Lamb…shazam!

Had a leg of lamb tonight that was maybe the best piece of meat I’ve ever had. It was from Omaha Steaks. I got a card for Christmas. I decided to get the leg and then was afraid to cook it because it wasn’t cheap. It was worth it. It was pre-seasoned (Spring training?) and it was done perfectly. Outstanding. Baaaaahhhh!

Babe Ruth In The Papers

Click here to open the story in the Washington Post in a new window. You may have to register a username and password but it is not a big deal.

This is the photo that is currently on the front page of the Washington Post’s Sunday Metro section:

Before I go any further, let me make sure that I take time to thank the staff at the Gaylord National Hotel inWashington, DC for their tremendous professionalism and attention to every detail. These people are the standard for their industry. I have, in all honesty, never seen such elan in my life. It was a real treat. With the hotel slated to open in a few days, you could ride on the energy of these folks as they readied their jewel of a hotel.

I would also like to thank Michael Hudson of Gaylord Hotels. He is a throwback to a more civil time in America and in business. He is a true gentleman and a visionary in his field. You don’t run into too many people like him and it was my good fortune to have done so. Thanks Michael, for everything.

This is a shot someone took for me with my camera during the installation.

The Babe Ruth statue is now permanently on display at the Gaylord National Hotel & Resort in Washington, DC at the new National Harbor area.

I went down there on Tuesday and stayed until Thursday and The Babe was installed and well received. The Washington Post came by and did a story on the hotel opening and included a fair amount of interest on the statue. I was not sure how much would run on the statue but I was pleased to have folks in Washington DC call and tell me the good news.

The full story of the statue and everything surrounding it is on the Birrerart.com website:

Click here to open the Birrerart.com website up in a new window

Other things that were noteworthy while I was down there was the fact that the Nationals has declared the sportsbar in the Gaylord as the official sportsbar of the team. Because of this, they had sent over the last home plate used at RFK stadium so it could be permanently installed at the entrance to the sportsbar. Here are a few shots of that and the Washington Post getting their story at the time:

That’s Michael Hudson, Director of Brands at Gaylord Hotels, with homeplate from RFK Stadium.

And here is the laying ceremony while the PR folks take photos.

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The Gaylord National Hotel is so immense that it is difficult to photograph it all in one frame. The atrium that overlooks the Potomac River and Old Alexandria, Virginia, on the opposite bank, is 18 stories high. There is a village of little shops and fountains and trees and restaurants all inside the enclosure. It is so big that you mostly aren’t aware that you are inside.

Here is a view of the upper part of the atrium. These gaslights are 20 feet high. The scale is just hard to fathom.

On the 24th floor, there is a state of the art nightclub and one of the unique features is, believe it or not, the men’s room. Here are the fixtures and the view is outrageous. The Washington Monument can be seen while you are, well…ahem, you know. It’s just one of a myriad of details that make this hotel one of the most amazing in the world.

Shake That Box Or It’ll Burn

Mrs. Pinetar and I made popcorn tonight. We were discussing various aspects of it. She said that when she taught school, the kids had never even seen the hot-air popping machine–all they had knowledge of was the microwave popcorn. So, to the kids, the hot-air kind was a big deal.

Then I told her that the hot-air kind was a spaceship to me. She said, “…you mean just making it on the stove?”.

“No”, I said, “The first time I saw popcorn made, it was in our fireplace on one of these box-on-a-stick deals.

One note on microwave popcorn. It is illegal in nursing homes in most states. It is by far, the number one cause of fires in nursing homes. Keep that in mind next time you fire it up.  And one weird thing happens to me when I eat popcorn.  Immediately after I’m done with it, I CRAVE a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!  What’s UP with that?  And it has to be Skippy Creamy PB–NO CHUNKS.  And Strawberry Jam.  And a real white bread like JJ Nissan or Wonder.  I don’t want to hear your PBJ recipe because it s***s.  This is the only way.

One time when I was a small kid, I put my hand on the outside of the old, counter top model popcorn poppers.  It was the kind with the heating element on the bottom and the popper above.  Anyway, the thing was as hot as a nuclear reactor and I burned my finger tips badly.  Big blisters on all four fingers.  The pain was unreal.  My poor mom somehow, had to comfort me and I’m sure she did a good job.  Moms are great for that. 

That also reminds me of the time I drank a whole bottle of Neatsfoot Oil in the garage.

Of course my mother wigged out and panic set in and they called poison control and poison control said that it wasn’t anything to worry about but to keep me near the bathroom, which I assume they did.  Did the fact that I downed a bottle of baseball glove oil affect me?  I don’t know.  I do like baseball.  Baseball, you might say, is a part of me.  So are baseball products.

Babe and I Live in Squalor

Since someone gave me the tip to include some scale in these photos, I have to jump in there. And I’m not really dressed for it but that is reality in the cold cellar. That’s two pairs of insulated undies and about three or four shirts. Class.

And although the shelves look dishevelled, everything has a place where it goes. Not a place for storage, just the place I found it and the place I keep leaving it. It’s amazing how much time gets lost if any of that stuff is moved even 2 feet. Some things have not been moved since the early 1990s. Some of those things have been used just once or even never, but they’re still there and they are reference points I guess. Like the garbage collector, I’m not going to give up on certain ideas and tools. You know, the neighbor with the 1939 Ford rotting in the yard? It’s always like, “…it’s still good…it’s worth like, a LOT of money…” Some of the things are there for nostalgia as in, “…yea, I remember when I was that stupid!”. Or, you find a relic and immediately remember exactly what you were doing the night it came to be: “…that was ’92, Tom was hanging out and Johnny Carson did his last show that night…” It could be a tool, a business card or even a little piece of wood that was going to be just right for something. There are times when I wouldn’t trade ANY of this space for the entire Hearst Castle at San Simeon.

Buckwheat

I have been making crepes at home recently and they come out good and are easy to make-relatively.  I would like to use Buckwheat flour like they do in France (and Montreal/Quebec).  Trouble is, you can’t get it anywhere!  Does anyone have a Buckwheat flour source?  Let’s have it.

It’s About Time

I just had cupcakes that have NO paper.  You just grab and eat.  No peeling them.  It’s about time.  Either that or make the paper edible.

Tommy has long arms.  Really long.  Like Walter Johnson long.  I will try to photograph them but it’s hard because he’s squirmy when he’s showing them off.  –fog

Atomium: Odd Tourist Traps

Ever since the World’s Fair of 1889 in Paris, France, built the Eiffel Tower as a “temporary” exhibition, fair organizers have been searching to recreate the big buzz that the tower created. Here is Brussels Belguim’s entry for their turn in the 1950′s: The Atomium.

This is what it’s all about…

A lamb chop, Cowboy Charcoal and the Navy Jack. Kind of gets you right there, doesn’t it?

Actually, it can get better. Here is the finished product of dad’s evaporator this Spring. He made a few quarts of real maple syrup by tapping his Maple trees right in his yard and boiling it down himself. It is very tasty with the pancakes and the Hasselnuss coffee there in my souvenir mug from the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California. You should start every day with home made syrup and Nixon. –fog

What Fuels Your Ring of Fire?

No really, what fuels your ring of fire?  Cause it better be this stuff…

Juicers

When I wanted a juicer, Mrs. Pinetar said that we’d never use it.  She’s right, we don’t use it.  –fog