The Thing in the Garage...

What can this be? Some (bad) "artsy" picture? a
Or maybe a trapped animal? A chrysalis? What might hatch?  Is there somebody in there?

Wow! Maybe it’s a secret weapon!!

Read On....

When we remodeled the digs, and opted for the “wall of windows” design, it resulted in our great room having a rather tall ceiling (~28 feet). So things had to be on sort of a grand scale to fit the spaces. Eventually we got around to considering a Christmas tree, and of course a mere 8 or 9 footer would look like a sprout (not to mention many $ and a mess), so MFO went to Frontgate, and for very many more dollars we got a faux one, complete with hundreds of lights. While maybe not the tallest available (as in the White House tree) it did more or less make a nice presentation (with our famous clock).

Never mind that it is “up” in an empty house for the preponderance of time we’re in St. Louis and Wisconsin every year (another story which we won’t go into…..anymore), but when we return it has to live someplace. So, for a few years, we struggled getting it up and down stairs to the basement, “umbrella”- ing it through doors, and so forth. Much effort for not much display time (that story again). So, MFO consulted our trusty contractor and they all came up with a scheme to keep it in the garage.

And they graciously volunteered to construct same. So one day they showed up. As usual, an "easy job" didn't turn out that way (and I swore NOT to show any photos to protect their privacy). Anyway after a few false starts and several trips to Lowes for heavier tackle and “stuff”, the tree was nestling in its little sling of deer fence. It’s not a bad solution, just looks funny.

And yes, it is a messy garage, but by gosh, both cars can fit inside, defyingthea common practice in Southern Maryland. Normally John Deere would sit under the cradle, but it is currently having its winter spa treatment at Carroll’s Equipment.

So last Saturday night some friends volunteered to come over and help with the (now) traditional “hoisting of the tree”. We also hoisted glasses and forks, a pleasant evening.

And there it will rest, waiting for next year’s journey to be displayed to the ghosts..

DFD

Back to foodie stuff tomorrow..wherein we will consider Buffalo's and Gems..(PS there is some big football game next weekend)

One, Two, Three Strikes.....We're Out!

These are actual experiences in local restaurants lately:

One…The server greets the table, asks about drinks, go and gets them, comes back, we’re not ready to order yet. By way of saying there had been a lot of interaction between server and table before orders were taken. A question from one of the guests after reading the menu…”what is your quiche today?”…. Answer: "It’s ham and fontina cheese, but we’re out."


Two… An order was taken for a dish, and twenty minutes later (another item for discussion) server reappears, menu in hand, and says: “I’m sorry were out of (what was ordered)…”


Three… after presenting the menu, and informing us of the night’s specials we’re left to enjoy our drinks while considering our food choices. When we’re ready to order, MFO selects her item, and I say I’ll have the scallops. “I’m sorry, we’re out”.

Before going off the deep end, I did a little research with some local restaurateurs, and it was unanimous that the chef/kitchen has the absolute responsibility to let the floor staff know what is not available. Some have white boards in the kitchen, or the chefs call out: “only three tuna left!”, or it could be on the point of sale computer where the ticket is entered, and there are some other strategies. Bottom line, it should be known by all the servers what the state of the menu items are.

And, it is not to say that occasionally a restaurant shouldn’t be out of a particular item, suppliers don’t deliver on time, there’s an unanticipated “run” on a dish, more guests showed up than the order to the supplier was placed for, and other reasonable circumstances. You would wish if it is on the menu, they can deliver, but it is understandable that sometimes they are short, and that is forgivable.

What is unforgivable is NOT letting a guest know immediately where choices are limited:

“Here are your menus, and I am sorry but the (tuna) is not available tonight”
“I know we were running short on (tuna), let me quickly check for you”
“I know you’re ready to order, but I just found out that the (tuna) isn’t available anymore”

Just be aware. Good service is good service, starting with coming through the door..

