Death to Nidal Hasan and the better food in schools movement?

On November 5, 2009, US Army Major Nidal Hasan, a Muslim and psychiatrist at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas, opened fire on his fellow soldiers inside the center, screaming “Allahu Akbar,” and killing 13 soldiers and an unborn child in her mother’s womb, and wounding 30 others.

While the victims were military personnel trained in the use of weapons, they were unarmed, forbidden from carrying on base the weapons many would use when deployed. Fortunately, Sgt. Kimberley Munley, a civilian police officer, arrived and wounded the jihadist doctor, interrupting his murderous rampage, but he shot Sgt. Munley three times, and just as the terrorist was about to finish her off, another civilian officer, Sgt. Mark Todd, shot him, and ended the killing spree.

This murderous attack left 13 dead, eight widows, one widower, 12 minor children without a father, 18 parents who lost children, 30 soldiers and one civilian police officer wounded.

There’s little positive from that event, other than that Nidal Hasan is now paralyzed from the waist down, and will likely never walk again.

Despite concerns about Hasan’s radical Islamist leanings, revealed when he was an intern at Walter Reed Medical Center, later as a physician in a PowerPoint presentation to other Army doctors, and Islamic abbreviations and phrases on his business card, the Army did not see fit to remove him from duty, or give him the punishment he so rightly deserved. In fact, an email from an Army investigator reveals the ugly politically correct nature of military service today: "Had we launched an investigation of Hasan we'd have been crucified."

Inexplicably, the charges the Department of Defense filed against Maj. Hasan ignored his Islam-based terrorist attack, but was instead labeled “workplace violence,” as if he had merely started a fight with a co-worker or thrown a chair at his boss. Such a designation deprives those soldiers killed and injured in this terrorist attack the benefits they are entitled to and would receive had accurate charges been filed.

During his opening statement at trial, in which he was convicted on all charges, Maj. Hasan apologized, not to the victims and their families, the nation or the Army, but to his fellow jihadists for not destroying more innocent life, and admitted shooting the 13 soldiers, and said he wanted the death penalty. Last week the jury sentenced him to death.

As one who believes in the death penalty for certain vicious crimes when guilt is not in question, in this case I hope that the death penalty for Nidal Hasan, a painless lethal injection, is set aside, as it has been for those in the military since 1961.

He deserves to live out his miserable life in abject misery, not in the glory of Islamic jihadist martyrdom for which he so badly hungers. Too bad that murderers, rapists, and others among the worst scum of humanity are treated so well when they are condemned to an American prison for their vicious crimes.

* * * * *

America’s First Ladies have always been advocates for important issues in our country. Rosalyn Carter championed mental health, Nancy Reagan fought against drug abuse, Barbara Bush worked to increase literacy, Hillary Clinton pushed for health reform, Laura Bush advocated for improvements in education, and Michelle Obama has worked to have a positive effect on childhood obesity.

Given the overweight nature of the US population generally, and that of the younger generation specifically, who can logically argue that a better menu in the nation’s public schools is a bad thing?

However, this particular effort has been met with resistance, and even outright rebellion, with school kids refusing to eat the better food being served in cafeterias, and school systems losing money on the deal as a result, and bailing out of the program.

One example of the growing national rebellion against the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which set new nutrition standards for school cafeterias and changed the way children are qualified for school meal programs, occurred recently at a contentious meeting of the Harlan County, Kentucky school board.

Board members were treated to a raft of complaints about school meals, which were called crappy and served in portions that critics say are too small. Someone said the meals tasted like “vomit,” and one parent said, “kids can’t learn when they’re hungry.”

Parents criticized the brown wheat bread, the skim or one-percent-fat milk, and the nonfat chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milk.

Where this effort has gone wrong is that it attempts to mandate through law the way kids eat, and even though the standards set by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act are nutritionally superior to previous standards, school kids liked the old food and they don’t like the new food, and therefore don’t eat it.

In it’s own way this is a citizen rebellion against an over-reaching state: the people are against the government trying to tell them how to eat, among other things.

Our government has no business doing this. Perhaps this mild revolution will get the point across. But probably not.

Responses to Hurricane Sandy are disasters in their own right

The huge storm formed by Hurricane Sandy and associated meteorological elements reminds us just how much we are at the mercy of Mother Nature. The death toll is now more than 110 and may go higher. Thousands have seen their homes destroyed, 131 homes in one New York City neighborhood were destroyed by fire, and thousands more homes received heavy storm damage. Thousands are still without electricity, and while there is gasoline at filling stations, most of them don’t have power to run the pumps, so gas lines are usually hours long. Multitudes have no place to stay, no food, water, or clothing, and it is cold there.

 

As they always do, the police, fire fighters and emergency medical personnel performed at heroic levels, however, millions of people were gravely affected, and major relief efforts are plainly inadequate, not unlike the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.

 

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, failed to pre-stage ample amounts of bottled water and other supplies nearby prior to the storm, as it proclaimed it would do on its website as part of its “lean forward” strategy, despite several days of advanced warning of the coming catastrophe. Days later, Staten Island residents were pleading for food and water, and while thousands try to survive cold temperatures without electricity and necessities, generators that could provide power sit idle in parking lots.

 

And inadequate preparation has been compounded by foolish thinking.

 

According to Politico, “When President Barack Obama urged Americans under siege from Hurricane Sandy to stay inside and keep watch on ready.gov for the latest, he left out something pretty important — where to turn if the electricity goes out,” and FEMA “told the public via Twitter to use texts and social media outlets to stay informed.”

