The week of Christmas was very busy in Pacifica, CA with lots of cooking, organizing, and family visits.
The fun kicked off on Christmas Eve with the traditional feast of the seven fishes. Never heard of this celebration? I hadn’t either until spending the holiday with the Campagnas. Apparently it’s not well known in Italy either, but is an American tradition popular among Italian Catholics.
Here’s what Eataly’s website has to say about it:
“Every year in the U.S., many people celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. Although it is unclear when the dinner became so popular, this celebration is considered one of the most Italian traditions. Typically, the family gathers around a feast of seven different seafood dishes or one or two different types of fish prepared in seven different ways.
The ancient tradition of eating fish on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic custom of abstinence from meat and dairy products on the eve of certain holidays, including Christmas. The number seven is rooted back in ancient times and it can be connected to multiple Catholic symbols: in fact, the seven seems repeated more than 700 times in the Bible. Also, according to the Roman Catholic Church, seven are the sacraments, the days of the Creation, as well as the deadly sins. Hence seven courses!”
Adamo and family as well as Andy and Jude (Clorinda’s neighbours) joined us for the feast, with Adamo doing much of the cooking. The meal was a big success despite not having exactly the fish selection that the matriarch had expected (no cod). Leftover massive crab claws provided excellent ingredients for omelets the rest of our visit.
Christmas Day started with a visit to Amy and Adamo’s home to observe the chaos of the kids opening presents. Amy made a delicious brunch (as usual whipping it up casually amid the chaos) and Andy and Jude joined again.
We were able to exchange a few gifts with Alicia before the madness became unmanageable and we had to beat a retreat. I enjoyed this gift label and always get a chuckle out of her referring to herself as an “Angel”:
Back at Clorinda’s home, it was time to start the preparation for Christmas dinner. Diana had purchased both rack of lamb and honey ham for dinner and we set about preparing those together. The matriarch didn’t like what we did with the lamb but enjoyed how it tasted at the end, so we’ll let that go (kind of). It was a gorgeous day in Pacifica as evidenced by this picture of the view from the prep kitchen.
Marco, his family, and Alicia were our guests for dinner and everyone enjoyed the meal very much. Diana’s Aunt Sarah passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 104 and the family had arranged a memorial service for December 26th, when most of the family would be in town. The after dinner activity was helping Marco finalize the order of service pamphlets and getting Olivia and Alicia ready with their parts of the service (a reading and flute performance).
I had to work on the morning of the 26th and so didn’t attend the service. The videos I’ve seen of both Marco’s eulogy and the reading/performance by Olivia/Alicia were both beautiful. Boxing Day was another gorgeous day and I worked outside on the deck with this view before heading down to the beach coffee shop for lunch.
Travel home on Thursday was relatively smooth – our flight was 2 hours late, but American let us know before we headed to the airport. We arrived home around 10:30pm and enjoyed the quiet of our house.
We used a coupon at the Tommy Bahama restaurant in Legacy West on Friday night and had a very good meal. This is not a restaurant we would have thought of trying without our $50 off card and we were both very impressed with the food, service and ambiance. These ahi tuna tacos were an excellent appetizer. Then I had Thai curry scallops and shrimp and Diana had a rib-eye steak and shrimp – all very fresh and well cooked. We’ll be back for sure.
After dinner we exchanged the Christmas gifts for each other that we had transported to California and back unopened. That’s an indication of how little downtime McD had during the visit.
Saturday was a quiet day at home catching up on things before heading to New Orleans to ring in the New Year with good friends. We did get workouts in on both days in anticipation of all the good food ahead in New Orleans. I’m at the airport as I finish this up and just watched the Cowboys eke out a win over the New York Giants – a game that didn’t mean anything for playoff spots, but one that both teams played hard to win. A 10-6 record is much better than my prediction of 7-9 for the Cowboys this year and a playoff berth quite a surprise. There’s a good chance that they will play the #1 seeded New Orleans Saints if they win against Seattle next week.
I read two of my “suggested Christmas gift” books this week – the first was “Calypso” by David Sedaris. It’s been 20 years or more since I last read one of his books and it was such a welcome treat to revisit this witty, funny, sometimes disturbing, and often sarcastic author. His descriptions of the antics of his family are insightful, humourous, and heartbreaking – often all at the same time. Not a book for the easily offended or shocked, but one that I enjoyed very much.
The second book was “French Exit” by Patrick DeWitt. Apparently a “French Exit” is when guests sneak out of a party without saying goodbye – have you ever heard that term? I know I haven’t – is it supposed to imply the French are lacking in manners? Weird. The book is quite strange also – an upper East Side New York socialite and her son flee to Paris when their money and social status are lost. Their cat which may embody her deceased husband also makes the trip. The exploits in Paris with a gaggle of entertaining characters are intended to be a farce and certainly come off that way. It reads like a cross between a witty Noel Coward play and a quirky Wes Anderson movie. I’m not a big fan of either (can never understand why Denny thinks the Anderson movies are so hilarious), but did enjoy the book overall as a light and entertaining read – just what’s needed during the holidays.
