Food, Glorious Food.

The world wide web is an amazing thing. With a simple click of a mouse, you can find yourself with all sorts of information on any given topic. And since its a web, it can keep up with my scatterbrained way of thinking, the pages can follow right along as I jump from topic to topic.

I was doing some research at work this morning on a Sonicwall firewall. I had mistakenly typed “sonic wall” into Google, instead of putting the name of the manufacturer as one word. While the search results did lead me to my desired location, it also led me to Sonic: America’s Drive In, one of the coveted “My Favorite Places To Eat” in the country. Since I am trying to eat healthy this week for the 999,987th time (I think my odometer is getting to roll over), naturally my eyes were glazed over with the thoughts of hamburgers, fries and Frito Pie. So I took a small detour on the web and visited the Sonic site. That in turn reminded me of our trip out west this past May, which led me to think about where else we had enjoyed wonderful meals. As a result, I did a little more googling, the Sonicwall firewall long forgotten and ended up on wikipedia, where I promptly found the recipe for Cincinnati Chili.

So, in an effort to try to enjoy my healthy barley soup for lunch, I’m going to post the recipe for Cincinnati Chili to be used at a later date. Now that I think about it, I don’t recall really enjoying the Cincinnati Chili all that much, but when you’re hungry, you’re game for anything.

Bon Appetit!
~~~~~

Cincinnati chili
3 3 onions, chopped
6 6 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons 45 mL cooking oil
4 pounds 1.8 kg ground beef (chuck works well)
1/3 cup 80 mL chili powder
2 tablespoons 30 mL sweet paprika
2 teaspoons 10 mL powdered cumin
1 teaspoon 5 mL ground coriander
1 teaspoon 5 mL ground allspice
1 teaspoon 5 mL dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon 3 mL cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon 3 mL ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon 1 mL ground mace
1 1 bay leaf
3 cups 720 mL water
1 can (16 oz) 450 g tomato sauce
2 tablespoons 30 mL wine vinegar
2 tablespoons 30 mL molasses
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
In a large pot, sauté onions and garlic in oil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until onions are soft. Add beef and stir until lightly browned. Add spices (except the bay leaf) and continue to cook for another minute or two, still stirring. Add bay leaf, water, tomato sauce, vinegar, and molasses.
Simmer, uncovered, for two hours, stirring occasionally. Add more water if necessary, keeping the meat barely covered; chili should be thickened but still soupy enough to be ladled. Discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.

14 August 2006 by Food. 1

Blogoversary: Better Late Than Never.

Well, my blog is five years and nine days old. Here’s the very first entry:

August 4, 2001

Well here I am trying to maintain an on-line journal. I hope to do this once or twice a week to let curious people know what the heck is going on with our life.

Today Earl and I went along with my sister and her fiancée to the Pulaski Field Days. For those unfamiliar with the “field days” concept, it’s a town carnival sponsored by the local fire department to raise money. There’s amusement rides, chicken BBQs and other food, a parade, games and much other merriment. It’s also like Old Home Days, as you tend to run into people you haven’t seen in a long time. Well this year I ran into a few of my old teachers from my school days, and it was wonderful to see them. As well as some old classmates. I have said for years that I never see anyone from my particular class. And I mean NEVER! Well for once I saw someone I graduated with and a bunch of others that hung out as part of “the band clique”. And Jen and Jody won two stuffed animals on the games.

My dad is a private pilot and has built his own airplanes as well. Tonight was also the first night that I’ve ever flown in his new Acro Sport. WOW! It’s an open cockpit bi-plane (four wings instead of two) that cruises at about 110-120 MPH. He used to have a Piper J-5A from the 40s that cruised along at 80 MPH, so this one is really a rush. You get to wear the old aviator’s helmet and goggles and everything in this!

My dad has aviator fuel for blood, and he’s happiest when he’s flying or working on his airplane. We used to fly a lot together, it was nice doing it again today. I imagine that I’ll become a private pilot someday as well.

Hmmm, it seems some things never change.

14 August 2006 by Geek 1

Beach Bliss.

There’s little more that can make me happier in the summer than a weekend at Southwick Beach State Park. The weather was picture perfect with a nice breeze blowing off the lake and the daytime temperature around 70. The water was actually warmer than the air, which made swimming that much more fun.

