More Back to School Memories

Today is the day that I will always associate with going back to school.  In New York, you always started the Wednesday after Labor Day.  In my school district, there was a high Jewish population so you almost always had time off very soon for Rosh Hashanah and then Yom Kippur in October.

Here's a list of "Things You Learned in School That Are Now Completely Useless" [from BuzzFeed]

1. How to write in cursive - it disappoints me that this is not taught anymore.
2. How to drop an egg from a five-story building without breaking it - I must have been absent this day.
3. How to climb a rope - I really wanted to be absent on this day.
4. How to play Hot Cross Buns on the recorder - would that I still had mine, I might be able to do this.
5. How to make the most badass erupting volcano - I was not a big science guy
6. How to find a book using the card catalog system - I worked in a library for a while and became quite familiar with Melvil and his card filing system.  To this day, the scene from the Breakfast Club where Judd Nelson rearranges the cards in the drawers gives me the heebee jeebees.
7. How to use long division - remember to show your work!
8. Memorizing the periodic table of elements - yeah, not so much.  But I did what I had to, to avoid the wrath of Mrs. Feit.
9. How to forge a river on the Oregon Trail - and with its resurgence, so can LBA and SoBA!
10. Memorizing the preamble to the U.S. Constitution - duh, Schoolhouse Rock!
11. How to spell boobs on a calculator - no, I never did this.
12. How to do the limbo - that was in "elective gym."
13. Reciting the state capitals - my mother used to be able to do this.  I could probably do 40 of them.
14. How to make a potato battery - again, more science, not so much.
15. Learning to sing in a round - Row Row Row Your Boat, anyone?
16. How to make a Cat's Cradle 
17. How to make paper snowflakes
18. How to make a cootie catcher - I had no idea that's what they were called.
19. How to play foursquare - and it does not involve "checking in."
20. How to do the Macarena - luckily, I just missed this.
21. How to keep a Tamagotchi alive - also I'm older than these.
22. How to make papier mache anything
23. How to make a shoebox diorama - I loved making these
24. How to care for a fake infant egg - why?
25. How to grow a plant in a wet paper towel
26. How to line up by height
27. How to color in the lines
28. Latin - semper ubi, sub ubi.
29. Memorizing all of the presidents in order - Bruce Farbstein used to be able to do this forward and backwards in under a minute.  I can do it, but I usually screw up the order pre- and post-Lincoln.
30. How to navigate the Encyclopedia Britannica - what's an encyclopedia?
31. How to find arrowheads
32. How to dissect a frog - again, the wrath of Mrs. Feit came down on me when I nearly passed out.
33. How to say 'no' to drugs
34. How to put a condom on a phallic fruit
35. How to differentiate between different types of dinosaurs
36. How to cite a source using MLA 
37. How to build a styrofoam solar system - hey, and mine included Pluto, it'll always be a planet to me!
38. How to extract liquid from a pouch - that's not a euphemism for anything.
39. How to use WordArt for fancy fonts - similarly there was using BASIC to create banners with your name or writing loop "go to" programs.
40. How to write poetry
41. How to make an acrostic
42. How to write a book report - or the dreaded "five paragraph essay"
43. How to jump out of the back of a bus - that was always a fun way to start one's day.
44. How to decorate for a dance
45. How to sell worthless coupon books
46. How to scratch and sniff
47. How to care for your Pokemon cards - LBA has some of those around somewhere - wait are they worth money?
48. How to make a tornado in a soda bottle - before Mentos and Diet Coke that is.
49. How to spell - so you mean that red line doesn't automatically appear when you misspell a word when writing longhand?  What's up with that?

Back to School Memories

With LBA starting third grade this week (3rd grade!) and SoBA joining him at the same school in kindergarten, here's a list of items that "will remind you of elementary school"  [from BuzzFeed].  Of course, this is also Labor Day weekend (and you shouldn't have to go back to school until after Labor Day - but that's a different rant).

1. Back to school supply lists - these days, the list comes out before the kids go back to school.  But I remember going out on that first week of school to get everything on the list.
2. Slates - I'm not that old.
3. Writing your name on the upper right-hand corner of your wide ruled loose leaf paper - The Brave Astronaut has a pretty long last name and I often tell SBA that it took me until the 3rd grade to learn how to spell it right - so no more excuses!
4. Trapper Keepers - I was more of a blue fabric 3-ring binder (or the 5-subject wirebound notebook) fan.
5. Being the line leader - I liked this job.
6. Construction Paper 
7. Getting to be Student of the Month - something clicked in LBA early in 2nd grade where he was named Student of the Month for several months in a row!
8. Capri Suns - we had milk.
9. Finding your friends so you can sit with them in the cafeteria - our "lunchroom" doubled as the gym, something that you still see a lot.
10. Lunch Trays - there was a spot for the milk carton
11. Scooters - gym was more fun with these, and it was way more fun than the rope climb
12. Juice Boxes! - see #8
13. Recess! - I was married in elementary school on the playground (Patty - did we ever get divorced?).  The monkey bars was our house.  Another classmate played the part of our dog (Donna Ziegler, where are you?)
14. Elmer's Glue
15. Nap time and nap mats
16. Sitting on carpet squares
17. Gym/Auditoriums - I remember being brought into the gym/auditorium to watch the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1976.
18. Kickball 
19. Using the card catalog and learning the Dewey Decimal System - pretty sure this isn't high on anybody's list anymore.
20. Crayola Crayons
21. Show and Tell
22. That mean substitute teacher
23. Playing games inside during recess because it's raining outside
24. Book Reports
25. Having the coolest lunch box
26. The Spelling Bee
27. Book Fairs
28. Skate Night

Creme Caramel

My grandmother was French and there was a lot of french cuisine growing up.  One thing that made appearances for special occasions was her creme caramel.  In the scattering of some of my grandmother's things, I got two of her creme caramel ramekins (along with the plastic mugs that we kids used to drink out of in the house in Maine).

