VISITING IRISHMAN

My grandson and his wife recently celebrated their first wedding annivesary.  WITH A TRIP TO IRELAND!  As SWMBO commented "that's what young people can do if they put off having a family!"  From all the pictures I've seen, they had a great time, even though they apparently rented a car and were seen driving on the wrong side of the road!

All of which gives me an excuse to post this picture of said grandson.

I particularly like this one because someone, presumably his wife, caught him without his characteristic smirk.  It's a thoughtful pose of a young man looking out to sea.  I could weave a whole story about an Irish lad imagining what his life might become in America.  But since this lad was born in Phoenix and grew up in Colorado I think I'll just leave well enough alone.

By the way, his name is Russell but born, as he was, with bright red hair I've always called him Rusty.  The red seems to have disappeared from the top of his head but still clings to his beard.

MACARONS VS. MACAROONS

Yes, folks, there is a difference.

Macarons (pronounced: ma-ca-rones) are not the same cookie as macaroons (pronounced: ma-ca-roons.)

Macaroons have been a part of American cookie cookery for decades. They are made by folding shredded coconut into a base of egg whites and sugar whipped until very stiff.  The batter is then dropped onto a baking sheet by spoonsful and baked into a little haystack.  They may be dipped in chocolate once baked.

Macarons come to us from fine French patisseries.  It starts off the same way as macaroons with egg whites and sugar whipped until stiff. But then a combination of powdered sugar and almond flour (or finely ground almonds) is folded into it.  The resulting batter is then piped into exact circles and the tops of half of them gently smoothed with a finger dipped in water.  Once baked, the tops and bottoms are combined in a sandwich with a flavored buttercream inside.  By the way, the cookies are even more elegant if the dough is colored with food coloring to match the flavor of buttercream . . yellow for lemon, green for mint, etc.  SWMBO found that chilling the sandwich cookies helped to set up the buttercream a bit.

This was her first attempt and they're not perfect by French standards but they're pretty darned good and she learned a few things about making them.

They're a little crunchy, a little chewy and a lot delicious!

SATURDAY

It was a bit early but the Mesa Arts Center hosted a big Day of the Dead fiesta today.

SWMBO declined to attend, given as she is to an aversion to all of the skulls and skeletons present at these events.  Plus she wanted part of a day with the kitchen to herself as she tackled her first macarons. She learned a few things but I can attest that they are delicious and seem properly both crunchy and chewy.

But back to the celebration.  In Mexico, it is a three-day celebration. On October 31st (All Hallows Eve) children make an alter to invite the spirits of dead children back for a visit.  On November 1st, all of the spirits come for a visit on All Spirits Day.  November 2nd is All Souls Day, when families of the departed go to cemeteries to decorate their ancestors' graves.  Marigolds, photos of the dead relatives, perhaps some of their favorite foods and drink are brought and it frequently develops into an hours-long picnic.

At today's early celebration, faces were painted like skulls and skeletons and many other types of skulls were everywhere.

Unlike the American Halloween the depictions of skulls and skeletons are not intended to frighten but to remember and celebrate the relatives who have gone on before us.

The Arts Center did a marvelous job of decorating it's buildings and grounds for the festival.

As at any Mexican celebration there is an abundance of color, beautiful costumes, music and dancing.

The youngest dancers gathered at the side of the stage to watch their mentors.

Here are a couple of videos of what they saw and heard.

As I turned to go, I was struck by the look of intense concentration on the face of this nina. 

 She seemed lost in a world of dreams as she watched the adults dancing, thinking perhaps of the day when she would be an adult and . . like them . . still dancing and bringing joy to the rest of us.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

Curiously enough, all of my Friday Funnies this week come from "someecards".  I think the first one is my favorite.

This next one may not be so funny but I found it worth using anyway.

And finally, one that's always good.

Have a good weekend!

THE CIA BLONDE

I stopped by the main Phoenix library today to hear a talk by Valerie Plame, who has a new book out, called "Blowback".  In case you've forgotten, Plame is the former covert CIA agent whose cover was blown by several people in Washington after her husband, Joe Wilson, contradicted claims by the Bush administration that Iraq was trying to buy material for nuclear weapons.  Plame today talked about the background of the case and described the civil suit she and her husband filed that was eventually dismissed.

She is a very intelligent lady who has begun a second career writing mystery novels from her new home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  She drew a fairly large turnout of respectful people today, as judged by the questions she was asked.  I only regret that the close-up picture I took of her was so blurry.  SWMBO said it must have been because I was trembling at being so close to this beautiful woman.

Update:  I just figured out why that picture is blurry.  The batteries in my camera were on their last legs.  I've replaced them.  Now, where's Valerie?

GERTRUDE'S, CACTI AND MONARCHS

So alright, already.  I had a routine doctor's appointment today and after it, SWMBO and I headed for the Desert Botanical Garden in Papago Park in Phoenix.  First stop was Gertrude's, a first class restaurant which opened this year on the grounds of the park.  It's named after Gertrude Divine Webster who founded DBG back in 1939. The restaurant has been getting raves and even though we were just lunching we soon found out why.  

SWMBO had the Sonoran Dog, a bacon wrapped Schreiner's beef hot dog, topped with avocado, tepary beans, Cotija, and tomatillo relish on a poppy seed bun.  (In keeping with his locavore style, Chef Stephen Eldredge uses tepary beans, which have been grown in the Southwestern United States and Mexico by native people since pre-Columbian times.)

