Did they wave when they drove by?

            Are you there yet, as my friend Matt would say, if someone drives down your street and you wave, and that person doesn't wave back, well, call the neighbors so they can start the neighborhood watch. Right now.  
     What is it that brings us so much uncertainty that we continue to allow these events to occur?  Is life so unbearable that we let it pass us by without a whimper.  Is it the traffic or the accumulation of wealth, or having it now rather than earning it later, so their is pride in the accomplishment or acquiring a goal? 
     There are signs in each of these events, and technology, which seems to be for the most part these days "the answer",for the government, though, it seems, it doesn't give us warning when so much terror is purchased on the internet, without a red flag going up. There doesn't seem to be any political will, so each community must make the government aware that it is of, by and for the people, not the other way around. If they can take the data from a cellphone tower, without a warrant or a Judge granting a wiretap and if all the phone companies give the government access to the data to acquire chatter that would illuminate us to upcoming events, then where is that same affinity when it comes to people who purchase inordinate amount of destructive ordinance, in whatever parameters you want to squander your imagination on.
    Life is meant to be beautiful, interesting, informative, challenging and completely inane at times, but it is not suppose to make people decide to be cajoled into feeling as if purchasing a weapon is going to make them more secure.  If in a theater, when gas canisters and bullets are flying and people are scattering, and you're in the 15th row, and you think that pulling out your weapon is going to give you Cart Blanche access to hit the imposing target in all the confusion, you are as delusional as the perpetrator.  What is missing so much of the time is community and it's day to day effect on individual mental health issues.
     So are you going to live your life looking over your shoulder, wondering when you are going to hit that wall, or floor, or ceiling, instead of promulgating some forms of lust, imagination, fortitude, enthusiasm, topped with trust in your own created environment or your commitment to some form of community shared reality. Whatever comes your way is always for your own good, and is exactly what you have asked for and have allowed to happen. If you want something different, you must take the initiative to make that choice to begin to unfold just the way it is supposed to, in your own little universe, because, really, it's okay, and they know you there.










     

The Day of the Apricot

      As she rose from the foggy slumber, Joyce had a plan.  Having purchased two flats of Apricots, her agenda took in Apricot-Pineapple Jam and just a few pints of halved Apricots, and if she were to find at the end that she had some Apricots left over there was going to be an Apricot filled Biscuit Topped Dessert.
     Joyce quickly met the task head on, pureeing the pineapple-apricot mix, cooked it off, warmed the jars, cut up and filled the pints with seeds and halved Apricots and soon found she had the leftovers for the Dessert concoction to take place.
      After it was all said and done she had made 22 pints of Apricot-Pineapple Jam and 14 pints of halved Apricots and one small container of a simple Biscuit Topped Apricot Dessert.  That, as they say in the business, is a rap.

Sausage Anyone...????!!!!

Making Your Own Sausage

                Okay, you go to the market and see these outrageous sausages, and you say to yourself, I think I can do that.  Well, to do that you have to have either a sausage maker, or you have to own a Kitchen Aid mixer, and a meat grinder attachment as well as an extruder device, both of which can be purchased at your local kitchen equipment store where you got your Kitchen Aid mixer.

                 For me, I go and buy some nice meat, pork, chicken, lamb or beef, and I grind it first to whatever consistency I feel is right for the type of sausages I make.  So it cooks nice and has the right texture, you have to buy meat with a little fat in it, pork shoulder roast, 30 percent fat beef or the dark meat of the chicken.  Then you have to decide what flavors you are going to infuse into the meat, and incorporate or infuse those ingredients into the meat as you grind the meat.  Let’s just say for Thai sausage you would add lemon grass, red curry paste, cilantro, coconut milk and garlic.  So you would add a little bit of all these ingredients as you grind your meat, and for me, pork goes well with this combination of flavors, but chicken is just as good as a flavor profile for this type of sausage. Don’t put too much coconut milk into the meat, so it will have a nice consistency to it when you start to extrude it.