As an adult, I think I would like this a lot more now than I feel I exhibited as a child. From the Amateur Gourmet.

Crème Caramel
Summary: By way of Julia Child and the Gratinee blog. 

Ingredients

• 1 vanilla bean (it’s worth it to buy a vanilla bean for this recipe; if you really don’t want to, use 1 teaspoon really good vanilla extract) 
• 2 1/2 cups milk 
• 2/3 cup sugar (for the caramel) PLUS 1/2 cup sugar (for the custard) 
• 1/3 cup water 
• 3 eggs 
• 3 egg yolks 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Start by steeping the vanilla bean in the milk. Slice the pod in half vertically (a paring knife works well), scrape the seeds out with the side of the knife and add them, along with the pod, to the milk in a pot. Turn up the heat, whisk a little (helps break up the seeds) and when you see bubbles around the rim turn off the heat and allow the milk to steep while you complete the rest of the steps. 
3. Set four to six ramekins on the counter and begin to make your caramel. Add the sugar (that’s 2/3 cup) and water together in a pot and bring up the heat to medium/high. Don’t stir but rotate the pan around to help the sugar dissolve. As it cooks (and depending on how high you have the heat, this could take a while) the color will eventually start to change. Watch it carefully. When it turns a very dark amber, almost brown, pour it directly into the ramekins. (Be careful: that’s sticky, scalding hot stuff.) Swirl the ramekins around a little so it gets an even coating of caramel. Set the pan aside and you can clean it later by adding water and bringing it to a boil and whisking; the caramel will dissolve easily. 
4. Now make your custard. Beat the remaining 1/2 cup sugar into the eggs and egg yolks until light and foamy. Gradually add the warm milk mixture (remove the vanilla pod first), whisking all the while, until you have something that looks like a custard. Strain it into a separate bowl. 
5. Pour the strained custard into the ramekins on top of the caramel and then put the ramekins in a large roasting pan or baking dish. Fill the pan with boiling water so it comes halfway up the ramekins and place the whole pan, carefully, into the oven. (If you’re nervous, you can put the pan in the oven first and add the boiling water while it’s in the oven. Up to you. Depends on your balancing ability.) 
6. Bake for 5 minutes then turn the temperature down to 325 and bake another 40 minutes or until the center of each ramekin is no longer wobbly. (I just stuck my finger on top of the custard and felt it; when it was mostly firm, I knew it was done.) Remove the pan from the oven, take the ramekins out and allow them to come to room temperature. Then cover with plastic and refrigerate until ready to serve. 
7. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the ramekin, put a plate on top and flip the ramekin over. Pat it a few times to help the custard come down and then lift. If all goes according to plan, you’ll have a cute little ramekin-shaped custard topped with caramel and surrounded by caramel sauce. Job well done. 

Preparation time: 45 minute(s)
Cooking time: 45 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6

Save Christiano's!

I usually have several recipes ready to go (they're the easiest posts to write, of course), and I do have several lined up for the next few Mondays.  However, I learned over the weekend that a local landmark where I grew up is slated to close and, though likely futile, I'd like the opportunity to tell you about it, with the hopes that someone (Billy Joel?, a Syosset High School Class of 1985 alum in Hollywood, with some disposable income? - you know who you are.) can save this local institution.

Christiano's restaurant, reputed, though often disputed, to be the inspiration for Billy Joel's song, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" is closing its doors after 55 years.  The restaurant, which is now owned by the Singh Hospitality Group, will close soon and be "reinvented" as another restaurant, though not an Italian one.

The restaurant has been an anchor in "town" ever since it opened in 1958.  Syosset residents have been going there for the pizza, the lasagne, the wine, and the atmosphere.  Just a few years ago, when I attempted to organize a high school class reunion - only a few of us were able to make it - but we went there, because it was the right place to go.

My sister had a boyfriend once, who one evening was in Christiano's having dinner when they spotted Billy Joel across the dining room.  He and his friend, knew they had to do something.  They finally decided to sign their autographs on a napkin and went over to Billy Joel and handed it to them, saying something to the effect of, "You're always signing autographs, so we thought you might like ours."  They then turned around and went back to their table.  Billy looked at the autographs, looked over at them, and then got up and went over to talk with them, saying, "I can't believe you guys did that.  That was pretty good."

My father, my siblings and I were at Christiano's a little more than seven years ago.  It was the final weeks of my mother's life (she passed away seven years ago today), and we wanted to all go out together.  We went to Christiano's because it was about family.

So, I was a little sad today on many levels.  I miss my mother.  A lot.  I'm also sad that I'm losing another piece of my youth that is being lost to time.  And I'm a little sad, because I also didn't know what to make for dinner tonight.  But we managed to eat something.

The Price is Right

"HERE IT COMES!  TELEVISION'S MOST EXCITING HOUR OF CASH AND PRIZES!  IT'S THE 60 MINUTE PRICE IS RIGHT!"

