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| Terranea Eco-Resort, on the peninsula at Rancho Palos Verdes |
Hi Victoria's Secret!
The Staff and Management of the Island Inn were delighted to have the pleasure of seeing your new line of alluring undergarments, particularly the last model. Now that Mme Coriandre has her Gold Card she might need a few of the underwire apparatii!
Friends Lynne and Peter, from Naramata, are arriving today for two nights. Friend Stefano, from Bendigo, flew into town on Thursday. He leaves for Edmonton tomorrow. Cora Lee ecided upon beef ribs with a warm mushroom salad for dinner tonight. Those are the only "advance" menu details that a mere scullion, such as I, am privy to. I had to wheedle and fawn for hour upon hour at her Haughtiness's knee to obtain what little I have conveyed to your august personages.
Lynne and Peter have conveyed that they will bring fresh Okanagan cherries along with "some cheeses from the newly-opened Upper Bench Vineyards and Creamery. The cheesemaker there used to be the chief cheesemaker at Poplar Grove so we know how good she is. Besides some of the same chesses that she used to make for PG, she has a whole new range at the new place some of which are specifically made to go with certain of the Upper Bench wines." Legs Levine, a squash friend, will join us for dinner, contributing her famous gluten-free rhubarb crumble for dessert. Flamin' anad Sarge will complete circle. Since Peter, Sarge, Legs and I all play bridge we will have a few rounds while the rest chat and bring drinks!
The cherries should pair rather nicely with the fresh Richmond strawberries, Birak Berry Farm, #6 Road, picked in the hot sun, on hands and knees, by Robo Man and myself, after we cycled there, this past wednesday. I collected 10 lbs, ($1.50/lb, (Not quite sure why measurement is not in kilos!), while Raymundo managed about 12. I don't think he ate as many as I did!
After we had weighed in and paid, we transferred our haul into Tupperare containers we'd brought along in our panniers. Ray had used a larger pail than the ice-cream buckets I'd found at the end of one of the rows so I put a few of the containers that I didn't need on the bonnet of an older car parked beside the fruit stand. He poured the berries into the containers and I kept the fruit from bouncing every which way. We'd almost finished when a man with two large pails of his own strawberries came up to us and asked if the car belonged to us. We said no and he immediately started swearing at us, quite vehemently so. We apologized immediately, removed the offending containers but he kept on and on. His language was vile in the extreme. I know we probably should not have "presumed" to use the hood, (Thought never would have crossed our minds had LL's new Lexus been car in question!), but in all fairness our containers were clean and smooth and had not done a speck of damage to his paint job, such as it was.
This went on for sometime and finally, Ray, who is one of the most polite people you could ever meet, had had enough. I actually thought that he was going to punch the guy, (I learned later that he was thinking of socking the chap but remembered the finger he'd injured from a slight fall last week, when he'd stumbled coming down the basement stairs. Tough as nails, a Newcastle lad, slow to anger but watch out if he reaches a certain point. Many years ago, when his wife, Sylvia, was about to give birth to one of their children, forget which one, he asked to play first match in a squash league fixture at Evergreen. John Hungerford, ('Orrible Hungie was my nickname for him as he really was a bully. That is another story but must, unfortunately, Dear Reader, wait for now.), by virtue of his position in the line-up was supposed to go first and insisted that this be the case, in spite of Ray's reasonable request. Ray never liked John, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was a question of class. Hungerford, (You may know the name.), was from one of the monied, certainly in Ray's mind, self-imagined elite, blue blood Vancouver families, Lawn Tennis membership, Shaughnessy Golf Course, etc., while Ray was working class mining/factory stock. As soon as he said he didn't care about the impending birth Ray was on him like a pit-bull, throwing the first punch and although Hungerford was much larger and taller, if some of the other team players had not grabbed Ray, not sure if "Orrible would have had any front teeth left! Needless to say, Ray played first and Hungerford gave Ray a wide berth from then on in. In fact, he didn't renew his VRC membership and went back to VLTBC the following season, his mangy tail between his legs to lick his wounds and spread nasty rumours about Mad Dog Banks!
