Thursday, March 27, 2008

SPRING CHICKEN


On Weds. Liz wasn't feeling well and went to bed early. I took the kids with me to shop and grab something to eat. When we got back it was well past my bedtime (8:15). "OK every one in bed, now". Somewhere along the way the TV got turned on. Dancing with the stars was on. Penn from Penn and Teller was dancing. Tall, geeky and awkward, "mom that guy dances like dad!!" I was hooked.

It turns out that this was the re-cap portion of the show. They started with the lower scoring dancers and ended with the high scorers. One of the better dancers was Priscilla Presley. I could not believe my eyes. Not because of her dancing, but the costume or was it a costume. The face didn't move. It was like in the movie Brazil. It was horrific. What is going on here. Earlier in the week I had heard how cosmetic surgery is on the rise. I don't get it.

Last season it was Marie Osmond that people tuned in to see. She was someone we "knew" when we were younger. "What is she up to, I wonder what she looks like these days." Say what you will about her, but she put on a good show. This year it is Priscilla Presley. "What is she up to, I wonder what she looks like these days." I really am disturbed by her appearance. Why is it so hard to face reality? Life is change. Changing looks is part of the deal. I look at myself sometimes and it ugh how tired and old I look. On these days I don't think, "if only I could freeze my face to how it was when I was 18". In fact my brothers swear that my senior portrait was air brushed, so even old and tired is better than my younger years. Other times I see the age in myself and I think , I am an adult. There is not much of the boy left in my looks. This is what happens to all of us. It is a good thing. It is something to accept, no to embrace.

It seems as though everything must be new, stay fresh or be perfect in our lives. I was reading an article the other day about baking. They were talking about how to make a good yellow cake. Today it is hard to make one for a few reasons. People's idea of what a good yellow cake is, is messed up. The average person thinks that cakes come from boxes, not chickens!! The box produces a nice consistent yellow color along with the moistness that one comes to expect from these massed produced mixes that use the cosmetic surgeon's ingredients (plastics). This way the cake Mary makes will be that same as the cake Mariah makes. These cakes taste and look the way they do not because of the eggs and what we add but from the chemicals used to achieve uniformity.

To make a yellow cake from the chicken you cannot even use store bought eggs. In our quest to make everything the same the eggs at the store no longer produce eggs with yolks that give us the yellowness in yellow cake. For this we need to go to the farm and get Nancy's eggs. I tried this a month or so ago. I made the best yellow cake I ever made, I am not known for my yellow cakes. The cake tasted like when I was a kid. Flavors that seem to be long gone, but not forgotten.

The theme for dinner at the Black Bean on Friday was Spring Chicken. Spring Chicken? That is where my mind was all week too. What does Spring Chicken mean. The phrase first appeared in 1711 referring to the age of a woman. It is generally used in the negative, "she's no spring chicken". It was based on the fact that a spring chicken was a young chicken, ready for eating, originally this was in the spring.

It seems to me that we have moved away from many traditions. The art of feeding our family and friends fresh real food for one. The art of growing up gracefully is another. It is time to live more in tune with our lives. This week I am going to make it a point to watch another episode of dancing with the stars and find a nice fresh Twinkie to eat (unless I come across chocodiles).

Friday, March 21, 2008

blah blah blah

Harbinger of Spring





Oh boy what a week, a very trying week. It started with running out of oil on Saturday. I was not going to pay extra to have them come on the weekend, besides I couldn't afford the minumum 100 gallons at $3.79. So being resourcefull I did have $20 bucks on me and they sell k-1 right around the corner and naturally I have a container specifically for this purpose (like this is the first time this has happened). I did this for 3days. It was a pain but to be honest I got a charge out of doing this. There is something enpowering about being resourceful, so what if it made my life more difficult! and cost more. Oh and I ran out again and wasn't able to shave for work on Tuesday. That made three days of growth for opening. I did not look my best.



As the work week got underway the drama of living with a 14 year old daughter was very apparent. To resolve the big problem the following days would have to be re-organized, it is St. Patrick's day and Easter week. It is cold and snowy and Mrs. Roach is having a book signing, fortune telling evening at the Black Bean. My tooth hurts and everyone wants to get paid. Spiderman 3 came from netflix on Wed. Liz and Eliza are getting colds and of course the drama of being is still going on.



So much going on in my head by the time Thurs (my half day) rolls by it is over before it has really gotten started. Liz isn't feeling well. More school drama, project is due things to buy and make and business has been extremely slow. Friday can't sleep. Went into work at 11:30. Liz not feeling well (it is Friday), I was suddenly feeling better.

The evening at work went well. Just had the hot cross buns to put in the oven and I was done. So I took a nap. Set the timer and reset the timer and reset the timer. What is that I see oh no it is sunlight oopps the hot cross buns. I got them in a nick of time well maybe a little late.

Time to make the switch and Liz to start work. Not an easy transition for her (she overslept). As far as I was concerned it was done and my time off was now mine. There were no problems. Everything went smoothly. As did Saturday and now Sunday. Spring is here, the sun is shining (it is a little cold though), life is good. It must have been the moon shifting it is all better now. Maybe it wasn't the moon maybe it was the rabbit shortbread cookies or it might have been the grilled pb&j sandwich I had at the Bean on Wed.

Enough for now.

Phil

Thursday, March 13, 2008

JELLY BEANS AND CUPCAKES

Hey. This will not count as my first blog. I will call it my first practice blog?!! The purpose of this is to sort of share who we are at the Black Bean and what we are thinking about.

Whenever I am told or asked to think about something the first thing that happens is that my mind goes blank!! That is where I am now. One thing that does seem to keep popping into my thought is Easter/Spring.

Last week Robert's Maine Grill asked about a dessert that says Easter. Once again on the spot thinking not my forte. Easter means jelly beans and cupcakes. Does that sound like a Miss America answer or what? I think that I also would think lemon which then takes me to spring thoughts green, new beginnings.

So I came up with a dessert that puts all of that together. An orange cupcake with lemon glaze coated with toasted coconut and jelly beans in the center. Not baked into the center, but the cupcake is rather a mini bundt cake and the center hole is filled with the jelly beans. This gives the effect of a nest with eggs. Liz thinks that blue candy coated malted eggs would actually be better. So that is on the dessert menu at the Black Bean tonight.

I think I will take a photo and post. Can I do that?....stay tuned

Phil