Dinner

A Spicy red curry with chicken and potatoes.

These potatoes were good just on their own! Oil, mustard seed, white and red onion, cook a bit, add potatoes and a chili.. let go, get a little bit of color. Very tasty.

A midwinters day....

A nice walk in the woods with Koda. Mid 20's - a heat wave. It was a very nice day
Lots of new clean fresh snow.
The bridge over the frozen creek.
The nice AAA guy who came to jump off my frozen battery. Second time in a month I have had to use them. The other time I locked my keys in my car. These are the nicest folks on the planet, you must have to pass a kindness test to work there.
I had to drive the car for a while once it was jumped.... the sun starts to set over Honeoye Falls....

Bon Voyage, Craigy!

My very very good pal Craig is leaving the land of ice and snow and garbage plates to head out to the sun and fun and fish tacos of San Diego, California! All of Rochester, or at least a hefty part of the Bachelor Forum will be in mourning for weeks and weeks to come.

Best of Luck Craigy, Darling... and you know, call me, every hour on the hour.....

Fred and Steve hosted a gathering of Craig's most loyal fans, pizza was eaten, games were played.
" the poor....."
" she was a boozer, a user and a loser! "
Craig and Phil
Everyone headed out to the bar to toast Craig's coming adventures. Minus 2 in the car meant Kyle and Neil were headed home to pull the covers over our heads.

C-C-C-Cold......

I guessed they missed a little bit on that 4 for a low.. a 1am-ish and ONE degree.....two chunky boys, lots of cover and a fluffy white dog....

There's a Moon in the Sky...

It's called the moon. (listen to this.. you can almost smell the spilt beer...)

Ok, tonight was supposed to be some sort of super bright moon of the decade.. yadda yadda yadda, Too snowy here, but we got a little bit.

Midnight Madness

We're here, we're queer, we're high church Episcopalians

It was C-O-L-D! today.. barely making it up to double digits. I have somewhere between 2 and 40 people coming for supper, which direction should we go in?

GUMBO !
I needed something warm and homey, so Gumbo was perfect. Now, I will admit, that my gumbos have not always been the best on the planet. So, I came online to dig through lots and lots of different recipes. LOTS of weird gumbos out there.. ( you can not just search the food network website, too much Emeril..) So, I read lots and just took it all in to make my own.
A brand new hint! at least for me, put our roux oil in the pan, then cook off your chicken and sausage in the oil, and THEN add the flour!. DUH! It could only add flavor! SO, a quarter cup of oil, chicken - remove, sausage - remove... THEN add about a stick of butter, THEN a half-ish cup of flour.

Now , this is where I have always gone wrong with my gumbos... I just do not have the patience to cook them as long as I need to, but today, I just bit the bullet and cooked for twentyish min.. the added brown bits, really add to the flavor and color.
Ok., take your dark roux off the heat for like half an hour. Mine was not pretty, but it tasted really nice, deep, a little smoke... no raw flour taste. It needs to cool down. I just chopped all my veggies and it was fine... Trinity and bell pepper with about a third of a Jalapeno.. I did not really know who was coming , so I was holding back on the heat. Had it just been Neil and I , I would have added the entire chili. I added a little bit more oil , and cooked my veggies really slow for about 30 min...I used A LOT of garlic, the house smelled great.
Moderate pre dinner snacks....again with the tiny weenies
Ok, so after the veggies had cooked for a while I added the browned chicken and andouille back, cooked a bit, then added some Cajun spices, black pepper , a little bit of red pepper.. THEN added a large can of tomatoes. Cooked a bit, then some chicken stock, I debated between seafood and chicken stock , and in the end went with chicken for the depth of flavor. Put it on simmer and just let it go
What for dessert?

Last night , I was all lazy and was just going to go with a Wegman's ultimate white cake, but it was so so cold today, I needed something warm, Gumbo... Bread Pudding!

1000 years ago, The Country Place had a yummy Peach Bread Pudding, So, not like I had not made it lots of times, but could not remember how, so once again the internets.

