Meat probe part 2

I ended up paying higher than suggested list price for the probe because it was Sunday and I went to the only place (Barbecues Galore) I could think of that was open and would have exactly what I wanted. Not to mention the fact I had already dry rubbed the meat that morning and it was sitting on the counter coming up to room temperature while I was out looking for the probe. Fire drill anybody? :-)

I ended up cooking the tri-tip at 200° for over 2-1/2 hours. I had it set for 150° and took it out at 145°. I should have pulled it at 140° because sitting on the counter it rose to 156°. Still a very nicely cooked roast that retained most of it's juice in the meat. It used to be steak juice was used for baked potatoes but as you can see on the plate there was very little.

I am definitely happy with the probe. Now I want to get an electric smoker too. :-)

Alarms

It does absolutely no good to turn on an alarm if you don't tell it when. Case in point: a week or so ago the power went out. I have a digital clock with a battery back up. Apparently the battery is dead so I had to reset the clock, along with 3 other clocks in the apt.. Never gave the alarm a thought and since I normally awaken before it goes off at 4:30 it wasn't a problem until this morning when I slept right on through "knowing" my alarm was set. It wasn't a catastrophe as I still got up at 4:52.

Tott's Asian Diner

1817 E Guadalupe Rd., Tempe

The highlight was really that my son and his girlfriend were up for the day from Tucson. She mentioned she would like Chinese for dinner and I presumed they would prefer the South valley as they would be driving back after dinner. I got on Yelp looking for Chinese and found this place with multiple reviews averaging 4 out of 5. I did not realize it was not waiter service until too late to change it. It is set up to be the kind of service where you order at the counter then get your soft drinks and service and they bring the meal to your table. Well it might as well be waiter service, the owner is all over the place getting things for folks. We enjoyed our visit and the restaurant not being full he encouraged us to remain as long as we wished.



My son and his girlfriend seem to be doing well. He has trouble getting much over 30 hours a week as even grocery sales are down. He looks really good. This is the first time in his life he has not been pudgy. Since I had last seen him he gained twenty pounds and then lost 60. He walks or rides his bike most every where and she drags him to the gym whenever they have time.

Gluttony

You would think I am old enough to know better. While the over indulgence of Thanksgiving is still a recent memory I joined some friends at Santisi Brothers for a birthday party Saturday evening. While the other 12 in the party all chose to share pizza and wings I ordered pasta which came with bread and salad. That alone was too much food and I took enough home for Mondays lunch. But this was my first time there and I was with folks that had been there several times and they wanted me to try everything. I had pizza (good NY thin crust), wings (Giovanni bbq sauce, good), Zeppelies (fried batter dusted in powdered sugar, good), and split most of the birthday girls huge ice cream/brownie/whipped cream thingy with her husband. Toss in a 25oz Fat Tire and my stomach was on overload. I was dealing with heartburn for several hours. Several of the women in our group got their drink on and I imagine they were in a different kind of pain for a lot longer than I was. A good time was had and we all got to watch the game of our choice on the wall of TVs. I haven't seen that many TVs in one place outside of Vegas.

Meat probe part 1

I cannot have any of my gas grills let alone a smoker in my apartment. I decided I wanted to cook a tri-tip at a low temperature (200°) in the oven. Two ways to go, trial and error like I learned to grill or buy a remote temperature probe so I can monitor the temperature without opening the oven. When I mentioned I am going to buy the probe on Facebook two of my siblings thought that would take all the work and fun out of cooking. I countered that I was still very involved and was just using a cooking gadget to improve the outcome. Would you go back to using a whisk for a cake batter when you had a mixer? I think not. This will have a part two after I get the probe and cook the meat.

Popeyes chicken

A week ago Friday this is where my Friday lunch took me. I had never tried it and the closest 2 to work were each 8 miles away. Many of my relatives assured me it would blow the socks off of KFC and Churches. Sorry, not even close. The chicken was almost the same as Churches as I ordered the regular batter (I don't do Cajun spice well). And it was dry. They were out of battered fries so I did not get to try those. The mac and cheese wasn't even close to KFCs. It was suggested I should have had the red beans and rice but I don't like red beans and rice. I wanted root beer and none of the labels said root beer. Most of the tables were dirty. Several things other patrons asked for were out of stock. Bottom line is I would have been happier getting fried chicken from some place closer. The previous week I went to El Pollo Loco and had a much better meal. A couple of redeeming points; the whole meal was under $6 and there was no up charge for white meat. If this was the closest fried chicken place when I was in the mood I would probably get it but I certainly would not pass by another brand to get there.

Stroganoff

One of my favorite foods. My dad made it from a recipe in the News Press in the early 60s. The whole idea being to be able to use a cheap piece of beef to make something really yummy. I have tried a couple of times over the years to make it from his recipe and failed, returning to the easy way of making it from a season packet and more recently simplifying it further by using the crock pot. I wanted to try it again but the clipping seems to having gotten lost in the divorce. I found a similar recipe on line that also used tomato juice. One thing that helped is I have learned more about using flour and gravies in general. I used two 5.5oz cans of juice instead of 8oz that the recipe called for and the tomato was stronger than I remember. I still had to use a little corn starch towards the end. Overall it was the best stroganoff I have had in years and will never return to using season packets.

Dirty Dancing

1987, PG-13

I may have been the last human being to watch this hit movie. I actually enjoyed it.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year I was invited by friends to go to a block party. Nice group of folks, some of them I had already met. They used the pool table to set out food on. It was 80° for a high so it was perfect for dining on the patio. I had shorts on and even after the sun set did not feel the need for a sweater. The hosting family had parents, grandmother, son and his pregnant wife there so almost 5 generations of one family. Only one sour note: as the hostess was wheeling grandma back to the care home 1/2 mile away some how she fell out of the wheelchair and broke an ankle and a leg. She had surgery yesterday but I don't yet know the final outcome.

The first picture is of Grandma. She is in her 90s and ate like a trooper. Still a pretty good conversationalist too.



These are the two pies that I baked. A pumpkin and an apple. They both came out great. The only other pie I ever baked was an apple 4 or 5 years ago that I burnt heavily.





In addition to the oven baked turkey Manuel and Tom tried a deep fried one. It turned out pretty good but I am not convinced it was worth the $150 it cost.



There were 17 people total of which 4 had already attended another dinner previously. The first shot is mostly set up for the appetizers. We did not make a dent in those and I was no longer hungry by the time it was pushed aside and reset for dinner which is the second picture. The dessert setting filled half the table again.

What a generic life

Actually more like a report of my weekend. Saturday I didn't feel like cooking breakfast so I stopped at Carls Jr for a breakfast burger. For lunch I had leftover tri-tip. After work I stopped at the store and picked up some stuff intending to maybe get some salmon for dinner. While I was there I got a page from a friend that her and her husband were going out to dinner at Firebirds. Good thing I had not made any concrete plans to meet anyone at Sunnyslope for an art event. Dinner was great! Way out of my budget but all I had to cover was the tip. We then proceeded to their place for cake and ice cream. Sunday morning I had planned on fried bologna but the store was out so I had an omelet. For lunch I had creme broulet cheesecake from Firebirds (a token of appreciation for getting my steak undercooked). I left work early to watch the Cardinals football game, they won but not easily. While doing that I marinated some chicken breasts to grill for lunch salads and made up a spaghetti sauce. This one turned out really well: I took a jar of marinara sauce and put it in a pot on the lowest heat setting added more garlic and some basil. In the wok I softened up a bell pepper in butter then caramelized a couple of onions and then sauteed some mushrooms. By the time I got all of that in there it looked a little thick so I tossed in the last glass of Cabernet from the bottle I was drinking. I left it at that lowest heat setting for another 3 hours and got absolutely none of the overcooked tomato taste I sometimes get. I then watched the Suns barely win a game and watched Wolverine which was pretty good. Next Sunday the Rams will actually be on TV so I will plan my work schedule around that.

Coffee, or lack thereof

So it has been about a month since I stopped drinking coffee. Turned out not to be a big deal.

History - I normally drank 8 8oz cups (4 big coffee mugs) a day. I would not gulp it, but sip on it and run out early to late afternoon. If I went out for breakfast I would have 2-3 cups with breakfast. If I cooked breakfast at home I would consume 1/2 the pot early. Quite a while ago I noticed I would get an upset stomach and get a little light headed if I drank a whole bunch a one time. At least once a day I would go up against a wall and have to stop and take a nap.

