LOOK OUT !

Ace is on the loose.

Ace just got her license. The examiner was ( as per Ace ) beyond obnoxious, and had the audacity to tell her (gasp!) that she really isn't a good driver. ( I could have told her that). Nevertheless, after telling her she wasn't any good, and has trouble following directions (I could have told her that as well) the examiner decided to pass her. I think just so he doesn't have to suffer through another road test with her.

However, now starts the business of actually making sure we are comfortable enough with the way Ace drives to actually trust her with a car on her own.

It could be a while.

7,000. Wow

Actually, the WOW factor doesn't really fir, but since that is how we mark the milestones here at the good Doctor, I am keeping it for now. However, as the numbers are mixed, I might drop it. Or add a frowny face. Here is how the numbers stack up.

We hit 5,000 around July 1, and 6,000 around November 1. Now we are mid March and a few away from 7,000 hits. This is a 4/12 month difference, as opposed to a five month gap last time. That is good.

However, we are now approximately 3,480 hits behind the other blog that I like to trend against to see how I am doing, so in 4.5 months, we lost 100 hits on them. I know that in the past all index numbers were down, but lately they had been coming up, so I would expect a jump in our numbers as well.

So thank you all for reading and checking, and we will try to get to 8,000 quicker, which would probably happen if I actually wrote something more than just once in a while.

And as stated in the past, we need more comments to keep things lively.

VINDICATION!

So its all over the the news today, Mayor Moron has the WORST approval rating of his (seems like) 27 year tenure abusing us. 51% of New Yorkers disapprove of the job being done. This probably includes people from Manhattan as well. I guess people who can no longer drive, park eat what they want or smoke anywhere in the city have finally had enough of the ham handed tactics that he employs to force his agenda on all of us. I would assume if you took out the Manhattanites, his rating would be more like 70% unfavorable. And if you included all the people who work in the city but commute in, it would be more like 90%. Which proves what I said a while ago...

The only person who likes him is himself.

Don't Give

I am not in the habit of contributing to public radio - much as I like their programming - because I don't want my money used to encourage the internal and external enemies of the United States.

Likewise, it irks me that fund drive rhetoric demonizes and characterizes all commercial (those that will create profit for someone) ads as bad. Especially since they are vastly more informative than the ads usually carried by public radio stations that serve very little useful purpose but appeal to the left wing public radio management because they are not tainted by filthy lucre. The droning, formulaic, audio equivalent of the financial industry's "tombstone ads" are the most annoying aspect of public radio. Almost any other ads would be preferable.

The bottom line on all this is that the public stations are indulging in the worst kind of elitism, pushing their central agenda that elitist, culturally oriented ads are more acceptable than ads for drugs, computers, shoes or replacement windows. In my opinion, anything is better than a full week of repeating the station's phone number 120 times an hour interspersed with fervent begging.

The redeeming nugget of interest in the WQXR's recent fund raising drive, and the reason for this post, was a most original and innovative ad for public radio fund raising. Alec Baldwin (the actor not the rebel) encourages you in a deadpan voice to not give... and at the end of his really entertaining monologue says 'and here is the number NOT to call..."
Listen to it Here (Click on "Don't give" audio)

I liked it so much, I am considering sending them a small token donation.

Other Matters

I have been called to task by one of my "lurkers", ( a term I have been branded on facebook, since I read but usually do not comment) that there are too many blogs about waffles. However, I have found that my other posts get even less of a response than the waffle ones do, even if the comments are from family members with no patience.

I have tried different topics, politics, the idiotic mayor of New York, driving and court stories, to name a few, but the beauty of the waffle quest is that it is a theme that has constant updates. I mean, how many ways can you say the president is an incompetent fool and the mayor a self important moron???

Be that as it may, if I actually received responses to the posts, I might be inclined to talk about other topics. I mean, its not like there aren't other blogs that DO talk about all kinds of different random topics, usually headed with one work, and consisting of one to three paragraphs.

So comment away, dear readers, and I will continue to post on all and sundry topics.

And waffles.

The Possble End of the Perfect Waffle Quest II

So since my commenters have the patience of mayflies on line at the DMV, I shall continue the saga here.

