Applewood at Home

I invited David Shea, owner and chef of Applewood, to come in to our home and conduct a cooking lesson with M for her birthday. It was a great two-hour lesson. David was very laid back and taught M a lot of good tricks. We had striped bass on creamy polenta with orange/grapefruit supremes salad and jalepeno/onion relish. The ribeye was served with cruchy kale and onions with a beurre fondue. More photos.

Detect DTMF Tones for Mom’s Phones


The battery on my mom’s cordless phone is almost gone so it’s time for a new one. She has a 1-800 calling card number and code programmed into the phone, but she lost the print information years ago. So, I used this “Detect DTMF Tones” site to decode recordings that I made of the numbers. Now she can get a new phone (or maybe Santa will bring one) and reprogram the calling card numbers for several more years of telephonic bliss.

A New Bench

Someone, I won’t mention names, sat on the bench in the backyard last week and cracked one of the slats. Thank God! It’s needed a reno for a long, long time. I got some poplar from Lowes, stained it, and painted the wrought iron. This camera-phone picture tells the tale.

Patio Update

IMG_1285.JPGI took up half of the pavers on the patio this afternoon to level it out. Some of the stones had shifted a bit over the winter. “Level” is not a word I would use to describe it, but “better” is.

A Great Dinner

IMG_1015.JPGLast night we had a slow food feast to celebrate V’s last days in America. While cooking we snacked on some romano and membrillo (quince paste). For an appetizer, M made sea scallops with beurre blanc sauce and red pepper shrimp served on mango and avocado slices. This was followed by V’s saffron risotto (made with Jiloca saffron and marrow instead of butter). Following the risotto, we had pork tenderloin made by C, which was brined for one day and coated in a dry rub for another. It was grilled and served with a wedge of iceberg and a blue cheese dressing. The wine, Selvapiana Fornace, was made by J. The veal, chicken, onions and carrots in V’s risotto stock were used to make a bollito. For dessert we had preserved figs served with a generous slice of pecorino romano. You’ll notice that none of these dishes has been adorned with any adjectives — had I started using them I would have run out of superlatives. My contribution? I lit the grill, took pictures, and ate.