I do like tofu, this morning I melted a bit of butter & evoo added some red pepper flakes & seeds & grilled the tofu till it was golden brown, poured the pan drippings all over it & had a cup of coffee with it , should have had a bagle to suck up all the butter & pepper flakes on the plate , BUT that would have been counter productive hahaha , Enjoy, Vince
I can't honestly say that I have had Tofu... What is the consitency? I'm sure that with seasoning or how you cook you can make it taste good, but allot of the fear I have is the Consitency of my food. And looking at it wiggle in the grocery store just weirds me out a little
An addendum to Vince's post...
As a fellow Burgher, I've been capitvated by the story of John Challis. I even got to meet him once because of my job and came away with the utmost admiration. He's an 18-year-old who just died last week from cancer. His story got local and then national headlines because of how he faced death and in his last few months on ear, he got to meet and make an impression on many people, including A-Rod, Mario Lemieux, Big Ben, etc.
John became well known for two phrases - it's not about how many breaths you take, it's what you do with those breaths. And, courage + believe = life.
If you get a chance, read his obituary for a nice dose of perspective.>
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08237/906702-455.stm
I too have never had tofu, scares me to be perectly honest with you.
I've only tried tofu a few times... Every one of those times it was absolutely disgusting... One time however it was something completely different... It was untofuedness at it's finest... As stated above very crispy on the outside and the flavor... wow.... burbon chicken? Something like that anyway...
I get Firm or extra firm tofu , freeze it over night & then defrost it, slice it & brown it in the evoo & a little butter, add some tobasco & dammmm its just fine, it has the consistency of an egg white with out freezing it ) , & with out any seasonings , it is almost tasteless, it will take on the flavor of what ever you cook with it , but by freezing it first it give it the consistancy of Ham, not the egg whites , But either way I like it , lots of Protein & easy to digest
Good Morning it is Sunday the 31 day of August 2008, the last day of August, where diod the time go ? seams just like yesterDay we were shoveling snow off the drive way & now its time to rake the leaves all over again, it has been warm but dry here in da Burgh & now the leaves are falling from my maple trees & the grass is a crunchy brown, no need to cut it , I am on a well so I dont water my grass, , it just makes it grow anyhow, I then it needs to be cut, well if you dont water , it browns out & you dont need to cut it , hey works for me , I wouldnt mind just paving the entire yard & paint it green !
the political campains are now in full swing, & the Pa. attny General is out in forse arristing crooked polititions , our local former state rep & the wife of the state senator are all in hot water , as well as many other local councilmen & managers , it is a crying shame that people we elect to office do things to line there pockets with the tax money that belongs to all of us, I guess there is no shame in stealing anymore . the Jails are over crowded the streets are filled with drug dealers & hookers , this area is just going to the bottom of the pile of trash, I am in a rural area, the guy next to me has cows in his pasture ( and an electrict fence to keep me away from the VEAL hahahaha ) I havent seen much in the way of change here but in the towns that were the heart of the steel making industry, the decline has realy hit bottom, rusting empty factorys dot the landscape , we DONT make anything here anymore , Manufacturing is the Key to a good econemy , Make something from nothing & sell it, thats the basic building block of an econemy , make it better faster & cheeper than anyone one else & BINGO the cash will flow in , you pay better for workers & they are happy, they spend the hard earned cash & the community builds, first there will be a baker & a butcher, soon a taylor & a builder will be in the area, then a paving company & furniture builder soon a jewlry shop will open , hair dressers & barbers , it is called PROSPERTY , a Community , but when the people we elect to run the government screw us it is time to start all over again, I am convinved that no matter who you are if you ever get into any elected office sooner or later you will be compermising your ethical thinking , fix a parking ticket for some one then it getting you Brother in law to do a little work for the township & he kickes back a little of the contract to you & before you know it you on the front page of the newspaper with a front & profile shot with Numbers under the name ( so far I havent run for any political office ) but with all the heads falling off sooner or later it will trickle down to a run off election between me & my wife, were are not regestered to the same political party so our votes cancil each others out all the time ! hahahaha
well enough of the politcal BS , lets shift gears & go for the finer things in life Food, coffee cigars & whisky ! , well what more can be said about that ? I like them all, & if your a regular reader you will now that the order in which they all fall is constantly changing, , I can get along with just 2 of them BUT all 4 make life a celebration
