Focused at Fifty

One of my favorite memories growing up is the smell of onions being sautéed by my Mom in our kitchen. The smell eventually wafted through the house. If I was coming home from school, it was the first thing which greeted me walking through the side door. At that moment, I knew dinner was gonna be good!  To this day, this has been one of my favorite parts of a recipe, dropping those onions into a shimmering pan of oil, hearing them sizzle and smelling their strong flavor. For me, it's been the first sign of an delicious meal! In my two decades in the hotel/restaurant business, I have loved walking through the grand hotel kitchen, smelling the sautéing onions by a sous-chef on a huge ass stove for an upcoming banquet.  Here is the recipe I found online for caramelized onions which I have made several times. A couple people have asked me why does it take so long? Well the easiest and most basic answer I can say is that cooking them long and slow allows the naturally sweet onions t...

Marc and Sheryl, Partners in Crime! Back in 2010, my sister Sheryl surprised me with tickets to see a the New York City Broadway show "All About Me" starring the internationally famed drag queen Dame Edna and Broadway legend Michael Feinstein. We took an evening bus from Philly and we off for the Big Apple! Sher had arranged for us to stay at an upscale modern hotel across from the Port Authority bus terminal. It was a quick overnight stay followed up by brunch at the famous Broadway restaurant Joe Allen, the show itself and then perhaps a cocktail before taking the bus back to Philly.  We arrived late in the evening delayed by the constant traffic on the NJ Turnpike. Luckily, the hotel was right across the street from the bus terminal. The small lobby, though normal size by NYC standards, was clean and sleek.  Our room had the view of the terminal but no worries as this contemporary room had the most comfortable beds ever! The bathroom was kinda too modern. It was a mixture ...

 

"My BF Grant and I, 1997" Youth is a gift of nature, but age is work of art.  Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, Polish writer and poet  I look at the youth of today and sometimes try and connect. I get this look from them like "You can't connect with me, you're old." I know that look. As I cringe, my inner voice frantically questions, "What? Wait, but I'm still only 50? I'm not that old. I'm middle aged! I still feel like 35 (well, mentally)!"   I look at what they wear, I look at the music they listen to, the trends, the expressions (no idea what they're saying) and I know I am not of that generation. It's all good though. We all have our time and place. I just wish it didn't smart as much to know those days are in my past.   I was checking out with the cashier at a convenience store the other evening. He was young, early 20s, I made a joke. He stared at me blankly. I thought for a second that he didn't get my joke. In a flash, I we...

Homemade Choco-Chip Cookies! This is one of the recipes that my Mom had in her recipe box which I finally made! Ironically though, I don't remember her ever making them. 😏 What I do remember are the bags of Chips-Ahoy cookies as well as the "cookie dough rolls" she would buy to make over the holidays. She also "hid" the Chips Ahoy in the top cabinet of the kitchen. Silly mother, we always knew they were there. 😎 I guess after a long week of taking care of us three ornery children, the last thing Mom wanted to do was make chocolate chip cookies from scratch! So in her honor, I have finally made them, first time ever by myself.  This recipe was definitely a learning experience. I left the dough out a little too long and it began to get dry. So with the Big Ragu's help, I added a little whole milk, teaspoon by teaspoon to soften it up. After about 4 teaspoons, the dough was workable again to be able to drop it by dollops onto the cookies sheets. I doubled t...