Ok, ok...yes Tai Chi darlings. That Chinese exercise-looking slow movement thingie. Always a mystery to me, I liked how it looked without the slightest idea of what the hell was going on. Why so slow? How can you stand on one foot that long? How much exercise can it be? Marsha ran into us one day last week and was all a-flutter about the wonders of Tai Chi. She had taken A class the day before and was excited as all get out about it. She then invited us to join in, at only 6 bux it was cheap and would improve everything in out miserable lives. Ah well, what's to lose except your sanity. So last night was THE night. We went early, went thru the signup routine at the kiosk near the Joe Nelson Community Center door, paid the fee and sat outside Room B awaiting the arrival of our friends, the instructor and whomever else found this interesting enough to slog through. Soon the instructor came, changed into his Tai Chi costume and was followed by several others who did likewise. We, dressed in our sloppy but suitably loose fitting sweatpants and shirts as instructed by Marsha, our connection to this new world. Soon it was 6 pm, we went inside and lined up as it seemed we were supposed to and the action began without a single word being said...as though we KNEW what we were doing. I just tried to keep an eye on someone who looked competent and follow along as best I could which was...er ah... not very well. An Incompetent Waltz resulted with several episodes of falling against the adjacent wall or stumbling over my own two feet. Kelly had wisely positioned herself at the other end of our row so she wouldn't laugh at me. Soon the instructor, who has remained un-named to this point in the program, was at my side pointing out the (many) error of my ways. Leg straight, arm loose, no toe pointing...on and on. While quite kind in his criticisms I definitely did NOT fit the description of a competent trainee. The class was scheduled to be 1.5 hours long, we repeated the basic moves over and over again, very stiffly at first but soon less stiff and more sweatily (new word). I struggled through until an hour into the program I received a cramp in my right side and soon retired across the room into a chair to watch the torture of the rest. Over at 7:30 I thanked our Master for his kind instruction and waddled out the door in near agony, sweat pouring off my face. Home to cook dinner, watch some tube and climb into bed to read for a while before dropping off into the infinity of sleep.
Here's an example of the Torture of Tai Chi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvF6r6DOvc
This morning I awoke to a plethora of pains, my knees cracked as I walked, my shoulders hurt, my back was stiff as a board and even my arms ached. Oh boy, when do we suffer the pangs of hell again? Next Tuesday. Shit!
On another distant but sensitive subject...They Want To What?! You've GOT to be kidding! But I fear they are not...a read for you. Remember we are IN Earthquake Country and have damned little water as it is and the last time I checked you need LOTS of water to cool these reactors. LOTS! Here's the latest:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/30/BU071BB587.DTL
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Is There Any Wonder?
Herein lies the rub, as long as this kind of "information" is found as easily as I found it on the Web we will find a few ...a very few, who will use the knowledge gained to create mayhem and violence to society. The lack of morals in the perpetrators of the crimes themselves as well as that of the "instructor" is simply unforgiveable in today's hate-filled political climate. I rest my case.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=644_1259162918
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=644_1259162918
Saturday, December 26, 2009
The Bomb That Didn't
Northwest passengers certainly HAD a scare, a BIG one when a Nigerian national, a young man of 23, attempted to set off some kind of explosive device held between his legs (!!) on a flight from The Netherlands to Detroit, Michigan. What kind of dedication to a cause, what kind of depression, what kind of sickness would allow any person to attempt such a thing? In short, what was he thinking? Only 23 and fully aware (I suppose) that he was at least killing himself and every man, woman and child on board that aircraft. A monster? No...a mad killing machine. It would take much rehearsal, much training, much forethought and insight to do such a thing...and it takes something else...desperation. He is (I presume) guilty of the attempted murder of 288 others and his own attempted suicide. What kind of humanity did this young man possess? Could you do as he did? If so, may I suggest a rapid trip to the nearest shrink to have your head examined. A Prozac sir or madam, a priest, a good steak dinner with a loved one...like your mother ( oh no, not THAT!), a meeting with a certifiably SANE human. What's it LIKE to be so desperate? To lack that amount of humanity? I can't imagine it, yet many are and many live with it day after day. Maybe it's a wonder there aren't MORE of this incidents, there are MANY you know, it shouldn't be a surprise. Bombings occur all over this world, damn Mr. Nobel anyway ( http://inventors.about.com/od/dstartinventions/a/Alfred_Nobel.htm ).
This 23 year old man HAD his whole life in front of him, maybe it was only going to be an average to poor life but it was one, and if he lived to an average (In Nigeria) age of 47...he was half way there. Time for a wife, a child or two or three, a house, a farm, a goat or 4...or become a successful businessman, doctor, engineer or bus driver...sure, why not (the list is long I fear) but this person-of-interest chose to end his life at 23 in the belly of an airplane along with everyone else on board. Pretty bleak. Pretty bleak. He'll have a trial the outcome of which will be a life sentence in some god-forbidden hell hole somewhere in the US, a Federal Penitentiary I suspect. Deserves it? Oh yes, he deserves it if anyone does. Lonely places those prisons, 3 walls and iron doors clanking shut, not for me brothers and sisters, not for me or YOU, for him though, for him. In later days we'll learn of his life, his struggles, his family, his friends and his conflicts and his choices. He made them, he'll get to live with them too now that he survived his own bombing attempt. How can this be prevented when such desperation, such pervasive evil exists in this world of ours? It won't be the last, how could it be?
What can we do to cause these folks that would do these heinous acts to reconsider (at least) and turn away from violence in the search of political change. That's what it's all about isn't it? Frustration that the other team is in charge and we (the perps) want to be the boss instead...and there is no other way than this? No other way? Education, hard-work, moving to where Life is better for us...none of this is enough? I guess not for this 23 year old Nigerian fellow, his life and its enumerable possibilites are over.
This 23 year old man HAD his whole life in front of him, maybe it was only going to be an average to poor life but it was one, and if he lived to an average (In Nigeria) age of 47...he was half way there. Time for a wife, a child or two or three, a house, a farm, a goat or 4...or become a successful businessman, doctor, engineer or bus driver...sure, why not (the list is long I fear) but this person-of-interest chose to end his life at 23 in the belly of an airplane along with everyone else on board. Pretty bleak. Pretty bleak. He'll have a trial the outcome of which will be a life sentence in some god-forbidden hell hole somewhere in the US, a Federal Penitentiary I suspect. Deserves it? Oh yes, he deserves it if anyone does. Lonely places those prisons, 3 walls and iron doors clanking shut, not for me brothers and sisters, not for me or YOU, for him though, for him. In later days we'll learn of his life, his struggles, his family, his friends and his conflicts and his choices. He made them, he'll get to live with them too now that he survived his own bombing attempt. How can this be prevented when such desperation, such pervasive evil exists in this world of ours? It won't be the last, how could it be?
What can we do to cause these folks that would do these heinous acts to reconsider (at least) and turn away from violence in the search of political change. That's what it's all about isn't it? Frustration that the other team is in charge and we (the perps) want to be the boss instead...and there is no other way than this? No other way? Education, hard-work, moving to where Life is better for us...none of this is enough? I guess not for this 23 year old Nigerian fellow, his life and its enumerable possibilites are over.
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Health Care Debate, A Personal Matter
I watched the Senate debate last night concerning the health care bill now making its slower-than-molasses way thru the US Congress. I'm not going to go into the technicalities or the awful politicizing of each American's health care that BOTH Republicans and Democrats have done since September on this bill. There's no point in that, save to say that I have relatives, a daughter stuck with no health care at all due to her workplace not having any and my beloved wife Kelly who also has none as she is not yet 65 and thus not covered by Medicare. The rest of my immediate family does (I HOPE!) have coverage of one kind or another. My own is thru Medicare Advantage at Kaiser Permanente. My verdict so far is that it works for me and at a fraction of the cost that I had as a teacher to be enrolled at Kaiser, which had grown to over 1100 USD when we pulled the plug on it last year as unaffordable. We went to the Fingers-Crossed coverage plan for Kelly as I was then enrolled in Medicare.
A long time fan of Kaiser, I have had terrific, nay I say, life-saving, treatment by them several times in my recent past ie. two heart attacks among them. I am fortunate enough that I have first hand observation of another country's healthcare system, that of France. I have gotten prescriptions filled there, have gone to the doctor and the dentist there and have observed and spoken with French citizens about the health system's parts I haven't used (yet), such as the emergency room. I have a couple of examples of extraordinary health situations that were resolved on non-member persons (ex-pats) in the French system too. The World Health Organization thinks highly of the French system, rating it as the one of best in the world.
I hope in my heart of hearts that we in the US can have such coverage one day but I have my doubts. Too much money is involved, doctors with their own clinics, predatory insurance companies, astronomical drug costs, poor diets, alcoholism, rampant diabetes et al. It's a sick "system" that definetly needs some fixing, the current bill will help but will still need much further modification before it becomes anything worthy of praise. Still...this bill IS a start, it will be passed this week and passed by the same boring and unimaginative 60 Yeses and 40 Nos that we have come to expect from our so-called representatives in the Senate. How wonderful.
For example...my doctor's best friend vactioned in France last September. After hoisting lugage about for a few days he noticed a bump on his abdomen above his belly button. As a few days went by it grew larger and painful as well. He went to a doctor in Paris and was examined. "A rupture" was the diagnosis and he was sent forthwith to a local hospital. Given a name tag, there was no discussion of insurance, he was asked if he had any but that was all. This was before noontime. He was in bed, settled with his wife at his side at 1pm. He was operated on at 3pm and back in his bed at 4pm repaired. He spent the next 5 days healing further before he was released. Upon release he resumed his vacation and returned to San Francisco. A bill arrived from the hospital, the ONLY bill by the way, for $600 Euros (about 900 USD at the time). Try THAT in the US.
A long time fan of Kaiser, I have had terrific, nay I say, life-saving, treatment by them several times in my recent past ie. two heart attacks among them. I am fortunate enough that I have first hand observation of another country's healthcare system, that of France. I have gotten prescriptions filled there, have gone to the doctor and the dentist there and have observed and spoken with French citizens about the health system's parts I haven't used (yet), such as the emergency room. I have a couple of examples of extraordinary health situations that were resolved on non-member persons (ex-pats) in the French system too. The World Health Organization thinks highly of the French system, rating it as the one of best in the world.
I hope in my heart of hearts that we in the US can have such coverage one day but I have my doubts. Too much money is involved, doctors with their own clinics, predatory insurance companies, astronomical drug costs, poor diets, alcoholism, rampant diabetes et al. It's a sick "system" that definetly needs some fixing, the current bill will help but will still need much further modification before it becomes anything worthy of praise. Still...this bill IS a start, it will be passed this week and passed by the same boring and unimaginative 60 Yeses and 40 Nos that we have come to expect from our so-called representatives in the Senate. How wonderful.
For example...my doctor's best friend vactioned in France last September. After hoisting lugage about for a few days he noticed a bump on his abdomen above his belly button. As a few days went by it grew larger and painful as well. He went to a doctor in Paris and was examined. "A rupture" was the diagnosis and he was sent forthwith to a local hospital. Given a name tag, there was no discussion of insurance, he was asked if he had any but that was all. This was before noontime. He was in bed, settled with his wife at his side at 1pm. He was operated on at 3pm and back in his bed at 4pm repaired. He spent the next 5 days healing further before he was released. Upon release he resumed his vacation and returned to San Francisco. A bill arrived from the hospital, the ONLY bill by the way, for $600 Euros (about 900 USD at the time). Try THAT in the US.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Christmas Dinner Coming, My BEST Stuffing Recipe
However you DO your Turkey, TurChicken, etc. you simply MUST have a decent stuffing to go with it, be it IN the bird or in a separate bowl. A Christmas dinner without stuffing is simply incomplete. No more dry stuffing or an overly wet one either, balamced use of the ingrediants will give you a rich, flavorful and delicious stuffing every time. It's all about the bread. Yes, the bread is the key, however much liquid is required is what is required to make the bread soft and moist BEFORE it is stuffed into a bird or (current trend) done separately in a covered dish.
So how much bread do you need or want? How many people are there? Figure 1/2 cup of cubed, dry bread for each serving. I know it doesn't seem to be a lot but by the time ALL of the ingrediants are mixed in it will be enough. 1/4 cup of liquid is needed for each service as well. Some of the ingredients will cook out their own juices to add to this so don't worry at this stage it will be very close to perfect.
Ingredients to serve 4 persons:
Into a large bowl place the following:
2 cups favorite bread; with crust left on DICE 1/2" X 1/2" cubes then measure.
Saute the bread in 2 tablespoons butter, melt first in pan then add cubed bread.
Cook until slightly browned on all sides. 10 - 15 minutes
1 cup water, chicken, vegetable or veal stock, or white wine.
1 Medium onion, small dice 1/4". Sauted til transparent (about 7 - 10 minutes)
4 Strips smoked bacon, diced and slowly sauted til brown (not crisp) 7 -10 min.
2 Italian sausages or Bratwurst, skin removed, broken up into small pieces, then sauted until browned on all sides.
1 large stalk celery, sliced lengthwise and cut to 1/4" pieces.
1/2 cup walnuts, pecans, or your choice, sauted in 1 Tablespoon butter 5 min.
Allow to cool and then break into small pieces.
1 Teaspoon Dried Marjoram or Oregano.
1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme.
1 Teaspoon ground Sage.
1 Tablespoon salt (careful here!).
1 Teaspoon ground pepper.
Fold gently together. Place in covered bowl or stuff into bird loosely (it will expand)
Cook bird as normal, to 170 internal temp. in stuffing.
In coverred pot; test with thermometer for 170 degrees in middle of stuffing before removing it from heat.
Enjoy!
So how much bread do you need or want? How many people are there? Figure 1/2 cup of cubed, dry bread for each serving. I know it doesn't seem to be a lot but by the time ALL of the ingrediants are mixed in it will be enough. 1/4 cup of liquid is needed for each service as well. Some of the ingredients will cook out their own juices to add to this so don't worry at this stage it will be very close to perfect.
Ingredients to serve 4 persons:
Into a large bowl place the following:
2 cups favorite bread; with crust left on DICE 1/2" X 1/2" cubes then measure.
Saute the bread in 2 tablespoons butter, melt first in pan then add cubed bread.
