Tapenade

I have a second cousin living in London who counts as one of his multi tasked careers that of being a food writer and many of his favorite foods are those found in French Bistros. In one of his reviews he mentioned Tapenade, an olive based spread usually used on bread as an appetizer. He also mentioned that it could now be bought almost anywhere in the states, unlike when he first encountered it. I mentioned I would give it a try and he said even at Trader Joe's prices it was still more expensive than it needed to be and supplied me with the recipe he uses to serve his guests. Well I started out to find some in a jar first just to find out if I liked it. It is found in almost every grocery store and even in Walmart in various forms. Looking at the labels the ingredients were short some items in his recipe and had a bunch of stuff with long, unpronounceable names which I was sure were not all good for me. And what is the point of trying something a food critic recommends if it isn't close to the same recipe. So to plan B. All of the ingredients were readily available for a total of about 150% of the price of one jar of the commercial brands. The one exception was olives, a can of California black olives was under $1.50 and anything labeled Greek, Kalamata, Calamata or Calamon is over $5.00 for a jar. I decided I could make do with the California olives. The total cost of the ingredients is misleading, one batch of homemade is almost twice the volume found in a jar and most of the ingredients will make more than one batch. I happened to use the entire tin of anchovies but I made first a trial batch and then the double batch. Next time, if I only plan on one batch, I will try using fish sauce, which I always have, to lend the same taste. The capers will stay refrigerated for quite a while. The picture is double batch I made for a dinner party. I made it the night before so the flavors would blend and left it out 3 hours to bring to room temperature before going. My trial batch sucked because I did not get out the recipe and left out some stuff. The double batch turned out great and everybody who tried it liked it. One thing I had going against me was for 12 adults there was an entire table of appetizers plus a 20lb turkey, stuffing, potatoes, potato salad, 6 dozen tamales and I am sure I forgot some stuff. Needless to say not everybody tried the funny looking French stuff. :-) If Amy had screwed up the rest of the food maybe a few more folks would have tried the Tapenade.

Tapenade

8 oz black Greek-style olives
2 anchovies or 4 fillets
1 ½-2 tablespoons capers
1-3 cloves chopped garlic
pinch of cayenne
1 teaspoon basil leaves
3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Reduce all the ingredients except the olive oil to a rough paste in a food processor. Add the oil a little at a time, checking the consistency as you go. It should be homogeneous and spreadable, neither wet nor dry.
The anchovies may be preserved in olive oil, or canned, either with olive oil or salt. If the latter, rinse under running water and remove any salt crystals. Likewise the capers, which may be canned either in vinegar or salt. How much salt you add to the recipe, if any, will be determined by the saltiness of these two ingredients.
Cayenne and garlic to taste. Don’t be shy—some rough Provençal types are really macho about it!
Use extra virgin olive oil, of course; it’s a prominent part of the flavor.

Note: This mixture will improve for at least a week, but it probably won’t be around that long. It needn’t be refrigerated if the weather is cool.

Edit 1/31/16.  I continue to make this quite often to take to parties. More than once, my invitation has been tied to bringing some. If I am also supplying the bread I will try to pick up a small baguette and slice it in 1/2" slices.  Over the years I have replaced the anchovies with a bit of salt, because I know quite a few Vegans and Vegetarians, with no apparent loss of flavor. I use well more than a pinch of cayenne with positive comments. I keep all the ingredients on hand.  The cayenne and French basil come from Penseys and I buy large jars of minced garlic as I also use it for hummus.

Vacation time

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I worked but will be going to a Christmas get together with friends this evening. As most of you know my whole industry shuts down this time of year. So I am off to Vegas for a few days and will not have access to a computer again until the 31st. Hope you all can find something to do with me not posting during that time. LOL

Scrapple

This is from a recipe that my dad clipped from the News Press in the 60s. It remains one of my favorite breakfast foods. Depending on the serving size it will fed 4 to 8 (only 4 servings in my household). It will freeze, and actually slices best when not quite thawed out.

ingredients:
1 1lb bulk sausage
1 cup cold water
1 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 tsp salt (I use a lot less, like a couple of shakes)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp sage
3 cups boiling water

instructions:
Brown sausage well and drain
combine cold water and dry ingredients
stir slowly into boiling water
continue stirring frequently until thickened
reduce heat and cook another 10 minutes stirring occasionally
mix in sausage
pour into loaf pan
chill overnight
cut into slices (I cut the loaf lengthwise first) and fry until golden brown in a lightly greased skillet. About 15 minutes per side at 375°.

My added notes
I prefer 1/4" slices.
I like it with butter and maple syrup

The Syrup

Of course you didn't think I used bottled syrup? This is what I make.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 Tb water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp maple extract (or fake stuff if you have to)

I don't really measure any of the ingredients real precise so feel free to alter any of them to your taste.

Bring it slowly to just a simmer and get it off the heat before it foams all over your stove. I keep salad dressing jars around just for this, it refrigerates just like any other syrup and I warm it by placing the jar (LID OFF) in a saucepan of hot water on the stove.




If you will excuse me I think I will go eat now.



edit 11/28/13: A couple of years back I discovered Trader Joe's organic pure maple syrup and have gotten lazy.  I still think homemade tastes better but not by that much.

Sweet Judy brown (?) eyes

I have no idea what color her eyes are. She is a neighbor of mine and we say say hi when we see each other and that is about it. She was one of the folks that got a bag of cookies when I baked them. She did call up to me at Thanksgiving to come over and eat with her family but I was already about finished cooking my dinner so I declined. Christmas eve as her relatives were showing up I was on the patio and she called up she would be over to see me in a few minutes. Well again I got an invite, which I declined as I was going to cook the scrapple and I hardly know her let alone her relatives, but to see I got fed anyway she had a two plate meal and a bottle of wine for me. A veggie/fruit plate with ranch dressing and the other half of that plate was shrimp with cocktail sauce. The dinner plate had a baked chicken thigh, a fresh roll, sliced onions and carrots that were pickled and I tasted vinegar right away and then the hidden heat hit me, I am thinking there were Jalapeños in the pickling jar that got removed to hide the evidence. With the pickled vegetables was finely shredded lettuce. The last item has me baffled, it looked like a chocolate chip cookie so I saved it for last but it was some sort of potato pancake that had a thin filling of some sort of meat in the center. It was really good so I will have to ask her what it was. Anyway, it was much appreciated and I got stuffed and will have to compliment her on her cooking the next time I see her.

Cornbread

Now does this look good or what? Right out of the oven, ready for some butter and maybe a touch of honey.

I got the last one!

