Well, there you have it!

Feeling stressed? You ought to have a tantrum

By Daily Mail Reporter

The end of the holidays, cold weather and economic gloom will make today one of the most stressful days of the year for returning to work.

But experts have come up with an unlikely remedy - throwing a tantrum.

Technorati Tags: copeless, problems, solutions, Tantrums

Village California Bistro and Wine Bar on Santana Row in San Jose.

We just saw Valkyrie with Tom Cruise across the street (which is a review in the making) and decided we needed a bite to eat! Stopped to look at a few menus down Santana Row and passed by the french place—Left Bank, which if I had my druthers we should have given a try. The Village Bistro could seat us right away if we were willing to sit outside. We gave outside a try because it was nicely decorated with heavy drapery and heaters that made us feel like we were inside except for the open ceiling to remind us we weren’t. They went to the trouble to not only tell us about the outside seating, but showed us as well. That gave me more confidence about sitting in that area.

The drink / wine menus were pricey—looks like they’re trying to offset the relatively reasonable food prices with the higher drink prices. Some restaurants are so clever or should I say, think we’re all so stupid! There’s a recession going on you know!

The waitress even told us how lucky we were to be able to get a great deal on a half bottle of wine, it was ONLY $24 dollars! And there are 2 glasses worth of wine in a half bottle! $12 per glass—Yay! (I almost forgot about the financial disaster that is currently consuming the rest of the world! $24 dollars for 2 glasses of wine is a bargain!)

We, of course ordered a whole bottle of some french Chenin Blanc, poured into warm wine glasses, and told by the waitress that the wine didn’t need a cooler because it was cold.

Signals: Red—Stop, Green—Go, Smile—Happy, Frown—Sad. You get the idea…
Feeling the glass, picking the glass up and feeling it—should signal to the waitress that something is troubling the diner. Especially when my guest noticed my signal of touching and looking at the glass and asked if we should get a wine cooler, to which the waitress told us the wine was cold enough. But not if it’s being poured into warm wine glasses. Maybe I’m too picky, but when a bottle of wine costs $42 I expect the glasses to be the proper temperature! Hell, I expect that at any place that serves wine at any price!

Did I mention that the table was not sitting on the floor properly—one leg shorter than the rest—needed a wedge or something. I can’t stand putting my arm on the table and shifting weight and the whole table rocks back and forth. Also, I couldn’t put my feet straight down on the floor because the legs of the table limited where I could put my feet and move my chair. Bad place for a table.

My guest was willing to keep her foot on the leg for the entire dinner versus me asking the waitress if she could fix the table. I eventually asked anyway and the waitress’s solution was to push the table so it would butt the table up against a 2 inch beam on the wall—which sort of solved the issue temporarily.

We ordered:

Small plates

• Heirloom Beets on a bed of arugula with shaved Ricotta Salata cheese on the menu. Very nicely dressed, fresh and tasty. $10
• Confit of Duck leg with pear chutney, visually not what I was expecting, but creatively presented in a ring mold on dressed frissee and served with toast points—very delicious! The duck was moist and crispy and flavorful. The chutney was nicely laced with ginger and not overpowering. Assemble it all on a toast point—a winner! $10
• Braised Duck Strozzupretti: below… $16

Yes, I would say we eat on the slower side. You know take a bite, talk a little, drink some wine, talk a little, take a bite, talk a little, drink some more wine… You get the idea—the idea of the whole dining out experience thing!

The waitress did ask, from time to time, how everything was. In the middle of appetizers she did fly by, observed, and then told us that our entree would be there shortly. I thought that odd at the time because I would say that we were only through a third of our delicious appetizers. Signals! Remember to watch for the SIGNALS, still eating appetizers—DON’T BRING OUT THE ENTREE! Did I mention we asked for the apps to come out first then the entree?
So, after two more bites a different waiter shows up, looking to put down the entree that we were to share AFTER we had the appetizers. My guest did ask me if she could combine the two appetizers to make room, while the waiter stood there with our food. I said “NO,” hoping he would get my SIGNAL and take the food back until we were ready for it. I got his signal that he wasn’t going anywhere and my guests signal that I should be more reasonable—and I accepted her signal. After all…