 

Power company workers from Decatur Utilities drove hours from Alabama to lend a hand in New Jersey restoring electricity to the thousands who desperately needed it, only to be told by the local power company workers union they weren’t welcome unless they signed a union agreement.

 

As reported on the Fox Business Channel website, “Officials from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers presented Alabama-based Decatur Utilities with documents that “required our folks to affiliate with the union,” according to Ray Hardin, general manager of Decatur Utilities. “That was something that we could not agree to. It was our understanding, and still is, that it was a requirement for us to work in that area.”

 

Ed Hill, international president of the IBEW, told Fox Business later in an emailed statement: "It is the policy of this union and the companies we represent to welcome assistance during major natural disasters -- regardless of union status." Oooops! Apparently, someone didn’t get that message.

And then there’s New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who thought it was a good idea to go ahead with the New York City Marathon that was scheduled for Sunday, only a few days after the storm hit. The mayor drew a parallel between 2001 and 2012, saying "Rudy (Guiliani) made the right decision" holding the 2001 race after 9/11. However, that race was held weeks after that tragedy, while the super storm occurred just days before this year's marathon.

The marathon course winds through five New York boroughs, some of which still are obstructed by the destruction caused by the storm, and the idea of holding the event when so many are still suffering so greatly really set some people off. “All the water and blankets and food that are given to these runners can be better utilized for those who lost everything and to shelters," one outraged resident stated. Before the mayor finally gave in to common sense, storm victims who had taken rooms in hotels and motels were unceremoniously ousted for marathon participants who had reserved rooms for the race.

 

Rep. Michael Grimm, who represents Staten Island and Brooklyn, sharply criticized Mayor Bloomberg for his initial decision to hold the race as planned. “We’re still pulling bodies out of the water and the mayor is worried about marathon runners and returning to life as normal,” Mr. Grimm said. “The Verrazano Bridge should be used for getting fuel and food in to Staten Island, not getting runners out. Police resources would be best allocated to prevent looting and in rescue and recovery operations.”

 

A good bit of the problem is that people are focused on the wrong things. New York’s mayor thought it was more important to show the world that New York was returning to normal than helping the tens of thousands of his constituents who are having trouble surviving return to normal.

 

Hotel managers thought it was more important to honor the reservations of marathon participants than to rent rooms to storm victims whose homes were destroyed or unlivable and need a warm place to sleep.

 

The New York Road Runners organization that puts on the NYC Marathon couldn’t see the suffering of victims of “recent extreme weather conditions” because its vision of the marathon blocked out everything else.

 

And FEMA still is beset with red tape, inefficiency and performance issues so prevalent in federal bureaucracies.

Food Odyssey

Winter drove us out of our comfy home last Saturday, and we headed south for a week in Orlando, Florida. It is a chance to visit friends and relatives, and to go to Epcot without having to please little children.

We spent the night in Santee, SC, and ended up at Capt. Kirk’s.

It turned out to be a decent restaurant. I had Shrimp and Scallops Imperial, which was shrimp and scallops on linguine with a good Alfredo sauce, and Diane had Fried Shrimp and Dinner Grits (not exactly Shrimp and Grits, but close).

On the way out of town on Sunday we stopped at Smokey Joe’s Bar B Cue, where we both had a pork sandwich with our choice of sauces, both very good. Diane had the Baked Beans, which were terrific, and I had Sweet Potato Fries with a dipping sauce that was out of this world.

We arrived in Orlando about 4 p.m. and took the easy way out and ate pizza and watched the Steelers walk all over the Ravens at a poolside bar. Decent. Not special.

For lunch on Monday we hit a TGI Friday’s, which was decent, and for dinner we went to a Bahama Breeze, of which there are a few around here. Diane had Jamaican Grilled Chicken, Green Beans and Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and I had Tilapia sautéed in a spicy Havana Sauce and Tropical Rice. Both very tasty. Good Mojitos, too.

Monday, lunch in, but went to Jack’s Place for dinner, which was a little pricey, but quite good. Diane had Beef Shortribs with Mushroom Risotto, which she loved, and I had Jack’s Key Largo, which included a filet and a crabcake, with Asparagus. The deserts were spectacular: a Berry Martini with blueberries, strawberries and raspberries with a Grand Marnier Cream, and a Mango/Guava Cheesecake. Yummy!

Wednesday is Epcot day, and we’ll eat there both at lunch and dinner.

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Long Weekend in Myrtle Beach

We managed to get away on Thursday for a long weekend which, after driving 5.5 hours each way turns out to be not really a long weekend. We headed for Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and got there just after 4 p.m. After checking in and getting settled we headed out to look around the area and find a place for dinner. We chose Greg Norman’s Australian Grille. Now, Greg produces wines and his name is pretty well known for that (in addition to golf) and both Di and I thought he had several restaurants, but, no, he has only one, and it is in Myrtle Beach.

We got a table outside on the harbor; it was very relaxing and scenic. But the mark of a good restaurant is the food, and the food at Greg’s was very good. Di had veal scaloppini with Hunter sauce and portabella beggars purses, which she liked, and I had the wood-grilled ribeye with garlic mashed potatoes and apple smoked bacon green beans, which was very good. For dessert, Di had bread pudding with strawberry white chocolate, and I had mixed berrys with vanilla ice cream. All in all, a very nice evening.

Friday for lunch we went Joe’s Crab Shack, where I had a crabcake sandwich and Di had coconut shrimp. Tolerable food.

For dinner Friday, we went to the House of Blues, which was a mixed blessing. If you’ve never been to a HOB, you might want to think a little about it before going. They have a concert venue, a restaurant, an “art” gallery and a souvenir shop all right together. It’s a very loud place, with a younger crowd, and a “rustic” décor. The food was decent; Di had an 8-ounce filet with snow peas and mashed potatoes, and I had the full rack of "fall off the bone" baby back ribs with Jim Beam BBQ sauce, mashed sweet potatoes and greens. The filet was tolerable, the ribs were very good, the sweet potatoes were tasty, but didn’t really fit with the ribs, and the greens were too spicy. The most memorable thing was the appetizer, which was skillet baked rosemary cornbread with maple butter. Unique, and tasty.

Tomorrow holds the promise of a return to Thoroughbreds’, a place we went a few years ago that had both a great atmosphere and good food. Lunch is still undecided.

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And Now for Something Completely Different

As many of you know, Diane is a great cook, and both of us enjoy cooking and eating good food.

Yesterday, she called just before leaving work to talk about dinner, and offered a suggestion: Quick Chicken Panzanella. She stopped by the store, and brought the ingredients, or the closest thing to it, and we proceeded to make the dish.

It was fantastic, and I highly recommend it, with some notes I’ll put at the end.

Quick Chicken Panzanella

Start to Finish: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 14-1/2-oz. can diced tomatoes with green pepper, celery, and onions

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 2- to 2-1/4-lb. whole roasted chicken

4 cups cubed Italian bread

2 medium cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 cup torn fresh basil or spinach

Directions:

1. Spoon off 2 tablespoons of tomato liquid. Combine with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, dash salt, and pepper; set aside. Remove meat from roasted chicken. Cut into pieces.

2. In skillet stir bread cubes in 2 tablespoons hot oil over medium heat 5 minutes or until golden. Remove. Add diced tomatoes; toss. Divide on plates. Add cucumbers, chicken, and basil. Pass tomato-oil mixture. Makes 4 servings.

3. Pantry Ingredients: oil, salt, pepper.

Notes:

1. We were able to find diced tomatoes with green peppers and onions, but not with celery. It didn’t matter.

2. We also only made a half recipe, and still had more than we needed.

3. We used a store-bought roasted chicken.

4. We used fresh basil, and can’t imagine using spinach instead.

It was very, very good, and I encourage everyone to try it. And, let me know what you think.

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Wednesday

One of the reasons this vacation is different is that the kids stay up pretty late and get up pretty late. Di usually hits the sack between 10 and 11, and I stay up a little later watching TV with Ryan, or playing his new PS3 baseball game, which has wonderful graphics. Anyway, that means that we don’t get going as a group until lunch. The wind was even stronger this morning than yesterday and it was in the low 60s and raining, so our options for activities were somewhat limited. Today, even lunch was too early for the kids, so Di and I went out alone to hit the Target nearby and get some lunch.

We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Señor Fox, which was staffed entirely by Mexicans (as most are) we were seated in a booth near a young family with three little ones (over my left shoulder) and two local white guys (over Diane’s right shoulder). The staff was very attentive and very competent, and our food was delivered unbelievably quickly. It was good, on top of all that.

Along the way, one or more of the young ones let out an ear-piercing scream or two, which is always unpleasant, and at one point one of them was running around the place. They had been there long enough that they left when we were about half way through our meal. We heard one of the local guys talking to one of the staff: “Not all Americans are like that,” he said. The staff person cleaning up the table appeared not to hear him, so he repeated his comment. That caused us to look over at the table. You would not believe how much food, crumbs and other stuff was on the floor around this table.

After hearing our groans about the disgusting mess, the guy said that his mom and dad would have cleaned up a mess on the table, and on the floor, if there was any. I agreed. I commented that the younger generation has been brought up without common levels of manners and consideration for others. He agreed.

Now, I don’t believe that the whole generation is thus poorly reared; I know my four got a heavy dose of “you’d better not do that” along the way. But I think a fair portion of that generation is self-consumed and undisciplined. It’s another example of how our culture is moving slowly (or not so slowly) into the dumper.

I subscribed to Classmates.com a year or so ago to see who of my former schoolmates I could find. I have found quite a few, some of them used to good buddies. One of them lives in Virginia Beach, so I was trying hard to connect up. We have been emailing for the last couple of days and our families are going to get together for dinner tomorrow. This should be interesting, as Betty and I haven’t seen each other since 1966.

Tonight we headed out to dinner with no particular idea in mind, other than Katherine’s objection to going to any restaurant that we have at home, like Chili’s or Outback Steakhouse. We found a place that we hadn’t seen before, a Cuban restaurant called “Havana.” It was the best meal of the week, so far. I had a Paella de Mariscos, which has shrimp, scallops, littleneck clams mussels and fish all sautéed with chorizo and a trio of bell peppers tossed in sofrito rice. I don’t care for mussels or clams, so they left them out and added more scallops and shrimp. It was very good, and the chorizo was highly spicy. Diane had the Filet de la Casa, which is beef tenderloin served over a dark rum and peppercorn sauce served with garlic mashed potatoes and house vegetables. Ryan had Ropa Vieja, which is roasted shredded pork, Manchego cheese, black beans rolled in a flour tortilla and served on sofrito rice and finished with jalapeno queso and green enchilada sauce. Katherine had the Caribbean Mojo Marinated Flank Steak, which is grilled medium rare, thinly sliced and served with a chipotle beurre blanc, garlic mashed potatoes and house vegetables. And Christen had Coconut and Plantain Encrusted Atlantic Salmon, served atop sofrito rice with house vegetables and finished with a guava beurre blanc. There were a couple of appetizers and also desserts. All in all, a great meal.

Summing up: weather – not good; food – great.

All Hands On Deck!

Well, tonight was the first Deck Night of the season. We did some yardwork this afternoon, getting rid of shrubs that had outlived their usefulness and were causing problems, still fighting the leaves of fall, and then got ready to fix dinner. We grilled some nice, thick pork chops treated with a Calphalon Steak and Chop rub, had some asparagus, corn on the cob and ciabatta toast, and, of course, some wine.

We have spent a little time on the front porch, just sitting there talking and taking in the out of doors, but tonight was the first Deck Night of the season. We pulled out the cushions, cleaned off a small table, dusted off the chair frames, and had dinner on a plate in our lap on the deck. It wasn’t the full scale deal, with the big table and taking the stereo out there, but it was still very relaxing and comfortable.

The back deck is mostly private, blocked off from the street to the south and no neighbors within sight to the north. The house is to the east and the only possible “spy” is the lady that lives on the hill above the tiered back area to the west; you know the one, the one that collects all the leaves in the fall. The lady that lives up there—the house is about 30 feet away and 20 higher than the deck—is elderly and we never see her in the yard, so she isn’t a factor. So, we can sit out there and enjoy the birds and the trees and whatever else is going on without human interference. The photo is from two years ago; we haven't gotten this far yet this year.

The deck is one of my favorite places to spend time. I sometimes take the laptop out there and work on the Web pages I manage, or write the newsletter that I edit, and do other tasks. It ain’t fancy, but it sure is comfortable, and I’m glad that it’s that time of year again.

Key West – Friday

The last day at Key West was a little different. We had absolutely no plans, except to get out in the sun for a while, but this time we opted to go to the beach, which was just across the street from where we were staying, a five minute or so walk. You might wonder why we didn’t go to the beach until the last day, or even why we waited until day four to get out in the sun, and the reason is quite simple: we went to Key West to see Key West, not get a tan. We also thought the temperatures would be too cool to lie in the sun, and neither of us are sun bunnies, anyway.

We were at the beach by right around 11 and stayed about an hour. After getting cleaned up we headed out to nowhere in particular. Well, actually, we did have a destination, which was a tapas place called Santiago’s Bodega, which was highly recommended. It’s downtown two blocks off Duval where so many neat places are, but parking is such a problem in some areas, and we finally decided to go back to a place on the beach that had its own parking lot that we passed earlier, a decent little Italian deli called Saluté Ristorante. The atmosphere was terrific, with the dining area open to the beach, and the lunch menu provided some nice choices.

Diane had a Media Noce sandwich similar to a Cuban Mix, but without the salami, which she said was good. I had an Italian sausage on a bun with peppers, onions and marinara sauce that was great. The wine and the atmosphere made the meal a delight.

We drove back into town and found a free spot on US 1, which we had done before, but we were a few blocks further away than before. We visited a few shops, a great place called Glass Reunion that had a wide variety of nifty things, including kaleidoscopes, sculptures and more than I can remember. We stopped by a place called Mangoes and sipped some Cuban concoctions, and kept wandering around and decided to hit Sunset Pier again around five p.m., hoping to hear those two guitarists from Wednesday. As fate would have it, only one of them was there, and he told me that the other guy was really the Wednesday fill-in for the guy who was there that day, a soul singer who was pretty good. Honestly, the two guitarists were way better. We listened to the music for a while, and then headed down the waterfront to Mallory Square.

On Wednesday on a trip to the bathroom I had heard two guys playing Latin music outside a Cuban restaurant, one a conga player and the other who sang and played a little flute now and then. When we went by that restaurant on Friday, guess what? The missing guitarist was there with those two guys and they were playing some blazing Latin tunes. The conga player turned out to be pretty good, so I tried to get some pointers. He turned out to be a schmuck (the schmuck is shown at right in the photo). So, we dined on Cuban fare at El Meson de Pepe’s and enjoyed their music.

Diane had the barbecued ribs special and I had the mixed seafood, both of which were accompanied with yellow rice, black beans, and fried plantain. All in all, a very good meal with very good music to go along, and as good a way to end a great week that I can think of.

Key West – Thursday

We had decided early in the week that this would be the day we would schedule a special dinner cruise with Captain Alex of Islescapes Gourmet Yachting, and we had some leftovers from previous nights out to get us through lunch, so we just read, watched some TV and spent some time lounging by the pool.

We went to find Capt. Alex’s boat around 4 p.m. and that was too early, so we walked around a bit to fill the time. His boat is a small cabin cruiser, 33 feet, and he normally only serves four people, although he can serve six, if need be. You order in advance from a limited but ample menu, bring your own liquor, beer or wine, and Capt. Alex and his first mate, Stelmarra, do the rest.

Alex is an interesting person; his brochure lists him as “Capt. Alex, PhD,” so I had to ask him about that. It turns out that he retired from his job as a cancer researcher not too many years ago. He’s been running afternoon snorkeling and luncheon cruises and dinner cruises out of Key West for the last year and a half.

We got on board with the other couple, whom we didn’t know, and first mate Stelmarra cast off the lines and we were off for the short cruise to the place where we would anchor, have dinner, and watch the sun go down.

Capt. Alex furnished each couple a Shrimp Boat consisting of lightly blackened shrimp in a Thai chili sauce. My appetizer was a crabmeat Portobello mushroom layered with a savory crabmeat stuffing, four cheeses, fresh herbs and baked on the grill followed by Caesar salad, then the main course, which was a combination of mahi-mahi and grouper alfredina sauce, a white wine cream sauce with Parmesan cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Dessert was strawberries with Key Lime White Chocolate Whipped Cream.