After obtaining the recipe for the Rimon Belgian Waffle it was time to come home and pull out the ace card, basically, a recipe from the SIL of Dipsy, a frequent and ardent reader of this site. After hearing accolades from all those who ate this delectable delight, it was time to try it. Although it is not even slightly fat free ( 1/4 cup oil, 4 eggs) it didn't have 27 pounds of butter, so I decided to give it a chance.

DISCLAIMER AND POSSIBLE PART III, I have never actually completely made any of the recipes that DID call for butter, so I can't say the quest is done, you lucky readers! This hobby (obsession?) could go on for MONTHS or YEARS!....

Back to the waffles at hand. So I made the recipe, nice, really thick batter, and I put it in the machine. It smelled lovely. When it came out, it wasn't the usual soggy mess, it seems to have a real crispiness and weight to it. I bit in. So did the tasters.

It was OK.

Unfortunately, it didn't have the WOW factor that we were looking for, it certainly had the best texture of any we had made, and there was more taste than the usual ones ( except for, surprisingly, the fat free one with apple sauce and apple juice, which still had the most flavor, albeit apples).

So we tried to doll it up with a bit of honey ( a Rimon ingredient) some Splenda and cinnamon. Still OK. However, then I decided, since the batter was so thick, to put chocolate bits INTO the batter.

EUREKA!!! WOW!!!!

THAT truly hit the spot, the chocolaty goodness inside the crispiness of the waffle, with the inherent sweetness of the bits made the eating experience phenomenal.

So for now, without the butter waffles, or having tried to re-create the Rimon experience, we are sticking with the Batter from Far Rockaway with chocolate chips as the leader of the quest.

the Possble End of the Perfect Waffle Quest I

I know it may seem odd to number a post from the outset, but I know this is going to be a two parter. I was in Israel as many of you know. In the past, there had been much talk about the famous Rimon Belgian Waffle, so as part of the quest for the perfect waffle, I needed to go and taste this supposedly wonderful waffle. The added reason was that in each taste test, anyone who had actually had the Rimon waffle would constantly compare my offerings to this outstanding gastronomical achievement.

So I went there one evening, suitably hungry so I could achieve the full of effect of wonderfulness. I ordered the waffle with great anticipation ( and of course, a speech for the poor waitress as to WHY I was compelled to order it as a main dish, and not a dessert). The waffle arrived, and here is a picture.

Each square is filled with either a white or regular chocolate sauce, there are the two scoops of Ice cream, and the stuff on the plate is extra sauce, shaved chocolate, and confectioners sugar. Bug claims that they changed the presentation a bit, in the past it was one long waffle, with a checkerboard of sauces, but I would assume the taste would be the same. After admiring it for a bit, I took a bite.

WOW.

It really was quite good, and the first waffle I had tasted that actually had both texture AND taste. Suffice it to say it didn't last long on the plate.

I had decided previously to try to get the recipe. When I initially ordered it, (after the speech) I asked the waitress if I could get the recipe, but she didn't think so. After she brought it, she said that I might be able to get it, as the manager had said it was OK, but the chef that makes the batter was no longer there ( it was 9 at night). So I should try back in the morning, when he would be there.

I went back at 8:30 the next morning, but hew was not in yet, they told me to try back in a few hours. I finally got there at 2, and although the place was hopping busy, the manager on duty went in to the kitchen and actually got me the recipe. However, there were no amounts given, so I won't share the recipe here.

However, I will keep you all posted as I experiment with the ingredients to see if I can re-create the taste. Stay tuned.....

Political Tidbits

Before I get started on my trip. ( which was wonderful, thanks for wondering to yourself) I have to address two things. ( one might show up somewhere else as well..) Today there was a motorcycle and three bus accident in the Lincoln Tunnel. Two hour delay. You might think that in anticipation of the insane traffic that will follow closing one of the tubes, there will be alternative traffic elsewhere. So lay off the morning construction on the main arteries, right? Well folks, this in New York, Home to the richest short dictator. West Side Highway, the alternative route into the city when the tunnel is really backed up, had then setting up one late closure.

At least none of the workers just hanging around weren't smoking, which segues into the next thought, preceded by a joke,

In Egypt, they claim to have less freedom than here, but there they can actually smoke in public.

Which leads to the middle east, and this first jackwagons middle east policy, or complete lack thereof. He doesn't seem to have the slightest clue how to deviate from the Jimmy Carter handbook, which worked out soooo we for us the last time around. He works hard to bring down our allies, and uses kid gloves with our enemies that are already trying to uproot Israel. Does this seem to make any sense to anyone not a liberal? Please explain.