OK, so I get excited about small things. Rather than wait until Christmas eve to do last minute groceries I went out last night after work. Because of where I decided to eat I did the all surface streets thing going up 51st to Bell and across on Bell to 83rd. Sure there was traffic on outer Bell but two days before Christmas it should have been a zoo and it wasn't. The right hand lane at each of the mall entrances was only about 8 cars long and moving steadily. After dinner I went to Walmart. The parking lot was about 1/2 full but it didn't seem that busy inside. I had to laugh, one of the shopping "secrets" at Walmart, Kmart or Target for years has been to check out through the garden shop when it is busy. I was over on that side of the store to get toothpaste and propane and the line was 10-12 carts long. In contrast, this store has 6 20 item or less lines and the manager keeps them staffed when needed, there were no more than 3 carts at any of the registers at any time I saw. :-) Anyway there were lots of bare spaces on the shelves and one of the worst aisles hit was the baking aisle. All I could see for shortening was the big 5 pounders and the sticks that look like butter. So I got up on my toes and way in the back, on the top shelf, behind some peanut shortening was one lone 16oz Crisco which is about a years supply for me. To get to it I had to stand on the bottom shelf of the display on my toes. But I got it!

Bill Johnson's Big Apple

7322 W. Bell Rd., Glendale

I have been going to several locations for years for breakfast, I love their chicken fried steak. Last night was my first time for dinner.

I was seated quickly. Server showed up within 3 minutes to take my order. I had my salad about three minutes after that and my burger showed up within 5 minutes of finishing the salad. I would rate that level of service quite good. Restaurant was about 1/3 full on a Tuesday 6-7PM with 2 servers waiting on 8-10 tables. Customers covered all age groups and several tables had 3 generations at them. Because of the many seniors that go in there this location no longer has wood shavings on the floor.

I got the "End of the Trail" burger ($7.79) and it came with a choice of sides (fries, beans, cole slaw....). I chose a salad, I like not having to add a pile of fries to an already big burger. The burger was really good save for a bit too much salt and the meat was med-well instead of medium. Still had stuff running down my arm before I was done. The bun was toasted, which I like. This is one of those huge burgers that is held with two hands (it came with 1/2lb meat, tomatoes, lettuce, purple onion, pickles, grilled onions, bacon, mushrooms, 2 kinds of cheese, bbq sauce)and if you put it down once you start it would most likely fall apart. This is not a place that puts a great deal of emphasis on presentation but for about $2 less than say Red Robin or about $4 less than El Paso for ribs with 2 sides I think it is a good value.

Cheesy rice

I like Risotto. But it takes a lot of work to make unless I want to buy the frozen Trader Joe's version. Nearly as good and much simpler is cheesy rice.

1 cup rice cooked however you usually do.
1 can cream soup. Tomato, celery, broccoli, mushroom (whatever you are in the mood for)
1 hand full shredded cheese, approximately equal to the can of soup.

Add soup and cheese to cooked rice, stir and serve.

I did the tomato version with pork chops, applesauce and steamed cauliflower last night.

The Incredible Hulk

2008, Sci-Fi, Edward Norton, Liv Tyler

From the promos and trailers I was convinced I would not like the movie. I was pretty sure the new version would not live up to the original series. WRONG! 1:54 minutes, no cigarettes, two sips of beer, one restroom break. I was glued to the set.

Stood up

So a bunch of us in the complex have been trash talking each others football teams for a while now. One of the guys comes by Thursday and asked if I wanted to meet up today to have a beer and watch the game. Well I already lost a day of production because of the holiday but it sounds like fun and I said I would try. Fast forward to Sunday: I am in pretty good shape for Mondays deliveries but not quite finished. I forgo my Sunday sleep in, Have a quick bowl of Cheerios instead of a big breakfast, get all my work done, change clothes and get across town to the bar/restaurant right at the kickoff. Don't see his truck, go inside and cannot find him, call his cell and nobody answers. So now I am hungry and am not watching a game. Guess I'll go home, turn on the tv and clean the bathroom or something.

Followup

He was indeed there, there was one more place in the restaurant I did not know about. He took a ration from his buddies at work when I had him look at his cell phone to see the calls he didn't answer before I left to go and while I was looking for him. :-) And because he didn't recognize my number he didn't listen to the voice mails. Anyway I got a cleaner apt..

Nothing but Noodles

8190 W. Union Hills Drive, Glendale

I saw this place last week when I ate at Wok-n-Stix which is about 100' away and it looked interesting on the net so I decided to give it a try.

I would like to give this place 3 stars but one thing kills it. The concept is good. There are plenty of menu choices. I was there on a Tuesday about 7PM and the place had several diners and some folks picking up take out. Of the five tables being used 3 had kids and the noise level was like there were 30 kids in there, not sure why designers lately seem to come up with acoustics that want to drive folks out. Even though the kitchen was open the sounds of cooking had been damped from the seating area. With a combination of booths and different height tables that could be moved around it would be easy to bring in a group of say 20 people. Many of the customers seem to have been there before.

The company website says service in about fifteen minutes after ordering and that was just about spot on. I had had a heavy lunch and wanted something light but hot as it was rainy and cold. I got the Cheesy chicken and vegetables ($7.29). It came in a bowl centered on a large plate which was filled around the bowl with romaine and shredded cheese. The meat and vegetables (mine had mushrooms, carrots, and broccoli) were fine. For the average person that added meat to a noodle dish and a soda or beer I would say $12-14 per person which is the low end of the scale I picked.

Now to the one thing that kills it. For a place that specializes in food with sauce, most of it containing cheese, the sauce sucks. Even when heating stuff from a jar I am one to heat any sauce or soup containing dairy to serving temperature very gently and stirring often. Not sure if this was brought to temp too quickly or left on the heat too long or had hot stir fry oil added to it or what but it just wasn't right. The flavor was off and it looked just about to separate. I'll go back a couple more times over a few months, trying different dishes, and if they fix the sauce I'll update my review. Like I said earlier I like the concept and hope they can work out the bugs.

Holiday lights

I really did get them up this year and a wreath on the front door. Not a real fancy set of decorations but better than nothing which is what 90% of the complex did.

Submarina

6780 W Thunderbird Rd., Ste. 101, Peoria

This was my second trip there in about 3 months. I moved here from California 15 years ago and have looked for a California type sandwich shop ever since. Along the way I found some good deli sandwiches but not a true California sandwich shop. This is the best I have found and I can get real avocados and sliced sourdough. I think the stuff inside should be the star of the sandwich and a thick sub roll takes it away for me.

Everybody gets coupons in the mail and most of mine seem to be buy one get one or it's someplace I just went to last week or something. I had already planned to go there after my haircut and lo and behold on Wednesday I got a coupon I could actually use. How cool is that? :-)

Oatmeal raisin cookies

My favorite cookie. I only make them once or twice a year. Not being really in to sweets a lot I give away most of each batch. Not looking closely I picked up quick oats instead of old fashioned (the recipe calls for either) and I think I like them better.

