Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘BY THE WAY’ Category

Birds Of A Feather Flock Together in Central Park

Posted in Fab Fotos, Obscure Origins of Common and Not So Common Phrases, Only in New York, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The origin of this proverb dates back to the mid-16th Century.  In 1545 Martin Turner used a version of this phrase in his papist satire, The Rescuing of Romish Fox; “Byrdes of on kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together.”   

In nature, birds of the same species often do flock and fly together.  Ornithologists explain  this behavior as a “safety”  in numbers tactic to reduce their risk of predation.

Well the only person shooting these birds is Murray and he’s using a lens, not a gun.  See for yourself this marvelous flock of birds.

Central Park

American Goldfinch

Murray Head, Central Park

Hermit Thrush

Murray Head, Central Park

Cedar Waxwing

Murray Head, Central Park

American Redstaart (femaile)

Murray Head, Central Park

Black and White Warbler

Murray Head, Central Park

Red Tailed Hawk

All photos courtesy of Murray Head

Read Full Post »

Six Word Memoir Monday May Be Back

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , on August 27, 2012| 1 Comment »

 

Six Word Memoir Monday has been MIA for quite awhile.  The reason as you all must know is that I was the only one contributing to this wonderful brain exercise.  Today just seemed like THE day to re-introduce the word challenge, so here goes!!

Sunny Sunday, rainy Monday day off.

Ebbing tide, waning moon, summer ending

Husband, cucumbers, mandolin, blood, Emergency Room

Next time use the guard on the mandolin.

Related articles

 

Read Full Post »

POPSICLE DAYS!

Posted in BY THE WAY, Finley Ray, Frankie, tagged , , , , , , , on August 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

 

Some people refer to the hot humid days of July and  August as dog days. Did you ever wonder why?  The phrase has a celestial origin;  In the days of ancient Rome, the brightest star, Sirius often rose in the sky either slightly before or at the same time as sunsrise.  This is no longer true, due to the precession of equinoxes.  Since the star was so close to the sun, it was thought that this star, Sirius, was responsible for the sultry days.

Finley and Francesca, smart as they are, have no concept of Roman history or for that matter, astronomy or astrology.  So for them, these hot days of summer can eeasily be summed up as Popsicle Days.  And why not?  What better way is there to wile away an afternoon after a couple of hours in the pool, than to just suck down a fruit-flavored ice pop.  And sharing it with your sister – PRICELESS!!!!

West Hampton LI. Finley Ray and Francesca Clark.

Not now, I’m licking my popsicle

Related articles

 

Read Full Post »

“I Walk The Line” – The High Line That Is….

Posted in BY THE WAY, Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, Only in New York, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

And actually it was Murray who was walking along the High Line and snapping photos of just what you see as you stroll along.  There are two schools of thought when it comes to the High Line;  For years this piece of real estate lay fallow, weeds and wildflowers flourished in this vacant narrow strip of land.  For sure there is a history of the High Line to be told:  In 1847 the City allows street-level railroad tracks on the West Side. Between 1851 and 1921 there were so many deaths due to this train traffic that 10th Avenue was nicknamed Death Avenue. By 1929 after many years of public debate, the City and State of New York and the New York Central Railroad agree on an improvement project which includes the High Line and adds 32 acres of parkland to Riverside Drive and costs over 150 million 1930 dollars – equivalent to about 2 billion today. In 1934 the High Line opens to trains running from 34th Street to St. John’s Terminal on Spring Street.  By the 1950’s the growth of interstate trucking leads to a decrease in railway hauling nationally and on the High Line.  In the 1960’s the southernmost section of the High Line is demolished.  In 1980 the last train ran through the High Line carrying 3 carloads of frozen turkeys.  In the mid-19080’s a group of residents who owned land beneath the structure lobbied to have the High Line torn down.  In 1999 The Friends of the High Line, a preservation group was formed.  From that point on, they worked with various City and State commissions to have the High Line preserved and turned into a public use space.  This was the first school of thought; that this unique piece of real estate should be open to the public, preserved to be enjoyed by the masses. It took years to explore all the possibilities, secure permission from various regulatory commissions, to hold design competitions, to get approvals for every aspect of design and construction and on and on through miles and miles of red tape until finally in 2009 a section of park was opened from Gansevoort Street to West 20th.  That was then and now in 2012, the High Line has become a major tourist attraction.  And that brings us to the other school of thought about what has progress wrought upon us?   A few days ago in the New York Times there was an Op-Ed article entitled Disney on the Hudson.  Here are the first two paragraphs although from the title itself, I’m sure you know where this is going! “WHEN the first segment of the High Line, the now-famous park built atop an old elevated railway on the West Side of Manhattan, opened in 2009, I experienced a moment of excitement. I had often wondered what it would be like to climb that graffiti-marked trestle with its wild urban meadow. Of course, I’d seen the architectural renderings and knew not to expect a wilderness. Still, the idea was enticing: a public park above the hubbub, a contemplative space where nature softens the city’s abrasiveness. Today it’s difficult to remember that initial feeling. The High Line has become a tourist-clogged catwalk and a catalyst for some of the most rapid gentrification in the city’s history.”Sadly, that’s how I feel about most of what was at one time, a unique place or event in our great City.  I really don’t like enormous crowds anywhere and long lines are distressing, not to mention the weariness of dodging slow-moving gawkers. Oh well now I sound like a cranky curmudgeon New Yorker!   Anyway here is the link to the entire piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/opinion/in-the-shadows And now that brings us a couple of days ago when Murray took these photos:

High Line NYC, graffiti

“I Wonder Who’s Kissing You Now”

View From My Window

Broken Dreams

Rec-reate-Advocate-Procreate

ONE WAY

KEEP OUT

All photos courtesy of Murray Head

Read Full Post »

NEIL SEDAKA – 60 Years of Love Songs-Telling It Like It Is!

Posted in From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, Ha-P 2 B in OG, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 19, 2012| 1 Comment »

American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. Taken ...

American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. Taken at the 2007 Scream Awards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When you hear someone say, “Neil Sedaka,”  what do you think of?  I believe most people think of some 50’s simplistic Rock and Roll tune, like  the happy-go-lucky-even-if-slightly-naieve, Next Door To An Angel.  If that’s what you’re thinking, then please read on because  the next time you hear  the name, Neil Sedaka, you’re going to think twice. NO, not twice more like somewhere between 300-500 – that’s how many songs he wrote.  Neil Sedaka is a consummate composer.  I tried to do some quick research and find the answer to this burning question – just how many songs did Neil Sedaka write and/or cowrite?  I found a list of about 270 titles and in Wikipedia, it says he wrote 500.  Either way, it’s one hell of a lot of musical talent.

Neil Sedaka was playing the piano when he was eight years old.  When he was in high school in Brooklyn, NY he formed a Doo Wop group with now-famous classmates, known as The Tokens.  He was accepted into the prestigious Julliard School of Music in Manhattan, where his parents hoped he would become a concert pianist.  He is a concert pianist, he just doesn’t perform as one – believe me he plays beautifully as he demonstrated tonight at the end of his concert.

BUT tonight’s concert inspired this blog, not so much as a review of his performance but rather more as an homage to his enduring creative talent, a God-given gift (his words).  I wanted to use the word, genius, however, genius connotes (to me anyway) a talent at an extraordinary  level.  Maybe he is composing at an extraordinary level and I don’t recognize it because he makes it seem so easy.   As he said; he sits at the piano, comes up with a tempo, then a melody and then lyrics.  Sounds simple, right?  NOT!  

For me, this evening was yet another trip down nostalgia lane.  Oh those songs!  I think I sat there with a lump in my throat for most of the evening and a couple brought tears to my eyes.  The love songs had lyrics that pluck at your heart-strings.  I guess when you’re a woman of a certain age you can’t help but remember where you were, who you were with and when.  I can’t tell you what I had for dinner 4 nights ago, but I knew every word to every song!  Scary isn’t it?  And most of all I think his lyrics tell it like it is. Mr. Sedaka said that he drew inspiration for his songs from his family and friends.  And the he told us he has been married to the lovely Leba, his wife of 50 years.  She must truly be the love of his life – how else could one feel and express such emotion.  From heartbreak to regrets, to wishing and dreaming of true love, and  from longing to loving forever, the music plays on, the romance continues and all in words you can clearly understand and remember!  

