Mmmm...cookies!

Mmmm…Christmas cookies!

It’s a true labor of love, but there’s really nothing better than getting up early, rolling up your sleeves and beginning to bake.

The butter is getting soft, there’s enough flour and vanilla extract in the house. The eggs are in a bowl making their way to room temperature, the recipes are good to go.

And, if you’ve been really good, you already know where you’re going to set up all of your cooling racks.

If you’ve been even better, the baking sheets are out, covered with parchment paper. The second pot of coffee is on, and you’ve got a whole stack of CD’s to listen to.

Have another cup of coffee, put your favorite CD on, and just enjoy making things for your friends and family.

Will you be covered with flour, butter, nuts and other sorts of cookie detritus? Of course you will!

Will you need to power clean your kitchen afterwards? Absolutely!

I truly believe that if the kitchen isn’t entirely trashed, you’re simply not having a good time, but that’s just me.

And, after all of your beautiful holiday cookies have cooled and packed away for the holidays, I suggest three things:

1 – A hot shower, to get all of the cookie dough detritus off of yourself.
2 – A nice bottle of wine, so that you can forget all of that work, and cookie dough detritus.
3 – The number to your favorite Chinese restaurant…you know, the one that actually delivers.

EDIT: Pictures of cookies to come tomorrow...Blogger isn't loving these huge pix files of mine right about now!

Too Funny!

Well, let’s just say that she’s quite the cute cookie in the Philadelphia media market, but, really, who knew she had a devastating uppercut?


I still think Monica Malpass would certainly win a death match, but I’m just saying!

50% Chance Of French Toast Weather

So, it’s officially started.

Sure, it’s a couple of weeks earlier than any winter weather enthusiast would have wished for, but the official hype of “Winter 2007-2008” is already in snowplow, sanding, de-icing, de-slushing mode and for some of us who follow the weather with a passion that borders on obsession, it’s really the most wonderful time of the year.

But, really, it’s way, way too early to get excited about anything. We’re about four to five days out from what may (or may not!) be “The Storm Of The Century”, and to be entirely honest about it, even your local network weather person doesn’t know enough yet even though they may be talking or hyping (there’s that word again) a weekend storm here on the East Coast.

Now, if you’d like to keep track of the storm models, check this site out, and if you’d like to learn how to read and interpret the models, check out my friend John's site, and then post on Eastern.

Just mind the pinned rules and never, ever ask “How Much For Philly?” unless you really enjoy having your ego bashed into cinders. That's one tough crowd.

One word of caution, however…once you learn how to read the models (which I’m still learning how to do, so please don’t ask me), you will get hooked. Trust me on this; this hobby is more addictive than crack, and the next thing you know, you’ll be up at two in the morning, disturbing your partner’s REM sleep just to see if there’s any snow in your backyard.

Oh, wait a minute. I already do that.

So, for now, there’s no reason to go out and stock up on the bread, milk and eggs.

But, I’ve got to go…I’ve missed a few model runs, and I’m just dying to know if there will be an ice situation for the I-95 corridor…

Vineland Music Festival

As someone who’s born and bred a “Joisey Girl”, it’s expected that I should bow down and pray to all and everything that’s good about the northern and central part of my home state.

You know, the music scene in Hoboken, the arts in Montclair and New Brunswick. Jon Bon Jovi grew up ten minutes from my hometown, too.

And, of course, I should be expected to kneel down at the “Temple Of Bruce”, and kiss his feet because he’s from “Da Shore”.

So, let’s see…Hoboken is expensive and incredibly difficult to get to via public transportation, you can’t find parking during the weekends in Montclair or New Brunswick, and while Bruce and Jon are off doing great things, my musical tastes just aren’t geared towards them any longer.

I know there are a lot of people my age that will gladly spent $300 and up for a ticket to see Bruce and the gang, but I’m not one of them.

I’m well over the idea of spending that kind of money to see tired old bands again. I had a free ticket to see Bruce two years ago during his solo tour, and I wasn’t the only one that walked out.

It’s called being “older and cooler”. ;)

I’m one of those indie music fans who can’t wait to see the lineup for the first “Vineland Music Festival”!

But, having worked with both XPN and Appel Farm for the past six years, Vineland’s in for one huge challenge, since neither of these fests allow camping.

The site is in a remote location, and I’d love to know what the plan is for transporting festival campers.

I’ve heard that $225 may be the price for three days (including camping), but I’m going to throw this idea out to everyone…has anyone heard anything about individual day pricing yet?

Paul and I…well, we don’t camp. Not unless camping includes a king-sized bed with room service. ;)

A Cook's Weekend

For those of us who find the “Food Network” entirely unpalatable these days, there’s tons of love along with great appreciation for Anthony Bourdain, who did an amazing talk over the weekend at the “Free Library of Philadelphia”.

If you’ve ever attended culinary school, or ever worked in a three star restaurant as a cook, you “got it”, and you probably laughed your butt off, as I did!