I’ve been working my way through Quincy Jones recordings after watching the biography a few weeks ago. Here’s one of his early big band recording sessions that I enjoy – “Walkin'”, with a classic walking bass line at the core of the recording.
And here’s a beautiful song from the Band of Heathens that reminded me of their excellent concert a few weeks back:
It was back down to Austin again early on Monday morning. I found a new podcast, “My Favorite Album” with Jeremy Dylan, that made a good portion of the trip pass quickly. Dylan interviews folks from all walks of life about their most treasured albums. I started with Brian Koppelman, creator of the TV show “Billions”. I’ve commmented a few times to Diana about how impressed I am with the music selections on this show and enjoyed Koppelman talking about how they were selected and why. See the bottom of this posting for several examples. The next episode was the drummer from Australian band Augie March talking about Dire Straits first album (also one of my favourites). I really enjoyed his thoughts on Pick Withers nuanced drumming on this album and his views on Mark Knopfler’s guitar work. The first half of my bus ride finished up with Amanda Shires (wife of Jason Isbell) talking about Leonard Cohen’s “Songs of Love and Hate”. Amanda had quite different views about Cohen’s music than Jeremy (the interviewer) which made for an interesting listen. She’s clearly spent a lot of time thinking about Cohen’s songs.
The “revealer” clue from the New York Times crossword on Tuesday gave me a chuckle. “Parting words” from Fried Egg, Candidate, Computer Program, and Editorial -“Gotta Run”.
I arrived in New Orleans on Tuesday evening. Denny picked me up at the airport and we met Anne for some excellent Vietnamese food at a place close to the soccer practice location by City Park.
Wednesday began with lunch at Manolito in the French Quarter. This is a small Cuban restaurant with great food and daiquiris. I love croquettes and they had the best that I’ve tasted. That was followed with an excellent Cuban sandwich.
Later in the afternoon, we enjoyed this panoramic view of New Orleans from the “Hot Tin Roof” bar atop the Ponchatrain hotel. This is a recently restored hotel and apparently is where Tennessee Williams wrote “A Streetcar named Desire”. The music oscillated between very enjoyable brass band songs and horrible hip hop nonsense. We joked that the rap music was inserted to stop slow drinking old folks from staying too long.
Anne left to go and take care of the boys, and Denny started taking me to all of my favourite places one after another. We enjoyed the patio at Bacchanal, an excellent dinner at the Bywater American Bistro that included country pate, an excellent middle eastern style curry, and bottled Negroni (that sadly is only available at the restaurant).
The late night music was at the Bon Temps bar with the Thursday night standard Soul Rebels Brass Band. The back room was the most packed I’ve seen it and included a lot of Georgia fans in for the LSU game on Saturday and avoiding the hurricane.
Friday was another beautiful day in New Orleans with very low humidity. I enjoyed some yummy breakfast tacos a la Denny and then made my way to the airport. What a lovely couple of days!
Brent and I celebrated National Taco Day on Thursday in style at the Velvet Taco in Dallas. The shrimp and grits taco and the margarita were both excellent. After lunch, I took Brent across the street to Audio Concepts, where Diana purchased the Linn turntable that became the heart of my office sound system that I enjoy every day. We spent a very pleasant couple of hours auditioning speakers for Brent’s new office in Corning. The slight challenge is that Patty is requesting bookshelf speakers for flexibility of placement in a future retirement home. Landon did a great job of demonstrating various digital streaming player and speaker combinations for us and we’ll see what Brent decides. “Private Investigations” by Dire Straits was the track used most to compare and what a great piece of music that is. I remember being amazed by the quality of the recording when first hearing it back in my University days.
On Friday afternoon we flew to San Francisco for the much anticipated Good Shepherd 8th grade 40th anniversary reunion event on Saturday evening. We decided to take Clorinda (Diana’s Mom) for dinner at the local Peruvian restaurant, Puerto 27, but changed our minds when greeted by extremely heavy traffic on Highway 1 South. Clorinda suggested we make a quick adjustment and try dinner at the local golf club – “Kevin’s a good cook”. Turns out Kevin is a really good cook – my Dover sole, Diana’s beef medallions, and Clorinda’s lamb shank were all delicious. Left overs were used in several breakfast omelets over the remainder of the weekend. Here’s a write up on Sharp Park gold course which was designed by a very famous Scottish architect and a video that adds some more details.
Sunday was a nice sunny day – always seems that the fog leaves right as we depart Pacifica. Our flight was delayed a few hours for unknown reason, and so we were able to enjoy some of the lobster that Adamo had just caught before leaving.
There was plenty of time for reading this week and I finished a couple of books with some similarities. The first, “Little Fires Everywhere”, by Celeste Ng takes place in the suburban town of Shaker Heights, Ohio, where she grew up. The lives of several families become intertwined through their children and Ng’s tale of what happens behind perfectly manicured suburban lawns takes off. The characters and the story telling are excellent with just enough believable twists to keep me hooked. While reading, I wondered if a movie version was planned as the story and characters seem ideal. I just read that Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington are planning a TV series.
