Random thoughts from John

Pecan Pie

Auntie Glenna always used to make pecan pie for Thanksgiving, and always got rave reviews. But in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, my Mom always made SO many pies – apple, pumpkin, blueberry, mince (her rule of thumb was \”one pie per person\”) – that I never got around to appreciating Glenna\’s contribution. Until she and Mom were both gone.

Thanksgiving in its current form provides a much smaller audience, but a few years back someone lamented that nobody made pecan pie any more. I stepped forward, and true to form, I asked my wife for help. She told me to use the recipe on the Karo syrup bottle. \”That\’s what Glenna used.\”

It\’s simplicity itself. I even use the pre-made crusts, so it\’s even easier (though this past Thanksgiving I made a crust of my own just to show that I could, and it turned out pretty well.)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Prepare the crust according to package directions. Try to make it pretty. Neatness does count.

Melt 3T of butter (15 seconds in the microwave – not 30. Don\’t ask)

Combine:

3 eggs – beaten lightly
1 C sugar
1 C Karo syrup (I\’ve used light and dark with equal success)
1 t vanilla extract
the butter

Just mix it nice and thoroughly.

Add 1 1/2 C ( 6 Oz) of pecans. I usually go kind of overboard here (I\’m not trying to make a profit). I\’m just saying that if you \”accidentally\” put in 12 Oz of nuts, the universe won\’t collapse…

Pour it all into the pie shell.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes. If you press lightly in the center of the pie and it springs back, the pie is done.

January 13, 2011 by John Food 0

Corn Chowder

Peg has a recipe for corn chowder that contained, in my humble opinion, far too many ingredients, required the making of a roux, opening a bunch of cans… Feh! So I went online, searched for corn chowder recipes, and kind of ORed them together to get to my recipe for corn chowder. Now, most of you that know me would think that I\’d opt for clam chowder, or fish chowder, or the entirely generic-sounding seafood chowder. Then again, those of you that know Peg know that seafood, in any way, shape, or manner, is completely out of the question. (I don\’t think she\’d even eat Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers…).

So tonight I made a batch:

12 oz of salt pork, diced. I\’d been using bacon, but Mom used salt pork.
2 small onions, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
16 oz bag of frozen corn. It\’s January, and real corn is quite rare in New England. (even if it weren\’t rare, it would be dear, and I\’m just too cheap. A pound of frozen corn for 99 cents is right up my alley…)
8 medium potatoes, peeled and diced to about 3/8\” or so.

I rendered off the salt pork in a touch of olive oil. I always use olive oil when I cook. It\’s good for you.

Then I tossed in the onion and pepper and let that cook for a while, followed by the corn. I do fear that I put the corn in too early. It doesn\’t really need to cook as much as the onions and pepper.

The potatoes were covered in water, salted rather heavily, and put on the heat. After they boiled for a while I tested (e.g. tasted) for done. They were still a bit rare, but I drained off most of the cooking water, coarsely mashed some of the potatoes as a thickener, and returned everything to the pot, including the pork and vegetables.

Tomorrow (and this will be really good after clearing all of that snow that\’s coming), I\’ll take the pot out of the fridge, add about two cups of milk, a cup of light cream, and a dollop or three of butter, and bring it almost to a boil. It still needs some salt, I think.

Hope I have some oyster crackers.

Followup:

Turned out that this was quite salty. The 12 Oz of salt pork might be too much for this recipe. And I didn\’t really care for the salt pork so much – even diced up pretty small, there were chunks of it that were just fat. And Peg opined that the corn/potato ratio was too low. Otherwise it was pretty good, I thought. I saved the leftovers – though I might dilute the salty flavor with a bit of milk.

So the next batch will have a half-pound of bacon instead of 12 Oz of salt pork, and more corn.

January 11, 2011 by John Food 0

My friend Angela

Angela is the daughter of our friend Mike. She\’s all grown up now (we knew her when she was just a teenager, so we can say that), and has a family of her own down in Virginia. She\’s just started her own blog so you can stop in to see what she\’s doing. She\’s really quite perfect. Ask Peg.

January 11, 2011 by John Uncategorized 0

Thanks, Emeril

I was watching one of Emeril\’s shows Sunday AM as I finished my coffee (after a French Toast breakfast). He tossed together (I bet his production staff had something to do with it…) a very quick meal, and it inspired me as I got to the grocery store later that morning.
– some Italian sausage – I used sweet, Emeril mixed hot and sweet
– onion – I used a small sweet onion, Emeril used a large Spanish onion
– red bell pepper
– escarole – I used green chard because I couldn\’t find escarole
– rigatoni – I used fettucini

The pasta water went on first, of course.

