OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS

MOAN, GROAN, SIGH!
THE BEST DAY EVER IS ON DUTTON HILL, BUT THANKSGIVING IS ETHEREAL!
FROM THE CRUDITES TO THE HICKORY NUT PIE....IT WAS A WONDER OF A MEAL.
THESE PHOTOS CAPTURE THE DAY, OBSERVE WFS & ALAN GRABBING THE TURKEY.
JENNIFER AND LEVI ARE SHARING BITES.
THE SWEET POTATOES HAD HAND MADE MARSHMALLOWS ON TOP. DECADENT!
AN AFTER DINNER WALK IS ALWAYS ESSENTIAL AND TODAY WAS SUCH A GLORIOUS DAY!
COW PATTIE BASEBALL, OPTIONAL....EMMA LOVED IT

INSTRUCTIONS

Please read the next three post from the bottom up~~~~~~~
hopefully, they will make sense

NEXT DAY: SUNDAY

THE CHOCK O BLOCK DAY!
We started our morning at this new, exciting little bakery on Market Street. Cake Flour. All fresh, organic ingredients in her oh, so, good, goodies. We had warm scones fresh from the oven and hot lattes. There's no seating, so we hunkered down at those outside tables. The scones were so good, I didn't notice the chill.

After that we drove to our friend Nana's for brunch. About 75 people gathered for brunch and music. Alma Gitano is a fine band....Note: George Wakim plays fantastically.

Jason and Jaxon arrived mid afternoon.

We met Marion, Mark, Jane and Dan at Varanese(good food) for our early Christmas present from Mairzey. This dear friend knows how to make her friends happy! She is always the most generous of all( don't listen to WFS when he teases her)~~~and she proved that Sunday evening!
We spent a divinely inspired evening with our friends, ending up at the Clifton Center to listen to fabulous music.
Unfortunately, moi was inflicted with some dreaded head something and couldn't breathe...this presents a bit of a problem in a quiet music venue>>>>
Last night we finished the long weekend with hibachi birthday dinner for Jason...Jaxon loves the food theater....We went to Sapporo's......Good enough for me...the boys were happy. We came home and had birthday cake. Guess who had to go to bed first?

NEXT DAY: Saturday

SATURDAY WAS THE MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR OUR DEAR FRIEND, PHILLIP COOKE AT THE KENTUCKY ARTS AND CRAFT MUSEUM.
DANIEL, HIS PARTNER FOR ALMOST 45 YEARS, HOSTED A LOVELY, LOVELY TRIBUTE TO A DEAR, FUNNY MAN.
BROTHER DAN INTRODUCED US TO THESE TWO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE.
ATTACHED PHOTO:
DANIEL MAYES AND FRIEND

TIME TO TAKE TIME

It all started Friday and did not let up until noon today.
The funniest and busiest weekend in a long time!
Compared to Dan and AE, it might not compare well...but here goes.
Friday afternoon we took a little road trip to Cincinnati. We drove up to an art show .
Meg, Tracy and Merriwether had an amazing
exhibit at a fabulous location in downtown Cincy. Sculpture, pottery and photography.
The exhibition was in Bromwell's. Right next door to Jean Robert's Pigall.
After all that eye candy, I was ravenous(we'd done a little side trip to IKEA and Frontgate~~~~)
We were steered to Jeanro's....the little sister restaurant of Pigall's.
Sara and Charlie Carr(see photo) , WFS and I took a walk in the almost frigid night air.
We all needed comforting food. It was hit and miss for food and a big miss for service.
Bill struck a complete winner with smelts and mashed potatoes. The smelts were in a tempura batter and piping hot.
Sara ordered French Onion Soup. Now this is true French comfort food. Seems a given for rich hot broth, a crisp crouton and some melted gruyere, Yes? What arrived, in an earthen bowl, was bread soaked in tepid broth.
Sara, always a smiling soul, smashed the soaked bread and ate away!
Charlie's mussels and French fries were abundant...but the dear server, tossed the whole order of fries upon the floor. After a lengthy wait, new french fries were delivered. Again, half the food made the grade.
My veal liver and vinegary onions atop mashed potatoes was, hummmmmm, interesting. A very dense slice of liver, ordered medium, arrived rare, was a mixed bag. Good veal, lousy preparation. And served on cold, cold mashed potatoes.
I give the service a 1, the food a 2, the atmosphere, a 3 and the company a 5!

