Atlanta Trip

I am really getting excited to see the baby He is so cute and cuddly. And that Gabe, such a Daddy.( Can you imagine Pop Pop being that involved? ) It made him seem more real when I saw the moving pictures. He is adorable even if he does have a weird name :-).


If it weren't for David Sedaris appearing on Sunday, I would have changed my reservations, but I didn't want to leave Jim stranded with 2 tickets and no one that we know who has ever heard of him.


So I still plan on arriving on Tuesday and staying with the new parents. Debbie said to let her know when I can stay with her but she is having other company from the 14th to the 17th so those days are out. She also called to see if I wanted to take a cooking class with Ingrid Hoffman from the Food Network on the 9th , her treat, but I thought it was too soon to rush off so I declined and opted for another massage instead later in the visit. Such a Sacrifice :-)


Also my favorite Chef and Heartthrob, Tom Collichio from Top Chef is holding a class,( which sold out in 30 minutes,) but unfortunately it is the day after I leave. He is opening a new restaurant called Craft in the Mansion on Peachtree.http://www.craftrestaurant.com/ Deb assurred me that she would go to the book signing and get me a copy of his new cookbook.

I also promised to teach her how to make Sour Beef while I'm there. That should be fun .We are such kitchen mavens. We should reprise the old English Cooking Show, Two Fat Ladies. One of us needs to buy a motorcycle with a side car.

Baby

Welcome Baby Gustav into this world and our lives.
I can't wait to meet you in person.
You sure were in a hurry to get here. I hope you won't be disappointed.
I know you will have much love around you.
Mema

Three stories

1
OK,
2 girlfriends from my past, both married, Catholic schooled ,retired and living in Fla. One sends me an offensive E mail quoting something out of Revelations about evil and how that personifies Barach Obama. I mailed it back and asked her not to send any more political material.
Later on I received a very funny U-TUBE showing McCain changing his mind on issues, and looking very old and non presidential. I sent it to my other friend who replied Thank God, I thought I was all alone on this!! Apparently she was in a group of eight women who all thought that Palin was a wonderful choice. She was appalled. Ironically I thought she might be opposed to the Dems because of the abortion issue etc. I also sent it to the other friend, somewhat out of retaliation who promptly replied that I should honor my own request , which I did. Now I haven't heard from her at all. Does McCain believe that women will vote for someone because she has the same plumbing? She is undoing all the progress that we have made based on our merits. Apparently in Florida this tact works.

2 This past weekend was Sunfest in OC so Jim and I drove down to 28th st and rode the boardwalk train to the inlet. There were thousands of people there, live bands, lots of crafts and food vendors. We had a traditional oyster fritter sandwich, some fried clams and a roast beef sandwich. We walked around a bit but it was so crowded that you could barely move inside the tents so we rode back up the planks to the car. It was a beautiful day and fun to people watch. I felt a bit naked with so few piercings and no tattoos but I managed. Plus, it always cheers me up to see so many fat people. As my Friend Rocky would say, A humpback doesn't smile until he sees another humpback :-)

3 Jim's cousins, John and Paul Shepherd drove down for the day and went to lunch with us on Monday. Paul lives in Ellicott City, retired from AT&T and now has a home business. His wife, Michelle teaches art. John just retired from Mercer where he was a biology professor. He and his wife Becky live in Argentina although she is working in Colorado this summer as a park ranger. We had a great Mexican lunch and lively discussion. I always enjoy seeing them even though it is usually a funeral that brings everyone together. John is especially interesting because of his life style, very laid back. He sympathized when I told him about Prego in Hotlanta with cankles. He agreed that it was hot In Macon. I think they wanted to see Jim after they heard about his illness.

Whoops!!!

To anyone who tried to make the pasta salad I apologize. In an attempt to list the ingredients, the major one was accidentally omitted, which is a cucumber.

Iknow that many cooks leave something out of a recipe on purpose, but I didn't do that. Please try it again.

CORK SCREW SALAD

1 Medium cucumber, chopped (do not peel)

1 1/2 Cups vinegar

2 Teasp. prepared mustard

1 Teasp. dried parsley or 1 Tbsp. fresh

1 medium onion, chopped

1 Cup sugar, or more to taste

1 Teasp. pepper

1 Teasp. salt

Blend these together in a blender until liquified.