Wok n Stix

8110 W. Union Hills Dr, Glendale

So Wednesday evening I needed milk and cat food. On my way to the store I realized my stomach was growling. Never a good idea to shop on an empty stomach. A while back in The Savvy Shopper rag in the China Grill ad was a little banner about Wok n Stix being a new location. And because of an event that fell apart this week I had a bug to eat something Asian. So I found it and stopped in.

Chinese fast food. They also have hamburgers and a few other things. I stuck with something I figured I would like, orange chicken ($7.95). Most of my Chinese fast food consists of Panda Express and Ming Gee. This was much better, in addition to the onions and bell peppers listed mine had mushrooms, celery, sprouts and some other stuff. Service was on styrofoam with plastic utensils. Even though I was eating in the rice came in a take out box which I thought was sorta weird. I still hate eating out alone but at least I wasn't the only person in the place. Each side of the place had a long upholstered bench with tables and chairs that could be slid along to make up different seating and two tables in the middle.

There was nobody being served at the front counter when I was finished so I stopped and talked to the woman there and found out she is an owner. They have had the place for 6 months and are the same family that owns China Grill not far away.

Steel toed slippers?

Seems I am need of some. For some reason this is the third fall in a row I have banged a toe in the apt. First year I broke the middle toe in my left foot on a dining room chair. Last year I caught the post of the bed. And this year I managed to find the doorway to the closet.

Ironman

2008, Action/adventure, Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges.

I liked it. Actually I have liked just about all the Marvel features the last few years. Plenty of action. Not too bloody. I gave it a 4 on Netflix.

Fatburger

2815 W. Peoria, Phoenix

So yesterday I found myself without a lunch at work. Normally my driver goes for take out so when that happens I will just order something from wherever she is going. Well it turns out she had brought lunch. I had walked by the Fatburger in Tempe and on Las Vegas Blvd several times but had not tried either. I had the time so decided to make the 15 minute drive over there.

I did take out so I would not be away from the shop for too long. I arrived about 11:45 on a Friday which should have been a busy lunch crowd. With todays economy I am not sure that is a normal statement any more. The manager was having a smoke on the patio and greeted me on the way in. Three tables were occupied, two full and one with one person. As I walked in and was looking at the order board one of the customers came up to the two people working in the cooking area with a problem. Seems his hamburger wasn't right and there seemed to be a problem describing what he really wanted or by the employees understanding what he was trying to explain. The manager saw the exchange and came in immediately, figured out what was needed and the next hamburger off the grill was prepared correctly and delivered to the table by the manager with apologies. In these days of patrons expecting free meals and future discounts I feel this was the proper way to fix things, the customer was not rude and he got the correct, fresh, not reworked, hamburger in short order, problem fixed without any fuss.

The manager then came over to the register and took my order, sensing it was my first time he guided me through the options. I ordered a Fatburger less mustard, plus cheese ($4.49) and onion rings ($3.29). As he was taking the order he hollered each item out to the staff and when complete took them the paper copy. Must be the corporate way to do this. The order was ready in about 10 minutes. The burger was good but not fantastic, the bun was fresh and soft. I consider it a good thing not to succumb to pressed onion rings however these folks have found a way to squeeze the maximum number of rings per onion. The thin rings of onion with one exception were barely enough there to hold the batter and you could not taste the onion. The oil was at the correct temperature so the batter did not absorb grease or have any off flavor. I would definitely pass on the onion rings next time and try the fries.

Overall it is not a place I would go out of my way for but if it was convenient it wouldn't be out of the question to go again.

I am Legend

2007, Will Smith. I should know better. It is listed as a thriller and me and scary movies just do not do well. At the first sign of suspense I turned it off on Saturday night and didn't go back to it until Sunday. I was awakened several times in the night Sunday being chased by the mutants. I guess maybe that is the mark of a good screenplay that it will stick in your mind. I had seen an earlier adaptation of the same novel (The Omega Man, 1971, Charlton Heston) and not thought it scary at all and wanted to see how modern cinematography had changed it. CG has done things to the mutants no makeup artist could ever do. As scary movies go it wasn't bad, just not my thing.

Turkey omelet

First is the prep of chopping up turkey and green onions. They will get tossed in the microwave for about 15 seconds before being added to the eggs. And I realize the cutting board is stained, it has been bleached, vinegared, Simple Greened and run through the dishwasher and clean stained it will likely remain.



Here is the omelet in the pan. The pan was preheated with shortening, lightly wiped and 1tbs of butter heated until clear before the ingredients were added. All the ingredients except the cheese were brought up to room (65°) temp before cooking.



Here it is with the cheese after being tossed. You will have to take my word I flipped it in the air. Flipping it is one thing, flipping it while trying to get a picture in the air with the other hand just isn't going to happen. :-)



Here it is presented on the plate.




And here it is ready to eat. Yep, that is gravy on top, if you don't do gravy for breakfast you can use sour cream too. And that plate really is 11" across. :-)

My Thanksgiving feast

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I started cooking the night before. The candied yam recipe came from my brother and was based on our grandmothers recipe. I omitted the nuts as I don't care for nuts in cooked stuff. I had a cup of raisins left over from the cookies I haven't baked yet so I tossed them in. It came out great even though I forgot about the vanilla *oops*. After chilling overnight I added the marshmallows and browned them. Maybe I am just getting old or have lost my appetite for really sweet stuff but I didn't like it with the marshmallows on it. I may have added too many or whatever but after the first serving I scraped most of them off. As for "to taste" I used a heavy 1/2 teaspoon of each spice. I bought a 3 lb bag of sweet potatoes and after peeling ended up with about 2-1/2 lbs. Word of caution: don't measure 1/4 teaspoon of salt in hand with cut in finger joint. :o)

2-3 pounds of sweet potatoes
1/2 stick real butter (not margarine or spread) at room temp., per pound of potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
ground cinnamon (to taste)
ground nutmeg (to taste)
ground allspice (to taste)
OR 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice instead of cinammon, nutmeg,
and allspice
1 or 2 cups brown sugar (enough to turn potatoes from orange to burnt-orange/golden brown)
1 or 2 flat cans of crushed pineapple
1 tablespoon REAL vanilla extract (not vanilla flavoring)
1 cup crushed pecans (Grandmother used walnuts, but pecans taste better)
1 bag miniature marshmallows enough to cover (or cut large ones in half, but that's a PITA)


Peel, chunk, and steam the sweet potatoes just until al dente (15-18 minutes), the drain thoroughly. (do not boil them)

Blend spices into the butter first. (The butter will carry the spices throughout the dish to ensure even distribution. The spices will bloom overnight, so be modest about it.)