WEST COAST

Just got back from California last night after flying on United Airlines. It was the first time I'd flown them since 20 years ago. O'Hare is massive, but the airlines are only satisfactory- no peanuts, I was surprised. We had some spectacular food- including dinner the first night at Scoma's seafood house. The decor needs updating pretty bad, but the food is as solid as ever. I had a lump dungeness crab appetizer that was very fresh adorned with cocktail sauce. for dinner i had a shellfish sautee with included scallops, a langastino, and some rice and noodles. This restaurant is the kind of no frills seafood that lets the kitchen and the fruit of the sea shine. my stomach or tongue can't tell if the 20 year old clipping of Joe Montana that has faded to barely legible is my eye candy. excellent.


The second day took us north to Napa Valley. We stopped at a little mexican spot called Frida's in the town of Napa. I had two enchiladas that were as good as any I'd ever had. It was a strange sight seeing racks of wine glasses lined up instead of margarita glasses. Only in Napa. Dinner that night was a little spot called The French Laundry. I really don't know how to review this restaurant yet. Was it excellent? yes ...was it as good as per se or the inn at little washington? I don't think so. Service was great, Keller was absent, there were two servers that were easily stumpable, and I am always confused at the time between dishes as they vary to 10 minutes. I will do a separate review of this restaurant in detail.


The third day was an exhaustive, yet invigorating full day trip to the south. We left the hotel at 7:30 am and first went to the Winchester Mystery House. This place is really cool. Sarah Winchester was a gorgeous, brilliant woman who had some horrible misfortunes and a medium that pushed her over the edge. So she built on her house to keep the native american spirits at bay, and built, and built, and built. for 38 years, 24/7/365. There were stairs to nowhere, windows in the floor, and doors where the first step would leave you with a broken body. we continued south to the carmel highlands where we ate at Rocky Point Restaurant. Horst is an Austrian American who has a knack for hosting. His establishment overlooked as beautiful of a setting as there is in America. The fare was a mixture of Mexican and seafood. There were 18 of our friends on this trip, and at the final dinner we were reflecting on our favorite parts, and this restaurant came up again and again. Appetizers included jumbo breaded prawns, calamari, lump crab, clam chowder, and more. The calamari was cut in strips, not rings, which showed the freshness. I had a cheeseburger for lunch that was good, but overcooked. Marilyn had a chimichanga and decided to share..... lucky me. it was excellent. Later we went to the Carmel mission and shopping in Carmel, where I found a great jacket for $19.99 woo hoo! Clay and Trevor also picked one up. Upon returning from in not so fast coach, Jennifer and I settled into our room at the ritz-carlton with a pepperoni pizza from room service. after i ordered the pizza i ran downstairs to get a whiff of fresh air and ran into Chef Ron Siegel of the five star Dining Room. He was genial and I told him we would be dining with him the next day.


