THE phonecall...

God called me at work yesterday, He apologized for everything.

Happy Halloween & Dia de los Muertos

old school video of the day.

Random Friend's Advice

this dude - who i used to look up to told me once
and i quote " Never date a girl who has a Lane Bryant credit card."

i don't even know what that means anymore.

and this is for Tony " Let that shit wrap around you and throw your head back. "

art

this is work in progress.

Charles meets Barack

Links

please if you have time - click the links on the right hand side and visit some of my favorites - and tell them I sent you.

Thanks

I have been noticing the interest level in my little blog increasing day by day -
Thank you for reading - I hope that i give you the readers a little insight - outside of your usual box. I hope that we will continue being a blogger ( me ) and a reader ( us )

if there ever was a culinary god... this is he

escoffier - for those who know not

trust me with this one.

oblivous

i am -pretty oblivious to my surroundings sometimes -
esp if it is not in or around a kitchen -
get me out in the public and i lose it - totally
but not really -

I know a few people and are amazed when people call me by my name
( its written on my jacket with threads - i know the word but can't spell it
at the moment ) -

i guess that sometimes i dont call people by their name - i know it but i am usually
on to other things -
you'd think that id be more aware - but i'm not
so if i just say whats up - i do know your name - mostly
but im all about efficiency -
and some days the less words the better

look closely and you too will see them

i see these all the time but don't
pay attention to them.
i think that will change soon.
( i'll take the big one. )

facebook

i've re-connected with a lot of people from my past - some good - and a few life changing -
like the first person i ever was in love with - and the second one - who almost killed me - but time has passed - i've grown - a bit.
matured i guess -
actually i've grown a lot
figured out how i can be more to those i am closest to - and how to treat myself better - and put myself first.

Peach Orange Souflee Pancake

peach and orange souflee pancake

3 tablespoons butter
1 Cup sliced peaches
1 cup orange sections
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 egg whites, at room temperature

in a saute pan, melt the one tablespoon of butter - adding the brown sugar and cinnamon. put the peaches and orange segments in the butter mixture and cook until slightly carmelized set aside.

mix together the egg yolks, milk, and water. in a separate bowl mix together the sugar, salt, nutmeg and flour.

mix together the wet ingredients and dry ingredients.
beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold the egg whites into the pancake mixture.

put the orange and peaches into a 10" oven safe par and put the batter over the peaches and oranges.

bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

genius

I've been called a genius before - like once - but i am taking it out of context.
I made this dish in Sedona when I worked here. I t was a puffed peach pancake with maple butter and brown sugar sour cream, and I believe the quest commented that the dish was genius - not necessarily me - but i came up with it so does that make me a genius.

The " pancake " is not really a pancake per se - but more of a very light waffle -
the eggs are separated and the whites are beaten to stiff peaks and folded into the batter - and baked in a ceramic tart pan - imagine a ramekin but like 12" in diameter and 1" tall - the peaches were carmelized in brown sugar and put in the bottom of the pan and the batter is put on top = the rest is well pretty simple - of if i find the recipe ill post it. - but this was like 5 years ago.

anyway - i also won best breakfast in america - and oddly enough i've been gone two plus years and they are still using my recipes.

a note to myself

I just keep missing you - as I turn the corner you are walking away - just ahead of me in the check out line - 15 items or less - because both you and I only cook for ourselves - I used to run into you all the time at the gym - when we were working out 5 days a week - but i stopped almost completely = now i'm back to 3 to 4 times a week but you stopped going too - I miss you terribly - we had so much fun together - going out to play pool - out for drinks - or just out - now all I do is sit on craigslist waiting for your missed connection ad - did I mention that i've changed.... that the trip to costa rica is a go - the teaching job may go through as well - i know you were worried about me working too much but I swear only one more year and I'm done and we can go back to the good old days...
i promise

ryhme time sort of

how many times have you said
i wish you were more like fred
more like him - than you choose
to be more like you always lose
your soul - your soul is lost

changing lanes - changing speeds
changing directions - hearts bleed
when broken - when forcibly stitched
back together its no better
they work but strain under pressure, twitch
stall and fail
your soul is lost

post 101 a bit more personal

this is me......

i know its a self diagnosis but it fits me in every level - and those who know me on a personal level - when i had them read this they agreed 100%

100th post

so ok I feel like shit - nauseous - warm - my body is sore - stomach bubbly
i just gotta make it through 2 more days - and im off - for two days
i learned a word in hindi today = its pronounced " thumby" not sure what means - \
oh did i mention i had a headache also - i think its mostly my body reacting to another change in schedule -

that's about the size of it....

