Shirt and (very) Sweet

As I remember, the last time we talked I noted that we were going to celebrate our 55^th wedding anniversary.   Well, we did!

 

wonderful Champagne, classic Cheese, exquisite nuts.  Life is good.

MFO had a special bouquet created with 5 peach roses (representing a decade each) and single white for half a decade.  Like birthday candles have to give up one for one after a while.  It was gorgeous

(The fifth decade is hiding toward the back)

We had a lovely quiet time, talked to both FOJ’s, and enjoyed the view framed by our window

Fortunately we didn’t get into the “remember when….?” Because these days the answer is usually “no”.   we will, however, always remember August 23, 1963.

Just like birthdays, you live your life day by day and pretty soon you realize Hey! We’ve been together 55 years!!

And days pass, the flowers fade, but the memories won’t.

I love my DMOTRWAT’s, Martinis, and wine, but nothing compares with

I had more things to talk about, but won’t; I decided to just leave it here, and future editions can get into things like

But for now

DFD and

NMMJ

Reading and Drinking

Can't beat that!

I assume everybody has had enough rain by now!  Our mighty Davis Vantage Pro 2 on the roof says we have had 6.16 inches this month, and 26.1 for the year.  Good for the crops?

Anyway, just two items (left off the third) of interest and a bonus

Magazines

As readers are (painfully) aware, especially MFO! I get tons of food magazines.  Over time, you learn there is a common pattern to most of them.   Depending on the season of the year, there are always issues devoted to:

Grilling (summer & winter!)

foreign cuisines

of course seasonal issues

And of course a whole raft of “best” issues of restaurants, chefs, etc., you name it

Extra credit, who’s the chef on the far right (can hardly miss him these days)

And there are some I just skim

Plus there's always a "Cookie" issue, a "Cook like a chef" one, etc.,  But the one that irk me most, which always shows up at some point during the year in the Regional rags like the Washingtonian, Baltimore, and St. Louis magazines.  Is "Cheap Eats"

They begin their article with (non-italicized mine): “Peruse restaurant menus these days, with their $32 Burritos and $24 Sandwiches (no source given) and you might think it’d be tough to get a decent meal on a budget in this town. Turns out that couldn’t be further from the truth – just flip the page.  Herewith, our 100 (!!!) favorite places to eat for $25 a person – or less.”

Just something about the theme of “cheap” rubs me the wrong way.  I have never seen a $32 burrito, but the implication is that it is overpriced? (which does sound a bit much – maybe Wagyu).  Since they say “decent” I guess they’re saying you don’t get a great meal.  Guess the operative word is “decent”.  Low expectations.

So, perusing the list of the “100”, reveals the common characteristic is that they are mostly “single dish” places (Pho, Kebob, noodles in various forms) and the vast majority are International cuisines: Korean, Ethiopian, Mongolian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Yemeni (!), Pakistani, Thai, Indian, Filipino, Cuban, Bosnian/German, Afgan, Lebanese, even Uyghur!  To name but a few.  In fact, if you give them Barbecue only 7 out of the whole 100 are characterized as “American”. The restaurant names are inscrutable, like Toosso, Shamshiry, Pupatella, Padaek, Thip Khao, and CherCher (which is Ethiopian).  Perhaps if you hail from those regions and speak the language you would understand (I understood BBQ!).  Photos of staff kind of indicate that they are understandably mostly from the same region as the food.

As to the “Cheap” label, I suppose a lot of it is due to the ingredients which tend to be economical to buy or are even made in house.  Never having been to any of them, I suspect there is not a lot of staff that has to be paid, most (I assume) are family run, the restaurants themselves are often small, sort of store-front places that are most likely not high rent.  All these factors would contribute to keeping price points within the budget of most folks.  I suppose a phrase like “economical eats” or “value priced eats” doesn’t have the news stand sex appeal of “Cheap”, always a magnet to the general public.  So with all these factors it enables them to produce quality food, yet with a smaller price tag.

So after further thought developed toward the end of writing this, I’m backing off my initial snarky attitude, and say if you’re looking for a particular favorite or sample a new single culture cuisine, this is a good directory.  Won’t hurt the big boys.

Taste test

As most of the readers are (also painfully) aware, my daily go to cocktail is a DMOTRWAT (Dry Manhattan On The Rocks With A Twist).   Everybody should remember that it is bourbon, dry vermouth, no bitters, with a lemon twist. Simple, clean and nice.  At home I use rocks, but when out I normally get it "up" mostly for aesthetics. 

