Thanksgiving Dinner at the Barn in Ligonier

by Carson's Premier Catering; Scottdale, PA  (Premier?  Seriously?)

     I went with a group to celebrate Thanksgiving at the Barn in Ligonier with Carson's "Premier" Catering.  Unfortunately, Carson's failed the most important requirement for a buffet:  The items on the buffet line should have a nodding acquaintance with heat ... at least warmth.  The only reason I make any reference to the word 'warmth' is that the room temperature was so cool that indeed anything with a modicum of heat would seem 'warm.'

       I asked for coffee and was served what I can best describe as a tea cup of coffee - I had no idea they made coffee cups so small - in fact, so small that one creamer was almost too much for the cup.  However, I didn't feel so bad when I saw my friends with, for instance, a rocks glass with iced tea in it - not the alcoholic beverage 'iced tea' but just plain ordinary iced tea!

      Back to the buffet line: NO buffet line should EVER be permitted to get that cold if for no other reason than health safety.  Back at the table, I placed some of the linguine against my wrist to see if I was being unreasonable.  I would be surprised if any part of the buffet was over 100º F.  To save time, let me say the entire line was dry where no additional liquid was involved.  That included stuffed breast, white meat turkey, baked fish, dark meat turkey - which I thought was ham from the color, and Brussels sprouts baked within an inch of their life.

       I had taken some linguine noodles - in a white sauce - which I found out later was actually 'clam' sauce - apparently ONE half naked clam dragged through a bucket of cream sauce!  The stuffing came out of the pan like a dry slice, but like the mashed potatoes, was much improved after you added a ladle of gravy. The corn was obviously from a restaurant sized can of corn which was then cooked in a huge amount of butter.

       I went back to try a small serving of the fish and just a taste of the filet mignon.  The fish was cod near as I could tell, and it was very flaky - anything that dry couldn't help but be flaky!  For the filet I asked for a very small taste and I was not disappointed, it was indeed a small taste.  I expected a nice rush of beef flavor, but instead, since the filet had been marinated apparently with Italian Dressing, I experienced nothing that I enjoyed.  You should never have to marinate a choice piece of tenderloin. Especially filet mignon. It is the most tender part of the cow.

       On the plus side, the desserts were outstanding  - particularly the pumpkin cheesecake.  Amazingly, there were two perhaps ten gallon size containers of ice cream with a slotted spoon for your serving convenience sitting on the table - good luck trying to dislodge any ice cream from the solidly frozen bucket with a slotted spoon while trying to hold onto a plate!
       One final note:  I was surprised to see guys in shorts and tee shirts, or dirty, worn and / or torn blue jeans in the mix of customers.   That suggests to me that many who sing the praises of this caterer are not necessarily given to knowledgeable and honest assessment of their product.  Many locals swear by this local caterer.  However, 'local' is not in any way an indication of quality, only a potential recommendation of community support - quality not withstanding.  

Post Election Rant to a Friend

I'm okay ... just trying to recoup after the elections.  While I have the opportunity, I have to say how glad I am that you kept the political discussion page going.  Initially, I would have thought that we would have been reduced to more social and casual conversations in the aftermath, but then I never expected the bat shit crazies to "have a new birth of freedom," as Lincoln would say.  It's one thing for the Gophers to stand in a burning house and claim they don't smell smoke, but it's quite another to stand in a pile of ashes and say, "What fire?"

But alas, on our side of the aisle we also have a loose spoke or two. After Lincoln's Gettysburg address, the next day the Democratic-leaning Chicago Times observed, "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States."  In contrast, the Republican-oriented New York Times was complimentary.  In Massachusetts, the Springfield Republican printed the entire speech, calling it "a perfect gem" that was "deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, and tasteful and elegant in every word and comma."  I guess I can take some solace in the observation that Lincoln's GOP looked more like today's Democratic party.