Negatives of stopping - For the first couple of weeks, if I had more than three servings of alcohol, I would get splitting headaches starting in the middle of the night and sometimes lasting until noon. I also figured I should look closely at other sources of caffeine. I switched to root beer instead of Dr Pepper when eating lunch out. I don't eat much baked goods anyway and only consume 5 or 6 sodas a month so it hasn't been a big deal. A couple of years ago I had already started getting orange juice instead of coffee when I at breakfast out

Positives of stopping - I sleep better at night. I don't run up against a wall during the day. I actually have more energy in the morning.

The few times I have had chocolate or iced tea (not all of which has caffeine) have not seemed to be a problem. My BM schedule moved from 2-3 hours after waking to about 1 hour. I will need to be careful of what I consume when I am out but I don't go out that often. Overall replacing coffee with water seems to have been a positive move for me.

The Big Lebowski

1998, R, cult comedy, Jeff Bridges, John Goodman

This movie landed in my queue on the recommendation of a woman I once knew. I doubt if I would have picked it and I almost tossed it out as it was. It was actually a pretty good movie. I had to pay attention because a couple of things that appeared to be unimportant to the story early on came back up later.

Halloween

At the last minute I was invited to some friends to spend the evening eating, drinking, watching baseball and handing out candy. The kids were cute, the wrong team won and I ate too much. It was a fun relaxing evening. These friends recently bought a house in a neighborhood with several long term owners and they sort of take turns throwing impromptu get togethers in each others driveways. Really cool, this is the second time I have been there for one. The weather was highs 70s, shorts weather. We were joined by lots of dogs and a pet snake. Of course not being home I now have the entire bag of M&Ms peanuts to my self. :-)

I guess it is now winter

I haven't started wearing thermals all day yet. And it is supposed to warm back up this weekend. But last night I did enjoy one of the few pleasures of the cold part of the year; I got to sleep IN my bed, wrapped in the warmth of flannel sheets and a heated mattress pad. I slept quite well.

So many folks I know have been down with the flu lately, this evening I plan on making a pot of chicken noodle soup and putting most of it up in the freezer so if my turn comes around I am ready.

Nobody died

Sunday I went home early to watch sports, drink beer and cook. In other words be like a normal working stiff.

Lets get the bad stuff out of the way first. Every game I wanted to watch was either a blowout or the wrong team won or both.

The weather was beautiful. I finished off a bottle of Merlot and then some beers.

Back in February I bought a chocolate fudge box cake to bake along with a jar of cherry frosting. Well the party I was to bake it for never happened and it was getting close to expiring so I baked it. I gave away 9 of the 15 pieces I created and there are no reports of anybody getting sick and or dying. :-)

Before I left for work in the morning I took 3 chicken breasts and put them in a zip lock with 1/2 jar of Thai green curry sauce and then grilled them in the late afternoon. Different flavor than marinating them in Italian dressing which is what I usually do. I expected a bolder flavor than I got but it was OK and different. I cubed them up for use in lunch salads this week. Then for dinner I had a brat with 2 sliced avocados and a tomato and some rice seasoned with Polish seasoning.

Saturday night I ate a lot healthier, I had a huge serving of steamed yellow squash and some swordfish.

How could I?

In one day I leaped over my highest weight in almost two years. Hopefully it is mostly water weight. After I got home last night I drank 4 10oz glasses of water and a beer and didn't need to pee until this morning. But I must digress a bit. For lunch yesterday I went to Culver's and had a double cheeseburger, fries, a root beer, and a double scoop of strawberry cheesecake frozen custard and then friends called me at work and I met them at Jimbo's (a neighborhood bar) and had a grilled ham and cheese on sourdough with onion rings. Much of this food was salty enough I could taste it. Never the less I need to eat light for a couple of days. :-)

As to the food it was all OK. I'll put a couple of complete reviews on Yelp.

Elektra

2005, pg-13, Jennifer Garner

Being brought back from the death she incurred in Daredevil she has her own movie. It is another Marvel sci-fi action movie. This one plays through much better and even has a couple of surprises in it. Maybe no so much so if you read the comic books. I liked it. It did take two tries though to get a DVD from Netflix that would play through.

Sunnyslope art walk

It was that time of year again last night. The walk was larger than it was in the spring and attracted more people, which led to having to park over at the hospitall. The weather was perfect. One of the people in my party looked up the weather where she flew off to today and it was 11°, no thanks. We started off with Salvadorian food which was delicious and then were on our feet wandering and taking pictures for over two hours. I haven't uploaded them yet. Lots of jewelry but also craft work too, and I mustn't forget to mention sock zombies. Had a great time.

Haus Murphy

Met up with some Yelp friends for dinner here last week. Of course I reviewed it on Yelp:-) While most of the meal was OK I was disappointed in the sauerbraten. I feel that a piece of meat that has marinated for three days should has some flavor without the gravy and I should not need a steak knife to cut it. So I am thinking I should try it myself. I will most likely use a chunk of brisket as that is fairly forgiving of overcooking and that way I can do it in the crockpot.

Peach butter

I only buy about one jar of fruit spread a year for actual use on toast. I also keep some around for use in sauces. In my continuing effort to control what is in the things I eat I try to buy stuff sweetened with sugar instead of corn syrup. This spring I found Terra Verde Farms and is is OK, with the Apricot drizzle being my favorite, it is expensive and they tell you it will only keep in the fridge for 3 months after opening. It is however local so I will most likely keep some in the freezer for sauces. Recently I was at Albertson's looking for something to replace the empty jar of strawberry preserves and spotted Braswell's peach butter. I don't remember liking apple butter too much but for $3 I gave it a try. I like it. And it uses sugar instead of HFCS.

Cooking weekend

I was seriously running out of stuff to take for lunches and snack on the the evenings. So it seems like all I did was cook. I made a fresh batch of hummus, from dried beans of course. This morning I made creamed chipped beef which leaves two additional servings after what I had on toast. Before I left for work I put a batch of pinto beans and onions in the crockpot, that should yield about 5 meals and it freezes well. And for dinner last night I had a version of pulled chicken. I may yet also make a pan of cornbread tonight.

Simple pulled chicken

I took two boneless, skinless breast and nuked them for ten minutes. This technically cooks the meat but I sure wouldn't serve it to anybody like this, it is sort of dry and tasteless. However it does yield quickly cooked meat that can be used in recipes. While it was cooling I diced up and onion and tossed it in the wok with some butter. about the time the onion was done I cut the chicken crossways about 3/4" and ripped it apart from there. I added the chicken to the onions along with some ground garlic, salt and pepper. I poured in some bbq sauce, I happened to have an open bottle of Bill Johnsons, got it all hot and set it off on a low burner for an hour and a half for the flavors to mix and served it over rice. If I had had a bell pepper I would have tossed it in with the onion but I had not thought that well in advance.

Movie night?

I sat down last evening to watch two more episodes of Battlestar Galactica. After all, each disc has 4 episodes. If I had paid attention I would have realized the last disc of the first half of season 2 only has 2 episodes. If I had known that I would have sent it back and had the first disc of season 2.5 for this weekend. So no biggy, I opened up Elektra which I was going to watch on Saturday night and started watching it. It locked up in scene 9 and cleaning did not help. So last night's plan and Saturday night's plan for watching movies went bust, partly my own fault.

Case in point

This is why I deliberately looked for a phone that would allow me to keep multiple shopping lists. Last night I decided I would put off groceries until Friday evening. So under the old list system I would have left the running list on the counter when I left for work this morning. When I got to work I found there was to be a get together at Lisa G Friday evening. I have an appointment with the rental office Thursday after work so I will be going shopping on the way home this evening. Because I have the list on the phone there is less chance I will forget something.

Modern math

So last night on the way home I stop at Total Wine to pick up some beer. It is not far out of my way and I can save $3-4 a case compared to what I would pay at Wal-Mart or Albertsons. So I double my savings by buying 2 cases. Of that $6-8 I saved I spent $16 of it on a couple of bottles of wine. ???

Daredevil

2003, PG-13, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner

Another Marvel movie. Lots of action. This one was just sort of ok. I felt the story line a little weak in spots.

Labor day weekend

Eating out - I had a soso barbecue sandwich Thursday evening at Thee Pitts Again on my way to Costco. Friday's lunch took me to Salvadoreno's where I had onion chicken that was really good. Many of the Salvadoran foods have similar descriptions to Mexican foods but are different in many ways. If you get a chance they should be tried. Sunday I had lunch at the Miracle Mile Deli at Arrowhead Towne Center. Really good corned beef, soso potato salad. All of those places I have written Yelp reviews so if you are interested you can follow the link on the left.