Breakfast this morning was my rendition of the egg mcMuffin, witch started out as a fast food eggs benidict ..... well my version is to butter & then Grill the English muffin , add a slice of jarlsburg cheese to each half , the bacon gets tossed on with the tomato ( no lettuce , then it would be a BLT with egg & cheese) now I scramble the egg & get it on the cheese asap & let the hot egg melt into the cheese , add some hot peppers & BINGO , its Breakfast on a BUN, B .O .B ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I have a nice pair or T Bones in the chill chest , they will hit the grill later this afternoon, along with some corn on the cob & it will be grilled along with a yam or 2 , hey its summer why cook in the house when the grill is just outside the door & a cigar is in the ashtry, gotta do what you gotta do hahaha
I was sitting at the bar sipping a scotch last friday afternoon ( hey big suprize there hahahaha ) when Senator McCain introduced his new running mate, & I looked up & saw Tina Fay from Saturday Night live , is this a joke I thought , maybe the TV is on Comidy Central But then I realised this was the real thing, hey John you picked a great one for the late night TV pundants . NOW the democratic party, I think is suffering from buyers remorse all of a sudden, well no matter who gets in this November we will set a First for the country , electing a woman VP or a black man as president, you know i just dont like to use the term black man or woman, we are ALL people , race has no meaning , none, we all have the same number of bones in our body the same number of teeth , the blood type means more than the race of the person giving or getting it , , we are all HUMAN , lets let it go at that, DNA is the finger print of everyone, & everyone is slightly different, even identical twins have some differences be it so slight , i have a pair of cousins , & it is easy to tell which twin is witch just by looking , when thay are standing side by side , no problem , it is when they are apart its hard to tell, as she is just a weee bit shorter than him hahahaha
I will be roasting some coffee this afternoon, I have a little bit of Columbian that I plan on taking to the second crack for about half the bag & the other half will be just after the first crack, , give them a toss 7 see if it is able to be tasted , if the darker roast will over power the lighter one will it make a good blend? who knows , the proof will be in the MUG about wendsday !
the kids down the street have set up a box in front of the shed next door to me , there is a carrot on the ground & a stick tied to a string holding up the front of the box they are tring to catch the rabbit who is living under the shed, , what they are going to do with it when & if they catch it will be headline news in the elementry school paper ! , I gave them a set of lawn chairs to sit on & a lot more string to pull the stick out with as they were just about 10 feet from the "trap" so now they are about 40 feet & sitting in the shade with a radio & a big glass of lemonaid ~~~ watching for the baby bunny !
SCHOOL is back & the kids at the bus stop are noisy in the morning looks like I will need to adjust my schedual & get pants on sooner in the morning hahahaha
I am back on the quest of the perfect morning cigar Nothing has been able to replace the Don Carlos #3 for many years now but I have a new contender in taste but it is the wrong size , I do enjoy the corona size in the morning BUT I might be changing to a Butera Vintage maduro Robusto, , I am not sure as yet & I will need to study this into a lot more detail , reserach , it is a never ending battle to get to the final answer , but over the years it has been a matter of taste, what I love you might not like , & what you like I might not, so we are all wired differntly & thats whay there are so many brands & sozes, thats why there is single malts & blends
thats about all i have this week
enjoy, Vince
Good morning it is Sunday the 7th of Sept. 2008 .... labor day has come & gone the kids are back in school & the nights are getting cooler & longer the sun is setting sooner & comming up later , & it will till the 21st of december , or some time about then , I am tooooo lazy to go look at the calander to see if its the 20th or the 21st , H3LL it might be the 22nd for all I know , but at that time of the year its cold out & I dont sit outside & worry about the season , winter , fall , spring what ever it can snow anytime , even in summer if your high enough........................ in the mountains ( NO not of booze , elevation ) you twit ! any way , we all know in winter its cold unless you live anyplace south of the frost line, & I havent been that far south in a long time , da burgh gets cold mid November & stays that way till mid march , not that there arnt a few nice days in there , I remember one year back in the late 60's I had the top down on the convertable Christmas day, well that was booze , it was snowing but I had a heater in the old Corvair Spyder Ragtop , so down came the roof 60 MPH on the highway heading into the burgh to see some play or something, had my Peacoat on & was feeling no pain , JUST HIGH ON LIFE hahahaha , its a blast driving in the snow with the top down , the heater was cranked up to the max with all the fumes you needed to put the top down hahahaha
Dammm how did I end up with that train of thought? I have no idea , I just sit here & type what I am thinking about, maybe I need to go back to sleep for a few hours & start this all over again ! hahaha No way man you have got to get the BS NOW , when its still fresh hahahaha,
well it was a good week at the shop, I did close on Monday but tuesday made up for the closing on monday , it was a BUSY day, But WED. Dammmm what a let down , I was hoping to do well but dammm i could have phoned it in , S L O W was the name of the game that day I think I might just cut my wed. hours to close at 6 PM not 9 PM, I have a guy comming in at 5 staying till 9 , but last wed. his total sales were ZERO , BUT 2 .........21 buck cigars got smoked , I think I gotta have a talk with that BOY !
