We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
In recent weeks, I have posted lots of Italian food in Italy.
Without wanting to be a food snob (I am not a "foodie" - I like burgers and pulled pork), I need to explain again that Italian-American food is not to be found in Italy. The latter is an invention mostly by immigrants from southern Italy who were trying to make do. They used lots of pasta to fill people up, same as they did at home. Not a bad invention.
But, for example, try a pizza in Italy. Inedible. A pizza in NYC can be amazing.
Depending on where you live in the US, "Italian" can mean entirely different things. Generally-speaking, the fancier the restaurant the better unless you love red sauce. I have made the effort to post some real Italian food here on Maggie's over recent weeks. Northern Italian I suppose. I avoid any tomato sauce. I can make southern Italian killer "pasta fazool." Even Mrs. BD says it's better than her Neapolitano grandmother used to make for her grandfather.
Since we are approaching Christmas, check out our old post about Italian Christmas Eve food. Fried baccala - great. The feast of the seven fishes. I can't find my own old link right now.
The Atlantic Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) lives from the Northeast US down all the way through the Texas coast.
They grow faster and larger in the south, and, in my view, are tasteless. In fact, they need to be cooked with something to be any good at all.
Our Wellfleet Oysters are the best in the world, raw on the shell. Some afficionadoes call it "merroir," like terroir with grapes: These oysters grow slowly in mostly cold water, are splashed twice daily with fresh water from the Herring River, and spend low tide in the air. A rare combination of things. They are generally not too large.
Due to demand, they are farmed now in commercial oyster beds, although my father-in-law and I have had some fun snagging a bag of them at low tide because there are still some wild ones. (Wear sneakers.) Don't go near the commercial beds or they might kill ya.
“It had happened to so many of my friends. The lecture ends, “Slow down. You’re not as young as you once were.”
And I had seen so many begin to pack their lives in cotton wool, smother their impulses, hood their passions, and gradually retire from their manhood into a kind of spiritual and physical semi-invalidism. In this they are encouraged by wives and relatives, and it’s such a sweet trap.
“Who doesn’t like to be a center for concern? A kind of second childhood falls on so many men. They trade their violence for the promise of a small increase of life span. In effect, the head of the house becomes the youngest child. And I have searched myself for this possibility with a kind of horror. For I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I’ve lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment. I did not want to surrender fierceness for a small gain in yardage. My wife married a man; I saw no reason why she should inherit a baby.”
One of my pals uses this sort of thing. You can leave your trigger finger out. Yes, they make them for lefties and righties at Orvis.
I'd get them as skin-tight as possible. I really do not like gloves for hunting, even for duck and goose in winter. If ducks are coming in, I throw off my gloves. I need the feel of the gun and, even with that, I am not a good shot. Mediocre.
I just do not do enough shooting. I would not mind doing more, but it's a whole day thing like golf and I usually have other things to do too. I am grateful that I never took up golf.
3:7 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
3:8 Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
3:9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
3:10 And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?"
3:11 In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise."
3:12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?"
3:13 He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you."
3:14 Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."
3:15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,
3:16 John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
3:18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people
Our Lab did not perform perfectly, but we three guys had a wonderful day in the field anyway, chasing pheasants.
Funny thing is, I didn't really care that the Lab flushed birds out of range. I just love to get out all day in a fine drizzle with pals hiking over hill and dale, far from civilization with the wind blowing through the trees and fields with dog and firearm (I used my s/s 20 ga today - just lighter to carry. Made in Italy for Abercrombie and Fitch, no idea how long ago. A pretty firearm with 2 triggers. 2 triggers just come automatically for me. I don't know why.
!2 or 16 ga are better for pheasant, but what the heck. I like to use that gun.
Cool idea from our friend: Load the first barrel with lighter bird shot, like 7 1/2, the second with #6. That gives you a better chance if you miss the first.
Next October I'd like to get back to Maine for grouse and woodcock, but I wonder whether, now, I'd just rather see 'em than kill them. (Yes, my T level is at the max limit - it's not that.)