Diane chose a potato goat cheese tart appetizer, a fresh mango slices marinated in a rosemary and honey vinaigrette served over baby greens with toasted almonds and sharp white cheddar, Jamaican jerk marinated pork tenderloin, and crème brulee. All in all, it was a very pleasant dinner, and being on the water during the sunset was great. We got back to the dock around 7 p.m., walked around downtown for a while, then headed home.

Home Cookin'

So, we fixed ourselves a home-cooked dinner tonight consisting of rib eyes and asparagus on the grill (it was about 51 degrees today) and some salad and a piece of ciabatta toast with a Sterling pinot noir that was very tasty (and not at all expensive).

We are in the process of decorating for the season, and we have been listening to some Christmas music on the stereo as we went about our business. First was a glorious CD featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of my favorites; then one by the Airmen of Note, the USAF big band, which is a truly wonderful CD; and then Chris Botti’s “December” album, which is very fine; and finally a Christmas album by James Taylor titled, “James Taylor at Christmas.” James is a guy who just continues to put out good stuff, year after year, starting way back in the 70s (I think). One tune came up, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” which involves some singing along with some spoken words (what the opera people call “recitative”), which is really just some banter between the man and the woman doing the song, he trying to convince her to stay because it’s “cold outside,” and she saying, “I really should go.” Diane ventured that the woman was Natalie Cole, and I wasn’t convinced that it was Natalie, although I didn’t rule that possibility out.

Here, I must tell you that I have a very good ear for voices, and have a very good record at identifying singers. But, I just thought that it didn’t really sound quite like Natalie.

Well, guess what? It was Natalie!

Damn! I hate it when that happens; when she’s right.Fortunately, it doesn’t happen that often. (Don’t tell her I said that, okay?)

As Buffalo would say, life is sweet when … your wife is right and you aren’t?

Well, maybe that’s not exactly what he’d say.

Black Hawk Down

I read a review of the Black Hawk Grill in Barboursville, West Virginia before calling for reservations, even though I have been there before and was reasonably impressed with it. I did that because it’s been a while ago that we were there, and I wanted to refresh my memory about the place. The review said that entrees ran from $12 to $2o, which seemed pretty much as I remembered it, though perhaps a couple of dollars low for the high end entrees. So, I called and asked the guy who answered the phone, “How are you for Friday night?” Now, that probably wasn’t the best way to begin a conversation, but given that it was a restaurant, it didn’t seem a totally dumb opening. The guy responded, “I’m good for Friday, how are you for Friday?”

That should have tipped me off that something was amiss, but I went ahead and reserved a table for three at 7 p.m. on Friday night. We arrived a minute or two early to find the bar area, where the entrance is, crowded, and told the young lady at the desk my name. She couldn’t find the reservation, but did seat us … eight feet from the bar, where there were lots of people talking and enjoying themselves. Loudly. It was difficult to talk over the din.

The waitress, Jill, brought menus, and things immediately got worse. Several of the entrees were in the $30 to $40 range, well above both how I remembered things, and what the review said. I’ve been in lots of different restaurants, good, bad and mediocre, and due to my experience my expectations rise geometrically when prices rise above about $28 for the priciest entrees, like surf and turf. Most of the time, the food quality doesn’t impress me as much as its price; I get really picky, figuring that anyone charging $32 for a six ounce filet, or $38 for a crab-stuffed New York Strip must be a culinary genius. Usually, they aren’t.

This was a semi-special occasion, so I determined to (pardon the pun) swallow hard and go ahead with a wonderful meal, the price be damned. Having trouble finding something that really suited me I told the waitress that the 14 oz. strip was too much food for me, but the filet would be about right if it only had the accompaniments that the strip had with it. She said they could do that, and wrote it down.

The baked brie appetizer was very good, although the wine was less than it ought to have been. But, the wine didn’t arrive until after we had finished the appetizer, and the bread didn’t get there until the salad was finished. “I’m sorry; we’re really busy tonight,” Jill said. Hmmm.

Finally, the entrees were delivered, and the steak was cooked pretty much as I requested, and was very good. Unfortunately, the accompaniment was neither what was on the menu, or the alteration I had ordered. It also didn’t thrill me.

So, the Black Hawk Grill did not make my “I can’t wait to go back there” list, and may be added to my “I won’t go back there list.”

When you go out to eat, you expect well prepared and tasty food and decent service at a reasonable price. That is the least you should get; the basic contract between diner and restaurant. If a restaurant asks higher than usual prices, say in the $20 to $30 range instead of the $12 to $20 range that was in the review I read, then the restaurant has the obligation to provide something for that extra money, and if the restaurant dares to charge more than $30 for most of its entrees, it had damned well better make your experience a memorable one. Black Hawk Grill failed to meet that standard; failed to meet the high expectations set by the grossly overpriced menu.

Friday

Today was not a great day, for me. First, the rain continued, the outer fringes of a tropical depression in the Gulf that would have been called “Jerry” if it had reached the level of a tropical storm, but didn’t.

So the day was dreary, and it was the last full day on Hilton Head Island, so it was less than ideal. But, undeterred, we did some computer stuff, some prep for the trip home and went out to One Hot Mama’s for lunch. OHM is a BBQ joint, and we both had the platter that featured some pulled pork and some beef brisket accompanied by a pile of fries and a small piece of what they called “honey jalapeño corn bread” that was okay, but had too much honey and not enough jalapeño. The meats were good, and the homemade sauces were pretty good, too. Unfortunately, as I wouldn’t realize until later, there was too much food on that platter, even though we each brought some of it home with us.