I am having some difficulty comprehending the absolute outrage of the GOP members - as if they have every right to lash out at anyone who doesn't perfectly agree with them.  Given the shenanigans from one end of the country to the other to limit access to voting and otherwise limit the number of Democrats who could make it to the polls,  you and I both know that President Obama's margin of victory in both the electoral college and the popular vote - as outstanding as both are  - represents in reality a minimum number of supporters.  Had the election been truly open equally to all, the GOP with have been all but destroyed.

In short, I guess I'm trying to get over the undeniable reality that former President Bush did not 'leave any child behind" ... he practically left entire states behind ... starting with Mississippi!  The last ten days after the election has been for me one jaw-dropping reality after another.  From Poopy-Head to Rush Limbaugh to Bobby Jindal - it's one thing to claim political rhetoric, it's quite another to claim allegiance to fantasy!

I suspect I will be over my bad self shortly.  I certainly have realized that we have a lot more work to do:  supporting a two party system and working to create a 2nd party whose ass is something other than a gorgeous hat, or a "Ticket to Ride" to planet Kolob.

OUR MR. SUN from the Bell Science Series

What is Class?

Class never runs scared. It is sure-footed and confident in the knowledge that you can meet life head on and handle whatever comes along. Jacob had it – Esau didn’t. Symbolically, we can look to Jacob’s wrestling match with the angel.

Those who have class have wrestled with their own personal ‘angel’ and have won a victory that marks them thereafter. Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes.

Class is considerate of others – it knows that good manners is nothing more than a series of petty sacrifices. Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with ancestors or money. The most affluent blue-blood can be totally without class while the descendant of a Welsh miner may ooze class from every pore.

Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down. Class is ALREADY up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse. Class can “walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch.” Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class – because he is comfortable with himself.

If you have class you don’t need much of anything else. If you don’t have it, no matter what else you have – it doesn’t make much difference.

Moscow FLASHMOB: Putting (or Putin) on the Ritz

Most emotional and touching performance on X Factor (Emmanuel)

If this handicapped 'kid' from a war zone orphanage can sing Paul McCartney's Imagine - imagine "peace forever" - with such heart and such courage on Australia's X Factor, I'm not sure there's much room let for any of us to complain very loudly when things don't otherwise go perfectly our way..

My personal shot at people whose education obviously sucks!

Most of my facebook friends are aware at how indignant I get when anyone has so little respect for themselves and for American History that they exhibit how stupid they are and how poor their education has been by reporting, citing, and otherwise repeating statements which either have no basis in history whatsoever (Michele Bachmann's statement that 9 year old John Quincy Adams was a founding father), or are total misrepresentations of fact (Sarah Palin's outrageous and laughable retelling of Paul Revere's ride to warn the British that the British were coming). The proof to me that their education has been without merit or effect is that they cannot even recognize how unlikely some statements would be coming out of the mouths of the founding fathers. Recently a friend posted the following:

“A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government"  

The alleged quote is ascribed to George Washington, sometimes as part of his First Annual Message to Congress (January 8, 1790). Good luck trying to find it anywhere in that message … or for that matter, in any legitimate source of Washington's notes, messages, thoughts, and so forth. The actual likely quote is from George Washington's First State of the Union, and it goes like this:

"A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies."

While I'm on a roll, here's another statement attributed to George Washington at the Second Session of the First Congress, and quoted as freely as the misquote above, but this one is amusing on several levels. The quote: (sometimes referred to as the “Liberty Teeth” speech):

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence. The church, the plow, the prairie wagon, and citizen's firearms are indelibly related. From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to insure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable. Every corner of this land knows firearms, and more than 99 99/100 percent of them by their silence indicate they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference; they deserve a place with all that's good. When firearms go, all goes; we need them every hour.”

First, there is NO reference to it or anything like it in any of Washington's personal papers, notes, thoughts, and so forth. Second, the reference to “99 99/100ths” is a very unusual construct to find in any 18th Century comment – this may be the only one! Third, the reference to the “prairie wagon” is a most interesting anachronism; there was no American prairie as yet within the time frame of the 2nd session of the first Congress from February 16, 1790 to August 12, 1790 – the prairie in question belonged to the French.