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.
Best consumed on a Bermuda beach or the veranda of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club after sailing down from Newport.
Bermuda is a delightful place, and a quick trip from the East Coast. My Dad was kind enough to pay for our honeymoon there, and we have been back many times since then to refresh our honeymoon whenever needed. My parents had their honeymoon there too.
We have each done our time in the Caribbean. We don't really care for it much. Decadent, uncivilized. How many hours do you want to sit on a beach like an idiot? Well, renting a bareboat for a week might be ok, visiting de islands, mon.
AKA doughnuts, aka donuts. It seems like almost every culture has some version of sweet or not-sweet fried dough. The problem in the USA is people baking it instead of deep-frying it in fat. To me, that's just sweetened bread.
Because I do not work in law-enforcement, I am not a fan of jelly donuts. The only kind I like are "plain" donuts, not too sweet, deep fried and crusty, with or without a dusting of confectioner's sugar or sprinkled with sugar crystals. If the bag doesn't show grease, they are no good.
Donuts and coffee. Good ones are hard to find these days.
Many Kosher Lower East Side delis have gone out of business, but Katz's is a survivor. There's nothing special about it - basic Jewish home-style and deli food in large portions. All the pastrami, matzoh ball soups, and latkes that gentiles love too.
Besides the place staying in the family, I think one of their secrets has been NOT to change. We've all seen popular little old funky places decide to expand, renovate, and go upscale. And then go bust.
London Broil (nothing to do with London, it seems) is a cut of top round. Inexpensive but very tasty hunk of cow. It is often recommended that it be marinated for hours. That's fine, but not really necessary. All you need to do is to coat it heavily with salt and pepper, and maybe a steak rub, and throw it in a full-heat frying pan. Three- five minutes on each side depending on its thickness. A good black crust on it.
Let it rest 5-10 minutes, then slice against the grain, on a very sloping angle, as thin as you can with a good knife.
While the meat is resting, throw some thick onion slices into the grease and oil and brown them. Maybe a few mushrooms too. Toss them on top of your slices, cut up a tomato, and dinner is served.
In the photo, I feel even those slices are too thick- and not on enough of an angle either. When I say thin, I mean thin. Too thick slices can be like chewing gum. Very thin slices are great. Takes a good knife and a good knife-handler.
To my taste, a juicy Ribeye on the stovetop on cast iron, or a New York Strip on the grill with a high-blazing wood fire (no charcoal or gas, please) burnt to a crunchy crisp on the outside and raw on the inside.
Since Sicily, we have eschewed steak sauces for Pistachio Sauce (Pistachio Pesto) - not that a really good Costco steak needs any sauce but it makes it more fun.
It's a shame that I can't find those baby pig slices to grill here in the US, miele juvenal. Damn tasty and juicy. Can't buy piglets at Costco.
Classic Italian-American Sunday supper. Yes, they term tomato sauce "gravy." Some people like this style of southern Italian food, but I find it unpleasant. Not to mention the heartburn. Call me a food snob if you want.
I had the delight of attending a Connecticut Shad Bake on Sunday after a day of trout fishing. My pic above of shad (with lardons) on planks, with a tray of shad roe above. Shad roe is a special food for us. Shad Bakes are done on rough planks over an open wood fire.
Some pics of somebody else's Shad Bake. Yes, you nail the filets on the planks. The only seasonings are salt and pepper.
Shad are anadromous fish which migrate up rivers to breed in April and the beginning of May. The jolly bake I was invited to attend had Connecticut River shad, expertly-boned (few people know how to filet a Shad) along with whatever sacks of roe that the female Shad contained.
Nice outdoor party, in the woods by a large pond. Seemed like I had two degrees of separation from people I met there.
Serve it up with beer, cole slaw, potato salad, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.
In 1952, Armon M. Sweat, Jr., a member of the Texas House of Representatives, was asked about his position on whiskey. What follows is his exact answer (taken from the Political Archives of Texas):
"If you mean whiskey, the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that topples Christian men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fiber of my being.
However, if by whiskey you mean the lubricant of conversation, the philosophic juice, the elixir of life, the liquid that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of anelderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life's great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into Texas treasuries untold millions of dollars each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this nation, then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favor of it.
This is my position, and as always, I refuse to compromise on matters of principle."
Scoop of the best vanilla ice cream you can find or make. Splash a shot of the best whisky you can afford on top. Then dust with finely-ground (powdered) espresso coffee.
Who knew that Italians drink Scotch? According to government guidelines, this recipe contains all three basic food groups: dairy, alcohol, and caffeine.
The "Brown Sauces" for meat are one of the four or five "Mother Sauces" in European cuisine. Really, French cuisine, because Italian cuisine has no original complex sauces (except Bolognese), and there is no such thing as English cuisine.
Readers know that my old stand-by brown sauce, Gibier, is an all-purpose concoction for game birds, chicken, and meat. Not to mention roast turkey. Also as a base for beef bourguignon or a soupy thing for meat ravioli. Depends on how much you want to reduce it for the purpose. Tastes like the soul of the earth.
In my (admittedly-amateur) opinion, brown sauces are made with roasted veal bones/stock, venison or pork bones, and/or poultry bones/stock, but not beef. Gotta roast the bones. I freeze it, but no real chef would do that.
What about "Steak Sauce"? If you go to a great steak&chop place like Peter Lugar's in Brooklyn, they put a bottle of their sauce on the table. Delicious stuff, but market steak sauces tend to overwhelm the meat in my view. If it's great meat, that's an error.
I happen to love corned beef and cabbage (plus potatoes) - as long as there is plenty of horseradish mustard and beer.
The real name of the meal is New England Boiled Dinner. I cook it all together in a giant pot. If the beef needs a knife, it's underdone. I think it should almost crumble.
I will make some for my Irish father-in-law tomorrow. No Guiness, though. It really does not go with food in my opinion. Heck, it's a meal in itself. In Irish pubs, they throw one or two raw eggs in it, stir it up, and call it breakfast.
Northern Italian menu on restaurant row. The Fegato alla Veneziana (Calve's Liver, Venetian-style) was the best I've ever had. Everybody with us agreed. The Vitello tonnato (Veal with Tuna Sauce) was also delicious. Not quite as good as Mrs. BD makes, but very tasty and delicate.
They do have a popular pasta-tasting menu item but when we do fine Italian, we usually don't bother with pasta. Who needs it, with so many other tastier, less-filling things?
We recommend the cheerful place. It's just a few steps from Barbetta (Since 1906) which is equally good but more formal, hushed, less fun (and more expensive).
Readers know that when the Bird Dog family travels, we often stay clear of the madding crowds. It is a preference for certain sorts of things, roads less traveled and all that.
When I get my photos in order (I took around 40 snaps which is a lot for me, mostly corny landscapes), I will show and tell about some parts of Barbados many visitors never see, far from the beach resorts and the golf courses but never far from Flying Fish Sandwiches and rum. This pic from one of our hikes, along the north coast:
Bajan Rum Punch - The recipe is so deeply ingrained in Barbados' culture that its recipe is a well-known rhyme: "One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak."
(Makes about 2 1/2 quarts)
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice 2 cups simple syrup (equal parts white sugar and water, heated until sugar dissolves) 3 cups Barbados rum (Clear or amber, and just 2 cups if you want to enjoy more of it) 4 cups water (or partly orange juice or papaya, or mango...) A few dashes of Angostura bitters Grated nutmeg
I am not a big pasta fan, but if you want to try one pasta dish as a primi in Sicily, this is it. Bucatini seems to be the typico pasta for this. Fennell (finocchio) grows wild all over Sicily. A roadside weed.
Recipe here., but, better, a very good instructional video here. The guy claims tinned sardines work as well as fresh, but I dunno. I can buy fresh sardines (and fresh anchovies) here. Anyway, the video makes me hungry.
Our seafood shop sends a guy down to Brighton Beach before each Christmas and New Year's Day to pick up 250 gm. tins of fresh Russian caviar from the Russian shops. (Brooklyn's Brighton Beach is heavily Russian immigrants.) You just have to phone in and pre-order yours from our guy. It's the farmed variety nowadays, which is a good thing.
We can have those large tins of fresh malossol (fresh, unsalted Sturgeon caviar) for $150 each. Mind you, that could be $800-$1000 at Petrossian. If you go to Brighton Beach yourself, you can buy a tin of Russian for as little as $80. Yes, it is the real deal. Amazing. I have never been to Brighton Beach but I hear that if you like Russian food, it's better there than in Moscow.
Handy tip from my chef friend for the holidays: The rule is Four Days in the Fridge.
You include the day you made it in the 4 days. After that, it's garbage. I have learned this over the years from unfortunate experience - especially with Thanksgiving leftovers.
Mark Steyn was funny the other day, explaining how the Customs agents confiscated three Buches de Noel he tried to bring from Quebec to his home in New Hampshire. He observed that if he had brought three Somalis or Syrians without documents instead of three Buches, it would have been no problem.
Order yours now from your local bakery and it will be ready when you need it. They will make them whatever length you need. It's not Christmas without one.
If you really want to ruin Christmas season, try making one yourself. This job is for professionals.
Chefs are extremely particular about their knives. They even travel with them if they might have to spend a little time in a kitchen.
My chef friend loves her Gunter-Wilhelms. They are not the most expensive professional knives (the best Japanese sets go for $2000+), but she says the Gunters have the heft and authority that she likes.
The real cocktail of Bermuda:
AKA doughnuts, aka donuts. It seems like almost every culture has some version of sweet or not-sweet fried dough. The problem in the USA is people baking it instead of deep-frying it in fat. To me, that's just sweetened bread.
Summertime. You need an ice cream machine. Th
Burgers etc are great on charcoal. Cuts of beef, not so much in my opinion. 
DON'T YOU LOVE A MAN OF PRINCIPLES???
Restaurants 
We'll have 12 or so for after-church 
The "Brown Sauces" for meat are one of the
Mark Steyn was funny the other day, explaining how the Customs agents confiscated three Buches de Noel he tried to bring from Quebec to his home in New Hampshire. He observed that if he had brought three Somalis or Syrians without documents instead of three Buches, it would have been no problem.
Chefs are extremely particular about their knives. They even travel with them if they might have to spend a little time in a kitchen.