This weekend I made some typical fall foods.
Fall is a time where you may turn on the oven and heat up the house a little and it is not a problem. We have had some night time temperatures that have been in the 40's. Daytime we are up in the 60's. In just one week we have gone from upper 90's and temps in the upper 70's at night to this.
So.. no problem using the new convection ovens. On Friday night I made scalloped potatoes. Sliced with the Cuisinart, cheese shredded with the Cuisinart, and matrix from milk and corn starch with a little bacon thrown in on top.. yum.
On my walk back from Starbucks I stopped into the grocery store and bought some memphis style barbecue ribs for 1.79 a pound. They got browned first and then slow roasted with some barbecue sauce. I made some homemade cole slaw to go with it. Pretty yummy.. wish you were here to chow down..
In case you missed it. Both Bay Area football teams got blown out in the fourth quarter. What a waste of time!
Grades are due this week.. and so are a couple of IEPs that I am responsible for the paperwork.
Sue is getting infussed on Wednesday for bone growth. It is done over where the cancer folks get theirs. They often have bone density issues too. I am taking off the day just in case.
Thursday we are back at the negotiation table. We have a new team with four returning members and three new members. It will be a real education for the new members. Two of them have learned a lot of theory down in LA this summer and one did not get a chance to even get the theory. One of the members was on the team 4 years ago and is getting a chance to come back on. She is on the citizen's planning commission of Livingston.
: ) Pat
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sunday, an Ordinary Father's Day at Starbucks
Early Sunday morning, Dads are bringing their little kids to Starbucks. This week there were three small families of small kids that arrived with dad to get Sunday breakfast and drinks with a drink to head home for Mom.
It is interesting to see how they interact with the Starbucks set up. My walking distance Starbucks is designed on the small plan by daughters inform me. There is just one major sit down area. There is one table indoors as you first come in, but many more past the coffee bar fulfillment area.
One little group of three with their Daddy, two boys and one girl decided the place to be was under the handicapped table. As dad greeted his friends, they all took spots under the table. When their dad noticed them there, he politely ordered them out, The came out without a fuss. The oldest girl of the group was about 6. The others, a boy about 5 and the other girl about 4 thought that it was great fun.
The oldest girl was the one to go the bar and get mommie's treat, as dad put it, a grande vivano. She walked up and retrieved the Vivaano, When the group was ready to leave the pastries and the drinks were too much for her to carry out by herself. She enlisted her sister and brother to help her out by gesture. They complied without a fuss.
I also noticed that several more kid and daddy groupings were in the grocery store. All were well behaved and actually "helping". when I picked up some things the morning. No mom in sight.. she shouldn't have to be there.. its Sunday morning..
: ) Pat
It is interesting to see how they interact with the Starbucks set up. My walking distance Starbucks is designed on the small plan by daughters inform me. There is just one major sit down area. There is one table indoors as you first come in, but many more past the coffee bar fulfillment area.
One little group of three with their Daddy, two boys and one girl decided the place to be was under the handicapped table. As dad greeted his friends, they all took spots under the table. When their dad noticed them there, he politely ordered them out, The came out without a fuss. The oldest girl of the group was about 6. The others, a boy about 5 and the other girl about 4 thought that it was great fun.
The oldest girl was the one to go the bar and get mommie's treat, as dad put it, a grande vivano. She walked up and retrieved the Vivaano, When the group was ready to leave the pastries and the drinks were too much for her to carry out by herself. She enlisted her sister and brother to help her out by gesture. They complied without a fuss.
I also noticed that several more kid and daddy groupings were in the grocery store. All were well behaved and actually "helping". when I picked up some things the morning. No mom in sight.. she shouldn't have to be there.. its Sunday morning..
: ) Pat
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Tri Tip the New Fundraiser
It seems that every club on the high school campus is having a tri tip dinner.
The originators, the FFA A(Future Farmer of America) put a on a pretty good 8 dollar dinner. It includes salad, beans and a roll.
The band decided to do exactly the same thing this year. They are going to march in the Tournament of Roses (the Rose Bowl parade) so they had a 10 dollar a plate tri tip dinner.
The football team tried something a little different. They had uniforms to pay for. They advertised a dinner to feed four. It had a whole tri tip, a bag of salad, a clamshell of rigatoni, and a two liter of soda for 25 dollars.
I bought two tickets from the band. I used them and we had a great dinner. I bought one ticket from the FFA, and promptly forgot the date so they had the benefit of the unfulfilled ticket.