Well the political conventions are over, ....................... if this is the BEST & the Brightest this country has to offer?????????? what are we in for , thats all I have to say about the R. D & Ind.
OK , lets get into the liquor cabnet , I pulled the cork on a Keg strength Glenfarclas , 120 proof .... the jury is still out on this one, is it worth the extra bucks , or is it just a high priced dram with a little extra Kick, , I dont drink for the effect , I do it for the taste , just like I smoke cigars , for the taste, & today all I had was ONE stick & 20 year old Petite corona sent to me by UNCLE FIDEL , I was busy all day & never did get to fire up anything else , it was a Honey DUE list today, bank, grocerys ,mall & all the BS that is associated with spending the day with the wife, short trip no time to enjoy a cigar so after we left the house i was never in the car more than 5 minutes at a time & back out & into a store, well I just never had the time to set fire to anything, it would need to stay in the car & go out , relights are Ok for some smokes but the stuff I had in my 3 finger case was the stuff you just dont was to chance on a relight , I was going to fire up my Last Casa Fuente some time today , But I never got to it , I had a Pepin black lable in the case right next to it & 15 year old Bahia Maduro from Costa Rico , well the only good thing about it is I still have all 3 !
I will be firing up the grill some time later , we have a set of T bones , some fresh picked corn( right now its still in the field ) cant get it much fresher that this, , got to wait till the farmer heads off to church before I go pick it hahahaha , I will also set a Yam on the grill along with a summer squash , & yes I will pick it with the corn hahaha.... , everything will go on the grill, , a LOW slow heat for the spuds & veggies , then pour the coals to it for the beef, burn the snot out of hers , well done please ... yea right , & wisper the word HEAT on both side of my hunk of beef .................... yea baby 138/140F internal temp on a hunk of beef for me ,,,,,she was hoping for 165/170 range . Not for me thats way to well done for me , 145 is streching it for me , thats on the verge of DOGFOOD , 155 F, forget it , give it to the mutt ! ............ 38 years together & she still cant see that all the flavor is in the RARE beef , never tuff, , & she chews & chews on that hunk of shoe leather week after week, I give up , I just make it the way she wants it & let her think its good ! hahahaha
the boys were here thursday, 15 wings , a 14 inch pizza & 18 ravolli , & salad hey dont forget the garlic bread , they were happy , I did manage to score one wing & a slice , Barb got 2 slices but no wings , I never did get a taste of the ravolli, Dont know if Barb did or Not hahahaha ?
they left a bag of Kettle cooked chips, thick sliced & CRISPY little s.o.b.'s
I am enjoying the snap of them still, , deep fryed in peanut oil, , just a touch of kosher salt , NO dip needed , just great potato & oil flavor , a little salt , dammmmmm all I need is a Beer , But none in the house , or the fridge, mabe its time for a run to the corner tavern> dammmm not open yet , got to hold that thought till MONDAY morning , & besides this local watering hole is a little to red neck for me, NO Good beer just BUD & MILLER LITE on tap & no dark beer in the cooler , No scotch in the place at all let alone a single malt, so i stay out of the place & drive right past it to go to a place that will cater to my needs , few...... but why drink the cheep stuff when there is better to be had ?
