thanksgiving

although this year thanksgiving took a bit of a beating, things finally turned out very nice. we didn't have to do any running around except to get to my mom's house in hackensack, and nothing after that except back home. at times, thanksgiving for me has meant pace yourself at house #1 so you can eat again at house #2, and digest along the way. i was spared that, and hopefully for all years to come, by deciding that if our families can manage to share the holiday, then so can we. my mom in the past has done a more latin styled thanksgiving by making the guest of honor in a fricassee instead of roasted. frankly i prefer it in the former fashion as opposed to the latter, it's more juicy and infinitely more flavorful. this year it was a more traditional bird with all the trimmings; sweet potatoes, string bean casserole; except for the rice of course. cubans have rice with everything. my grandfather used to have rice with his spaghetti. you read it right. he would just spoon some rice into his pasta with marinara sauce and slurp it up. i never tried it 'cause at that age i was into being grossed out by things like that; but now, who knows. the evening went well though, my brother behaved himself, he and i spent alot of time making fun of my uncle's side of the family (especially melissa my cousin and her daughter victoria) just because they weren't there and it pisses off my mom. don't you just love family dynamics?! we used to spend our holidays all together before my uncle (who is my mom's brother) and his family high-tailed it outta new york for the hurricane-drenched shores of miami. the story was that they were running to a better, more affordable life in warmer weather. my take is that they were running away from my cousin mark's crazy bitch girl friend who fucked him up so bad that he had to go into therapy (she actually came into the apartment one day and stole everything that wasn't nailed down-and i mean EVERYTHING!!), and my other cousin melissa's druggie boyfriend who got her pregnant and is a fucked-up psycho. but that's just my opinion. anyway, all went well right down to finding the perfect parking spot when we got back into the city. i hope you all had a great one, or at least survived it with a minimum of extra sessions with your shrink. just remember, the big one is just around the corner...AAAIIUUUUGGHHHHHH!!!!!
GEORGE WINSTON (to relax some)

cooking school

a couple of nites ago john, karen (his sister) and i went to a cooking class at the viking cooking school in fairfield new jersey. it was actually a very belated, combined birthday gift for john and me from karen. the recipe theme for the evening was fish. we cooked a tilapia with julienned red pepper, leeks and compound butter en papillot; seared salmon with a citrus vinaigrette; tuna burgers with wasabi slaw, and a fried haddock with avocado salsa. the recipes were all very simple and incredibly delicious. when the class was over the group was able to sit and eat what they cooked. i think my favorite was the tuna burger with the wasabi slaw, although i actually ate EVERYTHING!! i think it's fun to prepare food together when you are will be having dinner together afterwards. it's such a great way to share the experience, and of course an opportunity to drink. we couldn't really drink while we were cooking at the school but they did serve us wine with our meal. i usually drink while i'm cooking, maybe that's why i enjoy it so much!!! well, next week brings an opportunity to do some heavy drinking with cooking during the thanksgiving festivities. don't miss the opportunity, i promise it will make everything better. not perfect, but better.

dutch kitchen

in plain city ohio (yes, that's right, plain city) there's a rather large amish community well served by a homey restaurant and bakery called the dutch kitchen. it's cute and friendly, and frankly just a little bit scary to a big city mouse such as me; but the menu is full of those comfort foods you would expect from an eatery specializing in "simple, satisfying, home-style meals", such as meat loaf, chicken fried steak, country cured ham, and german potato pancakes. there's even a "barn-raising buffet" sure to please the lumberjack in any of you. i was taken to this place by my uncle jose on my recent visit to this swing state lately turned blue (to quote chrissie hynde "way to go o-hi-o!"). i had the meat loaf, of course, and i would swear the string beans they served me came out of a can. i wouldn't have expected anything less from a place that's been around for about 45 years and was probably founded on the tradition of tv dinners (which i love) and canned vegetables (about which i have very mixed feelings). their pies are homemade and so are their sausages; and the place smells sweet and savory until you get too close to one of the amish kids working there and then it smells more like a barn-raising. i don't care if you are amish, take a fucking bath, it was fucking summer for christ's sake, you're not gonna die from the cold. anyway, it was a slice of americana well worth having. visit if you have the chance, even if it's just for the shits and giggles; but as long as you're there, sit, have something to eat, and let the friendly staff scare the hell out of you. check out the link on the side there, and chrissie hynde right here.
THE PRETENDERS

notes from a wineaholic/ein bier bitte!

a long, long time ago, when i was just a young wino and only drinking vodka neat, i fell in love with beer. it happens, as it most often does i suppose with beers, on a steamy-hot summer day when someone hands you an icy-cold one and you're hooked for life. there's been alot of beers under the bridge since then, but a delicious bavarian wheat beer i had recently sent my heart aflutter all over again; and i was transported back to that day at lake sebago just off seven lakes drive in bear mountain new york when i had that palate expanding experience. back then it was a canadian brew that took my cherry; but the Weihenstephan, more specifically their Kristall Weissbier, that recently ravaged me was a master. people don't always remember all their "firsts", call me a romantic, what can i say? the bavarian state brewery weihenstephan was, over a thousand years ago they say, the monastery brewery of the benedictine monks. if there's one thing monks know how to produce is food and liquor. and some pretty fantanstic manuscripts. because i live in what is still considered to be a german enclave on the upper east side of manhattan, this, and many other really great beers, are not hard to find. not to mention the german food, and one place on second avenue where you can still see men in liederhosen. i just happen to mention that in case it's your thing (see you there!) prost!

got served

it's been a very long time since i posted and i'm pretty sure that most of you, if you are indeed still out there, are starved to death. a-political as i am (not), i have decided to use the outcome of the election as a segue into what i hope will be a cornucopia of postings (not of the political persuasion rest assured). going against emily post, and every other etiquette guru, who advises that politics, religion and sex are the three things that should never be discussed in public i will now plunge headlong into the fray. i voted for obama and let's face it, i would have preferred hilary; but a democrat is as a democrat does and so i can only hope for the best. as i explained it to my mother, a staunch republican who this year voted democratic, ("i did it for you" she said) what we've been given is a chance. she warned me that "you won't have bush to blame anymore so let's see what obama will do", and i replied (in an equally accusatory tone, "it'll take longer than one term to clean up what that backwards, %^%#$^#*&, idiotic, &**#$$(^(*)!!!, lying, &#%^$#^!!!^&#, divisive, poor excuse for a leader, waste of human flesh, (*%&%$#^$@!!!!!!, will be leaving us with". for reasons which may be obvious to you we don't usually discuss politics at home. my grandmother, also a lifelong republican who voted party lines this year again, felt like she had to go to bed early when it was clear that the landslide would be, as one senator put it, of tsunami proportions. the electoral vote count AND the majority choice! when i saw indiana, ohio, florida and georgia go blue i almost plotzed; but virginia? hot damn!!!virginia hadn't backed a democrat in over 40 years!!! let's face it, the country showed a unity unparalleled in recent history. the only things we have all agreed upon this way of late have been that the economy is down the shit-tube and bush sucks (anybody see the approval ratings lately? way to go dubbyuh!) well, all history setting rhetoric aside, let's pray that the obama presidency will be the one to keep us as inspired as we seem to be and united as we should be. if the new administration can't get us all to the table to turn things around, then we'll all be served.
HAIL TO THE CHIEF!

GOOD LUCK AND CONGRATULATIONS TO PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA