday we had one offer, on Tuesday we two offers, on Wednesday we had three offers. On Thursday I l left town to fulfill my other business obligation.  It’s not very easy to serve two masters in two different states even if they are adjacent.

Someone will surely suffer or both and neither will be happy and then I’ll be out on both accounts.  So this weekend I have to settle the issue and am dreading the conversation.  I don’t want to let anyone down, I commit and I stay with it, I take responsibility to a degree that actually is self-destructive by putting other people’s needs above my own.  This time my own level of stress has been so great that I am going to push through my anxiety and confront the issue.  So many factors to consider.

So busy with two jobs, running between two states and all the rest of life’s miseries still in place, although I haven’t written any blogs in two weeks, I have found time to play Scrabble, I did get a pedicure, I did have breakfast with a friend, I did play one game of Mah Jongg and I did go out one night to dinner and a show with friends and I did go to the doctor’s one day.   Well that’s the truth dear readers and I did all that rather than try to write a blog.  

Did I have writer’s block? No, my friend Gail has sent me several articles I have saved because I want to use the material.  There was one reason I postponed and postponed and it began on Mother’s Day.  I wanted to write a loving blog in memory of my mother but instead we were out and then back in the car to NYC and then back into a grinding routine.  My birthday followed shortly after and I wanted to write about this particular birthday and my mother.  I started many times to formulate it in my head.  I knew it was going to be heavy and so I kept procrastinating.  Memorial Day came and went and we had company and we went to a barbeque and we went out to dinner and then we worked here in NJ and then home again-still the blog haunts me.  

I may have to try to write it soon, I think it will be cathartic.

This weekend is for seeing a first cousin who I haven’t seen since she was little and I have no idea of how many years have passed. She and another first cousin who I have never met – And this is on my mother’s side….the unwritten blog is sending me a message. But doesn’t it know I have to work tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow night and Sunday and then drive back to NYC really early Monday so I can go to work there?  Have mercy!

It happens to be pouring rain outside this morning which is making the whole yard a deep bright green.  I glanced out the window and am wondering where the newspaper is, perhaps it floated away.  

Have a delightful day, I’ll be back.

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Flags, Flowers, Friends, and Food Of Course — Memorial Day Weekend

Posted in Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 29, 2013| 1 Comment »

Oh Memorial Day Weekend!; Much anticipated, longed for as a respite from the daily grind and laced with hopes of warm sunshine and that exhilaration that comes from sticking your feet in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time of the new season.  It’s a weekend filled with…

FLAGS: 

If ever there were ever a town that was labeled All American, it would be Ocean Grove, New Jersey.  When we bought our cottage there, Peter and I both remarked on the proliferation of flags waving “welcome home”  from so..oooo many houses.   There were big flags, little flags and bunting in full array.  Flags unfurling  from porch banisters, mini flags dotting front yard gardens, large flags hanging on second story homes, bunting draped over front porch railings. It was just red, white and blue all over the place.  This year, of course, was no exception.  I saw a lot of mini flags outlining front yards and not quite as much bunting as usual.  Our flag has a rip in it and we know we have to replace it and with the wind we had on Friday made it worse and the flag actually managed to twist itself through the rip and presently is a bit tangled. I definitely will replace it upon my return.  I’m a big flag person so I put 3 small flags in the ground around the house and I hung a red, silver and blue sparkly star thing on the shed and laced a curly que wire covered with silver patriotic stars all around Peter’s objet d’art on the wall of the shed.  Since we didn’t have a large group over for a cook-out, I opted out of using my star-shaped  dishes and my red and blue bowls (much to Peter’s delight).  

FLOWERS:

By Memorial Day, most of what is going to bloom has either done so or is about to;  The Daffodils are long gone as well as the Grape Hyacinths, however, the Peonies are popping and Lillies of the Valley are ringing their little white bells on the side of the house.  This is the weekend that the Ladies auxiliary sells flowering plants and I usually buy my Geraniums from them, but this year I was working on Saturday.  I was determined that before the weekend ended I was going to get some flowering plants for my porch window box and some Geraniums for the back yard table.  I love these Hello Summer rituals;  I plant some Basil (you can just taste those tomato-basil-olive oil salads), try to corral the Peppermint plants and surround them with clam shells.  By Monday, I was anxious to get going with my planting so Sarajane and I set off to Matt’s, a super fruit, vegetable and plant stand. I’m a regular customer during the growing season, picking up the BEST Jersey tomatoes and the sweetest Jersey corn.  It’s still early so the pick of vegetables is sparse but oh did they ever have flowers!  The geraniums were robust and lush so I picked out some pink and white ones for the front porch box and mixed in a leggy leafed purple flower and a cascading pink flowering plant, whose names I can’t remember.  Hurricane Sandy killed all of the flowering plants that had been growing on my front yard  stone wall.  It was with great sadness that I pulled out the dead salt-burnt foliage, I hope I can find something to replace it that will take hold before summer ends.  I did buy a variegated sea grass and planted out front where the salt water had killed one of my   Coral Bells.  It’s going to be a colorful year after all – even though I practically decimated the Butterfly Bush and the Morning Glories are coming up but look a little thin.  Well, we’ll see.

FRIENDS:

What was the best part of this weekend?  Why the friends of course.  Sarajane arrived on Sunday morning just in time for an outdoor brunch.  We hadn’t eaten breakfast outside yet and with the warm sunshine and clear sky, it seemed like the perfect place to eat.  After all, if you have a backyard patio, if you don’t use it in the early summer, you probably won’t use it much later on.  Last 4th of July turned out to be so hot, my guests implored me to move the party indoors where the blessed air conditioning was on.  Fruit salad, fried eggs, turkey bacon and scones; Mmmmm good.  

And more friends….Joe and Michael and Lisa and Kelly and Marcia.  Drinks on their patio Sunday evening in the shadow of the melting iceberg.  We made a lively group as the wine flowed easily and Peter had his gin martini.  It had been a year since we saw Kelly and Lisa, but we just picked up where we left off, everyone is so at ease with each other.  Last time Peter and I were with Michael and Joe, we said it was like being with family and that only proves something Peter has often said, “Our friends are our family of the present” – So True.  We  met Marcia that night and instantly liked her; perhaps we will see her in The City.

Having house guests can by trying and tiring but Sarajane was a great help in the kitchen and good company. Come back soon!

FOOD:    

Red Cherries, Blue Curacao and White Cream of Coconut - A REAL Patriotic Drink

Red Cherries, Blue Curacao and White Cream of Coconut – A REAL Patriotic Drink

Speaking of our house guest and food being the topic, we were treated to Bananas Foster and grilled peaches with vanilla ice cream.  The bananas complemented my pancakes – that was another outdoor breakfast and again a beautiful day to eat outside.  Monday evening we decided to cook out;  Marinated chicken breasts on the grill (and thanks to Sarajane, they remained moist and were cooked perfectly), Jersey tomatoes with basil (from my new little plant) and mustard potato salad with fresh dill. A really lovely meal capping a lovely weekend.  But let me rewind a little because I can’t finish this blog without going into some detail about dinner on Sunday night.

After a significant quantity of wine at Joe’s we all headed to Asbury Park to go to Old Man Rafferty’s.  The young’uns decided to walk there and I opted for the comfort of my car.  We did beat them there even though Joe was sure they would get there first – I wonder if he used a whip or a cattle prod lol.  Anyway, I walked into the restaurant, announced that we were here for the Lugo reservation.  The host inquired if we were a party of 8 and I said yes.  He then stated that when the entire party was there, he would seat us. I friggin’ hate that!  And I asked him if he were planning to turn the table in the time before the rest arrived!  Oh my, did I mention that the wine had been flowing easily at Joe’s?  Thank God, they arrived within 2 minutes and we all sat down.  Now NJ restaurants are big, and certainly much bigger than 99% of New York city restaurants, however, even in this large restaurant  our group stood out or should I say were heard out.  Well you know how hard it is for 8 people to have multiple conversations especially when the table is not a round one.  I noticed that the couple sitting next to us were disturbed to say the least with our decibel level and the fact that they left after just having soup was probably the most convincing point. Oh well…. Joe likes to tease us about being Grandpa and Grandma, oh actually he said Great-Grandpa;  Yes well we are older than the rest of them BUT it wasn’t us who was ordering Tiki drinks, throwback to the 50’s!  And speaking of throwback, you should have seen a certain someone throw back those Blue Hawaiians!  Not one, not two but THREE! Yup, THREE! Whoooheee, did we have fun!