In large mixing bowl with hand mixer, add sweet potatots, spiced butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Start slow to combine, then speed up to whip up to fluffy.

Fold in pecans and pineapple, turn into casserole, top with marshmallows.

Can be stored in refrigerator overnight to allow it to set. Bring to room temp an hour (eliminates condensation) before browning tops, then brown marshmallows in hot oven 5-8 minutes, or just until tops begin to brown.




Starting with the standard Campbell's recipe for the green bean casserole I used cheddar cheese soup and added shredded cheese on top. Not sure I particularly cared for the outcome. I used some sour cream instead of milk with the butter in the mashed potatoes. I had also intended to saute some garlic in butter for the potatoes but by that time I was tired of cooking. The gravy is the last of the McCormick's jar from Costco, now I will get starter from Better than Bullion like I have for beef gravy. I have a real gravy boat but is was just me and the measuring cup is easier to wash. The turkey is a breast I grilled too dry, but that is what the gravy is for. :-)



I was stuffed after just this one plate full.
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Dogs

Nothing against them, but I wouldn't have one in an apartment. They have needs too and as an owner you have to schedule around them. So here it is Thanksgiving morning. Time to sleep in late and wander around the apartment sort of half dressed and have a leisurely breakfast. WRONG! I got the sleep in late (7:00AM) part down but as soon as I got out of he shower I had to run downstairs and take Duchess out to do her thing. No coffee, no clean teeth, sort of thrown together. At least I wasn't alone, I saw several folks in various states of dress and awakeness doing the same thing, all hoping nobody was going to see them and mumbling good mornings under their breath lest their breath knock somebody over. :-) As dogs go Duchess is pretty cool, hardly ever barks, doesn't chase cats, is always ready to go for a walk or any where for that matter. We have one ongoing disagreement however: her owners walk her without a leash and I won't take her out without one more for her protection than anyone else's as she loves everybody. She has been taught to stay away from the dumpster and so she normally waits at the walk while her "baggage" gets tossed. So I go trying to get her close enough to toss the bag in and have to drag her kicking and squirming over there. If nobody is around I will give in and just drop the leash and she goes over to the walk. *sigh*

edit for those who didn't know: Duchess belongs to neighbors downstairs who were away for the week. I quite often take care of her when they go out of town unless I go out of town with them. Duchess is getting older and stumbles going back down the stairs so I don't really "have" her so much as taking care of her needs.

Ahhhh warmth !

So following my plan I picked up a heated mattress pad a couple of weeks ago. This weekend it got just a bit of a chill at night so I used installing the pad as a reason for my semi annual bedding change. Cranked that sucker up to 2 and snuggled in. Had to drop a bit of air out that I had recently put in as it expanded with the heat. Only problem is I don't want to get out of it in the morning. :-)

I could get used to this

Six weeks ago I paid $3.499 a gal in California for gas (It was about $3.25 here). Two weeks ago I paid $2.429 in Tucson. This morning, just two weeks later I paid $1.999 a gal! I understand when the economy picks back up again demand will cause it to rise some but meanwhile I will enjoy it while I can.

Walmart

So I got tired of the one at 59th & Northern. 59th and Bell is getting remodeled to a Supercenter but it will take another year. That leaves 79th & Peoria and 83 & Union Hills, neither of which I knew about until I went looking on the website even though I shop regularly at the Costco just 1/2 mile South on 83rd. I mentioned to a customer that lives in my neighborhood about the two stores and that my neighbor shops at the one at 83 & Union Hills and he said they really keep that store nice. So last night off I went on my way home from work. It is a newer store layout much like the one at Camelback & 101 (I went there once and never again, I never saw a larger collection of over weight women with white spandex and bright colored thongs in my life). This store shares a parking lot with Sam's Club and of course I went in on the wrong end and had to traverse the parking lot.

What a difference! Just in general the store is brighter lit, everything is cleaner and fully stocked and neater displayed and there is more open floor space. And the people! Both employees and customers are more friendly and smiling. With the impending Holiday and folks looking for stuff they do not normally buy there were employees and customers helping find stuff. And conversations amongst strangers as to the variations in green bean casserole and candied yam recipes. The whole experience was a good one. I mentioned the differences between the stores to the young man checking my order and he said it was driven by the managers concept of what the shopping experience should be and he had the entire store caught up in it.

The difference in the more open layout is a corporation thing. Much like the newer Targets which is why I shop at Northern & 91st rather than 79th & Bell. But beyond that it is up to the manager to make it a positive shopping experience. I just hope corporate realizes that and compensates the entire range of employees at that store for their efforts.

Just like many folks I was shopping for some stuff I do not buy often. I knew I had flour on my list and fortunately this new to me store is a 90% mirror image of my old one. Started out with flour which I could read the aisle sign that said flour, then off to bread then I needed marshmallows which after searching I found my self back in the same aisle as the flour. Then I found crushed pineapple in the canned fruit aisle but it took searching about 4 aisles to find raisins about 2 feet from the marshmallows back again in the flour aisle :-).

Egg Surprise

Last week I was in Costco and went by the eggs. I knew I had eggs on my regular grocery list and I use them fast enough I could use up 18 before they went bad. The price looked good (it turned out 10 cents cheaper than Walmart) and they were extra large rather than large like I was used to. I found out three extra large eggs are considerably heavier than 3 large as I attempted to toss an omelet, the first try netted one little corner making it up to edge of the pan. I pushed the edges all back together and was much more successful on the second try. :-) Now I am worried the next time I have large eggs I will splat them on the bottom of the microwave again like I did once learning to toss them.

With so much discrepancy in egg volume I do not recall recipes calling for a certain size egg(s). I wonder if it is a given that a certain size is assumed when writing recipes?

Ah-So

16610 N 75th Ave (at Paradise), Peoria. There are several now in the valley and I was to find out they are locally franchised rather than a chain. The atmosphere seemed a bit antiseptic and bright for a Teppan style restaurant but I got over it. Whoever issued the building permit with that few parking spaces should be shot, the restaurant was only half full and I counted 2 open spaces in the lot before I took mine. Part of the parking is taken over by valet services. That seems to be a big thing here in Arizona because of the summer heat. We had a reservation for 6PM on a Friday which is the latest they will accept reservations. They used to have an hour or more wait on Friday and Saturday nights and advised Manuel to take advantage of the reservation. Not a good move on their part, we would have had 3 more people in our party if we could have made a reservation later or had been told they never fill the place up nowadays because of the economy. The Sushi bar and regular service side of the restaurant was busier but still not full. We left just before 8 and noticed they were seating 1/2 full tables at the grills and most of the grills were going unused.