Earl and I hiked down through adjacent Lakeview yesterday, walking about four miles along the beach before turning around and heading back to the state park. It was the furthest I had ever been down the beach from Southwicks and the walk was very relaxing. There were a few sunbathers scattered here and there but for the most part it was Earl and I and Mother Nature. We decided to take advantage of the desolation and go swimming without bathing suits. 38 years old, a native of the area and it was my first time skinny-dipping in Lake Ontario! Whoo hoo!

Last night we watched the sun go down over the lake and then settled in front of a blazing campfire. I made my traditional batch of popcorn over the hot coals of the fire and it came out pretty good. At least it didn’t resemble a piece of charcoal when I dumped it out onto the plates.

This morning we were up around 8:30 a.m. and off the site by 10:00. NYS wants you off the site by 11:00, we figured we’d give them an hour. We’re now settled back home for the afternoon, catching up on chores and getting ready to tackle the work week.

13 August 2006 by Fun and Games Dept 1

Southwick Beach State Park.

Earl and I have set up camp for the weekend at my favorite state park in New York State, Southwick Beach State Park. “Southwicks”, as the locals refer to it, is located on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, about 20 miles south of Watertown. It’s one of the few state parks in Upstate New York to have real, all-sand beaches, complete with sand dunes and dune grass. It’s one of only a handful of places in the eastern United States where you can get a real sunset over the water, just as if you were watching over the Pacific. Looking out on Lake Ontario (and probably the other Great Lakes) is like looking out onto the ocean. It’s kind of cool.

Southwicks has a camping area right on the beach. Unfortunately, because these sites are so popular, you can’t book them through the traditional NYS State Park reservation system. Instead, you must participate in a lottery at the beginning of the year and hope that your lucky number comes up so you can get the coveted “Supersite”, one of the very few sites on the beach that have a tree.

We’re not on the beach this trip but instead we are situated in “D” area, back in a beautiful wooded area on a corner site, another coveted site among the pop-up and RV crowd.

To the south of Southwicks along the beach is the Lakeview Wildlife Management area, which is run by the New York State Department of Conservation. The presence of the area means there’s no development at all for quite a few miles along the lake, affording beach lovers with miles and miles of nothing more than water, dunes and sand. In the more remote section of this beachfront is an informal nude beach, which has a little bit of a gay thing going on. It find it a little humorous that I grew up not too far from here and had no idea of the existence of this out of the way expression of personal freedom, perhaps I would have furthered my transition to adulthood a little sooner than college.

Earl and I are have just returned from cleaning ourselves up and getting ready for the day’s activities. We have a nice little lunch planned and then a considerable hike mapped out along the beach and the dunes. We’ve stocked up on sunblock, hats and towels and are anxious to enjoy this little piece of “ocean” that’s only missing the salt.

12 August 2006 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Liquid Situation.

By now everyone has heard about the new security precautions in place for those flying, with one of the new precautions being that you can’t bring liquid onto an airplane. While the necessity of this new precaution is easily questioned, many passengers are complying by throwing out their liquid personal belongings before going through security checkpoints. Apparently some folks in New Jersey at Newark International Airport decided they couldn’t live without their Maybelline or whatever and stocked up on the items they had just thrown out by stopping in one of the airport convenience boutiques, intending on bringing the items on the plane.

Now, I’m not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but the idea of the security checkpoints is to screen for items that can’t be brought on the plane. Bully for them for thinking they made the passenger concourse a safer place by giving up their makeup and whatnot, but I’m pretty confident the new rules applied to the actual airplane as well. Apparently they were quite shocked when they couldn’t bring their newly purchased items on the plane.

11 August 2006 by Why. 1

It’s O.k.

There are times when I often wonder if I’m doing enough in the world to contribute to the human experience. My job basically focuses on technology and I wonder if I am using my tech powers for the greater good. I think the Universe gave me some hints today about how I’m doing.

This morning I had three internet trouble calls in a row. For the most part it was pretty mundane, routine stuff. The first caller was a man who was waiting for an important software patch to be e-mailed to him. He had thought out servers had swallowed the attachment when actually Outlook Express was denying him access to it because it might be a virus that would be detrimental to the welfare of his Windows system. He assured that it wasn’t, I showed him how to get what was rightfully his, and then he asked me, “Why does Microsoft do that, anyway?” I gave him a brief explanation of the what and why of Microsoft’s thinking and then pointed him in the direction of Mozilla Thunderbird (a free, open-source alternative to Microsoft Oulook Express). He downloaded and installed it while I was on the phone with him and he made the comment that it seemed easier to use. He then thanked me for the information.