                 Once you get the meat right, and you can make a meat ball or the shape of a crab cake or slider burger and cook it off and taste it and fiddle around until you are satisfied with your mixture of flavor profiles.  Next you put your extruder on and pull out your casing, and I use a thick pork casing that I get at Willowside  Meats on Guernville Road.  You lubricate your extruder with Pam cooking spray and squeeze on the amount of casing you think you’ll need for the amount of sausage meat you made, tie off the end and stuff the meat into the extruder, keeping the sausage size and thickness even as she goes.  Having one person stuff, the other guiding the cased sausage is easiest and quickest. You either tie it off in equal sizes when there is two of you, or you roll it and tie it off later, if you’re doing this alone, tying a knot in the last sausage on the loop.   You then bake it off between 15 and 20 minutes so it is about half to two thirds cooked and then cut it into single sausages, and vacuum seal, label and date it to freeze for a later date, or save some for meals  or tastings and put it into the refrigerator.

                When you have people over for a tasting serve some coleslaw and baked beans as sides, and all give thanks to the friends who shared your time and trouble and celebrate the harvest of ideas that represent the culinary arts they we all so love to indulge our passions in.

Fruit and Cheese Stuffed Pecan Rolled Chicken

Pecan Stuffed Chicken

                We can only hope on a cool breezy summer day, after a short lived hot spell, that you find the time to enjoy the small comfort of this little jem of an appetizer and it will come into play for sharing with neighbors, friends or family.  Today’s frivolity will consider some new friends such as Dried Apricots, White wine ( to your preference, dry or sweet ), Goat Cheese, ground Pecans and some usual suspects like flour and eggs for an egg wash.

                Our first course of action is to put the dried apricots in white wine and let them sit overnight so that the apricots will infuse with the flavors inherent in your choice of white wine.  After the apricots are ready to go, you can gently sip the apricot infused white wine as you proceed to make this appetizer.  First, take the apricots and a generous portion of goat cheese and puree it into a spread using a food processor.  Set aside.  Then grab a deboned chicken breast, and covering a cutting board with saran wrap, laying a sheet of saran wrap over the top of the breasts, pound it out flat to where it will be good for rolling like a tortilla.  Next smear a generous portion of Apricot and Goat Cheese spread onto the flattened chicken breast and fold and roll it like a burrito.  Then, as hard as it seems, roll it into the flour, coat with egg wash, and roll it again, in the ground pecans.  Put it into a 9 by 16 inch pan, and bake it for 20 to 25 minutes until the pecans turn a golden brown.

                Since this is an appetizer, let it cool, slice it into one inch slices, and serve with other appetizers like crab cakes and tuna melts.  As you partake of these magical moments of culinary delight, thank your friends who came along for the ride, and show your appreciation to them for agreeing to the fact that it was a good day for them to die, by enjoying the taste sensations they have left you in their memory..

Yes, it is Curried Cauliflower You are Seeing

Curried Cauliflower

             Now, if it weren’t for the offerings put forth by family members or friends, some of my culinary influences would not become a great notion in space or time.  Today’s dish is being brought to you by Doreen, a family member who owes a lot of her food influences to her vegetarian leanings.  Our friends that we invite to the dance are Cauliflower, French onion dip mix, sour cream, curry and Panko (Bread Crumbs), along with any mix of cheese you prefer.  Today, since Mozzarella is a good melting cheese, I will employ it’s presence into today’s masterpiece.  For color contrasts, mixing pepper jack and cheddar, or for flavor diversity, a little bleu cheese would go a long way to make it a party in your mouth when it is partaken.

             After securing a nice clean head of cauliflower, and bringing it to a boil, and testing it every five minutes once a boil has been achieved, to get it to an Al Dente (half cooked)fork poke, remove and place it into a pie tin.  Mix up a batch of French Onion Dip with enough Curry to taste with either sour cream, as I alluded to earlier, or use Yogurt if you dare, probably plain flavored.  Spread that concoction over the head of Cauliflower, filling in any of the crevices left by the boil.  Over the top of the Onion Dip Spread, lay a thick layer of shredded cheese or cheese blend over the top and then a layer of Panko over that.

              Proceed to bake this wonderful dish in the oven at 350’ degrees for twenty or thirty minutes or until the bread crumbs start becoming browned.

Remove and serve with things like fresh melon and grilled Asparagus.  Remember to thank your friends you shared your time with and make them feel as you are grateful for their sacrifice to you so you could bring pleasure to your guests at mealtime.