If you have, you know as well as I do that it’s dirty, tough work.

Forget all about your nights, weekends and your holidays, you know.

Just remove the mouse from the flour; just don’t tell the pastry chef about it.

You will work your butt off with your fellow line cooks, know what it’s like to be “in the weeds” (meaning you can’t keep up with all of the dining room tickets coming in) at 9 PM on a Saturday night with a full dining room, and you’ll end up with a whole new understanding of what “teamwork” really means…along with a new slew of profanities in languages that you would never say in polite conversation.

Bourdain was brutally honest about his treatment from the “Food Network” as well as the “Travel Network”, profane, funny and intelligent. This was a free event, but Paul and I both agreed that we’d pay money to attend another speaking event with him again.

On the way back to the car, we stopped at a used bookstore called “Book Corner” and all of the proceeds benefit the nonprofit org called “The Friends Of The Free Library”.

I’d been searching the Web for ages trying to find a recipe from Jeff Smith (remember him? The “Frugal Gourmet”?) for his recipe for “Shrimp Etoufee”. It’s from his “Frugal Gourmet Cooks American”, and I had the paperback, but I lent it to someone, and it just disappeared into the atmosphere somewhere along the way.

I found it there! The hardback version, in wonderful shape, for 6 bucks!
Hmm…I wonder if Tony would like to join Paul and I for dinner next Friday?

"Top Ten CD's Of The Year"

And, away we go!

Here’s the first annual “WhineWithYourCheese” CD picks for the year, all lovingly picked and commented upon by your favorite blogger.

Oh, what...you have another? ;p

My criteria for choosing these selections go as follows:

There isn’t a CD on this list that I haven’t spent a lot of time with. Like you, I also suffer from “buyer’s regret”; what sounded great in, oh, say, March ain’t making the cut in October just because something bigger and shinier came along.

So, there’s no Bruce on my list for that reason.

Let’s go, and start the conversation!


1 – “In Rainbows” – Radiohead

I’m a true Radiohead and Wilco fan, and I was thrilled to pieces when both of my favorite bands released new CD’s this year.

Thom and the boys are getting the first “thumbs up” from me for how they decided to release their new music.

Even better, this is classic Radiohead. From the typical clattering drums of “15 Step” to Thom almost crooning “I don’t want to be your friend; I want to be your lover” to the lovely (and entirely underrated song, IMHO) "Jigsaw Falling Into Place."

Wouldn’t it be nice to see them at VMF next year?


2 – “Sky Blue Sky” – Wilco

You can always count on Jeff and his ever-changing band to do something different, and they do it beautifully with this one.

Just forget the sonic noise from “A Ghost Is Born”, and rejoice in how Jeff Tweedy remembers how to play a guitar on “Impossible Germany”, or how to write a really great song in “Walken”.

If you’ve ever seen them live, Tweedy does a very awkward soft shoe shuffle to “Hummingbird”, and it’s hysterical. He can’t dance, he knows it, the audience expects it, and it’s just great.


3 – “Kill To Get Crimson” – Mark Knopfler

About thirty years ago (gulp!), was the first time I ever heard “Sultans Of Swing”, and I’ve been a Knopfler fan ever since.

Granted, this is not everyone’s cup of tea; it’s very low-key.

But, it’s Mark at his finest, crafting his amazing songwriting around his guitar work.

Every song is a little British short story wrapped around music, and it’s not to be missed.

Sure, “Punish The Monkey” is all about what you’d expect to be, but “The Secondary Waltz” is just a lovely little low-key waltz about learning how to dance when you're ten.


4 – “Grand National” – John Butler Trio

The JBT are from Western Australia (Fremantle is their home base), and they’ve been compared to the “Dave Matthews Band”.

No, no, no…first of all, while Dave Matthews is making videos with Julia Roberts and shooting photo sessions, these guys are playing around the world, and trying to save the world in the process.

Paul and I have seen these guys four times in the past three years, and I’m thinking these three put on the best live show we’ve ever seen, four times over.

They’re still sort of a cult/jam band act, but “Better Than” and “Gov Did Nothing” are standouts for me.


5 – “Passing Stranger” – Scott Matthews

Now, here’s someone new!

A great young singer/songwriter from Northern England that sounds like a combination between the late Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake, but not nearly as depressing.

And, to paraphrase a “Dire Straits” song…oh, yes, this man can play.

“The Fool’s Been Fooling Himself” is the single off of the CD, but “Dream Song” and “Passing Stranger” ain’t nothing to sneeze about, either.

6 – “Back To Black” – Amy Winehouse

I know…why do I have this here?

Because it’s a great CD, and because the first time I heard ”Rehab”, I thought it came out of some lost London soul sessions from the ‘60’s.

Yes, she’s a mess, but you can’t deny the talent that she has.

Or that voice.


7 – “Wincing The Night Away” – The Shins

This is the first CD I bought this year, and I still love it.

This is why I like to go back and listen to things “way back when” in the year, and see if they still make my ears happy, and this one does.

