Sled Dogs and MOMSTERS

There is the old saying among sled dogs: “if you’re not the lead dog, the view never changes” that was pretty much how we spent the first 900 miles and two days of our first stage of the odyssey (Second stage: STL to WI). During that time, as our (loaded) MOMSTER I followed our friend in MOMSTER II, this was the view that never changed:



On top of that, after loading said road vehicle with stuff to transport to STL in 95 degree heat, the driving portion was livened by rain in varying intensity as we passed through the mountains of West (BG) Virginia.



Of course, there are always diversions along the way, such as this juxtaposition of opposite ends of the spectrum:



Plus vehicles such as this gem:



Or “Jack on Wheels” – no doubt headed for Tennessee Bourbon country



With all of this, our first day ended up being about ten and a half hard road hours, but we made our intended destination of Lexington, KY, aka Horse Capitol of the World. For a change and to reward ourselves we stayed at the Marriott “big house” instead of our normal Courtyard or Fairfield accommodations. Due to our cross country drive earlier in the year, we somehow climbed into the “gold” category, but when we checked in, we were told that they were sorry, the concierge level was full, but we could of course enjoy any amenities we wished. Unfortunately due to our late arrival and the tiredness of our driving team, we decided to stay in the room and do room service.

Of course, loyal readers know that the Feeder always has a firm grasp of the obvious, but it was very apparent that the clientele of the top facility in the Marriott family is quite different from the “lower end” properties. Shorts and flip flops are replaced by tabbed front shirts; “tats” are (at least) not visible, and hair cuts are very tidy. There is no judgment here, just an observation. Of course all this comes with a price tag, but hey, it was only one night, and after the drudgery of the loading of furniture and monster TV’s we deserved it.

So after “refreshing” a bit, we reassembled in one of the rooms, and enjoyed a couple of cheeses, Whitley’s peanuts, crackers, and a very nice bottle of Sterling Chardonnay. You can always travel in style with a little planning. After, we turned to the room service menu, and guided by our MOMSTER II friend, between the three of us, we ordered bowls of onion soup, and potato soup, a chicken ceasar, and I braving acid reflux I had a Reuben (somewhat a benchmark) sandwich. The room service menu was fairly extensive and not really all that expensive. I think my Reuben (and fries) was all of eleven bucks. As we solidified our order, we noticed in the dessert section a (as I recall) “Kentucky Sweet Cake”. When you’re in Kentucky, do as the Kentuckians do, and we ordered up a slice.

After enjoying a bit more of the wine, a knock on the door brought our food, nicely served on real plates, with real silver and linens. What a nice touch.

The food was quite tasty (as would have been shoe leather at that point), but the always objective Bottom Feeder would have to say that it was quite edible. Maybe my corned beef in the Reuben was not carved fresh, but it was thicker sliced than your “lunch meat” and had some taste. The fries were the “skin on” type and were tasty with a shake of salt.

Finally we turned to the “Sweet Cake”. I am not sure I could describe it accurately, you might check out a recipe, but it is sweet, almost pound cake like, but spicier, and there was a nice glaze on top that was very sweet. I think the hotel version didn’t include the alcohol ingredient which might give it a bit of a bite, but it was good.

Oh, I forgot. Although we had a very nice glass of wine at hand, I looked at the wine list. This is room service, mind you, but look at some of the selections (yes, and prices) toward the end of the list. This isn’t your Annie Green Springs, or white zin, there are some big boys in there.



So ended the first of our “road days”, and bellies full and mind suitably calmed we turned in. and for once we didn’t consider

DFD

Come Along with Me....

Bob Bob Bobbin’ Along

I notice our emerging Red Robin now sports a sign informing us: “In Training, Opening Soon”, and in fact there are occasionally clusters of uniformed people standing outside smoking. Nice. Although I am (and will remain) critical of the Olive (pre packaged, pre made food) Garden, I don’t harbor the same feelings for the RR. Being a “Burger Joint”, albeit upscale, I don’t think they will seriously impact the locally owned places. You want a burger? Fine, pick your poison: Mickey Dees and relatives, Five Guys, and now the Red Robin. There’s a nice price spread from the former to the latter, and maybe they have a good product. Too bad we can’t get an In and Out!!