we got our pipes in this past week & have sold a few all ready, Fathers day & Christmas are the only times we sell them but this batch is going to be gone before Thanksgiving !, nothing expencive everything is below 50 bucks , the humidors are starting to move also, I guess the economic stimulas checks are still hitting here & there !@ hahahaha
I plan on sitting in the Qtr.Deck till its time to cook, Barb will spend the day with the sunday paper & will will enjoy the QUIET ! I spent all day saturday with her & i dont think I got 3 sentences in with out getting interupped
ahhhhhh yes PIECE & QUIET or is it PEACE & QUIET
Enjoy, Vince
Good morning, it is Sunday , 14 Sept. 08 ................ it has been raining here for the past 2 days but nothing like Texas is getting , the grass was all burt out from the lack of water but now it is a lush green & needs cut , dammmmmm
well the new season of saturday night Live started last night , & the opening was a real kick, I new in a flash when I saw Shara Palin that Tina Fye would be back on SNL as the SP impersonator, , but after the opening its SNL skit with her & Amy who can do Hillary better than Hillary , well the show just went down hill from there , weekend update was good, other than that the show just seams lost , the actors are tallented people & the substance just isnt there , the "NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME PLAYERS" , were new & fresh, for you young people the not ready for prime time players were the cast of the orginal saturday night live , dan acroid, john balushi, gilda radner,jane curtain,garette morris,chevy chase & if I am missing anyone I am sorry, that was a LONG time ago I just dont have the brain power to remember to breath at times now I gotta remember stuff that happened 35 years ago hahaha , no way that will happen !
well I did sleep in verry late this morning it was after 11 am when I got up, so I had a little yogurt for breakfast & will be cooking a rib roast today to keep the boss happy, that needs to get in the oven asap, so this posting will be short today, like my memorie hahahaha ,
The moving wall ( Vietnam memorial ) is here in Beaver County therre was a ride to the wall last night , in the rain about 2 miles of bikes in the parade , AWSUME Sight .
I was rummaging through the humidors last week & found a stick that was a bit beat up from being in the humi a few years the band had popped ( the glue just let go ) off & was still in the box, it was a Monte corona a gift grom uncle fidel , it lasted over an hour & it was the sweeeeeeeest smoke I have had in a long time , paired with a dark roast coffee from Columbia & a single malt from the Islay region it was a taste to make the heart race the & skip a beat it was that good ! hahahaha
, dammmmm its all ready after noonnhere in da burgh i gota get this on line asap , it is supposed to be the Sunday MORNING SMOKE not the afternnon smoke ! , oh well better luck next week ! Enjoy, Vince
Good morning , it is Sunday 21st of sept. 2008 , the POWER is back on the cable is working & the phones are ringing, & the TV is working , a week after hurricane IKE & I have a buddy with his power lines still on the ground, , here we are in the greater PITTSBURGH Pa area & the damage we got from IKE , is far more than I ever thought we would get , we had peaks of wind gusts at 81 MPH, a far cry from what TEXAS got but dammmmm man this is Pittsburgh, we are not close to the ocean here , it is a 24 HOUR drive from my home to NOLA , you would think that the stom would disapate a bit by the time it got here , we have been cutting trees & replacing shingles all week, a lot of the local supermarkets lost EVERYTHING in the chill chests & freezers, the produce was growing hair , so everything needed to be sanitised before restocking , I can only have a LOT of sympathy for the people on the gulf coast , the shop was closed a day & that was it , we did get power back down town fast, but out here in the BOONIES , it took some time , there are according to the news about 900 homes still with out power , should be back on for most of them by Tuesday , dammmm over a week with out power, how easy it is to forget the CONVIENCE of electricty , it runs our life, after a few day with out it I wonder how the AMISH do with out it , but I guess we as a people surivived a few years with out it hahaha, I guess we are the begining of the power grid generation , & indoor plumbing, I do remember the old outhouse as a kid , but that was way back in the dark ages , come to think about it , our camp in Tionesta Pa had an out house till about 20 years ago & we still have the pot belly stove to heat the place , but there is electricty there so we do have a few Comforts , & one day soon I might instal a hot water tank , hahahahaha , hell NO , its RUSTIC with out it , I never go up in the winter anymore , gave up hunting a long time ago , , you shoot it & clean it , I just cook it now same with Fish, , my fish cleaning days are OVER , you put it on the counter ready for the stove, I will take care of it then !
with the clean up from IKE taken care of lets move over to the cigars, AHHH yeas the relaxation begins , I have been digging DEEEEEP into the humidor this week celabrating life all week, I have forgone my standard Don Carlos #3 for a Casa Fuente this morning & have the usual KONA , what a match this is , dammm I wish I could have one Casa Fuente a week
BUT untill I hit the lottery BIG , I will stick to the Don Carlos , when you get right down to it is one hell of a great Cigar for sure,
I have a pot of Indian Monsoon coffee wating to be brewed after the Kona is done .