Cooking - for the second week in a row I got a salmon fillet and baked it. This time it was a wild caught fillet that because it was on sale was actually less expensive than the farm raised variety. I used the leftover to make salmon salad goop for sandwiches. I did a tri-tip on the electric grill Sunday night. Somehow I got it medium well instead of medium and I cannot figure out how to make meat less cooked afterward. And last night I pan fried a couple of ground beef patties. So I have leftovers for lunches this week. I had a double serving of Spam on Saturday and a double serving of bacon on Sunday. Having run out of sliced ham a couple of weeks ago I now have no more processed pork in the apt.. No, I am not going vegetarian. Just getting rid of those things that I really like the taste of but my body doesn't like digesting. I have also just about burned up my supply of red meat and will try to not eat any late in the evening where it can keep me up at night. It won't help my cholesterol any because chicken has as much as beef.

The biggest change from the norm for me was I actually took Sunday off. Slept in until almost 6, got up and had a leisurely breakfast, then started deep cleaning the apt.. I really didn't get the whole place done but I got the bathroom, vanity, and kitchen along with all the floors. Looking at some paperwork I found cleaning I had not cleared the shit lip in over 3 years so it was definitely time. Midday I took a break and went to the mall. I had lunch and then wandered around. Went in to Dick's which wasn't open the last time I was there (June 08) looking for unpadded bike shorts and not only was everything padded for road bike wear the prices were really high. I'll go to the Sports Authority when I have time and look there. I had a gift card that was almost a year old for Penney's and after wandering around I bought some boxers. I stopped at Yankee Candle and picked up a couple of Pumpkin Spice jar candles. And in general cruised the mall. For a Labor day weekend it wasn't very crowded and I only parked a few steps from the door. I spent the afternoon resuming my cleaning and keeping track of the Diamondbacks losing to the Rockies. A very easy going day.

And the highlight of my day Sunday came just before I started cooking my dinner. My son called and we chatted for about an hour. First time he has done anything other than texting in over 6 months.

Interesting dressing

Sunday, in addition to the ground beef steaks,baked potatoes and artichoke I was having for dinner, for lunches during the week I wanted to make some chicken to go with the basic bagged salad that was on sale. More than 1/2 the time I would marinade boneless skinless breasts in Italian dressing and ground garlic. Well I had no dressing so I thought I might make up a sauce and stir fry them in the wok. I make sauces from all sorts of stuff and one of the ingredients I wanted to try was some Terra Verde blackberry peach preserves I had in the freezer. I had had some on toast a couple of times and decided it was too tart for my taste. I decided to make it mayonnaise based which I have done several times for grilling but not for stir fry. I also knew I wanted enough liquid for the sauce to also be the salad dressing. Well, when I got done mixing it all up I knew I had a really good salad dressing that may not take the heat very well so I set it aside and cubed the chicken and gave it a dry rub of Garam Masala, salt, pepper and let it sit on the counter for an hour or so then fried it in peanut oil in the cast iron skillet.

It turns out I had enough (about 1-1/4 cups) dressing to use for three salads, one with just over 1/2lb of baked salmon and the other 2 with a cubed chicken breast each. Each on 2/3 of a 12oz bag of salad. I have no clue if I could even recreate the dressing. Here is a list of the ingredients in approximately descending order of volume. The first three items were the bulk of the volume. I noted brands where I think the taste is important. By far the strongest flavor was the preserves which were muted and was what I was trying for. As you can see I just wander around the kitchen tossing stuff in the bowl and then maybe make a second trip to alter the taste.

Mayonnaise (Best Foods)
Ketchup (Muir Glen organic)
Blackberry peach preserves (Terra Verde)
Mustard
Honey
Sesame oil
Orange juice
Lemon juice
Rice vinegar
Sriracha
Paprika
Onion powder
Ground ginger

Well, besides work

So Friday's lunch took me within a block of my apt to a coffee house/bakery, La Boqueria. Cool dude, grew up in the neighborhood, spent some time in Europe adding to his cooking/baking skills. Saturday morning I decided to eat out at Ronnie's Cafe. Manuel and Amy had recommended it to me. Not bad but not the most authentic shit on a shingle either. I posted Yelp reviews on both places.

I stopped at Albertson's to pick up something for dinner and ended up with a 1.37lb salmon fillet. I usually only buy the 6 or 7 oz portions because the whole fillets are over 2lbs and I really have no clue what to do with it. I took the fillet and put it on a rack in a baking pan, melted some butter with ground garlic and Italian season that I spread on it. Covered it in foil and baked at 350° for 30 minutes. Ate about 1/2 of it with steamed cauliflower and put the other half on top of bagged salad which was on sale for $1 at lunch today. Sunday I accidentally made some really good dressing that will be the subject of it's own thread. Sunday morning I started breakfast with a half cantaloupe. This is memorable because I rarely eat fruit. It made my orange juice taste funny too. :-)

Australia

2008, Romantic Drama, PG-13, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman

This movie got an Oscar nomination for costume design. Not really the strong point for me. What was the highlight for me was the scenic footage of Australia. Even though it is fiction they tried to be historically correct especially about the aborigines. While I watched it over 2 viewing sessions because it is almost 3 hours long it kept me interested the whole time. I would definitely recommend it.

A new toy

My phone would no longer show charge complete no matter how long I left it connected. And I had to charge it every two days instead of 3-4. I could search around and come up with a battery for $15-20 or I could get a new phone for free, the latest iteration of the last two phones which have served me well. Two things lacking in the old phone. Texting with a numeric pad sucks and I had no ability to edit texts or notepad entries. So I looked at a few phones with some extra features. The notepad thing is more important than it sounds. I have kept a pad of paper in the apartment with a separate page for each of the normal places I shop. That works fine if I remember I am going shopping one of those places on the way home and put the list in my pocket on the way out the door in the morning. As often as not I would not pick up the list and get to the store and forget something. Now I can keep running lists for each of those stores. It's not like a synced PDA or a smart phone but it does what I need it to. I found out real quick how much faster I can text even with those itty bitty keys. And if I do make an error I can fix it without erasing all the way back. And of course sound clarity and battery technology have improved in the last three years. What I got was an LG enV3, cost $29.95. It fits in my existing holster and I hardly ever used my car charger on the last two phones so I got out of there with no accessories as I had recently purchased a Jawbone II to upgrade my headset. It is going to take a bit of time to learn all the things it can do and I haven't even thought about going on line with it yet.

Very little work Friday

Started off my day sleeping in until almost 6. Next stop was the MVD. I had to sell off my truck which had a vanity plate on it. Got there at 7:45, waited in line, got in and got called to a window at 8:04. Now here is where it gets goofy. I can go online and order up a new vanity plate anytime I want for an existing vehicle and they would charge me the fee and send it to me. It turns out if I have an existing plate I can only swap it at the next renewal. I fail to understand why I cannot just pay the fee and swap it out.

The MVD happens to be 2 blocks from my apt. and my hair stylist is also in the neighborhood. So I get out of the MVD at 8:12 and go back to the apt to cool my heels until 9. Getting there 10 minutes early I beat out an old lady by about 3 steps to get my stylist first.

So then I go to work for a bit and take off for lunch at the Golden Greek (35th North of Glendale, review on Yelp) which was pretty good.

By the time I did all the running around, put in a couple of orders and chatted with a bunch of customers I think I go maybe an hours worth of actual work done the whole day.

Quantom of Solace

2008, PG13, Daniel Craig

Lots of fast paced action. I enjoyed it. Now is that a short enough review or what? :-)

Fun filled Saturday

And I followed it up by sleeping in until almost 7 this morning. I had a free ticket to the Diamondbacks vs Dodgers game. I was joined by some friends for three innings who went down to try and improve their seats after a while. I happen to like sitting up high where I can see the whole field. With only one eye working well I have poor depth perception so up high works, and these were pretty good seats, on the rail just past 1st base. Instead of paying $12 for parking I opted to park at FEZ and take the light rail down for $3.50 round trip. That was my first trip on the light rail and right off the bat I lost my balance not realizing how much faster electric motors accelerate compared to propane motors on buses. I almost landed on a kid, pulled a muscle in my upper arm and stomped on the toes of the kids dad. One hot dog and one beer totaled $15. The beer was Gordon Biersch Hefeweizen for $10, the option were a bunch of generic lite beers for $9, no contest. But I did bring my own liter of frozen water for .35 instead of $4. They bring in extra rail cars for major events and I was surprised how fast they moved several thousand people out of the Central core after the game, which we won in 10 innings. Getting back to FEZ for a late dinner I found I missed a bit of excitement. The president had dined two doors down at Macayo's and his secret service staff, 20 of them, had gone in to FEZ for drinks and appetizers.