When I would stay home sick from school growing up - I would settle in on the couch - with the cable channel box (back in the old days, the "remote" was a push button box attached to the TV with a wire) and assorted drinks and snacks, in time to watch the 10:00 and 10:30 game shows (usually Password and Card Sharks) before tuning to CBS for the Price is Right!

My father used to refer to the show as the "Instant Greed Hour" - this from a man who used to be glued to the Wheel of Fortune.  I always wanted to be on the Price is Right - in my two trips to California the show wasn't taping - so that's something still on my bucket list.

I noted with some amusement this post from BuzzFeed with "13 Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Price is Right."  The list omitted Bob Barker's fear of Samoan women.

1. Vanna White was once a contestant, although she didn't make it up on stage.
2. The wheel was added to the show in 1975
3. Bob Barker grew up on a reservation in South Dakota and is an official member of the Sioux tribe.
4. The very first one-bid prize was a fur coat. Furs were not offered as prizes since that episode, due to Bob Barker's strong belief in animal rights.
5. The show discourages contestants from wearing green shirts because some games use chroma key screens, which can blend into a contestant's shirt.
6. There was once a "Price is Right" wardrobe malfunction.
7. The Big Wheel can BREAK.
8. "Pick A Number," probably the most boring game on the show, requires the contestant to pick a number to fill in a blank spot in the price of the prize they're playing for.
9. One time Snoop Lion - née Dogg - played Plinko, and it was awesome.
10. 74 games are currently rotated on the show. (32 have been retired.)
11. The producers select the contestants based solely on their answers to three questions: your name, where you are from, what you do.
12. One guy got famous by bidding $420 on every prize.
13. The first car offered on the show, a 1972 Chevy Vega, went for $2,746.

National Girl Scout Cookie Day!

Today is evidently the first National Girl Scout Cookie Day.  To celebrate, BuzzFeed posted a list of Girl Scout items that are available through eBay and Etsy.

I need to get me some boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  If I don't get some soon - I am sure to incur the wrath of my mother.  A friend from home, who was in my mother's girl scout troop, and now leads her own daughter's troop, contacted me to ask me to contribute to Operation Cookie - which is an effort to send cookies to the troops overseas, something I am happy to do.

Recently, LBA had an Oral History project to do for school.  After some discussion, we decided to write the project on my mother - the project called for the individual to have made a difference.  Both Mrs. BA and I helped LBA with the project, providing him with the answers to the questions as to why my mother made a difference in so many girls lives.

So what's on the list?  And how many of them lived in my house growing up (or were brought through my house by girl scouts on their way to an international opportunity)?  Here's my favorite 10.

1. 1960s Official Girl Scout Camera (etsy)
2. Girl Scout Toiletries Bag and Comb (etsy) - I feel like I saw this growing up
3. 1960s Girl Scout Metal Canteen (etsy) - I'm almost positive one of these was around the house
4. Girl Scout Tie Clip (etsy) - if I wore ties more often (or still used tie clips), maybe.
5. Girl Scout Flashlight (etsy) - again, feel like there was one of these around the house
6. 50s/60s Girl Scout Charm Bracelet (etsy) - my mother had a charm bracelet with at least one girl scout charm on it.
7. Vintage Girl Scout earrings (etsy) - my mother had Girl Scout earrings.
8. Girl Scout Handkerchief (etsy)
9. Girl Scout Thermos (ebay)
10. Girl Scout (Brownie) change purse (ebay)

Later this month will be the seventh anniversary of my mother's passing.  I miss her each and everyday.

The 12 Posts of Christmas (2012), volume IX

Christmas Eve in the Brave Astronaut home growing up always involved one of the rare occasions when my father would make homemade potato chips.  I have taken to making them as part of our regular menu cycle but they always remind me of Christmas Eve growing up.  We didn't decorate our tree until Christmas Eve (that was Santa's job - and it was done after I went to bed).

For dinner usually, we would have hamburgers and my father's chips.  Then it would be time for an early bedtime, while my parents (and older siblings) "waited for Santa."  As I got older, I learned it was really the opportunity to drink spiked egg nog - but hey that works, too.

I spotted this "recipe" for hamburgers and I don't remember this recipe being used in the house, but then again, my father drinks scotch.  But I am sure that Frank and Dean were certainly playing on the radio.

Here's my basic recipe for my homemade potato chips - unfortunately, I still don't have a deep fryer.

Ingredients

• potatoes, choice (I like Russet, but Yukon Golds work well, too), sliced thin on a mandoline
• vegetable oil
• salt and pepper

Slice the potatoes using the mandoline (watch your fingers!) - you should have as many potatoes as you have people to serve.  Rinse the potatoes, let soak briefly in water.  Dry the potatoes (so they don't splatter when you put them in the oil).

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet (or deep fryer, if you have one).  You need enough oil so the potatoes will float in the oil and can easily be turned.

Place the potatoes in the oil and cook until golden brown on both sides.  Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl with a paper towel.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  The potatoes can be kept in a warm oven until ready to serve.

Merry Christmas!

It's Friday Night

Which at the Brave Astronaut launchpad means pizza / movie night for LBA and SoBA.  However, growing up on Long Island, it often meant a night out at the movies, perhaps a stop at the diner, or maybe the game room in Bayville.  Game rooms were a popular destination during my youth - they could be found in all the malls and a nearby Nathan's had an entire game room attached to the restaurant.