This by way of background as I could see Robo Man's slow burn moving toward flash point. I insinuated myself between them and apologized once more. The cantankeroid refused to let up so I had had enough, by then myself, especially when he accused us of putting the large pail on the hood and scratching the paint. We had done nothing of the sort and I told him, in no uncertain terms, that yes we had erred with the small plastic containers, for which we were very sorry but since he could not accept our sincere apology that we should simply drop the matter and that he should get on with his crabbed, miserable life. This, of course, didn't help the situation but I felt better. Still muttering to himself he inspected the hood one last time and then loaded his berries. We both kept an eye on him as he backed his car out of space as it didn't escape us, his reaction having been so extreme, that he might try to hit our bikes which were near-bye. In fact, he left without further incident. Our guess was that he was more worried that he might actually scratch his car than exacting revenge. Strawberry Rage: a new syndrome!
On a much happier note, we enjoyed a wonderful meal at The French Table on Main and 23rd, that night:
http://www.thefrenchtable.ca/
The Millionaires were in town, en route to Peterborough today, to celebrate Grogg's Mom's 92nd. We did not know the place so it was the first time for F/S, Cora Lee and myself. Herve Martin used to own the Hermitage on Robson. The FT is a really a wonderful spot indeed. We had a truly enjoyable meal, (I ordered Sweet breads grenobloise, capers, tomatoes, onion, parsley, lemon butter, celeriac remoulade, for an appetizer and the Sauteed calf liver, chopped garlic and parsley with butter for my main. Espresso creme brule for dessert. Magnifique! Wines were simply wonderful as well: Château La Couranconne Gratitude, Pirramimma Shiraz and a Châteauneuf-du-Pape that wasn't yet on the list! Nice to have rich friends with "pull" and deep pockets. Grogg very kindly and generously footed the bill, saying it was their birthday present for Cora Lee's 65th as they will be away when she turns into a Senior!
Been fairly busy ever since
Will be in touch about a visit in coming weeks, if that works for everyone, Happy Canada Day! Fondestos and Cheers to the Boat People, I remain, in abject servitude, as ever and always, your liege tavern keeper and stable boy. Cheers, Trizzio!
The view from our room at Terranea...saw two whales crossing the inlet earlier!
Ayn P I am at the Terranea Resort on the peninsula at Rancho Palos Verdes...it's breath-takingly gorgeous. My friend is writing a review for the place and I am just tagging along!
Tranquility before an amazing meal tonight at the resort's best restaurant.
Patrick James Dunn Crème brûlée for dessert, perchance?what an amazing evening at Mar'cel...the food we had has changed my life First off, it's Mar'sel...we had dishes I am not even equipped to describe...a pork cheek, braised, with the most sinful risotto Christina Tassell Risotto in Thermomix? Ayn P It's really Thermom-ix....Patrick James Dunn Really it's Thermo(nuclear)-Mix!
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| Sunset at Terranea...ahhhhhh |
But anyway .. in case you are lonely and destitute ...
Have you noticed that if you just put the word "chicken" in front of any of the names on the Italian football team, it sounds like a really tasty recipe?
How about "Chicken Bocatelli"? "Chicken Buffon"? … No lack of examples.
Game is on at the boat, I am making breakfast. Show starts @11:00.
más adelante//bjp
________________________
Branko Perić
¡Va España!
Hi Ragin'!
Thanks for invitation but it was a busy time and I don't think I even read my email until a day or so later. Anyway. I would still like to chat about things Mac so let me know when you are available. Thanks and Cheers, Il Conduttore!
THE GREEK BAILOUT
It is a slow day in a little Greek Village . The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.
On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.
The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel. The guy at the Farmers' Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the taverna. The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him 'services' on credit. The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich German traveller will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism.
And that is how the bailout package works.
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