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TITANIC!! The Cottage Is Hit By An Iceberg

Posted in Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , , on May 27, 2013| 1 Comment »

Really who doesn’t love a 3 day weekend?  And what a great time of the year to have one too!  The beach is supposed to officially open…. And here’s how it went down.

We arrived a day early as did our friends Joe and Michael, all anticipating a long leisurely weekend with house guests.  Joe and Michael were expecting Lisa and Kelly and Sarajane would join us on Sunday so we could all have our 2nd annual Memorial Day cookout with them.  I was looking forward to lovely afternoon and catching up with the California contingency and Joe and Sarajane hadn’t seen each other in a while.  I bet you know where this is heading…..best laid plans!

Joe called me on Friday morning with disastrous news;  Upon arrival they discovered that their refrigerator had broken down and what a mess!!!  They weren’t sure whether the water filter or the ice maker broke because water was leaking out of the refrigerator through the NEW wooden floor boards and into the basement.  They were able to salvage a few food items and  I said I had room to store them until the repair man came that afternoon.  They tried unsuccessfully to open the freezer and couldn’t – apparently it had filled with water and then froze into a solid block. YIKES!  Well, Joe, Michael, Lisa and Kelly arrived carrying bags of food stuffs salvaged from the iceberg.  Joe expected the repairman in a few hours and so I left them a key to retrieve the food,  and surely Sunday’s cookout all would be fine.  NOT!

The repairman said he couldn’t fix the refrigerator because it had to defrost first; DEFROST? WHERE? In the kitchen?  I don’t think so!  Mind you the refrigerator is only about a year and half old and because they were expecting house guests, the freezer was FULL of food!   Joe left me a voicemail saying the cookout was off, maybe we could make another plan.  Oh Boy….

By Saturday evening we decided that we would all meet for dinner on Sunday evening BUT the iceberg is melting and Joe and Michael have to get it out of the house.  It has to go outside in the yard and Joe thought of  renting a dolly at Home Depot and trying to move it out.  I told him I had the name of someone he should call, actually two people.  I looked up the telephone number of a man and his sons who had helped us move some furniture out of our cottage and moved stuff in that we couldn’t handle.

Thank God, that contact was still valid.  Rafeek showed up Sunday morning with his son and in short order the iceberg a/k/a the refrigerator was out the door and in the yard and wrapped up in plastic.  And now let the melting begin.  I can’t imagine what everything in that freezer is going to look/smell like after a couple of days sitting outside.  

Sunday dawned sunny and beautiful and now that the refrigerator problem was temporarily solved, we decided we would all meet at Joe and Michael’s for a drink before we went out to dinner.  Sarajane was looking forward to seeing Joe again and the renovation of the cottage and Peter and I were looking forward to meeting Marcia, the third houseguest!  

We always have such a good time when we get together with Joe and Michael and Lisa and Kelly are delightful.  Everybody but me seems to be in advertising;  Peter knew many of the players from when he worked in sales promotion.  I enjoy hearing the stories, me, the Mad Men groupie.  

The House guests Kelly, Marcia and Lisa

The House Guests Kelly, Marcia and Lisa

Wine and deviled eggs on the patio and lots of chatter – and off to dinner we go!

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“Give Me A Number And I’ll Give You The Guts”

Posted in From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

 

Photo of Jackie Robinson in Kansas City Royals...

Jackie Robinson

“Give me a number and I’ll give you the guts” turned out to be a promise hard to keep.  When Branch Rickey , the General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers made the unprecedented and momentous decision to bring a Negro ball player into the major leagues, he altered the future outcome of American baseball.  Rickey had it in his mind to change the game, prove that he still had it, and assuage a gnawing age-old guilt he harbored from his college days.  And of course baseball was his life and his business and he knew the way to infuse life and money into it, was to win and win big.  His eye was on the prize of the World Series.

But back to the promise…Branch Rickey planned on adding a black baseball player to his farm team, the Montreal Royals with the intention of bringing that player into the Dodgers.  But not just any player;  The man would have to be good, he would have to be strong, he would have to have courage and conviction, he would have to have a thick skin and he would have to want the prize as much as Rickey did.  He found these characteristics and qualities in Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, a short stop playing for the         Kansas City Monarchs.  Rickey knew that the road ahead for this player would be fraught with every kind of discrimination that was still prevalent in our country at that time.  He knew and hoped Robinson who was known to have a temper, would be able to withstand the pressures and pain that came with the number.  All that Branch hoped for was, Promises made, promises kept.