The dinner itself was excellent, I had a filet and a Kirin along with the normal soup,salad,rice and veggies. Even though stated on the menu we were not offered white rice as an option but the fried rice was made right there on the grill and was good. Priced appropriately (the bill was about $4 less than at Mizumo's for an identical meal in July). At a table of 9 only a gentleman about my age and I were using chopsticks for most of the meal (I never picked up my fork!). The show was a bit on the weak side but the cook (Korean, raised in D.C.) was more open and friendly than many of the Teppan chefs I have been served by. His favorite take out is Mexican 24hr taco shop. :-). The wait staff was attentive without getting in the way. Unless I find a Teppan grill in the area I like better I would go back again. It would be interesting to go to the one closer to where I live just to see any differences between one of the original ones and this, one of the newer ones.

And the occasion for a dinner that was a bit more expensive than I would normally do? Happy Birthday Amy!!!!

Cold feet

Last winter I started only heating my apt for a short time when I got up in the morning and setting it at 60° the rest of the time. So yesterday morning is the first time the apt was really chilly and on the way in the shower I hit the heat button. When I opened the shower curtain to dry off I noticed the air was full of steam. This doesn't seem correct (I find it not to make any sense to climate control the place and push all the heat or cooled air out the vent so when the HVAC system is running I don't use the bathroom vent) so I check and the circuit breaker popped. I reset it and this morning it worked fine but I hope this is not an ongoing problem. The cool nights are serving as a reminder that I was going to get a heated spread this year. Air beds share one thing with water beds in that they get cold or warm depending on the room temp and it is hard for the body to warm them up.

Arizona sports night

Two close home games last night. Suns over the Grizzlies 107 - 102 and the Cardinals over the 49rs 29 - 24. Both games could have gone the other way at the end, it was like the home teams couldn't handle being ahead and did stupid things to keep the opponents in it. Of course that kept me bouncing back and forth the entire time and ended up staying up past my normal bedtime.

And just for the record the football team I root for, the Rams, lost 47 - 3 on Sunday. :-(

What happens in Vegas

2008. Romantic comedy. Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Corddry, Lake Bell, Dennis Miller, Queen Latifah. My first notion when I had it in my queue was why, given the subject and trailers, was this PG-13 rather than R. Must be the dirty old man in me :-). But seriously, not many romantic comedies are PG-13 any more. Most rely on some sexual content to attract and keep the audience. This movie was funny from start to finish! When I settle in to watch a movie I have an empty ashtray and a full beer next to my easy chair. An hour and 41 minutes later I still had an empty ashtray and an almost full beer. Talk about cheap sets, two scenes were shot in what was supposed to be a commercial cabinet shop. I am sure they were just in the studio wood shop, but it was cool they had woodworking.

Tucson woodworking show

Semi business trip yesterday. Got to have breakfast with some really nice folks that, with one exception, I had only met online before. Wandered the show for about an hour. My pocket book this year said no tool buying. I did buy a replacement drill bit for my Kreg jig. This was the first time the show had been held in Tucson rather than Phoenix. Attendance was down for both buyers and vendors because of the economy. The new owners of the show have done a better job this year of having demos and classes but fell short in some other areas.

This was the first time I had ever been to Tucson and the first time I had driven through it in daylight. I imagine now that my son moved there yesterday I might be back again. The drive is just over 2 hours. They are undergoing a complete rebuild of the freeway through town that is supposed to take another two years, glad I do not have to deal with that mess during the week. I kept hearing how gas is much cheaper down there so I pulled in to fill my 1/2 tank, 3¢ cheaper per gallon, big whoopee. This morning on the way in to work I noticed my normal station is 2¢ cheaper than that. oops.

Turkey, I hope the weather is good

Made an impulse buy last night. One Butterball frozen 6lb turkey breast. Walmart is not my choice for most meat but no matter where you buy major brands of frozen turkeys most have added water and salt. I'll be at home this year and Duchess will be in my care. Weather permitting I'll bring out the electric Patio Caddy and grill it. I'll have to remember to ask if Duchess can have a piece, I am always hesitant to give dogs food not on their normal diet. Have no clue other than sourdough bread for sandwiches afterward what I'll be having with it but I have 21 days left to decide. The scraps will end up in soup.

Phoenix Ranch Market

The other day I was at Manuel and Amy's and mentioned I had read some reviews in Yelp about Phoenix Ranch Market and asked if they had ever been there. They said fairly often, would I like to go with them sometime. Sunday afternoon they stopped by work and drug me away to the one at 5802 W Thomas. Not in a good part of town and several security officers wandering around, this place is supposed to represent a Mexican Mercado. Never having been to Mexico I couldn't say but it when you say Mercado I envision noisy and crowded and this certainly fit the bill. The reason for the trip was to eat at the restaurant inside. I had a chicken quesadilla, not really on the menu, and a carne asada taco. Amy had a carnitas burrito that looked small but was 100% meat inside and Manuel had 6 carne asada tacos. The food was great, the burrito and quesadilla came with a salad (small bit of finely shredded lettuce with a watery dressing topped with grated Parmesan. The liquid moved over and made parts of my quesadilla soggy and Amy asked why I didn't move them apart as she did to prevent that. I countered that is why I went with folks that had been there so they could show me the ropes. :-) You definitely have to speak Spanish or go with someone who does or you will go hungry, the order taker was bilingual but the person who called out the order number did so in Spanish. To go with the meal we went to the Aquas Frescas bar and Manuel suggested Horchata, a sweet rice milk drink. It was very good but he ordered three large ones that must have been like 40oz at least. Way too much milk product and it did as much to over stuff me as the food did. Overall the food was good and really inexpensive, there were some pieces of gristle to work around but they were small and few.

After we ate it was time to shop. The whole store shows signs of constant wear from being crowded and having loose kids running around. I noticed several staff members working clean up duty full time. There is Mexican music playing fairly loudly. To enjoy the experience you cannot be in a hurry. The store includes a bakery, an outdoor barbecue, the restaurant, A totillaria, a service deli, a seafood market and a full service butcher. The aisles are narrow and crowded. Anything you want to prepare traditional Mexican dishes was there. I noticed that just like Oriental markets the fish, meat and deli departments had wares that were prepared for cooking Mexican dishes and packaged differently than similar products in an American market. I got a pint of crema con sal (salted sour cream), Manuel got 3 lbs of marinated carne asada and Amy could not pass on some fresh baked goods and fresh tortillas. Before we went over I mentioned I was going to pick up some beer as I was out and didn't want to make another stop and joked they probably don't have anything but Bud Light in that part of town. Amy assured me there was a good selection. Sure enough at least half of their beer cabinet was Bud Light and the rest was Bud and some Mexican beers. Not an MGD in sight. I like Corona but dislike dealing with bottles so I got a case of Milwaukees Best by Miller. Not really great beer but it wont give me a headache like Bud does.