And for dinner? FEZ has a monthly $5 special that you can find on Facebook or their website but doesn't show on the menu. This month is a Turkey burger: "Hand made Turkey Burgers, grilled, topped with field greens, roma tomatoes, provolone cheese and a roasted red bell pepper, olive tapenade, on whole wheat ciabatta; served with a field green salad with lemon basil vinaigrette. FIVE BUCKS!" It was delicious and not heavy on my stomach like a beef burger would have been that late. Their burgers normally go for $10.95 so that was quite a deal. I ordered a glass of Sam Adams summer ale and got the last 1/2 glass in the last keg. They gave me a full glass of Boston lager also but I don't really care for it as much. By the time I got home at 11 I was beat.

While I was at FEZ Thomas, the GM, filled me in on some details of Rickie's, his SO, upcoming fashion show at The Devils Martini. I am not into high fashion and I am not going but it should be a good show with Thomas doing the emcee and Intuit providing the music.

Not bad for a budget night out. I cannot wait until the economy picks back up so I do not have to watch every penny. Of course then I won't have time for an outing like that.

PJs and Eggs

Friday August 14th, 5-9PM

This event was hosted by Hickman's Family Farms and several restaurants normally only open for breakfast and lunch. It was a charity event to benefit Arizona foster children. The deal was: you bring in a pair of new childrens pajamas and you get a dozen eggs. And while you are there you can eat off of the breakfast menu. I went to Scramble with a group of Yelpers and we ended up sitting around for almost two hours. Attendees were encouraged to wear pajamas to the event and many families had children in pajamas but the only adults I saw in any type of house wear were the employees of Hickman's and the restaurant. It was really a fun event.

Here is a picture album of the event. I am not sure whether you need a Facebook account to view it or not.

Cliffhangers

ARRGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

So, alternating between regular movies I am also doing TV Scf-fi on Netflix. Currently I am working my way through Battlestar Galactica. This week the Diamondbacks have been playing in the East so I have had time to catch an episode or two after the game. Saturday night disc 4 ends with the first half of a two parter. Not bad because I already have disc 5 sitting there. Sunday I pop disc 5 in and watch the second part which happens to have a cliffhanger ending. No problem, I have time to watch the next episode. No way would they ever put out a disc with only one episode on it. I hit menu, no more episodes, check the sleeve run time and sure enough there is really only one episode!! They mailed me off the next DVD this morning and I will have it tomorrow. I suppose things could be worse, at least I do not have to wait months until the next season starts like I would have if I had actually been watching it on TV.

Crabs

A lawyer boarded an airplane in New Orleans with a box of frozen crabs
and asked a blonde stewardess to take care of them for him.

She took the box and promised to put it in the crew's refrigerator.. He
advised her that he was holding her personally responsible for them
staying frozen, mentioning in a very haughty manner that he was
lawyer, and proceeded to rant at her about what would happen if she let
them thaw out.

Needless to say, she was annoyed by his behavior.

Shortly before landing in New York , she used the intercom to announce
to the entire cabin, "Would the gentleman who gave me the crabs in New
Orleans , please raise your hand?"

Not one hand went up ... so she took them home and ate them.


Two lessons here:

1. Lawyers aren't as smart as they think they are.

2. Blondes aren't as dumb as most folks think .

Period panties

Aka granny panties, briefs. I came of age in the last decade or so of the use of belts and napkins. Tampons were just starting to become available and self stick pads were not yet designed. All that hardware took a lot of containment so all women wore full briefs during their period. Before PMS was defined it was semi popular thought that the mood changes were in part due to the inconvenience of dealing with a period. I remember my ex and I coined term B-flats as they just were not as sexy as the panties she normally wore. So just why am I moved to remember this particular piece of nostalgia? Oh yes, this is supposed to be a movie review.

Zack and Miri make a porno.

2008, R, Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks

One of the early scenes is some kids taking a voyeur photo of Miri in her "period panties" as she is changing clothes at Zacks work. In spite of the title it's actually a chick flick. Funny in many places, a little gross in a couple of places. Of course only the supporting actors/actresses are ever seen without clothes. I enjoyed it.

Pugzie's

4700 N 16th St., Phoenix

It's been a while since I did a Friday lunch out. This month's Yelp Office Hours turned out to be on a Friday so off I went. Any meal out is much better with pleasant folks to chat with while eating. The food was generic sandwiches, salads, soups. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, cup of clam chowder and and iced tea. Bill came to $12.16 which I thought was a bit steep. But at least the food was good and the company great. For me it was about 25 minutes each way so lunch was almost 2 hours by the time I got back. There is a more detailed write up on Yelp.

Office Space

1999. Ron Livingston, Gary Cole, Jennifer Aniston

I can see why it wasn't big at the box office. I just didn't think it was very funny. I barely made it through the whole thing. I know several folks that regularly make references to some of the dialogue but this movie just isn't me.

Everything you always wanted to know about sex...

...but were afraid to ask.

1971. Woody Allen, Burt Reynolds, Louise Lasser. Tony Randall, John Carradine, Gene Wilder, Lynn Redgrave, Lou Jacobi, Anthony Quayle. Directed by Woody Allen.

Woody Allen takes seven questions from the book by the same name written by Dr David Rueben and turns them into seven silly vignettes. All 7 are in a different presentation style. Some are OK, some are great. Overall I liked the movie but I could see why a gen X person might not because some of the basis is seated in values prevelant at the time. Woody Allen is a brilliant director but much of his story lines get mired in the technical. I recently tried twice to watch Match Point and gave up because it moved too slow. For the most part this movie moves along quickly while retaining Mr Allen's attention to detail.

AWFS 2009

Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers

Every two years they hold a trade show. Initially in Anaheim, in 2005 they moved the show to Las Vegas. This is where folks who build cabinets and furniture go to see what is available in machinery, raw goods and hardware. I have been attending since 1991. I have two reasons to be there; I need to see what my customers have available to them in the way of machinery and tooling and because many large wood products manufacturers have in house capabilities to do what I do the suppliers to the sharpening industry are there too.

Because of the economy this years show was poorly attended by vendors and potential customers alike. I leisurely walked the majority of the show in one day and chose to drive back earlier on Saturday rather than go for just a couple more hours to see the few things I didn't on Friday. It did allow me to spend more time with the folks I did meet up with.

Driving over I went through a couple of good sized storms, one of which had me down under 30mph and still couldn't really see where I was going. The bridge at Hoover dam is making good progress as they get ready to do the last pour on the arch which will connect the two sides. They are starting to widen 93 on the Arizona side so it will be 4 lanes all the way to and over the bridge. They have already moved the Homeland Security checkpoint so that only those vehicles going down and over the dam will get inspected after the bridge is open. 93 was chosen as the NAFTA route in the West so they are trying to make it as smooth flowing as possible. The bypass around downtown Wickenburg is almost complete. Much of 93 between Wickenburg and I40 is now 4 lanes. I am not sure if any additional road widening is scheduled.

While there I met up with some friends from Grand Junction and Tucson. All of us went to dinner Friday night. I was really excited about taking them to Mizumos in the Tropicana. Turns out, after over 30 years, they had closed. Nobody could tell us why but I knew the parents had turned over much of the operation to the kids and last time I was there in December I remember them screaming at each other in the kitchen. So we went to Legends steakhouse a few feet away and I had the worst filet in my life, filet is supposed to melt in your mouth not have the consistancy of shoe leather. At $36 with potatoes I expected much better, David, our waiter, did toss in an extra beer for the road but I doubt I will ever go back. Every body else's meat was perfect. My first night there some of us visited the Garden Bar in the Flamingo which was nice and quiet for talking but void of any food so we took off to Margeritaville and shared a volcano of nachos which the 3 of us did not finish. Their Landshark lager, I thought, was much better than their margerita which I had had in December. Both mornings I was there I had breakfast in the buffet at Imperial Palace, for $13 it wasn't bad at all. After dinner on Friday I took my friends on a tour of some more casinos, including a stop at Swenson's, and even being the oldest managed to walk all three of them in to the ground. Bad thing was with staying up late 2 nights in a row I kept dozing off at the wheel on the way home, but I managed to get back in one piece.

Total disconnect

aka: This summers vacation

A few years back I decided I needed a summer break from work as much as anybody else. I have been closing for the week tied to when the 4th of July is celebrated. If I stay in town I will go to work anyway so I try to get out of town for 4-5 days. This year I took a trip to see some friends I had initially met on a woodworking forum up in Grand Junction, Co.. They had been down here a couple of times for spring training and 2 years ago we all met up in Las Vegas for the Woodworking equipment show. This trip was supposed to have happened last summer but got postponed because gas was $4.00+ gal.. It worked out good this year because he was slow enough at just the right time in his woodworking business I became an excuse to take it easy for a couple of days, something he would have had trouble doing last year.

