Goodbye old friend

We had to say goodbye to an old friend this weekend.

Now before you get out the tissues, let me say that this goodbye wasn’t a person or a beloved pet but our trusty electric popcorn popper.

Popcorn-popper-002

We had this popcorn popper for at least 15 years.  Maybe more.  We tried microwave popcorn but it always burned in our microwave.  Literally caught fire.  Twice.  I learned my lesson.

This wonderful popcorn popper had a rod that stirred the popcorn so it didn’t burn.  It made wonderful popcorn.  Until Saturday night.

The rod was stirring but there was no heat.  Popcorn doesn’t pop without heat.

Fortunately I had another hand-crank popper as a back-up.  The Whirley Pop.

Whirley-Pop

Yes, ours is red.  I have a thing for red.  I bought this several years ago to make kettle corn and it saved the day, or night.  We still had freshly made, hot, buttery popcorn to eat while we watched a movie Saturday night.  Mr. Aitch and I thought it was the BEST popcorn we’ve had in a long time.

And it’s completely submersible.

Sorry Stir Crazy.

Reminiscing

My computer has been in the shop for a week.  It needed the cmos battery replaced so it should have been a quick out-patient procedure.  Mr. Aitch’s computer went from out-patient to ICU.  It’s still not ready to be discharged so we decided to bring mine home today. 

I’ve had lots of time to come up with some posts but I’m not comfortable posting with my iPad.  I’ve done it before but I’m not happy with how the page looks.  I should have written them down anyway because I can’t remember any of them now.  Today’s post comes from a conversation Mr. Aitch and I had at dinner this evening.

In 1964 our aunt took my sister and me on a vacation to the New York World’s Fair.  Traveling with our aunt was not unusual.  Our dad saved his vacations for hunting or fishing so our mom and aunt (mom’s sister) would take us on vacations.  Oh, our aunt hated to be called “Aunt” so we called her what the rest of the family called her: Ebby.

Anyway back to the World’s Fair in New York…

Courtesy of Trip Advisor

Courtesy of Trip Advisor

Our mom and brother went to visit a friend of hers so they didn’t accompany us on this trip.  I don’t think driving to New York City in the summer of 1964 was on my mom’s top ten things to do.  Ebby’s friend, Lois, was teaching in New York City this particular summer and was renting a cottage in Patchogue on Long Island.  I don’t remember all the facts about this but I remember what I thought was important.  We could drive a few miles and cross a bridge to Fire Island.  I have lots of memories about this particular vacation but the one that came to mind tonight was about a meal we had at a “fancy” restaurant.

Now when I was growing up, eating out was very special and we only ate out two or three times a year.  Sometimes our mom would let us go downtown to Defrance’s Drug Store for a treat at the snack bar (I always got a hot fudge sundae) but those times were few and far between.  Drive through wasn’t invented yet nor was there a fast food joint on every corner.

3-village-innOne evening Lois took us to Three Village Inn Restaurant (I believe it was in Stony Brook) and we had to dress up.   In dresses.  I remember ordering a steak and a glass of milk.  Our food came and it was good but the milk didn’t arrive with our meal.  My sister and I wondered what was up with that.  We only had water to drink.

The waitress brought our milk when we placed our order for dessert.  (Guess what I got.)  I remember thinking that maybe the “rich” people drank their milk with dessert and not with dinner.

We later learned that the waitress forgot to bring our milk with dinner.  So much for an eleven-year-old’s imagination.

New Orleans – Can we come back?

I attended a conference in New Orleans the week before the Super Bowl.

NO-sign

We had a great time though I was stuck inside most of the time.

I’ve learned in the past that I can’t concentrate on knitting on an airplane.  I managed to knit an Olive Oil Drip Catcher at the airport but that’s all the knitting I did.

And I don’t even have a photo of it!

Our hotel was on the corner of Canal and Bourbon streets.

Canal-Bourbon-signs

We were a block away from the 49er’s hotel.

49er-marriot

49er-banner

49er-mural

We saw the Mighty Mississippi.

mississippi

Walked down Bourbon Street.  Some buildings were all decked out in Mardi Gras colors.

Mardi-Gras-building

Visited the French Market in the French Quarter.

french-quarter

Saw lots of the Super Bowl hype but no players.

CBS-Jackson-Square

Super-Dome

Mr. Aitch sampled local beers.

Beer

Beads?  Yes, we got beads.  I won’t tell you how we got them.  I wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone.  =)

Beads

We ate jambalaya, crawdads, Po Boys, shrimp roumalade, hush puppies…

Bubba-Gump

Shrimp-roumaladejpg

…and of course beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

cafe-du-monde

beignets

Tank McNamara says it all:

tankm130211Beignets.  It’s worth the trip.

Wine tasting

Mr. Aitch and I enjoy wine frequently.  We prefer reds though occasionally we’ll have white.Hullabaloo-wine-label

Last night’s dinner consisted of cheese and crackers, apple slices and cheesecake.  And a bottle of Hullabaloo Zinfandel.  This was our first experience with this vintner (Nine North Wine Co.) but we love other Zinfandels from the Lodi region of California so we had high hopes.

As my routine goes, I sniffed the bouquet first.  (For you non-wine drinkers that means I smelled the wine before I tasted it.)  I made a face.  Mr. Aitch asked what was wrong.  I told him it smelled like armpit.  Sweaty armpit.  It was just as though the smell from the weightlifter on the label and cork permeated the fermented grapes in the bottle.

Hullabaloo-wine-backjpg

Was the back label a clue?  Hurly burly!

Hullabaloo-wine-cork-and-bo

We thought it was perhaps the pairing of the food and wine that wasn’t quite right.Hullabaloo-wine-cork

But what do you pair with an armpit?

Hullabaloo-wine-002

The two best things about this bottle of wine are its cork and label.  Of course this is just my opinion.