Chocolate

Posted on July 20, 2011 by fast eddie

About a week after posting about my favorite ice cream, I received a delivery of incredibly good ice cream from a reader who felt that a mere comment would not adequately express the emotion he felt for his local creamery. It was a very effective form of advocacy. It also clued me in to the power of the keyboard. So I thought I would try again with chocolate!

Chocolate lovers are very passionate about this subject, so I am hoping for some spirited feedback and debate on this topic (if not some postal surprises). Many chocolate lovers sing the praises of Valrhona Noir Extra Amer-85% Cacao. It’s often used for the center in Molten Chocolate Cake. One of my friends keeps a large bell jar of M&M’s on her family room coffee table–a real test of discipline. Another friend eats a single piece of Swiss Lindt chocolate every day. An Italian friend loves Perugina’s Baci chocolates. A friend from Brussels loves Mary Belgian chocolates. There is no shortage of opinions.

I am partial to dark bitter chocolate with no frills. No filling (if you must, nuts and raisins). No non-chocolate flavoring. Not too sweet. These are some of my favorites:

  • Amedei: I once took my family on a detour during a holiday in Tuscany to find the Amedei factory in Pontedera near Pisa. It’s my favorite, but it’s hard to find.
  • Pierre Marcolini: My favorite Belgian chocolate. He used to have a shop near our house in Kensington. A perfect house gift (if you can’t find Amedei).
  • Sally Clarke’s Chocolate Truffles: Another Kensington favorite. Sorry but you can only get these there. If you are in London, make a special stop.
  • Green & Black’s Organic: A mainstay in my shopping cart, particularly the Hazelnut & Currant Dark and the 85% Dark.
  • See’s Dark Nuts & Chews: I’ll take the nuts; you can have the chews.
  • Raisinets: Good old movie treat. Now I’m partial to the dark chocolate version.
  • Hershey’s with Almonds: This is where it all started in the early 1960’s, waiting on the street corner for my grandfather to stop by on his way home from work with a Hershey bar to spoil my appetite before dinner.
Posted in Food, Travel | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Dad’s 80th Birthday

Posted on July 19, 2011 by fast eddie

Today is my Dad’s 80th birthday.

My father exaggerates more than anyone in the universe. No exaggeration!

My father has a new shoulder and two new knees. Who would have thought sitting in a recliner could be so hazardous?

My father has the same answer to every question. That answer is “no”. If you want a different answer, ask my mother.

My father mispronounces everyone’s name. If your name ends in an ‘s’ or ‘z’, he will omit it. If it doesn’t, he will add it. When LeBron joined the Miami Heat, he became Lee Brown.

Every morning my father goes to a diner or coffee shop for breakfast. He orders scrambled eggs, sliced tomatoes, rye toast and black coffee. If I am not with him, he slathers the toast with butter. He knows places where he can get all this for $3.99. He is usually the youngest person there.

After breakfast he runs his daily errand. Each day of the week is for a different errand. On Mondays, he goes to the bank. On Tuesdays, he gets gas in one car. On Wednesdays, he gets gas for the other car. On Thursdays, he goes to the post office. On Fridays, he goes to the dry cleaner. On Saturdays, he goes to the grocery store. On Sundays, he rests.

On most days, after his daily chore, my father goes to see a doctor even if there is nothing wrong. He likes to talk to the receptionists and nurses. He does not understand that “How are you?” is a greeting. He thinks it is a request for his medical history. When you see him, just say hello.

When my father goes to the bank, he goes inside so he can talk to the teller. He is afraid of the ATM.

Some days he plays golf with my mother. See Golf Lessons. Usually he goes early to get a free bagel. After he is done, he goes into the men’s locker room to bring home a cupful of free mixed nuts.

My father gets a new pair of shoes every year at the Veteran’s Hospital. They are beige and have velcro straps instead of laces. He doesn’t care what they look like. They are free.

My father still reads a newspaper. It confuses me when we talk because he is always a day behind.

The last piece of technology that my father mastered was the TV remote control. He thinks a computer is called a ‘Google’ and everything that you do on it is called “googling”. Every year when we visit, we change the CD’s in his multi-disk CD carousel so he can listen to a few different Andy Williams or Frank Sinatra albums.

My father is like an M&M. Hard on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside. My mother loves M&M’s.

Today my father is walking around Savannah, Georgia spending his 8oth birthday looking at old houses and learning about history. He hates walking and old things. He makes up his own history.

