My First Record

Hello everyone.  Tonight I find myself burning some old rock n roll records to MP3 and boy does it bring me back to my youth.  I'll never forget my first vinyl record and the story behind it.

Way back in the day (1975) I went along with my dad to K-Mart. I have no idea what he was shopping for but one album cover caught my attention and I was mesmerized. I don't think I left the record department staring at this record as I just had to have it.  Then my dad calls after me yet I didn't move. Finally he comes over to where I am at and he practically drags me with him.  As we are sitting in the car just as he is about to start the engine I make up some goofy story about needing $3.25 for something ( I don't remember) and I go rushing back in the store and I make a beeline right to the record I have been staring at and grab it.  My heart is beating as I am so excited yet nervous as I am sure my dad won't be happy.  I finally get back to the car and my dad asks what I have.  I slowly pull out the record to show him and this is what he sees....









TADA!

Yes, that is when my love affair with Kiss began and continues to this day.  Back then it led to my induction in the Army,  The Kiss Army.  More on that in some future blog. Actually, my cousins Ricky and Stevie first got me hooked on Kiss after listening to the "Alive" album.  Thanks Cuzzies.

 I listened to this album so much that I wore out the grooves but I still have the original record in my vinyl collection. Yes, I did eventually buy it on CD but every time I see this album cover I remember that day long ago and it makes me laugh. My dad must have thought I was f'n nuts.  He was probably right.

What was your first record\cassette\8-Track (yes I had some of those too)\CD?

Obscure Olympic Sports

Just sitting in my living room on a cloudy Minnesota day watching the Today show when I saw a crazy segment.  It was two brothers who are both trying out for the Olympic Trampoline Team! What the .....

This is actually a sport in the Olympics?   I guess it is, check it out: 

Here are some other sports that I didn't realize were part of the summer Olympics: 

BMX Biking

Canoe\Kayak Sprinting.  If that's too fast they also have normal races. 

Tennis 

Table Tennis

Even more strange are the sports that are, according to Wikipedia, are not recognized as Olympic sports but their governing bodies are  which means these may be considered for inclusion: 

• Auto Racing: cmon, really. 
• Billiard Sports: guess all those times at the pool hall could have paid off for me. 
• Bridge- nuff said
• Floorball- essentially floor hockey.  Darn it, I should have kept my floor hockey goalie stick. Apparently it's big in Europe (the sport not my stick). 
• Korfball- no kidding.  It's like basketball with a basket at the end of a pole, see

• Basque Pelota- I guess it's essentially like handball. How exciting

• Tug of War- What the .... Tug of War?  

This is just a few among many so called sports that you may some day see on your TV screen. Wow!

Check out the list for yourself:  Olympic_sports

First Dinner Party Wrapup

Well, my first dinner party seemed to be a success.  The food, Spaghetti and Meatballs for a Crowd, turned out very delicious and the company was terrific.  I invited my older brother and his family, my sister and her husband, and my younger brother  I heard some good comments on the food. The food was served a little behind schedule as the dinner was supposed to be at 5 but it wasn't served until 5:30. No big deal.

I learned a lot though.  If I am going to get serious about hosting parties I'll have to upgrade my dinnerware as I barely had enough plates and flatware for everyone.  Also, my table is so small that I hardly had to add a folding table to the setup and it worked.  I also found that I am sorely lacking on serving platters and server ware.  But for a first dinner party I think it went well.  Besides, the most important aspect is the food and on that I think it was great.  I'll also have to look at getting ready a day or two ahead of time rather than rushing to get my place set up and all the food prepared in one day.

If you have any dinner party tips please let me know.

Hello HDTV!

For years I've resisted getting a high def TV.  Why?  Cause I liked the TV I had, it was like having a piece of history in my living room. See...

This TV was state of the art 15 years ago when my parent's bought it.  Plus it had a decent picture but.....It just couldn't compare to the latest HD tv's.  Sooooo....

Hello big boy. 62" of  HD !! I can't believe how clear and bright all my favorite shows now look.  

With my old TV I basically only watched the evening news then spent the rest of the night watching Netflix movies and shows on my laptop.  But, since the big boy arrived last weekend I am spending most of my leisure time in my living room.  I was watching a nature show about Antarctica and I felt like I was there! Wow.  I can't believe I held out for so long.  

Now if you'll excuse me, there is an episode of Colombo that's calling my name. Can't wait to see how it looks on the big screen. 

First Dinner Party

I'm hosting my first dinner party this Saturday night and I am a little nervous. I had heard that you should never test a new recipe but that's exactly what I am doing. 