I have decided NOT to Cook today , I am giving my self the day off we are having stuffed Porkchops for supper tonight ala Roma Catering , I will pick them up about 3:30 /4:00 pm today , green beans & parsley potatos , all I will need to do is zap them in the microwave for 30 seconds to reheat them & supper is Surved ! Dammm I love electricty !!!
the Boys are having a great time at school, but I do miss the saturday morning soccor games yea like a TOOTH ACHE , not that I didnt like watching my grandson play, but it was cold & wet & the asshats didnt enjoy the aroma of my cigar & I was segeragated ( by my own choice to the endzone behind the goal ) as to NOT offend, some yuppie scoccor mom , had there been a MILF in the mix I might have stood my ground & stared at her , but since there was nothing to look at but the game, I figured moving was the best thing I could do , but since he isnt playing this year , I can sleep in on saturday ! AMEN !!!!
The Migrating Birds are moving south , I havent seen a Robin in a few days maybe longer , & we have a few new visitors to the feeder a large influx of cardinals, we had 2 or 3 comming & going all summer but we had about 10 here this week all at the same time & the wild canaries are showing up a lot more than they did all summer ,, the bluejays are still being the BULLYS of the feeder & the doves just make noise & *** all over the place , but they are FUN to watch, honrey bastards, they will jump anything !!
Thats about all I have from the burgh this week, please feel free to post whats going on in your neck of the woods .......... Enjoy, Vince
Wow im sorry to hear that about your city. the hurricane sounds devestating. where you there during this? have you been personally affected by the hurricane other than loosing electricity in your home? you bring up a very interesting point about electricity. we really do depend on it in society today. for example i just woke up this morning i walked over too my desk to grab a paper and i couldnt see so i immediatly thought hey turn on the light. now if i didnt have that light it would have been a huge pain in the asss. however electricity has also made society very very lazy. people dont put in the effort any more the dont go that extra step because we are so used to just pushing buttons and hitting switches. for example im sure if i would have just picked up a few papers and looked at them a little closely with some effort i could have seen what they were without the light on. I hope everything goes well after the devestation from IKE, it only gets better from here and it will definiatly strengthen your community.
not much going on in my neck of the woods. nusiness has just been crazy right now because summer is over and my part of the entertainment field is just not as active during this time of the year. but my company is trying its best to get our promotion crew out there and marketing and stuff. i finally filled my humidor haha its only a 20 ct though but its a start right. i found a cigar that i really enjoy on a daily bases its not expensive either its the Fonseca. this cigar is great. i really like robustos right now. im gna be taking a trip to NY in about a month or so. im excited for that. the weather is getting a little cooler here in LA which is great bcuz now i can smoke any time of the day outside and its not like 120 degrees out. well thats about it cuz im too lazy to write any more. but ya.
I was sitting in the Qtr.Deck, when the big blow hit, the power went out & I was stuck in there as I wasnt able to see the door hahahaha , the music stopped & the wind howled, I did get the windows closed before any damage was done , I had a Full mug of coffee, a bottle of single malt & 2 , 3 finger pocket keepers both full & I had a fine double corona from Uncle fidel in my hand , My wife was at the daughters baby sitting the grandsons, I didnt go as I most always do but she was ready to go before I was & I told her just go with out me , so she did , that gave me the evening all to my self, I ended up out there most of the night , but it was a TUFF day at work on Monday , not much sleep & a fair amount of single malt ! & no power at the shop, it was back on before the day was over , but I didnt get any power at home for a few days , it wasnt much fun !
Comments
Enjoy the Tofu!
I've only tried tofu a few times... Every one of those times it was absolutely disgusting... One time however it was something completely different... It was untofuedness at it's finest... As stated above very crispy on the outside and the flavor... wow.... burbon chicken? Something like that anyway...
mmmm... tofu.... not really... ewww....
Ahhh but Turducken! Now we're talking....
im in browns country , but go stealers
not much going on in my neck of the woods. nusiness has just been crazy right now because summer is over and my part of the entertainment field is just not as active during this time of the year. but my company is trying its best to get our promotion crew out there and marketing and stuff. i finally filled my humidor haha its only a 20 ct though but its a start right. i found a cigar that i really enjoy on a daily bases its not expensive either its the Fonseca. this cigar is great. i really like robustos right now. im gna be taking a trip to NY in about a month or so. im excited for that. the weather is getting a little cooler here in LA which is great bcuz now i can smoke any time of the day outside and its not like 120 degrees out. well thats about it cuz im too lazy to write any more. but ya.
Take Care
DAN