Anyway,Vermouth is the French pronunciation of the German word Wermut (wormwood) that has been used as an ingredient in the drink over its history.  Space (and most likely your interest) doesn’t permit a history of Vermouth, but it has been around in one form or another since as early as the 5^th Century BC.   Commercial production started in the mid-18^th century.

Although there are sweet (red) and dry (white) available today, it all starts out with a white wine made from principally  Clairette blanche, Piquepoul, Bianchetta Trevigiana, Catarratto,and Trebbiajno grapes as the base.  They produce a low alcohol wine that is then fortified with extra alcohol (a fairly neutral grape brandy is used in most cases) and also infused with botanicals such as cloves, cinnamon, quinine, citrus peel, cardamom, chamomile, hyssop and ginger. The "sweet" wine (red) is made by adding sugar syrup and caramel color. Traditionally white (is sometimes called French) is used for Martinis and red (sometimes called Italian) goes into (Classic) Manhattans.

Both are produced in a relatively small area of Southeastern France and Northern Italy.  Here is a map of locations of the principal manufacturers

Although these days, like anything else, there are several producers in the new world making “boutique” vermouths, another story for another time.  I have traditionally used white vermouths from Italy and France.  Economics have driven me to mostly use Martini and Rossi (Italian) and save my favorite Noilly Prat (French) for special occasions.  I also had another bottle of French (Dolin) kicking around which I use for emergencies (“OMG, we’re out of Vermouth!”).  

Something moved me to think “can I really tell the difference?", and decided to do a little comparison.

I was chicken to do it blind.  

I found the French Noilly Prat to be a bit smoother than the Italian M&R, but both were virtually identical in color, body, and nose.  The Dolin was a bit darker and distinctive on the palate with more botanical character, kind of an Anise (Wormwood?) overtone.  Both of the former were “extra dry” while the latter was just “dry”.  Not sure if that made the difference or not.

So there you have it.  Damn it, now I’m thirsty!

Enough!

I was going to add a third subject, the recently completed Solomon’s version of the Screwpile races, but I’ll have mercy on us all, and save those images for another time.  Just one for a tease.

Yes, it’s B&W, but somehow more appropriate and graceful

So after you have had your favorite libation before eating, a small reminder to

DFD

And remember NMMJ!

California Dreamin'

I was a busy week last week here in Lake Desperanza Farms..  started off with another visit “up the road” to Johns Hopkins.  Was a follow up, but Doc wanted to do update a couple of tests.  The famous “Six Minute walk” test and another echo cardiogram.  Early reports are that nothing is (more) amiss, so we won’t spend any more time on it. 

That same day, our dear friends from San Diego arrived for a visit.  Been a couple of years since we’ve seen them so it was good to get together again.  We still confer fairly often, but it is so nice to be face to face.  You can’t hug a smart phone!

He is an avid birder and quite an accomplished photographer. I was of course not able to go, but through my contacts with the local Audubon Society we found a “guide” who took him on a morning trek (the next morning starting at 7am our time) through Calvert Cliffs State Park.  She is one of those people who can bird by ear, identifying species just by their voice.  Quite a talent.  Oh, before he left I hefted his camera with a lens (roughly) the size of a megaphone, whicih was attached to a rather large camera.   Wow.  I admire him lugging that around the bush!  But he gets some great shots.  He has a website and if you're interested PM me on Facebook. 

He and I first met at Michigan State University (long before their recent troubles).   It was in the midst of the “Hippie/Folk Music” days of the 60’s, and at that time I played the banjo and he was a guitarist, so we taught each other to play the other's instrument, and have remained close friends ever since, despite the miles involved.  After undergraduate studies he pursued advanced degrees in Ethnomusicology while I went into the exciting world of engineering.  Before retirement, he was a professor at San Diego State.

