WHATEVER

Yesterday was a great day for contrails.

As we were heading home from running some errands, there were dozens of them in the sky at once.  I joked "Maybe Putin has launched an attack!"

Contrails, incidentally, are water.  You can learn more here.

Back home, some plum blossoms were getting ready to open to the sky.

And, apropos to absolutely nothing, do you know what a musician is? My friend, Meggie, in Australia posted this on Facebook the other day.

Sounds like that could have been written by the wife of a musician, don't you think?

DINNER AT EL GATO AZUL

We DID go to El Gato Azul for our Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday dinner last night.  However.  In spite of proprietor/chef Barry Barbe's offerings of jambalaya and gumbo and shrimp etouffee, we chose otherwise.  

"The Cat" is a small but culinarily adventurous restaurant.  It houses only six or seven tables though it's outdoor patio has room for many more and a stage for music, mostly jazz. It's still a little chilly for patio dining, though it was covered with a tent-like structure along with plastic sides and gas heaters and many others were out there.  But we preferred to be inside and were seated at a nice table.

Now I said culinarily adventurous.  El Gato Azul is primarily a tapas restaurant, tapas being small plates of appetizers.  But tapas in quantity can be a meal and that's what we chose.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures but I can describe our meal.

It began with a couple of very nice vodka martinis.  Our first "course" consisted of Mussels Cerveza (steamed with ale and herbs) and Baked Brie "Nachos" (pita triangles, warmed brie, with an apricot and Balsamic vinegar reduction sauce).  I liked both but SWMBO said she should have realized the Brie dish would be sweet and she doesn't like to mix savory and sweet, particularly at the beginning of a meal.

(But a couple of glasses of a very nice Malbec red wine helped comfort the tummies and the soul.)

Our second "course" consisted of Santa Fe Shrimp (chargrilled bacon-wrapped shrimp with a Chipotle sauce) and Jammin' Chicken (island spiced and grilled).

(Hmm, that Malbec was good enough for a second glass each,)

We were very pleased with our "meals", all of which we shared. The restaurant was busy, lively with New Orleans jazz on the speakers, one waitress wearing a bright green, sparkly skirt; chef Barry stopping by our table wearing his "fool's" hat.  I reminded him that I had interviewed him once for the radio station I was working for back when he was juggling four restaurants in town.  (Later, SWMBO and I calculated that was somewhere between 8 and 10 years ago!)  I asked him when he was going to open some more restaurants but he said his wife was limiting him to just one.

The one he runs has been a big success and we will return.  By the way, if you want to see all the tapas you can get at the Blue Cat, here is their menu.  The other side has a great number of entrees if you choose to go that route.  And if you're REALLY hungry you can begin with a couple of tapas, then choose your entree.  Just don't forget the martini and/or the wine.  Or you can order from their beer and ale menu and enjoy something like Moose Drool from Missoula, Montana, or Kiltlifter from Tempe, Arizona.

One added treat: here's a photo of the sunset I took from the car as we set off for the restaurant.  It was much more fantastic than the photo shows but still . . .

FAT TUESDAY!

Happy Mardi Gras, my fellow revelers.  That's French for Fat Tuesday.  It's a day for sin and food and drink because tomorrow begins that l-o-n-g Lenten season of deprivation before we can get back to what we all love - food and drink and sin.

Oh I guess you could eliminate the sin if you're either religious or NOT religious or older than dirt, like I am.  To each his own.

I'm thinking about trying to convince SWMBO to go out for dinner somewhere that may be serving N'awlins food tonight.  I see where Barry Barbe has a Fat Tuesday menu at El Gato Azul in Prescott featuring shrimp etouffee, jambalaya and gumbo with maybe a few surprises.  On the other hand you can find recipes for just about anything courtesy of our friend The Google.  I found famed New Orleans chef Emeril Lagasse's recipe for shrimp etoufee HERE.  So you could make it at home if you have a lot of ambition and a quart of shrimp stock.

But I'm more inclined to let someone else do the cooking and I don't mean SWMBO.  Our friend, Diane, is stopping by for an hour or so tomorrow so SWMBO is cleaning house within an inch of its life today.

Well I've just discussed this with her and made a reservation for tonight at the aforementioned El Gato Azul.  I'll let you know tomorrow how it went.  In the meantime, laissez les bons temps rouler.  (That's French for the traditional New Orleans Fat Tuesday shout "let the good times roll".

(If your Spanish isn't too good - El Gato Azul translates to The Blue Cat.)

PHOTO FUN

So, did you watch the Oscars?  I thought it was a fairly good show. Ellen DeGeneres was herself, funny in the beginning and at various spots through the show but some times a little tedious.  But.  "They" say it's the toughest job in show business so I guess I can cut her a little slack.  Folks on Twitter say the selfie she took with a pileup of the stars was the highlight.  What do you think?

What?  What?  Photoshop?  I have no idea what you're talking about.

Speaking of photos, I love this one of Senator Rand Paul waiting to go on one of those t.v. talk shows.

That takes me back to my days in television many years ago in Phoenix.  That was back in the day when anchormen showed up dressed like Paul is because the television camera never showed them beneath the waist.

(I'm pretty sure this picture is not Photoshopped.)

ISN'T THIS SUN-DAY?

Early this morning, it looked more like the moors of Scotland in my neighborhood.

But our old friend, Mr. Sun, was turning up the wattage to burn through the fog.

Soon enough the skies were clear, revealing a bit of a surprise at the top of the Bradshaw foothills.

Cropping that picture down a bit gave a better view of the dusting of snow atop the highest peak in the distance.

All in all, lots out there for this blogger's camera this morning.

AN UNUSUAL GREY WEEKEND

It rained a bit here yesterday and, while not much is falling, it is a rainy day today.  The photos though are from yesterday, beginning with a beautiful sunrise.

Later in the day some amazing clouds began forming.

As I said, we really haven't received much rain so far out of all this but it's been fun to watch the skies.

Speaking of fun, you have to watch this short video.

Post by Jacob Davis.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

It's been a fun-filled week in my state as it became flooded with news media from around the world once again.  No, it wasn't a retrial of Jody Arias.  But it was almost that big.

By the way, Beau Jack is celebrating his birthday today.  I hope it won't be like this.

We're expecting a rainy weekend in Arizona.  But . . .

I'm up early today because I have to go in for some routine medical tests.  Part of establishing service with a new doctor.

The new doc didn't seem amused when I told him I'd lived my life like a very famous man.

Well, that's it, fo . . .

Oh, yeah, you didn't think I'd forget the cats, did you?

Have a great day and a fun-filled weekend, folks!