I totally walked away from everything for this trip. I had no computer access, I turned off my phone, even though I had plenty with me I didn't even smoke a cigarette (nor did it bother me, took me 3 hours at home to start up again). I did not even turn on music in the truck, just me and the road noise.

It is roughly a 10 hour drive, probably 11 for two people. I took a lot of pictures, the entire album is posted on Facebook.

I got to see Monument Valley, several rivers, the Colorado National monument, attended a Thursday night farmers market in downtown Grand Junction. And I relaxed, and napped on the patio, and drank some beers, and talked woodworking. I was treated like royalty, wasn't even allowed to clear my own dishes. I had lots of great food. The last stop on the way home was in Flagstaff where it was 59° and pouring rain and 2 hours later when I got home the sun was shining and it was 104°.

Heading North on 89 out of Flagstaff


Service station, tourist trap in Tuba city on the Hopi reservation.


Thursday night farmers market in downtown Grand Junction.


Rockslide microbrewery, Grand Junction, CO.


Independence monument. Within the Colorado National Monument.
In the background is the Colorado river and Fruita, Co.

Super simple

I decided on noodles to go with my grilled pork chop Saturday. I wasn't really in the mood for tossing it with butter, seasoning, garlic and Parmesan. What I really wanted was Alfredo but I didn't have the stuff to make it with. So I cooked up the noodles, drained, and stirred in a can of cheddar cheese soup. It was better than I expected, in fact better than some of the boxed macaroni and cheese I have had. Certainly not gourmet though. :-)

I should know better

So I am picking up some things at Albertson's last week and in a stand alone case between the eggs and the frozen entrees is a selection of Starbucks ice cream. It was on sale for $2.49pt. I chose a chocolate chip frappuccino. Last night I opened the pint. It did not taste like frappuccino. The chocolate chips were a bit bitter. The ice cream had been allowed to thaw and refreeze, probably several times, so it was brick hard and crystaline instead of creamy smooth. All in all it was not a good experience, and I still have 1/2 pint left. I very seldom get drawn in to impulse items placed conspiculously in my way and this is just another reminder why.

Hash brown casserole

Not sure why I thought this would be weird but when I Googled it I got lots of variations. Most of them were variations on a basic theme. All of them were based on 2lbs (32oz) of frozen hash browns. Well, just like ice cream, hash browns do not come that way any more. All the bags I found were 24-28 oz and I decided that was close enough. The seemed to be little agreement between using 8 or 16 oz of sour cream so I used 12 and that gives me some for something else. I decided to add diced green chiles to mine and found out the Macayos brand is much tastier and a little warmer than the generic brands I usually buy. Overall I think it turned out quite tasty. it made 4 good sized servings. Another thing I did was use a 3 quart fairly tall baking dish rather than the 9x13 all the recipes called out. That allowed me to use the smaller counter top convection oven which throws off less heat and uses less electricity than the full sized oven. I cooked mine for one hour and feel it could have gone another 15 minutes as it never browned and the potatoes tasted almost not done. I am thinking I need to check the accuracy of the thermostat in the small oven. This is the way I made mine, you can Google for many more variations.

2 lbs frozen hash browns
1 can cream of chicken soup
12 oz sour cream
1 diced onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese ( I grabbed two handfuls of the cheddar/jack I had on hand)
7 oz can diced green chiles (optional)
bread crumbs (optional) I left them off

Thaw hash browns, mix ingredients together, fill 3 qt (or 9x13) baking dish, bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

Clerks

1994, Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson

An independent film about two clerks in a convenience market. I was not impressed but not so much that I turned it off early. It won several awards at Cannes and Sundance. Researching to write this I found it was in black and white originally. I watched the Clerks X version which was released in 2004. It appears I may have missed some good additional material by sending it back after only watching the movie. It is considered a cult classic. I may or may not view Clerks II which was released in 2006.

I'm a fan!

Not in the sense that Facebook uses the term. Well sorta, maybe. For several decades I have been using the same dry rub from Susie Q in Santa Maria, Ca.. It is the rub used at the Far Westerner in Guadalupe and marketed by a member of the family. I was about to run out again so I looked at the ingredients. I had all but two items: MSG and something long winded to keep it from clumping. MSG does add some flavor and I wasn't sure where to buy it. I did a bit of research on the internet and found a half dozen basic ingredients plus some optional ones all of which I have anyway. So last night I had a couple of lamb blade chops to grill and stirred up some stuff from memory and sprinkled it on. It worked great and if I only make it in batches sized for one or two meals I can learn to tweak it. I certainly did not miss the controversial MSG.

Prescott Bluegrass festival

Two day festival. Just went up for the day on Saturday. On the way up met some friends at Rock Springs cafe in Black Canyon city for breakfast. Other than the waitress forgetting to enter an order and the hash browns sucking it was pretty good. Parking was not a problem as we were willing to pay the $5 to park in the garage. 3 of the 4 groups were pretty good. The emcee told the same old dry jokes he did the last time I went two years ago. The second group in the rotation was sort of OK musically but their overall presentation was so full of dead jokes that I was not impressed. I would have left as they started their second set but I was guarding the stuff for my friends and it would not have been cool to just disappear. They came back from shopping about 15 minutes later and they were ready to go too. I managed to get sunburned, it may not be a smart thing to take a nap in full sunlight in the middle of the day. All of the shady spots were taken when we got there so we chose a spot that would be in afternoon shade and took possession. When I get back from vacation I may post some pictures.

I need a nap

I went over Old Town Scottsdale this morning to grab a bite to eat and go again to the Farmers Market which has moved underground. Good thing they are only having it downstairs for 5 weeks, it's a total bust. Only one farmer with tired looking produce. plenty of arts and crafts stuff, tamales, hummus, jellies. Carolyn was working the Scottsdale museum booth and I chatted with her a bit before heading off to work.

The reason I need the nap is what I had for breakfast. I walked over to Bacon to try it out. Bacon is a breakfast/lunch place until 3 and then reopens as a bar for the rest of the day. $9.50 for their big meal; 3 eggs, 3 bacon, 3 sausages, ham, potatoes with brown gravy, baked beans with some more bacon, toast and a cup of diced fresh fruit. I did not finish it all and was glad I had a mile walk to get back to the car.

Fire

So here I am eating breakfast and reading an article in an industry mag and towards the end of my meal I think maybe I smell some smoke. No biggy, I think possibly I didn't get a cigarette fully out in the ashtray and some butts caught on fire. I finish up my bacon, cheesy scrambled eggs and sourdough toast and take my plate in the kitchen and notice the apartment is really smoky as the light filtered in trough the blinds. Nothing smoldering in the ashtray. the smell had a sort of electrical scent to it so I go check to see if there was something wrong with the motor in the air cleaner, nothing wrong there. I go back in the kitchen and happen to glance at the stove. Sure enough there is smoke. Forgetting to turn off the burner the eggs were cooked on is something I probably do once a month, being normally the last item to hit the plate, and isn't that big of a deal. This time the large slabs of sourdough from Arizona bakery didn't work well in the toaster so I used the toaster oven and had set the pot holder off to the side that I had used to get the toast tray out of the oven. The combination of the two created a bit of a fire. It was still smoldering pretty good when I took the pictures. I have (had) two identical pot holders, one has a hole in it created by the original packaging staple and the other was in one piece. Take a guess which one I burned up?

Yelp Rocks - Martini Ranch

Once a year Yelp throws a party for all Yelpers in addition to the Elite members. This year the party was huge. We took over Martini Ranch for 3 full hours on Thursday evening. Elite, and their guests had the place to themselves for the first hour and then the rest of them came in. We had what was arguably the top 6 local bands, one every hour (The last 3 hours were open to the public and there was a $5 cover). The three I heard were all good. Mostly cover bands. The bands were actually donating their time to Ear Candy which is a group that gives instruments and lessons to kids who would not otherwise have them. I donated, with his OK, the trumpet that Daniel used in grade school. Ear candy also got the $5 cover charge for the non Yelp people and those Yelpers who stayed after 10PM. Being an old guy with an hours drive to get home I left about 9:30.

