Irish Cooking (and Drinking).

I apologize for not posting anything in the past three weeks. I have a lot going on and I have been busy and away from any ponderous thoughts or musings. But the other night I had an experience that I thought I would share. Its roots were from the Thanksgiving weekend of my previous post. That weekend I made the plans to attend the function that I finally arrived on my calendar.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving I decided to take the family out to the mall for lunch. My daughter was in town for the holiday and it is always nice to share a meal where we can just sit and talk and not worry about the preparation and dishes. We had no special design or plan on where to eat so we just kind of winged it. We had just happened to park near an Irish restaurant. We had eaten at the restaurant before there before. We liked it.

I was kind of reluctant to eat there this day because it was Sunday and I would miss part of the football game. Oh well, majority rules. We stepped inside. The hostess sat us and gave us a printed announcement that the chef of the restaurant is now offering cooking classes once a month. Those of you who follow this blog regularly know that I used to be a chef. I had some experience with different cuisines. But I had never really studied or even knew much about Irish cuisine. This chef was offering instruction on how to cook Irish food. I signed up.

The menu for the class would start with a green salad with apples and candied walnuts topped with Irish cheddar cheese and a malted vinaigrette. For the main course he was serving (and teaching) the Irish favorite, a Boxty, the Irish potato pancake, with chicken and a white wine buerre blanc (white butter sauce). The entire evening would be topped off with a Guinness ice cream. I jumped at the chance to go and learn something about a cuisine about which I am unfamiliar.

I arrived at the appointed time and place and was surprised to see the room set with about 25 settings. Each setting was set with a placemat with four little plastic cups on it. Each cup had about an ounce, ounce and a half of Jameson's Irish Whiskey. The Jameson folks had arranged a whiskey tasting for the group. Today was our lucky day.

Given the go ahead we first tasted the standard Jameson product. Tasted great, taunted and warmed the throat on the way down. Next up was the twelve year old whiskey. Man, that was smooth. Nice aroma, and very smooth on the throat. I could have stopped right there. But there were two more. We also tried the Jameson Gold and the eighteen year old. These were both very smooth tasting. I like them both. The gold is my favorite. I am putting it on my Christmas list.

After four to five ounces of wonderful Irish whiskey I was getting kind of buzzed. I was loaded. By this time the chef started cooking and I was involved. I was drinking a lot of water and hoping I sobered up by the time the class was finished. The instruction turned out great and the food was fantastic. I really enjoyed my time. It was quite the experience. I am going to go in after the holidays and sign up for the next session. I am hoping the Jameson lady comes back.

D.

Happy Thanksgiving Day

This is my favorite of all the national and local holidays that we celebrate in this country. It is still a pure holiday devoted to thanking God for the wonderful benefits we enjoy in our lives. It is all about being grateful for our bounty and circumstance.

I enjoy the fact that we can get together with all of our family and friends and just enjoy their company. This is, of course, if we all take turns and do our separate parts in cooking the Thanksgiving dinner. I took over the turkey carving duties about 5 years ago. My dad, 79, was getting too old to stand there in the kitchen and do the carving. Not to mention getting the bird from the oven to the counter. There are just too many of us to carve at the table. We always do the buffet style thing. It works well for our family and extended family, sometimes up to 20 people.

The last few years we have been trying to get my mom, 75 to stay out of the kitchen. She has spent her life serving her family and now she just needs to relax and enjoy the grandchildren. Easier said than done.

My mom's kitchen is a big room, large enough for my sisters, my wife and I (and anyone else who wants to help) to move around and get things set up for the buffet. I like for the turkey to hit the buffet hot. We make the stuffing, the gravy and all the side dishes while I carved the turkey and transfer it to platters on the counter. It works out fine. Almost.

My mom likes her house comfortable. But she would always come into the kitchen and complain that it was too hot in her kitchen. She would turn on the air conditioner or open the window. So it works well with me that I am carving the turkey under an open window. I would feel rushed to get the turkey onto the platters while it is hot. Well, it added to my stress. So this year I came up with another option.

When I was working as a cook at a world class resort and casino in Lake Tahoe I remembered one night we deboned a duck for one of our dinner specials. So this year I was looking for a way to quickly carve the turkey. I remembered the deboning of the duck. I practiced two weeks ago with a small chicken. Boy that was easy. I thought, no problem, this will work out well.

So, last night we went over to my parents house and I deboned a 20 pound turkey. My wife brought dinner and we made an evening of it. After dinner I set about to debone the turkey. I laid out a towel, the cutting board, sharpened my knives, and readied my pans. I deboned the bird at the edge of the table as I had an audience sitting around the table. It proved to be more difficult than the little chicken.