In the 1940’s post-war era, baseball became and has remained as The National Pastime of the American public.  People of all ages flocked to the games;  It was an inexpensive and entertaining way to spend the afternoon and could also be a family affair.  There were two  white leagues (AL + NL) and the Negro league, each with their own style and fans and never the two to mix.  That is until Branch Rickey decided to break the color barrier.

Brian Helgeland directed this film based on the significance of Jackie Robinson’s role in baseball.  He extracted an excellent performance  from Harrison Ford.   Although at times, one might say Ford’s portrayal of Branch Rickey bordered on caricature, he was entirely believable and best of all, you forget that you are watching the former Indiana Jones.  I thought there were notable performances from John C. McGinley who played the Red Barber, T. R. Knight as Harry (Harold Parott), Rickey’s right hand man, and André Holland who portrayed Wendell Smith, the sports writer for the Pittsburgh Courier, and Lucas Black as Pee Wee Reese.  Chadwick Boseman embodied the moody and guarded reticence of the angry young Robinson and showed us a deeply moving  display of pent-up anger and frustration when Robinson was being horrendously taunted by Ben Chapman, (Alan Tudyk), the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

42 brings the injustice and ultimately the absurdity of racial discrimination  once again to the forefront of our consciousness much in the same manner as The Help.  We are collectively ashamed and cheered by the triumph of those oppressed characters, once again confirming the age-old adage that good triumphs over evil.  Rickie predicted it himself when he said, “ We can win only if we can convince the world that I’m doing this because you’re a great ballplayer, a fine gentleman.”

I found myself tearing up during many scenes, it was emotionally moving.  I Loved It!

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THURSDAY- Mais évidemment, il pleut de nouveau!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

THURSDAY – But of course, it’s raining again

The weather did a 360 and went from sunshine to clouds with the threat of rain and the temperature dropped a bit.  Already totally acclimated as true Québécquois, we didn’t let a few clouds and raindrops deter us from our mission.  Today’s sojourn was to be a walking tour of the Upper City;  Quebec City consists of an Upper City and a Lower City.  Hardly surprising as I’ve tried to relate to you the many ups and downs of the town.  Armed with umbrellas we set off;

"Neither snow nor rain nor dark of night..."

“Neither snow nor rain nor dark of night…”

We headed straight to the Starbucks located on the Grande Allee for a shot of caffeine and warmth.  Note the girls are wearing gloves today!  The Upper City is outside the walls of Old Quebec and the size and magnitude of  the buildings was a far cry from the stone houses in Vieux Quebec.  Below is a photo of the street and doorway of our B & B.

Chez Marie-Claire 64 Rue Sainte Ursule

Chez Marie-Claire
64 Rue Sainte Ursule

The Ursuline nuns are a real presence in our neighborhood.  There is a museum devoted to their order, they run a school and there are several plaques in the area with historical information regarding their historical contribution to the town.

As I said, the Grande Allee is home to several government buildings, the largest being The Parliament (pictured below).

The Parliament of Quebec

The Parliament of Quebec

The ediface is adorned with multiple life-size bronze statues depicting the heroes, statesmen and other historic figures.  We went inside just to see the lobby and went through a security check just a shade less than an airport.  Built in the late 1800’s it’s 8 stories high and quite elegant inside.

From there we took a quick look at The Plains of Abraham which on this day looked rather dismal and empty and certainly it was windier there than on the streets where the large buildings buffered us from some of the wind gusts.  We passed a very large castle-like building which was the Mènage Militaire.  

Time to eat again (quell surprise)!  This afternoon we seem unable to make a unified decision as to where and what to eat!  Everyday, I say I don’t care because I don’t usually eat lunch, however in the end I try to find something on the lighter side.  Since we couldn’t agree on a restaurant or an ethnicity, we opted to go to Epicerie Europeenne, which was essentially a small market with a superb cheese and olive selection as well as pre-prepared sandwiches.  Good choice for all!  We decided to pick up some local cheese, a baguette, some olives and some gin and Bloody Ceasars for a pre-dinner at home cocktail hour. Another good choice!

Au Revoir!

All photos courtesy of Matt Weinstein

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