On the Road to Eggplant Parmiagano

Eggplant Parmiagano

        Sometimes when the feeling is right, I spend a few moments relishing what food becomes when you take the time to participate.  Obviously a goal is necessary, and collecting the friends that will inhabit the dish is a good thing, but mostly a good mood, and a desire to be artistic and to satisfy someone is also what is considered by me, as the old saying goes, where there is a will there is a way.

          Mainly the friends that I bring with me today are Eggplant, peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, flour, eggs, Panko(Bread Crumbs), tomato soup, green enchilada sauce, cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

          First think is slicing the Eggplant into one inch slices.  I follow that with rolling them into flour, dipping them in egg wash, providing the sticky base to make the Panko stick.  I then sauté them in hot oil and brown them on each side.

          I sauté the peppers, tomatoes, onions and mushrooms to an Al Dente (Half-Cooked) texture, and also to give them a grilled flavor and stack them with a little sour cream (to help melt the cheese while baking) and cheddar cheese.  I then pour some green enchilada sauce and tomato soup over the top of the Eggplant Stacks.  I then lay some shredded mozzarella cheese over the top, along with a generous sprinkling of Grated Parmesan Cheese.  Since the Eggplant is half cooked from the sauté browning, I bake my piece of artwork that I will bring to the table at 350’ degrees for 20 or 25 minutes, until the cheese begins to brown.  When that is done, out comes a mouth watering, textural main course to be served with neighboring side dishes such as fruit salad, mixed green salad or grilled corn.  As you indulge yourself, remember to thank your friends for their services, and their companionship along the way to this festive food adventure for the day.

Here Comes The Crab Cakes

         Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, here, on the Stage of Steven live and in your Hamlet of Windsor, somewhere hidden in the topographies and cultural nuances of the Greater Sonoma County neighborhoods, begins the journey one must traverse to give into the epiphanies that surround the ethereal makings of the Royal Crab Cake.
         Let us begin the show, pulling away the curtains of anonymity, we begin with 1 or 2 pounds of crab meat. Make sure your bowl sits atop an ice bath to keep the shellfish cold. After picking and pulling or just opening some phocrab and mincing it, we begin with adding the dry ingredients.  These friends of ours coming to the Dance are minced parsley and cilantro, each a quarter cup finely minced, multi-colored peppers finely minced(red, orange, yellow and green) half a cup, one red onion, finely minced like confetti, half a teaspoon cayenne pepper, one teaspoon paprika and a half of a teaspoon salt.  Mix thoroughly with or without gloves.
        Now  the wet ingredients of the band are added including one half a cup corn meal, one cup of Panko bread crumbs, two eggs, one to 4 shakes of Tabasco Sauce,  one to 5 shakes of Worcestershire Sauce, one teaspoon Dijon mustard, one cup mayonnaise and together Sargent Pepper taught this band to "PLAY" by mixing thoroughly again.  By now the mix should be somewhat ready to form the cakes, but if not, add some more Panko, a little at a time until there seems to be a sweet melody ready to be formed.
        Grab an ice cream scoop or measure out two ounce cakes, roll and form cakes, making the last dip into more panko that is on a plate, and place aside until all the cakes have been formed.  I got around 35 of these gorgeous babies after they were done.The formed crab cakes should also be atop an ice bath.  Heat your oil until it is hot enough to make water sizzle and begin sauteing until golden brown on both sides.  Can't give you a real time concept here, but try two minutes on both sides and go from there.
         I enjoy dipping sauces to finish the layout and here are three examples for you to try, or be creative yourselves.  The first one was just sweet chili oil, the second was honey yogurt, Turkish spices, lemongrass powder, lime zest and lime juice, the third was mayonnaise, tumeric, ginger and curry.  Chant, toast to a wonderful moment in time, thank your friends that gave you the time of day in the recipe, and partake of the wonders of Crab Cakes.
       

Sand in the Left eye, Sand in the Right eye...