As for me, I was drawn to the "3 Napkin Smoked Sow".  It was smoked pork and Arizona Cheese Company jack accompanied by cilantro, pickled apple and pickled onion on a ciabatta bun.  A red chile jus was there for dipping and, as Emeril might say, "to kick it up a notch."

Both sandwiches were delicious but the triple fried potatoes with sea salt were the stars of the show.  Yum!

So, bellies full, it was on to walk some of it off.  The Desert Botanical Garden is a wonderland of cacti (or cactuses, if you must) and native plants.  It is mysterious and spectacular, no lie.

The ones just above are said to be endemic to Argentina and reminded me of nothing more than a nest of rattlesnakes, I'm sorry to say.  Fascinating, though.

Then it was on to a special exhibit that had brought us here today: the Mariposa Monarca butterfly exhibit.  Here's a short video I shot.

And to give you a better look, here's a photo of one of the Monarch butterflies.  They were brought over from California and will live the rest of their brief lives in this exhibit space.

The native monarchs winter in the state of Michoacan in Mexico and migrate north as far as Canada.

On our way out of the park today, I spotted one of my favorite cacti.

Looks soft and fluffy like a bunch of rolled socks but I wouldn't want to get too close to those prickly spines.

SWMBO spotted what she called a Pregnant Barrel Cactus.

See?  I'm not the only one in the family who makes oddball observations!

MINDLESSNESS

I'm sorry.  

I can't think of anything worthwhile to blog about these days.  

It's temporary.  

I hope.

So.

Be patient with me.

Or maybe just ignore me.

I'll be back.

Some day.

YES IT IS. FRIDAY AGAIN.

Poor doggie!

This next one is from cartoonist Gary Varvel of the Indianapolis Star.

Interesting comment on the week's news, eh?

You might take this next one as a similar comment, if you like.

And finally, turn up your sound for this next one.  It's pretty darn remarkable.  The crew on board the Bourbon Peridot off the coast of Equatorial Guinea in West Africa takes their turn at lip-synching "Africa" by Toto.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

CORRECTION TO AN EARLIER POST

Awhile back when writing about my o-o-o-l-d friend, Karl Kindberg, I made a couple of errors, he was prompt to inform me yesterday.  First of all, he has NOT had two hip replacements and one knee replacement.  He has had ONE hip replacement and TWO knee replacements.  Second of all, when he was a cast member on the Ozzie and Harriet Show his name was not "Biff", as I stated.  It was "Dink", he told me.  Now if those were the two choices, I think I'd let history believe it was Biff.  But that's his affair.

I don't think I made any other errors but I'm sure "da guys" will let me know if I did.

Let's see, what other trouble can I get into.  Oh, yeah.

By the way, the Houston Chronicle in an editorial today, apologized for endorsing Cruz for the Senate a year ago.

Meantime in the baseball playoffs the National League teams St. Louis and Los Angeles will return to St. Louis for the final one or two games. The Cardinals lead the best of seven series 3 games to 2.  They won both games one and two on their home field.

I hope the rest of your week is pleasant.

MORE GEEZERS

I know, I know, you're all tired of hearing about my o-l-d buddies from years back.  But listen here.  It's my blog and I'll put anything on it that I like.  So here's a picture of four old geezers taken just this afternoon.

All four are graduates of KPNX-TV in Phoenix.  They are, from left to right, the Legendary Lew Ruggiero, the Studly Steve Torbeck, King Karl Kindberg, and your not-so-humble-correspondent.

As has been noted elsewhere, only Lew had the good sense to wear long pants.  

The occasion was a gathering at Karl's house to encourage him, after his recent knee transplant surgery, not to take his own life . . . in spite of, now, two knee surgeries and one hip transplant.  Let's face it . . . the man is bionic!

But enough about them.  Take a look at my grandson and his wife, who are ON VACATION IN IRELAND!!!  (How do these kids get their money, anyway?)

Kayla, with her fair skin and that head of red hair, and Rusty, with that red beard, truly look like a couple of real Irish-folk.  Actually, I don't know if either one of them have a drop of Irish blood but they certainly won't have to beg for a free bottle of Guiness in Ye Olde Country.

And finally, just to set the Bug's mind at ease about rabbit pie . . . a photo of My Favorite Bunny, still hopping along that bunny trail.

That's all.  G'nite, folks.

MOVING RIGHT ALONG NOW

One morning in my back yard recently, there was a . . .

. . . bunny!

He may have been after this . . .

. . . but it was inside, safe on the dinner table.

So . . . a bit of InterWebs philosophy . . .

GREEK HERITAGE

Neither SWMBO nor I are of Greek ancestry, at least not that we know, but we can remember enjoying the annual Greek Festivals held in Phoenix in the past so today we traveled to the grounds of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral for their 53rd annual Greater Phoenix fest.

There was lots of jewelry for sale.

There was Greek music and folk dancing, performed by a talented group of youngsters.

We took a tour of the Cathedral and heard an interesting talk about the religion.  We were invited but not pressured to attend a liturgical service.

Beautiful stained glass windows inside.

And, of course, there was Greek food for sale everywhere.

SWMBO had a Greek-spiced and grilled beef Gyro sandwich.  The beef was topped with tzatziki, tomato and onion.

And I feasted on a lamb shank (a treat I discovered years ago in a Detroit restaurant) which had been roasted with tomato, fresh garlic and Greek spices, and we shared a delicious bowl of Kalamata olives.

Of course we had to wash it down with some Greek beer and I had to start the day with a shot of Ouzo.  

All in all a fun time with a group of fun-loving people.  If you happen to be in Phoenix the festival continues Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.