Category Archives: food

50 Kilometers

25 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by in cooking, Exercise/ Fitness, food

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

I got to the 31 mile mark (50Km) today. I did not want to swim. I was tired. But I went to the Y, got in the pool and began. I finished and was proud that I stuck to it. Nine miles to 40 miles. Seven days to finish.

At AA today, one of my gardener buddies was giving away squash and tomatoes. I thought a winter squash was a summer squash. Boy was that rind tough! But I managed to make a tasty dish.  I managed to clean up the kitchen after dinner while I still had the energy.

Feeling the sleep coming over me. 

Novus Ordo Sunday

24 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by in Catholic Life, food

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

,

Usually, I go to Mass (or the two of us go) on Saturday evening or Sunday morning. Then Sunday brunch, maybe a nap and a swim workout.  Today Mass came after the swim at 5:00 PM. Mrs CorC? doesn’t find anything wrong with the Novus Ordo Mass. On the other hand, I find the music banal, the lyrics reduce Jesus to some sort of cure for what ails me.  There is a marked lack of reverence; the congregation acts as if it is at a concert. Somebody needs to tell them they are not there to be entertained. And yet, despite this irreverent atmosphere, Jesus is present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the consecrated Bread and Wine. That is why I am there. 
I contrast this week’s Mass with last week’s. Last week I went to the Tridentine Mass, what is now called the Extraordinary Form. This was, until about 50 years ago, the only form of the Mass. Central to it is the Sacrifice of Our Lord. The Mass is celebrated in Latin, the Chants go back to St Gregory The Great. The music is extraordinarily beautiful, truly sacred , drawing the worshippers toward The Lord.  Quite frankly, it isn’t all that hard to follow. Consider that we the Congregation are supposed to know what’s being said and what’s going on.

The takeaway today is that Mrs CorC? and I  were there together. That means the world to me. I’ll even put up with an annoying tambourine to be with her. 

After Mass, we went to Starbucks so Mrs CorC? could have a S’Mores Frappuccino. She is a huge fan of this concoction,  I had some iced tea drink, with passion fruit, I think. It was OK..

Then we had tacos. Tacos are like pizza. It’s hard to make them bad. Watching baseball now, Cardinals at Cubs. The Yankees won already. 

Hard to believe it is almost Eleven P.M. I made some decaf. I had a peach for dessert. We are having a thunderstorm outside. Summer. Moving toward August and then Autumn awaits.

Eating In Lisbon

12 Wednesday Jul 2017

Posted by in cooking, food

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

I am watching a video on YouTube of a gastronome ( fancy word for Foodie), eating in a bunch of restaurants in Lisbon. I don’t need to watch this after my recent weight loss successes. If you ever doubted the accuracy of the term “food porn”, this video will dispel all scepticism.  The guy doing this video is thin as a reed. He must either have a turbocharged metabolism or he vomits a lot!

I have wanted to go to Lisbon ever since I became a devotee´ of Fado, Portugal’s version of the blues.  Maybe there is nothing to do in Lisbon but eat and listen to Fado.  If so, you could do much, much worse.

The surprising thing about the cuisine is how much they use codfish in the dishes. Actually, not surprising, when one pauses to consider the Portuguese have fished off North America for nearly five hundred years. Cod, bacalao, is salted, then rinsed, and prepared. Also I noticed the humble garbanzo bean, chickpeas.  As one of the world’s preeminent spice traders since the time of Columbus, Portuguese cuisine is anything but bland.

Lisbon, anyone?  We don’t need no stinkin’ Weight Watchers! (Just kidding)

What Is Called “Onederland”

10 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by in Exercise/ Fitness, food, Health Issues

≈ 15 Comments

It has been a long time, a long time since I weighed under 200 pounds. At the Y, I weigh in every day I work out. I’ve shared how I have been going to Weight Watchers regularly and following their Smart Points© system. It works. It’s fun to track. Most importantly, it is an opportunity to eat some delicious food.

I wasn’t expecting to weigh under 200 so soon after I went back. The swimming helps. But following the plan is what makes the difference.

I have plans for the rest of the week. Believe it or not, I am intimidated by the Kitchen Aid stand mixer that is parked on the kitchen counter. One of my projects is to use the Kitchen Aid to make pizza dough.

I must say I am touched by the “likes” and kind wishes around my previous posts. It means a lot. I’ve grown very fond of my fellow bloggers whose posts I read and who, in turn, read my posts. Thank you. I love you all,

Fully Alive

07 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by in Exercise/ Fitness, food, Sexuality, sleep

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

We have all these ideas about what that term “fully alive”means. Some associate the term with the adrenalin rush of sky diving or bungee jumping. Not being female, I can’t imagine what the experience of childbirth is like. But I suspect there is a heightened sense of what it means to be alive after the experience is over. Or maybe not.

What got me thinking about this was today. I took a car that was overheating into the shop, wondering if it would make it there, especially after it stalled out at a busy intersection. There, at the shop, serendipitously was an AA buddy who drove me home, despite that it took him out of his way. 