The second book, “Ordinary Grace” by William Kent Krueger, is based in New Bremen, Minnesota in 1961 and is narrated by Frank Drum. He recounts the story of his teenage years from the perspective of a 40 year older version of himself. 40th anniversaries are a theme this week!
The next day they all met up with Struan in Glasgow, where Will treated himself to a Hunting Robertson kilt and accessories. I enjoyed my Mum and Dad telling me today that Will reported having “done” Scotland, England, and Spain in the couple of days he spent in each.
We enjoyed dinner and the Dunedin sunset very much. Our waiter, Michael, had been in the restaurant business for 52 years, and certainly knew what he was doing. We shared a steak tartare starter, and then Diana enjoyed a nicely cooked lobster tail while I had the Dover sole (deboned table side by Michael). This was very much an old school restaurant.
I’ve been absolutely loving the book “Rules of Civility” by Amor Towles this week. This is about the exploits of a young lady in New York during the years surrounding the Great Depression and is exceptionally well written. I loved “A Gentleman in Moscow” which was Towles most recent novel and this, his debut novel, is even better in my opinion.
This picture from her flight home shows the layer of smoke from the massive California wildfires that continue to burn. The Mendocino fire is now the largest in recorded history with close to 300,000 acres burned.
We stopped at the Union Public House in Pensacola for a drink and a snack before making the drive. The crab fingers and scotch eggs were very good.
Diana and I did some work calls first thing in the morning and after a late, lazy breakfast, we headed over to the beach on Friday and stayed there until a thunder storm rolling in from offshore seemed ready to soak us. Then we headed to T.J.s in Navarre proper on the mainland for a late lunch.
Our Friday night entertainment was a walk down to Juana’s to listen to the live band. The music was classic rock which everyone (except maybe Denny) enjoyed. The people watching in the music section of the bar was some of the best I’ve seen in a while with all kinds of characters involved. It became clear why the floor of the bar was nice soft sand.
My first New York musical outing was to Birdland to see the Birdland Big Band. They are a 16 piece band with lots of brass and perform at the club every Friday evening and for a two week residency in the summer. I enjoyed the mix of musical styles they offered and even one of a few songs they did with a singer named Veronica swift – “Someone to Watch Over Me”.
I finished out the work week with a delicious Mediterranean dinner with colleagues at a new find named “Nish Nush” on John Street. The falafel trio was excellent with the best falafels and sauces that I’ve had. I’m looking forward to returning when I’m back in the area.
movie night with “Back to the Future”. I walked up right as the “flux capacitor” was being introduced.
We arrived in Glasgow via Houston and London Heathrow on Thursday afternoon in time to celebrate my Mum’s 80th birthday. Diana did a nice job of wrapping her gift, a necklace with birthstones for each of the grandchildren, in a fancy stack. We were amazed at the array of 80th birthday cards – no two the same. You just don’t get that kind of selection with us. The weather during our visit was perfect and a very nice change from the 100 degree temperatures that we left behind in Dallas.
On Friday we decided to take a trip up to Glasgow in the afternoon. We parked at Buchanan Galleries and enjoyed lunch in Princes Square. It was fun to observe the various buskers along Buchanan Street and to see all the people enjoying their lunch al fresco. As we were leaving I spotted a dinosaur exhibit in the shopping mall and was able to coax McD into hatching from a dino egg.
On Saturday we went for a walk along the front at Troon which came with a stop for ice cream at a kiosk by the beach. David brought Penelope’s Cousin (PC), his new Porsche Cayman GTS, to Merrick View for a visit in the afternoon and then we went for an exhilarating drive on the Fenwick road.
I finished a couple of books this week. “Famous Father Girl” by Jamie Bernstein tells of her life growing up as the daughter of Leonard Bernstein. I enjoyed this very much – particularly her stories about her Dad preparing to conduct some of the famous symphonies around the world.
this one very much as well – Genova does an amazing job of capturing what it must feel like to face the onset of early Alzheimer’s.
Named after its builder, James Bogardus, the originator of cast-iron architecture, the building was built in 1850 and features a 5-story facade replicating the late 15th century Palazzo Veladramini in Venice. It now serves as a very popular space for wedding and special events.
Saturday took us to Poor David’s Pub for the first time in a couple of years to see Sawyer Fredericks. We had dinner before the show at a restaurant in Deep Ellum called Local that Diana chose. Local is housed in what was once the Boyd hotel and is very modern and minimalist inside. The Boyd hotel was built in 1911 and is one of the last remaining building in Dallas with a cast iron front. I didn’t know there was such a thing until earlier this week when I read about the Bogardus mansion that houses the 75 Club and learned that Bogardus invented the technique. The hotel was a hub for jazz and blues musicians in the 1920s with Leadbelly and Blind Lemon Jefferson (the father of Texas blues) both staying there. It’s also well known as having been a hangout for Bonnie and Clyde. We enjoyed the restaurant very much with Diana opting for the filet while I had a very tasty sea bass.
I finished up “Emerald City” by Jennifer Egan during my travels and really enjoyed this collection of short stories. The theme connecting the various stories seemed to be using travel to escape financial or family traumas. I’ve enjoyed all of Egans books that I’ve read this year very much.