Cook until slightly browned on all sides. 10 - 15 minutes
1 cup water, chicken, vegetable or veal stock, or white wine.
1 Medium onion, small dice 1/4". Sauted til transparent (about 7 - 10 minutes)
4 Strips smoked bacon, diced and slowly sauted til brown (not crisp) 7 -10 min.
2 Italian sausages or Bratwurst, skin removed, broken up into small pieces, then sauted until browned on all sides.
1 large stalk celery, sliced lengthwise and cut to 1/4" pieces.
1/2 cup walnuts, pecans, or your choice, sauted in 1 Tablespoon butter 5 min.
Allow to cool and then break into small pieces.
1 Teaspoon Dried Marjoram or Oregano.
1 Teaspoon Dried Thyme.
1 Teaspoon ground Sage.
1 Tablespoon salt (careful here!).
1 Teaspoon ground pepper.
Fold gently together. Place in covered bowl or stuff into bird loosely (it will expand)
Cook bird as normal, to 170 internal temp. in stuffing.
In coverred pot; test with thermometer for 170 degrees in middle of stuffing before removing it from heat.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Turkey Deboning with Julia and Jacques and Me!
http://video.pbs.org/video/1333042208/ is the video of these two Master Chef's having at the process of deboning a chicken and then a turkey. It is spectacular and while Audrey and Kelly and I tackled the job ourselves your favorite chef lost control and tried for a suicide instead. I really DID it this time and while I did NOT go to the emergency ward in Vallejo on a Saturday night to have the aforementioned injury sewn up properly I did have Nurse Kelly and Nurse Audrey and Head Nurse Furry wiping up sufficient blood to prove I probably should have. Now there's a sentence! That was 2 and a half weeks ago and it has not completely healed YET. But soon. Here's MY video...oops!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSw2_IYh9n4
My way...early on I did the deed I previously wrote about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSw2_IYh9n4
My way...early on I did the deed I previously wrote about.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Holly-Daze
It all really starts in October or maybe August when the first gleams of Holloween goods show in the stores. Candy, costumes, orange and black anything, arched back cat cutouts et al. A whole month and half ahead of the unofficial holiday itself. Yes, no day off for hard working Americans to celebrate the eve of The Day Of The Dead. Lots of beer and booze is consumed though and tons of sweets are distributed to tykes to the age of 21 apparently. All is well though and it is a good break from the chill of the fall after all. As a holiday it brings office parties, haunted houses and many unofficial days off as well. I give it a 7 out of 10 for being a "good" holiday.
Then comes Thanksgiving, Turkey Day, Harvest Festival etc. Again the stores bring down the black cat decorations and garish costumes and haul up turkey symbology, dried ears of multicolored corn, scenes of feasts and more orange and red leaf motiff
visuals. Gads. With a whole month to go this magical appearance overcomes the blatant commercialism of Halloween by a factor of at least 2. Groceries get involved by stocking cranberries, piles of yams and sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts, and, of course turkeys by the gaggle. All in preparation for the very real (days off!) Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday of November. The level of commercialism is heightened by the growing displays of Christmas goodies yet!
As a Holiday, Thanksgiving is a 9 simply because of the family and food centric-ness of the day and the days (and leftovers) that follow.
Christmas is coming and boy can you ever figure THAT out! Christmas tree lots are blooming, artificial trees of plastic and aluminum and even paper. Piles of popular toys are found near the doorways of every kind of store. Red and Green rules the season. I don't subscribe to the commercialism at all...nor does my darling wife Kelly. We try to ignore it as best we can and give verbal butressing to ur friends and neighbors. I handed out fresh baked bread to neighbors last year and will follow suit this year as well. I like the UNTIED WAY to distribute meager cash amounts to those in need...don't give it to a middle man to hand out in dribs and drabs, go to an atm near you and withdraw 20, 40, 60 dollars or more. Find a down and out looking street person and hand him/her/them a bill and move on to the next. Don't go home with anything left. Now...don't you feel better? No reciepts to keep track of for the tax man, it's quick and efficient as well. Another great thing is go to a lower cost grocery store and pay for the persons purchases in front of you. Same thing, it feels great! Do it for a break from the damnable commercial side of the holiday. Do this for a perfect 10 holiday experience.
Bye for now!
And HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Then comes Thanksgiving, Turkey Day, Harvest Festival etc. Again the stores bring down the black cat decorations and garish costumes and haul up turkey symbology, dried ears of multicolored corn, scenes of feasts and more orange and red leaf motiff
visuals. Gads. With a whole month to go this magical appearance overcomes the blatant commercialism of Halloween by a factor of at least 2. Groceries get involved by stocking cranberries, piles of yams and sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts, and, of course turkeys by the gaggle. All in preparation for the very real (days off!) Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday of November. The level of commercialism is heightened by the growing displays of Christmas goodies yet!
As a Holiday, Thanksgiving is a 9 simply because of the family and food centric-ness of the day and the days (and leftovers) that follow.
Christmas is coming and boy can you ever figure THAT out! Christmas tree lots are blooming, artificial trees of plastic and aluminum and even paper. Piles of popular toys are found near the doorways of every kind of store. Red and Green rules the season. I don't subscribe to the commercialism at all...nor does my darling wife Kelly. We try to ignore it as best we can and give verbal butressing to ur friends and neighbors. I handed out fresh baked bread to neighbors last year and will follow suit this year as well. I like the UNTIED WAY to distribute meager cash amounts to those in need...don't give it to a middle man to hand out in dribs and drabs, go to an atm near you and withdraw 20, 40, 60 dollars or more. Find a down and out looking street person and hand him/her/them a bill and move on to the next. Don't go home with anything left. Now...don't you feel better? No reciepts to keep track of for the tax man, it's quick and efficient as well. Another great thing is go to a lower cost grocery store and pay for the persons purchases in front of you. Same thing, it feels great! Do it for a break from the damnable commercial side of the holiday. Do this for a perfect 10 holiday experience.
Bye for now!
And HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Farymann Follies - My Life As A Diesel Mechanic...NOT!
Well we got it, drove 128 miles and change to Santa Cruz By The Sea to construct the engine lift (a JOB), and haul the yellow Farymann Marine Diesel A30 to the truck bed. I eased her down, fasten her in, deconstructed the engine lift, straped it in, jump in the truck with Kelly and awaaaay we went!
___
Not far at first, to the Santa Cruz Diner as seen on Diners, Driveins and Dives. Packed with milling people, waiters and waitresses and the smells of breakfast, lunch and possibly a dinner or two wafting over the scene. We sat in a wall booth as directed by a most polite hostess, water came soon enough and we spent the next while amide the hustle and bustle trying to sort out our choices for lunch. Kelly chose the steak sandwich "as rare as you can get it" was her command and I the patty melt, next the choice of drinks, I opted for a coke and kelly had her norm...H2O. Both came with a generous portion of golden french fries and Kelly's steak was as rare as it could be without mooing. She was happier with her meal than I was with mine, mine lacked something, under seasoned perhaps (for me who has a penchant for the saline) but it seemed more even than that. What I do not know but I've had better versions of this old favorite of mine. Meal eaten 16 USD and change with a generous tip for the fine level of service we were off for Highway 1 and the Pacific Ocean views it provides as one ambles north towards San Francisco. One old beach friends of days long gone slipped into view and past though throngs of people had come to sit, walk, sunbathe and ogle on this spectacularly sunny and warm day in the month of November. We did not stop as I knew this was a longer trip than the ride down on 680 to 17 and across the mountains, probably the better part of 4 hours at the restful pace we were going loaded down with the engine and the lift. Every hill a journey. I contemplated what work was going to be needed to get the Farymann into shape for installation in Zulu. Paint certainly, some derusting of the obvious, new filters, oil and such and the ever challenging finding it a home in the meantime in the already packed garage. Oh the garage! Soon the cutover to highway 280 was upon us at Pacifica and we motored carefully into the traffic bound for the east bay across the now infamous Bay Bridge. Though we were heavy it didn't collapse as we hunkered down in mid span and drove on. Up Hwy 80 to 12 and across the marsh past Walmart and home. In for the day and night we bedded down early exhausted by all our efforts at gawking and riding. The next morning I began The Undertaking...no not a funeral...maybe it WAS of sorts but certainly not intended as one. Removed the lift from the truck, assembled it and hauled out the objects necessary to create a spot for the Farymann and related equipment, tools etc. I went next door to summon Captain Vern to give me a hand positioning the Farymann on a wheeled trolley which took us about an hour to accomplish as the lift's long legs had to be assisted to roll uphill on the driveway towards the flat floor of the garage. A chore this was but once done the Farymann was loose of the chains that bind and on the trolley and, best of all, rolled into the garage for inspection and cleaning. About that time Kelly and Audrey returned from a lunch effort. They soon swept and removed the detritus that I had swept from the garage and placed it into the various rubbish bins. More about THAT later. I thinked them for thier help and they disappeared into the house. Upon closer inspection I found extensive corrosion, rust and deterioration of the crankcase, cylinder casting etc. As I rubbed off more dirt and grime it became apparent that this corrosion had consumed much of various metal parts over not a short time. I purchased the engine from a party unmentioned on eBay. I had paid with Paypal so there was a level of protection from this sort of situation therein. I sat at my computer and went to paypal, signed in and found my 455USD transaction shortly. Then I undertook the dispute process and emailed my findings and desire to be refunded the money to the seller. That is where it stands at the moment. I returned this morning and took photos of the corroded areas and sent them along to my diesel guru in North Carolina as well as to the kindly gentleman at Farymann whome I contacted about the engine earlier today. We shall see where this all goes. At the time the engine is in the garage sitting on wood blocks on the trolley. While feeling let down I have some degree of hope, if not for the engine and a possible repair, for our bank account and the refund it may soon see.
Later!
___
Not far at first, to the Santa Cruz Diner as seen on Diners, Driveins and Dives. Packed with milling people, waiters and waitresses and the smells of breakfast, lunch and possibly a dinner or two wafting over the scene. We sat in a wall booth as directed by a most polite hostess, water came soon enough and we spent the next while amide the hustle and bustle trying to sort out our choices for lunch. Kelly chose the steak sandwich "as rare as you can get it" was her command and I the patty melt, next the choice of drinks, I opted for a coke and kelly had her norm...H2O. Both came with a generous portion of golden french fries and Kelly's steak was as rare as it could be without mooing. She was happier with her meal than I was with mine, mine lacked something, under seasoned perhaps (for me who has a penchant for the saline) but it seemed more even than that. What I do not know but I've had better versions of this old favorite of mine. Meal eaten 16 USD and change with a generous tip for the fine level of service we were off for Highway 1 and the Pacific Ocean views it provides as one ambles north towards San Francisco. One old beach friends of days long gone slipped into view and past though throngs of people had come to sit, walk, sunbathe and ogle on this spectacularly sunny and warm day in the month of November. We did not stop as I knew this was a longer trip than the ride down on 680 to 17 and across the mountains, probably the better part of 4 hours at the restful pace we were going loaded down with the engine and the lift. Every hill a journey. I contemplated what work was going to be needed to get the Farymann into shape for installation in Zulu. Paint certainly, some derusting of the obvious, new filters, oil and such and the ever challenging finding it a home in the meantime in the already packed garage. Oh the garage! Soon the cutover to highway 280 was upon us at Pacifica and we motored carefully into the traffic bound for the east bay across the now infamous Bay Bridge. Though we were heavy it didn't collapse as we hunkered down in mid span and drove on. Up Hwy 80 to 12 and across the marsh past Walmart and home. In for the day and night we bedded down early exhausted by all our efforts at gawking and riding. The next morning I began The Undertaking...no not a funeral...maybe it WAS of sorts but certainly not intended as one. Removed the lift from the truck, assembled it and hauled out the objects necessary to create a spot for the Farymann and related equipment, tools etc. I went next door to summon Captain Vern to give me a hand positioning the Farymann on a wheeled trolley which took us about an hour to accomplish as the lift's long legs had to be assisted to roll uphill on the driveway towards the flat floor of the garage. A chore this was but once done the Farymann was loose of the chains that bind and on the trolley and, best of all, rolled into the garage for inspection and cleaning. About that time Kelly and Audrey returned from a lunch effort. They soon swept and removed the detritus that I had swept from the garage and placed it into the various rubbish bins. More about THAT later. I thinked them for thier help and they disappeared into the house. Upon closer inspection I found extensive corrosion, rust and deterioration of the crankcase, cylinder casting etc. As I rubbed off more dirt and grime it became apparent that this corrosion had consumed much of various metal parts over not a short time. I purchased the engine from a party unmentioned on eBay. I had paid with Paypal so there was a level of protection from this sort of situation therein. I sat at my computer and went to paypal, signed in and found my 455USD transaction shortly. Then I undertook the dispute process and emailed my findings and desire to be refunded the money to the seller. That is where it stands at the moment. I returned this morning and took photos of the corroded areas and sent them along to my diesel guru in North Carolina as well as to the kindly gentleman at Farymann whome I contacted about the engine earlier today. We shall see where this all goes. At the time the engine is in the garage sitting on wood blocks on the trolley. While feeling let down I have some degree of hope, if not for the engine and a possible repair, for our bank account and the refund it may soon see.
Later!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Demolition Proceeds ReBuilding...sometimes.
Not around here, we demo in the middle of rebuilding too, like working on the flooring for the Master bedroom, 200 sq. feet of old carpet, been down on that floor since we replaced the original 1978 stuff some 20 years ago. It is ready to go. I have worked on this floor over the years, adding boards as I finished them, softwood floors, #2 knotty pine sort and they look great but the floor has been half finished for at least the past 5 years. So yesterday K and I moved the bed to a new location against the north wall and moved the desk against the wall by the bedroom door and that prepares the room for more flooring. So off to Home Depot to look over the stock of #2 Pine for ones that are ok for the job, knots in tight and only a few, no scars or edge damage allowed...minimum work that way and they can be usedas-is plus sanding and finishing with 5 coats of clear, semi-gloss lacquer. They look wonderful down though I haven't fastened any of the new stuff, drill with countersink, screw down in corners and mid-length and plug with matching (or nearly so) dowels. Only 90 bd feet to go. I sanded two this morning and applied the first coat, with luck and a bit of effort I'll get two coats on today, two coats tomorrow and the final on Monday. They will be laid in place Tuesday. One slow process in a garage that is so full I can hardly move around in it. AND a dryer is coming tomorrow to be packed therein as well. Ah the joys of moving.
