Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Daily Koda








 A couple of days of just beautiful weather. Yesterday the weather guy said it was one of like 20 days in all the year that the Finger Lakes had a 100% cloud free sky - today was almost as nice. Got a good long walk in the sunshine. Life is good.



Homeless Michael, again.



Im not one to judge. 

Monday, March 28, 2016

MOVIE DAY



420 million dollars later AND I did not hate it , at all really. Timidly I say that ... I liked it ?

It has issues, it is too long AND too short at the same time, and some great leaps of faith are taken with the audiences knowledge of not only what is going on , but with the much beloved characters as well. Marvel's the Avengers and the X Men sort of have the easy task of " drawing " their characters  in any way they want , like everyone knows who the Scarlet Witch is. But these are the big guns of comic bookdom. They actually wrote the book, made the blueprint of what a superhero is. This movie takes some risky moves with the icons. I won't give any spoilers - BUT I will say that Alfred Pennyworth would NEVER be unshaven and unkept!

My major complaint of the DC comic book universe is that it is set in the MUCH overused world or The Dark Night, which came out in 1986 - a lot has happened both before and after. Why is there no color in this universe - I get that from Batman - all dark and broody, but superman is literally made of sunlight


Neil and Don pretty much hated it - but I sort of got it. I liked this story, I like the arch of the players, I like that women were not props.  I like that unlike the first Superman movie an entire city was not leveled - which they do address in this one. They do a great job of making this universe , this new universe real. This goes deep into nerd land and also movie land. I am very much looking forward to the JLA movie. Let everyone else in the world jump on the bandwagon of who is the rip off Thanos or Darkside ...

If you are at all a comic book geek go, if you like them a little bit go -





UP AND DOWN




70's this past Sunday, should be the teens down here in Mendon this Sunday....
We  have to fight our way out of winter...

Easter at Windsor


HRH in Yellow


and as a fun extra bonus 
 OUR QUEEN at 90
in ITV last week and happily on youtube now
Make  yourself a nice cup of tea and watch.
( it may not stick around, you never can tell )


EASTER 2016

Easter Sunday! 

And it turned out to be a lovely day, pretty rare for this early in the spring. 
While all the Episcopalians were out celebrating their most holy of holy of holies, 
I was getting lunch ready
PRE GAME

  • deviled eggs
  • little rabbit crackers
  • Ina's smoked salmon spread
  • okra pickles
  • brie with onion maple jam


8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, drained
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 pound (4 ounces) smoked salmon, minced

Cream the cheese in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until just smooth. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, dill, horseradish, salt, and pepper, and mix. Add the smoked salmon and mix well. Chill and serve with crudites or crackers.

If you can find it, I prefer Norwegian salmon; it's drier and less salty than other smoked salmon

Spring has sprung.



Koda, bff Smithwicks and tiny vistor dog

I was running late, shock -
luckily I had plenty of snacks
I put the drinks outside on the deck

carrots and bunnies




EASTER 2016 two

SIGH!

I did not take good food pictures.
MENU

  • Lamb ( made by David Dean )
  • Mashed Potatoes 
  • Roasted Asparagus
  • Roasted Carrots and Parsnips w thyme and lemon
  • Swiss Chard w/ leeks
  • Greek Orzo Salad
  • Rolls





( getting everyone to actual sit and stay seated was a bit of a cat herder ....)





things were good if I do say so myself



Much Ado ?




 Atlantic Beach Pie


 This pie just kept popping up everywhere on line, so I decided to give it a try. Good thing Easter was so bright and sunny for a very warm weather pie. Very easy to make, you will think the crust is just goofy when you are making it, very thick sides, but they end up adding a good crunch to the pie. It is pretty much a key lime with lemon, and this funny crust

Atlantic Beach Pie

For the crust:

  • 1 ½ sleeves of saltine crackers
  • ⅓ to ½ cup softened unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons sugar

For the filling:

  • 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • ½ cup lemon or lime juice, or a mix of the two
  • Fresh whipped cream and coarse sea salt for garnish
Preheat oven to 350˚. Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 8-inch pie pan. Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust colors a little. While the crust is cooling (it doesn’t need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the milk, then beat in the citrus juice. It is important to completely combine these ingredients. Pour into the shell and bake for 16 minutes until the filling has set. The pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced. Serve with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt. Yields one pie.



  The next time I make it I will do 1.5 filling and just hope for the best when it comes to setting .

I did not add the finishing sale, I would next time - AND make it the night before, the texture of it setting is really one of the best parts. Something a little different with out being so off the wall. Everyone seemed to like it.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

EGGS BEING DYED







All over town!

Pre Easter Sunshine


 Saturday was a beautiful spring day, perfect to see in the Easter weekend.


but some very muddy paws came back into the house

Housekeeping - update

Long day of being a one armed wall paper hanger - so I'm leaving these spaces open to catch up on when I can. HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE!

I suck at playing catch up on here.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Rotogravure : sheet or magazine printed by rotogravure, especially the color magazine of a Sunday newspaper.

Good Neighbours



While the 49th parallel is often thought of as the border between the US and Canada, the vast majority of Canadians (roughly 72%) live below it, with 50% of Canadians living south of 45°42′ (45.7 degrees) north or the red line above.
Toronto (43°42′N) and Montreal (45°30′N), Canada’s biggest and second biggest cities respectively, both lie just below the line as does Ottawa (45°25′N), the capital and 4th largest city.

Western New York on Good Friday




Our very good pal Betty and her son James took us out to dinner at the 
SPORT OF KINGS Diner in Batavia, New York tonight. 
It was very sweet of her.

We all had fish fries. It is just what you do.
This was really good too - a very thick , very crunchy beer batter!

TIS THE SEASON ...

I'm at my usual Wegmans this afternoon getting groceries for our Easter luncheon when I just start to feel horrible. Head ache, coughing - just sick as a dog. I did not even know if I could finish getting all the things I needed for our meal, thinking I would have to go home. If this got much worse Neil was going to have to take me to the med first of the emergency room of something... getting a little nervous! What is wrong with me ?

Then I looked at what was all around me... everywhere, Good Friday and all...
This is the middle of the store, the produce and flowers part right as you walk in, and I had just parked my buggy and was walking around getting all the things I needed , just did not look up or register that there are freaking Easter Lilies everywhere! I am horribly allergic to Easter Lilies and Christmas trees... infer from that what you will.
Left produce, went to dairy and points east and felt just fine. Silly old bear.....

SO very close ....



Out and about today I rode by this office/factory ( the old Xerox place ) and noticed something a little bit odd. One the way back I snapped this photo. VERY hard to see from a moving car and small, but you are just going to have to take my word for it.

The Harris offices on Jefferson Ave. in Henrietta, NY has the Romanian flag at half mast.. 

 ROMANIA

BELGIUM