  As we take the time to wipe the tears of laughter from our ornate crows feet that hang on either side of our visual acumen's we seem to deduce like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as eyes, we have to wonder the embellishing tonal quality of a legislative body taking the time away from our infrastructure, our teachers, firemen, and regulatory disciplines that seem to be bought from Citizens United hand me downs from the Supreme Court, instead of spending some quality soap box diatribes alluding to two primary concerns over some arcane debauchery symbolized by new voter ID laws and repealing and replacing what inanely they refer to as Obama care.  I can only hope before the August recess our legislative bodies will come out from under their cape crusader outfits and realize for one that there is no real documented voter fraud going on behind the social media sights, and for two, that going after the Affordable Care Act, albeit it was jammed through a partisan Democratic legislative body, 31 times, but even now taking another symbolic Republican partisan vote in the House, which will only be vetoed by a Democratic president seems an illegitimate use of whatever comes to your mind when you read this, rather than me imposing my own adjective nomenclature on it's nature in any form of time and space that the Higgins "God" particle can superimpose on it.
                  Just let it be known I don't care who is running the "Asylum", it is time, if all of you who don't want to see Obama survive his own rebirth or Phoenix from the Ashes point of View who say they are going to use their vote and make it count, then you all should let the young, disenfranchised, women who have been used as a pawn by the Healthcare Industry as an existing condition, the elderly and the minorities from whatever culture they hold dear to their hearts, speak their minds also by allowing them to vote in the same way they've been doing since we let them speak over the years, and I won't go into the history of these transgressions or the actual dates for each group involved when the chains and shackles came off, so we can have some sort of true election, no matter the majority vote totals or the misguided electoral college results that somehow favor 8 or 9 swing states rather than a real representation of the call of the Wild Blue Yonder called the Popular Vote.
                  I have left the confines of that life many years ago today, and I was so much older than, I am so much younger then that now.  Please, don't look at it as if your letting "My" people go, look at it more like let the "Dogs" out, meaning the "Mutts" or even really, let the people, all the people go or let them speak, through their votes in the ballot box, if you will. Take a deep breath and realize it is not all about you, it is about "US".

Jackson survives the Age of One

>                After one captures the adventure of being born, the first milestone sets into reality at the celebration of turning a glorious one year old.  Today, that happened in the peaceful coexistence of a town called Lodi.  Now I know that town doesn't have  much of a ringtone in your minds, and to get there you pass lots of farmland and wind your way past numerous Wind Turbines that would otherwise be an eyesore to many, but seems to hold quite the family jewels for many cattle herds and smaller groupings of sheep.  It is quite the trip, consisting of many topographical changes from Santa Rosa and takes the good side of two hours and ten minutes to partake.  On this particular day Jackson came into the rightful ownership of being one.
>                There was a gathering of close family members representing four generations of family members from different areas around the Bay.  There were soft pretzels rolls for the sandwiches as well as two types of cheese, turkey, ham, lettuce tomato, onion, vegetables with dip and a cute watermelon cut to look similar to a Volkswagen that held numerous types of fruit.  Caution tape filled the doors, walls and lots of signs stating Jackson's supposed state of mind.  The cupcakes were arranged with black licorice to look similar to a dump truck and nice little one year old napkins.
>                It seemed like when the gifts were given equal opportunity to be highlighted at Jackson's request, lots of tools, trucks and little trains that sang silly little loves songs were the highlights of everyone's day, including one truck that was made from recycled milk cartons.  One's man's trash is another man's treasure.  Lots of picture taking documenting the event as the thermometer rose above 90 in the back yard and we all became jolly cool upon going back into the house for the unwrapping of the gifts.
>               As with all things, or good things, it soon became apparent it was time to leave Jackson's side of being one, as we all loaded up our cars and headed back to familiar domiciles, to ponder on the next gathering of our clan.  Until the time has come today, happy trails to one and all on this beautiful Sunday afternoon after experiencing momentary pauses in a newly crowned one year old member of the human race.

Montana's Phoenix

           For a long time I have watched the prowess of two lifelong friends blaze themselves across the equator of knowing that involvement in the current events from day to day and educating themselves by word and deed with the public around them, would bring them success and give their children a grasp of how they can contribute to the world around them.
          Years went by in their interactions with the upbringing of their children, and the constant dealings with the people and community they participate with in a small town in Montana, as they took their children to foreign countries most of the time below the equator and during a political coup or some form of cultural celebration that gave them all pause and new insights into the global mindset.
          Moments ago, while perusing a few pictures of their son getting married, the joy, hope, wisdom and pride in his mother's eyes brightly lit the ceremony for all to see, and brought the characteristics of what it is to trust and admire your environment and how altruistic it is to have faith in the things you do to make your life a blessing from time to time.  Yes, the hard work, the sweat, the enthusiasm, and fluctuations that accompany many day to day turmoils, good or bad, often come full circle during ceremonies such as these.
           Dad, which often times told me to "Think About It", took the time to bring the artwork and culinary aspects of his global food thesaurus to a wonderful crescendo as he passed his delights around to all his guests, while dawning a gracious visual while wearing the garb of a Chef's coat.  It is time to give the glory to a couple who in their own right bring true meaning to what I call the rising of one of Montana's most prolific symbolic image of the Phoenix in modern cultural and historical histories in the wonderfully understated humanism of the state of Montana.

