Saturday, January 31, 2015

Visiting The Old Neighborhood - Was An Excellent Use of My Time Yesterday...

...when I made a trip to Glendale and Ridgewood, NY. First I stopped at Rudy's Bakery on Seneca Avenue but have to admit that was a waste of time. They wanted $3 apiece for Linzer tarts that I was going to buy but I just walked out the door probably never to return. That is unless she who must be adored wants them badly enough; yesterday I checked with her via a text msg and she told me to forget them at that price but today it seemed she wished I had bought some (they are heavenly delicious)..

My next stop was Queens Wines & Liquors on Myrtle Avenue. I picked up three bottles of Nurnberger Gluhwein for the wife. It's a German spiced wine and is pretty good, especially when you warm it up a bit on a chilly winter's night. It's too bad I had to pay about the top dollar I have ever seen asked for it but this is the only place I know of convenient to me to buy it. It was likewise for the bottle of Schladerer Kirschwasser, it was way too expensive but it was convenient at the moment so I got one bottle. It's for me and for whomever else will drink it with me. Schladerer Kirshwasser is absolutely the best commercially made hard spirit that has ever passed my lips.

Then I hit up Morscher's Pork Store on Catalpa Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens (part of NYC). This place is a pork lover's treasure chest. If you like smoked pork, pork deli meats and fresh pork - this is the place to get it. Of course, they have beef too (and I think even some lamb and chicken). They have everything you might want to go with your main dish of pork too like Light Lithuanian bread, dumpling mixes, Bowers mustard including horseradish mustard, various krauts, and lots of other European (German, Gottschee and Polish) delectables. They also have very courteous, genuinely nice, folks working there who are honest too. In fact, I handed the guy behind the counter $20 too much and he promptly told me I had given him the wrong amount when he told me the price was 'one hundred dollars and thirty eight' and I thought he had said $138.00. What he meant was $100.38. That was a big plus for me, it also is a plus for them as it assures I will be going back again and again when I get in that way, just as I have been doing for many years. (Now, I cannot wait for the wife to cook the schweinefleisch tomorrow, it's a fresh pork tenderloin roast - and I bought two of them, about 2.5 pounds more than she had wanted, to assure we could literally pig out.)

I made one more stop at a commercial establishment and that was at Zum Stammtisch Restaurant in Glendale. While there, I enjoyed a hefe-weissbier and a shot of kirschwasser. Then another bier followed by a huge portion of boiled beef under horseradish sauce that was accompanied by red kraut, two potato dumplings and my last bier. I was actually grateful that the bartender, Pat, did not think of bringing me the usual bread and butter before the entrée, there was so much food as it was that I could not finish it. It was so delicious that regardless of how much there was on my plate, I almost go it all down; I probably left only a mouthful or two at most behind. After that, I finished off what was left of my last bier and headed out but not toward home.

My next and last stop was at a dear friend's home in Glendale. I visited Joe Y and his mom and as a bonus for me his sister I-I-I was there (inside joke). We had a nice time just BS'ing and I cracked open the Kirschwasser for me and Joe. The ladies did not want a drop although Joe's mom tasted just about that much of it. Joe was about to open a bottle of Jack, but I insisted we have the kirschwasser and told him it reminded me much of the booze a friend's dad used to make. Joe had a shot and was duly impressed and agreed with me, it indeed tastes like the nectar that our friend's dad used to make and that he also insisted we imbibe back in our earlier years. Joe liked it so much he had three nice dollops of it. I had two small ones that I made sure to keep well below the amount I gave Joe. After all, I had to drive home and Joe was already home. Anyway, it was a nice time seeing Joe and his family, and it was a visit that was way overdue on my part.

In all, I had a great afternoon and evening in the old neighborhood. I look forward to my next visit there which I plan to make sooner than later.

All the best,
Glenn B

That's A Lot Of Bacon, Ribs & Sausage

A father and son team in North Carolina bagged a charging 700 pound plus feral hog (source). Just the thought of all that pork makes me hungry. I would have to not only buy a big chest type freezer to store it out in my garage, I'd still likely have to give an awful lot of it away.


I'd probably also have to do a good pants cleaning after being charged by a hog of that size.

All the best,
GB

On Nuking The Chinese


Which one of these two do you think had the better idea about nuking the Chinese. I love Chinese food and sometimes nuke it till it glows just to heat it up but I'll have to admit, I see some merits to the other idea.

All the best,
Glenn B

Politics Explained

Finally somebody explained politics to me
 
 
Right or left doesn't matter. It is really up or down in politics.
 
 
When top level people look down, they see only shit-heads;
When the bottom level people look up, they see only assholes.
You will Never see another Flow Chart that describes politics so clearly.
 
Once again, a hat tip and my thanks to Herr Rich M for this one.
 
All the best,
Glenn B

"Let There Be No Doubt...

Islam is part of America" were words spoken by the Great Appeaser, Barack Hussein Obama, and I must agree with him in as much as I believe it a cancer  on America that must be surgically excised without delay. He also said we are not at war with Islam and I could not disagree more.

Along those lines, here is a video that may help awaken even the most skeptical among you to the fact that Obama has it all wrong about Islam:


A hat tip to Herr Rich M for this one.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

A 100,000% Profit On A 5K Investment - Some Folks Have All The Luck



Salisbury Cathedral From The Meadows By John Constable
Someone bought the painting - Salisbury Cathedral From The Meadows by John Constable - at a Christies auction just over a year and a half ago.  That person paid $5,212 for it. This past Wednesday, the same painting, after having been professionally cleaned, sold at Sotherby's for 5.2 million dollars! Yes that is just about a 100,000 percent profit (source). As usual, the auction house will get a nice sized chunk of that sale price but the owner has to have pissed his pants in delight over that sale. I am guessing that the guy responsible for realizing it was an original by Constable, and that it had not been painted by the artist's fans as thought when sold at Christies, will be getting a nice bonus. Imagine though being the boob at Christies responsible for it selling at only just over 5K - that person could be cleaning toilets for a living in the near future if not already so (or may also get a consolation bonus from Sotherby's).

All the best,
Glenn B