Snackin’ Along

Snack alert! Always on the lookout for good snacking, I have found that Stacy’s Pita Chips are a nice deal. Several flavors from plain to cheesy to tuscan herb, all pretty tasty. I haven’t and won’t try the cinnamon. I know they are available at the Shoppers Food Warehouse, usually sitting atop the “gourmet” cheese island by the seafood.

Travelling Along

Tomorrow we’re going to man up the MOMSTER and head west. Some friends are obtaining a house in St. Louis, and we’re caravanning with them to bring some of the more fragile things with white glove service. After we off load there, we’re taking a little “side trip” up to Wisconsin to check on MFO’s mom. Things are not real great and she wants to make a visit. By way of saying I will once again be dependant on wi-fi zones, and an “iffy” air card (Verizon doesn’t penetrate Onalaska very well), so Feeders may be sporadic.


Chuckling Along

Lastly, people often send me little notes on this and that, and not wanting to open the flood gates I normally enjoy them (don’t stop!) but don’t include them. The other day somebody sent a note about “7 ways to understanding engineers”. They kind of hit close to home! Here’s one of them:

Two engineering students were going across a university campus when
one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?" The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday, minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want!" The first engineer nodded approvingly and said, "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit you anyway."

Okay, we need to be getting along,

DF??

I hate them!

I hate people with talent… Well, let me qualify that. What I really am is intensely jealous of people with talent. Friday night we had a very enjoyable evening, starting off with a couple of (expensive) drinks at the Dry Dock, and then went over to the Calvert Marine Museum to the performance of the “finger style guitar duo” Mac Walter and John Cronin.

The auditorium was unusually full (from our experience), and right away we noticed that we were sort of right in the middle of the age bracket of the audience. I don’t think I saw anybody that was under (a guess) 35, and most were quite a bit senior to that. Due to the lovely drinks we arrived not long before the show, and fairly soon Mac and John took their places on the stage along with three guitars, and the usual forest of microphones. Their “acoustic” guitars were amplified, but only so you could hear them, they weren’t objectionably loud at all. What followed was an hour and a half of great music. MFO said I shouldn’t try to “characterize” their style, but at heart I am an engineer. Being a veteran of the “folk music” generation, what I call “finger style” would be exemplified by Doc Watson and Merle Travis. While they did play a few tunes in that style, more often it was kind of almost jazzy. They played one tune called “Travis –T”, which was out and out classic finger style. They also played “All of me", and Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind" that caused serious flashbacks. It was obvious that they have played together for a long time, their timing and phrasing were effortless, they passed the “lead” back and forth effortlessly.

There were also a few songs of the late Tom Wisner, that local and now somewhat legendary folk singer of the Bay, one of which was a waterman’s tune called “Dredging is My Drudgery”. Most of their music was original. During the intermission we struck up a conversation with the gentleman in front of us who also remarked that it was a shame that there were so few “youngsters” in the audience. We can’t let this music die. It’s so pleasant to hear something that’s not in your face, over amped, with unintelligible lyrics. That may be a bit strong, but you get my point. They also spent a lot of time actually talking with the audience with little anecdotes and stories between the songs. Just a wonderful experience with real music from real people. Keep your antennae up for future performances of these two, it’s worth the effort to go hear them. Real Talent.

Now, before you go sending me a lot of notes, I know that “talent” is largely a product of long hard hours of study and practice, but there still has to be that kernel of (for want of a better word) talent. For instance, back in “those days”, I labored long and hard with a 5 string banjo trying to learn to “frail”, and then switched over to the guitar (a Martin D-28 mind you) endeavoring to master finger picking. At best, I could do a passable Libba Cotton “Freight Train” or “Railroad Bill”, and at my high point could almost get through my friend’s wonderful composition of “Spring Song”. But I was smart enough to know that it was all sort of “music by machine”, maybe technically correct, but stiled, with no “song” if you get my drift. No experience like being mesmerized by people who “got it” like Brian Ganz or Doc Watson, with that ethereal phenomenon of seeing the hands become part of the instrument, and together making something that moves you. Nope, I ain’t got it and never did. Sigh.

and, we were

DFM(usic)

Lucky Friday...