No, one song hasn’t “changed my life”, but this CD still makes me happy, especially “Australia”.

Oh, and of course, the wonderfully fuzzed-out “Phantom Limb”. I have absolutely no idea what James Mercer is singing about, but does it really matter if the music makes you happy?


8 – “Two Shoes” – The Cat Empire

There isn’t anything that made my ears happier this year, since this CD is simply a party waiting to happen.

It’s funk, it’s rock, lots of soul, a touch of reggae and rap and if this band doesn’t get you dancing around the kitchen in your socks while singing to your dog or cat, you may want to get your pulse checked.

This Australian funk-rock-jazz combo recorded “Two Shoes” in Cuba, in the studio where the legendary Ry Cooder produced “The Buena Vista Social Club”, live, and the result is a joyous noise.

Two double platinum releases in Australia, BTW...I'm just saying!


9 – “Sound Of Silver” – LCD Soundsystem

Okay, can you tell that I like to dance? Believe me, “Daft Punk” has been playing in my house for years!

James Murphy pulls it all off here; it’s house, it’s dance, it’s a bit punk, some trance, a tiny bit disco with all shades of Euro club music thrown in for good measure.

If you spent any time dancing around in skinny ties and Chuckie T’s in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s…you’ll love this one.

“Us. Vs. Them” is the ultimate dance rave up of the year.

“Bells”, James said, and it will be so.

10 – “The Good, The Bad And The Queen” – s/t

Once again, this came out very early in the year, and I still love it.

Let’s see…we’ve got Albarn, Simonon, Tong and Allen with Danger Mouse producing.

Sweet.

And, it still is. “Herculean” will probably end up being one of my favorite songs of all time, and there’s a good possibility this CD will, too.

Make no doubt about it; this is one dark, moody piece of work, but in the hands of these incredible musicians, you’ll want to hear it again and again.

No Roux For You!

It’s one thing to take this food loving country by storm, but when you’re kicked to the curb by the same cable network that helped you jump start your career, I’m pretty sure it’s time to sit down with a “Dirty N’Awlins Martini”, and just say “Enough is enough.”


I can’t remember the last time I actually sat down and watched the “Food Network”, since it’s changed so much since its inception in ’93.

In the early days there were shows called “Dining Around” with Nina Griscom, Bill Boggs and Alan Richman, “In Food Today” with Donna Hanover (yes, the ex-wife of that guy running for President) with Bill Boggs and David Rosengarten, ”Tamales’ World Tour” hosted by the legendary team of Susan Feninger and Mary Sue Milliken, and of course, who can’t forget the those “Two Fat Ladies” tooling around the UK in a motorbike with a sidecar?

And what about Sarah Moulton, Jacques Torres and all of those great classic reruns of “The French Chef” by the one and only Julia?

I know I can’t.

I know what I can live without, though, and their new crop of “presenters” is what fits the bill; Robin Miller, Rachel Ray, Sandra Lee and Paula Deen. The current shows (and I say this very loosely), all seem to be based upon getting in and out of the kitchen as quickly as possible, instead of focusing on the basics of, well, cooking.

This is not cooking. Buying packaged goods and passing it off as “freshly made” is not cooking.

Hawking knives that can’t be sharpened aren’t good knives.

Making pre-made desserts with instant pudding isn’t cooking, either.

Bottled lemon juice is not, not, the same as fresh, for heaven’s sake…

Oh, and for goddesses’ sake…dried herbs are not the same as fresh!

As a cook, I’m really going to miss Emeril.

You want to know how to make a roux? He’s your guy. Care to know how to fry oysters for a po boy? Check him out. Authentic shrimp etoufee? He’ll show you how.

I never really liked his “shtick”, but I’ve got to add this one last comment.

Right after Katrina, he was on “Good Morning America”, and he was in tears, trying to locate his staff from his New Orleans restaurants. “I don’t know where anyone is, but all you need to do is call me. I’ll help you relocate and find you another job.”

I hope he did.

If Tim Gunn Were In Charge, This Would Never Happen

Oh, boy.

Oh, wow.

Oh, no, no, no…this is wrong. This is just so, so wrong.

Thank you, “Mr. and Mrs. Neighbor”, from your neighbor across the street. You have officially negated any good feelings I have about the holiday season with your lawn display.

You restrained yourself last year with those nice white net lights across the roof and the porch, and they looked lovely. It was a tasteful holiday display.

Anyway, this is just a question…what the hell did you stuff in your Thanksgiving turkey that gave you the idea to line your home and garage in multi-colored lights that blink simultaneously to a disco beat of 80 “beats per minute”?

Oh, and what were you smoking after you had your pumpkin pie when you put up that lawn snow globe that actually pumps out “Let It Snow” as if it were sung by The Chipmunks?

It’s really reminiscent of going through Walt Disney World when I was a teen, and I couldn’t get “It’s A Small World” out of my head for years. I’m pretty sure my brain and ears are still recovering from that aural damage.