The Applied Psychology of Optimism

       Now I gather with the cyclical up and down of various economic indicators that optimism is not in vogue at this various moment in our cultural or fiscal permutations.  We watch the gathering gloom forecasts as the European Union and the people who hold all the cards monetarily slip into unconscious mode seemingly from the security standpoint of risk assessments.  Well we didn't get where we are either in an intellectual sense, monetary policy or becoming the standard for success not just on capitol investment strategies or political prowess both on local, state or federal initiatives, but also in our foreign policy.
         If we so eloquently stand by and wait for the psychology to improve to where we are no longer sitting on our hands waiting for the other shoe to drop, we are going to, as my father puts it, not just what we are beginning to symbolically represent now, but in a very short span of time, become another lost and gone forever third world country.  If profit motives of free enterprise and capitalism that is supposed to spur competition and innovation, where is the entrepreneurial stigmata attached to those inherent thoughts now.  
         Apply those optimistic attitudes that brought America to the forefront of all the characteristics that we symbolize in our way of life and get back to taking risks, as one man so judiciously put it, you have to spend money to make money.  You can't flagellate yourself into a downward trend by waiting for other people's ebb and flow to calm the balances of nature, you just have to take the consequences of whatever decisions you tend to make, but don't go down with the ship by ignoring the obvious repercussions of sitting on the sidelines waiting for someone else to toss you a lifeline.
         

Getting Off the Free Way

     Now that we continue to bicker on whether to turn socialistic or to allow the Federal Government to implement economic collapse through some form of Universal Healthcare, just remember the perks we derive from being what other people call Democracy, and from holding onto the last vestiges of being an American.  Since it doesn't seem likely that Health Insurance Companies are going to lower their premiums, or act humanely for those who don't already have preventative medicine contracts, and a lot of companies that employ people don't take initiative to remedy that situation, then other than this political system we employ to protect our citizens who is going to provide for those of us that are uninsured for whatever reasons.
       Okay, so if you don't have insurance and you go to the emergency room for your particular brand of healthcare, which is as I label it, catastrophic, then irregardless of the Hippocratic Oath, you should be turned away so the rest of us don't have to pick up the tab by paying higher premiums.  Not a good idea and maybe not so humane, but how else are you going to deal with a Healthcare System that is reeking in the profits running as an example of Free Enterprise and that glorious bastion of Capitalism. Give me your tired and your poor and your disenfranchised is embellished in somewhat the same manner on the Statue of Liberty, is it not.  Is that the socialistic American Government acting out it's fantasy of protecting it's borne again citizens called immigrants and it's democratic indigenous populations. Shed some light here on my inquiring mind.  How are we going to solve this dilemma.  It is spiraling out of control, and as for me, I borrowed from myself because I am still unemployed and can't afford medical coverage, but not everyone has taken the time to implement their own safety net, for whatever reason, and should the answer be to let them die in peace, and especially quiet, because we don't want to hear any complaints?

The "Gathering" of Whimsical Diatribes

Physicists say now that after for years they thought that the Universe was mainly made up of atoms, they now realize that 97 percent of the Universe is made up of Dark Matter, which doesn’t reflect light and that like God or the “Force” in Star Wars, leaves only three percent of which we are, made up of atoms.  Dark Matter then becomes the binding agent for “All there is” when it comes to the domination of atomic structures.

Without Memory, it is only the dictatorship of “Now”….

When veterans that came from World War Two and Korea who knew or experienced the horror of War, and came into public office, they understood to avoid the silly little love songs of regional conflicts.  Now we have people who have not known this horror running the asylum we call politics and therefore show no shame or remorse involving others to do their bidding.  After Viet Nam, how do we recognize not learning the lesson and involving ourselves in Cultural Wars like Iraq or Afghanistan if we don’t hum those songs of memories(the lyrics that stick in your mind from time to time)?