I learned recently the game room in Bayville, which used to be a game room, a small miniature golf course, and some batting cages - is now a destination, a "theme park."  I guess it is true what they say, you can't go home again.  Gary - did you know about this?

I was having a discussion at the work lunch table the other day about high school hijinks.  There were several Friday nights spent where I and my two friends would be out in our friend's car doing various sorts of teenage frivolity.  There was the one occasion that we were "cruising" on Hempstead Turnpike and we were stopped at a light.  There was a car in a parking lot that had its high beams on, pointed directly at the cars on the Turnpike.  I looked over and said out the open window - though definitely not at a volume so as to be heard - "turn off your f*&king brights, a@$hole."  Then the drivers side door opened.  And the driver, a large man, yelled, "what did you just say to me?"  I implored my friend to jump the light.  Luckily it changed before he made it to the car.

There were other evenings, where we would take turns riding in the trunk of the car, then when the car would stop at a light, pop out of the trunk to scare the beejeezus out of the people behind us.  Or we might dangle one of our arms out the trunk to see if people would notice.

I know, it's amazing we didn't have more luck with the ladies.  Happy Weekend everyone!

Easy Mac and Cheese

Growing up, a popular dish with my mother was Mac and Cheese with hot dogs. It was delish. This recipe (from the Amateur Gourmet) is very close to hers. Make a white sauce, add cheese, macaroni, and top with bread crumbs. Don't forget to bake it. Of course if you're me, you'll spend some time in the kitchen picking out macaroni before it goes into the oven (and trying to make sure it doesn't look like you've been eating it).

[Last week's Washington Post Food Section had several pages devoted to the American staple - including ways to "dress it up" - if you so desired.]

Easy Mac and Cheese
Summary: An easy, creamy mac and cheese from David Waltuck’s “Staffmeals.”

Ingredients

• Course (kosher) salt
• 1 package (16 ounces) ridged elbow macaroni
• 3 cups heavy (or whipping) cream
• 2 1/2 cups grated sharp yellow Cheddar cheese (about 10 ounces)
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Dash of Tabasco sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (I used more! And added Pecorino for good measure)
• 1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs (homemade or store-bought)
  

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Bring a large stockpot of water and 1/4 cup of the salt to a boil over high heat.
3. When the water is boiling, add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally, until flexible but very al dente, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain, then let the macaroni stand in the colander under cold running water until chilled. Drain again, then transfer to a medium-size baking dish or shallow casserole and set aside.
4. Bring the cream to a boil in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat (watch it, though: you don’t want it to bubble up!). Reduce the heat to low and stir in the grated Cheddar, onion, garlic, mustard, Worcestershire, Tabasco, pepper, and salt to taste. Stir over low heat just until the cheese is completely melted, then remove the pan from the heat and taste and adjust the seasoning; the flavor should be strong.
5. Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni in the baking dish and stir thoroughly to coat. Sprinkle first the grated Parmesan, then the bread crumbs, over the mixture and bake until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden brown and crusty, 30 to 40 minutes. Let stand a minute or two before serving.
   

Quick notes
If you want to cook this ahead for a dinner party, make the sauce and boil the mac, stirring them together in the baking dish and then cover with plastic before refrigerating. An hour before you want to cook it, take it out of the fridge to come to room temperature and top with the Parmesan and breadcrumbs just before it goes into the oven.

Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
Cooking time: 40 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6

Garlic Knots

This one's for my friend Gary, who turned me on to garlic knots years ago when we got some at Village Heroes. When we travel to NY and get ourselves some good NY pizza, we will often fill out our order with some doughy balls of love. Now, here's a recipe that you can make at home.

Garlic Knots
from Simply Recipes

It is perfectly OK to use store-bought pizza dough here. One 14-ounce package of pizza dough will approximate this recipe.

Ingredients
Dough:

• 3/4 cup warm water (105°F-115°F)
• 1 package (2 teaspoons) of active dry yeast (check the expiration date on the package)
• 1 3/4 cups bread flour (can use all-purpose but bread flour will give you a crisper crust)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
  

Garlic-Butter Coating:

• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
  

Method

1. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir to combine and let sit for another 5-10 minutes, until it begins to froth a bit.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the olive oil, then the yeast-water mixture. Mix this together to form a soft dough and knead for 5-10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and lightly coat with olive oil. Put it in a large bowl, top the bowl with plastic wrap and set it at room temperature to rise.
3. When the dough has doubled in size, anywhere from 90 minutes to several hours, cut it in half. Set out a large baking sheet and line it with a silpat or parchment paper. Take one half of the dough and cut it in half. Working with one piece at a time, flatten into a rough rectangle about 5 inches long 1/2 inch thick.
4. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough into strips of about 1 inch wide by 5 inches long. Cut these strips in half. Take one piece and work it into a snake, then tie it in a knot. The dough will be sticky along the cut edges, so dust these with flour before you tie the knot. Set each knot down on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough. Remember that the dough will rise, so leave some space between each knot.
5. Once all the knots are tied, paint them with a little olive oil. Loosely cover them with plastic wrap and let them rise again until doubled in size, anywhere from 90 minutes to three hours or so. Toward the end of this rising period, preheat the oven to 400°.
6. Uncover the knots and bake in the oven 12-15 minutes, or until nicely browned on top.
7. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pot and cook the garlic gently in it just long enough to take off that raw garlic edge, about 1-2 minutes over medium-low heat. Add the salt and parsley and stir to combine. Turn off the heat.
8. When the knots are done, take out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Paint with the garlic-butter-parsley mixture and serve. These are best warm, but are good at room temperature, too.
   