There’s just something so peaceful about a cloudy, windy, gray day. Especially after the run of searing hot sunny days recently…lucky us..

Sometimes the feeder gets interesting opportunities through his ramblings and rants. Last week MFO and I were invited to a little dinner over at the Hilton Garden Inn that was being held for some people from the Mason Dixon Outdoor Writers Association. I never cease to be amazed at what’s “out there”. People devoting time and energy to pursuits that you never even know exist. I of course had no idea there was an “association” such as that and had no clue what they do. But, since food was involved we happily accepted.

Turns out that the Association will be having their annual conference at the Inn next spring, and this was sort of a fact finding trip. Alex Zidock (president of the MDOWA) and his wife were there (along with a videographer). Besides being president of the MDOWA, Alex has a TV show that airs on local cable outlets called Out in the Open. The other couple was Curt Bobzin and wife, he’s a member and also managing editor of the “New Jersey Angler” magazine. New horizons all around! You just never know….

Anyway, besides seeing the local sights, that particular day was spent fishing. The idea was that the evening’s meal would be specially prepared with whatever came up on the end of their fishing lines. Fortunately for us, it was more than bait, as they got several Bluefish (no Rocks). Folks around here (and maybe New Jersey) will know that Bluefish is not the most appetizing of things that comes out of the bay. Smoked is good (and great for dips), fried is okay, but they innately are a rather oily, “fishy” species. A good challenge for the chef. So I was eager to see what the kitchen would produce.

We were all seated at a long table in the “restaurant” portion of the lobby, a light, airy space with a bar in front of the sort of open kitchen. The lobby area of the Inn is a rather pleasant place with warm tones and plenty of light. When we sat down, there was a large salad bowl in the middle of the table with colorful red onions, yellow squash, and red tomatoes, and nice green greens (is that an okay phrase?) a nice presentation. We did a little “go around the table” for introductions, and after hearing “president”, and “managing editor" I mumbled something about being a food blogger and I could see their mental eyes rolling back in their heads. After we dispatched the salad, the Chef came out and explained that the next dish was a soup containing with chunks of bluefish, local vegetables, and a dollop of green tomato puree. It was served in those large shallow soup bowls, so attention to the “slop factor” was appreciated. The soup had a fairly nice “kick” to it, being a red based soup rather than cream, and it was a nice foil for the chunks of fish. The main course (it was explained) was “stuffed bluefish” which turned out to be a “ring” of filets woven to form sort of a cup into which crabmeat was “stuffed”. All this was perched atop a round of rice pilaf, and sided by sautéed vegetables and a little ear of corn. It made a pretty presentation, although the corn was a bit worse for wear. The rice was nicely done, not blown out as you get lots of places, and the veggies were tasty. The kitchen did manage to avoid the oily fishy flavors. Maybe because Chef Shamal grew up “just down the road” from the current location of the Hilton. He and the evening were fun. Perhaps the most appreciated course (by me) was dessert which was a flute of (maybe) sorbet with lemon drizzles. Just the ticket for such a steamy day. Fortunately the bluefish requirement didn’t extend to the dessert!

It’s always fun to meet different people, learn about what they do and marvel at what people come up with to occupy their lives. People are so fun to get to know. Appreciate them, never judge..We’re planning on going back to the Inn for their brunch sometime and see what Chef Shamal does for that…

And of course we’ll be

DFB

Speaking of water associated things, sometimes “boating” isn’t all that fun..



To Do:

Sorry for doing what I accuse the enterprise of doing, but tonight there is an interesting sounding concert over at the Calvert Marine Museum, a “finger style” acoustic guitar performance by Mac Walter and John Cronin. Starts at 7 and there is a $5 “donation”. Currently the flutters are planning on attending..