The war we need now is one on infrastructure, not one of invading other people’s territory, culture diversity or the infusion of drugs in their civil communities.  Our war on drugs produced the economy that Mexico now enjoys promulgated with said narcotics wars.  We simply cannot force cold turkey on this situation we must first wean them through the step by step decriminalization and then legalization for economic stabilization or continuity in their personal communities and civil balances of nature.

Science and Religion, both are compatriots of Dogma. They live in the confines of their own protocol and limitations.  Everyone is dogmatic in this sense, that through their own heredity and their environment, and I believe if we are confined from those constraints, like anything else, we chose them.  Other than that, so be it, take flight with wings of fancy, delve into your own questions and have revelations and epiphanies so you can feel good about, and linger, with wonderful memories, from time to time of waking up in the morning and going about your day to day routine, remembering to, when you get the chance, to break some rules, to ponder, to trip the light fantastic.

Scientists from what I got yesterday are realizing that sounds promote visuals, that what you thought you heard isn’t necessarily what I said or what I meant.  With that in mind, feel free to go to bed at night with the thought that there is hope in them there hills.  Hopefully if I have purpose in any of these writings, and if I use the architecture of phonics as science says is available to me, then the syncopation and the nuance of the sound of my words in any given sentence, whether or not I use the word in its proper context, I should be able to promote a visual, a painting stuck somewhere in the firings of alternate electromagnetic firing, as science so clearly indicates, of neurons, therefore eliciting a memorial moment, quite personal in its experience and intent from me.  The eyes have it then with the written word I can promote scenarios that for a brief interlude can bring time to a standstill, providing a space to expand your personal universe.  Have at it, Science and Religion, quiet please, let the peanut gallery cause havoc with your souls.  Recall this, if you choose to doubt something, make that something, your limits.

With these boundless perimeters in mind, conclude the same thing that they did in Switzerland with their collider that even though saying the ”God” Particles surely exists they can’t say they have discovered it even though billions of dollars have been spent and decades have expired in their conquest of this outcome of existence, that they haven’t  even glimpsed it up until the dictatorship of now. It is not just their preoccupation with the “Big Bang” that hangs their discipline from the proverbial rafters, but the lack of revelation as they always put limitations on their experience or their empirical data platitudes.  When they come to a satisfactorily conclusion to these misguided fortunes spent and the eons of the Cries and Whispers in the Dark Matters of Time, only the Curmudgeonly among their ranks will dissipate their lack of credulity without any Epiphanies lingering for ten yards of penalties dished out to the culturally and spiritually deprived.

Hotdogs Anyone....Doggy Do's....Real Simple

 

         Might I suggest that you first have an epiphany of indulging in making your own sausages.  Then I must implore you to take the toppings and put them into a bowl and feel the colors and suggest in your mind where you would go in cultural indigenous flavor profiles you infuse into your choice of meats that would coalesce with those prophesies those topping flavor profiles suggest.  In your own mind now dabble in the impressionistic artform called the Digest of Doggie Do's. Snort, Snicker, Wheez and Guffawery.

Does the Math Add Illusion in It's Wake

       Though in other countries that have implanted Healthcare systems crossing the borders of time and space, it seems to some extent they have worked out the kinks in whatever it was that they were looking for at the time of "Conception".  Was there "Life in Them There Hills" at that intersection of Kismet and Serendipity or was the guile of the moment just one to derive some formative conclusions?
        Letting go of those erroneous and ethereal beginnings to this prognosis of the Healthcare System in these United States, I bid you long life and peace and by all means, prosper if you can, as Spock would, I think in joyous rebellion utter. I am here to just make a few Hokey Pokey remarks since I am personally involved now with the incongruity of the nature of the Beast in question.
         Now a while back one of my friends had a particular surgery, and I can't go into detail, or I would have to "Kill You", as if the bill after the session wouldn't, as a snort, snicker, wheez and a few proverbial Guffaws scatter themselves verbally in the background.  On this occasion, since he was covered by a government medical benefit contract, the bill for his room was 25,000 dollars, of which he co-paid 1600 dollars, USD.  Then of course the going rate for his surgery was 1350 dollars for the surgeon and 350 dollars for the anesthesiologist.
         In my case, not having government or any other form of coverage, paying cash, up front, the room for the surgery was a mere 3468 dollars and some odd sense.  The same formality was true of the cost of the surgeon and the anesthesiologist.  So herein lies the conundrum. First, whether or not you are between jobs, or whether or not your employer deems it necessary to provide you with healthcare coverage or not, there should be exchanges, State, Federal, Local, whatever that allow, through competition, to provide individual participants or owners of said healthcare at a reasonable cost.  Single payer, as it were, as I understand it, not a mandate.  Though I truly believe, like everything else like house insurance, car insurance, and other such maladies in some people's mind takes the freeloaders off of the charts, lowers the cost of catastrophic healthcare as opposed to preventative, and gives everyone some freedom to allow themselves from the thoughts of bankruptcy because of an onslaught of a particularly nasty disease.
             I do not wish to apologize to those who feel it is an added tax or burden on their livelihoods, or the behemoth of Federal Government interrupting their free enterprising or capitalistic lives by shoving socialism down their thoughts, but everyone must bear the burden of Democracy and be individually responsible for their health. You don't have to use it, but for the sake of all who enjoy the perks of being an American, and being part of a democratic society, you do have to participate, whether you use your vote or not.  T.S. or W.T.F. and over and out.