Yield: Makes about 20 knots.

Click, Clack, Ding, Kerchunk!

One of the more popular books in the rotation for LBA and SoBA is called Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type. It occurs to me that while reading this story, SoBA and LBA might be confused with the use of something called a "typewriter." Sadly, back in April 2011, it was reported the last typewriter factory closed its doors.

I remember taking "Keyboarding" in (junior?) high school. I wound up dropping the class because I had already "learned" to type and wasn't in the mood to relearn. Now, of course, I can type pretty fast and don't have to look at the keyboard (I'm not doing it now) to make sure that I am typing correctly. I do sort of hover near the "home keys" but the backspace / delete key is much easier to use than "correct-a-type" ever was.

In keyboarding, we used IBM Selectric typewriters. It had that very satisfying hum when you turned it on. Sometimes it felt like you could take it outside to mow the lawn with it. We had a manual typewriter around the house growing up until that finally gave up the ghost. When I went off to college, I had a brand spanking new word processing typewriter that had a disk drive that you could type your papers and then save! them to this piece of plastic. It had a little delay on it that you would type a line of text and then it would magically appear on the paper. It had a flip screen that served as a keyboard cover. For the life of me, I can't remember what it was called or who made it. But then again, if you can't remember a lot from college, you must have had a pretty good time, right?

Here in the office (where I deal primarily with electronic records) there was a typewriter around for a while - I don't know if it is still here somewhere. But with a computer on everyone's desk and the "Avery Plug-in" available so readily, is anyone still typing out addresses on envelopes (the last line of defense for needing a typewriter)?

So, dear reader. Typewriters? What do you think?

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The Brave Astronaut clan are staying home for the holidays. Many of you are aware of the troublesome trip we had while going to visit with my family. Thanksgiving has been off the board for several years now and it is possible that making the trip at Christmas may soon follow. It's just too hard with LBA and SoBA in tow. Unless we are spending Christmas somewhere warm.

Tonight will be spent with Mrs. BA's family and then tomorrow morning we will all be waking in our own beds to see what Santa has brought us. It is also LBA's birthday - so the day will start out as Christmas and end as his birthday. We are having C in DC and her lovely family over for dinner (it's OK Mom, there are people coming) and the Christmas China will be coming out.

Tonight I will likely read a Christmas story to the boys before they head off to bed. Maybe this one.

My fervent wish to all of you, as always, is that you will always be able to hear the sound of the sleigh bell. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

On Cars

We recently became a one-car family. The car that I bought a few years ago, a 1998 Volvo, finally got to the point where the amount of money it required to fix (and make it road worthy) was more than we were willing to spend. We are managing (Mrs. BA and SoBA are bearing the brunt of it - as they are on Metro everyday now - and it makes them both a little motion sick).

We may look at getting a new car sometime next year, but right now it is pretty nice to not have a car payment each month. There are certainly no lack of resources from which I can conduct research on car buying. There are of course unlimited options as to what kind of car we might get for our second car.

Unfortunately, I cannot have my first car again. It was a 1982 Mercury Zephyr. It was yellow and looked like a cab. I beat the hell out of that car. When it came time to get a new car, the transmission had failed to the point where the car would no longer go in reverse. Parking became a real problem. The Washington Post reported back in May that the Ford Motor Company has decided to shutter the Mercury brand.

Coffee Heath Bar Ice Cream

I noted with some sadness the other day that Friendly's, one of the greatest places of my youth is in trouble. The article notes that Friendly's was born during the Great Depression and the recession of nearly 100 years later is threatening to wipe it out. Go get those Jim Dandy's while you still can, folks.

Friendly's plays a role in my family not just for me. It was also where my sister worked for several years. And some time ago, the one where she worked was planning a celebration to commemorate its 40th anniversary of serving Long Islanders ice cream.

Now I like ice cream. I don't think that anyone would debate that with me. I am not sure what does my ice cream choice say about me? But I really want this flavor to be real. I am going to have to break out the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker at home and whip up some ice cream. So here's a recipe that I certainly would make. Now.

Coffee Heath Bar Ice Cream
from Simply Recipes

The "via" instant coffee packs at Starbucks work great for this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 1/2 cups cream
• 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 ounces of Heath bars or other English toffee
  

Method

1. Combine the milk, 1 1/2 cups of the cream, sugar, brown sugar, instant coffee, espresso powder (if using), vanilla and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat the base until it begins to steam, whisking continuously.
2. When the base begins to steam, pour one- half cup out of the pan and into the egg yolks, whisk immediately. When completely combined, add the yolk mixture back into the rest of the of the base, and heat until the mixture reaches 170°F, or until it coats the back of a spoon.
3. Remove immediately from heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve. Add in the remaining cup of cold cream and let chill for several hours, preferably overnight.
4. Hit heath bars (still in their wrappers) repeatedly with the back of a wooden spoon, until they are thoroughly crushed. (You can also put the toffee into a plastic or paper bag and do the same.) Place heath bar pieces into a container and freeze while you churn the ice cream.
5. Pour the base into an ice cream maker and churn according to your ice cream maker manufacturer's instructions. Remove ice cream and stir in heath bar pieces.
   