I won't go into details about how to debone a turkey (I did a google search for it). But I was glad I had a sharp knife and the patience. It took me about 45 minutes to complete the job. But I think it went very well. I shall have to update this post later to let you all know how the meal turned out.

UPDATE, Friday, November 27:
The meal turned out ok. I had my dad stuff the bird and put it in the oven sometime in mid morning. We like to eat about 2PM so I figured about 3 hours for cooking.

I probably should have tied the bird together because as it cooked the juices mingled with the stuffing, the stuffing turned to mush and fell out of through the turkey holder rack in the bottom of the pan. I bought the rack last year because it was extremely difficult to lift the bird from the pan and this one had good handles. So the turkey was sitting in about an inch or two of soggy dressing. And since it drained from the cavity the breast collapsed and it didn't look pretty. Oh well, live and learn. The next time will be different. We will try it again in a few years.

D.

Weekend Stuff

It's another Saturday night (what a great song that was). My wife and I are watching all the shows we taped during the week and didn't get around to watching. I spent the day trying to set my office up and I even re-upholstered an old office chair. Well, I stripped off the old material and I was going to re-upholster it with some old material I had laying around the house (an old pair of jeans or an old shirt). My wife said she would stop and get some new material from the fabric store. I was hoping to get it all done rather cheaply. And then, I ran out of staples. I am not much of a handyman so maybe I was looking for an excuse not to finish it. But I have to get some tomorrow.

But now we are watching all the shows we taped this week. We are homebodies. We don't drink or party much. So we stay home and relish each others company. I have a great family. I have a great wife. We get along great and we enjoy each others company. We took a walk together tonight and we shall spend tomorrow together shopping and watching football. What a life.

So that is our weekend. But we have fun.

D.

Come to Me

If ever lives were destined
Ours were of the fate.
Hoping to be entwined
We wound up separate.

Time was all you asked for
From one such as me,
But my impatience was at war
With my loyalty.

Compassion from the heart
Forgiveness from the soul,
Despair is just a state of mind
With no place to go.

Come to me, my lover lost
And soothe the heart that yearns
Before I die old and gray
The oldest man that learns.

By David R. Normand, Copyright 1979, 2009

NOTE: I wrote this when I was seventeen. Long time ago. People have asked me to post more poems, so, since I don't write much anymore, I had to dig this one out of the old paper files of my old, unpublished manuscript. Yellowed paper, dusty, and long forgotten emotions. I dig up old wounds and find that the healing is accomplished.

D.

When I Go.

This is my all-time favorite song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imf2GYV0xNo


Very well done.

A World Away

Somewhere in China,
There's a poet just like me.
Struggling with who he is,
Longing to be free.

Does he write his poems down
With a pencil or a pen,
Or does he dip a quill in ink,
Like countless other men?

Does his poetry speak to others,
Or is that secret his?
Do others know his passion,
Or must he keep it hid?

Do they speak of freedom,
In the town where he lives?
Can he dream of having
A life that is only his?

C. 2007 D. Normand

polished cutlery - a writing prompt (exercise).

The cutlery was sharpened and polished. His boss had been after him for weeks now to come up with some new menu item; and item that would bring great attention to the restaurant. Day after day, night after night. The same old thing. "Give me something new; something wild. We need to be famous.

If famous was what he wanted, famous is what he would get. His boss came in that night. Said the same thing, "give me something new, something exciting, something to get my blood flowing." And the chef grabbed his newly sharpened and polished cutlery and sliced through the vegetables and herbs that would become the basis for his new and exciting menu creation. This was just the beginning. And the dish would become famous.

D.

NOTE: I gave myself a writing prompt. The idea was to take a thought and write two pages from it. I got two paragraphs. My concentration is shot. My next project is to create a recipe that can go along with this. Now that is a challenge.

gecko

I was paying bills today and had the television on in the background. I noticed a commercial with that annoying green gecko. The story caught my ear and I started watching.

The story was that the gecko walks into his boss's office because the boss wanted to see him. The boss starts talking about trust. He steps out from behind his desk and starts to do an exercise on trust. This exercise is where one participant trusts that the other participant will catch him as he falls backward. I looked and saw the boss, towering over the gecko and he started to fall backwards.

I was thinking "great, what a perfect way to get rid of this gecko." And then they cut away. They don't tell you what happened to the gecko. I can only hope.

D.

Some Thoughts for a Saturday Night.

I can't swim...very well. I watched the news today about disabled vets learning to water ski (among other things). I just don't like the water.

I can’t read anymore…too much going on. My concentration is shot. I have a household full of books. Tonight on the news was a story about books. They are obsolete. The new method is the "kindle", among others. I should feel good, I can't read (mostly don't have much time) and books are going obsolete. I won't be missing something.