So, if you could, please do the neighborhood a favor, ‘kay?

Be a good neighbor, and turn those awful lights, music and snow globe off.

Like, until January.

That’s all I’m asking.

Kisses,

Dee

Sleet and Snow and Fog, Oh, My!

Snow?

After a nice, warm and cozy weekend, I set off at 6:15 this morning from my boyfriend’s place to work from Exit 3 to 10 on the New Jersey Turnpike in intermittent rain and spit.

So, with my big 24 ounce Wawa coffee in the cup holder, I’m off to Exit 10, in the middle lane, doing, oh, 70 in my little four-cylinder car in fifth, passing trucks and grooving along just fine, thank you very much.

And then the rain picked up. Well, that’s all good, so I didn’t pass that car doing 60 or so; instead I moved back and thought this was a smart move.

Along around Exit 7, I like to put on the local New York AM stations to catch the news, traffic and weather, especially when I’m cruising up from Paul’s early on a Monday morning. You know, I’ve been up since 5, I’m running low on caffeine, and this is the last thing I need to hear:

“Well, there’s lots of accidents on the GSP and the NJT around the city due to the wicked weather!”

Well, what wicked weather are you talking about…oh, my! Never mind…I just got that memo. Thank you, Craig Allen.

Those aren’t raindrops on the windshield, those are snowflakes! And, you’d better put on the brakes, since everyone merging onto the NJT from Exit 9 just realized it’s snowing, and they’re all driving like a bunch of idiots as if they’ve never driven in snow before.

Good times, you know.

Oh, my...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1wnOUH2jk8

Yeah, I don't quite know what to say, either, LOL!

Wow.

Let's just say neither the song or the video will make my "Top Ten", 'kay?

Yikes...that just leaves me speachless.

Weather Hype And All Of That

Oh, it’s back!

Shield your eyes, cover your ears, and hide the kids!

It’s that time of year; ladies and gentlemen…the always-dreaded “S” word is back in your local forecast, and you know that that means…

Complete chaos from your local station.

It starts the same way; you’re turned into your local network affiliate, and there’s a reporter out there talking about the snow flurries. And then they’ll cut to a traffic reporter whose also talking about the snow flurries, which cuts to your local “weather dude”.

“Yep, there’s flurries out there, so be careful!”

“So, let’s look at the maps…”

Now, if you’re lucky, you’ve got a good TV met who actually knows what he (or she) is talking about, and will be knowledgeable enough to say, “Yep, just flurries for this evening, but be careful over the bridges, since they may freeze.”

I appreciate forecasts like that. Yes, Mother Nature is just putting down a little coating of snow, and it looks pretty. I’ll have to clean off my car in the morning, but that’s fine. I’m hanging out inside, and I’ll deal with it tomorrow.

However, what I don’t need are five different reporters to tell me that there’s a one inch of the white stuff in Center City, Northeast Philly, Bucks County, Cherry Hill and Atlantic City. As a viewer, I don’t need it, and I don’t want it. I know it’s snowing, and I still don’t understand why this is “breaking news”.

“There’s snow in Levittown! Let’s go to David Murphy, live in some parking lot in Bucks County!”

“Yeah, Marc, there’s at least a half an inch here at Oxford Valley Mall. Let me measure it for you. And, I even had to clean my car off!”

Get your Ruggie and Eastern on!

After all, winter’s coming!

Pushing Christmas

Just in case you haven’t checked your calendar, Thanksgiving is next Thursday.

Yeah, I know; it seems we just go from Labor Day directly to “Christmakwanzaakah” these days, but here it is, staring us in the face.

I do my best to ignore the fact that Wegmans’ chooses to display Christmas trees before Halloween (WTF?), but you’ve got to love their disclosure on how some people prefer to shop early for the holidays, which at their Cherry Hill location is strategically placed in front of a frog (huh?), wearing a Santa hat, all covered in green and red lights.

If anyone out there has a good explanation for this, please let me know. I’d love to hear it. “A Muppet Christmas” I get; a frog that’s not Kermit, not so much.

I have enough problems these days explaining (again) how a vegetarian celebrates Thanksgiving, but I’m used to it. I’ve been a veghead (on and off) for well over twenty years, and my stock answer is always this; I eat everything but the turkey. Besides, I’m a “Just Say No To Tofurkey” kind of gal. See that picture up there? That's not Thanksgiving dinner; that's some sort of weird punishment.

Bring on the wild mushroom stuffing (made with veggie stock, of course!), homemade mushroom gravy, more mashed potatoes, please, fresh spicy cranberry sauce, green beans with shallots and tomatoes, roasted butternut squash with real maple syrup and butter, homemade rolls with more butter, carrots with fresh ginger and honey, and those pearl onions in cream sauce.

Mmmm…with that all-star lineup, who needs the turkey?

Bring on the pumpkin pie, baby! I'm ready!

Don't Be That Guy!

Life, these days, is loud.