So anyway, if birding was out, what’s something we can all enjoy?  EATING OUT!  We had two meals, one at Cow & Fish, and the other at the old standby Dry Dock.  C&F continues to fascinate me for some reason.  After our last meal there, I sent the owner an email complaining about the runner not knowing who had what, even at a two top, and my new cause: “No Mason Jars ON the Table”. On this visit neither had been addressed so we had the Mason Jars for water and the “Who had the?” for food.   We did however have a choice table, and the food was very good.  I had a lamb shank, which was a special on the board posted as: “Lamb Shank Leg” with a reduction of some kind.  Ever conscious of sodium intake, I asked for the sauce on the side.  Although it had good flavor it did tend to be a bit dry.  Scallops at the table were good, and the owner stopped by and chatted with no mention of my lucid observations.  They do, however, have some new tables that are quite nice.  

I did have a note the other day from a stringer, who was among a party of ten at the place, and didn’t have a good experience.  The whole front of the house operation remains spotty I think, but things are moving in the right direction.   The next night at the dry dock was a typical dry dock experience.  Such a lovely place.

So our last view of our friends was as they headed for BWI the next day

Sad to see them go.  Hope we can meet again.

Somewhat related, during the time when we were musically involved during our student days at MSU, I splurged on a Martin D28 guitar.  I have fallen out of practice for a large number of years (I believe the phrase is “lost my chops”) and had kind of a long term lease arrangement with another friend who has his chops, but has recently acquired another guitar, so decided to return mine.  It still is a beautiful instrument. 

MFO has been thinking about “de-aquisitioning” our stuff and so with the help of more musically alert friends we tried to establish its worth.  We did have the serial number which placed it in the late 60’s, and more research determined it had a two-piece Brazilian Rosewood back.

Several sources have placed an (eye opening) figure on it..I may have to start learning all over again.  It sounds beautiful.  Upon its return another friend who plays virtually every instrument with strings and some with human wind power joined us and I enjoyed listening to them all play.   Oh, the guitar that "displaced" mine is made entirely of carbon fiber, all in one piece and a gorgeous blue.  An amazing instrument both visually and acoustically.   The times they are a changin’

Well, I still have a rather long list of this’s and that’s to pass on, but think I’ll end here, because I don’t want to sully the visit experience with more banal stuff.  So I will close with an image they sent us when back in SOCAL.  To me, it somehow characterizes the experience perfectly.   Anybody know the fast food/(quick service/fast casual) place?  A California icon…

 A whole different look for
DFD

Goodbye to old friends...

When I became more and more interested in restaurants, food, and cooking (late 80’s?) I got attracted to publications about the subject.  Probably my first subscription to a “foodie” magazine was for (the now defunct) "Gourmet", which always had interesting recipes and articles.  The likes of Ruth Reichl, Jacques Pepin, and James Beard all contributed to it regularly.  As time went by, with the help of chefs like Emeril (Bam! Bam!) Lagasse’s TV show, the “foodie” phenomenon exploded, spawning even more TV shows, with outlets like the Food Channel throwing increasingly (IMHO) silly shows at you like the (disgusting) “Top Chef” genre.   Few individual chefs with some real talent had their own show, but with with pretenders like Guy Fieri and Rachel (I love me) Ray, who seemed to be in it solely for their own promotion.  Anyway, along with the TV explosion, publications also proliferated.  Being a sucker for the usual “deals” if you “subscribe now”, I signed up for anything that seemed to be of real value.  I skipped things like “Cooking Light”, or “Healthy Cooking” types of things favoring those that had serious treatment of food and classical cooking techniques rather than how to cut corners, cooking fast and easy type of things. 

Anyway as the industry grew, so did my “library” (what? Throw that out?  I might want to cook that sometime?)  with the result that today our living room coffee table often grows to look like

Littered with things I am meaning to read more carefully

And as the volume grew it even began to take over our loft

And after that got over populated, I established the Bottom Feeder Archives in a corner of our basement

Where magazines were stored in boxes by date (note dates)

(and a few sleeves of Titleists)

And then eventually those boxes gave way to tubs

Saveur over Parker

So the other day MFO laid down the edict: DO SOMETHING! We are having house guests in a couple of weeks, and having them bed down on a nest of magazines doesn’t seem very hospitable.  She pitched in and organized piles into the last year’s or so and tidied things up

We may donate complete years of various magazines to the annual Friends of the Library Book Sale, which softens the blow a little, but there are some with which I cannot bare to part (Garden and Gun, Saveur for instance). 

Sooooo......

