We are back and in questionable condition…

Movie-stars, video tapes and large paper mache fish. Some of it’s true, some of it’s not.

Sorry we haven’t been posting in awhile. Been busy with Mardi Gras and work. Both Stacey and I had a heavy work load up until about 10 days before Mardi Gras. Being the responsible adults we are, we worked through it. So we missed a few parades and we were pressed for time on the Fish Float building, but we got through it. With the help of Chef, flown in just for the Saturday night shrimp boil and the Sunday morning brunch, we were able to pull off the food in a spectacular fashion.

Hope to get back to a regular schedule as of tomorrow. Got a lot to tell about. We had great weather and only a few lives were lost. It was a small price to pay for so much fun. If it wasn’t for the video tape situation no one would have had to die, but ya do what ya got to do. I bet no one makes the mistake of showing up with a video camera next year.

Trying to get married at the Osiris Ball

It is hard picking up chicks at the Osiris Ball. It’s not because they are not there. I guess they think all the guys are gay so they didn’t take me serious. Like the young lady in the beautiful red, backless dress. As I was waiting in the line at the bar she stood right in front of me. I noticed she was either alone or her date was ignoring her. Any way the guys behind me spoke up and told her how lovely her dress was. That was all she needed to hear, next thing ya know she is telling us all about how her date didn’t pick her up, she had to go get him and what a hard time she had getting her breast to fit in her dress. She said she had no idea they had gotten so large til she went to put the red dress on. The front of her dress was almost as front-less as it was backless and I could see what she was talking about. Those babies were squeezed in there tighter then a gants ass. She went on for a while about how she didn’t know what happened, her breast had just blown up. She said you would think her date would be happy to go with her to the ball, but she stated again how she had to go pick him up. That’s when I made my move and ask her to marry me. She didn’t respond, I guess she thought I was kidding, or gay, or something.

Oysters, not so Southern Style

Stacey found a restaurant on line, it’s in NYC and we were going in a couple days. When ever we go to NYC Stacey goes online and looks for all kind of things to do. She always comes up with good places to eat. This time she searched “cheap eats”, one of the places that popped up was Kuma. It was described as tapas style plates with Asian flavors.

So we went there and really enjoyed. Then a few months later we were in NYC and decided to go again. This time we would try some new dishes. And so it went and things were good, but we thought we needed one more dish, so we ordered a Oyster omelet. The menu had some weird name of something that was on the omelet. Our waitron told us it was Bonito Flakes. Oh we said, fish flakes, OK we’ll give it a try.

Well we had no idea and I bet they love serving this dish to people that talk like us. That would be slow and with a drawl.

The plated landed on the table as if it was a spaceship that was alive. We were just sitting there staring at the dish and I thought for sure it was alive. The waitron came by and we ask, what the hell? She informed us that is what fish flakes do when sprinkled on top of a very hot plate of food. The flakes danced as if they were a small nation raising their arms and crying out for help.
It was in a small casserole dish straight from the oven. It looked alien. It was scary. It even smelled bad. I’ll try it I said and I did and it was strong. I don’t know of anyone born in America who enjoys dried fish flakes. It was like eating the strongest, most rotten fish flavor ever. So I tried another bite. Same results, duh. So Stacey tried some and spit it out, across the table, landing on a photo hanging on the wall. It wasn’t a really good piece of art, so the chewed up oyster with fish flakes kinda helped it. So then Stacey scraped the Bonito flakes away and tried another bite, because other then the stench of death this dish looked pretty good. She did the same thing and it landed in the same place, totally changing a still life painting of fruit on a table into something that looked like a boat on a river.

I wonder if anyone ever cleaned that painting.

Southern Chill

So last Friday we’re gonna go down to the deep south, Mobile, Alabama. We want to see a Mardi Gras Parade. I HATE BEING AN ADULT!

We both need to work. Stacey has her regular tax project from hell to complete by Jan. 31. I’m trying to finish this job for Alons Bakery. It’s going ok, but we got started about a month later then Alon had planned and now it’ crunch time. So we decide to go Friday night and miss the first real parade of the season, we will catch two parades Saturday night. We are also gonna work on the float and paint the kitchen down there, gonna paint it red.

Bullshit! None of that happened. We did go Friday night. It was cold and we were to late to see the parade. Next day, to cold to work on Fish float. Later that night to cold for either Staceys’ or my folks to join us for the parade. We’re going, me, Stacey and our traveling dog George.