I would go again. Next time I would like to try the barbecue.

Pumpkin dump cake

I came across a recipe that sounded good while roaming blogs. I had never hear the term "dump cake" before so I Googled it and came up with all sorts of variations on a theme. Basically mix most of the ingredients and put in a 9x13 baking dish, greased on the bottom only, sprinkle a box of cake mix on the top, pour a melted stick of butter over the whole thing and bake at 350° for about 45 minutes or until brown. The ingredients for this one called for large can pumpkin pie mix, 8oz evaporated milk, 2 eggs. It also called out for pecan halves on top but I don't care for nuts in my baked goods so I omitted them . The cake mix called out was yellow. I had no clue what would be considered successful. So I mixed it up and tossed it in the oven for 45 minutes and it wasn't brown and even after 60 minutes I still didn't consider it brown but I pulled it out anyway. Most of the cake mix absorbed moisture and in some spots was crumbly and in others real hard and some of the cake mix was still sort of powdery. The real test is if people liked it. After 6 servings all 6 liked it. It seems to be better chilled, a couple of folks would have liked whip cream on top. It didn't taste as sweet as the ingredients would lead one to believe and it was agreed that was a good thing. One caution about mixing things: I totaled the volume of all the ingredients in my head and picked a mixing bowl which indeed held everything. Ever try mixing ingredients in a bowl filled 1/4" from the rim?

Tums, a pondering

Calcium carbonate in all it's different brand names. I keep some at work, home and in the truck when I travel. Good for mild indigestion and as a calcium supplement. Initially each tablet was 250mg. Then came extra strength at 500mg. Now the regular is 500mg and you can seldom find it on the shelves. Extra is now 750mg and Ultra is 1000mg. No matter what strength you get the serving size is always 2 tablets. So how do you decide which strength to buy? My typical usage is down one every 5 minutes, with a glass of water when available, until I feel better. Thanks to Google I finally found the maximum usage is 7,500mg in a 24 hour period. And to further confuse the issue if it says 750mg on the front only about 1/2 that is calcium carbonate which may be why original used to be 250mg and is now 500mg (gotta love creative labeling). No way have I ever some close to the maximum so I am thinking maybe this is all more than I needed to know. :-)

Two week notice

Earlier this week my son's girlfriend dropped him off at work on her way to San Diego. We were just chatting in the front room when she came back from the bathroom and asked Daniel if he had told us the news yet. My first thought was I may never be ready to be Grandpa. He has been offered a position in Tucson at one of the places she works. He has never worked any place but for me and has been here for about 7 years taking on an increasing load. Because business is down right now I won't need to replace him until it picks up. It will be weird not having him around to chat with as we work. I have felt lucky to have him working with me where we can stay in easy contact. At the same time I know he needs to get out on his own in a non family working environment. I think he will do fine, Jen won't let him slack off. :-)

Suns vs Hornets

Well that was the excuse anyway. I was just putting the cake in (more on that later) when Amy called and said Manuel and Steve were off getting stuff for the grill and I should come down for the game. I told her I would be down when the cake came out. Turned out it was game time by the time I got there and most of the chips and dips were history. The hot links were just coming off so I had a couple of those and we sat around drinking, watching the game and just talking sports in general. Manuel cooks brats like I do, cooks them on low for a long time so most of the fat goes away. As usual I was drinking beer, as was Steve, and Manuel was working on rum and cokes. We were all drinking too much for a weeknight but Manuel works 4 10s so he is off today. About halftime Amy comes out from house work and joins us and hands me a rum and coke which I thought would do me in mixing drinks. At least it was an 8oz instead of the 24 ouncers Manuel was mixing. Just before 10 I brought down dessert. The Suns lost but by that time none of us really cared. :-)

ps: I got up on time and no hangover.

Beef, potatos and peas

Can't get more basic than that. This was the first two ground beef patties of the 12 I got in the fresh meat dept at Costco. I was a bit apprehensive because of the low fat content (12%). And I was right in a way, it had less flavor but was a better cut of meat to start with than what they grind fresh at Albertson's. Next time I will grill it on high just like a steak.

For years I used the powdered gravy mix in a big jar from Costco but wanted something with fewer things in it that I couldn't pronounce or identify so I tried a jar of Better than Bullion. I like it just fine except it doesn't give the gravy the dark brown color of the powdered. This time I put the base in with the butter to start with and was much happier than following the directions and mixing it with a bit of boiling water and adding it to the white sauce.

I got lazy and just tossed some minced garlic direct into the mashed potatoes instead of cooking a bit in butter first. A glass of Merlot and my league winning game 4 of the World series and had a near perfect evening.

Pork stir fry

Started with a bottled stir fry sauce, added ground garlic, ginger, honey and Sriracha. One of these days I will learn a little Sriracha goes a long way . Then I took a boneless loin chop and cubed it (this one one of the 1" + chops from Costco). Dry rubbed it with Garam Masala and set the meat and the sauce on the counter to come up to room temperature (65°) and absorb the flavors. After about 40 minutes I wokked the meat in peanut oil. Set the meat aside and switched to butter and did a bag of frozen pepper strips and 2 diced onions. Drained off the liquids, put the meat back in, added the sauce and brought the whole thing up to temp and served over rice. This is one of the few times the veggies got cooked less than mush, I am learning to stop cooking them when they are done and draining off the liquid rather than trying to reduce all the liquid out while cooking. That made two servings so I get one for lunch this coming week.

Cox to the rescue!

Yesterday, 18 days after I made my service request, I got the following back from the tech center:

Thank you for your recent e-mail to Cox Communications.  We apologize
for the delay in our response.  We are sorry to hear that your cable
services were not working properly...

Our records indicate that you have already resolved this issue.

We look forward to having an opportunity to assist you in the future.
Thank you again for contacting us via e-mail.  Please let us know if we
can be of further assistance.


I guess I should give them credit for at least trying but that is hardly timely on their part.  And as noted was a full 14 days after I went in and got new equipment.

Jason's Deli

Jason's Deli is a bit of a drive, near Metrocenter, but it's the closest decent sandwich shop to work. It isn't as good as Greenberg's in NYNY (my favorite) or Miracle Mile (my favorite in the West Valley) but it isn't bad. We had gone once before for lunch and liked it. This time I tried ordering online for pick-up. The ordering menu is simple to use, it leaves out all but the generic options. The order was ready when it was supposed to be and was just as ordered. Speaking about the food, It was not only good it was too much. Maybe they put more stuff on for email orders or maybe they had a new person they were training or whatever but there was so much meat on my sandwich (pastrami, corned beef and cheese on rye) I gave up at around 85% and only had one bite of potato salad to taste it. Gale had the same sandwich and took 1/2 home and saved her dessert and chips for Monday. Daniel had a roast beef,onions and peppers Po'boy and managed to just down the whole thing and get through his Baklava. The potato salad wasn't as good as mine :-) but it wasn't bad. Even being a chain, overall it is a pretty good deli.