Now, we pushed the delicious apps aside and started on the entree. Listed on the menu as Braised Duck Strozzupretti, a main dish of duck, told by the waitress it’s actually pasta tubes with duck, mushrooms, broccoli rabe, pearl onions, and a brandy cream sauce. Sounded delicious, although, I still believe, not as advertised on the menu. Still sounded good. Small portion though, long pasta size made it hard to put it in your mouth gracefully, stingy on the amount of duck, and could have used a bit more flavor. The dish was pretty as a picture though. I did have to ask for cheese… The warm bread, for the table that I always enjoy, was perfect for dunking. Which I enjoyed more than taking forkfuls.

The waitress asked if we wanted dessert, but looking to drop the bill—was in hand motioning the drop. We asked to see the dessert menu, which the waitress brought us and at the same time dropped the bill! SIGNAL to us from the waitress—get the hell out!

Before we could even open the menu the waitress was back to ask us if we decided to get out or order dessert, actually she did this twice, just like she did for the original order. We said, “no,” on the third ask and put the credit card on the bill. Which, ironically I might add, she was then in no rush to pick up and take our money!

I think restaurants should be resisted the days right after New Years Eve—unless we’re talking about McDonalds, which you know you can count on being the same food, same service, at the same prices—they don’t even do that up-sell “Supersize,” thing anymore! Clever restaurants!

Couple of notes:

• Seat only as many guests as you can serve in the manner of your restaurant. (even if it’s only one diner and you have 100 empty seats!
• The restaurant was moderately busy and it did look like the waitress did get a large dinner party half way through our meal. Not my problem.
• The busboy was helpful and attentive—thank you!
• I did like the beets and the confit very much—both presentation and taste.
• I liked the variety of the menu.
• Would I go back? Yes, I would give them a second try, but really, have you seen how many restaurants there are on Santana Row to try?
• Is service important? Yes, I don’t believe that’s even a question, but who does the fault really belong to—Management.

—iChef

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Technorati Tags: Poor service, Restaurant, San Jose, Santana Row, The Village Bistro and Wine Bar

Dear iChef,

I keep trying the same thing over and over again and nothing ever changes. What can I do?

In the immortal words of Ritchie Cunningham, “Huh, huh, huh.”

Let’s try something new for 2009!

The word on the streets these days is,

…good riddance to 2008! 2009 is the year everything will turn around for me and CHANGE…

Well I have something to say about that! (of course you do…)

Unless you actually do something differently, the chances that something will actually change are very slim—unless you change certain behaviors in your life, the results will most likely be the same!

You know the old adage about insanity? It’s freaking insane to keep repeating the same steps of an experiment and expecting a different result! Change something!

I’m thinking these thoughts all the time. I even say them from time to time. But I haven’t put it down on paper. I’m not sure I could do a better job so I’ll not spend any time reinventing the wheel—and with that I will add that to the bottom of the list. Let me also state here that the list shouldn’t be taken in any particular order of importance. Start anywhere, somewhere, just start!

Do you have any advice, pearls of wisdom, ideas to help the rest of us? If so, let me know and I will add it to the list

Don’t be afraid to listen to others or discount what they have to say—even if they’re somehow involved or associated with a church. (That will be the second bit of advice I will add to the bottom of the list.)

****************************************

Hat tip to iChef Roberts on finding this gem (wheel.)

This is from Tom Ehrich. Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest. His Web site is www.morningwalkmedia.com.

Tom Ehrich: Break bad ‘08 habits

* Don’t believe in “something for nothing.” We cannot continue to suspend skepticism and careful evaluation just because we want things to be a certain way. A shell game is always a shell game.

* Don’t trust the banker who hawked you a home equity loan. In their headlong pursuit of bonuses, many financial workers broke faith with their customers, sold us inappropriate products, gambled recklessly with our money, and now want us to bear the burden.

* Don’t shop on credit. This is the year to tear up credit cards, stop drawing down home
equity loans, and stop using debt to finance our lifestyles. Even if it has short-term impact
on retailers, we need to get our personal finances in order. A healthy consumer economy needs to be spending real money, not plastic.