The following are just a few of the songs performed this evening:

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Love Will Keep Us Together

Laughter In The Rain

And also the sad but very real Solitaire, Lonely Night, Should Have Never Let You Go, I Let You Walk Away.   The lyrics are haunting.  Often at a concert, the performer introduces some new song they’ve written or recorded and I have mostly been disappointed.  Not so tonight.  Neil Sedaka is still writing songs and sang one from a few years ago, You.  Now that’s a love song!  It had to appeal to the large majority of middle-age couples and seniors in the audience.  It is a story of the lifetime love between two people, very sweet. I loved it!

Neil Sedaka has been writing and singing songs for over 55 years.  The list is way too long for this blog, for as he said tonight, “I’ve a got a million”.  However, so many of the songs were hits and released many times over by various artists, I think you’ll know every one of them:

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen

Earth Angel

Carol

Alone At Last

Angel Eyes

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Cathy’s Clown

It’s All In The Game

Climb Up (Stairway to Heaven)

Proud Mary

Stagger Lee

Tears On My Pillow

The Diary

Related articles

Read Full Post »

6 Symbolisms of the Dragonfly

Posted in BY THE WAY, Fab Fotos, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged , , , , , , , on August 18, 2012| 1 Comment »

 

Murray sent me a terrific group of Dragonfly photos.  They were taken on Thursday and should have made the FAB FOTO FRIDAY post but as you can see, there was no Friday post.  SO today I’m posting the photos AND writing about the many characteristics and principles associated with this beautiful winged insect.

dragonfly, Central park

Beautiful Blue Dasher Dragonfly

Maturity and a Depth of character
The dragonfly, in almost every part of the world symbolizes change and change in the perspective of self realization; and the kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life.

The traditional association of Dragonflies with water also gives rise to this meaning to this amazing insect. The Dragonfly’s scurrying flight across water represents an act of going beyond what’s on the surface and looking into the deeper implications and aspects of life.

dragonfly, Central Park

Brown Hawker Dragonfly

Power and Poise
The dragonfly’s agile flight and its ability to move in all six directions exude a sense of power and poise – something that comes only with age and maturity.
The dragonfly can move at an amazing 45 miles an hour, hover like a helicopter fly backwards like a hummingbird, fly straight up, down and on either side. What is mind blowing is the fact that it can do this while flapping its wings a mere 30 times a minute while mosquitoes and houseflies need to flap their wings 600 and 1000 times a minute respectively.

The awe inspiring aspect is how the dragonfly accomplishes its objectives with utmost simplicity, effectiveness and well, if you look at proportions, with 20 times as much power in each of its wing strokes when compared to the other insects. The best part is that the dragonfly does it with elegance and grace that can be compared to a veteran ballet dancer. If this is not a brazen, lazy, overkill in terms of display of raw power, what is?

blue dasher dragonfly, Central Park

Poised to Perfection

Defeat of Self Created Illusions
The dragonfly exhibits iridescence both on its wings as well as on its body. Iridescence is the property of an object to show itself in different colors depending on the angle and polarization of light falling on it.

This property is seen and believed as the end of one’s self created illusions and a clear vision into the realities of life. The magical property of iridescence is also associated with the discovery of one’s own abilities by unmasking the real self and removing the doubts one casts on his/her own sense of identity. This again indirectly means self discovery and removal of inhibitions.

2 blue dasher dragonflies, Central Park

Not An Illusion-Two Blue Dashers

Focus on living ‘IN’ the moment
The dragonfly normally lives most of its life as a nymph or an immature. It flies only for a fraction of its life and usually not more than a few months. This adult dragonfly does it all in these few months and leaves nothing to be desired. This style of life symbolizes and exemplifies the virtue of living IN the moment and living life to the fullest. By living in the moment you are aware of who you are, where you are, what you are doing, what you want, what you don’t and make informed choices on a moment-to-moment basis.

This ability lets you live your life without regrets like the great dragonfly.

