Sunday, November 30, 2008

The Northern Most Out-Post of the Bulldawg Nation

North Bennington , Vermont! A great little bar called Kevin's. I am not sure they were really ready for a rowdy UGA fan, but.. they learned, and some were cheering along with us!



The Game... the game.. THE THIRD QUARTER! Was there a keg in the Georgia locker room?? What the hell happened ? 16 points up at the half , and in a blink of an eye, -or another crab ball- we are losing? St. Richt has decreed that: There will be NO change in his staff.. so, not really a whole lot that can be done, IF you don't think there is a problem! BUT, that north ave.trade school is ranked higher than us on December 1st. No one saw that one coming. I'll write more later.
The highlight was most defiantly the time spent at the bar!

1. Alabama Crimson Tide 12-0
2. Oklahoma Sooners 11-1

3. Texas Longhorns 11-1
4. Florida Gators 11-1
5. U-S-C Trojans 10-1
6. Utah Utes 12-0
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders 11-1
8. Penn State Nittany Lions 11-1
9. Boise State Broncos 12-0
10. Ohio State Buckeyes 10-2
11. T-C-U Horned Frogs 10-2
12. Ball State Cardinals 12-0
13. Cincinnati Bearcats 10-2
14. Oklahoma State Cowboys 9-3
15. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 9-3
16. Georgia Bulldogs 9-3 
17. Boston College Eagles 9-3
18. B-Y-U Cougars 10-2
19. Oregon Ducks 9-3
20. Missouri Tigers 9-3

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The Real Housedogs of Pompanuck



  1. Toe-bie and Koda
  2. D-o-g , the REAL dog of Pompanuck
  3. Pookie

Thanksgiving Eve....






Twas the night before Thanksgiving and all through the Roundhouse, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Other than me...I do like Thanksgiving, a holiday all about a meal and a table setting.
Everyone from all points of the compass made it here safe and sound. There is much less snow here than in Mendon, it is usually the other way around. Dahn made a lovely pumpkin pasta tonight for dinner, keeping with the flavors of the season. Much was drank, stories were told, laughs were had. Turkeys were injected. The big day is upon us.


Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage


1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, cut into chiffonade, about 2 tablespoons
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock, canned or paper container
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup (3 turns around the pan) heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
Coarse salt and black pepper
1 pound penne rigate, cooked to al dente
Romano or Parmigiano, for grating
Pumpernickel or whole grain bread, as an accompaniment

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil, and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.

Over the river and through the woods...

Turkey Carving 101

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Wegmans Pittsford, N.Y. 4:00pm- ish


The Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It was not as scary as you would think, Saturday was much more crowded. I bet it got worse after work, and tomorrow should be a mad house. I am only making some side dishes. Dahn and David are each doing a turkey, one roasted ( ✓ ), and one fried ( X ). 
I saw some people buying frozen turkeys this afternoon.... I guess they could thaw in time. Fresh turkeys are off the charts expensive, but those frozen ones should have been in the refrigerator since the weekend.
We are off in the morning for the wilds of almost Bennington, VT.

Pre - Thanksgiving Thaw

Monday, November 24, 2008

If it's Monday..




We went to Buffalo to pick up Mert from the Buffalo International Airport. It got abover freezing today, so things are just sort of a slushy mess, snowing again now. Then back to Rochester to have lunch at Thali of India with Dahn and Ryan, who is home from College.
mmmmm... buffet...

like I need a reason:

A really cute picture of me/us. From Neil's facebook page. 

Sunday, November 23, 2008

for there was no joy in Gainsville...