* Don’t let your job define you. We grow up believing that career defines our worth and identity. Then, when we make necessary career changes, and especially when we have changes thrust upon us, we don’t just sputter financially. We descend into a pit of self-doubt and self-destructive behavior.

* Be generous even when you feel strapped. True community depends on people looking out for each other, especially when danger or distress loom. Any society can spend prosperity; a truly special society shares its food with the hungry.

* Learn to can vegetables and to make repairs. It isn’t about saving money, but about self-reliance and making do. As we stagger into the second year of a worsening recession, it is important that we each feel capable and not rendered powerless by a complex world.

* Learn from failure. The greatest shortcoming among recent leaders hasn’t been their
mistakes, bad guesses and faulty information, but their refusal to admit failure, to accept accountability for failure and to learn from failure. We the people, in turn, need to stop pouncing on failure.

* Rethink how you raise your children. We seem to be engaged in an epic experiment in non-
parenting, with too many children raised by minimum-wage employees, television and over-involved parents living through their children. The results are sobering: children who cannot think for themselves, who have a high sense of entitlement, who plagiarize without compunction, and who are intellectually and motivationally unprepared to learn. Who, then, will make the hard decisions and do the hard work that freedom and economic vitality require?

* Help your faith community grow by accepting changes. Now more than ever, our society needs faith communities that are able to heal at the margins, speak forcefully at the center, and help a distracted and floundering people find solid ground. Conflict and resistance to change paralyze too many congregations.

* Spend more time at home with loved ones. Even if we could still afford the parallel lives that many families lead (and we can’t), this is the year to spend more time together. Living overly busy, career-centered and separate lives hasn’t worked.

* Stop living vicariously through a celebrity culture. We need to look into our mirrors and stop seeing what we wish we were, and instead find peace in who we are.

• Stop spending time reinventing the wheel—it’s already been invented—sheesh!
• Don’t be afraid to listen to others or discount what they have to say—even if they’re somehow involved or associated with a church. We don’t know everything, if we did, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

Good luck with all of that!

—iChef PSA

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Others with something to say:

Michelle Malkin: Predictions for the New Year and See-Dubya’s New Year’s Resolutions

The Anchoress: A 2008 Round Up

Technorati Tags: Advice, insanity, Op/Ed, Sage, Tom Ehrich

Merry Christmas!

Italian style:
at my uncles, lots of people, lots of drinks, lots of incredible food!
I write about my uncle, his house, and style in the book The Road Letters.

This is the one time of year I actually get to relive and recapture the sensation of the dinner rush so-to-speak. It’s usually crazy, out of control, and under pressure. And anyone who has been on the line knows exactly what I mean.

The night is filled with people shouting, laughing, loving. Smells of great food wafting. Drinks free flowing. Family, different generations all over the place.

Tradition, familia, food and wine… Yes, Virginia, this is what Christmas is all about…

The Menu:

• Cold Seafood Salad: Shrimp celery, calamari, scungili, red onion finely sliced, light olive oil and lemon dressing.
• Hot mussels marinara: beautifully cooked mussels is a perfectly seasoned spicy hot marinara sauce.
  Sweet mussels marinara: beautifully cooked mussels is a perfectly seasoned marinara sauce.
• Bakala: salt cod in a tomato, olive, and mushroom sauce.
• Stuffed fillet of sole: baked golden with a luscious bread and cheese filling.
• Linguini with clam sauce—my uncle’s specialty: garlicy, clammy, tilt the bowl to catch the last drop..
• Alaskan King Crab legs: (cut down the middle by me—the most dangerous and my least favorite job!) steamed to perfection and served with lemon butter.
• Garlic Croutons: for sopping up all the unbelievably flavorful sauces
• Homemade cookies including petit fours, cakes, chocolates, and coffee.

Midnight ends the sacrifice of not eating meat. So the cooking starts up again at about 11:30 pm.

