Sain't Christopher

Blue Light

Here's my I-come-from-humble-background story that I will use like John Edwards, should I get the democratic nod for VP.

My mom was the last of the stay at home generation.  In the early '70s a man could earn enough as an electrician at GM to buy a home at let his wife stay there to raise children (both the beta and the working model)- barely.  My dad had low seniority, so he was shorted or laid off during the seasonal change each summer.  Add to that a strike and recession and you have a family that got by knowing where the pennies were.  Nah, not humble enough for the democrats.

So, we lived off a budget.  We got a color TV (used) in '71- it was a big deal.  Mom cooked lots of meals that involved cans of cream o'something soup and we shopped at K-mart.  Even as young as I was, I knew that Kmart was cheaper than Sears or Wards.  As my Dad's work grew more secure we spent less time under than blue light and I discovered the joys of "toughskins" and "garanimals".

My point is that pride and economics are part of a mathematical function- as soon as you can afford to not shop at cheapest store, you stop.  And this brings us to Wal-Mart.  In the last two years lots of media coverage has been devoted to Wal-Mart and some of the latest stuff has been very negative.  So when Sears, JCPenney, Target and the rest of the superfriends went to hard core discounting this past weekend, everyone who could get at least one of the cars on the lawn started packed up the kids and drove right past Wal-Mart.  And this has the anti-global economy, anit-corporate, anti-monoculuturists all sitting with a smug grin.  Check out the Wal-Mart hating websites and you'd think the bastille was on the verge of letting out.

Silly rabbits.

In order to compete with the Bentonville Hillbillies, the other retailers are putting on overalls and sucking straw.  It's small consolation that there'll be a blip on the W's P&L.  I'd love for the Walton family to start paying living wages and giving benefits to its employees.  And it would be great if they didn't insist on exploiting workers in 3rd world countries.  The idiot I heard crowing on NPR today really pissed me off today.  There was no victory here, no reward for hard work on his part, no cosmic sense of justice . . . just the other lemmings catching up as we get closer to the cliff.

Okay, I'm done ranting except to say that I just got sucked into a Kmart commercial because they were playing Coltrane's A Few of my Favorite Things.

Go in Peace

Starter

Tonight's first course:

Seared Dayboat Scallop and Seafood Sausage on Braised Brussles Sprouts
Mustard Seed Sauce

Go in Peace

Slog

Doesn't every good post start with a quote from Shakespeare?

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more"

Okay, maybe not.  But, I feel that I am preparing for a seige- if not on the French themselves, at least their culinary heritage.

I took off thanksgiving day to spend with friend KTIII and his family.  It was lovely and warm- I had a great time.  Yesterday I was at work receiving meat, produce and fish for today's prep shift.  We start out Monday at a full sprint with the annual dinner of a wine society, a dinner for 140 that I don't want to do from scratch Monday.  My predecessor did that the first year I worked there and it was a disaster.  Being the Monday after a holiday weekend, all the deliveries were late (hence yesterdays visit to work) and we also had to prep for the next night's party (which didn't get done).  For the next 27 days I will be at work from wake to bed. 

When I was younger, I used to get a kick out of it, the rush, the panic.  The first two years I did this as The Chef I sweated and worried over it.  This year I just sucked it up and wrote off most of the weekend in favor of durative sanity.

I'm finally learning that it is easier to be prepared than to just run faster.  On my desk is  a schedule for the month.  It includes the day I'm to do all my on-line shopping, the day I'm to send my check to Glide, when to make a call for my annual dinner at Chez Panisse . . . I have a month's worth of clean t's, socks, and uns (God Bless Fluff and Fold!).  For years I had to make the choice between a Sunday afternoon of work, nap or laundry.  Once I got the car, I just punted and bought new at Target. 

So, posts will be infrequent and usually done when I'm suffering from insomnia- giving you neither quantity or quality.  Thanks for shopping.

Go in Peace

Provoker

It is the holidays so I decided to just let the little jab go - until after t-giving.  I didn't comment on the Pacers/Fans melee not just because I wasn't interested, but because I think it is not something limited to just one city or area.  So, to you, Provoker, I say: Those who come from glass subdivisions shouldn't throw stones.

Go in Peace

Distraction 04:22

Teenaged girls try to poison classmates!  I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often, really.