Peach Bread Pudding

This is a very good bread pudding,I just cooked it in too large of a pan, so IF it is cooked in a deeper pan, and there for stays "wet" this is a VERY easy, tasty bread pudding!

Neil makes fancy coffee for his pals!

The table , post dinner.. a nice time was had by all. I was very happy to see my pal Bryan.

YOU can't handle the truth.....

J.D. Salinger, pop collar candy colored Izod shirts and R.E.M.

Sure on paper this is my adolescence, young adult hood..... but B.Day, the harbinger of all things truthful pops that balloon, and brings us back to the real day to day life that was W.B.H.S. ( is the very best...)

Steve and Karyn's Camaros (es??) and Mothers Finest. Now.. I do have to say, that I did do Mothers Finest in pink and green.....but still.

This was a new little icon....

I don't know how to get Stockbridge, Mass off my weather page. Lot's of snow in cold Mendon...

Praying incessantly......

This is sort of a no brainer for a blogger: " Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody". Just tell everybody everything.

The Rapture of J.D. Salinger.

Start of writing about J.D. Salinger with a steal from W.P. Kinsella, ok... I once tried to write a short story called The Rapture of M.J.V. Hightower, but it quickly became just too sad, and I stopped. I came to Holden all on my own, and I really do not know how. I am guessing clueless from a list of banned books in some newspaper story. I am always slack jawed shocked when I hear people, as I did today, say that " THE CATHER IN THE RYE" was required in their high school. Monkeys would have flown out the collective asses of the school board and administration before that " filth" would have been allowed in Winder Barrow High School, but this is starting to sound like David Copperfield crap.. and goodness knows on this night ,of all nights , we should no go there.

I was ,and I do say was, because until today , I had not read any Salinger in years, an obsessed fan. I devoured everything that there was, and somehow, was lucky enough to come across , late, some stories that were only published in magazines. I can honestly say, I have read everything that he ever did publish. I was one of the many, many tragic early 80's haircut boys with Cather in my back pocket the day that Hinckley popped Ronnie. (I think I switched to Zooey the next day). How many small town boys were swept into that post war zeitgeist NYC world of running away... and hookers and scotch and green inked baseball gloves. It is not a real stretch to say that , just maybe the reason that it has sold 65 million books is that a whole lot of people needed and got that escape.. that ( and go ahead and cringe) salvation.

They were just little short stories. Catcher is the longest story ,and it is literally pocket sized. But there is so much depth, you have to read everything, then go back and read again to understand the Glasses. I mean, poor Walt's tragic death could just so easily be skipped over. Bananafish is FIFTEEN pages long, but gives you more backstory, raises more questions, gives you more character development than plenty of massive novels. I mean come on: " She was a girl who for a ringing phone dropped nothing. She looked as if her phone had been ringing continually ever since she had reached puberty". AND, well.. leaves you with that question.

Part of all this mystique , all this interest ,was the fact that he turned his back on everything. Mr. Salinger gave a big ole finger to that post war America, and wanted no part of what the rest of the USA was doing anything at all to get. That most American of all sicknesses, FAME. He would not have become this iconic figure if he had been doing talk shows for the last 50 years , telling us all about how Holden was all grown up blah, blah, blah. He walked away... " leave me alone". Shocking

NOW the big money question: Has he been writing for the last 50 years? Are there just countless Boo Boo stories coming down the pike? Conflicted.. everyone EVERYONE has imagined that adult Holden, do we really want to read the definitive answer?

VERY COOL NYT STORY : Walking in Holden's Footsteps.

BDay Bubble's take : Of Glasses, phonies and bananafish

Winter

Is back... I mean, it is still January.

IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

I will write about this tomorrow.

Joe Wilson II : Justice Samuel Alito.

" Simply not true..."

It can't be easy to sit like this and be a Vulcan.. no emotion, but he really should not have done this. I am really sure that 99% of America does not have a clue what this ruling even means, BUT, as we get closer to the mid terms and everyone gets exhausted by corporate sponsored political ads.. they will start hating it .

Live Blogging the State of the Union.