___
I've installed Windows 7, Microsoft's latest and greatest version of the oh so common operating system. I had installed the Beta pre-release version on Kelly's machine last winter and had to change the date the machine told the software so that it would continue to run while I purchased and had delivered a "Family Pack" 3 license package. One to her machine, one to mine and one held out for the main machine in France when we go back...whenever that will be. So far Kelly likes it a lot, the interface is somehow easier to deal with and it is quite a bit faster in everything it does, especially online activities. I did a clean install for her machine as most of her activities are online...no...ALL of hers are. Mine I had to use an old 160GB drawer dog that I had from some time ago, reformatted it, set up the new partition and loaded the Windows 7 32 bit version (hers the same) as I need the compatibility for my older on-client software like Photoshop and FTP Pro etc. I had problems that seemed inexplicable at first, it took forever to boot...5 minutes! Her's was up in about 50 seconds. No useful error messages were noted and I hunted and hunted for the log entries but could not locate them...alas, I even tried reinstalling and that failed as well. The Recovery Process, while easier than with XP which this machine had before, still would not complete properly and said so.
I reformatted the 160 GB drive, placed the old drive on the system in the 2nd IDE port and the new one on the 1st IDE port, made them both masters and reinstalled Windows 7. That seemed to do it, it finally booted as quickly as Kelly's though a tad slower but this machine has the older IDE interface for the hard drives and had some startup errors in the BIOS that Microsoft references in the Windows 7 support site. I'mm happy with it too, I like the quickness and the look...we'll see how we both feel about it in the next few months.
___
I've installed Windows 7, Microsoft's latest and greatest version of the oh so common operating system. I had installed the Beta pre-release version on Kelly's machine last winter and had to change the date the machine told the software so that it would continue to run while I purchased and had delivered a "Family Pack" 3 license package. One to her machine, one to mine and one held out for the main machine in France when we go back...whenever that will be. So far Kelly likes it a lot, the interface is somehow easier to deal with and it is quite a bit faster in everything it does, especially online activities. I did a clean install for her machine as most of her activities are online...no...ALL of hers are. Mine I had to use an old 160GB drawer dog that I had from some time ago, reformatted it, set up the new partition and loaded the Windows 7 32 bit version (hers the same) as I need the compatibility for my older on-client software like Photoshop and FTP Pro etc. I had problems that seemed inexplicable at first, it took forever to boot...5 minutes! Her's was up in about 50 seconds. No useful error messages were noted and I hunted and hunted for the log entries but could not locate them...alas, I even tried reinstalling and that failed as well. The Recovery Process, while easier than with XP which this machine had before, still would not complete properly and said so.
I reformatted the 160 GB drive, placed the old drive on the system in the 2nd IDE port and the new one on the 1st IDE port, made them both masters and reinstalled Windows 7. That seemed to do it, it finally booted as quickly as Kelly's though a tad slower but this machine has the older IDE interface for the hard drives and had some startup errors in the BIOS that Microsoft references in the Windows 7 support site. I'mm happy with it too, I like the quickness and the look...we'll see how we both feel about it in the next few months.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
H.R. 3962: The Great Unknown...KaChooo!
You know I sneeze sometimes for no reason I can see, smell or observe in any way. Not just once either, maybe 3 or 4 times then the storm of sensation subsides and I'm my ol' self again. Not bad, and who doesn't enjoy a good sneeze now and again?
I won't be bothering a doctor in my trusty Kaiser HMO with this little annoyance as that is exactly what it is, an annoyance. I have a dear friend though who has a funny shaped area on her shoulder, about 3/4" in rough diameter and IF she had the healthcare as outlined by this newly passed House Bill # 3962 she would be able to see a doctor and get it looked at and possibly cured on-the-spot by freezing or excising it in some way familiar to doctors and that would be that. If she were so lucky to be in France today she could do the same at a very low cost to her personally even though she isn't a citizen. If she were an actual citizen of France this service would be free or nearly so. Here? In the US of A, Ha! Go give all the details of your financial status to the kindly clerk and when they ask if you have insurance, which they surely will, and you say "no", you might be turned away! Yes! True. We could test this to prove it for myself and my friend very easily but we would have to go to the Emergency Room to do so as no doctor is coming forth on a Sunday morning, believe me! In France however they will come to you! Yes! Really! It's no Big Deal and they come right away! Best health care system in the world says The World Health Organization. The Best! See this link for not so trivial information: http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
___
I watched the Tube the whole afternoon and into the evening yesterday as one gas bag after another restated his or her opinion of HR 3962 seemingly without ANY direct input from their so-called constituents except for one soon-to-be-lonely representative of the Republican kind from the state of Louisiana, he voted yes. He said many of his own constituents were poor and without insurance and it made him vote as he did. Gee, I wonder...what do all the other 215 Republicans have for constituents? Rich I guess, loaded with insurance policies, fine doctors, plenty of money for drugs and supplies, a Lexus or Mercedes to drive them there and tons of plastic with high limits to insure a positive financial result for themselves and their medical problem of the day. I'm cynical, yes, very...and those 215 disingenuous and heartless bastards deserve to get nothing from this administration for the next 7 years! If I were King...nothing, nothing, nothing! They would starve.
I'm not being fair am I? My friend's growth or whatever it is isn't fair either and by-the-way neither are any of the 215 bastards that voted the way they did in full knowledge of the truth of the situation...they represent (or should!) many, many poor and disenfranchised in these United States and to once again be the party of No is absolutely shameful. I'm ashamed for each and all of them. Now for the Senate version and finally anorther vote on the combined bill sometime in December I hope.
I won't be bothering a doctor in my trusty Kaiser HMO with this little annoyance as that is exactly what it is, an annoyance. I have a dear friend though who has a funny shaped area on her shoulder, about 3/4" in rough diameter and IF she had the healthcare as outlined by this newly passed House Bill # 3962 she would be able to see a doctor and get it looked at and possibly cured on-the-spot by freezing or excising it in some way familiar to doctors and that would be that. If she were so lucky to be in France today she could do the same at a very low cost to her personally even though she isn't a citizen. If she were an actual citizen of France this service would be free or nearly so. Here? In the US of A, Ha! Go give all the details of your financial status to the kindly clerk and when they ask if you have insurance, which they surely will, and you say "no", you might be turned away! Yes! True. We could test this to prove it for myself and my friend very easily but we would have to go to the Emergency Room to do so as no doctor is coming forth on a Sunday morning, believe me! In France however they will come to you! Yes! Really! It's no Big Deal and they come right away! Best health care system in the world says The World Health Organization. The Best! See this link for not so trivial information: http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
___
I watched the Tube the whole afternoon and into the evening yesterday as one gas bag after another restated his or her opinion of HR 3962 seemingly without ANY direct input from their so-called constituents except for one soon-to-be-lonely representative of the Republican kind from the state of Louisiana, he voted yes. He said many of his own constituents were poor and without insurance and it made him vote as he did. Gee, I wonder...what do all the other 215 Republicans have for constituents? Rich I guess, loaded with insurance policies, fine doctors, plenty of money for drugs and supplies, a Lexus or Mercedes to drive them there and tons of plastic with high limits to insure a positive financial result for themselves and their medical problem of the day. I'm cynical, yes, very...and those 215 disingenuous and heartless bastards deserve to get nothing from this administration for the next 7 years! If I were King...nothing, nothing, nothing! They would starve.
I'm not being fair am I? My friend's growth or whatever it is isn't fair either and by-the-way neither are any of the 215 bastards that voted the way they did in full knowledge of the truth of the situation...they represent (or should!) many, many poor and disenfranchised in these United States and to once again be the party of No is absolutely shameful. I'm ashamed for each and all of them. Now for the Senate version and finally anorther vote on the combined bill sometime in December I hope.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Recipe! Lute's Inside Ribs
Hello dear foodies, today I'm going to give you the recipe for my Inside Ribs, just about the best ribs made in an oven that you can imagine. What! You say, cook inside?! In an OVEN?...No way! Got to be in a BBQ at least or an open fire. Well if you live in Northern California in the winter or Seattle or Portland or a thousand other places around the world any other time and face wind, rain, sleet and snow then you NEED this recipe! Simple steps will lead you to the most tender, moist and flavorful ribs you might have ever eaten and you might even abandon that BBQ on some of those good ol' warm days for the cleanliness and convenience of this recipe.
Here goes:
Ingredients:
Ribs, bone-in, pork rack or babyback ribs. Beef Ribs will work as well. Rinse and Pat Dry.
Salt, 1 Tablespoon
Pepper 1 Tablespoon ground
Cumin, 1 Tablespoon ground
Red Pepper Flakes 1 teaspoon
Cut rack(s) in half in person sized portions, 5 - 7 rib bones. Cut along bone.
Salt and Pepper liberally, rub in cumin and red pepper on both sides. Cut thru silverskin on opposite side between each bone.
Wrap each portion of ribs in Aluminum foil, seal as well as you can.
Place in baking pan (to retain juices) and bake in 350 degree oven for 2 hours.
Remove from oven, remove from aluminum foil, handle carefully as they will want to pull apart or the meat may fall off of the bone. Drain juices from aluminum foil and the pan into a bowl and retain.
Coat your ribs with you favorite BBQ sauce, ketchup, marinade, hot sauce and return in pan to the 350 degree oven to finish (approx. 30 minutes. Continue to cat as you see the surface dry or darken.
Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes, slice individual ribs from each portion and plate.
Serve with green salad and/or french fries.
Good eating!
Here goes:
Ingredients:
Ribs, bone-in, pork rack or babyback ribs. Beef Ribs will work as well. Rinse and Pat Dry.
Salt, 1 Tablespoon
Pepper 1 Tablespoon ground
Cumin, 1 Tablespoon ground
Red Pepper Flakes 1 teaspoon
Cut rack(s) in half in person sized portions, 5 - 7 rib bones. Cut along bone.
Salt and Pepper liberally, rub in cumin and red pepper on both sides. Cut thru silverskin on opposite side between each bone.
Wrap each portion of ribs in Aluminum foil, seal as well as you can.
Place in baking pan (to retain juices) and bake in 350 degree oven for 2 hours.
Remove from oven, remove from aluminum foil, handle carefully as they will want to pull apart or the meat may fall off of the bone. Drain juices from aluminum foil and the pan into a bowl and retain.
Coat your ribs with you favorite BBQ sauce, ketchup, marinade, hot sauce and return in pan to the 350 degree oven to finish (approx. 30 minutes. Continue to cat as you see the surface dry or darken.
Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes, slice individual ribs from each portion and plate.
Serve with green salad and/or french fries.
Good eating!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Zulu, The Boat That Is...
Well yesterday I ventured to Rio Vista and Walton's Marine Repair, Inc. to see how the ol' girl is doing these days. She has been in that yard now for three years and fed a diet of money intermittantly ever since. Mostly her problems came from the iron fasteners used to assemble her some 75 years ago in 1934. In the ensuing years they slowly began to disolve, being iron and subject to electrolysis and the result of same, rust. Yes they were closed over with red lead, typical for the time and that was that. Some of the fasteners began to allow trickles of water into her bilge several years ago and were difficult, no impossible, to find the location of. I tried many times to find these weepers but to no avail...all that could be seen was the trickle flowing down into the bilge and slowly to the mouth of the bilge pump. Little did I know or realize the ulrtimate catastrophe that was coming someday...Zulu would sink at the dock, which she finally did. Not good and arrangements were made to get her into Walton's for the ultimate fix...a new bottom.
Then before anything further could be done she sank a second time when a kindly neighbor relocated her bilge pump output to her own deck! She became a submarine again! What a job it was to get her afloat, my expert diver neighbors came to her (and my) rescue and helped by going inside (very dangerous proposition) and sealing the windows, toilet valves etc. so the 20,000 gallon per hour pump could do it's good work, as it did. Then we towed her to Walton's in Rio Vista for the gala pulling and she has been there since. She is close to being finished, the bottom is largely done, she needs caulking and bottom and top paint and a new diesel which I am currently trying to acquire. Then my buddy S who visited me in France this last summer is coming all the way from North Carolina to help me install the bloody diesel and take the old engine home with him. When this will all happen is somewhat mysterious as part of the bottom repair remains to be accomplished AFTER the BMW diesel is pulled from her. Bob the master of the yard will do that work himself as I have no clue. So that is the case with the "Z" boat.
___
We are due in Walnut Creek at 1:30 today to pick up a double convection oven we bought on eBay. It was a good buy from afar, we'll see when we get up close just how good a buy it is...I spy some greasy looking areas and some redish area that I cannot identify, the seller says it's all functional so I guess we will live with the sale one way or the other. I'm GOOD (but not terrific) at oven cleaning.
___
We are also headed to my son's place for a Halloween Party with many, many guests.
Hopefully someone will talk to us as that is a rarity at these events. We soon feel ignored and thus it leaves us somewhat sad and depressed. Families are hard on each other somehow. Different directions, differing interests, friends, activities all add to the confusion. There's no one to blame it's just the way it is.
Then before anything further could be done she sank a second time when a kindly neighbor relocated her bilge pump output to her own deck! She became a submarine again! What a job it was to get her afloat, my expert diver neighbors came to her (and my) rescue and helped by going inside (very dangerous proposition) and sealing the windows, toilet valves etc. so the 20,000 gallon per hour pump could do it's good work, as it did. Then we towed her to Walton's in Rio Vista for the gala pulling and she has been there since. She is close to being finished, the bottom is largely done, she needs caulking and bottom and top paint and a new diesel which I am currently trying to acquire. Then my buddy S who visited me in France this last summer is coming all the way from North Carolina to help me install the bloody diesel and take the old engine home with him. When this will all happen is somewhat mysterious as part of the bottom repair remains to be accomplished AFTER the BMW diesel is pulled from her. Bob the master of the yard will do that work himself as I have no clue. So that is the case with the "Z" boat.
___
We are due in Walnut Creek at 1:30 today to pick up a double convection oven we bought on eBay. It was a good buy from afar, we'll see when we get up close just how good a buy it is...I spy some greasy looking areas and some redish area that I cannot identify, the seller says it's all functional so I guess we will live with the sale one way or the other. I'm GOOD (but not terrific) at oven cleaning.