It doesn’t matter where you go, really. It seems that you’re always surrounded by noise.

Between the music in the supermarket, the mall, the bank, the unbelievable nonsensical cell phone conversations.

“So, where are you? Me? I’m buying onions at Wegmans! Kisses, I’ll talk to later when I’m waiting in line at the deli counter.”

So, why do we feel this great need to talk to each other constantly?

Friday night was a perfect example. The always-amazing “John Butler Trio” was in town, and seated right below us were six friends that just yapped all evening long.

The ringleader was a tall, blonde guy that if I ever see again at a concert is going to get one good smack in the head from me, and I believe I’m being generous with that punishment.

I don’t really care if these are your best friends in the world, or if this is the first time you’ve seen this band, but I’m pretty sure that John Butler didn’t hear you when you said, multiple times, “He kicks ass!!”

I’m also going to figure that when you screamed “Wa-HOOOO!!!” fifteen times during a lovely guitar solo, he didn’t hear you, either.

Let me explain something to you…you’re here to experience one of the best, live.

If you want to yak it up with your friends and drink, please do all of us a favour and go home and put the CD on instead, ‘kay?

Look Out!

I’ve been wearing glasses since I was eight. Sister “Someone-Or-Another” discovered that I had problems seeing the blackboard in second grade, and sent me home with a note from the school nurse with a word that I didn’t understand:

“Myopic”.

I hid the note from my mom for a couple of days, but eventually I was dragged kicking and screaming to the eye doctor and I’ve been wearing glasses ever since.

Sure, I had my brief love affair with contacts, but like most relationships when you’re young, love hurts.

The contacts scratched my cornea, but I refused to give them up. The day-to-day maintenance in the bad old days (back in the mid 1980’s) was incredible, and costly to boot.

Enter the astigmatism, and here were my choices: hard contacts, something called “Boston gas lenses”, or, glasses.

Distance glasses, reading glasses, bifocals (oops, I meant to say “multi-visions”)…it’s a family affair. I don’t believe there’s anyone in my family who doesn’t need some sort of optical enhancement, and now that I think about it, we’re all blind as bats!

There was never a holiday dinner, barbecue, wedding, football game or any other little slice of life where someone didn’t say the following:

“Wait a second. I’ve got to get my glasses.”
“No, I need my readers.”
“Nope, new bifocals. Oh, there it is!”
“Whose glasses are these?”

So, I’m not getting old, you see…I’m just following a family tradition.

Goin' To The Dogs...And the Cats!

I don’t really understand it, but I do.

All Ellen did is what any of us would have done. You adopt a homeless animal from your local shelter knowing you can give it a loving home along with the hope that every creature in your home will get along with the new guy!

And, if it doesn’t work out, it’s your responsibility to find it another good home, and not to send it back to the animal shelter.

Well, don’t be so harsh to judge on the shelter’s end of things, either.

Two years back, I adopted a little six-week-old kitten, and I was put through the ringer with all kinds of questions about where I lived, who lived there, where I worked, my vet’s name, would it ever be an outside cat…I’m seriously surprised that they didn’t run a credit history on me.

Between the interview (“So, do you know how to take care of a kitten?”), the paperwork to adopt was incredible, and yes, that verbiage is in there…”if you ever decide to give your pet away, you need to contact us first”, since they’re the first line of contact to find your adopted pet another home.

I also had to have my vet sign a certificate to tell them that Rufus did, indeed, have his second round of kitten shots. Not a binding part of the agreement, but I thought ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation) would like to know.

Here’s the deal, folks. Way, way too many people adopt cute little kittens and puppies only to realize that they grow up to be cats and dogs and they’re not prepared for the responsibilities.

The non-profit animal rescue organizations (as well as your local shelters) are all too aware of this, and they really don’t want see that cute little puppy you adopted come back to the shelter because it’s too big and doesn’t fit your lifestyle any longer.

This is why they want to interview you.

No, Ellen didn’t do anything wrong, really. She just didn’t read the fine print.

Is the shelter at fault? No, not really. They’re just being heavy handed with their rules.

Solution? Just give the kids the puppy!

Problem solved!

And, Coach Reid, Paul Would Like To Add...

One last thing:

If your cell phone or home phone rings, and it's anything or anyone Eagles-related, please, don't answer. All will be well. You're no longer Andy Reid, coach & GM, you're just Andy Reid, dad & husband. That's your full-time job now. Thanks.

Dear Coach Reid:

Please do all of us a favor and step down for the rest of the season.

Yes, the team's in trouble, but your family clearly needs you more than we do right now.

The team will be fine without you.

Please go home, get some sleep and reconnect with your family.

Your family loves you and needs you right about, oh, now.

Kisses,

Dee

My Second "Top Ten"

3 - The Fratellis, “Costello Music” (US Release, March 2007)

Late in 2006, Paul (my boyfriend) and I heard “Chelsea Dagger” for the first time, and we were hooked. We’re ‘80’s kids from way, way back, and as far as we’re concerned, there’s nothing better than a great throwback song that you can dance to.