Sure you could just watch, but who else is going to tell you about Dr. Jill Biden's lovely periwinkle suit? Not sure of the maker, a lovely ruffle... fashion forward. Speaking of which I swear the Speaker has worn that outfit like 25 times. I am all for tighten that belt inside the beltway, but come on Madam Speaker. Now the pearls are real... and often copied, "11-14mm Nancy Pelosi Tahitian & Gold multicolor Pearl Necklace."

• Why was there no booing for the Supreme Court??
• The First Lady was just seated. She does love that high waist, but a beautiful color,aubergine. Not really as formal as it should be, but that is her style and I am just dealing with it. She is having a very good hair night.
• this part of the event always sort of cracks me up.. everyone coming into the chamber, acting as if they have not seen each other since last years Ole Miss game.. " HEY THERE! "
• Lots of red suits on congresswomen...some yellow...

and so it starts:

• clap, clap, clap clap - round one.
• he winked at Michelle....
• Speaker Pelosi introduces him, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap - round two. ( thank you very much...)

9:11 NOW, we get down to it:

• 220 years of SOTU's
• "Things are bad.. I know....."
• " can't we just all get along....."
• ok, this might be a little bit ugly, but at 9:16.. this sounds like an All State Insurance add
• 9:17: " I am hopeful" FIRST applause line....
• 9:17, still... second applause line " we deserve a decent govt" ???
• 9:18 " we all hated the bank bail out" third applause line...
• well now we are just clapping fools,over sticking it to the banks...
• uh -oh.. we are standing up to sticking it to the banks...
• WE CUT TAXES.. and milks the crowd, pretty funny...
• 9:22 , and we saved jobs... THANK GOODNESS he is sticking up for the stimulus bill!!! GOP sits on it's collective small hands.
• Jobs are our focus in 2010... everybody into the pool! Even king oompah loopah stood and clapped
• hey, repealing capital gains on small business owners, where have we heard that before?
• Nancy is on her feet ! Jobs! jobs! jobs!
• No second place for America! Rah! Rah...

I am sounding a little jaded ....

• 9:34.. he will veto a bank bill that does not go far enough....
• DRILL BABY DRILL.. yeah, that will get them on their feet.... ( really....)
• Jeff Sessions looks like a gnome
• 9:37 Clean Energy is good.. on our feet!
• 9:39... I'm a little lost with the trade talk....
• zip, bang.. moving right along to education.. I feel an introduction coming on
• 9:42 College is good
• 9:43.. I swear, he whispered HEALTH CARE REFORM.. or did he say Insurance reform.. .and I am not even drinking along with Joe...
• MICHELLE: no fat kids! ( everybody stand)
• He is not backing away... " I will not walk away from these ( uninsured) Americans!". Let's hope he will stand by this. Gauntlet is thrown down to the GOP to come up with something , or get out of the way.. 3/4 of an hour, I am getting into it....
• 9:50 well, you KNOW I love a little Bush whacking.....
• 9:52 THE FREEZE.... ( pander, pander, pander... again, jaded...)
• 9:55 AT LAST! a little GOP bitch slap: He is very much warming me up....
• 9:57 AND TAKES ON THE SCOTUS! THANK YOU MR PRESIDENT!!!!!!
• and right back into the rabbit hole, really, President McCain... earmark reform ??? ( pander)
• " If you lose I win.." I LOVE THIS!! Take them on Mr. President! He is moving fast and furious now, I can't keep up on here.. but I love what he is saying right now, I'll write in depth later on.
• DEMOCRATS : DO NOT RUN FOR THE HILLS! and a big ass swipe at the GOP leadership!

He is so so at ease... his good natured-ness is working WELL tonight!

• 10:05 First mention of either war... wow.
• 10:07...... is this going to be it???.. not yet
• 10:08 no nukes.. the GOP hates that...
• 10:10 Iran is bad.
• 10:11... everyone claps for Haiti...
• America must always stand on the side of human dignity and freedom.....
• 10:14 HE SAID IT! ( video to come)
• 10:20 : " We don't quit. I don't quit"
• 10:21 GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Let me let it all sink in... but in the full blush afterglow of the speech:

The Kool Aid has been re-drank!