Somehow giving up things I have cherished for over twenty years is like losing an old friend.  Devotion to food and its preparation have been (and continue to be) a large factor in who I am.  I suppose it’s my age, but there is something comforting about holding a real magazine in your hand, slowly turning the pages, savoring (get it?) images of beautifully prepared food, reading the ingredient list, and mentally following the preparation and techniques.  And yes, most if not all can be found on “the web”, but clicking on this and that, scrolling past innumerable ads just isn’t the same.

Sigh…

Appendix:  I kind of did this for my own edification (and amazement!) but here is a list of my stuff:

Magazines (mostly) devoted to food

Food & Wine

Bon Appétit

Saveur

Cook’s Illustrated

Cook’s Country

Milk Street (Christopher Kimball’s new venture)

Cuisine at Home

Sauce (newspaper mailed from St. Louis – reviews, openings, closings, etc.)

Imbibe (Devoted to cocktails and craft beers)

Restaurant and Hospitality

Washington Post’s semi-annual Tom Sietsema’s dining supplements

(Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate)

Other Magazines with significant food content

Garden and Gun (Southern Culture and food)

Martha Stewart Living

Travel and Leisure

Washingtonian (always has a best new restaurant issue)

Baltimore Magazine (ditto, best crab cakes, etc.)

St. Louis Magazine (ditto)

Southern Living

Savor (Freebie from Giant)

Magazines no longer in print

Art of Eating (now on Line only)

Gourmet (gone, but an icon)

La Cucina Italiana

Other Notes of interest

Speaking of friends (not magazines), a few years ago when I was writing a little column for the St. Mary’s County Tourism Website, I worked with the tourism folks and got to know Andrew Ponti, who helped Carolyn Laray before she left.  They were both very helpful in promoting our Oyster Festival, BeerFest, and other local events in the county.  I found out that Andrew will be “running” for the Leonardtown Town Council.  I of course will not be able to vote, but anybody who lives in Leonardtown should consider him.  Have always known him as a person who acts ethically, and besides is a really nice guy!  Oh, by the way, he is an avid Bottom Feeder Fan as well!

Here are a couple of Keurig cups I will never use (they always throw in a few of those in a “variety” pack).

Now that Cove Point LNG plant is coming on line (I assume) we see more ships that are going to onload some gas, and due to the nature of the product, they always send out the “fire boats” from the Solomons to usher them to the plant and be there during the loading process.  I caught them while testing their equipment - turned out to be a nice shot..

DFD!

Apres Storm

Last look was during the storm, so we’ll wrap this up with an “after the storm”, report.  Here’s a time history of the maximum gusts (blue) and the barometric pressure (gray) starting midnight (M) through noon (N) on the first through about noon yesterday

 

We didn’t experience the 60 – 70 mph gusts reported elsewhere, but 55 is sporty enough. If you would like to see real time what’s going on up on the Feeder’s roof, click here

Yesterday morning, there was remaining evidence of the storm as the water was as low as we could remember, the westerly winds forcing the water from the river out into the Bay.

We don’t remember seeing the waves breaking beyond our neighbor’s pier.  During my neighborhood recon trip (see below) I ran into our landscape guy who was out doing tree duty, and he said he was going  just walk out and harvest oysters.

So as I said, I decided to drive around our “hood” and found a lot more evidence of the force of the winds man made things:

As well as things that took Mom Nature a while to erect

                

                                                   

And those are just what you can see from our streets, all within our Neighborhood.

After that,  MFO had some errands to do around town, and I rode along, seeing more damage

(Our New Nissan dealer)

While parked in Wildewood Center with MFO going inside a store, I watched the State Police helo going round and round, perhaps training in the still pretty brisk wind.

And there were also other birds training, providing “traffic”

And finally, to inject a tiny bit of food content, the good folks at Golden Corral wanted us to know about their “Butterfiy” shrimp being served for your “Diner” and maybe a harbinger of things to come if they don’t pay their rent

So we bid adieu to winter storm Riley, which left many monuments

                    

If I were to go for the Butterfiy shrimp, I don’t think I would bother

DFD

Au Revoir and Hola

Lament:  How times change…  (a little culinary history/musings, probably known by most folk).. for years we had a restaurant in Leonardtown run by a very talented French chef who served varied and interesting food of all cuisines but with a French touch in sauces, combinations and flavors.  After all those years, the owners got kind of burnt out, plus they had aging parents and so they elected to not renew their lease.   After a long dark period, we were pleased to learn new restaurateurs were going to move in, and kind of keep the theme the same.  Since they had DC restaurant experience it was hoped they would continue the tradition. (I believe) they sunk a lot of money in the place to fix the kitchen and back of the house stuff.  After many delays, they finally opened