___
We are also headed to my son's place for a Halloween Party with many, many guests.
Hopefully someone will talk to us as that is a rarity at these events. We soon feel ignored and thus it leaves us somewhat sad and depressed. Families are hard on each other somehow. Different directions, differing interests, friends, activities all add to the confusion. There's no one to blame it's just the way it is.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Where's The Beef er ah Euros?
You know if you've been reading this blog for very long that we did finally sort of, kind of, maybe did...sell our little house (called appropriately The Little House) in Lignieres last August to a local person we will call "Madame". She who walked into the open garage, approached us and spoke in very rapid French to ask us if the house was for sale or had it been sold (a short review is necessary I believe to refresh all of our memories). Anyway, she finally got her point across to these two stupid Americans and we gave her the short, long and only tour of the little house, over inside 10 minutes. 4 rooms plus 2 pottys and a shower room...not much to show for all the affection it gave us during our 7 years of ownership. There it was and in a second after setting her foot outside the door she turned and said (in her native tongue so incomprehensable to us...almost anyway) "I'll take it". So here we were cleaning up her future house. Whoopee! The Little House is SOLD! Holy Cow!
Fellings of great joy and amazement as well as some lingering doubts came and went until a few days later when we met her again at the Notaire's office to sign papers and do all the things you do to give the keys over to someone else...eventually.
As I have said before the process is long (3 months to close is typical!) but not complicated as far as us personally...the notaire does whatever they do, other beaurucrats do their thing, the owner gathers the money and some day in the future there is a settlement date (in this case 15 October...last week infact) which is when the money is paid to us via the Notaire who got it that day from Madame (in this case). Well we have checked our fine French bank acount which is about 200 yards from the Notaires office in downtown Lignieres and no...there is no money in there that would represent said sale. Hummmm. To add to this story is the fact that our dear friend T is THERE, well...not THERE...but in Paris as I type this missive.
He's there to collect and retrieve (not the same thing these days) his hal of the proceeds of the sale. Doof! So he called us from Paris and a friend's apartment therein. All sorts of boundless confusion and questions. Friend has called someone and is asking questions to his requests from the Notaire or whomever will answer back. Doof! Friend got Waaaay to deep in the original buy of the Little House back in '01 and here we go again! Doof...double Doof! The notaire never answers an email and the phone rings off the hook as the office is always closed it seems. T has emailed him too to no avail. Stress, pain and we are putting off LIFE itself til this sale is completed and now we are 5 days PAST the settlement date. Doof! Time WILL tell but we are NOT pleased. Not at all.
____ POST SCRIPT follows:
The next morning. Email from daughter dearest says she called the Notaire to no avail as the phone number was wrong. Yes...I looked at...it is VERY wrong! No Country Code...no "33" in there to be found. Dialing into space. Doof! Oh well.
Then an email from T, nothing there either...like he wasn't there for the same reason our minds are. Doof! This is a joke isn't it?! Doof! Then about 10am, 7pm Lignieres time, a call from T saying the REAL date is now the 28th as some environmental report was forgotten (didn't we already pay for it and escort the gent around the place back in August...I seem to remember! Doof, doof, doof! Yea gads how screwed up is this going to be? Oh well...the 28th huh? So T is off to Venice to while away his time. Good idea...I'll go back to pulling my hair out.
Fellings of great joy and amazement as well as some lingering doubts came and went until a few days later when we met her again at the Notaire's office to sign papers and do all the things you do to give the keys over to someone else...eventually.
As I have said before the process is long (3 months to close is typical!) but not complicated as far as us personally...the notaire does whatever they do, other beaurucrats do their thing, the owner gathers the money and some day in the future there is a settlement date (in this case 15 October...last week infact) which is when the money is paid to us via the Notaire who got it that day from Madame (in this case). Well we have checked our fine French bank acount which is about 200 yards from the Notaires office in downtown Lignieres and no...there is no money in there that would represent said sale. Hummmm. To add to this story is the fact that our dear friend T is THERE, well...not THERE...but in Paris as I type this missive.
He's there to collect and retrieve (not the same thing these days) his hal of the proceeds of the sale. Doof! So he called us from Paris and a friend's apartment therein. All sorts of boundless confusion and questions. Friend has called someone and is asking questions to his requests from the Notaire or whomever will answer back. Doof! Friend got Waaaay to deep in the original buy of the Little House back in '01 and here we go again! Doof...double Doof! The notaire never answers an email and the phone rings off the hook as the office is always closed it seems. T has emailed him too to no avail. Stress, pain and we are putting off LIFE itself til this sale is completed and now we are 5 days PAST the settlement date. Doof! Time WILL tell but we are NOT pleased. Not at all.
____ POST SCRIPT follows:
The next morning. Email from daughter dearest says she called the Notaire to no avail as the phone number was wrong. Yes...I looked at...it is VERY wrong! No Country Code...no "33" in there to be found. Dialing into space. Doof! Oh well.
Then an email from T, nothing there either...like he wasn't there for the same reason our minds are. Doof! This is a joke isn't it?! Doof! Then about 10am, 7pm Lignieres time, a call from T saying the REAL date is now the 28th as some environmental report was forgotten (didn't we already pay for it and escort the gent around the place back in August...I seem to remember! Doof, doof, doof! Yea gads how screwed up is this going to be? Oh well...the 28th huh? So T is off to Venice to while away his time. Good idea...I'll go back to pulling my hair out.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Coq Au Vin My Style, Not Exactly...
Here is a photo essay ofhis wonderful dish in order of preparation. The actual recipe and How-to follows.
Well really it's Bay Wolf's (Michael Wild) cook book that turned me on to this amazing dish seen and done thru far more experienced and knowledgeable eyes and taste buds than mine. I twist it a bit as I never seem to be able to duplicate the recipe as it is not to be found online when I search Bay Wolf or any of the popular recipe sites. So I do it as I remember from the first time I did the dish from his fine cookbook. The cookbook is chock full of gems from his restaurant and while not the easiest recipes on earth they yield fantastic flavors and deliciousness. Today I will give a go to outlining Michael's recipe done as I do it...Here goes!
To DO the dish you will need the following ingredients.
Chicken Stock...make your own in the morning (or days ahead and refrigerate) as it will be fresh and delicious and hot which helps this lengthy process shorter. I use the bones and scraps left from a roasted chicken along with the neck and feet(very French!), two whole yellow onions quartered w/o skins, 2 stalks celery chopped coarsely, 4 large carrots chopped coarsely, 6 cloves garlic crushed, 2 large tomatoes quartered. Add water (three quarts) to cover the chicken and vegies. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 4 - 5 hours. Strain your new stock thru a collander or cheesecloth or linen and you have a stock suitable for soups, porridges, or in this case Coq Au Vin Michael Wild Style!
Butter, unsalted is best, 4 oz / 125 gm
Melt the butter until it foams in a large pan or skillet, a covered iron pot is best but use whatever you have.
Mushrooms, 1.5 Lbs or 750gms of Paris Mushrooms or button mushrooms, the smaller the better. Add to the skillet with the melted butter. Toss and reduce to a medium flame.
Now here's the story on the beauty of this dish and why it is so tantalizingly delicious...carmelization...everything gets caramelized by a lengthy and brave application to the mushrooms (among others) that results in intense browning and deepening color (akin to black) when this is properly done. Proceed carefully and slowly, do not burn anything, just stir occasionally to move the mushrooms to a new position and continue to cook them. How long you might ask...depends on the frying pan, the heat and your patience. 45 minutes is a certain guess but so is one hour or longer. The darker the better. Add 6 minced cloves of garlic to the mushrooms and put aside to rest while we get on with the next scene in this many act play.
Onions, we call them Pearl Onions but they are larger than any pearl I've ever seen.
1" or so in diameter, white are most common, quite potent in their oniony way so a substitute for those of you who do not have access to said onion type...shallots perhaps? A large yellow onion (sweeter) cut into large dice might just do the trick.
In any case boil them in a quart (liter) of unsalted water, how long? 3 minutes will do. Allow to cool then off both ends a bit and peel. Now saute these in another large lump of butter, two tablespoons will do I suppose though a little more doesn't hurt either, except your waist! Keep the flame down low and slowly saute these babies until they are evenly browned all over, another 45 minutes of patience is required, maybe a bit longer but not much shorter else you burn the beauties. Finished with them? Set aside with their friends the well caramelized mushrooms.
Now, rinse the chicken pieces, I like thighs (more flavor) and wings (handy with their built-in handles, pat dry and trim off any extra skin or fat leaving most intact. Lightly salt with fine salt. Pepper at this point wouldn't hurt either. Good. Figure two pieces per person of this very rich and filling dish.
4 slices of smoked Bacon (or salt pork cut into 1/2" cubes}, saute gently to release the fat into the skillet. Allow the brown bits (fond) to build as they will anyway.
When nicely cooked but NOT crisp begin frying your chicken skin side down on the thighs and similarly on the legs. Turn periodically so you do not overcook, you want the skin crispy and the dear departed chicken moist and tenderly delicious, not tough and chewy! No jerky here! Cook ONLY until the skin is browned and crisp on all pieces. Do a few pieces at a time to keep from steaming the chicken...we'll do a bit of that later on. All the ckicken to cool on paper towels to remove excess oil and fat. Next act!
Now go back to those mushrooms, add the onions and fold together into one lovely bumpy dark and delicious mixture. Lightly salt and pepper them. Now add two cups of your fresh stock, then add two cups of a lovely, likeable and thoroughly drinkable red wine. Add 4 Tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons of dried. Turn on the burner to medium intensity and bring the mixture to a boil, stir gently. Turn it down to a simmer, leave the lid off (if you have a lid) and watch the magic as it develops. T%aste frequently and DO NOT add more salt or pepper until you add the chicken and that won't happen for some time...perhaps 90 minutes or so. After the liquid has reduced to just enough remaining to cover the mushrooms and onions (about a 50% reduction) add the chicken to the top of the layered mixture with the skin side up. Pour enough additional wine to 1/2 cover the chicken (important)...leave the skin exposed to the air, only the meaty side is down, the skin side is up. Place in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to finish cooking the chicken interior and check the thigh with an instant read thermometer (if you have one) to insure it is 160 - 180 degrees. It should nearly fall off of the bone at this stage. Taste the sauce and season again IF necessary! Do NOT over salt! Do NOT OVER SALT!
Serve over noodles of your choice, tagliatelle or ziti, even large shells will do. Would work also with Basmati Rice (about a cup). Alternately serve over garlic mashed potatoes or with small boiled red potatoes and carrots (my personal favorite!). You could finish them off with 30 minutes in the braising liquid of the dish itself if it suits you.
There you have it! Coq Au Vin OUR style!
Well really it's Bay Wolf's (Michael Wild) cook book that turned me on to this amazing dish seen and done thru far more experienced and knowledgeable eyes and taste buds than mine. I twist it a bit as I never seem to be able to duplicate the recipe as it is not to be found online when I search Bay Wolf or any of the popular recipe sites. So I do it as I remember from the first time I did the dish from his fine cookbook. The cookbook is chock full of gems from his restaurant and while not the easiest recipes on earth they yield fantastic flavors and deliciousness. Today I will give a go to outlining Michael's recipe done as I do it...Here goes!
To DO the dish you will need the following ingredients.
Chicken Stock...make your own in the morning (or days ahead and refrigerate) as it will be fresh and delicious and hot which helps this lengthy process shorter. I use the bones and scraps left from a roasted chicken along with the neck and feet(very French!), two whole yellow onions quartered w/o skins, 2 stalks celery chopped coarsely, 4 large carrots chopped coarsely, 6 cloves garlic crushed, 2 large tomatoes quartered. Add water (three quarts) to cover the chicken and vegies. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 4 - 5 hours. Strain your new stock thru a collander or cheesecloth or linen and you have a stock suitable for soups, porridges, or in this case Coq Au Vin Michael Wild Style!
Butter, unsalted is best, 4 oz / 125 gm
Melt the butter until it foams in a large pan or skillet, a covered iron pot is best but use whatever you have.
Mushrooms, 1.5 Lbs or 750gms of Paris Mushrooms or button mushrooms, the smaller the better. Add to the skillet with the melted butter. Toss and reduce to a medium flame.
Now here's the story on the beauty of this dish and why it is so tantalizingly delicious...carmelization...everything gets caramelized by a lengthy and brave application to the mushrooms (among others) that results in intense browning and deepening color (akin to black) when this is properly done. Proceed carefully and slowly, do not burn anything, just stir occasionally to move the mushrooms to a new position and continue to cook them. How long you might ask...depends on the frying pan, the heat and your patience. 45 minutes is a certain guess but so is one hour or longer. The darker the better. Add 6 minced cloves of garlic to the mushrooms and put aside to rest while we get on with the next scene in this many act play.
Onions, we call them Pearl Onions but they are larger than any pearl I've ever seen.
1" or so in diameter, white are most common, quite potent in their oniony way so a substitute for those of you who do not have access to said onion type...shallots perhaps? A large yellow onion (sweeter) cut into large dice might just do the trick.
In any case boil them in a quart (liter) of unsalted water, how long? 3 minutes will do. Allow to cool then off both ends a bit and peel. Now saute these in another large lump of butter, two tablespoons will do I suppose though a little more doesn't hurt either, except your waist! Keep the flame down low and slowly saute these babies until they are evenly browned all over, another 45 minutes of patience is required, maybe a bit longer but not much shorter else you burn the beauties. Finished with them? Set aside with their friends the well caramelized mushrooms.
Now, rinse the chicken pieces, I like thighs (more flavor) and wings (handy with their built-in handles, pat dry and trim off any extra skin or fat leaving most intact. Lightly salt with fine salt. Pepper at this point wouldn't hurt either. Good. Figure two pieces per person of this very rich and filling dish.
4 slices of smoked Bacon (or salt pork cut into 1/2" cubes}, saute gently to release the fat into the skillet. Allow the brown bits (fond) to build as they will anyway.
When nicely cooked but NOT crisp begin frying your chicken skin side down on the thighs and similarly on the legs. Turn periodically so you do not overcook, you want the skin crispy and the dear departed chicken moist and tenderly delicious, not tough and chewy! No jerky here! Cook ONLY until the skin is browned and crisp on all pieces. Do a few pieces at a time to keep from steaming the chicken...we'll do a bit of that later on. All the ckicken to cool on paper towels to remove excess oil and fat. Next act!
