Here’s To Dad
I mulled over an all-encompassing Theory of Everything as I was squeezing a lemon over my filet of flounder for dinner tonight. First I pondered why seafood and lemons go so well together. I figure it has something to do with sailors (I was in New Orleans during Fleet Week, so don’t blame that spectacle for inspiring my theory). As every schoolboy learns, when sailors of yore discovered that the terrible illness they tended to develop after long months at sea – scurvy – was, essentially, Vitamin C deficiency, they took to sucking on lemons and limes. The Brits must have been early adapters of this health regimen, since we still slur them as “limeys.” I imagine it wasn’t long before some sailors got sick of that silly “pucker” face one makes when sucking a lemon and got the bright idea of squeezing the citrus fruit over the catch of […]
Lawnguyland
Long Island is full of surprises. I’ve been doing house visits for a certain union on Long Island. I’ve been working in Lindenhurst, a town that is mostly known to me from those hypnotic station announcements on the Long Island Railroad (“Making station stops at…Wantaugh, Seaford, Massapequa, Massapequa Park, Amityville, Copiague, Lindenhurst and Babylon; Change at Babylon for the train to Montauk…”), which are stored in the same place in my brain as parts of the Nicene Creed and the pledge of allegiance. I’m not in the habit of spending time in Suffolk county, and it’s easy to forget that we live on an actual island that’s surrounded by water and docks. Lindenhurst feels like one of Maine’s lobster towns, but without all that pesky tourism. When you get far enough south, these modest, working class houses have dock slips for backyards. When I don’t get an answer at the […]
Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart
The Wake Up Wal-Mart campaign is taking the opportunity this Mother’s Day to highlight Wal-Mart’s discrimination against women in their employ. Of course, I should have posted this story weeks ago, but who ever does anything early for Mother’s Day? Wake Up Wal-Mart Visit the site, sign a pledge that you will not buy any Mother’s Day gifts at Wal-Mart while they discriminate against all the moms who work for them, forward to everyone you know and then buy your mom some flowers. I’m not buying any gifts. I’m cooking my mom a nice dinner. Crab-stuffed mushrooms and calamari in a red wine sauce (I may post that recipe later). Once again, I’m organizing a few people to help the Wal-Mart Free NYC Coalition leaflet at the Staten Island ferry during rush hour on Thursday. Let me know if you can join us. The Wal-Mart Free people will be leafletting […]
Recipe: Steamed Salmon with Honey Sauce
Salmon is a great fish. Cheap and plentiful if farm-raised, it doesn’t have a very strong “fishy” flavor. In fact, it’s very good at absorbing flavors, which is what makes steaming it so much fun. You can experiment with all sorts of liquids. I find that sherry gives the salmon a pleasant sweetness. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so this recipe is a bit like candy. If you want to eat more like an adult, there are simple modifications that you can make to this recipe that suggest themselves. Ingredients: 1 lbs of Salmon fillets 1 and 3/4 cups Sherry 3 tablespoons Pecans 1 tablespoon of butter 1/4 cup of Honey Dash of Paprika 1. Slice the salmon filets into strips that are no thicker than 1 and 1/2 inch. Brush the scaly bottom of the filets with olive oil. This won’t necessarily prevent the fish from […]
Recipe: Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
I had a taste of this dish at a restaurant in Washington’s Dupont Circle. I’ve ordered it at a few other restaurants, but found the quality to vary wildly (One diner in the West Village, which shall remain nameless, served up a hash of white button mushrooms and imitation crabmeat). I decided to take a crack at the dish myself. I thought it was promising enough to memorialize the recipe here for future experimentation. Ingredients: 8 ounces of lump crabmeat (I found a can of Phillips brand crabmeat for $6; usually this will cost upwards of $10) 4 Portobello caps (No more than 3 inches in diameter) 1 small green pepper (I only used about 2 tablespoons of chopped pepper) 1 celery stalk 2 slices of bread 3 cloves of garlic 1 shallot Olive oil Small jar of alfredo sauce (Do yourself a favor and use light alfredo sauce) 1. […]