I don't do much around the house anymore. Just not important and I am too tired. Truthfully, I never learned how. I never really liked it, anyway.

I am a poet...in a world where no one reads poetry anymore. What is a person to do? Just keep plugging on I guess.

D.

A little poem for today:

I smiled as you went by,
our hands gently touched.
I let out an audible sigh,
I know, it wasn't much.

D. Normand.

Today

Today was such an awesome day. I am going to do it all over again tomorrow. Such beautiful thoughts, so many emotions, so much joy. Things are going well.

I hope your experiences are as joyful and fulfilling as mine have been. It is wonderful to be involved.

D.

You Go Luc.

I recieved an e-mail from my sister tonight. My twelve year old nephew is achieving some national recognition. He is a very accomplished viola player and now, my sister tells us that:

Lucas was nominated last Spring to attend the Junior National Young Leaders Conference this Fall in Washington, D.C. He will be representing his school and attending the conference from Saturday, September 26 –Thursday, October 1. Lucas is very excited about this trip and feels honored to be a part of it.

A little background on the Conference: “the purpose of the Junior National Young Leaders Conference is to honor and inspire the most exceptional middle school students in the nation, distinguished by their academic excellence, leadership potential, commitment to excellence, desire to succeed, and maturity, and to reinforce the virtues of leadership, citizenship, and democracy while using Washington, D. C. as their classroom. They will have the opportunity to meet and learn from some of today’s leaders and work with other students from across the nation”.

Below is an excerpt from the press release.

LOCAL STUDENTS TO WALK IN FOOTSTEPS OF U.S. LEADERS
Junior National Young Leaders Conference Offers Historic Perspectives

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This fall, over 250 outstanding middle school students from across the United States will take part in an extraordinary leadership conference in Washington, D.C. Themed Voices of Leadership: Reflecting on the Past to create the Future, the Junior National Young Leaders Conference (JrNYLC) introduces young people to the rich tradition of leadership while enhancing their leadership skills and abilities. They will not only understand the key concepts of leadership, but to apply them in their everyday lives…….

PonderingDave's comments. I am just so very proud of my nephew. He is a very talented individual. I look forward to hearing about this conference.

Apologize? What for?

Last week President Obama gave a speech.

Once again he lied to the American people. He said that "his" health care bill would not provide benefits to illegal aliens. South Carolina congressman Wilson yelled out “you lie”. This outburst shocked all in attendance.

Wilson apologized to the president for the outburst the next day. The president accepted the apology.

While Congressman Wilson was apologizing a house committee was adding verbiage to the health care bill that would close the loophole that would give health care coverage to illegal aliens.

Having closed the loop hole, the next day congress decides to make congressman Wilson apologize (for calling the president a liar) on the house floor.

I ask that congressman Wilson not do that. What he said was correct. There was no provision in the bill to preclude government benefits to illegal aliens until the House committee put it in two days after Mr. Obama lied about it. (Has he read the bill?) Congressman Wilson has done what he needed to do. He apologized for the outburst, not the content.

The House of Representatives should apologize to the American people.

This Just In...

Scientist have found that other planets in our solar system are experiencing warming also. Hmmm... could it possibly be due to solar activity?



http://www.livescience.com/environment/070312_solarsys_warming.html

Trees

We have been walking for many months now. Always the same distances. Nothing too grueling. We have fun. My wife and I have seen a lot of interesting things. We have gotten to know our neighborhood.

One thing I noticed is how our neighborhood changes over the course of southern California's two seasons. The most striking thing I saw were the trees at the local grocery store. When they lose their leaves in the winter they take on a very eerie character. The branches are all knobby and in the early darkness of autumn they look beautiful against the twilight sky.

I had given my cell phone to my son. I could not take a picture. My wife said I should take a camera. I don't have a camera. Except on the phone. But I don't have one of those either.

I found many trees in the neighborhood. I want to capture them. I am having trouble remembering the location of all the pretty trees. I want to go back and photograph them. But then it occurred to me about a week ago that I am a poet and I could just write the description of the trees. So, I started writing little poems about trees.

Then, the other day, I got an e-mail from the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. The 2010 poetry weekend is scheduled for next March in Santa Barbara. The featured poet is Dorianne Laux. I went online to check out her poetry. The first poem of hers I found was "the life of trees".

One of the first contests I ever entered my poetry in was the Rocky Mountain Poetry Society's Joyce Kilmer Memorial Poetry contest in 1979. Joyce Kilmer is known for his famous poem, "Trees". I was selected as an Honorable Mention in that contest. So these little coincidences about trees told me that I should write more about trees. So, following are some of my recent poems about trees.