Sure, “Flathead” has been used to death in the “I Pod” ads, but no matter. This is what I like to call “pub rock” at it’s best.

There’s no need to think about the meaning of the lyrics…well, you can, if you like, but you’d be better off just thinking about yourself in some dark little pub in London dancing to these guys.

Oh, and if you ever have the chance to see these guys live, make sure that you move the earth to do so.

4 - Amy Winehouse, “Back To Black” (US Release, March 2007)

She’s a total mess, a train wreck just waiting to happen, but you cannot deny her talent.

Her songwriting, along with that old, soulful voice just may be the last CD she ever does, but boy, does her voice move me.

She’s one troubled person, but when she’s got it all together, she makes incredible music.

And, 5?

I have one spot left for this second top three, and I haven’t decided yet which one it will be.

But, with that said, my top three have been decided!

Let me know what your “Top Ten” are.

Please feel free to leave a comment!

My Third "Top Ten"

So, it’s getting to be that time again.

The retailers can wring out the seasons for us earlier and earlier every year. The motion picture industry believes that the months in between September and December are the prime time to drop the big, serious films.

And, the music industry (for whatever’s left of it), follows the same marketing pattern. Yes, I’ve loved the new releases from Mark Knopfler and Joni Mitchell, but I thought it’d be a good time to take a look back to the winter and spring releases and see if any of them still held up.

And, these are the ones that have.

1 – “The Good, The Bad, And The Queen”, January 2007

The only tracks that alternative radio plays is “Herculean” (and, perhaps, “Northern Whale”), but for the first time in ages, I played the whole CD today, and it surprised me, again.

Albarn, Simonon, Allen and Tong have created their own dark London soundscape. It’s still sounds dark, haunting and amazing.

2 – “The Shins”, “Wincing The Night Away”, January 2007

Their wonderful fuzzed out single “Phantom Limb” was released about this time last year, and while James Mercer isn’t the best vocalist in the world, the nods towards the psychedelic era of the “Beach Boys” still sounds good to these ears. This CD didn’t go down well with old fans of the band, but cuts like “Red Rabbits” and “A Comet Appears” still make the CD worthwhile.

Oh, and some bonus rock trivia: “Wincing The Night Away” was named for Mercer’s ongoing battle with insomnia.

3 – “The Cat Empire”, “Two Shoes”, US Release, February 2007

There’s simply not a better cure for anything that ails you with this CD from this Australian funk/jazz/rap based band.

If you like to laugh, they truly bring it with the words to “Sly”. If you’re partial to amazing musicianship, they bring it home all of the way. You can tell they had a blast recording this.

There’s one cut on the CD that’s a bit twee (“Protons, Neutrons, Electrons”), and there’s more than enough homage to Bob Marley, but bear in mind this was recorded in the same studio in Cuba where “The Buena Vista Social Club”, and it was recorded live with some of the musicians from that project.

Rain, sweet, sweet rain...

Coming soon to an area near you!

Too warm, too late!

Okay, I want my autumn back.

I want my favorite season returned to me as soon as possible, ‘kay?

Summer, give it up!

Stop holding it hostage…I don’t care what you want, but I’m at the point where I’m willing to give up any historical East Coast storm during the winter just so that I can enjoy my favorite season.

Really, just let it go…you’ll be back soon enough next year.

Oh, and don’t let this week's cold front kick your butt on the way out...just remember to close the door, 'kay?

Kisses,

Dee

Another Nail In My Heart

Yeah, I know just how he feels.

"A Phillies Fan In The Mets Court"

Let’s see…the time is 1:47 PM.

Signed up for “CBS3” updates via the cell? Check.

Fresh coffee? Check.

Did the bathroom break thing? Check.

Is there enough paperwork piled around the desk to look busy for the next two hours? Double check.

ESPN.com tabbed on the browser? Of course.

Will Bunch, too? Live blogging the game? Absolutely, and I am there!

Time to wait for the first pitch? Only a small eternity, of course.

And, so we wait.

For those of us out here in those far thrown counties of Central and Northern New Jersey, we wait for that first pitch. Believe me, we're drooling in our keyboards in anticipation.

But, there are always questions that hang in the air:

Should I wear my Phils’ jersey? Do I dare put on my Rollins, or risk having some crazed Mets fan clobber me over the head with an overpriced pineapple in the produce section at Wegmans?

Should I leave the stuffed “Philly Phanatic” sit on my desk, or will I come back in the morning to find it stabbed through it’s little phanatical heart with a letter opener?

And what about my coffee mug?

It’s tough, you know, living in “Mets Country”.

Especially after today’s loss.


Which reminds me...where's my letter opener?

"Sports Talk"

I’ve always believed that the thin line between the New York City and Philadelphia area is a road, and it’s called 195.

North of 7A on the New Jersey Turnpike, it’s not a hoagie, it’s a sub. A warm steak sandwich is, well a warm steak sandwich with cheese and certainly not a cheesesteak ‘wit’, and these poor people will never know the glories of a “Tastykake” with Wawa coffee for a quick breakfast.