Phood Photography

Over the weekend, a friend sent a link to a live on-line workshop on food photography. Since I had a minute on Saturday, I decided I’d just take a peek figuring, yeah, yeah. Well, in the end I spent a lot of the day Saturday and Sunday glued to the screen (figuratively, of course). The course was “taught” by Penny De Los Santos, who is a contributing photographer to Saveur. Alert readers will recall that one of the reasons I rate Saveur so high in the foodie publications is the photography. It was an eye opening experience. The amount of prep and work that goes into one of those pictures of strawberries in a bowl is amazing. There is a food stylist, a prop stylist, and a host of others that can take three to four hours for getting that “hero shot” (her term) of the strawberries. During the evolution, the camera (she was using Canon, by the way) is hooked directly into a computer display so she can see the results immediately. Light reflectors, blockers, and other devices fill in light where it is or is not needed, pieces of parsley are moved a half inch to the left, no, up, no, down. Of course there are “tricks” used to make the food look fresh when it’s been sitting there a half hour, like spraying water on it, or brushing on oil, but she strives to use the natural look as much as possible.

Of course most of us amateurs (and I now have a feel for how amateurish I am) don’t have those resources available, but she did talk a lot about light, composition, camera angles, what the edges look like, and so on. The “students” had chances to take shots, and then she would critique them, courteously of course. She kept emphasizing that you need to have a story for a picture…why do I want to look at this? Where does my eye fall? Anyway, it was a nice glimpse into the professional end of the business. She’s pretty amazing. I hope maybe I can take something away from the experience that will eventually make some of my shots more interesting..

Funny, she didn’t mention

DFD

Critical Confusion...

Since George hasn’t gotten back to me yet about writing Messiah II, we’ll veer back into more familiar ground.

As a wannabe food critic, I always pay attention to other “critics” and reviewers in my various food publications. One normally thinks that they have wider experiences with food, a reasonable pallet, and the guts to tell others what (they think) is good and what isn’t. For instance, I’ve always had pretty good luck trusting people like Tom Sietsema and Ruth Reichl as a guide, and generally believe what I read about various restaurants in most food magazines. Yes, I know things can be relative; there are no absolutes, but the critics do provide data, and for the most part recommend reliable and interesting places with enough description to allow you to make some evaluation if you would like to go spend your money there. At worst they will help you avoid a bad experience..

After reading through my last edition of St. Louis Magazine (Dec. 2010; Vol. 16, No. 12) with “STEAKHOUSES” emblazoned across the front, I have become somewhat shaken. Well, that’s maybe a bit strong, but at least curious.. The magazine’s stable of food “Critics” are Dave Lowry, George Mahe, and the venerable Joe (and Ann) Pollack. The article about the 12 top houses (in no particular order, thank goodness) is comprised of a couple of paragraphs about each one. Some are familiar, (at least to the STL crowd), such as Annie Gunn’s, Al’s, Mike Shannon’s, Kreis’, and Morton’s, along with some not so familiar like Prime 1000, Shula’s 347 Grill, SLeeK, and Stoney River. Good reading and a guide for those carnivores enjoying “Pleistocene hunks of meat”.

While they avoid rating and ranking the places (good move) each of the critics has a little box entitled: “Picks and Pans: A Critics Take”, wherein they list Best Independent, Best Chain, and Most Overrated. One might think that each critic should be generally aligned with each other, after all, they’re supposed to be knowledgeable, and they have to work together!

Here’s the Rundown in order above (best independent, best chain, and most overrated)

George Mahe: Annie Gunn’s; Morton’s; Andria’s Steakhouse
The Pollack’s: Mike Shannon’s; Ruth Chris; Citizen Kane’s
Dave Lowry: Citizen Kane’s; Ruth Chris; Annie Gunn’s

Whoa! What a hodge-podge! Mahe’s best is Dave’s overrated; Dave’s best is Pollack’s overrated. What’s a diner to take away from that? Where should I go? Does it make any difference? Next time I get a new issue with their reviews in it, how should I take them? Get a second opinion? Methinks the editors might have considered how that might be received…

Local Notes:

I see in the paper this morning (I hate finding out things in the paper, I should be better than that!) that the old “Bingo Parlor” situated on our corner (Millstone Landing/Rte. 235) by the McDonald’s is being renovated to become………a liquor store! We sure need more of those! Now there will be all the necessities of life in one convenient location: a bank, a McDonald’s, and a liquor store. What more can you wish for in Southern Maryland? Maybe the demons will come down from their stoplights and get a belt.

Driving tip!

And, speaking of those demons, I have at last found a way to thwart their habit of turning the light red just before you get there causing you to sit out the 10 minute cycle gnashing teeth and pounding your head on the steering wheel. All you do is calmly reach into the seat next to you, pick up your smart phone (which you never use while driving) and start looking at your text messages/e-mails. Before you know it, a horn behind you will snap you out of it and the light will be green! Painless! That time compression thing..Try it!!