On the final day we had lunch at Cavallo Point. It is across the Golden Gate in Fort Baker Nat'l Historic Park. The food was good, butternut squash bisque with apples and creme fraiche, house made fresh pastries, and another cheeseburger on ciabatta bread that was cooked med as asked. I could see the bridge from my seat, and Jennifer had some corn meal pancakes that rocked! Life was good. The next day the New York Times reviewed the lodge-restaurant-area. I love being ahead of the curve. Dinner was at our hotel in the Dining Room. Kinda hard to describe this night. When you are at a table with 17 other diners, i guess it is hard to keep up to 5 star standards. The food was pretty good, but more like 4 star level. I'll touch more on this and add some photos with the French Laundry article. San Francisco still rocks, a very unique city that says live and let live. AE

From misfortune springs

FIREWOOD!
Ike's 2008 windstorm left us without our giant oak in the front yard.
It was hugely expensive to get the remainder of the tree down. The tree removal crew came with bucket trucks and wenches.
Earl Blankenship, the owner of the tree service, and a tiny wizened guy, exhibited his great skills in tree removal.
I marveled at his workmanship.
I was amazed how quickly the tree was down in the yard and in huge pieces.
Ritchie, our trusty wood cutter, arrived shortly after the tree crew left; to saw and split enough wood for two winters.
Our Jotul stove is keeping us quite warm and cozy.
If economic gloom continues, we'll just hibernate until it is over.
We'll cook soups on the stove and wait for spring.
And we'll hope all of you will stop by to warm yourselves by the fire.
Eat some soup too!
From the expense, firewood: priceless!

STERLING THOUGHTS

I've been following several blogs lately and find them to be
very inspiring reading.
As I read David Byrne's Journal ( he is blogging his tour),
I found a passage written from Senegal about our election.
This it too rich not to share.

His words:
Rosa sat so Martin could walk
Martin walked so Barack could run
Barack ran so our children could fly.

Hopefully, this will stir the same emotions in each of you
as it passes through my blog.

FOOTBALL

well i've been getting my NFL fix the last two weeks. nov.8 i drove to Columbus en route to Pittsburgh. We had drinks and dinner at a really great bar called Frog Bear and Wild Boar. the band was great and there were a lot of nice looking ladies to talk ONLY to. The next day on to Pittsburgh for a stay at the Renaissance. BEAUTIFUL hotel.. the best in Pitt, four diamonds awarded. There are two restaurants, The Bridge Bar and Opus. We had lunch at the bar and I had an awesome crab cake, and a paninni that was cold and was not like the menu said it was. My Yeungling washed it all down. The service was very bad. We went to the game- great stadium, great fans, great music, and above all a great game. Dinner was at the same place as lunch, just sitting in the lobby though. We had a meat pizza, it was good, but the kitchen should let the patron add the red crushed pepper. Service at dinner bordered on bizarre. It has been a long time since i wanted to fight a bartender, but this guy was in the wrong place in the service industry. I almost called the hotel manager to tell them to call Sullivan Institute and fire the fat bartender. Breakfast in Opus "Iron City Style" was bad. the bacon was great and the pancakes were superb because of the syrup, but the potatoes, the Virginia ham, the sausage were bad, and the eggs were inedible. We drove home all day Monday reflecting on the game and life.

Nov. 15 consisted of taking the family to Indianapolis. We stayed at a friend of ours' house off of Whiteland Rd. He is in the car business and is feeling the crush, although he is faring much better than most in that business. He had dinner lined up at Harry and Izzy's, which is the sister restaurant to St. Elmo's Steakhouse. In fact they have the same shrimp cocktail that made them famous- woooooo is it ever hot. The names reflect the original owners of St. Elmos, which has aged 100+ years. The restaurant had a big city feel- very high ceilings with tables spoked around a central circular bar. the bar was rocking. We had 7:45 reservations. we were seated around 8:05. we did not mind waiting, but they sat us in the bat corner. An upstairs room off to itself, about 17 tables. it was full and I'm sure they sat us there because of the youngest diner in the restaurant. I guess I'll forgive them because most 3 year olds don't eat out 4x a week and go to 4 continents at two years old. So we crammed in a booth for 4- and I do mean crammed. The house wines were good, the shrimp was , well, hot- and my filet med rare was excellent for $36. bernaise was unavailable and dessert was passed on. The new Lucas Oil stadium is huge. It is nice, but the fans are better in Pitt. It was a great game, though, and my buddy had tix in a suite and on the goal line. We were living like kings. Another great game.

