Breakfasts

I no longer have the luxury of being able to take off for an hour or so on Fridays to go have lunch so the last couple of weeks I have gone out to breakfast on Saturday. Last week it was Black Bear diner and this morning it was 5 and Diner. Of the two I think Black Bear was better, but not by much. Both places seem to be afraid to introduce any form of taste in their food. And I should have expected that this morning as, at 56, I think I was the youngest person in the place. Both places were ok and nothing was really wrong with either the food or the service. I think I'll try Mimi's next week.

Rain

We very seldom get real winter storms here. The kind that make the cold damp just take over your body and give forth never ending rain for hours that varies from sprinkles to heavy showers. This week we had two such storms, they had lost considerable power by the time they made it to Arizona from the coast but were still pretty good. On Tuesday we had one that hit mid-afternoon and rained until about bedtime and on Thursday we had one that started about 3AM and was still sprinkling when I went to bed about 9. Total was over 2" for the week. It has rapidly raised the levels in lakes and added more snow in Northern Arizona. The last time we had a major series of winter storms was in 93 just before I moved here. As much as I really enjoy the heat I also love listening to the rain fall. Thursday I was out driving in it which wasn't much fun though. The streets around here do not shed water quickly so there were some streets under water from curb to curb.

Like Water for Chocolate

1992, R, steamy romance, Spanish

This movie came up in a food blog because it has a lot of really nice food served. Filmed in Mexico. It has been dubbed over in English but you need to make that selection as you set it up. The time frame is the late 1800s, early 1900s. Not surprisingly a good part of the film takes place in the kitchen. I rather enjoyed the movie. It definitely takes some odd turns.

Take my butt to jail

A Virginia State trooper pulled a car over on I-64 about 2 miles south of
the Virginia/West Virginia line. When the trooper asked the driver why he
was speeding, the driver said he was a Magician and Juggler and was on his
way to Beckley WV to do a show at the Shrine Circus. He didn't want to be
late.

The trooper told the driver he was fascinated by juggling and said if the
driver would do a little juggling for him then he wouldn't give him a
ticket. He told the trooper he had sent his equipment ahead and didn't
have anything to juggle.

The State trooper said he had some flares in the trunk and asked if he could
juggle them. The juggler said he could, so the trooper got 5 flares, lit
them and handed them to him.

While the man was juggling, a car pulled in behind the patrol car.. A
drunken good old boy from West Virginia got out, watched the performance,
then went over to the patrol car, opened the rear door and got in. The
trooper observed him and went over to the patrol car, opened the door
asking the drunk what he thought he was doing.

The drunk replied, "You might as well take my ass to jail, cause there
ain't no way I can pass that test."

Fajardo's cafe

6706 N 58th Dr, Glendale, AZ

Now the holidays are over I can get back to going out to lunch on Fridays.

For over thirty years this place was known as Lily's. In 2006 the original owner died and it reopened in 2008 by a cook and his wife who had worked there for 28 years. It is grandfathered in to the residential neighborhood it sets in. Hard to find and maybe not a place I would like to be after dark. The food was well prepared without being amazing. I had 2 chicken and spinach enchiladas with beans and rice and a Horchata. The family takes good care of it's customers and the place was almost full for a Friday lunch.

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.