• Sausage (mix of sweet and hot Italian—sliced), with Sam’s special salad and crusty bread at midnight. Ice cold beer!
• Drinks of the night included Tanqueray and (diet—I don’t need to get filled up on soda!) Tonic, Pinot Grigio, Assorted beer, Gin and cranberry,
• Oreo cookies at 2 am.

Important pieces missing: my brother who is with his girlfriend and her family and my fiancee and her children who are spending it across the country with her family.

Food and beverage missing: stuffed calimari—my grandmothers recipe. Louis XIV, like gentlemen after all is said and done… We needed to get to bed.

You would think that the preparation, cooking, and execution for this party would be enough for a while, but not for my uncle. The aftermath that was still around in the am, needed to be cleared, so that the preparation could start for Christmas—sit down dinner for 25 that will include: stuffed artichokes, filet mignon, baked stuffed mushrooms, sweet potatoes, on and on.

We won’t be with them for this dinner, but the dish I will miss most of all comes before we even sit down(not that sitting down happens for the cooks until everyone is already eating—the hot antipasto that his mother-in-law makes—thin lean beef rolled with layers of salami, mortadella, prosciutto, ham, parmesan and provolone chheses; slowly simmered in tomato sauce for hours until it literally falls apart and melts in your mouth. The crusty Italian bread for dipping—OMG!

Bon Apetito and Bon Natale…

—Irascible Chef

Technorati Tags: 2008, Bon Apetito, Bon Natale, family, food, Italian style, Menu, Merry Christmas, Recipe, wine

We had a little dinner party last night and although I prefer my food a little hotter (the trouble with being the cook) I think the food was right on target! The guests were happy—the goal!

If you would like any recipes just ask—lol!

The Menu

Passed appetizers included:

• Jarlsberg & Cambozola with crackers
• DL Pate with orange marmalade
• Fresh Mozz rolled with prosciutto and basil on seasoned croutons—warmed in the oven and drizzled with balsamic and olive oil.
• Jumbo lump crab meat on endive leaves with a dill mayo.
• Assorted California roll sushi with wasabi and ginger

The main event included:

• Sweet potatoes roasted with a modest cinnamon sugar, brown sugar, butter and seasoned just right.
• Baked stuffed mushrooms with, garlic, onions, diced mortadella, cheese, and bread crumbs—my grandfathers recipe.
• Green beans sautéed with garlic and onions.
• Beef Wellington iChef-twist—roasted filet of beef sliced and placed between puff pastry, garnished with a duxelle and pate and served with a cognac demi-glace with mushrooms.
• Mixed salad greens with carrots, mango, green apples and a balsamic vinaigrette.
• Wine and dessert brought by our guests were perfect!

The company was great! The wine was great! Yeah, the food was great too!

—iChef

Technorati Tags: # Baked stuffed mushrooms, # Sweet potatoes, Beef Wellington iChef-twist, demi-glace, Dinner Party Menu, Fresh Mozz, Jumbo lump crabmeat, Mixed salad greens, mortadella, prosciutto, sushi with wasabi and ginger, wine

O’ Cool

Top Ten Eleven Captions for this picture:

1. Do you smell what I’m cookin’
2. I remember when I was a kid…
3. Someday I will be President of the USA.
4. I inhaled and I liked it!
5. It doesn’t matter what the definition of “IS” is.
6. Relax, what are you worried about…
7. The devil is in the details.
8. But dad, its Smokey!
9. Kids be careful what you put on facebook it could prevent you from getting a job someday… Nevermind.
10. O’Cool in da house! Da Whitehouse—Bitch!

11. President Super Fly….. WeaselZippers—you have to go there to see his caption…

**********

What thousand words could you come up with?

Technorati Tags: News, O'Cool, Obama, Op/Ed, Politics, President, Proud, smoking, Top Ten Captions, Whitehouse

Although, I’m not at liberty to tell you which author she is on IrascibleChef I can tell you Mindy Roberts is the author of Mommy Confidential and TheMommyBlog.NET and she was interviewed for a 30 minute live segment on CNN this past weekend!