( quit being cheap - freedom ain't free )

chaos

winter - snow
fall - hands across america
summer - fried green tomatoes and bacon grease
spring - tulips a single maple leaf - trouble
trouble always comes in spring
with the corvus - dropping walnuts
so cars can do the dirty work

lemon essence is really lemon juice
my soul - is lemonade -
my heart you'd think would be the sugar
but its the ice mainly and mostly lemon essence

when i think about it
by this time tomorrow
will have more time
to think whether im crazy of just different
but only time will tell

either answer - will suit me

i followed the sun once - until it set
and then i followed the moon until it set
i never left - that same path that night

chaos - is the path mainly traveled
by those who are different - crazy
looking for answers -
i saw a crow once -
in a tree -
doing nothing - and i envied him
until he flew off -

bingo

i figured it out - well with the help of some people - at work
that I will host a bingo game and whoever wins i will go out with
seriously - there seems to be someone else at work that likes me - or it is a rumor
or it could be bullshit

but i do like the idea of relationship bingo -

i am developing rules to the game now.
instead of bingo the winning word will be the respective players name such as dale
and they would have to yell out my name - ( i personally enjoy anyone yelling out my name) - when they feel fit that they have won

and the other rules.... well - there are not many rules to bingo
in the first place.

I met someone who knows you

i always cringe when someone starts a conversation with this statement. Because
ive met a lot of people over the years and usually i am quite - lets say less than pc when i speak - so its always a teat - treat - when you meet someone i know

you probably already have

so i thought about it when i worked at the Lodge at Sedona for the three plus years - i had the opportunity to meet 30 people a day 5 days a week for 150 weeks - which equals

around this many people

not that i've actually met 20,000 people in a three year period but it could easily be half - or if this makes more sense 10,000 people have met me - and probably 15,000 people have eaten my food - again that number may be on the small side

anyway -

so i always cringe when people say i met someone who knows you.

oh it also helps to be named Dale - because most of the time i am the only Dale you know.....

DSL

Insomnia, scare tactics, and feet fetishes

You would think that after 35 years of going to sleep and waking up, that by now i would
actually remember that the place i went to sleep in and the place i wake up are the same.
...you would think.

but the majority of the time i forget - which i think is a defense mechanism of some sorts - but probably not.

ok ill admit it - i'm scared
really scared - and confused - and reluctant to admit failure
etc - just like everyone else - but i am coming to terms with everything
quickly - the past two years or two years and 3 months have been challenging to say the least - with the " you're not supposed to date ppl you work with rule " which i broke
two years ago today. and its been all downhill since - more like a long fall into an abyss - if i hit bottom at least i know there is an up and out - but this is just falling - i at times reach out to grab onto anything but all i get is air -

i am tired, scared - confused and reluctant to admit that most of my " relationship" issues are my fault - i just figured out tonight that this is the first time in my life that i am in control of my love life - in control because i know that people like me and i get to pick and choose instead of the last 20 years of hit and miss dating -
its boiled down to two things
one - i am really making up for lost time
and two - i am making up for lost time by being a player - because it was i who always got played - they both work for me

i enjoy it all

i work too much - or let me rephrase i work too much at my current place of employment
dont get me wrong im used to working a lot - but this is different
im not used to being pulled in so many directions
there are times at work i cant leave - or i want to leave but i keep getting asked questions or something else -

i dont really have a foot fetish - but its the words that bring you in.

some days i feel like running away - to somewhere very quiet - and cool and un-civilized - but i cant or i just cant

some days - i sit and wait for the alarm to ring so i can hit the snooze button

tonite i am wondering with all the ppl in the f&b department at work being let go
will i be next - i think i survived the first round of cuts but come new year - i may be s.o.l. - but ill get to sleep....