Somehow, they just never clicked.   The “old clientele” kind of faded away and they began a slow decline.   Pricing structure was different, probably a little higher, and some probably were put off by that.  Personally I thought the food was very good, they offered unique dishes and ingredients and that may have contributed.   Service was accomplished, but often seemingly penalized by the pace of the food coming from the kitchen.  Things didn’t change, it seemed that they were bent on bringing DC to Southern Maryland, and not let Southern Maryland come to them.   At any rate they finally decided to pull up stakes.  Kind of a pity, Leonardtown is a designated "Art District" (I may get corrected here) and is trying to become kind of an artsy-f***sy (excuse me) center with local shops, coffee houses, restaurants and so forth.  The cornerstone of Café Des Artistes was kind of the hub.

So against that backdrop, rumors and “I heard’s….” for a replacement ensued, some thought for a while that our up and coming “Cow and Fish” might occupy.   I think a back drop of intransigence of the owners (the Dukes) not being willing to help delayed things.  Nothing.

So we were there the other day and now the corner looks like

Oh no!  wait a minute!  is one strain of rumors true?   Indeed they are

ANOTHER Tex Mex is all we need.   Not only that, but a Bud Light?  No Modelo, Dos Equis, Pacifico?   Nope a good ol’ Bud Light, and probably ten ounce!   Think maybe Guy Distributing had something to do with it?  I always suspect chains, so I did some research.   There are restaurants by that name (Dos Amigos) in Alexandria and Chantilly, Virginia, Orange City, NY, Pomano Beach FL, Byron and Libertyville, IL to name a few.  The menus are distinctly different in layout, BUT, and a big BUTT, er, BUT disgustingly the same in content.  Burritos, Enchiladas, Tacos, Fajitas, all the staple stuff that is made in that big Cocina in the sky.  In addition in one place you can also get a bacon cheeseburger, another a Philly Cheesesteak (?!). “C’mon honey, I feel like Mexican tonight!  Maybe that Philly Cheesesteak”.  Sigh.

It is kind of a shame that “Mexican” has come to be thought of as the dishes above.   Let’s check that menu…nope, I can’t find Aporreadillo, Cecina, Cabrito, Poc Chuc, Pollo motuleño, and just as well Chapulines (look that one up).

Okay.  And you know what? The Inconvenient Truth is that it will fill up.  Café Rio (“Self-serve eatery dishing up Mexican classics including hand-rolled tortillas, burritos & tacos”) has now opened their over 120^th location near Harris Teeter. And I suppose it will also pack them in.  Their slogan? “Our main ingredient is love!”  funny, I thought that was what made a Subaru a Subaru.

So if there is a point to all this, it is somewhere in the “money talks” area.  There seems to be a bottomless supply of people who want this level of food, and I’m sure they enjoy it, so it just keeps coming.  I only hope that maybe someday they will move past black bean burritos and discover that there are wonderful things out there waiting to be tasted and experienced.  

DFD

really the last link in the chain(s)

Well, you are probably pretty tired of this subject by now.   But I should pass something along to you, so it may deserve one more little shot.  And maybe a couple of comments.

While of course the Feeder (unabashedly) considers himself a champion of independent restaurants, with a specialty in “Just Right” places, there are other sources of such information.  Back in the day, when I was writing a little “Moody’s View” column for the Tourism folk, I got to know them pretty well.  They of course want to promote our county as a destination for various things, fishing, hiking, birding, small local festivals (Annual Oyster Festival and BeerFest), and of course the consumption of food. I have to admit they have included a very nice list of local places for eating around the county on their website .  While their “” category does include chains (all described as such in the tag lines… like for CIB “Casual, island-themed chain known for American fare and unique drinks”.  To be somewhat fair, chains, like them or not, are part of the fabric of the county, and some visitors probably are more comfortable going to places they are familiar with.

But the categories are further broken down into more specific themed places, like seafood and waterside, and "Hidden Gems", which are all locally owned establishments.  You might browse a bit there's a lot of good info there; it takes a lot of work to assemble those kinds of list. They did a nice job.