Home
"Our neighbor’s trees. Lush with thick green leaves. Thick enough to hide the 20 or so birds that live there. There are 20 but they sing and sound like hundreds. We take our afternoon walks and listen to voices. We are not smart enough to translate to English. We are not curious enough to wonder. We just like the sound, on our walks. Not so much on an early Sunday morning when all we want to do is sleep. The sun comes through the window and my wife asks me if we can afford darker curtains, or blinds. Or maybe plywood… "

Jacarinda's
"We walked in the fall of the year. The trees were not in bloom, thankfully. Purple would upset the monochrome. And as we passed under the fanning branches, twenty shades of green, darkness and light, shaded by the upper branches. A more flattering photograph could not have been taken. Green leaves and branches against a cloudless, blue sky. Pictures, photographs, moments captured in time. A tree, a breeze, a memory."

Life is full of coincidences. And someone once said that there are signs everywhere. I am just trying to find my way...find out what it is I am supposed to be doing. Maybe I will just write more poems about trees.

David
　
　

Wanderlust, 2009

Notes from our vacation (July 18 to July 26, 2009). At times it seemed like the vacation from hell.

July 22th: I sit in God's country. The land that I love. Waiting in a hotel room for friends coming to visit us. We are in Lake Tahoe, California side, south shore. God's country. Yes, but I feel more inclined to use the term "vacation from hell". I have been sick the last few days, coughing, weak and tired. Started on Saturday, the first day of vacation. I slept in the car the entire first day. An eight hour drive.

July 18th: We stopped at the Manzanar Historic Site and I was too sick to really process the events that took place there. I wanted to see it and show the kids but I could not fully take in the place. I want to say enjoy but that word doesn't some how belong in this discussion.

Manzanar Historic Site is a place dating back to the World War II era. This was one of the nine (?) Internment Camps around the country where Americans of Japanese descent were sent during the war. I am not going to debate the issue here. The reality of it was that it happened. I wanted to show my kids that fact. I think they got something out of it. I think they understood. I don't want them to agree or disagree, I just want them to know. I know K___, my 19 yo daughter, spent a lot of time reading the placques and looking at the collection of pictures. I had driven by the historical marker for the past 30 years and I think I only stopped once or twice. I am glad I made the effort this time to tour the newly opened information center. It was very enlightening. I wish I had felt better to fully immerse myself in the history. I think I shall mark this place for another stop, another time.

July 19th: We arrived in Lake Tahoe on Sunday afternoon. I was starting to feel better. Once a year we try to live like millionaires. We save all year long to be able to afford a vacation to the place or places where we fell in love. Over the years we have taken our children to 11 different states and countless historic sites, monuments, parks, and just plain fun sites. I thought that this is what I was supposed to do as a dad.

I remember my dad packing all of us, mom, dad, + seven kids in the back of a station wagon on our yearly vacation. I can name all of the places we went, all of the places we saw. And I try to show my kids the same thing. Problem is, a child's memory is not always as accurate as fact. My dad recently told me that we, as a family, rarely took a yearly vacation. But I remember...

I look back and think. But Dad...we went to... And then it occurred to me. Dad was right. We took a trip to Washington, D. C. in June, 1972. I remember waking up in a campground in Northern Virginia. June 17th, 1972. I was listening to the news on my transistor radio, one of the few luxuries that I was allowed to bring. The report was that burglars had been discovered at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel building. I remember that trip. The monuments, the Smithsonian, the Capitol. I think that trip we also made it to Gettysburg and Hershey, Pa.

Another trip we took was to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Mt. Rushmore. This was actually a family reunion trip that we took to Minnesota. So, out of the ten years that I am remembering we took two trips. And then there were two vacations that my parents and younger siblings took where us older teenagers stayed home.

Whether we took yearly vacations or not, the trips that we did take were so influential on my development that they gave me this wanderlust that I experience today. I cannot be satisfied staying in one place. I need to move. I need to experience new places and things. I have seen this beautiful country and I know there is still much more to see. I want to give that gift to my children.

To wrap this all up, I was extremely disappointed in this years vacation. I contracted a small cough the day before we left and that developed into Pneumonia on the first day, I am sure. The next four to five days I was feeling crummy. I didn't feel like doing much of anything. In Tahoe the air is thin. I think this exasperated my lungs and caused the pneumonia. I had wanted to go hiking with my son. That plan was scrapped. I had trouble breathing in the thin air. I had wanted to visit with some old friends. That was scrapped because I wasn't feeling well and I didn't want to expose them, given their own health issues. It was a disappointing vacation.

My wife, ever the optimist, said that it was enough to just be in Tahoe. I can agree with that. We sat by the lake one day, having lunch and visiting with Sacramento friends. We enjoyed the lake, the views, the breezes. It is where we fell in love. It is what I consider the beginning of my life. I shall always enjoy going there, in spite of everything else.

D.