I was very tired in the afternoon—I just felt very unmoved to do much of anything—so I napped a little, and Diane headed out to shop. It’s just as well; I just slow her down. I answered a comment from War Mule and emailed it to him after my nap, and did some work on the band CD I’m working on, and then tried to narrow down the choices for dinner.

We decided to go to one of the three places we had on our list when we went to Catch 22 the other night. It was called The Black Marlin Bayside Grill, formerly Hemmingway’s Bayside Grill; apparently the name change was either requested or demanded by the Hemingway Society (I have forgotten what I read about that, and too much time looking for it has turned up nothing. AND, it isn’t really important).

Anyway, after being seated in a quaint and private little cubbyhole, we found that Jolivet Attitude wine on the list that we had last night, and ordered a really good appetizer, a potato rellano, which was essentially a fried potato ball with a ground beef filling and a “picadillo” sauce on top, and an ailoli sauce on the side. Really, really good; the aioli was quite spicy (meaning “hot!”).

Entrée-wise, Diane had a Bloody Mary Ribeye, which was flavorful, but not a great choice. I wrestled with my decision, considering no less than five seafood choices before deciding on a Parmesan Encrusted Talapia, topped off with shrimp and scallops, with rice and a substitute vegetable of asparagus. It was very good, but not better than the snapper at Catch 22.

A stop at Publix for a couple of things, and back to the apartment for some TV and trip prep.

So, tomorrow, the idyll ends and it’s a 7-hour trip home, and maybe longer, as there are a couple of stops we want to make. I want to stop at JR’s Outlet for cigars, and who knows exactly what Di has in mind.
America, Vacation, Food

Thursday

The rain we had been expecting came today, and stuck around pretty much all day. As it turned out, that didn’t really make much difference, as I had a meeting I had planned to attend, and Diane wanted some time to shop, so she did and I did, and it all worked out just fine.

Dinner tonight was the one we had waited for, at Red Fish, a place that the interim president at the college put us onto last year. It is upscale cuisine, if not upscale attire or upscale pricing. Red Fish has the best wine list we have seen, so comprehensive that it reminded us how little we really know about wines. Actually, there are two lists, and the one, called the Cellar List, had only one wine that we recognized (but couldn’t afford), and none less than $65, a little too high for our needs. Come to think of it, we didn’t recognize most of those on the lower level wine list, either, so, being the smart folks that we are, we asked our waiter, Ryan, for his advice. And his advice was right on the money, pointing us to a very good, but not expensive sauvignon blanc called “Attitude.”

We started off with a cheese plate that went well with the wine, and Diane ordered the Crispy Ashley Farms Free Range Brick Chicken that featured Caribbean spices, boursin grits, asparagus and roasted garlic jus. It was awfully good. I went for one of the specials, and what appealed to me was that the main element was accompanied by a shrimp and lobster cake. As it turned out, the shrimp and lobster cake was too spicy to fit well with the smooth lobster cream sauce on the Mong chong fish filet. But the Mong chong was great. We had a dessert wine and a dessert, she a peach bread pudding, and he (me) a triple berry trifle. Both were very good. After two hours in Red Fish, we waddled out to the car and headed home.

Tomorrow is the last day, and we have to try to fit everything else into one day. It should be interesting.

Technorati Tags: America, Vacation, Food

Wednesday

We went out to the beach this morning, and found it too breezy again. We sat down for a while, anyway, and took a few photos. We spent two sessions at the pool, with a lunch in the apartment in between, and throughout the afternoon the clouds moved in and blotted out the sun.

Dinner was at Tapas, which is both the name of the place and the style of dining. Tapas dining features entrees cut down to the approximate size of an appetizer, allowing you to sample more than one entrée without stuffing yourself. These folks know how to do a wine list, and they also have what’s on the list in stock. They also realize that you don’t store red wines on the beach.

We decided to order one thing that each of us wanted, and one thing that we both agreed on, plus a small salad. Diane won the salad round, even though my Spring Mix Salad with blue cheese, spiced pecans and fresh pears in orange vinaigrette was pretty good. Her Raspberry Spring Salad with fresh greens topped with candied almonds, feta, cranraisins and fresh raspberry vinaigrette was better.

She also won round one of the entrees, with Sourmash Chicken, a chicken breast with country ham, bourbon, caramelized onions and cream was succulent, while my Tornado Vernoff, which was a grilled filet mignon with caramelized garlic, deglazed with brandy and Madeira wine, then blended with demi-glace was pretty tasty, but took a distant second place.

However, I prevailed on the second entrée with the Grand Marnier Duck, which was a duck breast with pears and grapes napped with a grand Marnier sauce. Her Pork Apple Jack, a pecan encrusted tenderloin sautéed with apples, brandy and demi-glace was also tasty. All in all, a very good dinner, and a nice recovery from Tuesday night’s less-than-spectacular effort.

Then, it was off to the Old Oyster Factory to see whatever sunset could break through the seriously overcast sky. Hilton Head Island has the mainland on the northwest side, separated by Calibogue Sound, a narrow, curvy stretch of a waterway, and the Atlantic on the southeast side. In the middle is a very large marshland that nearly cuts completely through the island. On the marsh is where the Old Oyster Factory is located, and it is a very picturesque location. Along with a Bailey’s and coffee, we enjoyed the sunset, which managed against heavy odds to be right pretty.