Now go back to those mushrooms, add the onions and fold together into one lovely bumpy dark and delicious mixture. Lightly salt and pepper them. Now add two cups of your fresh stock, then add two cups of a lovely, likeable and thoroughly drinkable red wine. Add 4 Tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons of dried. Turn on the burner to medium intensity and bring the mixture to a boil, stir gently. Turn it down to a simmer, leave the lid off (if you have a lid) and watch the magic as it develops. T%aste frequently and DO NOT add more salt or pepper until you add the chicken and that won't happen for some time...perhaps 90 minutes or so. After the liquid has reduced to just enough remaining to cover the mushrooms and onions (about a 50% reduction) add the chicken to the top of the layered mixture with the skin side up. Pour enough additional wine to 1/2 cover the chicken (important)...leave the skin exposed to the air, only the meaty side is down, the skin side is up. Place in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to finish cooking the chicken interior and check the thigh with an instant read thermometer (if you have one) to insure it is 160 - 180 degrees. It should nearly fall off of the bone at this stage. Taste the sauce and season again IF necessary! Do NOT over salt! Do NOT OVER SALT!
Serve over noodles of your choice, tagliatelle or ziti, even large shells will do. Would work also with Basmati Rice (about a cup). Alternately serve over garlic mashed potatoes or with small boiled red potatoes and carrots (my personal favorite!). You could finish them off with 30 minutes in the braising liquid of the dish itself if it suits you.
There you have it! Coq Au Vin OUR style!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Stormy Weather with Bison
An Adult Bison
Well the FIRST big Pacific storm of the wineter weather season is upon us. Windy as all get out...to 55mph acording to the Travis AFB weather station data. Not so bad here in the edge of Suisun as the storm is coming in from the south andthat means we are protected somewhat by the rest of the trees and homes to our south. Nonetheless Vern's good ship "KoOlina" was tied loosely as is our habit hereabouts but this wind was energetic enough to push her sideways into the other neighbor's boat. I ran out and took in the slack on the dock lines to pull her in a bit closer and away from the neighbors and all seems well now except I am soaking wet. Ah well...they'd do it for me if Zulu was in a like situation. That's what neighbors are for...that and drinks.
I'm baking this rainy, stormy afternoon...some hamburger buns as Kelly wants a hamburger, the American fix. I might even do some double fried french fries (Belgian Fries really!) to go along with them. AND the beast is not just boring hamburger..it's BISON! Beautiful bison is available these days, quite lean so don't use it if you like your burgers well done...they will NOT be a tender, juicy morsel if they are well done. Some bacon fat mixed in (about 15%) would help the problem.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
France Telecom Suicides! Yea Gads Get'em Back to Work!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/06/work.death/index.html
is a link to the news story regarding the number of France Telecom suicides since the start of 2008...I think the number is 24 currently. Bar the windows, disarm the employees and the bosses (too many of those!), only bike to work and ban all pills and poisons. That ought to do it, at least it'll reduce the skipping out/malingering/striking dead for s while til they find another way to end it all.
Inside a France Telecom Office:
Ringggg! goes a phone...Rinnnnggg! Rinnngnnngg!
Employee: Alo!
the other end: Anyone alive there? Been calling for 2 days!
Employee: Call 0678100100 to complain.
the other end: I WORK for France Telecom!
Employee: Too Bad...next sound "BANG"
the other end: Alo? Anyone there?
Thats NORMAL these days! Who in their right mind would want to work for such a failed
company? My God, why? So many employees and noone capable of doing anything useful...who is hiring these folks anyway...shoot him or them (likely a committee!) as soon as you can find him/her/them. I have watched oh so many times the looks of fear, frustration, disbelief on the faces of both a paying customer AND the employee that I'm used to the comedy by now. So many arguments about bills, service, contracts, missed calls, bad equipment, Orange(!), DSL, Dial-up (yes..these days the still sell it at $20 Euros a month no less!), missed appointments et al. It's a company without a head, the buck...no...Euro stops nowhere! Even the billing doesn't stop after THEY turn you off! Amazing! While at the same time employees AND their management walk the streets in protest to "working conditions". I guess so. So no one is inside doing anything for the poor wo-be-gone customer who needs help. Tough life.
is a link to the news story regarding the number of France Telecom suicides since the start of 2008...I think the number is 24 currently. Bar the windows, disarm the employees and the bosses (too many of those!), only bike to work and ban all pills and poisons. That ought to do it, at least it'll reduce the skipping out/malingering/striking dead for s while til they find another way to end it all.
Inside a France Telecom Office:
Ringggg! goes a phone...Rinnnnggg! Rinnngnnngg!
Employee: Alo!
the other end: Anyone alive there? Been calling for 2 days!
Employee: Call 0678100100 to complain.
the other end: I WORK for France Telecom!
Employee: Too Bad...next sound "BANG"
the other end: Alo? Anyone there?
Thats NORMAL these days! Who in their right mind would want to work for such a failed
company? My God, why? So many employees and noone capable of doing anything useful...who is hiring these folks anyway...shoot him or them (likely a committee!) as soon as you can find him/her/them. I have watched oh so many times the looks of fear, frustration, disbelief on the faces of both a paying customer AND the employee that I'm used to the comedy by now. So many arguments about bills, service, contracts, missed calls, bad equipment, Orange(!), DSL, Dial-up (yes..these days the still sell it at $20 Euros a month no less!), missed appointments et al. It's a company without a head, the buck...no...Euro stops nowhere! Even the billing doesn't stop after THEY turn you off! Amazing! While at the same time employees AND their management walk the streets in protest to "working conditions". I guess so. So no one is inside doing anything for the poor wo-be-gone customer who needs help. Tough life.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Food, Sex, Music, anything else?
No. That is THE short list of major worldly motivations. Everything else is a distraction. Now back in sunny, warm California, a certain State of Dreams. Mexican food comes to mind. It's everywhere and a favorite. All of it, anything of it, the flavors, textures, subtle and not so. A party, no, a fiesta for the taste buds. I dearly LOVE the stuff. I was simple at it in the beginning, tacos...folded, fried corn tortillas, tomato, ground beef, onion, a cheddar cheese. Simple, too simple actually.
Needs a kick...add some jalapenos minced or a big slice to each steaming folded beauty. More...braise skirt steak for 4-6 hours in typical flavors of cumin, marjoram, onion, garlic, cilanto leaves, lime, tomato. Then slice thinly and use it instead of the benign and boring ground beast. Chicken, grilled after marinating with olive oil, garlic, cilantro and cumin cut thinly as well or chunked or torn. Delicious! Not cheddar...not typical at all...monterey jack or questo, much better. Now we are getting somewhere. A dollop of mexican sour cream. Ohhhh. Fish...or Shrimp, yes, yes, yes! All good. Enchilladas, rolled tortillas, corn of course, around questo or chicken or pulled pork, beef, goat, whatever. A few leaves of cilantro, diced tomato, red onion coverred by a fresh tomotillo (green) sauce. My or my.
___
I make it all now after such a humble beginning. Sicilian, California, Mexican fusion. Fabulous food with all the ingredients available at Larry's Produce amidst the vines and olive groves outside of Fairfield. Wow, spoiled I am, no...RUINED! I always thought France was for Foodies...and certainly it is a popular thought, but dear friends...THIS is the Holy Grail of Food! The quality has improved oh so very much in the last 10-15 years with the growith of the Slow Food movement and the extensive list of local farmer's markets. We have food on our collective minds now and we are all better for it.
Needs a kick...add some jalapenos minced or a big slice to each steaming folded beauty. More...braise skirt steak for 4-6 hours in typical flavors of cumin, marjoram, onion, garlic, cilanto leaves, lime, tomato. Then slice thinly and use it instead of the benign and boring ground beast. Chicken, grilled after marinating with olive oil, garlic, cilantro and cumin cut thinly as well or chunked or torn. Delicious! Not cheddar...not typical at all...monterey jack or questo, much better. Now we are getting somewhere. A dollop of mexican sour cream. Ohhhh. Fish...or Shrimp, yes, yes, yes! All good. Enchilladas, rolled tortillas, corn of course, around questo or chicken or pulled pork, beef, goat, whatever. A few leaves of cilantro, diced tomato, red onion coverred by a fresh tomotillo (green) sauce. My or my.
___
I make it all now after such a humble beginning. Sicilian, California, Mexican fusion. Fabulous food with all the ingredients available at Larry's Produce amidst the vines and olive groves outside of Fairfield. Wow, spoiled I am, no...RUINED! I always thought France was for Foodies...and certainly it is a popular thought, but dear friends...THIS is the Holy Grail of Food! The quality has improved oh so very much in the last 10-15 years with the growith of the Slow Food movement and the extensive list of local farmer's markets. We have food on our collective minds now and we are all better for it.
Friday, September 25, 2009
The Trip, How Many Legs?
La Villette - The Canal
It was a trip alright. Our dearest of friends S&D took us to the
Chateauneuf Choo-Choo for the gala trip north to Paris, leg #1. Up at 7,
finished detailing the house by turning the water off and draining the water
lines everywhere that I could locate a drain. Water everywhere and we
escaped through the front door with S&D and awaaaay we went across the foggy
French countryside for the 9:53 choo choo to Gare Austerlitz in Paris. The
ride was easy as usual and about 34 Euros per person, worth every cent.
Austerlitz to the taxi stand was a new route through the remade interior but
familiar enough.
Then a taxi within seconds and off we went to the ETAP at
La Villette (Leg #2) in the 19th Arr. for the night's stay. At 63 Euros and in Paris it is a bargain. Clean, efficient and located near the canal and all the
lovely restaurants that are nearby to it. Sat in our little bar fav right
outside the ETAP and had a couple of beers and watched the people coming
home from their days to their homes nearby, always a treat! People watching
is the BEST in Paris, just the BEST! At about 7:30 (about the earliest you
can sit down for dinner anywhere in Paris) we headed down to the corner cafe
where we had been for dinner with Steve and Michelle back in August. It was
excellent then and guess what...excellent again! Kelly orderred the Lamb
Shank and I the Rabbit (Lapin) with double mustard sauce. Both were tender
beyond words and delicious as they ever could be. Truly fine food with
wonderfully friendly service. Oh the restaurant's name for those who CARE:
Jaures Cafe. http://www.lejaures.com/ is their site, it doesn't look fancy
but ohhhh can they ever COOK! And isn't THAT what it's all about anyway?!
Tough to beat this meals
cost too...all of 37 Euros with a pitcher of wine! What a bargain! Then we
wlked about being GAWKEES instead of GAWKERS and wound up about 10pm back in
our room. Sleep came fast as this leg #2 came to a close. Outside...it was
Paris. Oh Sweet Paris.
The noises started immediately, not that they had stopped...ever...just that
the acts of peeing, turning out the lights, climbing into bed and fluffing
up a pillow should produce a certain disconnect between the world of noise
and the world of dear sleep...at least SOME of the time. Not this time. It
only ADDED to the level of noise...motorcycles screaming by, cars racing
their motors, buses belching their way along the boulevard, then the drunks,
oh the drunks. Yelling at full volume to some other lost soul somewhere in
Paris to come out and be with them...they had wine! No shit...yes they had
wine, LOTS of wine...in them. This was topped by a cadre of young women all
singing some pop French song and laughing joyously right outside our
windows...below us...yes, we were on the 1st floor...which is 1 floor above
the ground floor which is Zero (You get used to it). A certain party to
their vocalization was to the right of us IN the hotel! They too had joined
the sing along. Shit. I might as well join them too as Kelly just rolled
over, moaned something about "what are You doing awake?" and nodded off.
I laid there listening (against my better judgement) but what was I to do?
I was aware of this and all else auditory for the next 100 hours while my
mind took rests of 10 second sleeps. Shit. All night long, all night long.
It was after 3 when I finally closed the window and the room dramatically
became quieter. Brilliant.
Up at 8 to get showered, coffee and a pastry and a cab at about 10 so we
could race to CDG to catch our plane at 2:05 this afternoon. Taxi came, off to CDG to complete Leg #3.
___
Well here we are, all three of us over Baffin Bay just west of Greenland at
36000 ft. All white below and completely cloud covered. The day began well
after a miserable nights semi-sleep...not a good combnation and not leading to a decent nights sleep before this marathon. Off we went to seek coffee and sustainance in a
boulangerie but not the ones we had in mind. Across from our eaterie of
lasrt night where we both had superb french meals. Anyway...finding our normal bar quite closed we kept walking until we found
another outside cafe, Kelly ordered our coffees and I went to the next
boulangerie for two pastries; Chanson Du Pomme with the most flaky of crusts
and made with lots of butter. Then back to call a cab and off to CDG
Terminal 1 we went to find Lufthansa and our airplane. This became a
complete travisty as United somehow had screwed up the reservations and the
Lufthansa agent couldn't find us on their system at all. Using just our
printed iteneraries they gave us boarding passes only to balk at Fur-R_Ee traveling in the cabin part. Back and forth I went to United Ticketing to straighten out
the calamity but to little avail. When we got back to the Lufthansa desk and
the agent had to sort it out again on a different system at Lufthansa
ticketing. She disappeared behind another computer monitor across the aisle. This all took in excess of 2 hours to accomplish! Finally with time running out we joined the madding crowd at the security check, offed our shoes; belts and all loose items and went thru unscathed. Then to the gate to wait for the plane; drink some 4 Euro Evian and hope that the balance of the journey goes better than that which had just transpired. Fat chance! Thats what I thought anyway, cynical as I am. Soon on the fine A320-200 we stowed our carry-on luggage and did the same with Furry under
the seat and we were good to go! Leg # 4 complete and now in Frankfort we, unfortunately, were directed to the famous Wrong Bus. This one delivered us a good mile from the United service desk where we were to get re-ticketed as Lufthansa could not do the deed at CDG for reasons only known to the computer system at
Lufthansa. Once found...UALs persons were wonderfully efficient; freindly and helpful. They even liked Furry. Soon we had tickets, then the all important boarding passes and found our long, long way to Gate C8 a hundred miles back the way we came in this cavernous airport that is Frankfort. Then by the time we went thru the passport check and the security bullshit all time had been used up and with
but 10 minutes to pushback we found our seats in row 38 H&J to
enjoy...ha...the 11Hr flight to SFO and our sweet Audrey who will guide us
to her car and bring us home to collapse. Not soon enough!