Makes a little more than a quart.

The Return of Mad Men

I have been keeping tabs on the men (and women) of Sterling Cooper through Netflix streaming (I've actually been watching the first season, which I don't feel like I saw the first time around), while I wait for the arrival of Season 5 in March.

My father was in advertising (pharmaceutical advertising) and every time I watch the show, I picture him. It was such his life.

Here, one wonders how Don Draper might pitch today's social media tools, in this case, the Facebook Timeline. If you would like some more information on what New York was like in the Mad Men era, you can go and watch this travel film from 1962.

And if you need some clarification on how much money Don has in his pocket at any given time, here's a handy list of prices of things from 1962 compared to today. (I would love to be able to get a new car for $2600 - think I could extreme coupon it? I also think it's funny that TVs are still relatively the same price.)

Happy Passover

I grew up on Long Island, in a predominantly Jewish area. At Christmas time, our Christmas lights were often in the minority after the familiar glow of lighted menorahs in the windows of our neighbors. One year, my father did our Christmas lights in all blue and white bulbs.

The Jewish holiday of Passover begins tomorrow. For one thing it means this place will be closed for the duration of the holiday. Remember, you can't get bacon and egg on a bagel there. You can't get bacon there at all.

For all of my Jewish friends a very happy Passover to you all. King Kullen, the local Long Island grocery store, which is one of the largest grocery stores with Kosher products, offered several recipes recently. In addition, Epicurious put out an article on preparing the best Seder. Here is one of my favorite recipes. I mean, really with that much garlic, how could it be bad?

Braised Brisket with Thirty-Six Cloves of Garlic

• About 36 fat unpeeled garlic cloves (1 2/3 to 2 cups) or an equivalent amount of smaller cloves, plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• A first-or second-cut beef brisket (about 5 pounds), trimmed of excess fat, wiped with a damp paper towel, and patted dry
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade or good-quality low-sodium purchased
• 3 or 4 fresh thyme sprigs, or 2 teaspoons dried leaves
• 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, plus 1 teaspoon chopped leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Drop the garlic cloves into a small saucepan of boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain immediately. Peel as soon as the garlic is cool enough to handle. Set aside on paper towels to dry.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan or casserole large enough to accommodate the meat in one layer. Use two burners, if necessary. Add the brisket and brown well on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the brisket to a platter and set aside. (Or brown the meat under the broiler: place the brisket, fat side up, on a foil-lined broiler pan under a preheated broiler. Broil for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, until browned. Don’t allow it to develop a hard, dark crust, which might make the meat tough or bitter. Move the meat around as necessary, so it sears evenly.)

Pour off all but about 1 tablespoon of fat remaining in the pan and add the garlic cloves. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic edges are tinged with gold. Add the vinegar and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the stock, thyme, and rosemary sprigs, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Salt and pepper the brisket to taste on all sides, and add it to the pan, fat side up. Spoon the garlic cloves over the meat.

Place the brisket in the oven, cover (if you have no lid, use heavy-duty foil), and cook, basting every half-hour, until the meat is fork tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours or longer. (As the meat cooks, periodically check that the liquid is bubbling gently. If it is boiling rapidly, turn the oven down to 300°F.)

The brisket tastes best if it is allowed to rest, reabsorbing the juices lost during braising, and it's easiest to defat the gravy if you prepare the meat ahead and refrigerate it until the fat solidifies. That is the method I use, given here, but the gravy can be prepared by skimming the fat in the traditional way, if you prefer. If you go that route though, do let the meat rest in the pan sauce for at least an hour.

Cool the brisket in the pan sauce, cover well with foil, and refrigerate until the fat congeals. Scrape off all solid fat. Remove the brisket from the pan and slice thinly across the grain.

Prepare the gravy: Bring the braising mixture to room temperature, then strain it, reserving the garlic and discarding the thyme and rosemary sprigs. Skim and discard as much fat as possible from the liquid. Puree about one half of the cooked garlic with 1 cup of the defatted braising liquid in a food processor or a blender. (If you want a smooth gravy, puree all of the cooked garlic cloves.) Transfer the pureed mixture, the remaining braising liquid, and the rest of the cooked garlic to a skillet. Add the chopped rosemary, minced garlic, and lemon zest. Boil down the gravy over high heat, uncovered, to the desired consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Rewarm the brisket in the gravy until heated through.

Arrange the sliced brisket on a serving platter. Spoon some of the hot gravy all over the meat and pass the rest in a separate sauce boat.

Springtime Snow Stories

Last week the DC area enjoyed some very springlike, almost summer-like, temperatures. The mercury rose above 70 degrees for three days in a row. It was wonderful. It made one think that the days of relaxing poolside were coming very soon.

Then it snowed. Well first it rained. Then it changed to sleet. Then a dusting of snow came on top of that. Note I said a DUSTING. I could have sneezed and blown the snow off the walk. And yet, my son's school district closed. Again. Now don't get me wrong, I love snow. But I am now at a point in my life where if it is going to snow - it has to be paralyzing, government closing snow. Otherwise I find myself in a position of burning leave that I don't have so that LBA is not sitting at home by himself (although soon enough, he might not mind that). I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank (profusely) my neighbor (and fellow member of the collective) who took LBA in for a few hours in the afternoon yesterday so I could get to work and not lose an entire day.