Unbelievable face time! And she was beautiful, articulate, and charming! It was quite a bit of fun watching her get ready and set up in her living room. CNN broadcast live, into living rooms all over the world, via Skype video technologies—amazing technology! This was Mindy’s best interview and I finally agree with my mother—she also looked amazing!

Mindy Roberts is a panelist on Momversation.com, a video chat (that has been professionally edited and currently sponsored by Target) where mothers (get it “mom-versation”) get together to discuss the topic of the day. Fantastic concept, and agree with their POV’s or not, it comes across great! My prediction is that it becomes a big commercial success!

Asha, from parenthacks.com was also interviewed that night on CNN and it was definitely a home run for all!

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Three sidenotes:

One: If you watched until the very end of ends even your humble narrator the IrascibleChef was mentioned by host Don Lemon—They requested TWITTERS and other im communication during the show and IrascibleChef did her TWITTER thing and Don read it at the end of the show. Of course he didn’t know how to pronounce irascible and had to correct himself, but none the less it’s on the record—BIG night for all!

Two: I know that CNN is not the place you’d usually see IrascibleChef traipsing about, but television is television!

Three: I think that MayFlower Don Lemon was hitting on Mindy! It was practically right out of The Lady’s Man handbook—a skit from SNL.

Cnn Presents: The Ladies Man, staring Don Lemon, as the Ladies man. Tonight, the Ladies man talks to Asha and Mindy about the economy and kids.

Don Lemon: Don Lemon here with some Courvoisier, spendin time in the living room with Mindy and Ashaaaa, how you girls doin tonight??
…
Don Lemon: Why don’t you ladies get yourselves a glass of wine, I’m going to stick to the Courvoisier.
…
Don Lemon: I didn’t realize we were back live. I was just dancin in place with my co-host while we were away for commercial…
…
Don Lemon: Let’s get back to the bedroom, I mean living room couch, and join Ashaaaa and Mindy—talkin about the economy and the poor kids. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about such sad times. Sad times are not good for the Ladies man’s aspirations. Ladies, can I get your numbers in case we get disconnected,*wink wink* if you know what I mean???

Don Lemon: Please…

Technorati Tags: CNN, Economy, IrascibleChef, Kids and the economy, Mindy Roberts, Momversation, News, Politics, skype, The Ladies man, Twitter

Shopping? Going to the Mall? Frantic yet? Randomly searching for the perfect gift?

The answer is here and obvious! FeenX Gallery!

Have you been to FeenX Gallery lately?

New look, new design, new feel. Same great quality art, photo’s, books, and cards! From all over the country all over the world!

Art is a gift that will last a lifetime and can be passed down from generation to generation…

Choosing Art can be a personal thing, give the gift of art by letting the receiver make the choice! Gift certificate packaging is a gift itself—very impressive!

I personally shop at FeenX Gallery all the time!

—iChef Retail

FeenX Gallery is also a sponsor of Irascible Chef, but this is not a paid advertisement.

Technorati Tags: America, Art, Books, Cards, China, Feenx Gallery, holiday shopping, Italy, Phil Ribaudo, Photography, USA

Single file please! Have your bus fare ready! (oh, no, no, no. You will be sitting under the bus…)

thanks to RightVoices

Office of the President Elect has found a new way to raise money! Not only are they going to start charging the people Obama throws under the bus, but they plan on selling tickets to spectators… I’m sure selling popcorn and soda pop are just around the corner!

The list of friends, family, and associates that PEBO has pancaked under the bus is long and distinguished! Finally, somebody who deserves to be there! Blagojevich and that sweet mouthed wife of his, deserve a free ride, under the bus.

UPDATE:

Breaking: Obama calls for Blago’s resignation

posted at 12:40 pm on December 10, 2008 by Ed Morrissey

Obama had tried to avoid commenting on Blagojevich’s options yesterday, preferring to remain aloof and let the process work itself out. Within 24 hours, Obama apparently changed his mind. Why? Perhaps David Axelrod’s remarks from last month unnerved the President-elect, and he decided that he had to get significant distance from Blagojevich.

If we could only get him to throw his buddy Ayers under the bus (I’d pay to see that!)—he’s probably worried that his buddy Ayers will start blowing up US Federal buildings again!