One of the establishments that shows up in multiple categories is the venerable Courtney’s down in Ridge (sometimes pronounced "Reeeeidge".  I have extolled their place in the list of just right places, but lately I have been receiving reports that time catches up with all of us.  Stories of empty tables, and even longer waits seem to be growing.  Tommy and Julie are getting on, but trying to hold fast.  There seems to be no successor in sight.   Maybe that’s just as well.  I keep urging you to go if you’ve never been, as I fear that maybe they are approaching the end of their run with the place.  Just imagine how many years they have been toiling in what is after all, a brutal business.   I still maintain the king of the “just rights” was St. James Pub, now of course defunct.

Speaking of defunct, I did happen on a little story that features places that were in (at least my) past.   Some are barely holding on, and some are gone only leaving us with memories… “oh yeah!  I remember when…”

It does contain ads, but also some interesting features; I thought it was worth a look. 

Thanks to those who have suggested other techniques for dealing with those pesky Crassostrea Virginica people.

okay, so that's it.  Please branch out from your "dining" comfort zone to try some of the neat little places in the county.  you might be pleasantly surprised, but no guarantees!  they do miss sometimes as well...  and it's up to you to figure out how to

DFD

Take this... and

Stuff it!

Just a (not so, it turns out) quick Thanksgiving eve note to wish all the hundreds, well, dozens, okay, my few readers a happy day tomorrow.  The hell with the turkey, it is what it is, and we’ve discussed that anyway.  Just enjoy the company of friends, family, and special people.  Take tomorrow and live it.

Also not to leave food alone, there was another food section from the Washington Post (you can think what you want about their politics, they do have a good food section).   The theme of the section was stuffings, a dish close to my heart.  I think I mentioned that aside from the bird, these “sides” are where you can express yourself.  The article was written by Tim Carman, who is my idol Tom Sietsema’s right hand man, and I would guess heir apparent.  He is a bit more acerbic than Tom which of course I like.

Anyway he addresses the subject of “dressings” from kind of a (forgive me) anthropologic view.  One of the great things I really like about our country is regional cooking and its variations.  Like how BBQ sauce is so different from Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, and with a nod to FOJTY, Kansas City.

This is also evident in the case of the second most important dish at the table (maybe the first -  Dessert excluded) the “South” pretty much refers to it as “dressing” while the Northern states prefer call it “Stuffing”.   I also learned that in Pennsylvania Dutch country it is referred to as “filling”.   Further, that community bases most of their recipes on potatoes.  Besides the name, ingredients reflect regional preferences:  Cajun style dressings in Louisiana, Italian-style in New York and Jersey. New Englanders rely on Bell’s Seasoning (thank God no Old Bay!!); Minnesota makes use of wild rice, southwestern leans toward corn bread and Hatch chiles.  As for preparation “in or out” is a debate.  As he sums up:  “Some call it stuffing and roast it inside the turkey (except when the don’t).  Others call it dressing and bake it in a casserole (except when they don’t)”.

If he has a point, it is that our dear friend loosely referred to as “Social Media” is blurring the regional distinctions.  Home cooks in Seattle have instant access to recipes from Alabama, and vice versa. And with the other side of the blade, ingredients are no more than a click and a day from your doorstep.  You can make Oyster dressing/stuffing/filling in Omaha if you wish.  I’m not sure this is a good thing.

He includes some “regional” recipes:

Charleston Rice Dressing (low country) with chicken livers and pee-cans

Grandma Jerry’s stuffing (new jersey) with two kinds of Italian sausage Pennsylvania Dutch – Style Potato Filling (Dutch country) - mostly potatoes

Nana’s Andouille and Corn Bread Dressing (san Antonio) – sausage and turkey giblets

West Coast Oyster Dressing (Olympia area) – west coast oysters (which he found at Costco!)  and sour dough bread

And believe it or not from my native St. Louis’s Dierberg’s School of Cooking in Chesterfield:   Theresa Lewis a manager there served her family……..wait for it….White Castle Dressing which was made originally as sort of a culinary joke on a dare (having had a long personal relationship with the late night sliders), but the family “loved it” and it’s been a staple on their table ever since..

And so at least temporarily regional cuisine lives on reflecting the rich diversity of this great country.

So enjoy your day tomorrow, convene around good food and drink, and rejoice in those around you and remember those who aren’t.   and depending on the group pick an appropriate way to

DFD.

and in the spirit of the season I will postpone a rant on car commercials