Martini Ranch is a big bar encompassing a large main area with a stage and a dance floor that had 3 bars, a downstairs open area with a bar, an upstairs open area and an upstairs lounge with it's own bar. We filled the place up with probably 200 people. We each had 2 drink tickets which I used for beers, a pale ale and a lager which tasted almost identical. Martini Ranch does not serve food but plenty of vendors were there to give out samples to Yelpers for this event. I got a couple of shots of the food tables. The first pic has a pile of pizza boxes and they were also serving meatballs and lasagna. To the right of Mamma Mias was a chocolate fountain which is hidden behind a person but you can see the mound of strawberries. Over on the other side of the room I got a pic of some little tarts provided by Wildflower bread co. None of us went hungry

Pepe's Taco Villa

2108 W Camelback Rd., Phoenix

This is where I did my Friday lunch thing this week. I am not sure I want to go there after dark but it was a pretty good lunch.

Oh yeah, the Yelp review

Fez Foodies

3815 N Central Ave., Phoenix

This is the name Thomas, the GM, has bestowed upon folks who come on 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month to try new items on the menu at Fez. Every so often he hosts a special event just for Yelpers and their friends/family. Yesterday from 4-6 was the time for this event. As usual he went all out again. I am guessing just under 30 folks total showed up. Thomas provided door prizes, happy hour drink pricing, and all the wonderful hummus and fry fread we could consume. We had a choice of ordering off the menu or trying a couple of special items, I chose the special items; a spinach/raspberry salad with walnuts and blue cheese and a flat iron steak with mashed red skinned potatoes and asparagus. And then finished off with a piece of cheesecake. Really good stuff. I would say roughly half of the party had the special. I have no clue why I did not take any food pictures until dessert arrived. Got to meet some new folks and chat with some Yelpers I already knew. With a beer and gratuity I dropped $40 so this is not a bargain place. But the food and prep are not bargain place type stuff either. A good time was had and I thought I was going to need assistance to my car.

Mamma Mia!

2008, Musical, Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan

I have missed out on seeing the stage production. Every time it has been in town I have either not had the money, the time or a date or a combination of them. I still want to see it and hope the screenplay has not ruined it for me. It was an excellent movie in my opinion.

Pinto bean hummus

A couple of weeks ago a Yelp friend had commented on a black bean hummus she had at Cafe Carumba. That spawned a discussion on how Hummus has come to commonly describe bean dips other than the basic Mediterranean fare made with garbanzo beans. Much the same way Tapenade is used for almost any spread containing olives in addition to the original recipe from Provencal, France. So I had some pinto beans in the cupboard and tossed in some stuff to make some dip.

1 cup pinto beans, soaked, cooked
Tahini
Sesame oil
small minced onion
minced garlic
olive oil
small can crushed olives
chili powder
kosher salt
lime juice

Notice I did not mention measurements in many cases. I just sort of tossed stuff in and in a few cases added some more after tasting. I bought real Tahini for this one and am not sure it worked any better than plain sesame oil which I normally have, by itself it tastes awful. I'll see how I like it with a more traditional hummus before I decide whether it is worth having around. I used some really hot chili powder in it and it gives a pleasant after burn but little up front taste, I think I would have been better served using Sriracha. Like many mixed things it improved setting in the fridge. I don't care what fancy name you give it, it's still bean dip. :-)

Normally stuff like this is prepared in a food processor. As you can see by the picture the 1-1/2 cup model I have is not really up to the task. Food processors are not that expensive but I am out of room in my little apartment for cooking toys. Last time I made hummus I used my blender and was not pleased because I would have had to thin it out more than I would have liked to make it really work well. So I stepped back about 4 decades and used a hand held electric mixer. It worked great!

Wet stuff

It is rather rare for us to get spring rains. A week ago we were in the 100s and this morning it was down to 68°. Yesterday it was threatening all day with no output and before my driver went home I remarked that it would only rain when I was leaving Costco. Should have kept my mouth shut! it started raining on the way there, was raining heavy as I left and shortly after I got my purchases inside it stopped for the night. It was sprinkling this morning again as I sat on the balcony with my coffee and I had to put on my rain gear to go to breakfast at Crazy Otto's. Three egg Denver omelet, a pile of potatoes and a piece of dry sour dough toast covered in country gravy.

Arizona rain gear

Wheels

No, I really couldn't afford a new car but the divorce agreement was written in better economic times. And I need a vehicle to deliver saw blades with. No cash out of pocket, 0% interest for 60 months. With the back seats down there is quite a bit of room back there. I can even put in 8' lumber by folding the RF seat back down. It even has it's own phone number.

OOPs

Over the weekend one of the lights above the vanity burned out. So I picked up a new one at Wal-Mart last night. Got home and removed the old one and lost control of it and it came crashing down. One of the rules dealing with sharp objects all day is if you lose it back away rather than trying to save the situation. As I did so I blinked and heard the shattering glass sound. Visions of shattered light bulb filled my head. As I looked upon the damage I saw a complete light bulb. Do you think that the used up bulb had broken? Of course not, the bulb was fine. What had shattered was the ceramic toothbrush holder. So I started a new Wal-Mart list as leaving the toothbrushes on the counter is not the most sanitary way of storage.

Facebook

OK, I finally bowed under pressure. I got tired of many of my Yelp friends telling me of albums they had on facebook. Already found out one of the people I knew in High School lives and works in the west valley. If somebody knows me well enough to know my full name I am not hard to find.

Gallo Blanco

401 W. Clarendon Ave., Phoenix, inside the Clarendon Hotel

website

My neighbor and I went there last night for PFN (Phoenix Friday Nights). Most of the folks there were Yelpers. We ate , drank and mingled by the pool for a few hours. Both of us had the little mini tacos. She spent many years in Mexico and assures me that is the way soft tacos get served down there. She also had grilled corn on the cob which comes slathered with Parmesan cheese and I think mayo. Good food, good drink (I had Hefeweizen and she had margaritas) and reasonable pricing.

The simple life of Noah Dearborn

1999, Sidney Poitier

A made for tv movie about a 91 year carpenter who is fighting to save his land from a developer. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen.

Chicken cabinet cleaning casserole

Most of the cooking I did this weekend was with the intention of replenishing my supply of frozen leftovers for lunch. While the chicken, noodles and vegetables part of the menu did not vary the sauce certainly did. My intention was to make a thin chicken gravy with white sauce and chicken stock and then firm it up a bit with some eggs. The further through the bottle of wine I got the less I felt like that much effort.

This is what I ended up with:

2 chicken breasts
8oz noodles or pasta cooked to directions
16oz package of frozen veggies
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can cream of celery (or brocolli) soup
garlic, I used ground
Italian seasoning
bread crumbs, optional
Not used, but I wish I had some bacon to crumble in.

Cook chicken in microwave 8-10 minutes, until done. Set aside to cool.
Thaw veggies on counter about an hour. I used mixed but you could use almost anything.
In large mixing bowl combine soups, garlic, seasoning and stir.
Cook pasta. This time I used an old fashioned noodle which is a little thicker and not crinkly.
Cube chicken and add to bowl with pasta and veggies.
Fold into 3 qt baking dish.
Sprinkle with bread crumbs.
Bake in pre heated 325° oven for 45 minutes.

It turned out better than I thought it would, and really did not take much effort. Now I have to replenish my stock of cooking soups, I do not recall using that many in any one month before.

Well Duh!

If all you do is plug the crock pot in and do not turn it on your dinner will not be ready when you get home. For some reason I remembered plugging it in but not turning it on (I think better in the past tense) around mid day so I went home for lunch and turned it on. There was no meat in it so there was no harm done. I suppose you are all just dying to read what I cooked. :-)

Simple crock pot beans

I seldom cook the same way twice.

I cup pinto beans. Soaked over night and rinsed
1 large can enchilada sauce, whatever heat you prefer. I used green medium.
2 medium onions, diced, less what I reserved for that morning's omelet.
1 heaping tablespoon ground garlic. Garlic makes everything good!
1/3 cup loosely packed brown sugar. I have used pure maple syrup too but be careful and only use a couple of tablespoons.
2 pinches very hot chili powder.

Turn on crock pot! Go to work, come home, eat. Hot from the oven cornbread goes really well with this.

Restaurant 28

5025 W. Olive Ave., Glendale

Website

This is where I had lunch on Friday. If you go to the website, it has not been updated to reflect the smaller location without room for the piano.

Yelp review:
"Almost couldn't find it. A few months ago I had seen the sign as I was driving by and after researching it I added it to the list of places I wanted to try for lunch. In that time they moved back to their old location next door and the sign moved with them and is harder to spot from the street. There is a large difference in size between the two suites and after a year of dealing with an economy that is poor they gave in and moved back. That leaves them with only 4 small tables. As I was the only customer at the time that wasn't a problem.