The "50" Menu is Alive

           So this is how it went.  There were six round tables at Bistro 1907, which of course was Ironstone, but now is what I just said, and there were seven seats around each table.  As you might guess that would round out to be forty two people, if, and I say if all of the seats were occupied.  We were each given this menu and told to circle our entree of choice, and they worked each table, just like Linda's mother, Carolina, and gathered each set of six circled menus. 
           So first we were preoccupied with our gorgeous salad while we waited for our entrees to arrive.  Then very serendipitously there, right before our eyes, laid so eloquently in front of us, were our long awaited entrees.  We all raised our hands in the air, shook them all about, and sang in unison, "Hallelujah".  For Linda's sake we all thought to ourselves, what if the "Hokey Pokey" was what it was all about.  That's our story and we're sticking to it.

There Once Was A "Linda" Who Turned "50

One never gets tired of family gatherings, and for me especially when
they actually occur at a local restaurant.  I know this restaurant
when it wasn't even open yet and it was going by the Moniker of
Ironstone, taking over the place inhabited by Chef Joseph's in the
little culinary bistro in the Hotel La Rose, which is kinda like
historical from the "Way Back Machine"  in 1907.
           This is where it came to be that Carolina, a dynamo matron,
master of ceremonies and Linda's Mom decided that if Linda was able to
accept this type of arrangement, getting together with some eclectic
and diverse group of people that had inhabited her life from childhood
to this Glorious Ribbon Cutting event known to us all as HER (LINDA'S)
"50" birthday, she was going to make it happen.  So today, along with
various contingencies of Mortensen, Dusell, Giovannoni (excuse the
spelling Debbie if it's misconstrued in any way) and Mortensen-Child
we clamored our way at various points on the Sonoma County fault lines
down to Railroad Square, where now since the executive chef from John
Ash ( I was told this poppycock from Jeff, one of our servers) has
taken the bull by the horn and the place is now called Bistro 1907.
Be still my heart.
             As you can see, I didn't take pictures of all the people
that partook of this glorious occasion, but I hope I gave you some of
the ambiance floating around the room as we mingled about, and then
sat down to a variety of culinary delights like chicken roll-ups, fish
and chips, hamburgers and a veggie Penne Pasta dish.  We all were
first serenaded with a great mixed green salad with candied walnuts,
cranberries and other mish mash, which I hope you will be able to read
about on the menu I included in one of the collages.
               Carolina went around and worked the room introducing
who everybody was, their connection to Linda's life and placed a
variety of pictures that represented bits and pieces of Linda's
projections of self into her linear reality.  Then after some toasts,
and a great meal, again our Patron Saint Carolina got us all to sing
Happy Birthday, and then we all got to slather our taste buds with
"Red Velvet Cake".  So goes the days of our Linda  "dream sands" thru
the hourglass of her presupposed and gilded lily life, portending more
adventures and beautiful moments down the line for all of us who
participate in these celebratory times in our lives.  May you all
circle the wagons and become entrenched in such particulars and enjoy
your own wonderful lives here in the locality and local meeting and
eating places we enjoy right here in our "Homeland of Wonders" known
as Sonoma County.

Linda smashed head-on into 50