I had one of those monster cookies at the Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble. Triple. Chocolate. Chunk. It was good, but I would rather have had a mango.  Our preferences change.

And I thought about sex. Sex. The sweaty passion. And the noises. And the sacrifice of dignity as we come. And your lover knows your secrets. How you like to be touched. How you trust that lover, for at least that moment, and maybe, if you’re lucky, forever.

 I swim and the cold water feels good. My muscles stretch, reach,  and move me through the water. When I’m done the shower feels great and the soap smells good and I feel clean. 

The night comes. I feel tired, and hurt a little. As sleep settles in,  I’m euphoric. I want more. Of this day. Of the subtleties that enrich each moment of this blessing called life.

Diner Dante´ Haircut

28 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Bloggers, food, Literature, personal grooming

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

This morning began late. Well actually it began too early. I was up around three AM because Mrs CorC? had episodes of Highway Patrol playing on YouTube. Somehow Broderick Crawford barking “10-4!” and the relentless orchestration had failed to take me to Dreamland.  So I was up for a while, settling my restless spirit, went back to sleep around four, waking up for good around eight AM.  I had a meeting at ten and put off eating until after the meeting.   I was nostalgically pulled to the quirky downtown diner I treat myself to from time to time.  I went down and, perusing the menu through the Weight Watchers filter,  found nothing I really wanted to spend a day’s worth of points to eat. So I had a scrambled egg, sausage and a biscuit and still used 18 Smart Points.  for some reason, the ambiance was off today.   Time to move on.

I’ve been having a delightful interchange with the author at Secret Life Of A Siren.  It started with her referencing Canto XX. I  know about  “Cantos” from Ezra Pound and Siren redirected me to Dante’, as in Dante’ Alighieri, author of a classic of Western Literature, The Divine Comedy.  Much to my embarassment, I admitted that I had not read The Divine Comedy, despite its significance in Western arts and letters.  A quick rummaging around my quarters did not reveal the copy I know I have, sooooo, I went to the public library, (of all places!) and checked out a copy.  Public Libraries are these places where you can borrow a book, read and return it and it’s free. Who Knew?

Next I went to get a haircut. I was past due for a cut. I told Brittany The Barber to use the #1 and show no mercy. She did. I feel normal again and not quite deranged, as I feel when my hair starts to look odd and sticks straight up when I run my fingers through it.06281713320628171342a

S Is For…

27 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Catholic Life, Exercise/ Fitness, food

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Sitting, Shaming, Swimming.

At the Weight Watchers weigh in, I did weigh in at 203 lbs. This is a big personal victory.  My next weight loss goal is to weigh in under 200 lbs. But enough about weight, the real fun lies in doing the things that get me to my goal, eating well but sensibly, exercising, meaning swimming and not worrying.

Eating well today featured a bowl of pho, that great Vietnamese dish. I figured the Weight Watchers Smart Points©. I guesstimate about 11 and that didn’t sound bad. It was tasty,

I was all set to sit a bit today, but by the time my stepmother and I got to the Y, I was up for a swim. I cranked out 2500 meters. 

“Shaming” came into my mind as I considered sitting around while D my stepmother did her exercises. I think “shaming” is more a Millenial concept, but I can’t think of a better term for my sitting around while my 91 Year Old stepmother worked out. So I swam. And fully enjoyed every minute.

My swim over, I decided going to daily Mass at 5:30 would be next. Mass was most restorative for me. 

So here I am finally sitting, savoring the moment.

Re-thinking The Automobile

22 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in American History, food, Suburbia

≈ 2 Comments

I actually walked somewhere I needed to be yesterday, instead of driving.  Rather than use the word “liberating” to describe a small act of resistance against Car Dependence, I think the term “Common Sense” is more apropos. 

My parents grew up in a world of sidewalks and street cars.    If they needed to get somewhere, they walked or took the street car.  Their neighborhood, Church Hill, was divided from the downtown area of Richmond by Shockoe Valley. Mom would cross Shockoe Valley and trudge up Broad Street Hill when she walked to the old John Marshall High School. I suspect it was roughly the same distance I walked yesterday.  It was no big deal eighty years ago to do what I did.  The numerous immigrants from the developing world think nothing of walking to places when they arrive in America.  Our church sponsored South Sudanese refugees (the famous “Lost Boys”), fleeing that now-forgotten civil war in the 1990’s.  These young men simply walked where they needed to go, out of habit and necessity.  They did not drive.

In my part of Henrico County, sidewalks are a hit or miss proposition.   For example there is was no sidewalk to my destination on the route I took from home, but there was a sidewalk for use on my return route.   Sidewalks are useful if a pedestrian wants to reduce the chance of being hit by an automobile.

After World War Two, the suburban paradigm captured American urban planning and the popular imagination.  Sidewalks were an afterthought and a redundancy.  Cars were the indispensible necessity when planning communities.  It was a given that a household had at least one car, possibly two.   The distances between housing developments and supermarkets (to name one destination) would be breached by a car.  A family bought a week’s worth of groceries on the jaunt to the store; such purchasing was made possible by a freezer and frozen foods.  I remember so well the frozen bricks of spinach, green beans and cauliflower my mother bought.  Fresh meat could be frozen, then thawed and cooked later.   Walking to a store and returning with a sizeable quantity of food was a challenge.