I am serving up Spaghetti and Meatballs for a crowd.  This is a recipe from  America's Test Kitchen (ATK).  It may not sound like much but the recipe is a bit complex as it calls for over 22 ingredients including gelatin, buttermilk, and Panko Japanese bread crumbs. This is a picture of the recipe from the ATK website

I will let you know how it goes!!!

Kitchen Tip: Stainless Steel Cookware

My sister once had a stainless steel skillet but didn't like it much as she said the food always stuck and it was a bear to clean.  It got me to thinking of tonight's blog.

You don't have to be concerned with food sticking to the pan, burning, or having to scrub the skillet till your fingers ache if you follow some basics that have worked for me.

So why would you want to use a stainless steel skillet and not a non-stick?  Many recipes call for stainless steel because when you are cooking meat it leaves some yummy bits on the bottom of the pan.  You then will deglaze with stock or wine to create a fond (pan sauce) with those yummy bits. You can't get this fond from a non-stick skillet.  Plus the pans are durable and they don't scratch, won't corrode, or warp.

What should you look for when purchasing a skillet?  Here's what I looked for:

• At least a 12" pan maybe 14" at most. Stay away from sets as they usually include 8" and 10" skillets which are much to small. 
• Look for 18/10 pans. This means the pan is more durable.  Click on this link for more details: 18_10_stainless_steel_cookware.html

• Look for pans that have the words Clad or Tri-Ply in the description.  It's like a metal sandwich with stainless on the outside and a core of aluminum (or copper if you can afford it) sandwiched in between from side to side.  Beware of skillets that only have a disk of metal at the bottom or base.  They can heat unevenly or burn food more easily. 
• You don't have to spend an arm and a leg for skillets unless you want to.  Some All Clad skillets can go for as much as $400.  But if you recall, I mentioned in a previous post  I got my Tramontina skillet for less than $40 at Walmart. The bad news is I just looked at their website and couldn't find it.   Cuisinart skillets are reasonably priced too. 

Even if your pan isn't 18/10 or tri-ply or clad, there are some basics to remember: 

• Unless your boiling a liquid you should never place the pan on high heat. In fact, I never turn my stove top on past medium.  I learned this the hard way. 

• If you aren't going to create a pan sauce (and I don't know why you wouldn't) you can clean any sticky things by pouring warm (not ice cold) water in a fairly hot pan then scrape the bottom. Be careful not to get burned by the steam. 
• Finally, your best friend in cleaning will be a can of Bar Keepers Friend. It is so inexpensive and makes my pans so clean and shiny. 

 

I find that foods cooked in my stainless steel skillets seem much hotter and seem to taste better than when I cooked them in my old T-Fal.

But don't take my word for it.  There are many sites with information on what I covered.


Happy cooking!

Lilapsophobia

We are in a severe storm warning tonight up here in Minnesota.  The skies are getting dark and the rain is beginning to fall.  It got me to thinking of tonight's blog subject. 

It was late at night, circa August 13th, 1968, when I was tucked in bed in my jammies flat out in dreamland when suddenly I was abruptly awakened by by mom and dad whisked up in my mom's arms as we sped from my bedroom towards the basement.  "What is going on?" I thought still half asleep.  I remember glancing out the dining room window seeing the dancing shadows of trees moving across the window and the sound of a siren wailing in the distance. I remember someone saying a tornado was coming.  My parents, grandparents (who were staying with us at the time), and my brother Paul all hunkered down in the basement.  As we all sat huddled together we listened to the wind whipping outside and fortunately nothing happened to us.  Except one thing,  it turned me into a Lilapsophobic.

Lilapsophobia is a fear of..... you got it, tornadoes. Since that day I am deathly afraid of tornadoes and I still remember that night as if it happened today!

Over the years I've had many dreams of tornadoes.  In most of these dreams, some of which are over 20 years old and I still recall them vividly, there is the biggest tornado ever seen and it is chasing me or someone I care about and just as it's about to catch up to us I wake up!

Whenever I hear sirens, even when they are for tests, I stop whatever I'm doing and look out window.   I've never seen a tornado first hand and I really don't know how I would react if I did (hope to never find out).  Came close a few times.  Once in Illinois the sky was black and green and I'd never seen anything like it. Thought for sure I'd see a funnel cloud but, whew, I didn't. 

I've got many more phobias that I'll share in some future blogs but none as dramatic as this.  Now if you'll excuse me I've got to go keep an eye on the weather. 

Well there you have it, my biggest phobia.  Do you have one  you'd like to share?