You might be living through The Turn if you ever found yourself feeling like free speech should stay free even if it offended some group or individual but now can’t admit it at dinner with friends because you are afraid of being thought a bigot. You are living through The Turn if you have questions about public health policies—including the effects of lockdowns and school closures on the poor and most vulnerable in our society—but can’t ask them out loud because you know you’ll be labeled an anti-vaxxer. You are living through The Turn if you think that burning down towns and looting stores isn’t the best way to promote social justice, but feel you can’t say so because you know you’ll be called a white supremacist. You are living through The Turn if you seethed watching a terrorist organization attack the world’s only Jewish state, but seethed silently because your colleagues were all on Twitter and Facebook sharing celebrity memes about ending Israeli apartheid while having little interest in American kids dying on the streets because of failed policies. If you’ve felt yourself unable to speak your mind, if you have a queasy feeling that your friends might disown you if you shared your most intimately held concerns, if you are feeling a bit breathless and a bit hopeless and entirely unsure what on earth is going on, I am sorry to inform you that The Turn is upon you.
The Turn hit me just a beat before it did you, so I know just how awful it feels...
Finishing up my documentation of some real Italian food from our trip last month. This was a cool supper in Siena. (as I have said, Mrs. and I split each course. We want the tastes.)
We observed that when guys go out for a fun supper together, they have Tuscan steak, cooked rare. They dig into it with gusto, sloshed down with Tuscan wines. Then gnaw the bone. I've had it twice over the years, and it does not compare with a Costco ribeye.
Our Primo: Poached egg on a cheese fondue with crispy leeks - and a fried pumpkin blossom:
A second primo: Chickpea puree with a chunk of cod, and pancetta. Pancetta is good with cod.
Secondo: Roast Pigeon with foie gras. A little bed of potato puree in the middle. Wow - pigeon is good. It is red meat, like goose.
In parts of Italy (northern, mainly) mashed potatoes are a common accompaniment. I happen to be a big fan of them. Anyway, we happened to have a lunch on the Campo in Siena with some mashed with both courses by happy accident. Classic Italian food:
Primo: Artichoke Pie (wow-good) which came with a little side of mashed. That's pancetta on top of the goat cheese on top of the pie.
Secondo: Cinghiale stew with a side of mashed
Nice lunch. Yes, we share them so it's not as much as it seems. Whatever we order, we split each course. Restaurants are fine with that.
Photo above is Edith Traina at age 97. A youthful 97 for sure due to many years of fitness pursuits. I think those are 50 lb. plates so she is lifting 145 lbs. Not bad for 97.
You can join that organization AARP at age 50, so I guess that's "mature." Another measure of seriously "mature" is if you remember Jack LaLanne - the Godfather of American Fitness.
Should "mature" people (50-80+) do powerlifts? Of course, and should push the weight as possible. The Maggie's General Fitness protocol calls for heavy weights only twice weekly but that's partly because it's designed to fit in all of the other aspects of fitness.
However, a group of people, whether mature or youth, male, female or confused, care mostly about building or maintaining strength and physical sturdiness. Getting buff and sexy. Like people who only want to run, they are not after balanced fitness. To each his or her own although I will debate you on the value of the single road (and Mark Rippetoe and Glenn Reynolds might debate me back).
For mature adults who want to focus only on strength, 3 days/week of heavy weights is right with the emphasis on powerlifts. In fact, I can see some value in myself occasionally taking two months to do heavy weights 3/wk to see if I can get past my current plateau. Especially in winter when hiking on ice is not fun or even sensible. Hmmm. I have to mention, though, that I had a pal who climbed Mt. Washington in January. Kudos to him, for sure. Tough SOB, Vietnam vet. Once was enough for him to check that off his bucket list.
One cool sort of place they have in Italian towns are Bar Pasticcerias. A "bar" in Italy basically means a coffee joint like small Starbucks, but a Bar Pasticceria means they are serious about pastries. Besides outdoor cafes for watching the scene, I love the old, atmospheric Bar Pasticcerias where they do the usual, but also serve "light" lunches like a big tray of miscellaneous norceria with cheeses, wine, beer, and even cocktails. Some have a good selection of single malts. That's a 1 hr+ lunch, and you never want dinner. I can't remember the name of our favorite place.
You get to watch the old guys going in to pick up some dessert and having a glass of wine or some grappa while waiting. Also, elderly women with packages coming in to pick up some dessert, and having a glass of wine while waiting. Civilized. A place like that in Greenwich Village or Soho would be busy and make a lot of money.
Below a nice shop for Italian stuff. Remember that shops close during midday, then stay open until 9 or later. And restaurants don't begin serving dinner until 8.
NASA craft ‘touches’ sun for 1st time,
World's largest 
One of my pals uses this sort of thing. You can leave your trigger finger out. Yes, they make them for lefties and righties