Better than Elie Saab

Ptown, a goose, a three dollar bill, Lindsey Graham....

It's going to be a long , I am guessing somewhat depressing day here in the U.S.A., you know for all of us that had the "H" word. Lucy, Charlie and the damn football for what can be called the unlucky LEFT in this country.......

SO!

Let's start the blog day off with something happy, happy, happy..

CHANEL SPRING 2010 Haute Couture

So, so, pretty....Many thanks as always to the PR boys and all their hard work! Keeping all of us up to date with the important things!

Dinner

FRIED PORK CHOPS! Yes, you read right, f-r-i-e-d !

I dipped these bad boys in some darn spicy flour, egg wash, then back in the flour. ( the pork was also well seasoned )and dropped them into that hot oil. Black beans and brown rice, and steamed broccoli

ooops, my bad....

From the NYT : " On Friday afternoon a woman taking an adult education class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art accidentally lost her balance and fell into “The Actor,” a rare Rose Period Picasso, tearing the canvas about six inches along its lower right-hand corner." ( more...)

Today we learn that her little attack of the vapors was a SIXTY FIVE MILLION DOLLAR ooops! From the NYP: " Conservators said they will be able to fix the 6-inch tear in "The Actor" (above), but appraiser Gerard van Weyenbergh said the painting may never recover its value. "It's a 50 percent loss of the value -- at least," van Weyenbergh, who has handled numerous Picassos, told The Post. "When an artwork comes up in auction, that's the first thing people want to know -- were there any repaints or restorations. "Even a small hole and Picasso collectors like [Steven] Spielberg are not going to be interested." Museum officials would not identify the woman who fell into the painting, but they said conservators will have it ready for the museum's Picasso exhibition later this year."

Was worth 130 million, now 65.... you think they could have gone for the 20 dollar piece of glass.

Read more here, I think this is just so interesting...

Kyle and Koda and the Blustery Day

Look at what all that rain and fifty degree temps did to the trail! Ice free in mid-January, crazy. Good for us to walk, but it's very cold and damn and windy...
Action shot....

Dinner

Chicken hash with fried egg and salad... yes, it was pretty much left over night.

My Jesus can beat up your Jesus.....

As reported earlier here, ex-Saint Tim Tebow and his mother are doing a Super Bowl Ad. Not going to Disney World, Not eating Nacho Chips or Driving a Ford. They are going to be touting the horrors of abortion, ( with a reported very soft focus..but still) Testify bother !! You have every right on the planet to believe what ever you want, more power to you and your mother. They can crawl into proverbial bed with the full out hate group, focus on the family, all they want....

But let's deal with his cooperate overlord, CBS who will be showing this ad. The network has a policy that "it does not accept ads from one side of a current controversial issue of public importance" A few years ago, CBS refused to show this:

Well, duh.. that whole " loving and accepting Jesus" is some deep and serious shit! That could turn people off from going to Disney World or reaching for that next bag of Frito Scoops!

Janet's boobie and a Christian welcome mat , bad! But , keeping your baby and ex Saint Tim... not so much. It being 2010 there is already a faceybook page to rant and rave over this. CBS ,like Tim and his mother, have the right to do what ever they want.. seems to me they could cut it both ways.

Thanks to JMG for the heads up here.

Garrett Hartley will never ever ever buy himself another drink in the French Quarter, as long has he lives....

GEAUX SAINTS

Church Casserole Chicken Spaghetti

Deluged!

Everyone either knows of this dish, or wants to make it. It's sort of brand new to me , my mother made it of us over Christmas. It is very good, pretty darn easy, and really, feeds A LOT OF PEOPLE.