After a stop by the Fresh Market to pick up some stuff for breakfast, it was back to the apartment for some M.A.S.H. episodes and a little email and Internet catch-up. Tomorrow there’s a 70 percent chance of rain. We’ll hope the 30 percent prevails.

Technorati Tags: America, Vacation, Food

Tuesday

Another nice day, but a little breezy, so we didn’t even attempt the beach and spent a little while at the pool. We did go to the beach in the afternoon, but only to see how windy it was, and thought there was a stiff breeze, it wasn’t blowing the sand around like before. Maybe Wednesday will be the day at the beach. Finally.

We had lunch at the Wild Wing Café, a favorite spot that features, in addition to other things, 32 kinds of wings. Having eaten too much, I stayed in during the afternoon while Diane shopped.

We decided to go to Sticky Fingers for dinner. It’s a chain of 15 BBQ places across the southeast, and is generally a good place to go. It was less so, today. Immediately upon entering the service area we were greeted to the screams of a child far too young to be in a place where adults go to eat a peaceful meal, and were seated next to a group that had a 4 year-old that was too noisy, and instead of being quieted down by her parents, was encouraged in the noise-producing activity. It could’ve been worse, though.

Diane and I are “experienced wine drinkers,” which is somewhere between being a rookie and a connoisseur, more toward the middle than the expert end. We know a little about wine and brands, so we are a little choosy about what we order, and in places like Sticky Fingers, which sells a lot more beer than wine, we often find ourselves faced with buying a mediocre or lower quality wine, or trying something we’ve never heard of. Predictably, SF didn’t have the one of the two cabernets on the menu and we didn’t want the other one. The waiter said she’d go check the stock, and returned to tell us that the pickings were slim. But we selected what we thought was the best option, ordered our food, and waited.

The food came quickly, perhaps a little too quickly, being just a minute or two later than the unknown wine. You may know that red wine is intended to be drunk at “room temperature,” which is a bit misleading. The “room temperature” rule developed a few centuries back, when stone castles were typically around 55-60 degrees, and that is the ideal temperature range for reds. Anyway, the wine was warmer than the ribs. I think they stored it outside. You normally swirl a red wine in the glass to introduce some air to it, which softens the hard edges, especially in inexpensive red wines. In this case there was a second reason to swirl the wine: to cool it down to a drinkable temperature.

The meal was decent, though less than we had grown to expect from Sticky Fingers.

It was back to the room around 8 and watched two very good science shows on Georgia Public Television on the universe, a topic that has fascinated me since I was young.

Technorati Tags: America, Vacation, Food

Monday

Well, I got an earlier start today than yesterday, about 7:30. We had some coffee and a little breakfast and decided to go out on our own and find out how to get to the beach on foot. That really wasn’t difficult; just a matter of a little common sense and a 20-minute walk. I still don’t understand why The Shipyard plantation doesn’t furnish little amenities like that for their guests. It was a nice day: sunny, but not too warm, but a little breezy.

When we got to the beach we found another day of sand blasting; just too much wind at the beach for comfort. So we headed back to the room and got ready to go out and about. We shopped a little (for me, any shopping is a lot) and had lunch at Giuseppi’s, which I alluded to earlier. In the afternoon, we spent a little time in the sun, and then explored the options for dinner. We decided on Catch 22, an interesting looking seafood place.

What a great choice! Our waiter was Keith, a transplanted Kentuckian who for the last 15 years has waited tables at night and ridden kite boards during the day. As it turns out, not every one is bummed out by the high winds on the beach, and Keith is one of them. He told us that the combination of high surf (a result of the wind) and the stiff breeze gives him and his fellow kite boarders a hot time on the waves. Well, at least someone likes these stiff breezes. Today, he said, he and his fellow kite boarders were able to fly up to 50 feet above the ocean. Wow!

Back to dinner: Diane had the Pecan-Crusted Free Range Chicken, served with jalapeno corn cake, green beans and peach chutney. It was goooood. I found myself stuck between five different entrees, and Keith resolved the issue by recommending the one that was one of Chef Bryan’s specials for the night, Potato Encrusted Yellowtail Snapper “served over baby arugula with Vidalia onion, vine ripened tomatoes and lump crap with a honed basil vinaigrette.” It was fantastic; the best so far, and it’ll be hard to beat.

After a short walk around the harbor, it was back to the room and the MASH 30th Anniversary Reunion on TV Land.

Food, So Far

In response to Steve’s pointing out how negligent I’ve been in not talking about our dinners, here’s the report so far:

Saturday evening, Scott’s Fish Market: Scott’s is on the harbor; a very nice setting, with outside tables, which we chose. Diane had fried shrimp and I had a fried seafood platter, with scallops, shrimp, white fish and a deviled crab with French fries for both of us. All in all, a very decent dinner.

Sunday evening, Marley’s Island Grille: Diane had corn chowder, then pork tenderloin with a ginger and soy glaze and a peanut dipping sauce. The corn chowder was great, and the pork was good, too, although I’m not as fond as she is of ginger. I had the Captain’s Seafood Trio, consisting of broiled scallops, grouper and crab-stuffed butter-flied shrimp, and the thing that drew me to the Trio: black beans and rice, very tasty! The whole thing was terrific.

Monday lunch, Giuseppi’s Pizza and Pasta: We went here on a recommendation from a friend, who said it was the best pizza he’d ever had. It was good, mine was, anyway, but Diane wasn’t thrilled. Tonight, we’re headed for a seafood place with a great name: Catch 22.