With a lurch and a jerk we rounded up on the last leg into SFO flying over the San Mateo Bridge. Heavy winds made this last 5 minutes the worst part (for turbulence) of the entire 6000 mile journey. With a screech and another dramatic bounce we landed in San Francisco! Leg 5 Complete! Off, thru passport control, baggage was next, ours were among the first off! Hooray! Then thru customs, handing over the form with our 120 Euro purchases outlined we were off to find our Audrey.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Come and Gone and Going
A and J called this afternoon just after I had finished the Great Putting Away of 2009. They were bombing along the A71 in a northerly direction about 30 minutes away from us. They had faithfully taken in most of what I had told them were some of the major sights with varying degrees of success. They did enjoy the Pot Du Gard roman bridge and the Millieu Causeway across the Tarn Gorge. AND...they enjoyed the quality of French Rest Areas...called Aires that have service stations attached to restaurants and shops selling local products. I think they had a great time and did it in an restful and yet very active way. They used the ETAP Hotel chain to save hotel expense and ate in local cafes and bars which always keeps the food expense low as well. I was/am impressed. So they arrived at Maison Blanche about 3pm and charged their batteries for the cell phones and computers, had a beer and laid out the tales of their discoveries. Kelly went to Dave and Sue's place shortly after they arrived and returned about 5 minutes after they had left bound to the ETAP outside of CDG in Paris. Here's our picture together a couple of days ago.
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___
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A Bread Making Disaster of Sorts
You know I like...no...LOVE making bread. I have been at it for a while now...last year actually, and have had many, many successes. I make it so that we have our daily bread everyday as fresh as humanly and machinely possible. I bake every other day on an average and sometimes more often than that. Most of my loaves are hand formed and not confined to a bread pan, just shaped after the kneading and final rise and put in the oven at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. That's it...no proofing of yeast, no exact measuring of flour, salt, oils and butter or water. I use a Bluesky 40 Euro bread machine to do the mixing then I remove the loaf and proceed toi use the folding method for 4 turns of 45 minutes each. l'viola! Bread. Using my current supply of ingredients it has been just about impossible to fail, good loaves with each baking cycle have been the result...until yesterday. What happened yesterday? A giant break with traditional success is what. The bread as made in the usual way...lets do it for you here:
1.25 cups H2O
2 cups Bread Flour
1 cup Semolina flour
2 teaspoons dry yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar or molasses
2 Tablespoons butter or Margarine or Olive Oil
3/4 Tablespoon fine salt
That's it. Nothing more, no seeds, no nuts, no wholewheat...
results...a brick, doorstop or bookend or wallhanging...but nothing to eat and enjoy.
Oh yes I am one to not throw stuff away...so I tried to pretend it was "alright" this morning when Kelly ask me for some to have her smoked salmon with...but the telltale density running throught the loaf told the tale...this is shit!
So today, an hour ago, I proofed the yeast to check if it was still with the living,
weighed the flour and much more carefully assembled the ingredients as I have never done in the last few months. We will see soon what hath my hard work wrought.
____
Later...All ok, she is arisen! The proofing at 104 degrees F caused quite a foam after about 10 minutes. I added the other ingredients and turned on the trusty dough cycle of the Bluesky breadmaker. 1hr and 30 minutes later...I have a loaf of quite risen bread! Cool...now I just need to sneak it ever so carefully into the 400 degree F Champion oven (My Baker's Pride-like gem of 200lbs of cast iron and enamel coated with Nansulate) and wait 25 minutes for a result. Careful now...don't drop it! It's jelly like slack condition makes it quite a case for collapse if one isn't careful. A beauty! It's portrait is the image above...so my arrogance had gotten me away from the basics a bit too far, now I know better once again. Patience!
Bye for now!
Monday, September 14, 2009
New Guests, New Challenges...Nothing New
One day off from our last visitors whom we know well and love equally so with only one stranger, a boyfriend in the midst of the rest. Now we have a known somewhat and an unknown and us...and we are running out of time and the patience it takes to be decent hosts to decent guests. So much to do in this our last week in France until when? I dunno this time as we have decided to "go for it", rent the Swamphouse after all and try for a long term visa so we can stay a full year, or two or ??? Three. The little house had to be cleared of all remaining "stuff", a couple of beds, matresses, a pot hanging rack firmly afixed to a wall, a coat rack similarly adjoined and a few more odds and ends. It's all out now thanks to our new young muscle-bound male guests and D and S who lent us the trailer with their car attached with them inside to do the final clearing of Dix. Out, across town then into the rear of 35 and emptying took but a few minutes with all working to get it down. Up and down the two flights of stairs we went carrying all manner of stuff to place it in the appropriate spots in the attic under the roof which we will (hopefully) get repaired this winter. That has to be arranged this week too.
___
All of the above with Furry's rabies shot and inspection by her Vet in preparation for the trip to California once again. She's so good with the vet as he is with her. She, at first, is very resistant to coming out of her carrier...as she is in being put INTO it...but once coaxed out by hand and elbow grease she is calm and cool and very, very collected. We aren't but she is. He feels for problems, cysts, tumors, lumps and bumps, reads her ID chip and checks her eyes and ears as well...all the while she sits and ignores each insult. Very queen-like. Then she got a brand new shiny Pet Passport...a blue document that looks just like a passport from the EU but meant for Kats and dogs and other pets and thier vets. Cool as can be I think.
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The Guests went off with S of S&D fame this morning to Bourges for a tour of the Geant supermarket, Leroy Merlin and downtown ancient Bourges. I joked with them that she had to be back home by MIDNIGHT! I asked Kelly if S was going to wear high-heels for the occassion! LOL! (She's about 55 and The Guys, each ver handsome are in thier early 30's! Ooo La La!)
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Tonight a classic Lute dish...Spaghetti and Meatballs w/Puttanesca (Whore) Sauce. Sugo alla Puttanesca. The meatballs are Lamb and Veal ground coarsely with anise, bread crumbs and red pepper in my own version of this classy Sicilian meal. Look it up online and give it a try! I suggest you use Bucatini as the spaghetti if you can get it or some other larger noodle, even a fetucinni or rigatoni would be good.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Between Guests and The Fog...
Yes, today was the first fog that we have seen since spring. Thick enough to slow the little traffic of Lignieres around our corner and make for a spooky and ethereal backdrop to our medieval village. We were up early as Aud was on her way to Paris and her flight home. We packed her up and left Maison Blanche at 9:20am for the 10 minute jaunt to the RR station at Chateauneuf Sur Cher. Aud was scheduled this morning on the 9:53 to Paris...oops...Bourges, a stop and change of trains for who knows why. We missed her immediately, coming home we were both silent in contemplation of new challenges upcoming...soon...like tomorrow when my student from my Hogan High teaching days, Andy and his friend Mr. X make thier appearance at the Maison Blanch. New people, new conversations, new subjects. We are already tired and one day is probably not enough time to recharge our batteries for them, at least...not very much. Being young men and adventuresome I think they will put up with us only a little while before wanting to wander off to new sights and places. I know they wanted to go to Marseilles or Nice so I have dreamed up a sightseeing route to the south that will give them much to contemplate about this most amazing country. I plan on printing a sheet with some instructions and a list of our favorite places to tour in France. Here's the list...
Argenton-sur-Creuse, http://www.ot-argenton-sur-creuse.fr/index2.php
Lascaux, http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/
Sarlat, http://www.sarlat.com/eindex.html
Pont Du Gard, http://www.pontdugard.fr/index.php?langue=GB
Tarn Gorge and Bridge, http://www.ot-gorgesdutarn.com/index-gb.html
Carcassonne. http://www.carcassonne.org/
Orange, http://www.horizon-provence.com/orange-provence/orange-roman-city.htm
This is far from a comprehensive list but it's all good and food for the intellect.
All are grist for the camera eye that's for sure and each due it's own good time and a sit to contemplate. I will print out the list and discuss each one with our new guests and see what interest there might be in such a discovery tour.
___
We spent the day cooking tomorrows dinner, a Mexican one with a complex recipe for Chicken Mole, Black Beans and Rice. It took us hours to create and I think it'll be worth the effort. Here's the lin to the recipe we used:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/06/FD1S19F7J1.DTL&type=food
Howard and Kelly Lute
He: Good Cook, Bad Mechanic, Terrible Plumber She: Patient
Orange Cell in France: (from USA) 011 33 64 359 9713 IN France? 064 359 9713
Blog: http://lignieres.blogspot.com
WebCam: http://www.sonic.net/~kell12/webcam.jpg
Photos: http://www.shutterpoint.com/Photos-BrowseUser.cfm?user_id=HNLUTE
More Photos at FLICKR: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hnlute/
Photos for Sale: http://unephono.etsy.com
Sunday, September 06, 2009
My Leading Ladies
Oh, I slipped! Damn...I hit the L instead of the R! Oh well...you get the picture, they are all readers and they are incessantly reading...only Furry and I are left to contemplate our navels. They read all day and into the night taking little time out for smoking (Aud), going potty, and eating. Mostly...they sit or lay about reading. A life of pure leisure. I'm NOT complaining! Far from it! I get left to my own devices largely, don't even have to drive the car some days as Kelly has bravely taken on that chore to guide our guests about the countryside. Leaves me time to cook, read cookbooks, fiddle around on the computer and fight with Furry.
Not bad. The most "time off" I've had in a while.
___
Andy, my ex-student from Hogan oh so long ago...mid 90's has just landed at CDG and is enroute to the hotel with his friend. They are near Port Orleans but are traveloling to London tomorrow via the chunnel, stay a couple of days then back to Paris til the end of the week, then they are coming here to join us for a few days before venturing south. I have some places I think they'd like to observe in person. The Pont Du Gard, Lascoux, The Tarn Gorge and the Bridge over it, there's so much to see and appreciate it's a challenge to do a proper job of being tour director really...all this on the way to Marsaille and Nice which they want to visit.
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Tonight we are having S and D over to meet Katie and have a go at more experimental (not quite) food. I've made Canneloni and Eggplant Parmigiana as the entrees, Kelly has made her beet and blue cheese salad with nut oil and vinegar dressing (delicious!), I also made French Vanilla ice cream from the ancient recipe that everyone seems to like. It should be a pretty filling meal and a lot of fun.
Katie's daughter G is coming via velo from Belin with her boyfriend N and may be calling us any minute now to give us a possible arrival date and time. Biking fron Berlin across both Germany and France! Amazing! It's quite a feat that's for sure!
She's the one going to Circus school too, so she's very athletic to say the least!
Not bad. The most "time off" I've had in a while.
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Andy, my ex-student from Hogan oh so long ago...mid 90's has just landed at CDG and is enroute to the hotel with his friend. They are near Port Orleans but are traveloling to London tomorrow via the chunnel, stay a couple of days then back to Paris til the end of the week, then they are coming here to join us for a few days before venturing south. I have some places I think they'd like to observe in person. The Pont Du Gard, Lascoux, The Tarn Gorge and the Bridge over it, there's so much to see and appreciate it's a challenge to do a proper job of being tour director really...all this on the way to Marsaille and Nice which they want to visit.
___
Tonight we are having S and D over to meet Katie and have a go at more experimental (not quite) food. I've made Canneloni and Eggplant Parmigiana as the entrees, Kelly has made her beet and blue cheese salad with nut oil and vinegar dressing (delicious!), I also made French Vanilla ice cream from the ancient recipe that everyone seems to like. It should be a pretty filling meal and a lot of fun.
Katie's daughter G is coming via velo from Belin with her boyfriend N and may be calling us any minute now to give us a possible arrival date and time. Biking fron Berlin across both Germany and France! Amazing! It's quite a feat that's for sure!
She's the one going to Circus school too, so she's very athletic to say the least!
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
On The Road In Burgundy
Burgundy, the famous wine region is but an hour north of us close to the Loire where it bends south to it's origin. A 2.5 hr journey was planned to take us to the medieval hill town of Vezelay, the home of a highly carved and ancient church. Audrey is a church nut, loves to photograph them and study and examine their "bones" as she calls them. I like them too, they are endlessly different and interesting in all the decoration, stained glass and uni9que features such as the fingers hands and other PARTS of long gone saints. This one held the finger (a finger) of Mary Magdalene, the only female disciple of Jesus. Sure you say...but hey! Whose to argue with Pope Innocent II who pronounced them actual and true. Oh take it on Faith as the religion demands of you anyway and yes deep down in the crypt below the alter is a golden box with glass sides and indeed...there's a finger there within in remarkable shape. Cool! Nice subject for a few pics, beats the splinters of the "True Cross" that seem to be everywhere here. This though her entire body...intact...is found somewhere in Provence. Oh well...Faith...remember?
___
The 2.5 hr trip was made somewhat longer...4 hrs actually as the existing GPS map of the region present in our Tom-Tom had was rendered obsolete by a new freeway and seemingly endless detours. Jane, our trusty Tom-Tom's voice was totally confused by our route and thus took us in a large circle adding 1.5hrs driving time through the beautiful Burgandian countryside.
___
Reaching Vezelay we parked at the bottom of the hill below the main street leading up to the steps of the church. There is better parking on up the hill nearer the church, it's all Pay-And_Display anyway as it is throughout France so bring some Euro coins with you to plug in the meter, put the ticket on the dash and walk on up.
The church is at the end of a long approach past numerous shops (all closed for lunch) and restaurants. We had brought a pique-nique with us and soft drinks just in case our planned lunch stop somehow didn't work out. The church was huge and one covered with carved capitols amid rows of two-toned wall and column construction. Very striking and very beautiful with the light pouring in from the high windows above the nave. Spectacular! Down we went into the crypt to see The Finger, then observing the pilgrims praying we left them as silently as we could.
___
Out into the sunshine again we concluded our Vezelay visit with a return thru the gauntlet of shops still not open (lunch, remember) to our trusty Toyota and away across the countryside towards the distant stacks of a nuclear power station along the Loire near our Pizza place in Beaulieu-sur-Loire. Alas it was after 3pm, the restaurant was closed! Ohhhhh...off to eat our picnic somewhere soon. Driving back towards Bourge we stopped to gawk at the vineyards from the stunning view from the streets leading out of Sancere. We took up places on a park bench set opposite the landscape below us and ate our ham sandwiches and my potato salad and swilled down a large bottle of 7-Up shared between us. Then back in the car with Kelly at the wheel, I had timed out and was too drowsy to drive any longer. Thru Bourges and home at 5:30. What a fine day trip thru the vineyards of Burgundy we had. Lunched so late that dinner was unnecessary. Off to bed at 9 we were, 3 very tired and happy ducks.