And the total bill for three sandwiches and 3 extras was just about what a truck full of aluminum cans was worth. :-)

Aluminum

We (myself, my son, and my driver) Save aluminum cans until there is a truck full and then take them to the recycling place. Saving this many takes around 3-4 months. A few months ago they were worth $.82lb, this time they were only worth $.35lb. Arizona does not have a redemption deposit so the rate is the actual scrap rate. That whole truck full only netted around $25 this time, barely enough for a decent lunch out. More on the lunch in the next post.

Chicken stew

So, what to do with the industrial size bag of mixed vegetables? Stew sounds good!

Cubed 2 chicken breasts and dry rubbed with Garam Masala and left on the counter for about 2 hours as it turned out. At this point in time I had a glass of wine and watched the start of the ball game. After about an hour I went back to work on dinner. Got out a big pot and started warming a container of chicken stock. Also started warming my wok. Diced two medium onions, carmelized them in the wok and added to the stock. Next in the wok was a bit more butter and generous helpings of minced garlic and Italian seasoning just long enough to fill the kitchen with their aromas. Cleaned the wok and added some peanut oil and then the chicken. When the chicken was cooked it went in the pot along with the mixed vegetables and diced tomatos. Brought up to a boil for 10 minutes and then reduced to a simmer for about an hour and a half.

This is an adaptation of a dish I had often growing up. a dozen chicken parts (wings, drumsticks, thighs) that were dreged in flour, salt, pepper and then fried. The veggies were a lb of carrots, a head of celery, 3 or 4 quartered onions, lima beans, corn and stewed tomatos. Served over rice or noodles. I have also made it this way.

Cornbread

Along the lines of I never make anything exactly the same way twice I had a can of sweetened condensed milk sitting around so in it went along with the normal stuff and a can of diced green chilies and a handful of shredded cheese. I prefer to use Masa rather than flour with the cornmeal so I add a bit more oil and a second egg to make it work. The was what I would call corn cake because of the sweet and while I prefer not sweet it is easier to give away some if it is. I never understood why the folks that prefer sweet couldn't just add some honey to theirs. This was cooked at 400° for 20 minutes in a 12" square cast iron griddle.

Chicken what?

I was reading the box of chicken stock (Emeril's) and it had a recipe for chicken soup. It had all the normal ingredients of veggies and pasta and of course some branded seasonings. What it didn't have as an ingredient was chicken. Does anybody else have a problem with chicken soup having only chicken flavor from the stock but no chunks of chicken? Leave me your comment.

Imagine me and you

a movie review

This is a movie I added to my queue based on the trailer seen on another rental. I should point out I am very hetero. However I have relatives that are gay, lesbian or bi-curious so I have been exposed to alternate lifestyles since I was about 8, not that I understood it then. Just like religion and politics, as long as a person doesn't heavily promote their preferences I try not to let the part weigh negatively against the whole.

From the trailer it looked like another romantic comedy. Typical of a romantic comedy it was 90 minutes long and had a common story line of wondering if the correct partner had been chosen because of a chance meeting at a wedding. And of course there were side issues involving some of the lessor characters. Where this differed was the bride became intrigued with the woman florist who catered the wedding. Side issues included the best man chasing after the openly gay florist and the coming out of the bride. It was light, had humorous moments. tastefully done and in general was a fun movie to watch. Some of the dialogue was lost in the heavy British accents, especially the younger sister of the bride.

'Smart' student

This I found randomly searching blogs.

The college professor had just finished explaining an important research project to his class. He emphasized that this paper was an absolute requirement for passing his class, and that there would be only two acceptable excuses for being late.
Those were a medically certifiable illness or a death in the student's immediate family. A 'smart' student in the back of the classroom waved his hand and spoke up. "But what about extreme sexual exhaustion, professor?" As you would expect, the class exploded in laughter. When the students had finally settled down, the professor froze the young man with a glaring look. "Well," he responded, "I guess you'll just have to learn to write with your other hand."

The silence is broken

Back to the Cox box thing. Monday I called Cox and got the Cox greeting followed by the invitation to press 5 to proceed in Spanish and the next message said they were busy and told me to hang up and try some other time. WTF? I didn't even get to follow the menu to get to the correct department. So then I tried emailing a complete description of my problem and what I had done to trouble shoot it. Not surprisingly I got no answer. So Friday rolls around I go to the center in the mall with my box and remote. I got there at 10:10, pulled number 22 (they were already waiting on number 10). I was incorrect in the number of chairs, there are only 10. So I stood around and they were hustling right through folks. I was out of there with a new box and controller in 25 minutes. I ended up stopping by the apt afterwards to kill time before Chipotle Grill opened so I could get a burrito for lunch on the way back to work. The new box and controller are the next generation of HD box and have improved some features from the original. I have been there 4 times in the last two years. Out of 4 service desks I have yet to get drawn by the cute 30 something that likes to show off what can't be touched. :-(

Who are these old folks?

Yesterday I drove over to Santa Barbara for a get together. I have not been back for over 15 years. The occasion was brought about by the passing of one of the people I hung out with in and for a few years after high school. But a party was made of it! :-) I had not seen most of these folks since our kids were the age of the grandkids running around. A few folks I would not have recognized if they were not introduced but most, I hope I was one of them, were just matured versions of 20 some years ago. Except Susie, I am sure she just turned 40 :-). A good time was had by all sharing memories and catching up on where our lives are now. I am very glad I did not miss this.

Foot in mouth

I have a bad habit of engaging mouth before brain. And once again I stuck my foot in it. Just as we were leaving Mel or Susie asked if I was glad Amy talked me into coming. My brain was on the track of I had wanted to come all along and everybody else was on the track that Amy sent me the newspaper clipping to convince me I would be welcome even without a specific invitation. Mel, bless her heart, saw what was coming and popped in with a question that I had the right answer to and diffused the whole thing. I was in like Thousand Oaks before I figured it out.

