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The Christmas Eve Bread Pudding Challenge

12/30/2018

...Continued from yesterday:
In truth, there's not a whole lot in the way of entertainment in the small town of Seaford, Delaware. Even the closest movie theater is half an hour away in Salisbury, Maryland.
But what the town lacks in other diversions it makes up for in eating establishments, which one can find aplenty in Seaford, especially those of the cozy comfort food diner variety,

...the kind with the refrigerated cases at the entrance filled with mesmerizing
desserts.

It was at a couple of these diners that we took most of our nourishment over our Christmas vacation, as my mother at 98 years old is still a big fan of eating out,

...her favorite eatery being the Stargate Diner,

...a homey place with a friendly ambience owned and run by the nicest family.

On Saturday night we had dinner at the Stargate, where we were welcomed by the staff, who know my mother well, she being a frequent customer.

The food was, as always, good and plentiful,

...one of my favorites being the Maryland Cream of Crab Soup.

I also had my other favorite, the Eggplant Parmesan over angel hair pasta with the best garlic toast.

The others had among them,

...Chicken Scampi,

...Chicken Parmesan,

...several ordered the Broiled Tilapia,

...and the girls had their favorite, plates of buttered spaghetti.

As it turns out, the Stargate now includes a free dessert with dinner, among the free options being:

...ice cream,

...rice pudding,

...and my favorite, bread pudding.

However my daughter went outside the free box by ordering the pecan pie,

..as did I by ordering ice cream with my bread pudding.

After dinner we came home and had a piano lesson before bed.

The following morning, Sunday morning, we were back at the Stargate for breakfast,

...where I discovered to my wonder and delight that one could get two eggs, pancakes, and a pile of home fries for $2.99,

...which was to become my go-to Stargate breakfast from then on.

The others ordered various combinations of standard breakfast fare,

..except for Tom, who opted for the slightly more exotic creamed chip beef over a biscuit with sides of sausage and scrapple, a traditionally Philadelphia breakfast meat-esque product, though exactly what it's made of nobody is quite sure. However Tom thought it was good.

After breakfast my mom and I ventured to Walmart for a shopping trip,

...and so, it appeared, did everyone else in Seaford.

We spent the rest of the day at various occupations,

... Justin, for example, taught my mom, a Bridge enthusiast, how to play 21,

...until dinner time rolled around, at which time my mom proposed that we try the Golden Eagle Diner,

...which had been recently rebuilt,

renovated,

...and re-menued,

...so that in both ambience and food offerings the Golden Eagle now so closely resembles the Stargate,

...directly across the street from which it is located,

...that I thought the two restaurants must be owned by the same family.
But no, it turns out that the Golden Eagle is owned by a different family, a Turkish family, also very nice, one of whose members likewise came over and greeted my mother, as my mother often patronizes this place as well.

So here we are at the Golden Eagle Diner,

...where we met up with my daughter Claire and her hubby Miguel after they drove in from their disappointing day in Washington D.C. where they'd hoped to visit the national monuments and get their National Parks and Monuments Passport books stamped,

...but which were closed because of Donald Trump's shut down (see post from 12/26/2018).

The food at the the Golden Eagle, much like the food at the Stargate, was good,

...I went with the salad bar,

...and the Chicken Alfredo, which came with some great garlic toast.

Like ts counterpart across the street, the Golden Eagle also offered a free dessert with dinner, the choices being rice pudding, bread pudding, chocolate pudding or ice cream.

Once again I went with my favorite, bread pudding, with a scoop of ice cream. It was très yummy.

   Now, it so happened that there were among us several bread pudding aficionados, and we got to discussing the merits of this bread pudding versus the other great bread puddings we'd had in the past.
    I then put myself on the line by claiming that I made the best pudding of them all, and was immediately given the challenge of putting my money where my mouth was, so to speak. I took up the challenge and promised to prove myself by making a Christmas Eve bread pudding the following night, wondering even as I spoke if I should have just swallowed all my big bread pudding talk.
    We started off Christmas Eve morning back at the Stargate,

...after which I was obligated to make a quick trip to the grocery store to buy my bread pudding ingredients,

...and also for the ingredients for the apple crisp that Tom and I decided to make for dessert along with the bread pudding for Christmas Eve dinner,

...we all having decided that it would be nice to have a big Christmas Eve dinner at home.

Meanwhile we spent the day working,

...playing,

...wrapping last-minute Christmas gifts,

...relaxing,

...and getting started on dinner,

...until it was time for all hands to report to the kitchen galley for dinner duty.

Me working on my bread pudding challenge.

A couple of the kitchen workers pilfered some of my bread pudding whipped cream to fix fancy apéritifs,

..but I won't say who.

Then the food was ready, the table spread, grace said, and the Christmas Eve feasting began.

Oven-fried chicken,

...green beans almondine, shrimp, tortillas,

Mexican vegetables,

...avocado.

Then it was time to serve dessert,

...apple crisp,

...and my bread pudding, which I feared that I had perhaps injudiciously bragged about.

I held my breath (figuratively) while waiting for the verdict on my bread pudding.

Everyone said it was the best bread pudding ever. Miguel said it was a magnificent bread pudding that could only be improved by a topping of praline pecan sauce.
Alas, the only toppings I had to offer were ice cream and whipped cream.

     But I plan on learning to make praline pecan sauce for my next batch of bread pudding.
     Mayhaps everyone was just being polite about my bread pudding being the best.
     In any case, here's the recipe for my bread pudding (this amount is good for an 8"x8" pan. Double the recipe if using a 9"x13" pan):
     Patti's Bread Pudding
   2 eggs
     2 cups milk
     2/3 cup sugar
     A shake of cinnamon
     4 cups bread, cubed
     1/4 cup raisins
     1/2 an apple, peeled and cut into small, thin slices
     1/4 cup almonds (or more if you like almonds)
      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
      Grease an 8"x8" pan. Put the bread cubes into the pan.
      Beat the eggs, mix in the milk, sugar and cinnamon. Pour liquid over the bread, let stand until soaked. Stir in the raisins and apple. Top with almonds. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the bread pudding is firm. Serve hot or cold.
        After dinner everyone sat around for a bit,

...then we sang Christmas Carols.

On Christmas morning, while some of the grown-ups went to Mass, the children played patiently while waiting to open their presents,

...borrowing a pair of nurse Auntie Claire's plastic gloves to play Princess Doll Hospital.

After the others arrived back from Mass we fixed our traditional Christmas morning breakfast feast,

...after which it was finally time for the children to open their presents,

...which included, of course, LOL Dolls (see post from 4/26/2018).

In the afternoon the kids got a game of poker going,

...followed by a board game called "Don't Wake Daddy," which, judging from the squeals of delight and dismay of the players, seemed to be quite exciting.

That evening we had Christmas dinner, our final dinner together,

...at the Golden Eagle.

This time I opted for the rice pudding for dessert.

And, while it was quite good, I would match my own rice pudding against this and any other rice pudding. This time I didn't say anything about it, though.
After dinner we said our good-byes to my daughter, son-in-law, and the children, as they were leaving for Baltimore that night since they had an early flight back to Los Angeles in the morning.

And the following morning, December 26, the rest of us said our good-byes.
However, after my mother left for her daily Mass,

...the rest of us headed over to the Stargate for a final farewell breakfast before we went our separate ways, my daughter and son-in-law heading to D.C. to catch their flight to Chicago,

...and the rest of us heading back to Columbus.

Ten hours later we were home.

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Gingerbread Houses, Paper Castles, And Fairy Princesses

12/28/2018

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...Continued from yesterday:
On Saturday morning we made another round of gingerbread houses.

When I packed the gingerbread kits to bring to my mother's I worried that my grand children might not be interested in making more gingerbread houses, as we'd already made one on my visit with them last month in Los Angeles.

I needn't have worried.

After we finished the gingerbread houses I gave the girls each an early Christmas present,

...animal face sticker books,

...from which, after they used the stickers to put faces on the animals, they tore the pages out to make the walls of a pretend castle.

Since they'd already built themselves a castle, I decided to give them another early present, princess dresses I'd found back in November on a Halloween clearance rack,

...which they spent most of next few days dressed in,

...often using their wands to cast magic fairy spells on their Grandpa.

To be continued...

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On Our Way To Seaford

12/26/2018

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On December 17 our daughter flew in from Los Angeles to spend a few days in Columbus before she, our son, Tom and I drove 505 miles from Columbus to Seaford, Delaware,

…to spend Christmas with my 98-year-old mother.

The plan was that we’d drive in from Columbus on Friday, December 21 and meet up at my mom’s house with my daughter’s husband and children, who flew in to Baltimore from Los Angeles on the same day that we drove and would arrive in Seaford later that evening.
Another of my daughters and her husband would fly in to Washington D.C. on Sunday, December 23. They had planned to spend the day visiting the national monuments and driving to Seaford that evening.

Unfortunately, their plans were thwarted.

…and so they arrived in Seaford earlier than expected, which wasn’t a bad thing for the rest of us.
Anyway, those of us in the Columbus group set out on Friday morning in in a cold, windy rain.

As we’d have to drive through the same part of West Virginia as Tom and I and some friends had passed through a couple of weeks previously on our way to Pittsburgh (see post from 12/19/2018, "Going To Pittsburgh),

...I suggested that we stop for lunch at the same West Virginia restaurant as we’d stopped at on our way to Pittsburgh, the Glassworks Grill in the Oglebay Park Lodge. And so we did.

Oglebay Park Lodge

The Glassworks Grill

We found a nice table by the window,

…with a lovely view of Oglebay Park .

The food was as good as we’d found it to be last time.

Tom had the Grilled Chicken Salad,

…while the rest of us had the vegan Impossible Burger,

…served with different sides and toppings.

I had mine with a side of home-made kettle chips, which were really good.

In the lobby of the Oglebay Lodge there’s an awesome bakery,

…whose wares we found irresistible,

…so we each procured one of the sprinkle-topped cream doughnuts, which were divine.

About five hours later we reached Baltimore, at which time we stopped at our usual dinner spot along the way,

…a Greek restaurant called Hellas,

…known for their yummy crab cakes,

…though the Chicken Marsala was also very good,

…as were the Chicken Kabobs with tzatziki and pita.

It had been a year since I’d seen my mother and, as has been the case every time I’ve seen my mother again after a long separation, I was amazed at how good she still looked and how strong she was,

…how much she was still enjoying life,

…how nice her house still looked,

…and how her cat family continues to grow. My mom now has five cats, only two of which would hold still long enough for me to snap them.

As soon as we arrived my mother entreated us to have a snack, a drink, or to dig into the stock pile of cookies, cakes, candies, and Christmas goodies delivered by friends, neighbors, or members of her church, where she still goes to Mass every morning.
We partook of some of the goodies,

..then relaxed for a while,

...until a little later in the evening when the children arrived,

...and the fun began.

To be continued...

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Christmas Caroling

12/24/2018

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Early in December, with Christmas music wafting through every decked-out and crowded store, mall, and public space,

…giving us all – well, maybe not us all, but myself for one – that cheery holiday feeling , the thought came to me that I should invite some friends over to sing Christmas carols . After all, I have a piano, I have Christmas music, I have song sheets, and I have friends.
     So I invited a dozen of them over on Saturday, December 15 for carol singing and a pot luck.
      I spread the word that I’d provide hot roast beef au jus and hot chicken marsala sandwiches and I proposed that the others bring a side, dessert or some other edible addition of their choosing.
     My Hot Roast Beef Au Jus Recipe:
      A 3- or 4- pound chuck roast
      2 cups of beef broth. (I make mine by dissolving 2 heaping teaspoons of beef bullion into 2 cups of boiling water.)
      ¼ cup red wine
      Onion powder

Lawry’s Garlic Salt

In a large pot mix the beef broth and red wine. Season the roast with the garlic salt and onion powder. Place the seasoned beef in the broth and wine. Spoon some liquid over the beef. Bring liquid to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer on low heat for three hours, best not to lift the pot lid. Check the roast after three hours. If meat is fork-tender and falling apart it’s done.
Remove the meat from the broth, slice, then refrigerate the meat while you wait for the broth to cool. Cool the broth, then refrigerate it until the fat has solidified on top of the broth. Remove the solidified fat from the broth,

...then pour the broth over the meat and re-heat the broth and meat.

My Chicken Marsala Recipe (Actually my friend J’s recipe, passed on to me):
12 chicken drum sticks
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
Fresh rosemary
Fresh parsley, snipped
Salt to taste
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup marsala
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
     Place the chicken wings in a baking dish. Spread the onion, garlic, rosemary, and parsley over the chicken. Salt to taste. Drizzle the olive oil over the chicken.
    Cover the chicken with aluminum foil. Bake for one hour covered, then remove the foil and bake for one hour uncovered, pouring the marsala over the chicken during the last fifteen minutes.
     For hot chicken marsala, remove the chicken from the bone and refrigerate while waiting for the broth from the pan to cool. Remove the broth from the pan, cool the broth, then refrigerate it until the fat has solidified on top of the broth. Remove the solidified fat from the broth, then pour the broth over the meat and re-heat the broth and meat in a pot over the stove or in a crock pot. If the meat needs more broth, add a cup (or more) of chicken broth. (I make mine by dissolving 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken bullion into 1 cup of boiling water.)
     As my daughter and son-in-law surprised Tom and I a few days earlier by Amazon priming us an apple peeler-corer-slicer like theirs (see post from 12/17/2018, "Thanksgiving 2.0"), which Tom used to whip up a couple of apple pies while we were visiting them in Los Angeles,

…we decided to make a big pan of apple crisp, with Tom peeler-corer-slicing the apples,

...after he'd figured out how to work the machine,

…while I made the almond crisp topping.

By 6 pm, the appointed time, the house was ready,

…and soon the guests began arriving,

...and the table filling with yummy dishes and desserts,

And when all the guests and food had arrived, we feasted.

After we ate we moved into the living room for the carol singing.

As one of my friends is an Irish fiddler, she played the fiddle while I accompanied on the piano,

...and everyone sang.

Later in the evening our fiddler played some wonderful Irish fiddle tunes for us.

Then we sat around talking,

...and/or eating some more.

Nothing like feasting and singing to put you in the holiday spirit.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Everyone!

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Gingerbread Houses, The Oyster House, And The Ladies' Room From Hell.

12/21/2018

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...Continued from yesterday:

After the sun went down we again set out, this time walking west from our hotel,

...to the Pittsburgh Christmas Market,

...Pittsburgh's version of the German Christkindelsmarkt,

...where visitors can come to stroll and shop among the booths, which sell traditional European Christmas ornaments and crafts,

..or for some yummy food such as these giant soft pretzels,

...a couple of which we shared.

We walked across Market Square,

...to the PPG building to see this year's Gingerbread House Competition, where there were hundreds of enchanting gingerbread houses on display.

After we'd seen all the gingerbread houses we decided to seek out some dinner,

..and so we headed towards a restaurant we saw at the corner of the Market Place.

It was a cute, crowded little place,

...but we were able to snag a table.

While we were waiting for our food I wished to head for the restroom, but though the Men's Room was right next to our table, I could not see a Ladies' Room anywhere.

I asked the bartender, a rather surly youth, where the Ladies' Room was, and he directed me to a hallway, which dead-ended in the kitchen. A helpful kitchen worker told me to go to go down the narrow hallway off to the right then around the corner.
I followed his instructions, and found myself here:

...in the Bar From Hell.

One could not cross the floor of this place without pushing someone at every step. Nor did I see a Ladies' Room anywhere. Still I pushed my way around a little, then asked a group of girls I'd pushed into if they knew if there was a Ladies' Room in this place.
They directed me to the line:

...in which, I noticed, there were also some guys standing.

     I t occurred to me that in the Bar From Hell one would expect to find the Ladies' Room from Hell. (I pondered how long ago the last shred of TP in that single-seater room had expired.)
     And so I pushed my way back to the dining room.
     Now, here was the situation: the Ladies' Room had a line at least a dozen deep.

The Men's Room across from our table was still vacant.

      Thus I asked Tom to ask the surly young bartender to buzz open the door of the Men's Room (see post from 2/6/2014, "The Men's Room Crashers").
     Tom did so, but when I entered the Men's Room I saw to my dismay that this bathroom had two urinals but no commode. (Which I guess explained why there were guys in line at the Ladies' Room).
      As I was returning to my table the young bartender shouted at me, eyes shooting angry flaming daggers, "I told you, yours is in the other room! What's the matter, can't you hear?!"
    To which I shouted right back, "Yes, I can hear, you young whippersnapper! But there's a line 15 deep at the Ladies' Room and nobody in the Men's, so what the heck difference would it have made for me to use this bathroom if you'd have had the common decency to put a toilet in there out of consideration for all these paying customers? And further more, whoever owns this bar and restaurant should be ashamed of themselves for being too stingy to even put in enough bathrooms for all the people who crowd into this place and pour their money into it, and I wonder what the Health Inspector would think if I dropped them a line about all the people jammed into that bar without even acceptable facilities?!"
       That's exactly what I said to that kid. In my head.
       In reality I said nada. Instead I whipped out my camera,

....and shot him.

Then I zipped over to the Five Guys I'd spotted on the other side of the Market Square.

    When our food was delivered by our server, a middle-aged lady who, for all I know, could have been the owner - or not - I began snapping photos of our food, as I always do.
     Tom, in a feat quick thinking, said to the server, "My wife is a blogger. She travels around and writes about restaurants."
      The server, who'd surely heard my public bathroom-shaming along with the rest of the restaurant, got a look of horror on her face. "Oh my God," she cried, "I hope you're not gonna write something bad about us!"
        You think? Thought I.
         I will say, to her credit, that for the rest of the night you never saw such a solicitous server to our table in a such a crowded restaurant.
         As for the food?
          OMG, it was the best.

The crab cakes were delicious, all crab and some vegetables, no filler,

...the fries were hot and crisp,

...and the fish was delicious and coated in a feather-light, crispy batter.

And so I guess some, if not all, of the offense by one of the staff against myself was forgiven. Still, as I always told my children, it doesn't matter how smart you are or how good you are at what you do, there's never any excuse for being mean.
Anyway, we did have a nice walk back to our hotel through the theater district.

The following morning we returned to the the Strip for another once-around-the markets.

I, for one, had a hankering to at least look at all the Italian pastries one more time.

We grabbed some lunch at a famous Italian sandwich place off the Strip called Primanti Brothers,

...where the sandwiches were, indeed, wonderful.

Apparently the Primanti signature is that the French fries are in the sandwich. Inventive, and actually quite good.

After lunch it was time to leave Pittsburgh, so we walked back to our cars, then drove home to Columbus.

It was the best trip.

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Seeing The Pittsburgh Sights

12/20/2018

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...Continued from yesterday:

The view looking west from our hotel,

...which was directly across the street from the Heinz History Center.

The following morning, Saturday morning, our tour guide friend and her husband arrive at the hotel, and soon thereafter we set off on foot for our discovery of some of the good bits of Pittsburgh.
Following our guide, we walked east from our hotel,

...past bridges,

...and hills.

I never knew that Pittsburgh had such a mountainous geography.

Our destination was the Strip, the old historic factory district of downtown Pittsburgh which is now lined with markets of numerous ethnicities, shops, and eateries.

We ventured into a huge, crowded fish and meat market called Wholey.

I, for one, was most captivated by the display of pastries outside an Italian market.

Tom and I, of course, partook of a few.

After our tour of the Strip we walked back to our hotel with our purchases,

...and when lunchtime rolled around our guide drove us to the lunch destination she'd chosen for us,

...a repurposed old church,

...now a restaurant and brewery called The Church Brew Works.

The interior was magnificent,

...and fairly filled with diners.

What used to be the altar was now part of the brewery.

We got our table and our drinks, then raised our glasses.

That is to say, I couldn't raise my diet Coke because I took the picture, but I verbally joined the toast anyway.

The food was outstanding.

Tom and I ordered the Philly Cheese Steak which, while it wasn't the genuine article (nor did I expect it to be), was close enough and really good. And while our fries were hot, crispy and muy tasty,

...the home-made chips that my friend got with her wrap were so over-the-top delicious that the next time I come to this place - there will be a next time! - I'm definitely ordering the chips.

After lunch our tour guide friend drove us through the city,

...then parked at the summit of a very steep neighborhood,

...from where we walked to an overlook that offered some splendid views of the river and the city below.

We then walked to the Duquesne Incline,

...a funicular that runs up and down the hill,

...the ticket office of which is also an Incline museum.

After we'd finished seeing the sights at the top of the hill we walked back to our car then returned to our hotel,

...where the considerate staff had set out some nice snacks in the lobby.

To be continued...

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Going To Pittsburgh

12/19/2018

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Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the book is so delightful!
"Equal and Opposite Reactions"
by Patti Liszkay
Buy it on Amazon
http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa

     On Friday, December 9, a couple of members of the Panera Posse - my girl group which meets at Panera every Wednesday morning on which the sun rises - and myself rounded up our hubbies and took a weekend trip to Pittsburgh to partake of that city's holiday festivities.
      As for me, I'd never been to Pittsburgh before, but one of the Posse members knows and loves that city so well that she often speaks of its charms and had more than once suggested that we take a group trip there with herself as our tour guide.
       Finally a couple of us took her up on the idea.
      The plan was that Tom, myself and another couple would travel together on Friday and our tour guide friend and her husband, both of whom had to work on Friday, would meet us at our hotel on Saturday morning and from there begin our official Pittsburgh tour. And this, in fact, is what came to pass.
        And so on Friday morning at 11 am Tom and I and our friends set out for Pittsburgh. Our tour guide friend had suggested that we stop along the way for lunch at the Oglebay Lodge in West Virginia, which we did.

The Oglebay Lodge, nestled among beautiful hills and pine trees,

...was all decked out for the holidays.

We had lunch at one of the lodge's restaurants, The Glassworks Grill,

...which offered a lovely view of the hills as well as great food.

Tom's hot roast beef,

...my veggie burger.

After lunch we were back on the road again and about an hour later we exited the Fort Pitt Tunnel to be greeted by the famous panoramic view of downtown Pittsburgh that awaits all visitors on the other side of the tunnel.

We stayed downtown in the Hampton Inn on the Allegheny River.

We'd decided that our first venture would be a visit to the Andy Warhol Museum, as our friend had told us that the museum tickets were half price after 5 pm on Fridays.
The museum was a 15-minute walk from our hotel and so we set out walking along the river, admiring the rows of bridges that span the water,

...until we reached the bright yellow bridge known as The Andy Warhol Bridge,

...on the other side of which is the Andy Warhol Museum.

It turned out that the half-priced Friday night tickets were actually quarter-priced for Seniors,

...so, all of us being of a certain age, we got in for five dollars each.

The museum is a vast space on seven floors full of Andy Warhol's work,

...and telling his life's story.

The museum is also a repository for the thousands of objects that Warhol collected throughout his life.

We spent several hours wandering the museum - though we probably could have spent several more -

...then we headed back across the river,

...this time walking through the city,

...back to our hotel.

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Last Day In L.A.

12/18/2018

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...Continued from yesterday:
The following day, Monday, November 26, was our last day in Los Angeles.
As our grandchildren were back in school and our daughter and son-in-law were back at work, Tom and I had the day to ourselves. We opted to hang around the South Bay area for the day, starting with breakfast at our favorite Hawthorne neighborhood hole-in-the-wall,

...Mandy's,

...where the price is right,

...and the food is oh, so yummy.

Tom's Breakfast special,

...my veggie scramble.

After breakfast we drove down to Manhattan Beach,

...where the plaza was decked out for the holidays.

We walked along Manhattan Beach Boulevard,

...to the pier.

...from which we savored the panoramic views.

Then we joined the strollers along the Strand, the walking/biking path that runs along the beach,

...from which one can enjoy looking out at the the sea,

...or at the houses along the Strand.

We returned home in time to pick up one of our grand daughters from kindergarten, after which we all walked - or scooted - to pick up our other grand daughter from her school.

The school.

On the way home from school,

...we passed a yard decked out for Christmas in which one of the props was a little mail box printed with "Letters to Santa." As soon as we returned home the girls got to work writing letters to Santa which they wanted to drop into the mailbox.
So we returned to the mailbox into which the girls dropped their letters. They became entranced by a clock in the yard counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until Christmas, and so we stayed for quite a while, watching the clock count down.

That evening we went out for a farewell dinner at Pancho's, a charming Manhattan Beach Mexican restaurant near the beach,

...that was beautifully decked out for Christmas.

Then all of a sudden our visit was over, and the following morning we were in the Los Angeles airport,

...and half a day and 2300 miles later,

...right back where we started from.

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Thanksgiving 2.0

12/17/2018

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....Continued from yesterday:

During the 2018 midterm elections my daughter campaigned for Harley Rouda, Democratic candidate for California's 48th Congressional district,

...and was a phone bank captain, overseeing a cadre of phone canvassers weekly in her kitchen,

...and on her patio.

     She decided to host a belated celebration and pot luck dinner the Sunday after Thanksgiving for her workers as well as for the workers of two neighboring phone banks, about 30 people.
      The day before the diner my daughter was still pondering what she should serve. In jest I suggested another big Thanksgiving dinner, since turkeys would surely be on clearance now, as would the boxes of stuffing and cranberry sauce, too.
       "Hmmm," my daughter pondered a moment. Then she said, "You know, another turkey dinner with all the fixings really does sound good."
        So we decided on a turkey dinner - until it hit me that a turkey the size of which we'd need to feed 30 people would take a week to thaw out.          Unless we could find a big fresh turkey somewhere the weekend after Thanksgiving. Frankly I didn't think our prospects would be too auspicious.

However, just for the crazy heck of it I called Ralph's,

...figuring I'd be laughed back to Ohio for asking about a fresh 20-pound turkey two days after Thanksgiving.
    Turned out our Ralph's didn't have any fresh turkeys, but low and behold the Ralph's located in the next beach town over did: a few 20 - 25 pounders were all that were left, and they were reduced from $2.49 to $.50 a pound.
      Thus we knew it was kismet that we were meant to have a turkey dinner.
        Tom and I proceeded to Ralph's and procured ourselves a 24-pound turkey, the biggest, heaviest bird we'd ever dealt with,

...or I should say, Tom ever dealt with, as it has been his job for some years now to prepare, stuff, and roast the bird,

...while I snag the neck and gizzards, my favorite part of the turkey and - happily for me - everyone else in my family's least favorite part.
So while Tom wrassled with the behemoth turkey I prepared my gizzards to my liking, simmered in chicken broth (from a bullion cube) and seasoned with garlic salt and onion powder.

Then as soon as the gizzards were done I gobbled them up on the spot, as is my Thanksgiving tradition.

However this time I shared my prized delicacy with Pinky Poo, as it turned out that he, too, liked the gizzards.

While the turkey was roasting Tom made a couple of his famous apple pies (see post from 1/31/2014, "It Takes a Village to Make a Piemaster).

It so happened that our son-in-law had among his culinary utensils an apple peeler-corer-slicer,

...which the children were fascinated with and clamored to have a try with.

As they had a guest over for the day the guest was allowed the first turn with peeler-corer-slicer.

Amazingly, with this gadget even a 7-year-old could peel, core and spiral slice an apple beautifully in seconds,

...as could a 5-year-old.

I, meanwhile, made my signature rolls,

...and, when the turkey was as done as it was going to get,

...I mashed the potatoes and collected the turkey juice and skimmed off the fat, which is what we used instead of gravy - much more healthy and delicious!
At 4 pm the phone-bankers began arriving, and soon the house was full of people,

...and the table and counter tops were full of food.

Soon we were digging in.

After dinner the guests stayed around to talk,

...and, I expect, start planning for the next campaign.

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Bless The Dogs, The Cats, The Bunnies And The Children

12/16/2018

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Don't stress the holidays!
Give the gift of a good read.
"Equal and Opposite Reactions"
by Patti Liszkay
Buy it on Amazon
http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa

Bless The Dogs, The Cats, The Bunnies And The Children

...Continued from yesterday:

My daughter Maria's good friend veterinarian Jessica Waldman is founder and medical director of California Animal Rehabilitation,

...also known as CARE.

CARE is a physical therapy center for dogs,

...kitties,

...and even bunnies,

...who've suffered injuries, muscle or joint pain or basically any of the same kinds of problems as humans can have that require physical therapy for the recovery of a good, active, pain-free life.
CARE is a state-of-the-art facility where animals receive medically advanced treatment,

...including water therapy,

...strengthening exercises,

...and acupuncture,

...administered with lots of TLC.

It was Jessica who told my daughter about the Annenberg PetSpace, a beautiful, ultra-modern animal adoption and education center in nearby Playa Vista established and funded by philanthropist Wallis Annenberg,

...and about the Senior Pet Adoption Fair that PetSpace was holding on Saturday, November 24, the aim of which was to find homes for the older animals that were available for adoption from the center.
As there would be children's activities, free food, and lots of animals to see, Jessica and Maria proposed that their families meet at the Adoption Fair, not for the purpose of adopting another pet, but just for fun. Which, in fact, the day ended up being.

As family pets were welcome at the event, we brought Pinky Poo along.

The interior of the PetSpace was pristine but colorful and welcoming,

...and filled with tables of vendors and information groups,

...children's activities,

...free hot dog and pizza stations,

...people,

...and their pets,

...and senior animals in need of homes.

We met up with Jessica's family at the CARE exhibit,

...and after a once-around-the-PetSpace,

...and a lunch break,

... Jessica arranged for a tour of the animal care area with the PetSpace Education Program Coordinator David Bard,

...who showed us all around the place,

...and how the animals are cared for.

After our tour was finished,

...we went up to the second floor,

...to see some more of the adoptable animals,

...play on a human-sized gerbil wheel,

...then slide back down to the first floor in a big tube.

The children had their faces painted,

...then we headed back home,

...at least one of us needing a rest from all the excitement.

References
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/from-paralyzed-to-walking-this-rescue-dogs-transformation_us_5a3c637ee4b0d86c803c708a

https://www.calanimalrehab.com/news/latimes-pet-tlc-california-animal-rehabilitation-video.htm

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