Brown Hawker dragonfly

In the Moment

The opening of one’s eyes
The eyes of the dragonfly are one of the most amazing and awe inspiring sights. Given almost 80% of the insect’s brain power is dedicated to its sight and the fact that it can see in all 360 degrees around it, it symbolizes the uninhibited vision of the mind and the ability to see beyond the limitations of the human self. It also in a manner of speaking symbolizes a man/woman’s rising from materialism to be able to see beyond the mundane into the vastness that is really our Universe, and our own minds.

Here’s Looking At You Kid

All photos courtesy of Murray Head

Text from Wikipedia

 

Related articles

 

Read Full Post »

JULIA CHILD – Wise Words from the Magician in the Kitchen

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Everyday Food, From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, tagged , , , , , , , on August 15, 2012| 2 Comments »

English: American cook, author, and television...

English: American cook, author, and television personality (August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today Julia Child would have been 100 years old!  I wonder what she would have cooked for breakfast? This post is in honor of a great lady, a wondrous cook and wise woman.  I was never a fan of her food. I don’t own any of her cookbooks not even the famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking!  I like French food but I guess as a young 20 year old bride I was more concerned with mastering cooking first and learning more about Italian dishes than French.  

However, I have always admired her quick wit and sharp to the point remarks.  So in honor of that laudable characteristic of hers, I am posting some of her famous remarks.

1. “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.”

2. “Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
3. “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.”
4. “The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken. Bon appetit.”
5. “I think every woman should have a blowtorch.”
6. “Fat gives things flavor.”
7. “Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed. Eh bien, tant pis. Usually one’s cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile, and learn from her mistakes.”
8. “I think one of the terrible things today is that people have this deathly fear of food: fear of eggs, say, or fear of butter. Most doctors feel that you can have a little bit of everything.”
9. “I always give my bird a generous butter massage before I put it in the oven. Why? Because I think the chicken likes it — and, more important, I like to give it.”
10. “I think careful cooking is love, don’t you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who’s close to you is about as nice a Valentine as you can give.”
11. “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces — just good food from fresh ingredients.”
12. “Always remember: If you’re alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who’s going to know?”
13. “I just hate health food.”
14. “Learn how to cook — try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun.”

Read Full Post »

Signs Signaling the End of Summer

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , , on August 14, 2012| 2 Comments »

When did it happen? You’re never really sure exactly when sometime between the Fourth of July and mid-August, it’s apparent summer is waning like tonight’s moon.  The signs are all around us and they’re getting harder to ignore.

end of summer, sea grass

Lariope-Uh Oh!

Just like those hopeful crocuses signal that Winter is over and life renewing Spring is on its way, when I see the Lariope in my front yard bloom, I know with a heavy heart that Summer will soon be over!  And then there’s the candles in the window….

I have battery-operated candles in the windows of the cottage; White candles with light bulb flames, flickering or not, are status quo in Ocean Grove along with flying the American flag.  My house is very old and I don’t have the luxury of multiple outlets, so I have these candles which turn themselves on every 16 hours.  You set them when you want them to light and then each day at that time the candles go on.  Well, what’s been happening lately is that it is getting darker and darker and the candles still haven’t gone on.  Apparently we are now losing a full 2 minutes of daylight each day.  Time to adjust the candles to go on earlier…and you know what that means :(.

Of course you also can’t go into any store and NOT be assaulted with signs that the first day of school can’t far off.  File folders with exotic designs, 3-ring notebooks in a rainbow of colors, hundreds of pens, pencils and highlighters are visible everywhere.  

And need a summer dress or a pair of capri’s and you are SOL.  It makes me hot just to go into the store and see all the wool and knits and dark colors.  I feel like disoriented tourist wearing my  orange bermudas and sleeveless tangerine top as I walk around the circular displays of brown, black, gray and loden green outfits!

What signs do you see that tell you summer is over?

Read Full Post »

5 NEW (to me) Flavors of Ice Cream.

Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , on August 9, 2012| 6 Comments »

I LOVE ICE CREAM.  Everyone knows it, I’m not ashamed.  If there was only one food I could eat, it would be ice cream.  Certainly, my readers know I’m an ice cream freak, aficionado, crazy woman – any and all descriptive words apply.  Summer is my time to indulge in ice cream at almost any time of the day.  Seriously, seriously…I think I would show up at Day’s or Nagles when they opened up and have ice cream for breakfast.  What’s holding me back?  Well I already need to lose weight so every time I go for ice cream I have to deal with the angel on my right shoulder and the devil on my left and lately I noticed I’m holding my ice cream cones as if I were a southpaw!  And then again, the food police are in residence every couple of days and that really curtails my ability to succumb.

