New Stuff...September is here

Where to begin? I dunno...first is the discovery of our beautiful grandchild Kaylee's FB page. How fun, corss generalional communications, what a treat. They are so much more technologically able than us old farts that they communicate in this way like we used to with IMing and emails. Who even remembers snail mail? When was the last time you bought a stamp to mail a letter to someone dear and not so near? So she friended (a new verb) us and we are now on her list of friends.
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Today I baked a loaf of bread without sugar as an ingredient. It's a first. Usually the 3 cups of bread flour have 2 Tablespoons of some sugar, molassus to assist the yeast in it's work. Today there was none of this. The result rose normally and browned nicely as well. The aroma was that of nuts and caramel. I'll let it set a few hours and try it and report back.

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I asked last night at the Cast Iron Grill and Bar to get a kitchen tour today. The chef, Anthony set a date for today at 2pm and I was there with bells on! A beautiful slab of what was going to be corned beef was being prepared at the time so I kept out of the way and watched as Anthony drew his razor sharp (I mean it!) blade along the underside of the silverskin and peeled it away bit by bit. Then came another slab prepared the same way, then pierced to allow the seasoning to penetrate thoroughly. The it was wrapped in plastic and put aside to marinate for a while.
We discussed many elements of his kitchen as well as recipes and methods. He has worked in many restaurants after culinary school and worked as a sous chef with Bobby Flay in the past as well. He possessed a very kindly and knowledgeable attitude with this chef-wanna-be-but-will-never-be answering my cooking questions one after the other. It was a very impressive visit and as I left I said "You are our restaurant now!" and meant it.

The Fourth of July, Indepenence Day, Whoopee!

The 4th is a stupendous celebration throughout the United States. It commemorates our intention to become independent of our good ol' friend England in 1776. It goes off in a bang everywhere there are citizens of the US. We love it generally and only the grumps hold back. It's always been a favorite of mine coming at the height of the summer months amidst plentiful sunshine and warm (if not downright HOT!) weather. When my kids were little I held the biggest, baldest fireworks display ion our entire block and hardly ever set fire to anyone's house or cars. Incidents did happen from time to time with minor burns to hands and paint and once even a roof (my own!), otherwise it was just good fun thanks to my connections in Chinatown in San Francisco. You could buy any and everything you wanted for not a whole lot of money too. Then the work would begin to rig up whirly gigs and series of fuses so things went off almost certainly in sequence. Terrific for my kids and their friends on the block. I loved it. My favorite things were a firework called "Ground Bloom Flowers", some of these were small and spun like the wild things they were bouncing up and down totally out of control and lots of scary moments occurred when one ventured under a neighbor's car or truck or our own fireworks! Yes sir, great fun! The I found a dealer in The City that had these things in LARGER sizes weighing not mere ounces but a full pound or more! Whoopee! They were downright dangerous and had long leashes of 25 -50 feet which allowed them to bounce high and fast and fill the sky with sparks and fury. I LOVED these things!

Now I live with Kelly and Furry and our daughter Audrey (nearby) in Suisun and we have the biggest, baddest most amazing Independence Day in the whole county of Solano! Bands play, singers sing, flags fly, food is served and copious amounts of beer and wine are served. It is a scene! At the end of the day just as nightfall happens the fireworks begin and thousands of people come here to see them up close over our waterway and turning basin. Fantastic they are and they far outdo anything I did...ever! It is a great day indeed for our nation and for our citizens and visitors. Come one, come all to Suisun City tomorrow to enjoy the day and watch the fireworks show. Free Parking EVERYWHERE about town!

Moved!

Last Thursday was THE DAY! Now we are here adjusting ourselves and various objects of necessity to our new home. Do I like it? Yes,given we don't cram all the stuff we have in the old place into this place. I don't miss anything now...until I need it! Hard to cook without spices, pots and pans, oils, vinegars etc. We now assault the old place daily and remove to our new home whatever objects it seems we can,t live without. Fur-Kat seems to love the new digs. She spent the first couple of days investigating every nook and cranny, then has spent long hours bedded down on the couch and chair in the Living Room. She ventures tentatively outdoors once or twice a day, tail all bushed up and rerady to run back inside at the slightest noise or movement. Life is good. The train noises are louder and the raccoon actvity is higher. Last night was a wet, windy stormy night punctuated with the loud chatter and clammor of the raccoon family on the roof above the bedrooms. After some 30 minutes of activity off they went backing chattering raccoon talk down the tree only 2 feet from the bedroom window. I rolled over and greeted the dark abyss of sleep again.