So after 2 really big martinis with Marion, I’m ready. So George, Stacey and I drive down to Broad st. cause it is cold again. We are standing at the barricades when along comes the parade. First it’s the Budweiser horses and George don’t like it. Then the drums and George don’t like it. So George and I go over to the little wall at the CVS, thinking this might be a good spot. WRONG. George wants none of it and he decides to take off towards the house, I fall down, he runs over me, actually he runs on me like I’m a thread mill. I got his leash and I’m on my back in the middle of the sidewalk. George is on top of me trying to run, on my stomach, but he’s going nowhere, just running on me. I’m waiting for either Stacey to come help or the cops to come arrest me for public dog abuse. Neither, it’s so cold the cops are in their car and Stacey is at the barricades with her hands in the air yelling at the guys riding the float.

New Years in the South

I was gonna write about this a while back, but………..

A friend invited us over for New Years Eve. He had invited another couple, we’re all good friends. He thought we could all bring a little tapas style plate and a wine to match it. He was right. Between the three of us - we kicked ass. Now I’m gonna try and tell you about it. I might forget some of the wine’s that were enjoyed as I was consuming martinis as if I had a cab reserved for 1 A.M.

That’s right.

So where was I? What the hell was I thinking?

I guess I wasn’t.

Stacey and I put together a Anti Pasta platter, of sorts. All the usual suspects and a little more. Four cheeses - a Roquefort, a triple cream that I think was Brie, and a cheese that had fruit in it, fig and orange. I liked it, some did not. We also had another I can’t rem, yes I can, it was cheddar made with Guinness Beer. This is a very good cheese and it is not expensive, seek it out. We had lots more on our Anti Pasta platter, but it would take to long. So I move on………

I’m walking through Alon’s Bakery on the last day of the 2007, time truly flies. I’m putting this Anti Pasta platter together. My phone rings and it’s our host for tonight. He’s looking for oysters. He wants to know if my local seafood joint has them in the shell or should he go to Dekalb Farmers Market. I tell him “Don’t do anything till I talk to My Chef”. I hang up and call Butch, more on Butch another day. Just so happens, [and I am not making this up] Butch tells me he is on his way to his seafood monger as we speak, he will call back and tell me what’s available and looks good. He does so, and does so, and does so and I have to stop him after three minutes and tell him the host will call him direct. Butch knows the host, Butch will help the host. Thank you Butch.

And so it goes… and we ended up with 100 oysters from the West Coast. Butch choose them for us ’cause he knew we wanted briny, salty, gulf coast flavors. He knew these had that flavor and they were the best looking. We ate most raw,

we put some on the Green Egg Grill. They were all so good and it was fun shucking them with the host and laying them on a iced platter, ready to be enjoyed.

Then we were treated to Shrimp and Grits. Not just any ol’ Shrimp and Grits. This Shrimp was done Pot Pie Style. I think there were green peas and all that pot pie stuff in a beautiful little crust, in the perfect little ramekin size. With a large dollop of Grits. Andy Griffith would have shit his britches. I remember we took the last Shrimp Pot Pie and laid it out, busted, on a plate and all had a few bites with the last of the grits.

Then my cab didn’t come and we tried calling and that didn’t work. I really thought I had it all set, but around 12:30, January 1st 2008, I started the year off like the dumb ass I am. I’ve seen the commercial ” buzz driving is drunk driving”. So I did what I had to and told our friends our cab was outside and we had to go. So we were just about to pull out of the driveway without anyone knowing the cab didn’t show. Damn, I left the car keys down stairs in the middle of everyone. By the time I went down to retrieve them, our host had Stacey out of the car and headed back in. I steered us back to the car and some how got out of the driveway.

I was having a little trouble with my phone, I couldn’t get the cab co. to answer and I was pissed I had to drive. We got home and I went to call our friends to tell them we got home ok. Phone is acting up, don’t know why, could be operator error, but I decide to throw phone at the house and pick it up and throw it at the house again. Welcome to 2008.

The food was good! The Friends are good too !

Dinner at Blackberry Farm

So if you don’t know of Blackberry Farm click here and check it out.

Like I said in the last post Stacey and I, along with our friend Kim, attended a fund raiser dinner and auction at Blackberry Farm. There were four guest Chefs who prepared two courses each. They were Donald Link of Herbsaint and Cochon in New Orleans. Hilary White from Serenbe, Mike Davis from Terra of South Carolina and Barry Maiden of the Hungry Mother. This is what we ate.