Technorati Tags: Vacation, Food, Cuisine

Cooking the Language

Note: Thanks to Winfred Mann, who pointed out that a word previously used in this piece is actually a noun (blush) when I thought it was only a verb. I have replaced that verb/noun with another word.

My wife Diane is a great cook. She studied, then taught, Home Economics, and cooking was her favorite element of Home Ec. I cook, too, though not nearly as well as Diane, and we both like food, so naturally we enjoy watching the Food Network. It’s great to see how the great chefs like Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay and the others do things, and find some great recipes to try out. And it’s equally good to look at Giada De Laurentiis, Sandra Lee, and Nigella Lawson (But that’s another topic). It used to be that the Food Network’s show personalities were professional chefs, but more recently they have shows featuring people who have some cooking specialty or another, but are not working as chefs.

Now, I am somewhat of a malcontent. Something attracts my attention, negatively, and I focus on that, and often I pick it to death. Such is the case with the Food Network. Or rather, with the people with shows on the network. Being someone who writes and who works with words and strives to use the language correctly, and as a writing tutor at a local college where I am expected to know right from wrong, I am sensitive to language and how it is used. Or, perhaps more properly, MISused. Okay, perhaps I’m more than sensitive.

I am especially irritated by the jargon, the “chef-ese,” used by people who cook on TV. Probably every career field has its own jargon, and I suppose the likelihood that they all are equal offenders of the English language is relatively high, but for some reason the chef-ese is especially irritating. They say things like, “Run your knife through it.” That conjures up images of pirates pillaging a merchant ship: “Run ‘em through with your sword, Matey! Aaaarrrgh!” What they mean, of course, is to “chop” whatever it is that they tell you to run through.

I also wonder why so many things are “upped” when cooking? “Cook this up until it’s brown, then serve it up.” Of course, you would never “chop up” something; you have to run your knife through it, although you would likely be told to “sharpen up your knife.”

However, as annoying as those verbal misdemeanors are, the most maddening of these chef-ese verbal misappropriations is the penchant for making nouns out of words that clearly, and traditionally, are verbs. When one of these cooks say something like, “Give it a quick knead,” I grit my teeth. Audibly. Diane frequently gives me that look, the one that says, “get used to it. This is how they talk.” The temptation to ask “Would you like a pink knead, or a mauve knead?” is great. Why the need to use words improperly? Why not, "Knead it a little?” Or, “Knead this until it is glutened up?”

Not only is this verbal misbehavior grammatically improper, it is also inefficient. It takes more words and more time to say, “Give this a little knead” than to say, “Knead it.” I guess the rule is that proper language, brevity and efficiency are not so important when you are cooking something up. And now that I’ve given it a rough rant, I’ll give up.

A Chapter in the Continuing Struggle Between Good and Evil

The forces of good and evil have been in a pitched battle since the beginning of time.

My friend, The Windjammer, sent me this account yesterday.

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Then using God's great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Krispy Kreme Donuts. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?" And Man said, "Yes!" and Woman said, "and as long as you're at it, add some sprinkles." And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled.

And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to size 14.

So God said, "Try my fresh green salad." And Satan presented Thousand-Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

God then said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them." And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.

God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it "Angel Food Cake," and said, "It is good." Satan then created chocolate cake and named it "Devil's Food."

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.

God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald's and its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then said, "You want fries with that?" And Man replied, "Yes! And super size them!" And Satan said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

Then Satan created HMOs.

Technorati Tags: Humor, Comedy, Laugh Out Loud, Funny, Laughs

And now for something completely different

We had a really great meal tonight. I like to go out to eat because you don’t have to do the preparation or the clean up afterward. But in all honesty I have to say that when it comes to good food, we do as well at home as most of the restaurants we have been to. That is almost completely due to my partner, Diane.

One of the smart things I did in my life was to marry Diane. Not only is she a great person and a great mother, but she also has a MA in Home Economics. She is capable in all areas of Home Ec., (sewing, design, etc.) but what really likes and excels at is cooking. Yeah, I know: I am a very lucky guy.

I dabble in cooking, and I am good enough that I can proudly claim that so far everybody who has eaten something that I have cooked has been able to walk out of my house under his or her own power (the effects of adult beverages excluded). Diane, on the other hand, is truly gifted. She understands food and cooking and she has a superior ability to know what tastes good.

Tonight we decided to resurrect an old recipe for herbed baked cheese (Diane’s), which is Havarti flavored with Dijon mustard, dill weed, fennel seed, parsley flakes, basil, and chives, wrapped in puff pastry dough, brushed in egg wash and baked. It is really delicious. We ate that, accompanied by a tasty J. Lohr chardonnay (about $10 a bottle) as we prepared the main meal, which consisted of a atore-bought bag of Asian salad with a sesame dressing (wonderful!); a 2-pound, 4-inch-thick pork roast in a teriyaki marinade cooked on the grill (that’s what I do); and baked acorn squash with a sauce of butter, brown sugar, amaretto and biscotti (really tasty, and another of Diane’s finds, from the TV Food Network).

A lot of the people on Food TV get on my nerves. It’s not what they cook; it’s the way they behave. The acorn squash recipe came from Tyler Florence, who in spite of his sometimes-grating personality frequently has some great recipes. I could spend a lot of time on the people of Food TV that bug me, but that would serve no positive purpose.

The upshot of this column is that we had a great meal that we prepared ourselves, and even the preparation and clean up couldn’t mess that up.

Technorati Tags: Good Food, Cooking, Home Cooking, Food and Wine, Food TV