1. Alabama Crimson Tide 11-0
2. Texas Longhorns 10-1
3. Oklahoma Sooners 10-1
4. Florida Gators 10-1
5. U-S-C Trojans 9-1
6. Utah Utes 12-0
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders 10-1
8. Penn State Nittany Lions 11-1
9. Boise State Broncos 11-0
10. Ohio State Buckeyes 10-2
11. Georgia Bulldogs 9-2

 Those poor jort wearing mullet heads. Beating the crap out of a boys military school,  the scions of aristocratic Charleston, really does not bode as well as destroying the number two team in the country on national television. O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a jumped over them to become the #3 team in the country. Florida is #2 in the AP poll, which , I think should be good for us. I mean, GEORGIA lost two games, to the #1 and #2 team in the country. Ole Miss is #25, yet they beat the mighty mighty gator tones there in the swamp. We just can not get any love!
I guess the biggest question right now is: Can the ROLL TIDES get over the mental block that is beating the struggling Tigers of Auburn, what has it been - Seven years?? Even if they are the better team this year, ( Alabama) a mental jinx could just fall down upon them. AND de-throwning Bama would MAKE the Plainsmens year. It's never just football as usual in the Iron Bowl. The game is in Tuscaloosa this year... would be extra sweet to go 12-0 at home AND to beat AU.
So, an Alabama - Texas Championship? A Re-match of Texas - Oklahoma? ( I don't even know if that could happen with a Big 12 Championship game and all...) . Texas - Florida? I'll hope for a third year of a #1 SEC team ,EVEN if..... No matter what the SEC Championship game is turning out to be the game of the year, so far, much more so than last nights cake walk for The Sooners.
We stayed at #11.... we have them just where we want them! .....

Sunday , Sunday



Went to be with Jesus, he was fine.
Then went downtown to meet with the regional leader of Empire State Pride Agenda, Todd and his very nice husband, Paul. We just met in a coffee house and chatted about the price of tea in China. They are both very nice guys, and the meeting was productive. The Pride Agenda really tried to talk us down, distance themselves from the rally that we had last week. Not Todd himself but the "powers that be" in Albany. Hopefully the start of something good....
Power to the people and all that sort of thing..

funny lady


"You know how they say that religion is the opiate of the masses? Well, I took masses of opiates religiously." - Carrie Fisher. Read THIS exert from her upcoming book. It cracked me up.

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow...


The dictionary was changed tonight, Spanking got a brand new definition , along with a picture: OKLAHOMA :65 / Texas Tech 21, and it was just no where near that close! This game was soooo over hyped, or was it? Texas Tech beat Texas.
Sure thehatedgators put up 70 points on The Citadel, BUT, BUT, BUT: Oklahoma all but put 70+ on the number TWO team in the country. I think Oklahoma should leap frog the swamp dwellers, but they might not. Lots and lots of points scored all over the place today. We are not going to break the top 10 this week....
Big news up here was the Syracuse Orange beating those pesky Catholics there in South Bend, BYU lost to the UTES. I am not drawing ANY conclusions from this....
Hotty Toddy gosh a mighty! Aren't you glad you were not an LSU fan today! If the pride of J.Crew beats those lowly Starkville B-dogs, then the Rebels are Cotton Bowl Bound! Hotty Toddy! - Vandy did not put the nail in Chubby's coffin, Phil goes out on a win.
I love GAMEDAY. Really, is it sad that ESPN in the Fall is close to my favorite thing on the planet?
My top five:
  1. ALABAMA
  2. TEXAS
  3. OKLAHOMA
  4. FLORIDA
  5. UTAH ! yes, the UTES!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Varykino

100 points...


Can the hatedgators get to that mythical 100 point line today? If I were Urban, I would just throw the third string out into the swamp. Then kick back with a cold beer and come chicken to watch the Utah - BYU game. Tebow should not even see a play, other than the fact he needs the tv time to get that second Heisman . ( they make such good bookends for his bible collection, NOT that there is anything wrong with that....)
I am giving some thought to going to the Hobart v Lycoming football game, just too see what a football game in freezing temps would be like. The coldest I've ever been to was a frigid GA TECH game in like 1979, and then a COLD night time Auburn game in like 97. But I may just vote to stick here with Kirk... who as sad as this may be, looked  damn good with those blue eyes and that stupid blue gator hat this morning.
GO BULLDOGS! 
UPDATE: 49 at the half...come on you reptiles!   make it 100!

April, April.....


This could be the year that we have snow on the ground for SIX MONTHS. Get used to the is picture. It's very cold too...

Friday, November 21, 2008

Dinner with Prince and Roja






Indian food , cooked by real Indians. Could I have been any happier? This yummy eggplant dish that I'll be on the phone first thing in the am to get the recipe for! A lovely crowd, good food, lots of wine.... hopefully the first of many fun times at CasaSingh

that was then.....


this is now...