I'm heading to the west coast early tomorrow morning and I am dining at two 5 star restaurants while there- The French Laundry and The Dining Room. I saw some shots of food this morning that could easily be 5 star form a great restaurant in nyc that just got 4 stars from NY magazine. Congrats Cathy- Really talented chef in photos. AE

WASHINGTON SIGHTS AND FRIENDS

JEAN DUFF, BIRTHDAY GIRL AT TEN PEHN
ASEEL ALBANNA AND MOI, MODELING OUR DRESSES OUTSIDE THE FANCY DRESS SHOP!
BUS BOYS AND POETS, ASEEL'S DESIGN PROJECT...A BEAUTIFUL RESTAURANT( GOOD FOOD TOO!)
WASHINGTON MONUMENT

DR. RC PIERCE @ NIDA AWARDS CEREMONY

CHRISTOPHER RECEIVING HIS AWARD FOR COCAINE ADDICTION RESEARCH.
33,000 NEUROSCIENTISTS CONVERGED!

COLIN AT THE WAR MEMORIAL

I LOVE THIS PHOTOGRAPH.
COLIN DECIDED HE SHOULD REFLECT FOR A MOMENT BY THE WAR MEMORIAL.

Up, Up and away

We are leaving this afternoon for Washington, DC. A whirlwind of activities are planned for the weekend. The reason we are going, and a very important one, is because our son is receiving the Jacob P. Walentsky Award for scientific achievement. His research in neuroscience and cocaine addiction led to this most prestigious award. So, for Christopher and all the folks that work in science and stem cell research and any and all the other areas important to mankind~~~~~ I salute them. Being in the presence of 25, 000 neuroscientists will be awesome.
Jason is joining us there, as are Bob and Debbie.
My dear friend Jean and our host in Washington will celebrate her birthday on Saturday evening. Our Washington friends will gather at Jean's house for the celebration.. I will make Jean's birthday dinner.
I will blog as time permits....but time might not permit much for the next few days.

DINNER PARTY

Last night( Saturday) WFS and I hosted a dinner party for ten. This used to feel like child's play to me, is it age or is it really hard to pull off a sit down affair? I love doing it, but it was two full days of preparation and cooking.
Whew!
My menu was :
Appetizers: Eggplant hummus, sopressota, olives, assorted breads and chesses
Salad course:
A salad of frisee, buttercrunch lettuce, jicama, apples and dried cranberries, finished with a fennel/orange dressing.
Main Course:
Crown Pork Loin with wild mushroom sage stuffing, haricot verts, roasted carrots and Moma's cooked cranberrries.
Dessert Course:
Pear gingerbread cake with whipped cream.

A chill descended yesterday afternoon, so WFS kindled a fire in the fireplace! We thoroughly enjoyed our friends.

After the dinner party as over, two late staying guests and WFS, I went to 18th and Muhammad Ali Boulevard to a Poetry Slam. The slam took place in a predominately black area and in a black coffee house. I guess one could say we were in the heart of the "heavy crime area" at 11:00PM. We could not have been more fondly accepted and included . The poetry was delightful. It was an open mike, for anyone willing to go for it. Shy girls, shyer guys, funny singing poets, a young woman with a vocabulary to rival any ...and all delivered in fast hip hop meter. She was a fantastic poet and could deliver her poetry without any props. This was a throw back
to the beat generation, with the audience jumping in.
We had water( too late for coffee) and warm cookies(complimentary) brought to our seats.
We stayed about an hour and were invited to go on a bus from the west end to Washington for Obama's inauguration. Two tired and sleepy, but contented souls fell into bed at 12:45.
If this blog is incoherent~~~~~there's the reason.

THE DINING PAVILION

It is a complete and unbelievably wonderful dining pavilion or~~~~~~~~~~
as I have dubbed it, a very expensive doghouse!!!!
Perro, Chloe and Danny Boy say, HOORAY!
Miss Chippy turned her nose up and headed for quieter digs in the basement.