I had never been in there before and was greeted like an old friend by everybody. The whole atmosphere of the place feels like everybody enjoys being there.

I had the Friday special of beef tips, beans, potato salad, and I upgraded the roll to corn bread. To drink I had an unsweetened iced tea. Total was $12.39 including tax for a big pile of food. When the waitress asked if I had saved room for desert all I could do was laugh. Several of the sides seem to be purchased and something served me was warmed in the microwave. What their specialty is is the meat. Tender but still just a touch chewy, the way I like my Q. Sauce does not get added until it is served. I am sure the cornbread was baked there and I liked it because it is not very sweet. For a small place they have a large menu. So far, and I will try some other menu items, this is the best Q I have found this far West and the only decent one I can get to during a lunch.

The parking lot is a little hard to navigate with a full size truck if it is close to full. That contributed to a 3 instead of a 4 along with the purchased sides."

La Bocca - Urban pizzaria +wine bar

699 S Mill Ave., Tempe

La Bocca web site

Only in Arizona can you show up to an upscale wine bar in jeans and nobody even gives you a glance. The most recent Yelp Elite event descended on this place Sunday from 6-8PM. I had read the reviews and had on a pair of slacks and a pressed shirt and most of the men were also business casual and many of the women were dressed up for an evening. But there were plenty of jeans in the group too. We had roughly half the restaurant and the wine was all you could drink and pizzas and Bruschetta were coming out constantly but as a group we devoured it faster than they could make it. The wine was ok, well actually the Merlot sucked, but the Pinot Noir was pretty good. The pizzas were interesting combinations with a very thin crust, which I like, and good taste. I did get one piece of bruschetta with diced Queen Creek olives and ricotta, very yummy!

This is sort of an upscale place for being on the fringe of the ASU campus. I did finally find out where to park for free Near the Mill Avenue district without much of a walk. You cannot walk five feet in any direction without being panhandled. Nice for a date with a light meal. A bit on the pricey side for me in general. I noticed the had Peroni on tap.

It was a well attended and fun mixer. I chatted with several folks I knew and met some others I only knew by their screen names. I went the long way around to avoid the traffic from the baseball getting out and still got there in an hour and the trip straight home was only about 45 minutes. Sunday evenings are usually spent getting ready for the week but I am glad I made the time to go.

Siam Thai Cuisine

5008 W Northern Ave., Glendale

This is where I chose to have lunch last Friday. For those who do not know, Siam is the name Thailand was known by until 1939 and again from 1940 - 1945.

Copy of Yelp review:
"I bet this place should be a 4. But staring, alone, at the dragon on the wall for a good half an hour plus before food arrived sorted of tainted my out look. I was tempted to start wandering around asking my fellow diners what they were eating, how did they like it and "could I have a sample?". For sure, every thing looked really good.

Then I got my food! This wonderful pile of goodness. I got stir fry silver noodle with chicken ($9.25) and a Thai ice tea ($2.00). Not knowing, I was surprised by no sauce, either on the food or with it. Just the seasoning. The mound of food I got was huge and served on a family style platter with a covered bowl of steamed rice. Manners to the side I just used the serving platter as my plate. I managed to finish it all but it was more than I needed, or should have eaten. I am thinking maybe a curry dish next time to try something different.

My delay in getting fed was a run of circumstances. I arrived a few minutes after one to avoid the lunch rush. When I arrived there were six tables in use and only two of them had food. The other four still had not ordered yet as evidenced by the menus being read. That makes me fifth on the list for the one waitress/server/bus person. And that is the order in which the orders were taken and the food served. But food seemed to be coming out in fairly rapid fire order. About 15 minutes after the folks just ahead of me got their entrees the waitress came over and said there had been a mess up in the kitchen and it would be a while yet, Ya Think? As the restaurant was starting to clear my food arrived and I Hoovered (word from Donald S) it down and got back to work. I was in there a full hour and eating for 20 minutes or less, hard to accommodate on a work schedule.

The dining room itself is very cozy. I found it hard to get into my seat as the tables are the style with the four legs at the corners, but I am not as limber as I used to be. I will go back again just because I like the food."

Baseball - Coach and Willies

Was given tickets to the Diamondback/Giants game for this past Saturday. I had four but on short notice was only able to use two of them. Short version: the game sucked (translation - we lost). Met a friend who came in from the East Valley on light rail about 4:15. I had not had a problem getting into the parking garage at all for a couple of reasons. It is estimated about 6,000 people take the train in on Saturdays for a game and there were about 10,000 empty seats. The public parking garage is now up to $12 to park but I can retrieve my vehicle up to like 2:30 AM unlike some of the private garages that lock the place down 30 minutes after the game. They opened the roof just before first pitch (5:10). That put the sun right in our eyes but it wasn't too bad and we knew it would drop below the edge of the roof soon. Soon came too soon, with the breeze blowing the temperature dropped like a rock about the 3rd inning. I was wearing shorts and a baseball jersey and I was actually shivering in my seat the last two innings.

After the game we walked a couple of blocks to Coach and Willies. A sort of sports bar. They had Fat Tire on tap. I had a steak sandwich and fries and she had a 1/2 order of nachos. Service was pretty good, especially as we got there with the after game crowd. The food was just mediocre, but edible. Neither of us was compelled to eat past the no longer hungry point.

Beer Wars

2009, A documentary by Anat Baron about craft breweries and their struggle to gain market share against the big breweries. It was shown only once, Thursday April 16, as an event, live to 440 theaters nationwide except in the West where it was tape delayed in it's entirety including the pre screening credits and the panel discussion afterward.

What better way to get prepared for a movie about craft beers than to have some. Several of us Yelpers met up at the Scottsdale location of Four Peaks Brewery for beer and appetizers before walking across the parking lot to view the screening. I had two glasses of Kiltlifter, very good! I also had a very good spinach artichoke dip which came with warm flat bread and totillas that was recommended by one of the folks I knew. My first thought was at $9 it was expensive for an appetizer but it was enough food for dinner for two people.

All in all it was a very fun evening even though it was on the far side of the valley on a weeknight.

Here is the synopsis of the movie
"In America, size matters. The bigger you are, the more power you have, especially in the business world.

Director Anat Baron takes you on a no holds barred exploration of the U.S. beer industry that ultimately reveals the truth behind the label of your favorite beer. Told from an insider’s perspective, the film goes behind the scenes of the daily battles and all out wars that dominate one of America’s favorite industries.

Beer Wars begins as the corporate behemoths are being challenged by small, independent brewers who are shunning the status quo and creating innovative new beers. The story is told through 2 of these entrepreneurs - Sam and Rhonda - battling the might and tactics of Corporate America. We witness their struggle to achieve their American Dream in an industry dominated by powerful corporations unwilling to cede an inch.

This contemporary David and Goliath story is ultimately about keeping your integrity (and your family’s home) in the face of temptation. Beer Wars is a revealing and entertaining journey that provides unexpected and surprising turns and promises to change the world’s opinion on those infamous 99 bottles of beer on the wall."

Sunnyslope art walk

Saturday, April 18th, 6-10 PM

Sunnyslope is a neighborhood region of the city of Phoenix. Twice a year they host a gathering of artists and craft people in roughly the center of the area. They said there were 100 of them and I am not sure I saw that many. Not being much of an arts and crafts person I walked the tour but was mainly there to hear the bands and eat. There were several Yelpers there and the woman in charge of the event is a Yelper. I got to see a cover band that is losing it's bass player (Amber) that was pretty good. There was also a pretty good jazz band and some others. There were 4 music venues spread out so you could wander along and and listen to whatever you wanted. Try Me Bicycle left before I got a chance to get down and see them. No beer tent but folks that were interested could get some at many of the stores and restaurants. The restaurants were all open so I tried papusas from one place and a hot dog and garlic fries from another. The weather was just perfect!

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian: The return to Narnia released in May 2008, released in book form in 1951

This is the film version of the second in a series of 7 books in release order. In chronological order it would be number 4.

I enjoyed the movie. I think the movie stands better on it's own rather than the sequel to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. That may be the 3 years in between my watching the two and forgetting some of the first movie.

Pei Wei Asian diner

742 E Glendale Ave., Phoenix

There are several locations of this chain, owned by PF Changs, around the valley. This just happens to be the closest one to work and it is what I decided to have for lunch Friday. By close I mean I still had to drive 8 miles each way into the downtown Phoenix area. There is one closer to home at 67th Ave. and the 101. This is one of the busier strip malls I have been in lately and I only saw a couple of vacant store fronts. The mall seems to be either fairly new or recently remodeled. Arriving at 1PM I figured the lunch crowd would be almost gone. It was actually packed still although by the time I was done it was starting to clear some.