My second caller was an elderly woman who was having difficulties getting her e-mail, as she was concerned that she wasn’t getting any from anywhere. I took a peek at her mailbox and saw about 300 messages for viagara and the whatnot, and a few scattered e-mails from someone with the same last name. I relayed the information to her and she perked up and said “those are from my son in Iraq!” I became SuperTech and rid her of the spam, which was clogging up her mailbox and she was able to download the messages from her son. I then went in and adjusted her spam quarantine settings so that she wouldn’t get so many viagara e-mails. “What am I going to do with viagara?” she asked. She told me how much she appreciated my help and went on her way.

The third caller was another elderly woman who told me that she was 80 and didn’t really have much to do but read recipes and search for stuff on Google. She couldn’t get her ancient computer to dial in like it has since it was new seven (!) years ago, so I walked her through her dial-up settings, airing out my rusty knowledge of Windows 95 along the way. Like the previous caller, she was concerned about the spam she was receiving, her comment being “Why would I want to date a black man? I don’t mind that they’re black, but I’m 80 and I can’t keep up with them!”. I sort of chuckled and cranked up her quarantine settings, hoping to thwart of her electronic suitor. I told her to give it a whirl and call back if she had “fur diff else close EOB” (which in trouble ticket talk is shorthand for “further difficulties or we’ll automatically close the ticket at the end of the day”). She called and asked for me about thirty minutes later exclaiming with glee that she was able to dial in and get the recipe for the apple bundt cake she was making for the girls when they come over to visit this weekend. I told her I appreciated the follow up and to have a great weekend. She said, “You too J.P.!”

So I guess I made at least three people smile today. And it feels good.

11 August 2006 by Spiritual Stuff. 0

It’s The Little Things.

Here it is early in the morning (at least for me) and for once my blog entry isn’t about how I’m not a morning person or any of that. In truth, I feel absolutely wonderful this morning. It’s not because it’s Friday, though that certainly does contribute to the mood, but rather it’s because of my fashion choice today.

I get to wear jeans to work.

Once a year, our company has a “Jeans Day” to help raise money for the United Way. You pay $5.00 to the receptionist, she gives you a permission slip and I get to feel like myself at work for the day. It’s a wonderful feeling.

There are many places and situations where I believe a person should dress “nice” for the part. The work environment is one of them. Another is a Broadway show, but it seems people don’t do that anymore, opting for shiny velour instead, but that’s another story. While I don’t mind wearing my “professional” clothes at work, I admit that I feel most comfortable in a button down shirt complimented by a comfortable pair of 501s and my work boots.

The work boots are another story. I wear them just about all the time outside of work. Even with shorts. I’ve worn my work boots with my shorts since 1990 and I don’t care what the fashion industry says, I’m never going to stop doing it. Unless I’m at the beach, then it’s a nice pair of flip flops or sandals.

So today is going to be a comfortable Friday. Viva la casual clothes!

11 August 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Another Step Toward Crazy.

The news is flooded today with word of a foiled terrorist plot to blow up several airliners en route from the United Kingdom to the United States. The security threat level has been raised to “Red” for flights from the U.K. and “Orange” for all other flights. New security measures are in place at airports prohibiting any sort of liquid being carried onto the plane, since the terrorists were planning on using liquid explosives.

Sigh.

The world has become such a complicated place. As time marches on, we expect things faster. We expect things now. “I need to be in San Francisco for dinner.” “I want to go to Dallas to go shopping.” “Meet me in Miami for the rave.” Sometimes it feels like things are going to get so extraordinarily crazy that somehow the world is going to do a massive reboot and we’ll all start from square one again. I wonder what that “reboot” is going to be.

I know that when Earl gets home from being out of town, we are going to discuss our travel plans for February. We are going to Florida for week to play with The Mouse.

And we’ll be driving.

It’s not that I’m afraid to fly, because if I could fly us down there myself I would do it in a heartbeat. I’m most certainly not afraid of flying, as I’ll jump into my dad’s open cockpit airplane and fly upside down over Lake Ontario. No, it’s about the inconvenience. I don’t want to deal with the high airfares, the screaming passengers and the general b.s. that comes with air travel these days. I’m just not in the mood to deal with it. Put me on the road, give me a day or two and let me drive there.

It’ll keep me from being a little less crazy.

10 August 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 1

Yay For Theme Week!

Mustache.jpg

Blogger Jimbo has been featuring “70’s Porn Mustaches” this week as his blog theme. I think it can go without saying that I have been enjoying the tribute very much.

Thumbs up to Jimbo!

10 August 2006 by Gayish. 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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