uncommonly feeble and random thoughts

'Twas the night OF Christmas, and all through the house... meal prep ruled all day, targeting 5:30 guests. Well, Enzo ruled, I cannot lie. As usual. Four walks, lots of playing throughout the day, second in priority was meal prep.  Behold, the anchor dish, also called the nekkid clod, but formally known as Costco's USDA Prime Prime Rib Roast, boneless: First, add Kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper pepper (black and pink peppercorns combined), Simon & Garfunkel rub (parsely, sage, rosemary and thyme) and a smattering of garlic clove chunks (Linda is Sicilian, recall): Preheat a cast-iron dutch oven (the high sides help with clean-up) to 400 F (yes I do have an industrial laser thermometer so it's legit), and sear everybody: Then a bunch of other stuff happens. Alchemy? I was subtly made aware that there's more to dinner than the beef, so lots of things had to happen beyond the grill.  But just for the pitmasters, I brought a pile of lump charcoal to 245 degrees (ta...

I like Mexican food, and I like BBQ, and I've seen this method in a lot of articles, so I decided to try it. I bought the Trompo King several years ago. An investment in intention, right? This is the maiden voyage. Anyway, if vertical meat cookin' is unfamiliar to you, here's an article: https://www.columbusfoodadventures.com/2012/blog/los-guachos-and-the-art-of-the-trompo Note that this can be done horizontally as well.  My overall inspiration was this video. My sauce recipe was a mashup of these two (below). I'm not sure how anyone else would tailor theirs. I liked the pineapple inclusion, a few other things, but they both entail time... cooking the peppers and pulling the stems and seeds, adding stuff, cooking more... plan three hours. Sauce 1 Sauce 2   (this is a partial recipe, noted here for the peppers) Be wary to remove the seeds... I did it partially, and when I taste-tested the simmering sauce, I got... you guessed it, seeds. So I had to force-strain my entire...

How could one avoid architecture stuff in Savannah GA? Not possible, by a large measure. We took a walking tour. Linda found this tour by researching a book on Savannah architecture, and it turned out the tour was led by... the author. Seems right to choose that tour! His name is Jonathan Stalcup, and his book is accompanied by a website which does more justice to the topic than my paltry little blog ever could. He shared this handout as a part of the tour. Front: Back: Notice on the back of the handout is a rundown of architectural eras, styles, and forms. Yikes! My friend Gary had mentioned hearing about cisterns in the squares, and that he thought that was pretty good urban planning. I asked Jonathan about the cisterns, and he said oh yes, they were installed mainly for fire response (Savannah has had a series of catastrophic fires), and actually, he said, there's one you can see at Crawford Square. So, off I went later that day. Behold, the cistern discovered by workers in a ...

I knew there were other photos and other content to blog about. Sadly, my laptop sorta-croaked, in that the LCD panel went all psychedelic on me... pretty colors and patterns and the occasional sighting of objects I wanted to scrutinize, but could not. So, being me, I went on the Google. Turned out there was a chance the problem was a $15 part. Just order it (easy) and install it (hard). After scouring the tools @ Lowes and Harbor Freight and striking out, I resorted to, yep, Amazon, and ordered a set of small screwdriver bits. They had names I've never heard of. Slotted I have, Phillips as well, and Torx (not small enough) but Pentalobe? Triwing? OMG.    Thank you Señor Bezos.   Then, armed with the right Pentalobe, I bravely undid the screws on the case. End of story. Well, the story of me accessing the innards. Because I did try the next steps: the non-skid pad, check. The suction cups, check. (I had saved old phone car-mounts, as I save basically everything I've ever...

Done with the tourist stuff, the historic district, and the many attractions of the vibrant, unique, and totally enjoyable city, it was time to head south, to spend some time with my college roomie, his lovely wife, and of course their spirited doggo. Off to Skidaway Island. To The Landings Golf and Athletic Club . Six championship golf courses. 8,000 residents, 4,500 homes. Eight restaurants. The list goes on. So Gary and Judy hosted us, and what an experience. Out of great respect for them, I didn't shoot their home, their lot, or them. But, Gary did take me on a little cart ride. Turns out he's been scoping out the wildlife for some time as he golfs, and he knows where to go for what - which lagoon is freshwater, which isn't, and so it was not unlike a naturalist's pro tour.  Turns out golfers do care about their environment. Well, one. Small sample size. But my other golfing friend has this trait as well. So, two. A trend! So while Gary was scoping out the treetops,...

It seems right to combine the Catholic church, the Bonaventure cemetery, and the Waving Girl in the same post... so here's the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist to start: I was excited to capture this image because it includes three contrails, evoking the triune of Catholic teaching. Some great photos of this stunning church are found here but I've included some I took... it was a huge challenge with full sun outside and typical lighting inside, so follow the link for much better depictions of the windows. There's also much good info in this link to a Wikipedia article . The altar, getting freshened up for the Easter celebration:   I do have an explanation for the term "Basilica"... A public building of ancient Rome having a central nave with an apse at one or both ends and two side aisles formed by rows of columns, which was used as a courtroom or assembly hall. A Christian church building of similar design, having a nave with a semicircular apse, t...

We arranged to take a guided tour around the city for orienting and learning purposes. We gave $20 to a street shyster for Company A tour. He talked us in to agreeing to sit through a 45-min sales pitch the following day, the $20 to guarantee our seats. We were to get our money back when we showed up.  Duh. Overnight we decided to skip that show and go with Company B. We knew we'd sit through the presentation (he never mentioned just what it was they were selling) but we've avoided so many timeshare and investment "dinners" that we knew... we'd sit there and listen and then not buy a thing from them. It was worth the twenty as relief, or as paying for the privilege to sit in peace, away from that hot mess. So, off to Old Town Trolley!  First photo, the First African Baptist Church. With banks, and churches, I always wonder about that "first" designation. I think mostly it's promotional. They could have said "Best National Bank of Podunk", r...

Note: all pictures can be enlarged by simply clicking on them. Ah, spring trippin'. Sort of a twist for us, in that we flew rather than drove. It's been some time since last we went all wheels up. And with our miles, we went first class. Don't worry, we're back to coach on the return to MI. Attitude can last only so long. First night here, with temps in the low 80s, I went on a photo walkabout. From our hotel near the western edge of the historic district, I grabbed my 28mm lens headed for a little street photography:   Haha, my little joke... while crossing the street I inadvertently hit the shutter - three times. This is the best one of the "street" shots. I didn't discover the error until opening the memory card back at the hotel. "What the hell is that?" I mused until it dawned on me. Photographer humor. Sort of. Anyway, to right my wrong, I had to take an actual, planned shot:   The famed cobblestone walkways of Savannah... the stones were s...

What exactly is this James burger thing? Well, it starts with an innocent dinner plan. When executed, while it unfolds, it brings sustenance, and connection, and peace. And therein lies the magic. And how did this come to be a thing? Our first hint, in retrospect, came in 2010 when we initiated menu planning with James for his high school graduation party. His mom cooks, a lot and excellently, and visions of all manner of fancy foods danced in our heads. But James immediately, and adamantly, replied: "Burgers and brats." Wait, what?  You want, just, burgers? Maybe it was that my cooking events were far fewer than Mom's and that made them seem special. Maybe it was my many and varied grills and campfires that were the lure. He did, after all, early-adopt an email handle of "pyro4life", a hotmail account, so, age 9?, and later would light off fireworks for special or actually just any occasions.  The random Tuesday? Let's do it! His fascination with burgers (...