And, somewhat in the same vein (vain? vane?) this weekend is the famous bluegrass weekend, dubbed “Li’l Margaret’s Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Festival” held at the Goddard Family Farm over near Leonardtown. They say that this is the 22nd one!! Lots of acts, tickets are 25 bucks today and 30 tomorrow. Although I like (at least old timey) bluegrass, two full days is a bit more than I would appreciate. But, in case you want to know and go…

Heat and the Kitchen...

Just a few diversions as we wait for the thermometer to once again reach the triple digits.

First, I am very tired of this weather. I was watching the weather channel the other day, and in between shots of people in trouble or homes crumbling into raging waters, fires lapping at your foundation and silly “Storm Stories” and other glorifications of natural disasters, there was an interesting piece. Some guy in Iowa (?) or Kansas has written a book about (this isn’t accurate) the “Cooling of America”. Which documents the cultural effect of air conditioning on today’s generation. It promotes people staying inside, kids don’t appreciate the joys (?) of summer anymore, that type of thing. The video goes on to show him saying that he only turns on his air conditioner one day a year, just to make sure it works. Otherwise they depend on fans, open windows, etc. What struck a chord with me was that he said that there is a developing trend of people who have come to fear summer’s heat. They should embrace it. Bingo, buddy, count me in the fear category.

Whew, how did we get started on that?.. Back to food for a moment. In the latest issue of “Sauce” that St. Louis based monthly foodie newspaper, there was an article that caught my attention. They “interview” some chef every month, and this time it was Brian Carr a veteran of Pomme and now Atlas, on Pershing in the city of St. Louis.. He recently purchased the restaurant, and the article was Q&A about what he was changing, keeping and so forth. One quote sort of caught my eye. The question was what would remain on the menu, and the answer was the piccolo frito (steak frites). Then he described his considerations in preparing the honored but humble dish. “What kind of potato do you use? How do you cut the potato? How long to you cook the potato? What kind of salt do you use? How much of it? That’s what I love about that restaurant and what we try to do at Pomme. God lives in the details”. For some reason, I really like that last phrase. The thought that careful attention to the minutia can produce a heavenly food. Neat. Out Mr. Devil!! a new tenant is in the details..at least in the kitchen.

And, speaking of chefs, did you see Sunday’s front page Washington Post piece on Roberto Donna (Galileo, Bebo Trattoria, etc.) the almost legendary chef in DC? It documented his financial difficulties of late, missed paychecks, bouncing checks, lawsuits, taxes, etc. I was fortunate enough to eat at Galileo and take a couple of classes from him in the “Laboratorio”. No doubt a great chef, he produced some of the best risotto I’ve ever had (and still can’t cook). It always amazes me that these guys gain fame by what comes out of their kitchen, and somehow it gets in their heads and they try to become what they are not. In his case, great chef, lousy business man. I suppose it has something to do with the food network culture of celebrity chefs and those disgusting “Iron Chef” competition shows. Just stay in the damn kitchen, do what you do best, and be content making people happy by what they put in their mouth. Got that, Mario/Emeril/Bobby/etc.?, and I won’t even mention Rachel Ray….

And while we’re descending slowly into a rant, here's another little vignette I saw on the Today show (fast becoming the National Enquirer of the airwaves) last week. There was a little piece on the trend to “different” weddings these days, under water, mountain tops, caves, Home Depot, dancing, that sort of thing. They interviewed one young couple that had their ceremony in a TJ Maxx store. They said that the store played such a “large part of our lives” that they wanted to share vows in a place that meant so much to them. They plan vacations around visiting various sites, and so forth. At one point the starry eyed bride said that: “like, TJ Maxx helped me learn about life! Like, it taught me the reeeeal value of a dolllllll-urrrrrrr” with the last word ascending in pitch as the r’s trilled. Good grief. I’m glad she has her life in order.

So like, that is one place like I would not consider for preparing to

DFD