North of 7A, Philly fans are, and will always continue to be, the ones that are scorned. “You booed ‘Santa Claus ‘”, they’ll tell you, over all of the beers and wings in a northern New Jersey bar.

“Remember 1993! Remember Mitch Williams! Remember last year, when your so-called “Fighting Phils” gave it all up with only one game to go!”

“And, how about how Donovan fell apart in his only Super Bowl appearance!”

Yadda, yadda, yadda, ya know. We know!

While I’m over the moon that my Phils’ are moving onto the next set of games towards the World Series, I’m really feeling bad for the Mets and their fans.

There’s no schaudenfraude here, but I feel your pain, since I’m a Philly sports fan and once you’ve sipped the “Philly Fan” Kool-Aid, I believe you’ve just made a life-long commitment.

You need to go through the five stages of grief, but I know as well as anyone that there is no stage called “utter disgust”.

My team will be playing on Wednesday night, and yours won’t, but I promise to be good.

I promise not to wear any of my Phillies tees and jerseys until we’re in the World Series. Besides, I fear serious retribution in the produce section of Wegman’s if I do.

I’ll be nice, I promise. I won’t bring up the game if you won’t.

And, with that said….

“Go, Phils!”

Oh, yeah!

I'll be the first person in the world to tell everyone that it's tough to be a Philly sports fan, since these teams will break your heart every day of the year.

But, not today!

Between the Eagles running up the score from the first quarter, DMac playing like he should (without his knee brace), all I can say is, "Oh, yeah!"

56-21...E-A-G-L-E-S!!

Oh, and the Phils'...lost. Oh, well.

Bring on the ice! The Flyers' start their season on October 4 when they play the Calgary Flames.

Hey, you gotta believe!

Pullin' The Cord On That Thang!

Somewhere along the way, in our continuously plugged-in, over-scheduled, busy lives, I think we’re all forgetting about what’s really important.

So, here’s my idea…I’d really like for all of us to take a day off and be truly “unplugged”.

No computers, cell phones, emails, text messages, laptops, Blackberrys, iPhones, iPods, voice mail or any other electronic gadgets that we depend upon these days.

Nothing, nada.

Spend the time with your family, kids and friends. Create something amazing with them and make them remember you.

Spend the day reading the book you’ve always wanted to dive into.

Create your own 'fridge art with finger paint, fold origami frogs, find out what birds are in your backyard and put on some Coltrane.

Volunteer for a cause that you believe in, take a hike, make a pot of tea, learn how to knit, plant spring bulbs…do whatever it is that makes you happy.

And, guess what you’ll get back?

The best vacation day you’ve ever had.

Oh, and all of those emails and voice mails...those can wait until tomorrow.

If today’s weather reminds me of the new autumn season (and, not a moment too soon) the incredible heat and humidity of Saturday just made me want to scream.

“Enough already!”

As a cook, I have a new credo; if it’s over 90°, I won’t cook. Will not cook, won’t cook, don’t want to.

I will not bake, will not deep fry (despite that unctuous recipe for deep-fried oysters that I found in the NY Times), refuse to sauté, forget all about roasting vegetables and, oh, you can’t grill anything if you don’t have a grill to begin with.

The original plan was to hit the Haddonfield's farmer’s market for a few tomatoes for an uncooked tomato sauce. You know, you just chop them up (take our the cores first!), add some onion, some garlic, a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, fresh basil and whatever other fresh herbs you have on hand. Toss it with some hot pasta, add some grated cheese or fresh mozzarella.

Add a nice loaf of crusty bread, a salad along with a nicely chilled rose, and, hey! Dinner’s done, and that was the plan.

Ever get really, really seduced by something that you don’t really want or need? I can tell you right now, this happens all of the time to us foodies, and I fell for these guys, and hard.

Little baby heirloom tomatoes, sweet as sugar, red and gold and green and orange with red striping on the inside. 10 pounds for 20 dollars. I’d clearly gone to “cook’s heaven” since all I could think about was making the simplest marinara sauce I could think of with these beauties and freezing it for the winter.

“Cooking Rule Number One:” If you have excellent ingredients to work with, don’t play with them too much.

So, Paul and I went into the kitchen, and we cooked! We now have 2 ½ quarts of summer goodness in our freezer, and here’s my very loose, somewhat undocumented recipe for the marinara that will just knock you out.