Besides my two favorite Ocean Grove ice cream shops, I also stop now and then at the Cone Zone.  Now there’s a place that knows how to make an ice cream cone.  It is two huge scoops precariously perched one on top of other.  I stopped there two days ago on my way into town from NYC.  Can you imagine the inner conversation I had with myself from Exit 11 on the NJ Turnpike till I actually arrived in Neptune?   I ran through  a list of possible flavors and plausible reasons of justification about stopping and eating ice cream at 1pm.  After much back and forth, I think the heat and humidity were the deciding factor, why not ice cream?

And that brings me to my latest taste experimentation.  For the past two years I don’t think I ate any flavor other than Peanut Butter Moose Tracks, and hey, it is STILL right up there in the top 3.  However, this year has been the year of the new flavor and flavor combination.  My stop at the Cone Zone which blessedly had no line (not like the two ice cream empires in OG) allowed me to look over the invitingly cold and colorful offerings.  I had a cone with two scoops and I almost always get two different flavors because you know life is short and you never know when you’re going to get that next ice cream cone!

1. Banana Caramel Chocolate Chip: Looking at the barrel through the glass, I could see thin lines of caramel swirled throughout the not-too-pale and not-too-bright (yuk artificial) yellow ice cream which was spotted with dark chocolate chips.  This one will be good and I can count it as a serving of fruit in today’s food pyramid.

2. Java Jolt: What could be better for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up than a bit of caffeine and in such a delightful form?  Cold, creamy, vanilla ice cream liberally laced with coffee and wide ribbons of chocolate fudge running through it? Nothing that I could think of so I had one scoop of this and one scoop of the Banana Caramel Chocolate Chip.

3. Mission Fig: Spending time in the Garden State is hardly an area of deprivation from the best fruit and vegetables, so not sure why this year, fruit ice creams are among my favorites.  But they are and this delicacy is to be had at Day’s .  Mission Fig has a delightful, delicate flavor.  It must have a vanilla ice cream base but it is not really white, and bits of fig and the distinctive taste and flavor of the fig puree throughout the ice cream is remarkable.

4. Chocolate Midnight Cookie: For the past many years, since the advent of Cookie Dough ice cream, makers have been tweaking and twisting that concept to myriad creations.  This one is a WINNER!  Even Peter orders it every time.  Deep dark rich-looking chocolate ice cream with very, very dark crumbs and pieces of very dark, well Midnight actually cookie mixed in.  YUMMY!

5. Blueberries and Cream: I had to taste test this one first because you know how artificial some fruit-flavored ice creams ; this one just sang of wild Maine blueberries.  Chunks of the fruit in vanilla ice cream and if you closed your eyes, you might think you were in Ogunquit.

Well I started this blog late last night, most likely out of severe disappointment because I literally drove to both Day’s and Nagle’s TWICE during the course of the evening while I was out doing a few errands and BOTH times BOTH places had such long lines and I was so hot and tired that I couldn’t imagine standing around for 30 minutes to get some ice cream to take home – by this time it was already 8:30pm and I hadn’t even started making my gazpacho – oh yes that again!  Now it’s 10:00am and I swear if I write one more sentence about ice cream, I am out the door and on my way!!!!

Project 366 2008 Feb 10 - 40/366. Not my favor...

OR maybe this one?

Related articles

Read Full Post »

Too Many Cooks…The Prequel

Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , , on August 5, 2012| 2 Comments »

English: Costco in Moncton, New Brunswick

The Discount-if-you-want-to-buy-large store

Just like Hollywood, I think I figured out a way to make one good idea into two!  LOL LOL, seriously but not too seriously.  I had started my blog post last week with what I’m about to write.  At that time I realized I was going way too deep into my day up to the point of my cousins arrival and not adhering to my title and topic.  I had saved the draft and my intention was to post this the next day.  Well we all know what the road to hell is paved with, now don’t we??   Or is that the seed of yet another blog post about the origin and meaning of well-known and often soon-to-be-obscure phrases?  We’ll see…. But back to the back story of last Friday’s visit with familigia and our subsequent dinner.

