Recipes

This will be the first in a continuing series of haute culture, 5-star culinary tips and ideas for my dedicated reading audience. So, without further adieu . . .

Stuffing Sandwich
Ingredients:

• bread- 2 pieces
• stuffing- a lot
• gravy- to taste
• mayo- the usual amount

Warm up the gravy. (My apologies to those who may not know how to tackle the first, important step of MAKING gravy. As this is a recipe for quite an exquisite dish, I cannot stoop to such detail. However, if you need guidance, please see: http://www.recipe-ideas.co.uk/gravy-recipes.htm, or http://www.ciao.co.uk/Recipe_for_a_Good_Gravy__Review_5570071.)

Back to the recipe; Mayo up the two pieces of bread. Place 4-6 good sized spoonfuls of stuffing on one of the pieces of bread. Pour enough gravy over stuffing to cover stuffing generously. Place the other mayo-laden piece of bread on top.

Note: depending on the height of your sandwich, you may want to slice it in half to make it more manageable.

VARIATIONS:
Southern style- if health conscious, pour more gravy over layer of bread; otherwise, fry sandwich and then smother.

Mexican style- 3-4 tbsp salsa on top layer of bread; sour cream, avocado and cheese are optional. Serve with corn chips.

Nada Importante redux

So, I originally wrote this post from FRA Tuesday evening while waiting- a LONG time- for my flight.

The problem with my particular section of the large terminal was that my particular sector, gates 50-54, had NO electricity outlets. Thus, my 5pm arrival for my 8:30 flight was basically an empty time to get no work done. And I thoght the Germans were all efficient and well thought out on such things. Perhaps the inability to work is not necessarily a bad thing, right? That's tru until the next morning when you've suddenly got 2x as much to do- 1/2 of which could have been done the evening before when you had absolutely nothing to do, except watch the loop of Germany's version of CNN.

Luckly I had my Blackberry so I could at least do a little BBB (Blackberry Blogging).

Then I began to think that perhaps being stuck in an airport w/ no outlets was not so bad, at least not as bad as as living behind a wall for most of one's life. You see, the day before coming to Frankfurt, I was in Berlin. Yes, The Wall has been down for quite some time. However, I saw at least one, perhaps 100m, section that has been preserved.

I just have this feeling that living behind The Wall would have really sucked. The isolated structure that I saw, with a few holes and breaks in it here and there, was not so imposing. However, I'm preptty sure that is due to the fact that I could see the other end of it. When The Wall existed in it its entirety, it must not have just seemed like some barrier you normally associate with an airport or other sensitive installation.

I gathered that the "REAL" wall was about 9 or 10 feet high x 1/2 foot deep at the top and maybe 1 foot deep at its base. The Wall appeared to consist of of sections about 3 feet wide. The a foot base thickness/depth was in addition to an additional 3 foot long slanting foot that kept it standing.

This foot was on the side that was the started the whole "Axis of Evil" club, the USSR. So I guess the allies paid a little more for The Wall and got the nice-looking side. Or perhaps Daddy Evil did not want The Wall accidentally toppling over on the inevitable inhabitant who tried to scale it. They devised over solutions to this problem (a.k.a. moving-target practice) as there are at least two memorials to attest.

We all grew up with news of the wall and also that of it's toppling, but there are a couple of quesitons that I still wonder about:
A) what about the guy who just had one last errand to run from the "good" side to pick up something on the "evil" side?? So he comes out of the convenience store/pulperia/tienda/etc, just to find that the last section had been put in place right where he had transited The Wall just 5 minutes prior!!; and B) if you were born in E. Berlin after The Wall was already up, would it really be so bad as that was all you'd ever know?

And finally, the most burning question: which is worse, the wrong side of The Wall or the wrong side of the tracks??

Homophones: Answered

So here I am on the train again, but this time w/ good news- I've got not one, but TWO answers to the modern version of The Riddle of the Sphinx (aka Homophones):

1) flew, flu, flue; and

2) do, dew, due

Unfortunately I have to split the prize w/ some Texan (one who thinks the word powerful is an adverb- e.g. "It sure is powerful warm in here")!!

Writing on the Train

Finally something to help pass the time on the train! It definitely beats reading the free, daily London rags- unless you need the latest (including pix) on Britney, Amy, and lots of other celebs I've never heard of.

Guess I better hit "post" before I miss my station.

(Downside is having to type on the BB.)


O.K., now I'm back at my desk-- I wanted to add that you don't have to worry about me trying to be all into train blogging, b/c I'm just on as into the whole blogging thing as some others-- e.g. Ms. Fam-of-5 (http://family-of-five.com/) and her blogger possee-- e.g. her novia (http://www.aarynbelfer.com/). Beware of these people :)

A Vary Un-L.A. Experience in L.A.

While visiting S. CA last week, we went to the Los Angeles Zoo.

I'm sure we all have our thoughts and opinions, both positive and negative, on zoos. However, what struck me last week had nothing to do with the animals BEHIND the bars, but those on the outside and my hometown in particular.

When we first drove up, I thought, "Maybe the zoo is closed today." I mean, there were not many cars in the parking lot at all. We could have found a spot in the the front row, but, you know, it would have been a ways from the center aisle down which you approach the zoo entrance. (This center walkway bisects the parking lot into two halves; the other side was virtually empty-- maybe 10 cars in total on a (1/2) lot 10 aisles deep by 1/5 mile long.) So instead we parked about 4 rows out, but right ON the center aisle.


There were perhaps 10 big school buses also parked in the lot (up in the first row, but farthest from the center-approach aisle). This is significant because when we first entered, the youngest of the school kids were just beginning to leave. As we proceeded farther into the zoo, there were a few groupd of middle school students. However, after we got to the farthest point of the park, at the end of our inward tack, I began to realize that there were hardly ANY people there-- maybe 4 watching the lions, 2-4 watching the chimpanzees, 5 watching the orangutans, etc.

As we began the head in the direction of the exit, which was still on the other side of the grounds, I realized that by this point ALL of the school visitors had left- we did not arrive until 12 or 12:30- and that they must have constituted about 1/2 of that day's "crowd."

For 1/2 of our visit, we practically had the zoo to ourselves. Don't get me wrong, there were still usually at least a few people at every exhibit we visited on our way out. The numbers on this part of the walk, however, were in the 2-8 range. There were no large groups which typically require one to wade her way to the front to see the animals, or hold the kid on the shoulders so that he could see.

This zoo visit was so striking because not having to deal with hordes of other people anywhere you go in L.A. (definitely in GETTING where you're going) is rare. It's so rare that it was a little disconcerting at first . . . until you realize that it is actually quite pleasant. Of course, it helped that we went on a Wednesday.

For that afternoon, I once again loved L.A.

Homo . . . phones

So, this morning I was discussing this with my wi . . ., er, I mean, partner (I forget, we're in England). Her being more the gramattical expert and wordsmith, I asked, "other than 2 (two, too, to), how many triple homophones exist??"

Hint: I don't know the answer (although I THINK it is None).

Rules: No foreign words- e.g. see, sea, si

I await your insight

I'm baaaa-aaack!

Apologies for my long absence-- I didn't want to slow down the web too much over the holiday season w/ all the traffic generated by those coming to see my site and whatnot . . .

Anyway, there've been more thoughts and theories swimming through my head, and I thought I needed to put them down and see what my "illions" (synonomous with "grip") of readers think. Here's a preview of some things to come: How People Categorize Themselves, cont'd; The Democratic Nomination (and Candidates); The Superbowl With NO Commercials!?; and lots of other stuff- no pun intended.


To kick things off, let's look at our phrases of the week:
"Abuse of Power" and "Above the Law"

If you would like to see an example, just follow this link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23367672/

More to follow