Up against the wall

This was a long day. I had gotten up at my normal time of 4:30 and driven almost 8 hours, partied for about 3 and headed back across the desert. Just as I expected about 10PM, my normal bedtime, my body was telling me I had had enough and I was starting to feel sleepy. I was only an hour away from home but stopped at a rest stop and walked around and had a cigarette. It was 52° with the wind about 8-10mph and I was wearing shorts. I started shivering before the end of the cigarette but the effect was I was more awake. As I was driving down the last stretch of freeway my mind wandered off to sitting on the living room couch at the Lompoc house and Niki was reading me a book. I am pretty sure this was before she had started going to school and she read the entire book to me. The next thing I knew I was on a stretch of the freeway that didn't look right. I had to first figure out where I was and then get off and double back to get home. somehow I had stayed in my lane at the correct speed for about 6 miles of which I have no recollection of. Yes, it was a very long and very enjoyable day.

Chicken cheese enchiladas

A while back I made some barely edible chicken/bean/onion enchilada things. I followed it up a couple of weeks later with some modifications which made them a whole lot better. One of the things that came out of the first batch was my friend, Dawn, gave me her recipe for chicken cheese enchiladas. I had had the opportunity on two occasions to enjoy them. I rarely cook exactly to a recipe and this was no exception. Right from the start I used two chicken breasts which by volume was considerable more than the 12oz can of chicken in the recipe, I used 10" flour rather than 8" corn tortillas and I had a larger baking dish. So I had to guess in purchasable quantities how much to increase the rest of the ingredients. The result was roughly 95% as good as hers and exactly filled the baking dish. I'll take that. :-) Per her suggestion I froze 3 of them for later.

Potted meat

My son said I should try some because it was cheap. I waited til I got home to read the label (deliberately) or I probably would not have bought it. I really did not care for the smell when I opened it but I made the sandwich anyway as I knew it wouldn't kill me. Did not care for the taste but mixed with mayonnaise and mustard and chilled it wasn't bad. I don't think I will buy it again though :-)

25 signs you are all grown up now

1. Your house plants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.

2. Making love in a twin bed is out of the question.

3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.

4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.

5. You hear your favorite song on an elevator.

6. You watch the Weather Channel.

7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook up and break up.

8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.

9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."

10. You're the one calling the police because those **** kids next door won't turn down the stereo.

11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.

12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.

13. Your car insurance goes down and your payments go up.

14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonalds leftovers.

15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.

16. You no longer take naps from noon to 6 PM.

17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.

18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.

19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.

20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."

21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.

22. "I just can't drink the way I used to," replaces, "I'm never going to drink that much again."

23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.

24. You no longer drink at home to save money before going to a bar.

25. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you

The appliances

As promised here is the saga of the appliances. When I renewed my apartment lease I mentioned the only reason my stove was working was I "borrowed" parts from a vacant apartment and my soap dispenser was still broken in my dishwasher. Last year I mentioned my burners were shot and my soap dispenser was broken and was told we will get around to it. Well that lead to me fixing the stove and I dealt with the dishwasher by opening the door and adding soap after the first cycle. This year the market is different and when I brought it up they said, in writing this time, they would just replace both units. Still they didn't say when.

Jump forward a couple of weeks. I come home form Costco on a Thursday night and I have 6 pounds of fresh ground beef patties and 5 pounds of cheese and a case of Octoberfest and I turn on my light and find a new refrigerator where my dining room table used to be. Thanks for the warning folks. The new stove is plugged in but wobbles and the dishwasher I was expecting is nowhere to be seen. So what do I do with my fresh stuff? I left the beer in the case as I had some already cold. Ran a half load in the dishwasher so I could clear it out. The next morning I took some stuff and put it in the cooler and other stuff I just left out that could go a day and transferred the rest to the new fridge. When the office opened I called and found out they were coming back that day to level the stove and swap the refrigerators. They were not sure when the dishwasher would arrive. As it turns out they had a delayed move in and used that dishwasher for me.





Apparently because they are in the process of complete remodels in vacant units they had a contract for complete sets of appliances which is why I got a new fridge. The new one is 17 cubic as opposed to 15.5 in the old one. But the gain is really larger in the refrigerated section at the cost of freezer space. I tend to buy things in bulk and cook extra portions so I can freeze them. That means I really do utilize a freezer. My first attempt at loading the freezer is on top. Note I have no ice trays or ice storage. and every time I tried to find something I had food on the floor. Walmart to the rescue. I found an expandable rack just the right size for $9.88. It's still really full but I can now have ice and move stuff around to get to it.


The stove has a bit of a learning curve. Med is not what med used to be so I have almost burned a few things. It is level with the surrounding countertops but not really level, I can fix that. I recalibrated the oven knob, it was only off by 15°. The fridge/freezer each turned out to be about 15° warmer than desired so I am glad I checked it.

I really need to get better at picture placement :-(

Silence is not always golden

Thursday night I lost sound from my television. I tried moving cables around and figured out my converter box is bad. Now I get to spend another 2-3 hours round trip with the Cox service center. The drive is only about 20 minutes each way. It's just like the MVD (yes I know Calif. DMV takes appointments ;-) ) where you take a number and wait and wait and wait. Typically they have 4 people on staff and the wait is about an hour. They have seats for about 30 and there is usually twice that many. And a sign that the restrooms are for employees only. It would go much faster if more folks knew why they were there and understood how to be ready for their part of the transaction. Verizon used to be like that and then they figured out that having 2 people to wait on 30 or more was costing them customers. Now there is a cell phone store on every corner.

The irony of this is when I watch tv it is usually sports and I don't care for listening to announcers fill air space so the sound is off and the radio is on. What I do use the sound for is the commercial free digital music which I have wired direct to the home theater box.

Excuse me

So I go to Walmart last night and it's a good thing I have a list. Would be even better if I could read, I get Tums and try to buy a rack like the one in my freezer for the neighbors downstairs (more detail on the freezer adventure to come later) but they were out so I go over to the food section of the store and start collecting the non perishable stuff. By this time I have looked at my list at least 3 times. I finally see "thermo" which is telling me I need to get a refrigerator/freezer thermometer, so back over to the other side I go to get one and then back to the refrigerated section to finish shopping.

I never buy enough stuff that I cannot use the 20 item checkout aisles. A few weeks ago the store manager decided to save money by closing one lane down so there are only 2 or 3 open. To top that off the guy in front of me with a pile of kids gets all checked out and cannot find his debit card. So he says "excuse me" and walks over to the bank in the lobby to get cash, which because he doesn't have a wallet either takes a while, and all of us in line just have to sit and wait. Why can't the cashier just void it out and call a manager to take his cart, with the hot deli meal, away so the rest of us can get on with life?

My first post

I must say this is going in to new territory for me. I maintained my brothers blog (Knitterman) for a couple of weeks while he was without power in Houston and mechanically it didn't seem hard. This will be brief. Not much happened today. I'll take off early and stop at Walmart for groceries then head home and watch most of the Dodger/Cubs game.