My Dad loves my Mom.

Happy Birthday Dad.

July 19, 2011

Posted in Ruminations | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Fat Eddie

Posted on July 18, 2011 by fast eddie

Remember Fat Eddie? He came after Fast Eddie and before Fit Eddie. He was a lot of fun. He liked Burgers (see Burgers) and Ice Cream (see Ice Cream). And beer, wine, scotch, cognac, french fries, spaghetti & meatballs, veal parmagiana subs, pizza, lasagna, sausage & peppers, Raisinets, Baby Ruths, potato chips, chocolate donuts, and cheesecake. He hated exercise. He was last seen around the turn of the Millenium. If you spot him again, please take away his french fries.

Posted in Food, Humor, Ruminations | 1 Comment

GPS

Posted on July 17, 2011 by fast eddie

I am lost. I got in a fight with my GPS. It kept telling me to go in a direction that I thought was wrong. It had a woman’s voice so I didn’t trust it to give me directions. I went my way instead. Then it kept telling me to get off at the next exit and turn around. I ignored it. Then it adjusted to my new route and we agreed for awhile. Then we got into a big traffic jam so I started to try to find a short cut. It had trouble keeping up with my new route and kept telling me to turn after it was too late. Then it told me to go down a one way street in the wrong direction. So I was on my own for a while until I found my way back to the traffic jam on the main road. Then it told me that I was driving too close to the car in front of me and needed to be more careful. And that we were going to be late for dinner because I was stubborn and refused to follow directions. I love my GPS.

 

Posted in Humor, Ruminations | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The King of King’s Road (5)

Posted on July 16, 2011 by fast eddie

(continued from The King of King’s Road (4))

The fashionistas began to queue early. Wearing floppy hats and large sunglasses to hide themselves from the casual observer, the trendiest of the trendy gathered in front of the store before opening time to gain an edge on the casual shoppers who would stroll by later in the day. They waited patiently in an orderly manner as the shopgirls inside organized the new boxes of shoes and a doorman stood ready to control the rush. The prospect of designer shoes at heavily discounted prices attracted a crowd rivaled in size and regularity only by the crazies and tourists who gathered at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park each Sunday morning. The clearance sales each season at the already discounted LK Bennett Clearance Store on The King’s Road had become a major attraction on the London shopping scene.

The homeless man watched curiously from across the street as the ladies arrived and the crowd grew. He moved closer to see what had attracted such attention. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he crossed the street and sat on the sidewalk in front of the LK Bennett Store with his coffee can and cardboard sign. Each of the ladies averted their eyes and moved subtly away from the homeless man while making sure to maintain their place in the queue. No one put any coins in the homeless man’s coffee can. The doorman glared at the homeless man from inside the shop. The sight of the homeless man sitting in front of the store made everyone uncomfortable.

Promptly at 10am, the doors to the LK Bennett store opened and the fashionable ladies in the orderly queue rushed in and became a scrum. Once there were thirty ladies in the small store the doorman stopped the flow of new entrants and waited for someone to leave before allowing anyone new to enter. Within minutes, the carefully arranged boxes were in disarray as the shoppers searched for shoes in their size and began trying them on throughout the store, while eyeing each other to see what they might be missing. The challenge of finding the right size was the key to success. No one wanted to leave empty-handed. The shopgirls scurried around trying rebox the shoes and restore some order to the inventory. Eventually, women began to find success and a slow trickle began to leave carrying their new designer shoes.

As the women left, satisfied with their morning conquests, they rushed past the homeless man without noticing. Once a sufficient number had left the store, the doorman began to let more shoppers in until the store was filled again.  He continued to glare at the homeless man who was oblivious to his displeasure. Finally, he went over to the homeless man and asked him to leave. At first, the doorman asked quietly but the homeless man did not respond. Then, as he became frustrated by the affront to his authority, the doorman became louder and more aggressive. The homeless man continued to ignore him as the doorman continued to attempt to dislodge him from the sidewalk in front of the store. Then, without speaking or acknowleding the doorman’s presence, the homeless man took out his Rubik’s Cube and began to twist and turn the tiles until he quickly solved the puzzle. He then continued to solve it over and over again. The doorman stopped harrassing the homeless man and watched him with bemusement for a few minutes before returning to his post at the door to the shop. The women, both coming and going, still took no notice of the homeless man, even as he played with his puzzle.

To be continued…

Posted in Fiction | Tagged | Leave a comment