The sausage was broken up and cooked off in a bit of olive oil. When it was nice and brown, the onions and peppers went in with a bit of salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. The fettucini went into the water as well.

After the onions and peppers were tender, I tossed in the chard, which I\’d rinsed nicely and coarsely chopped. I should have used the larger skillet, but I muddled through.

When the pasta was done, it was drained and returned to the pot, and the sausage mixture was tossed with it.

I served it with some fresh Parmesan cheese grated over it, and it was pretty excellent. I wanted to go back for the rest of it, but I am actually trying to loseWeight Exercise some Lose Weight Exercise. Peg tasted it (she was going out for a dinner date) and claimed that she liked it. We\’ll see next time I make it.

I think the escarole would be better, and rigatoni would have made it a bit easier to mix together. But I really like fettucini…

January 11, 2011 by John Food 0

Black Appliances? Feh!

No, I didn\’t make a resolution to start blogging again, but I got a few new toys recently, so I thought I\’d comment on some experiences.

First – it was a huge mistake to get a black range. It\’s beautiful when it\’s clean, but cleaning it is a bear. First it has to be washed, then dried with a paper towel. Then the remaining smudges have to be cleaned with Windex or something.

This is going to be a pain in the tuchus…

January 11, 2011 by John Uncategorized 0

Dennis Hopper 1936..2010

I was saddened to hear of Dennis Hopper\’s death today due to cancer. I was never a huge fan, just the occasional role that crossed his path. A clever and talented actor as well as director, Hopper was an artist too, and an art collector. I had heard on NPR just the other day that a large exhibit of his art collection was opening at the Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art.

Hopper was 74, so he had a pretty good run. He certainly had some accomplishments to his credit. I can\’t logically attach more \”accomplishment\” to his acting in a movie as I can to my completing a year-long software project, but he produced, directed, and edited it as well, and that\’s more than many of my software projects.

A much better bio than I can provide can be found at Wikipedia.

Rest in Peace, Dennis.

May 29, 2010 by John Uncategorized 0

Jack Griswold

Auntie Joann sent us kids an email this morning acknowledging what would have been my father\’s 83rd birthday yesterday. He missed out on a bunch of really neat grandchildren. He also missed out on his great-grandchildren. He was a great guy. Too bad he smoked. Bastard.

March 25, 2010 by John Uncategorized 0

The Sack Lunches

This came to me from my long-time friend Mark:

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my
assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. \”I\’m glad I have a
good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,\” I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and
filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to
start a conversation.

\’Where are you headed?\’ I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

\”Petawawa. We\’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then
we\’re being deployed to Afghanistan.\”

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack
lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours
before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help
pass the time..

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard the soldier ask his buddy if he
planned to buy lunch. \”No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn\’t be worth five bucks. I\’ll wait till we get to base .\”

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I
walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a
fifty dollar bill. \”Take a lunch to all those soldiers..\”

She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. \”My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it\’s almost like you are doing it for him.\”

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers
were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, \”Which do you like
best – beef or chicken?\”

\”Chicken,\” I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to
the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from
first class. \”This is your thanks…\”

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane,
heading for the rest room.

A man stopped me. \”I saw what you did. I want to be part of it.
Here, take this.\” He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down
the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was
not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on
my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, \”I want to shake your hand.\’

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain\’s hand..
With a booming voice he said, \”I was a soldier and I was a military pilot..
Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I
never forgot.\” I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of
the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs.
A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his
hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane.
Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put
something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a
word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. \”It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich.
God Bless You.\”

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their
fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return.

These soldiers were giving their all for our country.. I could only give
them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little….

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check
made payable to \”The United States of America\” for an amount of \”up to and including my life.\”

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who
no longer understand it.

November 25, 2009 by John Uncategorized 0

What\’s the opposite of Customer Service (reprise – Comcast this time)

user John_ has entered room
( Fri Oct 23 2009 10:38:25 oh, by the way...)

analyst Joanne has entered room

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:38:33 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Hello John_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support.
My name is Joanne. Please give me one moment to review your
information.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:38:43 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

How are you today?

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:38:53 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Doing well. Yourself?

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:39:09 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

I am very glad to know that. I am doing great! Thanks for asking.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:39:25 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

How may I assist you today?

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:39:54 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

I\'m hoping to reduce my cable bill by dropping the digital
premium package (name might not be quite correct)

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:40:47 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

It\'s the Digital Preferred Plus package...

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:42:10 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

I would just like to verify if I got your concern correctly,
you would like to downgrade from your current cable package,
which is the Digital Preferred  Plus package, correct?

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:43:08 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Yes. If my bill is partitioned correctly, the Digital Preferred Plus
package is $39.45. I\'d like to drop just that portion of the service.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:43:31 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Let me go ahead and help you with that.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:43:49 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

May I have the account number please?

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:43:54 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Thanks. We hardly ever watch HBO or Starz, and I can\'t really see a lot of difference other than that...

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:44:07 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:44:20 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

At least that\'s what\'s next to my wife\'s name on the bill...

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:44:30 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Thank you.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:44:49 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Can you please verify to me the account holder\'s name?

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:45:05 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Peggy S Griswold

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:45:24 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Thank you.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:46:24 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

I would just like to verify again, you want to remove HBO or Starz,
correct?

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:47:48 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

The bill has this: Digital Preferred Plus 10/16 - 11/15 39.45
Digital Preferred Plus With HBO & STARZ
Includes: Digital Classic, Digital Preferred,
Digital Music Choice, HBO, HBO Plex,
STARZ!, STARZ! Plex, Interactive Program
Guide

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:48:37 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Okay.

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:48:38 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

I want to drop that piece, however it\'s structured.

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:48:55 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

My aim is to save the $40.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:50:16 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Okay, I understand John.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:52:58 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

What I’m going to do now is to try to remove some of the channels
from the package but let check though if the system will let me.
I f not, I have to transfer you to our sales department because
they have more access to our products\' rate codes. Will that
be fine with you John?

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:53:13 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Sure - thanks.

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:54:08 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

I thought it would just be a checkbox or something

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:56:05 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

It\'s somewhat like what you think but we have to adjust rate
codes though so that the system will allow us the change. We
also have to check promotions that might be applied to your
account.Please give me a few minutes to process your request.
Thank you.

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:56:20 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Thanks

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 10:56:53 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

By the way John, what are those channels you want to remove?

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:58:33 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

I don\'t have a listing of the channels specifically. I tried to
determine what the difference between the digital start and
the Digital Classic and Preferred was, but it\'s tough to
navigate the web site\'s lists...

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 14:59:33 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

So if you just remove the HBO and Starz components, that would
probably be the bulk of it. There aren\'t clearly-defined packages.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:07:16 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Okay, John. Let me give you a link that you can look over to
compare packages available in your area and find a package
that will suit you.
< link to the basic obtuse Comcast offerings page >

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 15:07:44 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

OK going there now

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:08:49 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

However John, I would have to transfer you to our sales
department so they can better assist you with your change
of package. Will that be fine?

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 15:11:17 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

OK. Thanks for your help

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:11:37 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

You\'re welcome.

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:11:57 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Please stay on the chat while I transfer you. Thank you.

analyst Carol has entered room

Joanne(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:13:41 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst

Carol(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:13:49 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Hello.  Thank you for choosing Comcast.  My name is Carol
and I will be processing your order today.  Please stay
online while I create the work order for your request.
It will take me just a few minutes to pull up your
address in our system.  Please hold for a moment.

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 15:13:50 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Thank you

analyst Joanne has left room

Carol(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:15:01 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Be right with you

Carol(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:17:14 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

I just read your request

Carol(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:17:32 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

so sorry,  I will need to have you call in  for a downgrade,
1-888-633-4266

Carol(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:17:55 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Is there anything else I can help you with today

John_(Fri Oct 23 2009 15:18:17 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

If only Joanne had told me that a half-hour ago... No, I
guess that\'s all I need. Thanks for the phone number.

Carol(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:18:50 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Thank you.

Carol(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:18:56 GMT+0000 (EDT))>

Analyst has closed chat and left the room

analyst Carol has left room
(Fri Oct 23 2009 11:18:56 Oh, by the way - 41 minutes!)

The postscript to this story is a quick five-minute phone call to Comcast at the above number, where I had to select English (were are we?), enter my home phone number, navigate a 27-level triage menu, and finally be told by a nice lady that she couldn\’t help me because the account is in Peggy\’s name…

October 23, 2009 by admin Uncategorized 0