So back to 2017.   The challenge we now face, living in suburban America is to shift our thinking around the automobile from a necessity to a convenience.  I set out a rough guideline. If a distance to destination is under two miles, I will make an effort to walk there and plan my day accordingly.  We shall see how this turns out.

 

Rambling Guy

25 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in cooking, Exercise/ Fitness, Family, food

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

So about 2 weeks ago, I went back to Weight Watchers. My weight was climbing upward, because I rebel against the idea of managing what I eat. So I’ve been toying around with program. My first weigh-in showed I lost about 3 lbs and my second weigh-in had me gain back about 1.5 lbs. That was yesterday. 

I finally admitted to myself I wasn’t being rigorous enough. I know what I can and should eat to have a sustained weight loss over time. I’ve purged a lot of crap from the pantry, freezer, and fridge.  This morning I went to Richmond’s best produce store, Tom Leonard’s Farmer’s Market and the fruits and vegetables practically jumped into the cart. Leading the way was a quarter of a watermelon. Seriously yummy,

I came home started dinner, a slow-cooker prepared chicken rosemary and mushroom stew-like concoction with tomatoes. I found these great canned tomatoes at Tom Leonard’s, Sclafani’s from Norwalk CT. Sclafani imports these tomatoes from Italy. They are delicious.

Next I started some red beans, Cajun style. With Cajun spicing in beef stock, slow cooked. Added only garlic and shallots.

I went to the Y w D, my stepmom. My swim of 2500 meters was three minutes faster than yesterday. And the weight gain I showed yesterday was gone today.  Go figure. Weight varies daily, that’s about the first thing one learns at WW, so it’s the trend that matters.

My stepmom wanted me to take her by KFC to pick up some dinner. I just offered to bring some of my chicken stuff over. She said yes. Nothing like a good deed done to make one’s day,

Memory Chain Reaction

19 Friday May 2017

Posted by in Family, food, memoir, Suburbia

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

,

1.jpg1953Nash

1953 Nash Ambassador

It is the 1950’s, a Friday night, and we need to go grocery shopping.  We have one car, a 1953 Nash Ambassador Super, black body with a red top, Continental wheel, straight 6 engine, three on the tree, and overdrive. A righteous car. We all pile in the car, Dad, me, my elder brother in the front, Mama, my sister, my younger brother in the back.  That’s the we way we did riding in the car. Mother did not drive. We had just one car anyway.

We went to the A&P. Some people went to the Safeway; some people shopped at the Colonial Store; some went to Siegel’s (run by brothers Hip and Charlie). There were other local independent supermarkets and superettes (so asserted Richfood, the local buyers’ co-op).  But we went to the A&P.  To a child’s mind, this was almost like our religious affiliation. We were Presbyterians on Sunday who shopped at the A&P on Friday and we all rode in the same car to go to both church and store.  “God’s in His Heaven, all’s right with the world.” 

We would shop.  Dad preferred Bokar Coffee, available only at A&P.  That’s probably why we went. Dad was as serious about his coffee as he was about this country, the Marine Corps, the Presbyterian Church and the Republican Party.  Coffee was serious business in his family. His father (Pop) called it “Arbuckles”. The first coffee I ever tasted was what Pop gave to me from a spoon, with cream.  Still the best coffee I ever tasted.

The A&P was on Meadowbridge Road in Highland Park, near a fire station.  The neighborhood was transitioning from all-white to all-black.   Next to the A&P was a High’s Ice Cream Store. It was a local chain, that had chrome steel swivel stools at the counters.  They sold ice cream at five cents a scoop. The single scoop cone had a pointy end. Sometimes we would be mean to my sister and bite the tip off her cone. (I think she forgave us for this. At least I hope so.)  The High’s Stores were staffed by these little old ladies who wore pale pastel-green dresses (like the old fashioned nurses’ uniforms) and hairnets, white hairnets.  As drug addiction grew in the Richmond area, the junkies would rob the High’s Stores to get the money for a fix..  Eventually the High’s Stores went out of business and the junkies moved on to the 7-Elevens.

Ice cream was a big deal. On a hot summer night, we would get in the car, ride to High’s, Dairy Queen, Tastee Freez, or the Curles’ Neck Dairy Bar.  When we went to Curles’ Neck, we could get an awesome maple nut ice cream.  Then we would ride down to Byrd Park and watch the illuminated fountain in the Fountain Lake.  It was fun.  It was free. My Dad, who worked between his civilian job and his Marine Reserve duty almost constantly, loved this time with his children.  We loved this time with him.

In retrospect, all of these simple pleasures were living on borrowed time.  What destroyed them was affluence and the advertisers who promoted bigger and better versions of fun.  So now we go to Disney World or Busch Gardens or Kings Dominion, for better or worse.