TWO POINTS OF VIEW

THESE ARE THE VIEWS FROM THE PAVILION......ONE FROM THE DINING PAVILION TO MY FAVORITE TREE AND ONE FROM THE TREE TO THE PAVILION

Volare Shines

Last night i set out from Shelbyville to go pick up my daughter while Jennifer got her hair done and have dinner with Bill and Sarah. After stopping by their house to see their lovely dining pavilion, we were on the way to 211 clover lane. or so we thought, a last minute phone call to check on availability told us no room at the inn- we wanted something close, so it was Veranese or Volare. We had not been to Volare since Veranese, so it was decided.

Mahjid was at the door, welcoming us like long lost friends, not that far from the truth, and showed us to a corner table ( at my request since my daughter had not had a nap). Luckily as dinner progressed she showed her dining experience and was a very good diner as a 3 yr old at a white table cloth restaurant.

I started off with an italian margarita ( just add amaretto a la buca di beppo) and Bill had a martini in a very cold glass that fooled both of us into thinking there was liquid already in there. Sarah ordered a wedge salad with blue cheeses and Sierra and I split the carpaccio. Sierra did not care for the capers, but she liked the thinly sliced raw beef and she ate all of the parmesan cheese before I had little more than a bite. Arugula and spinach accompanied the dish and I was so happy Sierra liked the beef, I was floating as I finished off the plate. Add carpaccio to her list of interesting foods, along with clams, mussels, and calamari.

For dinner, Bill had the linguine with fruite del mar, the sauce looked even and the sea fruit was generous. I had the spaghettini bolognese. It was good, but not quite as good as Chef Michael's from Bourbons. Sierra had a spaghetti with al dente sauce, and one big ole meatball as she called it. Sarah's dinner was the pride of the table. Her Lasagna had a very high grade mozzarella cheese that made this dish shine. I believe Bravo just got overthrown for best lasagna in town. After she had done all she could, I was giddy in moving her plate over to my place setting to imbibe in the heavenly creation. Dessert and coffee were skipped, so i gathered my reading material from the NY Times and headed back to Shelbyville with a wooly mammoth named Sarah. The bill was $127 and the service was excellent. We had 4 people attending our table like we were royalty. The upper dining room was full (around 9 tables) and the main area was Half full when we left, business is good.

This place still delivers the goods, best overall italian in town- porcini is right there, and it has a romance factor that is second only to Le Relais. Volare **** excellent

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

I was moved to tears by our president elect's moving acceptance speech.
Our work as a nation has only just begun.
I willingly accept my job as a partner in the new administration.
After all, George Bush's plan has given all of us $1,758.47( per each American) ownership in the banking world.
Barack is giving us a partnership in America for free.

LAST STOP ON THE WAY HOME

WFS finds a friend at a lovely 1813 bridge.
I added photos to match the adventures, please scroll down for enhanced blogs.
Thanks to Dan, again, for road trip photo blogging!