____
"Wearing The Inside Out" Pink Floyd
From morning to night I stayed out of sight
Didn't recognize I'd become
No more than alive I'd barely survive
In a word...overrun
Won't hear a sound
From my mouth
I've spent too long
On the inside out
My skin is cold
To the human touch
This bleeding heart's
Not beating much
I murmured a vow of silence and now
I don't even hear when I think aloud
Extinguished by light I turn on the night
Wear its darkness with an empty smile
I'm creeping back to life
My nervous system all awry
I'm wearing the inside out
Look at him now
He's paler somehow
But he's coming round
He's starting to choke
It's been so long since he spoke
Well he can have the words right from my mouth
And with these words I can see
Clear through the clouds that covered me
Just give it time then speak my name
Now we can hear ourselves again
I'm holding out
For the day
When all the clouds
Have blown away
I'm with you now
Can speak your name
Now we can hear
Ourselves again
___
The 2.5 hr trip was made somewhat longer...4 hrs actually as the existing GPS map of the region present in our Tom-Tom had was rendered obsolete by a new freeway and seemingly endless detours. Jane, our trusty Tom-Tom's voice was totally confused by our route and thus took us in a large circle adding 1.5hrs driving time through the beautiful Burgandian countryside.
___
Reaching Vezelay we parked at the bottom of the hill below the main street leading up to the steps of the church. There is better parking on up the hill nearer the church, it's all Pay-And_Display anyway as it is throughout France so bring some Euro coins with you to plug in the meter, put the ticket on the dash and walk on up.
The church is at the end of a long approach past numerous shops (all closed for lunch) and restaurants. We had brought a pique-nique with us and soft drinks just in case our planned lunch stop somehow didn't work out. The church was huge and one covered with carved capitols amid rows of two-toned wall and column construction. Very striking and very beautiful with the light pouring in from the high windows above the nave. Spectacular! Down we went into the crypt to see The Finger, then observing the pilgrims praying we left them as silently as we could.
___
Out into the sunshine again we concluded our Vezelay visit with a return thru the gauntlet of shops still not open (lunch, remember) to our trusty Toyota and away across the countryside towards the distant stacks of a nuclear power station along the Loire near our Pizza place in Beaulieu-sur-Loire. Alas it was after 3pm, the restaurant was closed! Ohhhhh...off to eat our picnic somewhere soon. Driving back towards Bourge we stopped to gawk at the vineyards from the stunning view from the streets leading out of Sancere. We took up places on a park bench set opposite the landscape below us and ate our ham sandwiches and my potato salad and swilled down a large bottle of 7-Up shared between us. Then back in the car with Kelly at the wheel, I had timed out and was too drowsy to drive any longer. Thru Bourges and home at 5:30. What a fine day trip thru the vineyards of Burgundy we had. Lunched so late that dinner was unnecessary. Off to bed at 9 we were, 3 very tired and happy ducks.
____
"Wearing The Inside Out" Pink Floyd
From morning to night I stayed out of sight
Didn't recognize I'd become
No more than alive I'd barely survive
In a word...overrun
Won't hear a sound
From my mouth
I've spent too long
On the inside out
My skin is cold
To the human touch
This bleeding heart's
Not beating much
I murmured a vow of silence and now
I don't even hear when I think aloud
Extinguished by light I turn on the night
Wear its darkness with an empty smile
I'm creeping back to life
My nervous system all awry
I'm wearing the inside out
Look at him now
He's paler somehow
But he's coming round
He's starting to choke
It's been so long since he spoke
Well he can have the words right from my mouth
And with these words I can see
Clear through the clouds that covered me
Just give it time then speak my name
Now we can hear ourselves again
I'm holding out
For the day
When all the clouds
Have blown away
I'm with you now
Can speak your name
Now we can hear
Ourselves again
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Paris, Versailles and More Chairs
Oh god...more chairs! How many do we have? Where are they? Everywhere! Not just some for this function and this room but more than enough for everything TWICE! OCD on chair possession. No matter, eBay has struck again. Six, count 'em, 6 French style chairs with bright red cushions and backs. Dining room additions to displace the wicker bottom and black leather bottomed ones already in that service. At the same time we took Aud to Versailles for her Bee-Day to gawk at the over-the-top furnishings and decorative designs. Up at 7 for coffee, tell Fur-Rr-Ee what is happening today and that she will remain home (maa!) to watch the house in our absence. 4.5 hrs to the Big V, then about 1/2 hr to the Paris spot to pick up the chairs, stuff them in the trusty Avensis-needing-wheel-bearing(s), then home...all using back roads, no toll roads desired. Shit! At LEAST 9 hrs of driving total and maybe 2 or 3 in the bloody castle gawking...we'll be suitable for framing when this "day trip" is over, that's for sure! Oh and a picnique for lunch somewhere.
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/index.php?option=com_cdvhomepage
___
And so it was, as we left Maison Blanche we stopped at the Boulangerie downtown for pastries which we gobbled down as I sped towards Bourges and beyond. The trip north thru the Loire Valley, across the Loire was uneventful, then we crossed the Seine and soon into the back up of cars entering the parking lot at Versailles, the castle of the Sun King. One car out, one car let in as the lot was full to the brim. The day was a lovely one, not hot but sunny with puffy clouds all about. Nice. We stretched and took off for the castle cameras in hand ready to see how Life WAS for the Sun King and his court a couple of hundred years ago or so...the origins of the Great French Republic (and Revolution!) laid out before us.
___
Inside easily as Kelly had already bought the tickets at the on-line site
and though she (and apparently MOST others) cannot PRINT the damned result of their payment to the system and are thus stuck with only the receipt (don't forget to print it!!!!) and the EMAIL (print it too!) which confirms the purchase but doesn't actually print the tickets from the enclosed link! It was no trouble as they have a window at the Sun King's golden gates at the entrance (far right from the outside) which redeems the resulting papers for actual tickets easily and with a friendly, helpful face as well. Typical French sweet hospitality there!
___
I'm NOT going to describe Versailles except to say that ostentation has thus been explored, possibly at the limits of human consumption at the cost of an entire population and those even at the farthest periphery. Perhaps you won't be so struck, perhaps this all appears understandable, perhaps you are unsurprised by man's insatiable greed by now...Wall Street does not inpress? This then will open your eyes to the next level.
___
After we set the trusty Tom-Tom to the address given by the seller of the chairs and drove off towards Paris on the horizon. Now I have told you before that MY driving in Paris is NOT A GOOD THING. I am so very careful to look everywhere before I do anything, green lights, red lights, arrows, pointers, signage or the lack of it and then there's the Tom-Tom voice barking out in her ever so calm voice specific directions on top of the other more visceral signals. It is ENOUGH, just ENOUGH...
So as we drive further along, right turns, left turns, merging, off-ramps into the most amazing set of skyscrapers I've ever seen in any city clustered so very close together! Amazing doesn't do it justice! OMG! It's La Défense! It was like the set of Blade Runner, The Director's Cut sans flying taxis and police cars! Amidst this wonderland of glass and steel were our chairs somewhere, oh somewhere. On we drove with my trusty navigator Audrey clarifying our Tom-Toms indications and instructions. I still screwed it up as is my charge as the driver of the Good Ship Teresa-the-Toyota. So around we go with the Tom-Tom resetting us in the proper place, what a technology! A BRAIN when I (just ME!) really needed one! So within a block of the last position we had been before I screwed-the-goose (figuratively not actually) we found the street where our chairs live(d)! Whoopee! So we park in the middle of the street and Audrey and I stand outside and wait for the owner's appearance after she had made the call ("The Voice" makes ALL the calls these days!). He's there, instructs us to park nearer the building, and we go with him to retrieve the 6 chairs.
___
Soon we are back at the car, we tie them firmly to the car top rack I built to hold the gates last year and we find ourway out of Paris via Tom-Tom and the famous Periferique (Paris's ring road). Soon into the country I turn over the reins of Teresa to Kelly while I doze in the passenger seat. Audrey soon disappears into the same void as the kilometers melt away towars nightfall. Kelly began to yawn after I woke so soon I watched her drift right in the lane so decided it was time to ask to drive once again until I started departing for the Land of Nod myself. We drove on into the night, the sun disappeared at 8:45 or so, twilight thru little villages, distant blinking lights reminded me of travelling thru the western deserts of the US, forests with the ever present danger of running wildlife, deer, wild pigs, cattle. Verizon, then Issoudun passed, I wasn't dozing yet as I am known to do...but soon we were in Lignieres and the lights of Rue Marechal Joffre were upon us. We unloaded the chairs, untied the rack and put Teresa to sleep for the night.
___
The chairs look great in the dining room...she was right...again! Oh, how many do we possess at this time? I think 60 but I might be...low!
http://en.chateauversailles.fr/index.php?option=com_cdvhomepage
___
And so it was, as we left Maison Blanche we stopped at the Boulangerie downtown for pastries which we gobbled down as I sped towards Bourges and beyond. The trip north thru the Loire Valley, across the Loire was uneventful, then we crossed the Seine and soon into the back up of cars entering the parking lot at Versailles, the castle of the Sun King. One car out, one car let in as the lot was full to the brim. The day was a lovely one, not hot but sunny with puffy clouds all about. Nice. We stretched and took off for the castle cameras in hand ready to see how Life WAS for the Sun King and his court a couple of hundred years ago or so...the origins of the Great French Republic (and Revolution!) laid out before us.
___
Inside easily as Kelly had already bought the tickets at the on-line site
and though she (and apparently MOST others) cannot PRINT the damned result of their payment to the system and are thus stuck with only the receipt (don't forget to print it!!!!) and the EMAIL (print it too!) which confirms the purchase but doesn't actually print the tickets from the enclosed link! It was no trouble as they have a window at the Sun King's golden gates at the entrance (far right from the outside) which redeems the resulting papers for actual tickets easily and with a friendly, helpful face as well. Typical French sweet hospitality there!
___
I'm NOT going to describe Versailles except to say that ostentation has thus been explored, possibly at the limits of human consumption at the cost of an entire population and those even at the farthest periphery. Perhaps you won't be so struck, perhaps this all appears understandable, perhaps you are unsurprised by man's insatiable greed by now...Wall Street does not inpress? This then will open your eyes to the next level.
___
After we set the trusty Tom-Tom to the address given by the seller of the chairs and drove off towards Paris on the horizon. Now I have told you before that MY driving in Paris is NOT A GOOD THING. I am so very careful to look everywhere before I do anything, green lights, red lights, arrows, pointers, signage or the lack of it and then there's the Tom-Tom voice barking out in her ever so calm voice specific directions on top of the other more visceral signals. It is ENOUGH, just ENOUGH...
So as we drive further along, right turns, left turns, merging, off-ramps into the most amazing set of skyscrapers I've ever seen in any city clustered so very close together! Amazing doesn't do it justice! OMG! It's La Défense! It was like the set of Blade Runner, The Director's Cut sans flying taxis and police cars! Amidst this wonderland of glass and steel were our chairs somewhere, oh somewhere. On we drove with my trusty navigator Audrey clarifying our Tom-Toms indications and instructions. I still screwed it up as is my charge as the driver of the Good Ship Teresa-the-Toyota. So around we go with the Tom-Tom resetting us in the proper place, what a technology! A BRAIN when I (just ME!) really needed one! So within a block of the last position we had been before I screwed-the-goose (figuratively not actually) we found the street where our chairs live(d)! Whoopee! So we park in the middle of the street and Audrey and I stand outside and wait for the owner's appearance after she had made the call ("The Voice" makes ALL the calls these days!). He's there, instructs us to park nearer the building, and we go with him to retrieve the 6 chairs.
___
Soon we are back at the car, we tie them firmly to the car top rack I built to hold the gates last year and we find ourway out of Paris via Tom-Tom and the famous Periferique (Paris's ring road). Soon into the country I turn over the reins of Teresa to Kelly while I doze in the passenger seat. Audrey soon disappears into the same void as the kilometers melt away towars nightfall. Kelly began to yawn after I woke so soon I watched her drift right in the lane so decided it was time to ask to drive once again until I started departing for the Land of Nod myself. We drove on into the night, the sun disappeared at 8:45 or so, twilight thru little villages, distant blinking lights reminded me of travelling thru the western deserts of the US, forests with the ever present danger of running wildlife, deer, wild pigs, cattle. Verizon, then Issoudun passed, I wasn't dozing yet as I am known to do...but soon we were in Lignieres and the lights of Rue Marechal Joffre were upon us. We unloaded the chairs, untied the rack and put Teresa to sleep for the night.
___
The chairs look great in the dining room...she was right...again! Oh, how many do we possess at this time? I think 60 but I might be...low!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Voice Cometh
As I said before my dearest, no, OUR dearest Audrey "The Voice" is coming to a bedroom down the hall in The Maison Blanche. I followed her progress across the skies of the United Sates and the Atlantic Ocean until the site could no longer post the airplane's position south of Greenland on a map. It gave instead the GPS Coordinates in real time which was helpful when used with Google Earth. A good site it was as much detail was provided, landing times, takeoff schedules etc. Easy to use too.
Here's the link: http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightTracker/flightTracker.do
___
Besides that she was able when on the ground in Atlanta and again in Pittsburgh to email me using her new iPod Touch. Cool as heck! I've never coveted such a piece of technology though I like my little Shuttle iPod a great deal, mostly because it holds enough for me to listen to and the battery life is excellent. Apple did a good thing when they made it.
___
We depart for Bourges shortly to pick up The Voice and bring her to the Maison Blanche where she will undoubtedly coo at the decor that has been created in the 2 years since she has been here and tehn take a shower and go to sleep as soon as she can. She has been on the path here since yesterday morning CA time at 3:00am, so well over 24 hours by the time she gets here. 2 stops on Delta plus crossing the pond. Gads.