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You probably read this already, a school drops it's Sadie Hawkins Day because of the gayness issue.  Instead they are having "camo" day- the kiddies are to dress up as soldiers.  Lord knows the army never turned anyone gay.  Maybe they should dress up as other straight role-models like cops, construction workers, cowboys, or indians.

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Check out the Yahoo! photo caption, somebody is getting fired Monday, somebody who only wants to be a real boy, Gepetto.

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Hey, go to the release party for the Edinburgh Castle's release of Public House, the anthology of stories by people who've read there.

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Read halfway down the article for the bit where the Bush Twins get denied seating at a restaurant, pretty darned humorous if true.

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Favorite new blog: Waiter Rant!  Check it out

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Okay, I am now officially looking for a single woman with EU citizenship.  If anyone wants me I'll be packing.

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Weekly German thing.

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Who would have thought that lego smuggling would be a problem?  And mind you, the headline reads "record haul."

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Friend A.D. has a new theory- America is like a pumpkin, you have to scoop out the insides before you have anything worthwhile.

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Go in Peace

Stand up!

I had to go out and speak to the group I cooked for last night.  I went out after the sorbet, after a song by the opera singer in attendence, before the main course and dessert.  My job was to tell them what they'd been eating and were yet to eat.

"After the cured salmon napoleon, the wild-mushroom lobster consomme, and the squab with maple-vinegar glaze we had the grapefruit-campari sorbet as an intermezzo, which was followed by Debra, the intermezzo-soprano, which brings us to the main course tonight, venison . . ."

Yep, Chef Shecky, that's me.

Go in Peace

Manna

Last night's menu for Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs (which I can't pronounce) was one of which I'm particularly proud.  So let's get right to it, shall we?

Hors d’ Oeuvres

Crab Legs with Mustard-Mayonnaise on Endive

Bunderfleisch Canapés with Cayenne-Aïoli and Radish

Foie Gras Terrine on Toasted Ginger Brioche, Pickled Plum

Smoked Prawns with Lemon-Thyme Mayonnaise

Grilled New Zealand Lamb Chops, Pear-Mint Gastrique

Cucumber, and Gaufrette Potato

Crème Fraîche and Caviar

Laurent Perrier Rose Brut

Shiitake and Lobster Mushroom Consomme

Lobster Ravioli and Leeks

Puligny Montrachet, Domaine Chavy

Roasted Half-Squab, Maple-Vinegar

Wild Rice Pilaf, Sautéed French Carrots, Turnips, Zucchini

Marimar Torres Estate Pinot Noir

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Grapefruit and Campari Sorbet

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Seared Juniper-Black Pepper Rubbed Venison Medallions

Cabernet-Roast Shallot Sauce

Horseradish-Apple Compote with Brussles Sprouts

Butternut Squash and Potato Gratin

Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon

Duckhorn Vineyards Paraduxx

And that's dinner.

Go in Peace

Uprising!

I read this article today and, finally, I understand that we are at war.

Consider the statistics from last year alone:

• 210 people dead
• 13,738 injured
• $1.1 billion in property damage

Of course the liberal in me says, "But we've invaded and occupied their land.  We're only concerned about plundering the natural resources and not the damage to lives."  I used to think that way- I started having doubts two years ago.

It was a beautiful late, late fall sunset and I was just elated to be in Michigan.  I'd spent the day at my sister's house in Dexter while her husband and friends hunted on-property.  For those of you not raised with it, the first day of hunting season is a quasi-holiday in some states.  I was heading out Baker Road toward the freeway when a buck ran up on the road.  The lady in front of me swerved and jammed on the brakes to avoid the thing.  She should have hit it, that's the safest thing to do and what we are taught to do in hinterlands.  Instead, I have to avoid her and try not getting slammed by the car behind me.  Didn't work, the rental I was driving got totaled and so did the car that hit me.  Easily, all three cars and 5 people could have cashed out.  Since then I've tried to dismiss this as an "accident".

Now I think differently.  I think I was the victim of an act of terrorism.

It was a suicide deer, an insurgent.  If they had thumbs, they'd be making bombs.

Go in Peace

The System Works!

I just got my first postcard from a reader.  Not just any reader, one from Australia.  Good on yer!  And thanks.

That address again:
Sain't Christopher
p.o. 641213
San Francisco, CA  94164

Go in Peace

Perseus

Die monster!

Go in Peace