A Brighter Light / A Shorter Tunnel

So we WILL be moving into 311 Thursday, THIS Thursday! Hooray! It's been 3 1/2 months since we began the renewal of the old girl, all 1700 sq. feet of her. The floors are done, the kitchen is nearly so, the back bathroom is complete now except for paint and one bedroom is ready as is the upstairs office. The cat, Furry, is ready too...she has been without us during the daytime this whole time too and is staying close lest we disappear again for a time longer or to a place further away.
She has been ill, throwing up, cat style, for the last couple of weeks as we get closer to having this house's contents across town...not in their familiar locations as she would like it. The BIG jobs left are the moving of our refrigerator, the breakfront, and our beds and some of our clothes. Paul, my brother-in-law, is coming over Thursday to give me a hand with the heavy things and whatever else we can cram into the back of the pickups. I have yet a lot of tools in the garage that will be moved afterwards as I don't need them right away and we will need some here to complete the tiling work here upstairs and down as well as other miscellany, new lights, removal of odd bookcases etc. though we may leave some for the new renters.
Ah life goes on.

We visited Dimitri's Lounge as has been our habit since they openned in January, great blues, good drinks and great people watching. Had us bouncing in our seats again and again, great musicians come in from all over the Bay area and Sacramento to play on Sunday evenings, such a great scene! We love Dimitri's! I sent Catfish Keith, (the travelling blues musician we met years ago) (1996 I think) in Scotland at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh Dimitri's web site so he could schedule an appearance on his next California Tour. Hope he can make it! One fabulous show he does! http://www.catfishkeith.com/ is his web site, go listen and pick up some of his fab CD's! And by the way, here's some REAL Blues for you to study. Take care!

Mr. R. L. Burnside's delicious version of "Long Way From Home" 1984 Session

A Dim Light At The End Of A very Long, Dark Tunnel

Today was supposed to de dedicated to finishing the grouting of the countertops and backsplashes...supposed is the key word here. Instead I visited ACE Hardware in Suisun City for the 4th time yesterday...yes...4 times! AND...got the final (I thought) 1/2 inch compression pipe fittings for the installation of the dishwasher next to the big sink. I got as far as moving the dishwasher back out from the cabinet and attempting to install the pipe fitting it needed to hook up the intake water. Sure...not a fit this attempt 3/8th's inch compression was NOT the RIGHT one. So back to ACE and got a 1/2" pipe thread fitting and sure enough...wrong again! Then Bob of Bob and Marsha fame came by to see how we were progressing (me..NOT!) and he pronounced the fitting on the dishwasher as a 3/8ths pipe thread. So back to ACE once again (!) and exchanged the error pieces (hose was wrong too!) for the correct (according to Bob...and he was RIGHT!) So I took everything to the house and began the installation in earnest. After installing the CORRECT fitting and the CORRECT connecting hose I plumbed in the new coppy 1/2" T fitting and the old valve that I saved from the 15 yr old installation from this same kitchen. The dishwasher was pushed back into it's cabinet space and fastened to the countertop. Of course doing this unceremoniously removed by force the 4 face tiles in the 24" wide cabinet due to interferance with the top of the dishwasher. Shit! I'll put them back when I've determined this whole install is not leaking or failing in some other way. 'Til then it is IN without the tiles in place.

I was done at 311 for the day. Then I went next door to Audrey's house and repaired the fallen down clothing rod in her closet. Then home to watch "Street Thief" on Netflix online. Riveting!

Then we ate dinner...I made a Beef stew with carrots, camerlized mushrooms, veal stock, red wine, roasted potatoes. Delicious if I do say so myself. Then we were off to Dinitri's Lounge for the Sunday night Blues jam sessions that start at 6. What a show! Terrific bunch of musicians and a friendly, lively crowd all anxious to dance, dance, dance. It was great fun as always and made we want more! Dimitri's does a great job! Here's three videos to show you what I mean! You may need quicktime from Apple to play these, get it, it's free! http://www.apple.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVDUKkF4yLg