Boy, it sure is cold…make sure you also

DFC(old)

Weekend Wrap..

Probably not really riveting reading, but it is what it is (as "they" say)...

A lot of the weekend was spent in recovering (it always takes longer than you wish) from the cold that downed me the latter part of the week. A hoped for attendance at a Thursday night cooking class over in Leonardtown (at QualityStreet) fell victim to the symptoms. I was looking forward to it as it featured (among other things) a home made blue cheese dressing for iceberg wedge, a dish that I am increasingly fond of. The staff was kind enough to save me a plate of everything however, which served as a lunch on Saturday. Somehow, the recipe for the salad dressing didn’t make it into the notes, but that’s being worked. I’m a sucker for blue cheese dressing. You can have your dainty little vinaigrette, gimme the earthy creamy chunky blue cheese. I think it's particularly suited for that crunchy snappy iceberg. Kind of acts like a binder on the more delicate greens.

After spending most of Friday recuperating, the first social foray consisted of attending a fund raiser for the Hospital on Friday night. Although a nice selection of wines and appetizers were offered, the taste buds were still unable to discern any flavor of liquid or solid food. Sigh.

At last feeling more normal on Saturday, I spent some time on John Deere and with the weed whacker returning the digs to a more presentable condition. Then some couch time (a medical necessity) watching various college football games, suffering yet another national exposure of a bumbling Spartan team as they once again were too little too late. When does roundball start?

Rallied myself to go out Saturday night to that lecture at Calvert Marine Museum. It turned out to be not what I expected, and instead of speaking about historic sailing on the Chesapeake, it recounted a journey from Europe to the New World on the same route that the early colonists would have taken. Except this was on a luxury 5 masted sailing ship with gourmet meals. The presenter used some historic navigational equipment, which was generally able to match the GPS data from the ship. Entertaining, just not what I expected. A takeout from Ruddy Duck with a couple of pizzas finished the evening.

Yesterday we had some friends over for lunch, and I prepared a frittata served with thick sliced bacon. Only negative was that it was left under the broiler just a few seconds (time to go get a sip of beverage) too long, but still was edible. Given the early hour I figured that something bubbly would be appropriate and stumbled across a nice find. It was an ‘05 “Sparkling Rose” from Kluge Estate in Charlottesville in Virginia. It had a pleasing pale pink color with nice effervescence of tiny bubbles. Although the sniffer wasn’t still in it’s “A” game, I did detect some yeasty aromas. I thought it had (watch out) a nice mouth feel, sort of silky with a long finish. Whew! Enough wine speak…anyway it went well with the smoked gouda and MFO’s cheese crackers. It once again proved how nice a leisurely lunch with good friends and food can be.

Of course we eventually degraded to watching the “Skins” allowing Detroit to end their three year winless streak. I don’t know how the Nation’s Capital can have such inept pro teams (except the Caps – thank goodness). I also caught the end of the FedEx cup coverage. It was interesting to me how all season long, the networks had promo after promo about “the playoffs”, close ups of folks like Emmet Smith emoting about the importance of “the playoffs”, on and on. I think in every sport I know of if one wins the final “playoff”, that person is deemed the “Champion”. Makes sense. There must have been some fast thinking yesterday when Phil Mickelson beat Tiger by 3 strokes, and second place in “The Playoffs” takes the Fedex Cup. So immediately they started yapping about the Cup representing “consistency of play throughout the season”, and Lefty merely won “the tour championship”. I think they have a ways to go. Maybe they can talk to the BCS folks, they have it right…. Oh, wait…..

ADMIN NOTE: this coming Saturday, MFO and I are leaving Pax to attend our 50th High school class reunion. The Bottom Feeder will be on the road, but it will be a new experience in the blogosphere. In preparation for this odyssey, publication this week may be sporadic. But in no case should you not

DFD

With Apolgies to Mr. Huxley

Welcome to a Brave New World. Thank you for visiting. I hope you will enjoy the experience. I suppose there are many, many, visitors that are more cyber savvy than I, but this is a start. If you would like to have any new post dumped in your inbox as usual, do the "subscribe via e-mail" thingy on the right. Comments are available at the bottom of any post which i can edit.. If you do that, be sure to use a call sign not your real name..we'll all learn together..suggestions are welcome