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.
At the BD homestead Thanksgiving, everybody brings something. It is semi-organized. This year, we had an abundance of homemade desserts, all wonderful.
I am talking about pumpkin cheesecake, mini-mince pies with homemade rum ice cream, squash pie, and things like that.
All good but posting a pic of a daughter's homemade brie pastry thing with the surprise of toasted pecans and cranberries inside with the cheese. That is a meal in itself.
We all got a big kick out of seeing Bob and his band this week down in Westchester.
He sounded good, growly but good. Looked a bit frail at 80. Somebody needs to feed him some pumpkin pie or a Big Mac and fries.
He was on piano. Very tight band. Delighted, happy sold-out crowd - all ages. Played half rockers, half ballads. As typical for him, the arrangements always change. Played Masterpiece, Gotta Serve Somebody, I Contain Multitudes, lots more, and closed with Every Grain of Sand which makes me cry every time. Thanks for that, Bob, and for keeping keepin' on.
One interesting thing we noticed about Italians is how they go out to dine. Yes, they do that frequently. But we noticed that it tends to be groups of men, and groups of women. Small groups and large groups. Gregarious people who love to go out with pals and have a good time.
Any time we saw couples they seemed to be tourists or young lovers. But young lovers do not eat much of course. One more "real Italian" dinner we had in Siena, before Thanksgiving week when it's different foods.
Primi: Poached egg with goat cheese fondue and caramelized leeks
Second primi (yeah, we share each course): Chickpea puree with a hunk of cod, with crispy pancetta:
And more amazing, rare roast pigeon with some roasted corn and mushrooms, with a fig sauce drizzle. That's Italian:
18:33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"
18:34 Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?"
18:35 Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"
18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."
18:37 Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
It's the time of year when I stock up on bags of Cranberries and throw them in the freezer.
The canned cranberry "sauce" pictured is garbage. It's just congealed sweetened cranberry juice.
The recipe on the Ocean Spray bags is pretty good, but I cut the sugar they recommend in half. It's nothing but water, fresh or frozen berries, and sugar.
Better yet for Thanksgiving, game, and even chicken, isCranberry-Orange Relish. Raw berries and an orange. Thanks to the mother-in-law for introducing me to this tangy thing years ago.
A great food, the Cranberry. I love to put them in pancakes (the combination of the sweetness of the maple syrup and the tartness of the cranberries is perfect).
Funny thing about Cranberries: not many animals or birds like to eat them. Maybe bears? I've seen Box Turtles take a bite out of one, but I've never seen anything else eat them. I love Cranberries, as long as they aren't cooked too sweet. Here's a tiny Massachusetts Cranberry bog, flooded for harvest:
If driving around southern Tuscany, you might want to stop by and see the hilltop fortress the Sienese built against the threat of the Florentines.
Cool little fortress, but it was all silly then. Chess moves. The fortress was a rook. We split a nice snack up there: A pistachio crepe. Amazing. Ever had one? That is Italian. Mrs. BD, who loves to drive in Italia, had a Coke and I had a glass of Chianti.
I like to drive in Italy too, but she just loved to drive that Citroen.
The machine I use for editing seems to have crapped out. Lost all of today's links, and I don't think I can enter/edit new stuff entered into the pipeline for other contributors.
I blame the problem on the Lunar eclipse. Saw it at 4:30 this morning, and watched it slowly resolve until I got to the gym. Very cool.
I took plenty of photos when we drove out from Orbetello to see Villa Lante. Beautiful countryside on the way. It has been on Mrs. BD's bucket list for decades because it was the model for Renaissance formal gardens from Villa D'Este to Versailles.
The ideal of the garden was architectural with the water features which exist to today and are studied by landscape architects. Even the plantings were architectural. Bishops and Cardinals were rich in those days. I think the water features were inspired by the Arab gardens in Spain.
Lazio is the province of Rome. Drive north, and it is flatland agricultural until you get well into Tuscany where there are good hills for grapes or, sometimes, woodlands.
The Italians seem to have protected agricutural lands from sprawl. Also, they made industrial zones. Surely fascistic, but it makes for pleasant landscapes. Beside that, it seems to be that Italians are gregarious people who love to hang out in their towns and villages.
These are newly-plowed wheat fields. Some fields this size are planted with alfalfa to be plowed under for spring planting. Excellent roads, as I have mentioned. Fun driving. No speed limits, really.
A reader mentioned the great Jacques Barzun. Years ago I had a friend who took a semester from Stanford only to take Barzun's famous cultural history and philosophy course at Columbia. It wasn't a course you could "take." You had to be approved for it and had to commit to it. Sometimes he would interview students to make sure they were up to it.
It was 3 books to read/week, and you had to stand and deliver in class. High standards for an undergrad (and grad) class. Barzun also never gave an A. He told the kids that nobody could digest all of this to his expectations. It was an academic humanities boot camp.
My pal, who had far more IQs than me, went on to a brilliant academic career and has always praised Prof. Barzun for it.
Towering Musical Theater Master, Broadway’s ‘West Side Story’ Lyricist,
At the BD homestead Thanksgiving, everybody brings something. It is semi-organized. This year, we had an abundance of homemade desserts, all wonderful.
The war on Thanksgiving is real 
The Bleak 
It's the time of year when I stock up on bags of Cranberries and throw them in the freezer.
While I would prefer, right now, to post about Italian charms and Thanksgiving blessings, I am 
The machine I use for editing seems to have crapped out. Lost all of today's links, and I don't think I can enter/edit new stuff entered into the pipeline for other contributors.