3 Tbsp. Of olive oil
2 good-sized onions, peeled and roughly chopped.
4 good-sized cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
4 quarts (or, 16 cups) of dead ripe tomatoes , stemmed, cored and quartered (no need to peel, since they’ll be pureed anyway)
Fresh herbs: two good healthy handfuls of fresh basil, flat-leaf parsley and oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 – Heat a big (and I mean a good non-stick 6 quart pot) over medium heat for a few. Add the olive oil, and let it get warm or until you can smell it.
2 – Add the onions, cook over a low heat, stirring, until they become golden and slightly soft (about 10 minutes). Raise the heat a touch and then add the garlic.
3 – Tip in the tomatoes, give it all a good stir. Raise the heat up until it starts to bubble, then turn it down to the lowest heat possible to keep it all moving. Cook very, very slowly for, oh, 20 minutes, and don’t forget to stir. Don’t add any additional liquid; the fresh tomatoes will give up their own soon enough.
4 – Tip into a bowl to cool. Now, you have three options here…you could let it cool overnight in the fridge and freeze it in the morning, or you may want to do this…
5 – After it’s cooled, puree it in the food processor, and then freeze, or…
6 – Warm it up again, add the fresh herbs, have some of it for dinner and freeze the rest!

Oh, and just a “cook’s note” here…this is not a thick sauce. If you’d prefer something a bit heartier, just simmer it on low until you’re happy with it!

As for what happened to the rest of those tomatoes? I’ll let you know in a future post. There's some beautiful, gorgeous heirloom green tomato (I think they're called "German Greens" and they're a bit tangy) sauce in the freezer later on this week that I'll have to figure out what to do with! Salsa verde, perhaps?

But, as Otto said in “A Fish Called Wanda”…

“Don’t eat the green ones. They’re not ripe yet.”

How to make a pot of coffee:

1 - Fill decanter with water.
2 - Place coffee filter in basket.
3 - Measure coffee into said basket.
4 - Pour water into machine, and let it brew into the decanter.

This method works fine, unless you happen to be, say, me, in which case it goes something like this:

1 - Empty decanter, rinse and repeat.
2 - Stare blankly into space until you realize you are out of coffee filters.
3 - Walk across the construction yard to the contractor’s trailer and borrow some of theirs. Make mental note to stop at Wegman’s in the morning.
4 - Take empty decanter over to water dispenser to fill. Stare blankly into space until you realize the container is, indeed, empty.
5 - Pull the empty container out, flip off (hey!) the valve. Ask the assistant construction manager to open a new one. Put the valve back on.
6 - Take empty decanter over to water dispenser to fill. Press on the blue lever, and stare blankly into space as you realize there’s no water coming out of the spigot.
7 - Grab the top of the dispenser and shake, shake, shake, to dislodge that stupid, little, freaking, #$%# ball at the base of the valve because it’s stuck. Again.
8 - Pour coffee, add sugar and milk to taste.

Place coffee on work table next to you. Pick up cup to sip only to discover a gnat doing the backstroke.

So, how was your day?

A Summer Wind...

I love nature, I love the weather, and I especially love this time of year.

Summer’s coming to a close, and I’m glad to see it end. The night breeze is cooler than it’s been in ages, and it’s a pleasure to turn off the air conditioning and open up the windows again to hear the leaves rustling. After falling asleep to the air conditioning’s groan all summer, I don’t believe there’s a better tonic for sleeping than pulling up a light blanket and listening to the crickets making their annual plea for love.

There’s a phrase from “Charlotte’s Web” that comes to my mind when the crickets start chirping. “Goodbye summer, goodbye…how many nights until frost? Goodbye summer, goodbye.”

It’s time for me, the cook, to stop thinking about tomatoes, summer squash and fresh basil, and start thinking about making fresh tomato sauce for the autumn and winter soups that I’ll make in the months to come. It’s also time to make pesto; there’s nothing nicer then fresh pesto on any pasta in oh, January. I’ll post my recipe next week.

It’s also fresh fig time. Paul’s landlord has these huge (and I mean ginormous) fig trees that grow all of the way up to the second story of the house.

It’s become its own little ecosystem over the past couple of weeks. There’s a little family of Northern Flickers in there! Dad (with the yellow striping around his eyes), Mom and the whole family of their teenagers, making an awful racket that sounds wonderful to these ears.

Flickers are part of the woodpecker family, and they are big, lovely birds, local to New Jersey. They’re also seed-eaters, and watching them suck out the fig seeds is an amazing sight. I’ll try to catch some photos this weekend.

Really, it’s all about being aware, being quiet, and enjoying the turn of the seasons.

Workin' My Way Back To You...

So, let’s see…I’m back, but this blog is under some serious re-construction! I’m just warning all of you. ;)

I’ve consolidated a bunch of entries from my old blogs here on the site. Since we’re all friends here, I plan on archiving the rest of them and I’ll create a link for everyone’s browsing pleasure in the future, but there’s still a ton of work to do, and I’ll spruce it all up as time allows.

I’m pretty sure that I followed the path that most new bloggers do; you start one, send the link around to everyone that you know, and the next thing you know, you’re frantically searching for comments to see if anyone has read your latest post, and you start to post less and less.

This is not good; I’ve started and abandoned two, so I know!

And, why start a new blog with my awful track record?

Because I love to write, cook, craft, share my photos, recipes, new music, and talk about the weather.

It’s all good here…thanks for coming on board!