The food wasn't too bad. I had the limited time offering of Thai mango chicken with white rice. With a soft drink and tax it was $10.29. Most Asian sauces have a hot component and a sweet one. The heat was mild, as I expected, and there were options at the service counter to raise the heat factor. I thought the sweet component was too syrupy. Overall it wasn't bad and it seemed the quality and price were both slightly higher than Panda Express. The dining experience was a little nicer too, although it seemed quite loud. Just by myself I wouldn't drive that far again but I wouldn't rule the place out if somebody else suggested it. I did cheat towards the end, I had a small pile of rice at one end and some remaining sauce at the other and swapped the chopsticks for a fork to finish up. :-)

Rain, I love it! except...

I knew there was rain in the overnight forecast. This time of year it hardly ever amounts to much. Early this morning there was an exception, a thunderstorm rolled though about 5:30. Cool!

Then I went to go to work about 8:30 and realized my truck was as wet on the inside as it was out. On the way home yesterday I was battling a pesky fly in the cabin and had the passenger window down about an inch. Neglected to close when I got home and now the passenger seat is soaked. That part is just funny and it will eventually dry.

I got to work and the wind driven rain had breached the store front and soaked some saw blade boxes. I have the boxes drying now but the blades will most likely become solid rust and need to be sold at discount. Also it came into the shop around the base of the cooler but that just created a slick spot I have to be careful around.

Crazy Otto's Diner

3502 W Greenway Rd., Phoenix

Another Yelper found this place near me and reviewed it a while back and based on the review I bookmarked it at the time. This morning I decided to forgo making my own breakfast and give it a try. Breakfast out is a hard choice for me as I like going out for breakfast but I also enjoy cooking my own.

the review:
"Don't order the pancakes! Well, unless you are going to share. They are bigger than a dinner plate. Otto himself was waiting on me and when I ordered the pancakes with scrambled and bacon he took a look at my aging self and recommended I get the kids portion which only comes with one pancake instead of 3. I still didn't finish it. Most of the omelets are available in a smaller size too.

There is nothing fancy or pretentious about the food, the service or the atmosphere. Just basic and well done. Outside dining is folding chairs and tables. This is not a place you go to be alone with yourself or others in your party. All the tables are in the open and you end up talking to your neighbors and pretty soon you start to feel like one of the family. As an example of basic the check has a list of what was ordered and a total,no line item pricing no break out of tax, just a total. It works and it fits the atmosphere. I got there just before 7 on a Saturday morning and was only the second occupied table at that time. By the time I left at 7:30 it was starting to pick up. They also do take out."

Little Saigon

7016 N. 57th Ave., Glendale

This is where I chose this week for my Friday lunch.

Yelp review:
"I have tried 5 different Vietnamese restaurants in the recent past. This one stands out in my mind as the best of them. And none of them had any reason not to go back. For one thing the setting in the old house is great. And it has a shaded patio out front. I had a chicken dish with rice which came to my table still at a full boil. I would have liked to try the egg rolls but 6 in an order would have been a full meal in itself. The party next to me had an order of spring rolls and egg rolls and their comments were good. I went in the middle of lunch on a Friday and it was almost at capacity but I was seated right away and there was some delay (maybe 5 minutes) in taking my order but the food came out in a normal time. As in many Asian restaurants it is a family operation with the son of the owners being my waiter. Being just over a mile from work I will be back again.

Parking in downtown Glendale can be a hassle at times, less than a block away on the NE corner of 57th Ave. and Glenn Dr is a lot that only gets full during special events. In fact the downtown area is small enough I would park there to go almost anywhere in the area, but I don't mind walking."

Bomberos cafe and wine bar

8801 N Central, Phoenix

This is where the party was that I made the chocolate covered strawberries for last week.

Yelp review:
"Really 3.5 stars rounded up.

I was there on a Friday evening for a birthday party. We had a space reserved near the fire pit outside and other than using the restroom just inside the door I never saw the inside of the place. The patio was large enough there were two parties going on and still several tables left, which being a beautiful evening most were in use. We had brought a cake and they were nice enough to provide a knife and plates/forks for us. Our waiter is where the 4th star was earned. He never wrote anything down, I did not hear that he screwed up any orders for our party of 15 or so. He was very familiar with every item on the food and drink menu. In addition to a couple of beers I had a fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil panini ($10) which was very good and came with a bowl of chips. .When it came time for us to go he already had the checks split. Because of our party size there was a gratuity already added and I am willing to bet I wasn't the only one that added some more.

Two things that cost them 1/2 star. They were out of the only dark beer on the list. That didn't bother me as I wanted a Pilsner anyway but there were at least 2 in our party that wanted the dark beer and had to settle for something else. The parking sucks. There are like 9 parking spots for a bar that could have close to 100 people including employees. The parking spilled over into the business next door and down the side streets and behind another restaurant down the street. I would hate to own a house close to here."

Somebody/Nobody

Herberger, April 2-19, $30-63

Published description:
"Sheena is a somebody who wants to be a nobody. Loli is a nobody desperate to be a somebody. In this hilarious world premiere comedy about Hollywood, fame and the TMZ, renowned playwright Jane Martin takes dead aim at our culture of celebrity. So you think you want to be famous? So did teen idol and “shark-movie” star Sheena Keener, the darling of the press, the obsession of the paparazzi, and the goddess of the E! Channel. But now she can’t stand to be looked at anymore and her Godzilla of an agent is on the warpath. When Sheena ends up on the doorstep of naïve newcomer Loli, a recent arrival from Flatt, Kansas, it’s a wild ride on the road to fame. Somebody/Nobody is a laugh-out-loud look at modern life and our unending quest for fifteen minutes of fame"

This is an original production. I got to see it on opening night in Phoenix after it debuted in Tucson. The whole thing is rather silly really and seems a bit disjointed until you realize you just spent two hours laughing and giggling.

Busy Weekend

Actually my weekend sort of started on Tuesday. After closing I rushed across town to The Mission for a happy hour sponsored in part by Yelp. I close at 4:30 it started at 5:00 and it is a 30 minute drive at the best of times. So much for best of times, I was going through the center of town in rush hour and managed to find an accident. I still made it in 45 minutes even after circling to find a parking spot I could fit my truck into. Met a whole bunch of new folks including the Yelp community director. I was going to try and make a run to Sweet Republic but after 3 beers and 3 hours I headed for home.

It turns out meeting the community director was a bonus in itself. I already had a good reputation on Yelp and she was suitably impressed that she nominated me for Elite status the next day.

Friday night was a birthday party for one of the Yelpers I hang with at Bomberos wine bar. About 20 people showed up and we had a great time. I was more than well received because I made chocolate covered strawberries. While there CP asked if I would like to be +1 at an Official Yelp Elite Event. It seems the woman she had asked before had to cancel so there was an extra seat but I would have to check in as and wear Emily's name tag. I have met Emily and she is much better looking than I am. :-).

Skip to Saturday. I had a change of clothes in the truck so I could take off early and go to the event at the Breakfast Joynt. I had two emails awaiting me: One from CP with the details of the event and another from Gabi congratulating me on being Elite. So I got to go as myself! Pigged out, had a great time.

I am behind on restaurant reviews. Two of the events I attended I have reviews for on my Yelp profile page if anybody cares to follow the link.

Shoe laces

Oh, that sinking feeling. Slip into the work shoes. Pull up on the laces and snap, one end comes off in your hand. Take the utility shears and do the quick unlace on BOTH shoes. Open the spare set and find one of them is defective and has a bulge about an inch from the end that prevents it from going through the holes. Have you ever had the joy of lacing a shoe starting at one end? :-)

The Perfect Man

Comedy, 2005, Hillary Duff, Chris Noth, Heather Locklear (still a fox)

plot summary:
"Teenager Holly Hamilton (Hilary Duff) is tired of moving every time her single mom Jean (Heather Locklear) has another personal meltdown involving yet another second-rate guy. To distract her mother from her latest bad choice, Holly conceives the perfect plan for the perfect man.. an imaginary secret admirer who will romance Jean and boost her shaky self-esteem. When the virtual relationship takes off, Holly finds herself having to produce the suitor, borrowing her friend's charming and handsome Uncle Ben(Chris Noth) as the face behind the e-mails, notes and gifts. Holly must resort to increasingly desperate measures to keep the ruse alive and protect her mom's new found happiness, almost missing the real perfect man when he does come along."

I thought is was slow in parts but funny overall. Yes, it's a chick flick. It was also entertaining without any deep involvement on my part.