Smoked Mountain Trout Hoecake

Country Style Rabbit Pate

White Bean Stew with House Cured Ham and Mustard Greens

Pan Fried Cornmeal Crusted Carolina Catfish

Crispy Caw Caw Creek Pork Rillette

Grilled Jamison Farm Lamb Rack

Pecan Crusted Split Farms Fromage Blanc

Old Fashion Virginia Peanut Pie with Sorghum Ice Cream

It was crazy good and matched perfectly with wines from Vision Cellars. Mac McDonald is the owner and wine maker and he was on hand to discuss his wine and answer any questions. We also enjoyed a glass of Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon, 20 year old. It was really good and when I got home I went right out and bought a bottle. I think I will enjoy it at Mardi Gras this year. Did you notice almost each dish has a pedigree along with it?

Oh yea, the auction was cool as well. There was lot’s of item’s for a silent auction and about ten item’s for the live auction. I donated a painting for the silent auction and when they received it at the farm, the auctioneer decided to add it to the live auction. Damn, damn, damn. I could only imagine the painting I donated and put a retail value of $1000 on was gonna go for $350 and I would look like the fool I sometimes am . And on top of that I was called up to the front of the room by the auctioneer when the painting came up for bid and was carried up. So off I went. I’m thinking great not only will the painting not meet the retail price, but I get to stand up there and let everyone put a face to it. Damn, damn, damn. Rathead, the auctioneer, must have gotten the word about me because when I walked up he stuck the microphone behind his back as if I might try and grab it and say something stupid. Anyway, I was quite relieved when the bid on my painting got to $4000 by Chef Link and then topped by the nice lady from Huntsville, Al. for a final bid of $4250. Now who’s the fool’s? That’s what I was thinking. So I grabbed the mic from Rathead and started chanting “who’s the fool now, who’s the fool now, who’s the fool now?” I ran around the room so he couldn’t get the mic back, the whole time yelling into it ” I’m number one, I’m number one”. I didn’t really do any of that, but I was really excited to see my painting go for that much. Here’s a photo of it.

Egyptian Mythology goes Southern

As you can tell by the previous post we celebrate Madri Gras down here in the deep south. Like I said before Mardi Gras in America started in Mobile, Alabama. Way back in 1704 and then again in 1866 Joe Cain started it on it’s course to become what it is today.

I bet neither of these guys ever thought there would be an organization like Osiris. I am not sure but I guess you have to be committed to the Gay lifestyle to become a member, otherwise folks would fake it, just to be able to join, I would. After attending the Osiris Ball Friday night I might just try faking it and see if I can’t become a member. These folks know how to throw a party. Next to the Crewe of Mystic Fish they got ta be he best party during Mardi Gras.

After writing about the hard time I had getting it together for the Osiris Ball and joking that if I were a girl I could have borrowed a outfit from my Mom, I decided it was true, I could have gone in drag and it would have been a whole lot easier, both for me and four other folks.

Osiris has been a Mardi Gras organization for the last 27 years. They take their name from Egyptian Mythology. Osiris is the most famous of Egyptians gods. Isis was both his sister and his wife, I guess that is why a group in Alabama chose the name Osiris. His brother was Set and he was very jealous of Osiris and killed him and sent his body down the Nile in a coffin. Isis found the coffin and brought it back only to have Set chop the body up and scatter the parts throughout the land of Egypt. Isis found all but one of the body parts and once again, took Osiris back and used bandages to put the body back together. She then breathed life back into Osiris and that is when the two conceived a baby. Which was really strange considering the body part that Isis never found. Their son Horus was born and grew up fighting Set to revenge his father. Horus was never totally victorious over Set, I guess they just fought and fought. Osiris was to become known as the King of the Underworld, as in the sea.

Strange story, so quite fitting for this group in Alabama. The Osiris Ball is all about the tableau. It wasn’t real weird and it wasn’t traditional, but it was the most entertaining ball I have ever been to. The theme was Under the Sea, and the tableau was made up of about 10 different vignettes that some how related to the sea. There was the Loch nest Monster, there was a turtle, there was a group playing air guitars which I didn’t get. There were others, but the best was two guys that popped up from a yellow submarine dressed like the Beatles from Sargent Peppers. As “We all Live in a Yellow Submarine” played the two guys ran around throwing sailor hats to the crowd. Then they ripped off their cloths and pulled off their wigs. Then the two bald headed men in underwear joined hands and ran to the stage to finish their skit.

I can’t wait til next year!