CHICKEN SPAGHETTI

• 1 stick ( a quarter cup) Butter
• 1 LARGE GREEN PEPPER ( CHOPPED )
• 1 LARGE ONION ( CHOPPED)
• 3 CUPS CHOPPED COOKED CHICKEN
• 2 ( 10 OZ) CANS DICED TOMATOES WITH GREEN CHILIES –DRAINED
( I USE ROTEL)
• 2 (4.5 OZ) JARS SLICED MUSHROOMS -DRAINED
• 1 (15 OZ) CAN ENGLISH PEAS -DRAINED ( I really like the peas in this, and do not see why you could not use two cans...)
• 1 (15 OZ) CAN CHICKEN BROTH
• 1 (10.75 OZ) CAN CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP
• 1 (10.75 OZ) CAN CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP
• 1 ( 3.8 OZ) CAN SLICED BLACK OLIVES (DRAINED)
• 1 TEASPOON SALT
• 1 TEASPOON BLACK PEPPER
• 2 (8 OZ) PACKAGES SHREDDED SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE
• 2 ( 7 OZ) PACKAGES VERMICELLI BROKEN INTO 2 INCH PIECES COOKED AND DRAINED ( I dont really know what this means, .. because a box of vermicelli is not 7oz... I just two regular boxes)

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES

LIGHTLY GREASE A 4 QT BAKING DISH

IN A LARGE DUTCH OVEN, OVER MEDIUM HEAT,MELT BUTTER – ADD PEPPER AND ONION AND COOK APPROX 5 MINUTES OR UNTIL TENDER. STIR IN CHICKEN, TOMATOES ,MUSHROOMS, PEAS,BROTH,SOUP,OLIVES,SALT AND PEPPER UNTIL COMBINED. ADD CHEESE, STIRRING UNTIL MELTED. ADD VERMICELLI, TOSS GENTLY T0 COMBINE. SPOON INTO PREPARED DISH- BAKE FOR 30 MINUTES OR UNTIL HOT AND BUBBLY.

( UNLESS I HAVE A LARGE CROWD TO FEED, I MAKE THIS CASSEROLE IN TWO ( 2 QT) DISHES AND FREEZE ONE.

Start by just cooking up your boxes of noodles.
Onions and peppers. I thought of using some heat here , but with the Rotel, you really don't need to. As a matter of fact, if you want less heat, just buy mild tomatoes.
I roasted a chicken, but you could just as easy buy a rotisserie chicken , let it cool and use that. Or Grilled breasts , or really, I am guessing any sort of chicken you have.
The Chicken above, all cleaned and chopped
Adding the cheese. My very good pal and avid k+b reader, DAN asked me if this dish was " Rotel Chicken" ? I told him that it had Rotel tomatoes in in. He then asked if I used Velveeta... Which I did not. His husbands folks , down in rural Mississippi, make almost the exact same dish with the processed American cheese food, that I am very fond of, so I did not use Velveeta this time, but would try it in the future. I am sure it would only make it more creamy.
All the empties!
I added a little Parmesan to the top of mine about half way through baking...

A new HIGH in LOW....

Let's start this out by stating how much I did and do love BILL CLINTON.

Long time readers will know that I could identify with the young Obamaites because I was head over heels in love with President Clinton back in the distant , distant past that was 1991.

That said, and with all due respect: THERE ARE SOME THINGS SO LOW AND TACKY THAT EVEN BILL CLINTON WOULD NOT DO THEM:

JOHN EDWARDS HAS A SEX TAPE

Sorry for this next part, but come on, I am just doing my job as your erstwhile diligent blog master : From The Gawker : " The tape, say both of our sources, is explicit and reveals that Edwards " is physically very striking, in a certain area." Everyone that sees it says " whoa".....

Exactly how "master of the universe" do you have to think you are to be running for President, get your mistress pregnant AND film it? Like I said, I new high in low, and stupidity, and save your time, nothing comes up yet when you google it.

RAIN , RAIN, and then some more RAIN

Really, sort of unheard of this time of year THIS far north. Lots of rain... a couple of solid days worth. The clean clean white is now the muddy muddy green of April... and it's only the middle of January. I think it is supposed to get into the middle 50's temp wise today, before getting back to the normal 7 or so by Friday....

A heavy winter coatless day .

Update:

Seriously, it's a little tiny mini hurricane out there... crazy wind, rain.... " get back in the house Dorothy! "