I have to believe the end of snow days is near (although as I have said before, my mother always warned us to make sure we had her birthday present because she always wished for snow on her birthday, which was March 22). Today's snow story is one that demonstrates how winter does not always give up easily.

In April 1982 (?), our family was expecting a visit from a French cousin. She was expected to arrive at JFK Airport to spend a week or so with us. My mother, ever the experienced airport greeter, got ready to go and meet our cousin. There was snow in the forecast and the weather prognosticators were rattling their sabers that it would be a good one (for April anyway). So my mother decided (smartly) to take an airport shuttle to the airport and not try to drive herself.

She made it to the airport without issue, met our cousin and then made their way back to the shuttle desk to work on getting home. It was now getting bad out there and road conditions were deteriorating rapidly. And my cousin? She had been told, "Oh it's almost springtime there, you won't need a winter coat." My mother called me at home (from an airport payphone - there were no cellphones) to tell me they were heading out. My father was stuck in New Jersey, unable to get home from his office in Morristown - he had made it to his sister's in nearby Livingston.

So I waited. And waited. My father called frequently, asking if I had heard anything. Finally after about an hour, the phone rang and my mother (calling from another payphone) told me they had made it to one of the shuttle stops to let out some passengers. They were about a third of the way from the airport to our home. Under normal circumstances a trip between JFK and our house should take about 3o minutes. She told me they had a few more stops to try and make and hung up.

So I waited. And waited. My father called and I updated him. Then my mother called back and said they had made it to another stop and were only about 10 miles away - but the driver was not going to be able to take them to the shuttle stop, he was only going to come off the Long Island Expressway and drop my mother and cousin on the service road and get back on the Expressway. Again, normally this would be fine (the shuttle stop was farther away from the house and it wasn't a bad walk down the service road to our house, which is just off the service road - on a normal day - which this no longer was). I looked out the window and asked my mother if she was seeing the same thing I was. We estimated how long it would be before she and my cousin would be let off and I told her that I would come up and meet them to help them get home.

So I waited. My father called and I told him the latest. I called my friend who lived around the corner (closer to where I had to go) and asked him if he was up for an adventure. I bundled up, grabbed my trusty Flexible Flyer sled and headed out into the darkening evening. I made it around the corner to my friend's house and he joined me and we trudged on through the drifting snow. Normally, the walk from our house to the Expressway exit takes about 15 minutes (it's only a 1/2 mile). After about 30 minutes (with about a 1/4 mile to go), I saw two figures emerging from the snow. It was my mother and my cousin. We put my cousin's luggage on the sled and started back.

My mother's adventure had lasted about six hours, my cousin about three, and mine, an hour.

Then, of course, there was shoveling. And retrieving the car where my mother had parked it for the shuttle. And calming my father down - he tends to worry (and overreact). We wound up making snow bunnies, instead of snow men, as it was almost Easter. And I am pretty sure I had at least one day off of school. Maybe.

More Snow Stories

Damn it's cold. For being in the snow hole right now, it is downright frigid out tonight. I am in the camp that if we are going to have snow, it's got to be paralyzing. While there is more snow in the forecast for Tuesday into Wednesday this is also likely to be the ugly "wintry mix."

Earlier this week, the city of Pittsburgh got some icy weather and it got some drivers in trouble.

I am reminded of a story when we have a little wintry precipitation how this is really a "southern city." Two of my parent's best friends moved to the DC area from the Northeast. One morning Stu got up to go off to work and found himself behind a line of wary DC commuters unable to navigate their way up a hill. Disgusted with them, he put his car in park went up to the first car in the line, told the driver to move over - and drove the person to the top of the hill. He then walked back to the next driver and repeated this until he could get back in his car and be on his way.

Having grown up in an area that gets its fair share of snowfall (and for that matter, the NY area is getting hammered this winter) I like to think that I know what I am doing when driving in snow. My problem, like Stu, is everybody else, especially the brain dead drivers who are driving their SUVs like they're immune to the snow, or usually ice. I admit to taking a bit of perverse pleasure when I see an SUV off the road, especially if they have blown by me earlier.

On the day after Christmas, the Brave Astronaut clan saddled up for our trip to NY to visit with my father and family. The DC area was supposed to get some snow and we had decided we would wait and see what the morning brought. It turned out to be a few flurries - so we decided to go. Now we knew that NYC was in the bullseye for this storm, but I didn't expect that it would be a problem - that we could get ahead of it. I was wrong.

We made good time heading north until we reached the Delaware Memorial Bridge. That's when things went downhill fast. Conditions deteriorated and we found ourselves on snow covered roads with visibility falling fast and Mrs. BA getting increasingly anxious. I told her that I wanted to keep going as long as I felt comfortable. My comfort level bottomed out at exit 5 on the New Jersey Turnpike. We stopped at the James Fenimore Cooper rest area for a late lunch and determine our next move. You know those huge maps with phones to make hotel reservations in the rest areas? Yeah, me too, I never really looked that close at them. Well, on this day, we determined we had lots of hotel options at exit 5.

We got back in the car and head for the exit, about 10 miles up the turnpike. We walked into the Best Western in Mount Holly, NJ at about 3:15pm. We were one of the first. By about 7:00 in the evening the hotel was sold out - as were several of the others at that interchange (there were about 5 different hotels). The guy who checked us in told us of a Target up the road where we were able to get some provisions (food for dinner, some movies to amuse LBA and SoBA). The boys thought this was the best thing ever. They didn't go to sleep until almost 10:30 that night.