The football team one started out as a fiasco. I lined up with my fellow dinners in our cars since it was a drive through dinner (little cleanup needed since all you have to do is clean up the kitchen or the outdoor barbeque when done). The line was getting longer the longer I waited. I think the organizers did not think that that many people would actually show up and make them come through with the dinners that they bought. When they got to me they were totally out. They were mostly out the whole evening.
On Sunday the lady that gave me the rain check called and left the message on the answering machine that the fulfillment of the rain check would be on Wednesday night. So I arrived for the fulfillment of the trip tip dinner. They were waiting for the people to arrive. Four ladies with multiple bags of dinners were waiting to "service" the cars that arrived. Several "fathers" were their too. It looked like the cooking was long ago completed.
They apologized and offered an extra rigatoni serving because they had extra. I took it and gave it to my neighbor across the street. He was pleased because he wasn't sure what he was going to cook that night.
We had a couple of really nice meals from the set. The meat had both well cooked parts and rare parts. The salad was a "bagged type" but they through in an Italian dressing. The rigatoni was very good. Overall it was a great deal. 4 plus meals (Sue had a sandwich for lunch) for a 25 dollar contribution.
: ) Pat
The originators, the FFA A(Future Farmer of America) put a on a pretty good 8 dollar dinner. It includes salad, beans and a roll.
The band decided to do exactly the same thing this year. They are going to march in the Tournament of Roses (the Rose Bowl parade) so they had a 10 dollar a plate tri tip dinner.
The football team tried something a little different. They had uniforms to pay for. They advertised a dinner to feed four. It had a whole tri tip, a bag of salad, a clamshell of rigatoni, and a two liter of soda for 25 dollars.
I bought two tickets from the band. I used them and we had a great dinner. I bought one ticket from the FFA, and promptly forgot the date so they had the benefit of the unfulfilled ticket.
The football team one started out as a fiasco. I lined up with my fellow dinners in our cars since it was a drive through dinner (little cleanup needed since all you have to do is clean up the kitchen or the outdoor barbeque when done). The line was getting longer the longer I waited. I think the organizers did not think that that many people would actually show up and make them come through with the dinners that they bought. When they got to me they were totally out. They were mostly out the whole evening.
On Sunday the lady that gave me the rain check called and left the message on the answering machine that the fulfillment of the rain check would be on Wednesday night. So I arrived for the fulfillment of the trip tip dinner. They were waiting for the people to arrive. Four ladies with multiple bags of dinners were waiting to "service" the cars that arrived. Several "fathers" were their too. It looked like the cooking was long ago completed.
They apologized and offered an extra rigatoni serving because they had extra. I took it and gave it to my neighbor across the street. He was pleased because he wasn't sure what he was going to cook that night.
We had a couple of really nice meals from the set. The meat had both well cooked parts and rare parts. The salad was a "bagged type" but they through in an Italian dressing. The rigatoni was very good. Overall it was a great deal. 4 plus meals (Sue had a sandwich for lunch) for a 25 dollar contribution.
: ) Pat
First Rain, First Pomegranate
Last weekend we had the first rain of the season,
We had a meteorologist from a local TV station come to our high school one morning. A number of classes were able to set aside the curriculum and listen to his speech.
He said that we are a "Mediterranean" climate. We share the same climate and rain pattern as those countries that border the Mediterranean Sea in Europe. Specifically we have rain only in the Fall Winter and Spring. The highs and lows are not extreme within the season, Only 20 percent of the World has our climate conditions.
I think that that is why my brother-in-law Reza who grew up in Iran appreciates our climate.
I harvested our first pomegranate this week. Most of it was very red but some of it was white. I think that they get their brilliant red color after they are ripe for a period of time. This one had started to crack its skin. This is a sure sign that it needs to be harvested. It was good. It take serious time to eat a pomegranate. Each layer must be peeled and carefully exposed. The white connective tissue has a different flavor but is usually discarded. Eat the seeds!
: ) Pat
We had a meteorologist from a local TV station come to our high school one morning. A number of classes were able to set aside the curriculum and listen to his speech.
He said that we are a "Mediterranean" climate. We share the same climate and rain pattern as those countries that border the Mediterranean Sea in Europe. Specifically we have rain only in the Fall Winter and Spring. The highs and lows are not extreme within the season, Only 20 percent of the World has our climate conditions.
I think that that is why my brother-in-law Reza who grew up in Iran appreciates our climate.
I harvested our first pomegranate this week. Most of it was very red but some of it was white. I think that they get their brilliant red color after they are ripe for a period of time. This one had started to crack its skin. This is a sure sign that it needs to be harvested. It was good. It take serious time to eat a pomegranate. Each layer must be peeled and carefully exposed. The white connective tissue has a different flavor but is usually discarded. Eat the seeds!