My day started out early enough, I had my list written from the night before. Where to go, in what order as well groceries needed.  However, I had also promised a friend to go to his new house twice to open up the door for  deliveries AND I would have to pick my husband up from the train.  AND I wanted to make some gazpacho before my cousins arrived.  I figured they wouldn’t want to go to the beach today, having just returned from Cape May and they would probably stay for dinner.  It was such a hot day, cold gazpacho sounded just right for tonight.

Ah but the best laid plans of mice and men (and yet another little catchphrase!)…. Too many phone calls to get out of the house really early but OK, I’m finally on my way and first stop is the dry cleaners to pick up clothes I need for Sunday.  Oh dear, the dry cleaning will not be in till later this afternoon.  Mmmmm  okay I’l come back later.  Then to Laurie’s vegetable & fruit stand to pick up the ingredients for the gazpacho and snag a couple of peaches too and maybe a few ears of corn – mission accomplished.  Next to Aldi‘s to pick up some staples; park the car, lock it walk to entry, oh I forgot my shopping bags.  A minor delay but nothing to worry about, I flew around the store grabbing what I needed and rushed out.  I just finished putting the bags in the car and my cell phone rings and it is the friend telling me that Lord & Taylor did NOT call him a half hour prior to delivery (so he would be able to alert me) but rather they were waiting at the house.  This turned out to be not so inconvenient because if I went to his house now, I could then go to The Lillagaard to drop off the refrigerated stuff.  I meet the driver and he has only 2 chairs!  That seemed odd for a dining room and especially one whose owner is an interior decorator.  But I signed for them, proceeded to drop off the refrigerated stuff and called him informing deed was done, and why only two chairs?  Answer – apparently, L&T goofed up the delivery.  Oh and by the way, would I be around on Monday for the Target delivery?

Back in the car and off to Starbucks for some well-needed caffeine and a cup of Pike’s for Pete upon his arrival and per his request.  Off to   Costco,  noting the gas price of $3.35 per gallon whereas two weeks ago it was $3.15!  I made a really quick trip through the mega discount-if-you-buy-giant-size store picking up what I needed for Sunday’s tea service.  I still have one more grocery store to go to but decide I should call Peter and see where he is.  Well,  apparently he is and has been waiting at the station to be picked up. So I step on the gas as I wheel out of the Costco parking lot and thereby cause the tray with his cup of coffee  to tip.  It’s an interesting maneuver to be driving, talking on the phone and trying to retrieve a full cup of coffee from the floor of the passenger side.  Of course I got coffee on my pants. I must have a full body magnetic field because food and drink stains are consistently drawn to me.  At home in Manhattan, I believe I am personally responsible for sending at least Korean children to college.

I picked him up and we did NOT go home or Pass Go and collect $200.  We went back to Neptune and to Wegman’s where the two of us set off  in different directions in order to shop twice as quickly.  Time was not on my side!!! I happened to pass the International aisle and the Goya bean display caught my eye.  Mmmm maybe I should make my hot summer night stand-by-Tuna Fennel Cannellini  Bean salad.  Last words heard as we left the store, “I wonder if I have enough gin at home?” Hey I don’t check everything!

Of course Peter didn’t have enough gin! So leaving me at home to begin chopping, peeling, dicing, and  juicing in the course of making gazpacho, Peter left to go out and buy some gin.  Which turned out to be helpful to me because now he could drop off the rest of the refrigerated stuff at the hotel.  And then my dear friend, Susan called.  I believe  she will read this so now she’ll know why I sort of rushed her off the phone and said, “Call me Sunday night when you get home!”

I don’t think it was much more than 10 minutes later that my cousins arrived and I realized I needed tomato juice.  Funny how some things go together!  I called Peter and asked him to pick it up, knowing full well, this would never be done without another phone call.  After quickly greeting my guests, I excused myself to the kitchen to try and get this gazpacho underway.  

If you’re wondering what happened after that and did not read the previous blog post, here’s the link;

https://pbenjay.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/too-many-cooks…in-the-kitchen

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »