Thanksgiving 2010

We are beginning the plans for the first big holiday of the holiday season. Sorry, I don't count Halloween kiddies. Maybe when I get grandkids I''ll change my mind about that. I the meantime, make way for, drum roll please. . .Thanksgiving! This year looks like we may well be hosting a big crowd so our plans are getting pretty detailed. For an example we have a tentative menu.
Thanksgiving Dinner 2010

Champagne

Crudités

Sage Butter Roasted Turkey

Cider Gravy

Bacon Smashed Potatoes

Sourdough Stuffing with Sausage, Apples and Golden Raisins

Roasted Pumpkin Corn Pudding

Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Mushrooms with Bacon

Cranberry Fluff Salad

Wines

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Desserts

Bread Pudding with Warm Whiskey Sauce

Pecan Pie with Cinnamon Ice Cream

Dessert Wine

Gewurztraminer

Coffee and Tea

Sound good? Well, it isn't cast in stone quite yet and a change here and there may yet happen. But I like it! We have begun a shopping list. I won't bore you with cutting and pasting that into this document but it is significantly long. Some of it as a result of the spices that we buy each year about this time. They are on sale and the old bottles that are a year or two old should be tossed in favor of fresher product anyway.

Then there are the items that are seldom brought into the house except at special times like these. For example, real whipping cream. Not the stuff in the white tub or in the spray can. Or, the materials to make pies, cakes, cookies and other sweets that never make an appearance in this house except on very special occasions.

Finally, the turkey or I should say turkeys. They are on sale and the more you spend at the store the cheaper the birds are per pound. So, we each go in to the store and in separate carts acquire the amount of goods needed to get the price as low as it can go. We always buy enough that, the bill split in two, would get us two birds at the low low price. As a result, one goes in the freezer and one in the fridge to thaw. Oh, I hear you. Frozen birds? Why not a fresh bird or a Butterball? Frozen!? Well, I've had fresh turkey and I've had a Butterball and I can't honestly tell the difference. The frozen ones, prepared and cooked right are always moist and delicious.

As for dessert. I don't honestly know why we ever make them. Hardly anyone eats them anymore. They seem to wind up going down the disposal after sitting around for a couple of days and everyone is mostly poking at the the leftover turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and, around our house, the cranberry salad. Wouldn't be Thanksgiving or Christmas around here without a couple of bowls full of that hot pink fluffy sweet and tart salad.

So, only a couple of weeks to go before the craziness that is the holiday season begins. I would miss it. I hope your family enjoys whatever celebrations your holiday season bring. Happy holidays to all!

How Rude!

I'm making a list and checking it twice. A list that is of my pet peeves in a world that seems to have lost a great deal of the civility I grew up with in the 50's and 60's. Saw a segment on The Today Show about this topic this morning and it got me thinking. So here is my list. So far!

1. People who use cell phones in public places and can't do it without everyone else being forced to listen in.

2. People who take or make cell phone calls while having a meal with anyone.

3. People who, while having a meal with anyone, keep checking their text messages and replying to them.

4. People who use cell phones while driving. Yeah, and you who are trying to get away with something by texting in your lap while driving so no one will see you and you know who you are.

5. People who get into line to board airplanes before their section of seats has been called.

6. While on the subject of airlines. . .the way airlines treat passengers. Period!

7. People who don't say please or thank you or no thank you or your welcome.

8. Wait staff who are too pushy and insensitive to the needs of the customer. No one should have to ask for more water or bread. It should just appear. The staff shouldn't interrupt you while you're having a conversation to ask you if you need more of anything or if there is anything else they can do for you. They need to be aware enough to wait for the right moment to ask. It isn't about them and what they need to get done. It is about you the customer and what and when you need something.

9. Wait staff who are too familiar when they say things like "how are you guys today?"

10. Pushy people in general.

I'm still thinking. . .

Vote! For Whom?

So what's going on? Where did this eclectic amalgam of humankind who would never have been heard from only a few months ago? Why has the Tea Party become so populist in nature? After all they seem to be a mess of folks that can't get much passed the single issue of lowering taxes. Ask many of them much beyond that and too often they wind up embarrassing themselves. So how can they possibly be being taken seriously by anybody? Well, in a way you can't blame the interest.

We elect a new president who excites the nation in a way no president has in a generation He is intelligent, can string and entire sentence together without tripping over his tongue AND we get the bonus of electing the first African-American to that exalted post. He also came to power with control of both the Senate and House of Representatives. What could possibly go wrong? A young, inexperienced president with every move giving the perception of that he had no plan. No plan for health care reform, no plan for getting us out of the banking morass government had allowed the country to fall into and no plan to save the millions of jobs that were annually exiting the United States for overseas addresses where labor could be had for pennies on the dollar. The Republicans saw their opening and refused to cooperate. Period. And so the stalemate went on for months until only a greatly parred down version of health care reform was passed and only a few of the original carefully crafted regulatory oversights on the banking industry were replaced leaving us still at the mercy of an industry that cares little for average American.

So, why would the average American be at all interested in alternatives to the same old same old? Well, if you can't tell after my rant then you haven't been listening to middle America, the unemployed, the disenfranchised, those sick and tired of infighting in congress that has left their concerns unheard. It's about jobs, stupid! These people want a job, want their home back, want the American dream back. And what do the major parties have to say about it? They continue to fight while the unemployment lines grow, factories that once offered millions of Americans a good job have closed and lie empty, rusting on the horizons of dozens of small towns across our country.

So when someone comes along who says they want your vote and they represent neither of the political parties in power, that they plan to make the government live within its means and lower taxes. Well, you going to get most folks attention who are looking for someone to blame for all their woes. Right now the in office members of those two parties are wearing electoral targets on their backs. It isn't so difficult to see. No, I can't image why anyone would vote for most of the Bozos I have seen interviewed on national TV. But I fear we are about to find out what happens when people who have taken their power for granted for too long and returned the trust given to them with too little too late. It will be interesting to see what unfolds next. Stay tuned.

Making the Cover!

Our 1987 Bayliner 3218 Motoryacht was put on the cover of Bayliner.com magazine this week.

After I wrote and mentioned that the boats on their cover were always fancy, high-speed, newer model Bayliners and never older vintage models, I received this week's edition and their she was--The Key of Sea in all her glory.

A number of folks wrote to tell me how much they enjoyed seeing the photo.

I am, naturally, a very proud papa.
++++++++++++++++++++++++

Here is a follow up on the bottom paint work being done on the boat. Here are some new photos of the new bottom paint on The Key of Sea just before she is put back in the water on Tuesday.

Smooth as a baby's bottom she is. The bumps along the bottom are through-hulls, places where ocean water is pumped in for various purposes and others are the sensors for the depth finders and other instruments. These spots were carefully checked to make sure there were no leaks and they had a solid contact with the hull inside and out. The jacks (angled metal devices) holding the boat in place will be moved so that those spots can be painted as well.

Comfort Food on a Stormy Night!

Nothing much in the house, Forgot to defrost anything, I'm hungry now! What to do?

A couple of cans of Starkist Tuna, some mayo and a dill pickle. Drain the cans of tuna, mix in mayo to taste and chop up a dill pickle. Blend the mayo and pickle on the tuna and set aside.

Open a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup. Not the low sodium or chunky varieties. Just the old red and white can of condensed soup with overcooked noodles and bits of chicken. Pour the contents into a pan, add a single can of water and heat it up.

Take two slices of your favorite bread, slather both with mayo, spread tuna salad generously across one slice of the bread and cover with the other slice. Meanwhile, stir the soup as it heats up. When heated, pour into a cup or bowl.

Your dinner is ready in ten-minutes and your setting on the couch in the front room watching the trees swaying, the rain spattering on the windows and the clouds scudding by on the horizon. Tuck under a blanket and enjoy your supper. Or, set up in front of the TV and enjoy an good movie. To be honest, it doesn't get much better.

Key of Sea On The Hard Deck!

We had the Key of Sea pulled out of the water to clean the bottom, change out the zincs and give the bottom a new paint job.

Ken Marshall and I tootled the boat the 50 yards from our berth at Squalicum Harbor to the pull out dock at the Seaview North boat yard. The trip was uneventful. ha-ha.

She sat at their dock over night and was pulled out by crane on Friday and set up in jacks in their yard.

Saturday morning Ken and I dropped by the yard to change the zincs. After a couple of field trips to LFS and Redden to collect all the different zincs we needed, we managed to get them all changed out without any difficulty.

This week the bottom will be prepared and repainted for the first time in I don't know how long. It needed to be painted when we bought it but we held off another year. A new coat of a black, ablative paint will be applied. This paint literally peels off in microscopic layers over time which prevents many ocean-going plants and critters from attaching themselves to the bottom. I chose a pain that has a 45% copper content and a fungicide both of which also resist living things from making themselves at home.

Wok And Roll

Okay, a lousy title for my newest blog entry. I apologize ahead of time.

Behold, the basic carbon steel wok. Hand forged and shaped for use in high heat situations where the foods involved are moved across the rounded surfaces to evenly cook them quickly.

The wok at right isn't ready to use yet. It's new, unseasoned and seasoning is really important to the successful use of the wok. It is done just like that black-as-the-night cast iron skillet handed down to you from your grandmother. The seasoned dark surface creates a natural non-stick surface.

To season your new wok, coat the surface with a light oil and wipe it down with a paper towel. Set the wok on a burner set on high and heat the wok until the surface begins to smoke. Turn off the burner and let the wok cool. Repeat the process a couple of times.

From this point on, never scrub your wok with one of those green scrubbers or a Brillo pad. The abrasiveness will scratch off your carefully created seasoning and you will have to go through the seasoning process all over again. Instead, use a light scrub brush, a little dish soap and fill the wok with hot water. Scrub lightly, rinse and dry. Your wok will darken and season further with time and use.

When using your wok, set it on the burner, turn the burner to high heat, pour the desired amount of oil into the wok. This will depend on the amount of food to be cooked and or the desired amount of oil you wish or do not wish to ingest.

Allow the oil to heat up, then carefully add each of the foods to be cooked in the order of their density. Raw meats go in first, along with onions, then garlic followed by carrots, celery, squash, cabbage, etc. Get the idea. Some foods will cook faster than others. You need to make sure others ARE cooked thoroughly, especially meats. Shrimp or scallops cook quickly so they would go into the wok at the end of the cooking process.

Hold on to the handle of the wok with a folded towel or oven mitt on your non-dominant hand and stir the contents of the wok with the other hand using one of the many wok tools available and that often come with your wok. I like the bamboo handled wire scoop. It lets me scoot the foods around the wok, separate items and serve portions leaving behind the high calorie sauce and oil.

Woks work best on gas burners and the higher the BTU output the better. Most home stoves have one burner with a higher output, but when compared with the burners used in Asian restaurants home burners can't begin to compete. So turn up your home burner all the way up!

What to cook? Anything goes. You are pretty much limited only to your imagination. There are plenty of recipes out there in cyberspace. Perhaps you got a recipe book with your wok. Be adventurous! Enjoy!