Meanwhile, we watched the snow pile up. And up. And up. We got back on the road about 10:30 the next morning and made it to my father's place in about 3 hours. Total trip time = about 27 hours. Total driving time = about 9 hours. What it should take? About 5 hours.

As I said when we got back home two days later . . . If I didn't have to do it, I wouldn't.

Snow Stories II

[second in a series]

Yes, I know it's winter. Last week I started a series about snow. The first post was about my public school days and how it had to be really bad before we got a snow day. The post was partly due to the incredulity on my part that LBA's school closed early before a flake had fallen from the sky. The next morning he had a two-hour delay, which I begrudgingly accepted, as I was fully expecting school to be canceled altogether.

That happened yesterday. On Monday evening, we began to get the dreaded "wintry mix," which is so much worse than snow. Snow can be plowed, shoveled, pushed aside. Wintry mix has to be treated. The wintry mix that started on Monday evening was supposed to change over to rain by mid-morning, which it did, but not before my son's school went from a two-hour delay to being closed altogether.

Now I'll grant you, even the Federal Government opened late (on a two-hour delay), and I reiterate that I understand the abundance of caution exhibited by school officials, but it would be nice if we could get a little tougher about it. There's more wintry mix expected for Thursday night into Friday, so Mrs. BA is preparing to be home if schools close again.

Our story today boys and girls is about how one can amuse themselves on a snow day. Yesterday involved movies, some games for the brain, and some Wii. And I made sugar cookies. And dinner. It was a good day.

However, years ago, my mother had organized a trip to the circus at Madison Square Garden in New York City. There were about 100 Girl Scouts expected to go. On the night before the trip, it snowed. A lot. When we got up that morning, my mother foolishly told me that surely one of the girls wouldn't show up and I could go to the circus, too. We arrived at the train station and wouldn't you know it, every. single. girl. showed. up. Parents were surely at a loss at what to do and hey, the trains were running and the [circus] show must go on. It was not a pretty scene on the platform of the train station, when I had to be left behind. That was not a good day.

There were suggestions from neighborhood parents yesterday about how to amuse cooped up children. One of the better suggestions was increased physical activity (i.e., a dance party marathon). As it was the neighbor's suggestion, I asked if I could come over instead as it was time to get out of the house.

It was partially my own fault, for did I mention the roads were fine by noontime? But we had fun anyway - and a few years later after the circus snow incident, I got to go to the circus. So it was all good.

Snow Stories

[first in a series]
So yesterday the DC region braced itself for impact. In the end, we got a little push from Mother Nature, but nothing like the pummeling we saw last winter. I was reminded again yesterday about how Washington DC is really a Southern city when in comes to wintry weather. Before a flake had fallen from the sky, LBA's school district (along with about half a dozen others in the region) had decided to close schools two hours early. Many of them (including LBA's) opened two hours late this morning. This of course meant I had to leave the office early yesterday and came in late this morning. Now I have a very understanding supervisor, so that wasn't an issue - but she and I had a conversation about the "freakout" that occurs every time a little snow is forecast for the area (she's from the Chicago area).

As my faithful readers know, I grew up on Long Island in New York State. For years, as a school-age child, I would go to sleep the night before school as a snow storm would bear down on the island. In most cases, I went to school the next morning - at the regular time, mind you. I didn't learn about "delayed openings" until I became a teacher. Living on the island (surrounded on three sides by water) our snow totals were almost always less than "North and West" of the [New York] city, which typically got more snow. We had to have a pretty good snowfall (in excess of 6 inches) for school to be canceled. I recall one morning that it had been announced that school had been canceled and I decided to go out and make some money shoveling. While out, the call was reversed and the buses started to roll. I hid behind a client's garage. Yes, well, that's water under the bridge. My mother didn't make me go to school when I came home.

One of the darkest days of my schooling years was when we learned we were getting a new superintendent in our school district. Dr. Philip E. Tieman was from Buffalo (specifically Tonawanda) - well North and West of the city. Students in our district bemoaned the hiring, fearing that snow days would cease to happen. Hey, if this guy could see out his second story window, surely we could get to school, right? Well, we still got snow days, but I sure there were fewer than before.

Now I understand the rationale for closing school early or calling for a delayed opening, really I do. No superintendent wants to be in charge when some high school student wraps their car around a phone pole on the way home or to school. But it would be nice if that decision were based on some tangible evidence. School did not have to close early yesterday - cancel all after school activities? sure - the difference between 1:00 and 3:00 yesterday saw nothing threatening coming from the sky. I'll even give them the delayed opening this morning. It took some time to get the roads cleared overnight - but I was convinced when I went to bed last night that school was going to be canceled this morning. I got lucky.

You may recall in 2009, President Obama called Washington out, labeling the city's residents "weather wimps" based on some ice that had closed Sidwell Friends, where his daughters go to school. Now when the President of the United States tells you to suck it up on camera, wouldn't you begin to rethink your whole closing policy? Of course, there was last year's winter - the likes of which will probably not be seen here for a long time - but we still need to adapt to the region's weather patterns.

We are only in mid-January. We have all of February left to go. And as my mother always used to say, make sure you got her gift in time for her birthday on March 22, because there would likely be snow.