Stunt Dates

ok I figured out what this term is - I need a " date " for a wedding in November, and I asked a few people so far - one who will flake out so that doesn't count and the other two live in california - - one is an actress, and the other once picked a hunk of meat out of my teeth - the first time i met her...

I can ask one more but she too lives in california - and you ask - why dale, do you not live in california....

trust me my luck with women if you can call it that - is really hit or miss - or i miss on purpose - who knows - i am aware of a few - but they shall remain nameless

my friend suzanne called me a player - unsure if i fit that catergory - i have a lot of female friends and try to keep in contact with them - that's all -

and 95% of them are or would be considered tens.... or 9's - like i said i've always been lucky and cooking helps trust me....

so i have a stunt date for any and all future events - we get along - well - not sure why we never hooked up - oh wait i know - im just a friend -

so yeah - i have stunt dates
and for now ill take it

pie

i like pie.... I'm guessing that's a pretty standard
answer to the question - pie or cake...

wait i like cake too

wait - i can like both -
i make cakes more so than pies.... I used to be a pastry assistant
here back in he late 90's - so i had me share of cake baking brulee'ing
cookie making and pies - it was the first time i made them in abundance - meaning more than one and we used pre made pie dough ( gasp !) mainly because of consistency
because pie dough can be a bitch to make - its very temperamental -

but i also learned the trick of using two pre made pie shells for the top and bottom of pies... and frozen apples - but i digress - -


so i like pie -
apple yes - blueberry not so much
key lime and pecan - yes - coconut creme nope
pumpkin sort of but i prefer sweet potato pie - and on that subject
i prefer my corn bread sweet

i have several recipes for pie dough - floating around somewhere
but i still to this day remember the recipe from culinary school for basic french pie/tart dough
called pate brisee

8oz flour
4oz butter
salt and ice water -

i don't recall any measurements for the salt and water
im sure a 1/2 teaspoon of salt will do
and water to make it form a ball but not too wet

oh and it should be made in a food processor -

and one more tip/trick - I learned this from one of the former
pastry assistants at the White House
when making pecan pie - as soon as you take it out of the oven
pour about 1/4 cup of myers dark rum on top of the still hot pie
it will soak in and its pretty damn good..
enjoy

exhaustion and decompression

so for pretty much the last month - ok the last three weeks - i've been working
6 days a week - or so - but mainly just working and sleeping - and that one or two days off a week i do get i just collapse into nothingness - but soon - probably next monday
or so i will get some sort of relief - and i may actually get out of the house
- to tell you just how exhausted i am - i almost fell asleep on the way home from work -
and that is a 5 mile drive

tuesday - this one coming up is our first " decompression " dinner - really good food - good wine and some well needed down time - me and two others from work are going -

its like a brain storming and talking shit evening - and hopefully after that i will get some sort of motivation back and start working out again etc.....

i have not been this tired in years

wiki how to hold hands

i didn't know that people actually
didn't know how to hold hands

so this is for you

1. Visualize how it will feel. If you are nervous, think of how good it will feel if the other person holds back.
2. Take a hold of the other person's hand. While sitting, standing or walking next to that person, grasp his or her hand and lightly squeeze.
3. Wait for a return squeeze. If they squeeze back, most times, they enjoy your company and don't mind you holding their hand.
4. Use a hand-holding method. There are two approaches to hold another person's hand.
* You can either just grasp their hand and hold it (easy to achieve, but harder to stay held on longer); or
* Interlock fingers, which sometimes takes some work, but because the other person is holding on too, you can stay holding hands longer. Most times, it's better if you just start off with doing the first example until you are sure that the other person is okay with holding hands and will hold on.
5. If you're absolutely sure that the person you held hands with is enjoying your company, look at him or her straight in the eyes and smile subtly.

my previous life - will become my future

I always wanted to be a professional photographer
and be able to take pictures like these.....

but since i don't have unlimited time - i'll stick to cooking, painting
and writing blogs.