Madonna and Guy get a divorce....

Tab Hunter/ A-Rod    six to one, half a dozen to another.
( come on guys, Madonna, Baseball, Gwen Verdon, cute Guy Ritchie, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.....  THIS one has it all!)


The New Yankee Stadium can have a new Mrs.Rodriguez!

Morning in America...



or at least Mendon. Not going to go above freezing for a few days, with big snows tonight.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

The time has come...


...the walrus said, ‘To talk of many things: of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. ...
Bail-outs. 
Seems like something a child would do at the beach or Gilligan on his boat. Bail out. These days there is another meaning. Numbers so big that there is really no reason to even type them, that is the amount of money that has been given over to these " bailouts" . And I have no idea if they are a good thing or a bad thing, I am going to hunker down in my little Shire and hope beyond hope that the powers that be there tossing around those 900 or so billion have the worlds best interests at heart. At this point, what else , really, can we do?
BUT, what I do see, are lots and lots and lots ( and lots) of suits and ties walking out with all this cash. Just back the truck up to any Wall Street Bank you pick and dump a ton or two of money in the lobby.  It seemed that Congress was all about this, " Save the Yuppie" was the chat of the day. A brighter day would follow.
Then it came down to  time to do something for the working man, the guy making cars in Detroit , throw him a Lehman Brothers / AIG life line . But the money all dried up. Let the big three go under, they have been making the wrong cars for years and years . " Why were they not making tiny electric cars all along" Because it was so obvious to everyone who has been to a mall in the last year or two that tiny cars are JUST what everyone wants.
And now bailing out the Auto Industry is becoming a civil war re-dux:
"Sen. Jeff Sessions, R- Ala., told reporters Wednesday, “I can not imagine a real justification for a worker in Alabama who does not have any health insurance at his company to be taxed to maintain a Cadillac health care plan for somebody in Detroit.”
But this guy did want to bail out the wall street stock broker who took home a 50 million dollar bonus last year. No one is talking about the fact that IF the big three , or any one of them, files a chapter 11 or 13 bankruptcy, that - I think - will let them null and void all previous union contracts and start from zero. You KNOW that no re-tiree, who now depends on that promise for health insurance will get to keep it. SO.. they will turn to the Federal Government for it. Pay up front, save the jobs, or pay later. 
This is just all TOO BIG OF A MESS for me to wrap my brain around. I need something pretty....

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Great Moments in kyle+blog history.


Just Breath.......
O.K. , the first Great Moment in kyle+blog history was the B-52's talking about Winder..
tonight, was a close, close second.
Did everyone see mynewboyfriend ( 4-ever ) Richard Sweeney, Tonight, on TOP CHEF...... Tonight, just a few min ago... MAKE A PEANUT BUTTER / BANANA / MAYONNAISE SANDWICH !!
He got NO camera time tonight, which made watching the show pretty easy , because, if you are not on cam, you are not going home!  At least not this early. So , we get at least one more week with him ....
I know that I am one of 3 million a little bit in love with him.. but you know, mine is the "4-ever" one.. ( like Cookie-n-Ross ).
I found it a little bit odd that Tom went off on them for not really doing " New American", which can mean ANYTHING, at all... 

walking in a winter wonderland



I really do hope this early bout of winter is not a sign of things to come. Very cold, very snowy, now bright sunshine , but cold. Life in the Finger Lakes...

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A Full 1 %


Four Million People.
One Percent of the entire country is expected to be in Washington, D.C. for the Inauguration. "They" are saying that The Mall will be FULL. Think about that, if you have been to D.C.. It is a huge area.. and it will be FULL. I am the one that worries about how all these folks are going to use the bathroom and find some lunch. The Secret Service must be having a little bit of a freak bout right about now.
I was giving some real thought to going down, staying with my pal Craig, BUT, if I can not handle the Mall down the road here, ( NOT a crowd guy here, AT ALL).. I am guessing I would not do well on THAT Mall, with 3,999,999 others. 
C-span, as always, will be just fine!