: ) Pat
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Tesuque Pottery
I was looking at a book with some references to Tesuque pottery designs. The library in Merced has a wonderful book with different designs from different tribes. The Tesuque designs interested me.
The Tesuque are a Pueblo tribe north of Santa Fe. They have pottery that represents the rain God and dove or bird like pots with a rain God type of motif worked into it. The major proliferation of the clay Rain Gods occurred when a trader noticed its relationship to the famous Kikopelli, the pipe playing symbol. The main problem was that the rain God elements emphasized phallic segments. These needed to be removed or modified to make the little ceramic rain Gods more salable to the tourists. This modification occured around the turn of the century when Indian artifacts became a tourist industry.
These little terra cotta turn of the century pieces are continuing to go up in price even though they were not very authentic.
The designs on the bowls however, are more authentic and represent a different design constraint. I am looking at these for a border for one of my next paintings. I need a painting that will go with the gold in my bathroom. This may be it.
If you have a chance fire up that Google and take a look at the design that the Tesuque use in their art work.
: ) Pat
The Tesuque are a Pueblo tribe north of Santa Fe. They have pottery that represents the rain God and dove or bird like pots with a rain God type of motif worked into it. The major proliferation of the clay Rain Gods occurred when a trader noticed its relationship to the famous Kikopelli, the pipe playing symbol. The main problem was that the rain God elements emphasized phallic segments. These needed to be removed or modified to make the little ceramic rain Gods more salable to the tourists. This modification occured around the turn of the century when Indian artifacts became a tourist industry.
These little terra cotta turn of the century pieces are continuing to go up in price even though they were not very authentic.
The designs on the bowls however, are more authentic and represent a different design constraint. I am looking at these for a border for one of my next paintings. I need a painting that will go with the gold in my bathroom. This may be it.
If you have a chance fire up that Google and take a look at the design that the Tesuque use in their art work.
: ) Pat
Monday, October 6, 2008
In the Joke
Sometimes I feel like I am the character in my dad's joke:
A man with a pickup truck was driving through the residential part of a city.
Every time he came to a stop sign he got out of the truck and went around and smacked the sides of his pickup truck.
After the third time that he did this, the driver who happened to be following behind stopped the man and asked him what he was doing.
The man replied," I have 200 chickens and only cages for 100. I need to keep half of them flying for this to work."
Such is life.. keep those chickens flying
: ) Pat
A man with a pickup truck was driving through the residential part of a city.
Every time he came to a stop sign he got out of the truck and went around and smacked the sides of his pickup truck.
After the third time that he did this, the driver who happened to be following behind stopped the man and asked him what he was doing.
The man replied," I have 200 chickens and only cages for 100. I need to keep half of them flying for this to work."
Such is life.. keep those chickens flying
: ) Pat
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Midnight Hockey
Wednesday night last week in the middle of the night I heard the screech scratching on the hardwood floors. It continued until 3 am.
On most nights its just the cats rolling around and having a wrestling match or two. This night it was a strange scraping around. Sometimes Georgie, the white mannx batts around straws. I thought to myself.. yep he has a straw.. back to sleep.
In the morning I was getting ready to go to school and my Wayne Gretzky cat had used my glasses as a hokey puck and glasses were no where to be found..
I looked everywhere. Finally in the heat of having to leave for school, I gabbed an old pair in my desk drawer.. I don't know how many years ago's prescription...and off I went. They are aviator style glasses. At my prescription level they are pretty heavy. I can still see very will with them. In fact I think that they are a bit strong.
My students in the morning classes noticed right away. The afternoon classes.. no response. Some of my morning students felt they were an improvement.. booo.
The glasses are still among the missing.. despite my scouting efforts.. I hope they are not out in the garage.. : (
Pat
On most nights its just the cats rolling around and having a wrestling match or two. This night it was a strange scraping around. Sometimes Georgie, the white mannx batts around straws. I thought to myself.. yep he has a straw.. back to sleep.
In the morning I was getting ready to go to school and my Wayne Gretzky cat had used my glasses as a hokey puck and glasses were no where to be found..
I looked everywhere. Finally in the heat of having to leave for school, I gabbed an old pair in my desk drawer.. I don't know how many years ago's prescription...and off I went. They are aviator style glasses. At my prescription level they are pretty heavy. I can still see very will with them. In fact I think that they are a bit strong.
My students in the morning classes noticed right away. The afternoon classes.. no response. Some of my morning students felt they were an improvement.. booo.
The glasses are still among the missing.. despite my scouting efforts.. I hope they are not out in the garage.. : (
Pat
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