Lest You Think I Forgot - Happy Passover...

...to all of you who celebrate it. I headed upstate on Friday evening and did not think of getting the greeting done before I left although I kind of, sort of, did not forget it was Passover's commencement at sundown that day. How could I forget in the traffic I hit while traversing NYC! Anyway, it is not over yet, it last for a few days more and I wish you a truly happy celebration of the passing over of your children by the wrath of God.

All the best,
Glenn B

Everyman's Evening Eyeful

All the best,
Glenn B

Is It Odd That I Have A Favorite Pot?

No, I don't mean a favorite variety of marijuana, I mean pot in which we cook things.

It used to belong to my great-grandparents. They made things like goulash or stewed paprika chicken in it. Whatever they cooked in it was delicious as far as I can remember, in fact I have never eaten better goulash than what Poppy used to make in it (but I must admit my wife's goulash is it's equal as is her paprika chicken the equal of Poppy and Mommy's).

As far as I know, it is pure and very thick aluminum although I guess it could be some sort of alloy. I am also going to guess that if you wanted to buy one like it today, it might not cost an arm and a leg but would set you back at least one of them. It probably wasn't cheap when it was first purchased either.

I cooked some really excellent seafood chowder in it not too long ago. Shrimp, scallops, squid, octopus or octopi as you prefer (or is it octopussies), and clams in red wine (this time it was Beaujolais but I also use sherry at times) with a little salt and pepper and a secret spice added. It was absolutely delicious but probably did a good deal of clogging a artery or three. Yesterday the wife made spaghetti and meat balls and simmered the meatballs in the sauce in that pot for hours. It was heavenly.

As for how long it's been in the family, I seem to recall it as far back as when I was a lad between 6 and 7 or so and my bet would be that Mommy and Poppy had it for years before that. It is a friggin family heirloom, I hope it stays in the family for a long, long, long time and that my descendants love it and what is cooked in it as much as I have done to date.

All the best,
Glenn B

Hmm, Is That Rotting Buttered Popcorn I Smell...

...or is it something else? That could have been the question that a movie theater asked herself before opening a door to an emergency stairwell from which a strong odor was emanating. It wasn't buttered popcorn at all but the week old decomposing remains of a woman who had died there. More here.

All the best,
Glenn B