No Regrets for a Love Of Explosives; In a Memoir of Sorts, a War Protester Talks of Life With the Weathermen By DINITIA SMITHPublished: September 11, 2001

”I don’t regret setting bombs,” Bill Ayers said. ”I feel we didn’t do enough.” Mr. Ayers, who spent the 1970’s as a fugitive in the Weather Underground, was sitting in the kitchen of his big turn-of-the-19th-century stone house in the Hyde Park district of Chicago.

…

So, would Mr. Ayers do it all again, he is asked? ”I don’t want to discount the possibility,” he said.

UPDATE:

Video: Ayers still not sure nonviolent protest is better than setting bombs

Dec 10, 2008 8:36 PM by Allahpundit

“I think we made enormous mistakes,” he concedes, then quickly qualifies it by urging us to remember the context of the times. I searched for a way to describe his shtick here but can’t do better than this bit from Timothy Noah’s review of his book.

Technorati Tags: Ayers, Blogo, Corruption, News, Obama, Op/Ed, Politics, sell tickets, Thrown under the bus

Democrats and the media can no longer rest on the old rationalization that Blago is an exception to the “we’re cleaner than thou” rule. 2008 was the year of Democratic Reps. William “Cold Cash” Jefferson, Charlie “Sweetheart Deals” Rangel, and former Detroit Mayor Kwame “Text Me” Kilpatrick. It was the year Democratic Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson got caught stuffing bribes from an FBI informant down her shirt. It was the year 12 Democratic leaders and staffers in Pennsylvania’s state Capitol were stung in a massive corruption scandal involving cash, sex and abuse of public office. And it was the year of multimillion-dollar embezzlement scandals at Democratic satellite offices of ACORN and the SEIU.

Just because…

You mock Sarah Palin, tell us why she is the direct opposite of what a women should be, why her beliefs are wrong, why she is in fact the Antichrist (ironically your words signal that you don’t really believe in Christ) Here an accomplished woman at one of the highest levels of government in this country and you tear down a “WOMAN” in the name of YOUR cause, because she doesn’t believe what you believe. Priceless, really!

And you dare make concessions, apologies, and excuses… You dare hold up your values when they suit you (oh, right: dress you.) You dare condemn others for different beliefs—what happened to your tolerance message—right, I forgot, it’s when you want tolerance…

*Crickets* silencio silencio…

You dare, you hypocritical elitists!

Huh huh huhhhhh! Once again, I hear that Tammy Wynette music playing in the background. Different man, but Hillary stands by, make no mistake about it! And one more time the same advice—accepting this behavior because you benefit gives you the title hypocrite and vaporizes your credibility… That’s how I see it—and zombie surrogates pound out the same hypocrisy!

I could make the argument, that it appears in the picture, that Hillary is actually enjoying herself! (probably the first time…) More Change you can count on…

Myers shocked, shocked at Democrats objectifying women by Ed Morrissey

At what point does sexist behavior get taken seriously? At about the point when the Ds change to Rs, which Myers concedes later in the piece. But seriously, is Myers kidding? For which administration did she work, anyway? Bill Clinton had a long track record of sexual peccadilloes that ended with a stain on a blue dress belonging to a White House intern, a perjury charge, impeachment, and disbarment.

***************

Democrats and the media can no longer rest on the old rationalization that Blago is an exception to the “we’re cleaner than thou” rule. 2008 was the year of Democratic Reps. William “Cold Cash” Jefferson, Charlie “Sweetheart Deals” Rangel, and former Detroit Mayor Kwame “Text Me” Kilpatrick. It was the year Democratic Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson got caught stuffing bribes from an FBI informant down her shirt. It was the year 12 Democratic leaders and staffers in Pennsylvania’s state Capitol were stung in a massive corruption scandal involving cash, sex and abuse of public office. And it was the year of multimillion-dollar embezzlement scandals at Democratic satellite offices of ACORN and the SEIU.

Technorati Tags: Dee Dee Myers, Hillary Clinton, Hypocrite, News, Opinion, Tammy Wynette