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

We departed Philly early this morning, weaving our way through the early morning traffic. We jostled our coffee cups as the skyline disappeared. C,A&C have a fabulous view of Philly's skyline from their 3rd floor deck. Their new home is divine and the location perfect. We'll investigate the entire city in due time,I am sure
Last night we had dinner after a trip to Ikea for some fun stuff for their house. I managed a few goodies myself. We had walked most of center Philadelphia Sunday afternoon, stopping at the Italian street market for Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches. This street food is a big treat. It was brisk and we had been walking nearly two hours. My son stood in line for the cheese steaks while I ferreted out a latte and home made cannoli. We found some seats and gobbled down our late lunch. I now understand what all the hype is about... Most likely it takes several years off your life but I surely am happy I've had one in my life...
We languished a bit listening to street hawkers before we walked back to rest up for our IKEA trip.. It was dark and late as we decided on dinner. We chose a restaurant near their new house, keeping it simple.,.. We were all pooped. Plus, it is good to eat in the 'hood. We picked L2, described by Local Eats as a cross between a Russian Orthodox Church and a Turkish Bordello. That description made our decision for us. Who amongst us would not be lured by that? We were not disappointed. This place was visually a complete hoot! Sly humor! Our server was as good as a stand up comic... Rather in the Rodney Dangerfield school. Heaving and sighing he landed zingers one after another. The food was no joke. Solidly prepared, no frippery food held up to the Local Eats praise. WFS had the filet stuffed with fresh spinach & gorgonzola, wrapped in puff pastry. We all demanded bites. Audrey had Chicken Parmesan, Christopher, Salmon and I had the meat loaf special. The meatloaf was a perfect blend of veal, beef and pork... More like a terrine in texture. Good, lumpy, pipping hot mashed potatoes made comfort food to die for on a Sunday evening. Salads and desserts were shared and very good. Dinner for five, tip included was slightly under 170.00. That felt like a huge bargain after Tangerine. L2 was fun and good and only a few blocks to walk.
Back to the winding road for me....only the election would make me sit in a car for 11+ hours,
So. VOTE.

Condolences

I am blogging from the road to let all of you know about AE's grandmother.
Please keep the family in your thoughts as they go through this very difficult time.
I will give you more details privately.

PHILADELPHIA

We're here in Philadelphia! Last night we ventured out to a restaurant near Penn's Landing.
We loved the fantastic facade of the building located on trendy Market Street.
Our choice, Tangerine, was a fine decision. The inside decor was
one of the most amazing interiors I have seen in quite sometime. Low light and candle lit walls.
We were seated in a comfortable banquette. Our server arrived promptly and continued to give us prompt and informative service the entire evening. The menu leans toward a Mediterranean cuisine. Fresh, vibrant food, styled beautifully and presented flawlessly....and timed perfectly. I had a fresh whole fish, fileted at table side and finished with butter and basil. Clean and unfettered flavors filled my taste buds with delight. My sides were fresh vegetables on a slender white plate and were five earthly wonders. I finished my meal with Tahitian Vanilla Panna Cotta swimming in anise soup and fresh figs. OMG!
Audrey had scallops and shrimp over ravioletti...Christopher had a lamb T-Bone with fingerling potatoes and WFS had Halibut over lobster risotto. Desserts rounding out our table were: Baklava..and the trio of ice cream, salted caramel, butternut squash and pistachio.
After our meal WFS and Colin went to Penn's Landing to a Haunted Ship tour. The squeals from the ship were great fun as pirates and such roamed the deck!
Are you ready to move to Philly or at least visit soon?
We've only just begun..... today is ready to unfold.

Room with a view; Rocky Gap State Park, Maryland

Room with a view

last night we stopped in Maryland. We found a very cool resort(WFS & moi in a resort!):-D. This one was located in Rocky Gap State Park and is situated right on the edge if a lake, with mountains on all sides. We dropped our jammies in the room and headed out on a two mile walk around the lake.... Dusk was falling in..... On the way, we found an avairy for wounded owls and hawks.... It was so amazing. They were roosting for the evening. Their home, deep in the forest, was contained but very much like being in the wild. We walked on and found a little footbridge leading across an inlet of the lake... We stopped. We were transfixed by the incredible night sounds and the patterns of ducks making V's across the water.... Our reverie was broken by an elderly black man trudging home from a day of fishing. The three of us visited for a bit while he cleaned his bait bucket.
Lest you, dear reader, should be lured into this idyllic evening ending here... I will give you balance...
We went to the resort for dining. It was a sea of Halloween Sweatshirts and a huge seafood buffet. If this needs further comment, you probably don't need nor want my point of view. If not, then you already know this is not my cup of tea!
Redemption in Philly tonight.