Cook 1 #spiral pasta in salt water until al dente. Rinse well and drain.

Pour liquid mixture over and mix well .

Add 1/4 cup oil and refrigerate overnight

Meanwhile, I voted today in a primary election for Governor. The polling place was DEAD! The ladies who were working said they expect a big crowd in November. I surely hope so.

I had my first Grandmother moment the other day when I ordered some baby clothes on line. It was just an impulse but it was also a revelation.....OMG this is really happening!!!

BTW anyone who wishes to sponsor Jim's Daughter, Joell , in her 60 mile hike for Breast Cancer can do so by contributing via this link

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/PhiladelphiaEvent?px=2394538&pg=personal&fr_id=1186&et=nhWzk0Rax3NXz-JeaV5XJA..&s_tafId=92712

Thanksgiving in September

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. The reality is that I've had a sort of writer's block, not to mention I've been obsessed with the conventions.

We had a little break in the action last night when Robbie and Claudia, with baby Jonas, came for dinner. They are in the US from Germany, to visit Rob's family in Salisbury and Claudia's Brother Joe ( the owner of Jim's Company) for a few weeks.

Robbie works for NASA and has traveled around the world extensively, been on both poles, Alaska, South America. Part of his mission is measuring the ice caps. He also invented something that has become part of NASA's equipment.

Claudia is a Master of Resolution which is the area of law that she specializes in. They live in Ravensburg Germany.

Theirs is a love story that we watched develop. They first met when we went to the Black Forest in 1995 to close the sale of East Coast. We could see that they hit it off right away, but they were very young and still in school. Robbie received his BS from Salisbury and proceeded to work on his Masters in Germany where it cost something like $100 a semester, while he was able to continue with NASA. They were married last September but with my broken leg we missed the festivities.

The Germans know how to party and are wonderful hosts. The Schanz family in particular have always kept us entertained with lots of activities and fun local traditions. We once visited a schnapps distillery, which is nothing more than a fruit tree farm where the pears and peaches are distilled. It was 10 AM and we laughed for the entire day after sampling the product. The farmer who owned the place looked like Roman Polanski after spending the night with Dracula, very scary!!!

Anyway, last night I entertained them with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, only because I had bought a fresh turkey the other day. I was grateful that they had called us as I was wondering how we would manage the whole bird ourselves. I also had a cryo-vacced pan of oyster stuffing and some gravy frozen, so it wasn't as much trouble as it looked. We had some delicious fresh corn and I even made the dreaded *green bean casserole*, and of course mashed potatoes. We also had a pumpkin pie, yes homemade except for the crust and absolutely delicious, if I must say so myself.

We enjoyed seeing them. Jim feels close to Robbie and is the one who first got him his job with East Coast and later talked him into going to college. I liked Claudia from the first time we met and we keep in touch via Email. Robbie is so upset about the up coming election that I had to turn the TV off. He is embarrassed about the past 8 years and sees how the US is now perceived by the European nations. We have lost our allies and it has affected our standing in the world.

***The famous Green bean casserole incident***

This was never a part of our Family holiday feast, but I think the Sanders liked it so the Christmas of the year the MomMom and Lou had died I decided to make it

Despite the recent losses we were fortunate to have most of the families with us. Pru and Wil, Zak & Tess, Gabe & Amy,Betty, Jim and I and our friends Scott & Jody and their neighbors. Jody had stopped by on Christmas eve to see what she could bring, so I gave her a bag of fresh beans, the mushroom soup and onions I had already bought. She said Scott would take are of it.

The next day Scott handed me a casserole and said it needed to be heated. When we started passing it around the table, we quickly discovered that the beans had never been cooked. Gabe was the only one who was brave, or hungry enough, to eat it. The beans became the ice breaker and the rest of the dinner was hilarious. We were passing plates around calling out what we wanted and hoping to get the right order back. It was a most memorable meal, and even our grief we laughed out loud.

I won't even bother to print this recipe. Come Thanksgiving, it will be in every newspaper with a coupon for Onion rings