Here's the link: http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightTracker/flightTracker.do
___
Besides that she was able when on the ground in Atlanta and again in Pittsburgh to email me using her new iPod Touch. Cool as heck! I've never coveted such a piece of technology though I like my little Shuttle iPod a great deal, mostly because it holds enough for me to listen to and the battery life is excellent. Apple did a good thing when they made it.
___
We depart for Bourges shortly to pick up The Voice and bring her to the Maison Blanche where she will undoubtedly coo at the decor that has been created in the 2 years since she has been here and tehn take a shower and go to sleep as soon as she can. She has been on the path here since yesterday morning CA time at 3:00am, so well over 24 hours by the time she gets here. 2 stops on Delta plus crossing the pond. Gads.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Daughter Dearest! Oh Daughter Dearest!
In Pittsburg our daughter A awaits her plane to good ol' Charles De Gaulle, then 8.5 hours of sitting and musing over the next three weeks of France, sights, dinners, new friends and old ones too. We are anxious to have "The Voice" as we have issues with our Notaire regarding the recent sale of Dix. Just details but they leave us questioning the process. What if the buyer decides to not pay us on October the 15th as documented? What happens? I dunno, this little detail has escaped us this time through the Process. When we bought Dix we put 2 thousand Euros as a deposit towards the purchase, that was early on in the deal...when we bought the Maison Blanche Madame (the previous owner) said to us in front of the Realtor...They are serious...so no deposit was needed. So now when we have no such deposit...how does this work? We NEED "The Voice" to speak for us and find out since I now feel a bit unsure about her intentions.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Canicule...It's @#$#@#! HOT!
This morning feels like last night at 9pm when it was still 90 degrees with humidity to match, a three shower day with the last one being a cold one. Not nice. It bhasn't rained in 11 days...pretty unusual here in the summer when the cululous clouds build to thunderheads in the warm afternoons and it pours like the tropics for a couple of hours tehn subsides to more sunshine the next day and a repeat of the cycle. Not now...it's been like this since August 9th. Yesterday my weather station reported at 2pm 106 degrees and at 5 it was 108! Two different thermometers in two SHADY locations outside and aways from the house. Damn. Devil has opened the gates I guess.
So our anxious-as-hell buyer came to our door on Monday at 6pm all in a French tizzie that she had gotten the estimate back from Olivier for the installation of the electrical in the attic of Dix and it was TRES CHER! No money figure mentioned but expensive in her mind whatever it was. No shit...expensive as hell, nothing odd about THAT. You bet, builders here pay a ton of taxes and medical expenses drive the costs up, up, up...just like everywhere else in the world these days. He of course is a ROOFER...so he would have to sub-contract to a certified Electrical contractor, proper permits etc. It's the shits for anyone that's a builder to have a small job like that and so maybe he doesn't even want to do the damned work, there are much bigger fish to fry, even in tiny Lignieres. Did she get a competitive bid from someone else? Nooooo...so what?...why is that of my concern anyway when we GAVE up 4000 bux off the @!#$@##! price in the first place JUST FOR HER! Go to hell I think. Then she is gone and Kelly and I console each other for a bit and finally decide if that's what she wants to do...f___ her we will go to the Notaire tomorrow with the news and see what he says. Tomorrow comes...that's Tuesday morning...we tell him of the Frenglish conversation we had with Madam Buyer and that NO...WE won't lower the price AGAIN...and NO more concessions are coming her way on the sale of Dix to her, end of story. So he says he will email us when he gets to chat with her. AND...get this...she had 7 days after receipt of a certified letter from him that commited her to the sale to refuse...we did not even know that bit of the sales story existed...new law he says...shit! When is the time up then...tomorrow at midnight. Good. We leave to sweat, watch the clock and be miserable together. At least my Dix blog is still intact and we have the sign and the price at 59,000. So Wednesday came, we left to do a bit of grocery shopping and l'Viola! The Notaire fellow is walking out the door of his office, I ask Kelly to roll down the window as we creep by him cars backing up behind us, he leans in and says...it's ok, she wants the house...Merci! we say and off to the grocery store we go before anyone honks. Such is a house sale in Lignieres...now when do we see actual $$$? October 15th. About 2 months from now. Our half to be deposited in our French account here...and Ted's half to go to buying Jaguar transmissions and shipping them to the US for his @!#$#@#! car. We have FUN in France.
Have you read Furry's blog yet? She asked nicely and I set her up a page nextdoor to mine. Here's the link, (She's a smart kat you know...)
http://thefurkat.blogspot.com/
So our anxious-as-hell buyer came to our door on Monday at 6pm all in a French tizzie that she had gotten the estimate back from Olivier for the installation of the electrical in the attic of Dix and it was TRES CHER! No money figure mentioned but expensive in her mind whatever it was. No shit...expensive as hell, nothing odd about THAT. You bet, builders here pay a ton of taxes and medical expenses drive the costs up, up, up...just like everywhere else in the world these days. He of course is a ROOFER...so he would have to sub-contract to a certified Electrical contractor, proper permits etc. It's the shits for anyone that's a builder to have a small job like that and so maybe he doesn't even want to do the damned work, there are much bigger fish to fry, even in tiny Lignieres. Did she get a competitive bid from someone else? Nooooo...so what?...why is that of my concern anyway when we GAVE up 4000 bux off the @!#$@##! price in the first place JUST FOR HER! Go to hell I think. Then she is gone and Kelly and I console each other for a bit and finally decide if that's what she wants to do...f___ her we will go to the Notaire tomorrow with the news and see what he says. Tomorrow comes...that's Tuesday morning...we tell him of the Frenglish conversation we had with Madam Buyer and that NO...WE won't lower the price AGAIN...and NO more concessions are coming her way on the sale of Dix to her, end of story. So he says he will email us when he gets to chat with her. AND...get this...she had 7 days after receipt of a certified letter from him that commited her to the sale to refuse...we did not even know that bit of the sales story existed...new law he says...shit! When is the time up then...tomorrow at midnight. Good. We leave to sweat, watch the clock and be miserable together. At least my Dix blog is still intact and we have the sign and the price at 59,000. So Wednesday came, we left to do a bit of grocery shopping and l'Viola! The Notaire fellow is walking out the door of his office, I ask Kelly to roll down the window as we creep by him cars backing up behind us, he leans in and says...it's ok, she wants the house...Merci! we say and off to the grocery store we go before anyone honks. Such is a house sale in Lignieres...now when do we see actual $$$? October 15th. About 2 months from now. Our half to be deposited in our French account here...and Ted's half to go to buying Jaguar transmissions and shipping them to the US for his @!#$#@#! car. We have FUN in France.
Have you read Furry's blog yet? She asked nicely and I set her up a page nextdoor to mine. Here's the link, (She's a smart kat you know...)
http://thefurkat.blogspot.com/
Monday, August 17, 2009
Pizza to die for: L’Auberge de la Tour owners Patricia and Moez Bounafeck! The BEST pizza I've had in France to date comes from the kitchen of this small hotel/restaurant. Delicious on every level starting with the almost thin crust, lightly toasted on the bottom with bubbles in the crust, a fine red sauce over mozzerella and a great sense of all the ingredients, just the right amount of toppings, excellent in all respects. Mr. Bounafeck served the magnificent pizza himself. A very thrifty and satisfying meal with a large pitcher of a local red wine and a drizzle of hot oil, this is a stop not to miss when you are in the Burgundy region. On the corner of Rt D926 and Rt D951 in the city of Beaulieu-Sur-Loire, 22 Euros worth of superlative pizza. Try it! It was my birthday lunch. Our next table guests were from Paris, he a salesman for a batimat (stone, cement, gravel) company and she was a dead ringer for Brigette Bardot complete with rhinestone high heels and a short skirt! Terrificly funny and wonderful they invited us to share another bottle of the local Gienois pick, delicious and crisp as well as fruity as we laughed and Fringlished our way thru the explanation of our life here in France.
It was great fun, we shared email addresses and said our goodbyes and headed for Bourges to acquire needed things for the Maison Blanche.
It was great fun, we shared email addresses and said our goodbyes and headed for Bourges to acquire needed things for the Maison Blanche.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
S&D are Baaaack!
Cool...folks to chat with again! Watering their garden was interesting, fun and rewarding vegetable wise...lots of lettuce, tomatoes, beets (oh the beets!). We had a good time with it as our own is a mess and all because we have spent all this trip in the house "doing things". I used to tend the garden at Dix and loved doing it, once in and growing it was not hard to maintain at all. Now though...the courtyard here is just overgrown with weeds and unpicked flowers and has a generally sad look about it though there ARE flowers amidst the gloom and the herbs are fine as they are. The weeds? Roundup anyone?
___
We are redoing the infamous Blue Room...the WC with the motto "It's Not A Turkish Toilet!". Not that I have anything much negative to say about any "facilities" when you really need them but a hole in the floor is just a bit much. At least we had a fine white ceramic toilet to use. First the ceiling, white to reflect the little light that enters naturally. Then a little bureau that will be the stand upon which the new sink will reside. A new faucet is ready to be installed...at $7.90 Euros it was the cheapest one there and it looks fine, nice crome, the valve is all bronze and while there is no fine ceramic seals...it will do. Kelly picked out a wild green, fushia (purple) and cream white wallpaper and bought a color matching fushia for the lower wainscotting area. No more Blue Room indeed! It will be just this side of shocking!
___
We (I) have used up the last dregs of Nansulate on the front walls of the parlor. 5 gallons are on the house's outside walls (mostly) and we will be ordering more sometime in the winter so we can have some handy after the new roof is installed.
How much? The roof is huge...another 5 gallons might be enough...maybe. The most interesting experimental use of Nansulate for me has been on my little gas oven. I've coated the sides of the thing with 3 coats as Industrial Nanotech has instructed and wow...what a difference in performance after about 3 weeks of curing.
I can get temperatures above 650 degrees...the limit of my temp measuring equipment was 650F so if it was higher I'll not know...yet! But the upside is that the leakage from the sides has been cut dramatically...enough that it reaches 450 degrees in 20 minutes where it used to take 50! The sides aren't cool..but they won't burn you either...which is another dramatic improvement. The refrigerators are equally happy about having their outsides coated in Nansumate Home Coat...they now are turned to their lowest setting and still are very, very cold inside, below 40 degrees...and the freezer is now at -45 degrees F! it was -25. All in all things have changed for nthe better, howmuch money it will wind up saving us is hard to say now as billing for electricity is a not so often occurance. I'll report though when I get some numbers.
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Take care everybody!
Good health to you and yours!
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We are redoing the infamous Blue Room...the WC with the motto "It's Not A Turkish Toilet!". Not that I have anything much negative to say about any "facilities" when you really need them but a hole in the floor is just a bit much. At least we had a fine white ceramic toilet to use. First the ceiling, white to reflect the little light that enters naturally. Then a little bureau that will be the stand upon which the new sink will reside. A new faucet is ready to be installed...at $7.90 Euros it was the cheapest one there and it looks fine, nice crome, the valve is all bronze and while there is no fine ceramic seals...it will do. Kelly picked out a wild green, fushia (purple) and cream white wallpaper and bought a color matching fushia for the lower wainscotting area. No more Blue Room indeed! It will be just this side of shocking!
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We (I) have used up the last dregs of Nansulate on the front walls of the parlor. 5 gallons are on the house's outside walls (mostly) and we will be ordering more sometime in the winter so we can have some handy after the new roof is installed.
How much? The roof is huge...another 5 gallons might be enough...maybe. The most interesting experimental use of Nansulate for me has been on my little gas oven. I've coated the sides of the thing with 3 coats as Industrial Nanotech has instructed and wow...what a difference in performance after about 3 weeks of curing.
I can get temperatures above 650 degrees...the limit of my temp measuring equipment was 650F so if it was higher I'll not know...yet! But the upside is that the leakage from the sides has been cut dramatically...enough that it reaches 450 degrees in 20 minutes where it used to take 50! The sides aren't cool..but they won't burn you either...which is another dramatic improvement. The refrigerators are equally happy about having their outsides coated in Nansumate Home Coat...they now are turned to their lowest setting and still are very, very cold inside, below 40 degrees...and the freezer is now at -45 degrees F! it was -25. All in all things have changed for nthe better, howmuch money it will wind up saving us is hard to say now as billing for electricity is a not so often occurance. I'll report though when I get some numbers.
___
Take care everybody!
Good health to you and yours!
Saturday, August 08, 2009
An Update...Aren't They All?
Nansulate Application: Nearly 5 gallons of the precious stuff has gone on walls and various objects at 35 R MJ in the last few weeks since it arrived. Up the ladder, down the ladder, paint, paint, paint. 3 coats everywhere that we could get to with quite a lot more to go (next year). Tearing apart wall coverings, stripping wall paper, preping cracks and crevises, undercoating as necessary and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. The magical stuff has been applied with a rather thick foam roller and a smaller one (also foam). The roller does not seem affected chemically, it is still foam and largely in one piece with just a couple of small tears where hidden picture hangers grabbed hold of the foam and tore out a piece. Nansulate application with a roller is easy and quickly accomplished. The time between recoating does not seem critical in any way after the one hour recomendation has been reached. I've coated a wall and allowed it to dry overnight and recoated the next day with no problems noted. It cleans up handily with a wet paper towel but once it is stuck to a surface and has dried...you will have to scrape it off and it is amazingly tough. The odor is hardly noticeable, a slight ammonia odor that is largely gone after the 1st hour after application. My wife-mate-best-friend does not seem to suffer from it though she is a highly sensitive asthmatic. After drying and with the three coats...the surface effect is that of a slight gloss. All in all application has been by-the-book...or is it FAQ?
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I've started up my Etsy photo site, selling only the best of my French and European photos, take a look at http://unephoto.etsy.com
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The house at 10 Rt. St.Amand is SOLD! Yes! We and the prospective buyer who already owns a large house in Lignieres has bought it for her son. We got what we needed to get the roof on this place with a bit loeft over ...maybe...and Ted will get his half for the transmission(s) he needs for his Jaguar. Whoopee!
Bye for now!
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I've started up my Etsy photo site, selling only the best of my French and European photos, take a look at http://unephoto.etsy.com
___
The house at 10 Rt. St.Amand is SOLD! Yes! We and the prospective buyer who already owns a large house in Lignieres has bought it for her son. We got what we needed to get the roof on this place with a bit loeft over ...maybe...and Ted will get his half for the transmission(s) he needs for his Jaguar. Whoopee!
Bye for now!
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