More on the beautiful country of Israel next.

Impressions while on a trip

Did you ever notice that announcements made on a plane by a male member of the cabin crew are usually delivered in a prissy, effeminate style? Then did you also notice, the resonant, deep throated, altogether all-american male voice and diction which comes through the loudspeaker as the captain get on the horn?

The dissimilarity is almost intentionally a parody, emphasizing the virility of the plane's pilot. You feel safe, confident, sure that someone (Snoopy's World War I ace) is in control, while your personal needs are attended to by the more wifely types which push the carts up and down the aisles.

There are distinctions among the male cabin attendants as well. There is the bully, hectoring you to "TURN OFF THAT SWITCH - OFF - OH EFF EFF." There is the mincer, (difficult to describe in words) "Would you like something to drink?" while bending his pinky and pursing his lips. There is the comedian, his unintelligible words spilling out in a cacophony of deep southern sounds with "Please use caution when opening the overhead bins because you know, shift happens." (At least that was funny.) Give me the pilot any day.

Alabama was cold, below freezing at night. Not exactly unusual but they've had a lot of it this year and that is unusual. I got out just ahead of a major snowstorm which is unusual even for February.

Things must be pretty bad in Florida. One sees people standing on street corners holding signs suspended from their necks, advertising, "We Buy Gold, Highest Prices Paid," or "CARWASH! $6.95." It occurred to me that they have to stand outdoors for hours carrying these large signs which can't be too light, in rain, extreme heat, wind, all to earn, what? $5.00 an hour? $7.00? How inhumane. Like being in the stocks or the pillory, except even worse, they want passersby to notice them. It's a rough way to make a living.

South Florida was great, real convertible weather. Too bad I couldn't stay.

After You, Sir.

I see that no one saw fit to comment on the last post. Although I should take that as a sign that no one wants to read my political rants here, I shall choose to interpret it that you all agree with me.

With that in mind, coupled with the fact that I am getting hoarse screaming at my radio whenever the Egyptian "crisis" is mentioned. I must post again on the issue, since lots seems to have happened recently.

Aside from the press making mountains out of this issue, it appears that the US is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, or should I specify that the great student of history, our current leader, is doomed, in his arrogance at thinking he knows everything better, to repeat the mistakes of the president he so closely resembles ( in politics at least) Jimmy Carter.

I heard a clip today of the late great president, Ronald Reagan, saying how he felt the US made a tremendous blunder in not supporting the Shah, and look what followed. This is of course a similar situation. The first Jackwagon has already thrown one of our allies under the bus, ( along with most everyone he has ever been affiliated with, but that is another, much older post) and the news is that we are in talks with Egyptian leaders to work on the succession of Mubarak, who, in the eyes of the State Department, has already resigned, since we asked him to so nicely.

The only things Mubarak has done to us is been a staunch ally to the US, and not hammered Israel more that is necessary to save face among the Arabs. This, of course, ( being an ally to the USA while G.W. Bush was president) is the ultimate crime in the eyes of our idiotic leader. Therefore, he must go, and another country must be destabilized, so that the vacuum can be filled by Islamic radicals.

Can we not see where this is going? Haven't we been down this road before? Or is it the master plan of the current American regime?

I am herewith formally requesting that the President of the United States resign. Based on the way they operate, he should willingly leave, since I asked so nicely.

Lets Rouse some Rabble

Now that my thoughts are focused on the middle east, I just want to comment a little on what is going on over there.

I cannot believe that the left wing liberal press is really so incredibly stupid to believe that all the rabble rousing going on in Egypt ( and for that matter, Lebanon and Tunisia) is for people that are DESPERATE for democracy.

From this vantage point, the only thing that currently fills a power vacuum in that part of the world are extremists. Oh sure, sometimes they couch it initially as democracy, but you can be sure that if there are open elections, and these extremists get into power, it won't be a democracy for long, or it might be a democracy, but not for women.

I think they are brilliant, these fundamentalists. Not 0nly do they have the people believe that they need change ( and see how well THAT worked out for us here), but they thumb their noses at the US, by saying it is all for democracy, when it is clear to me that they are just causing unrest so that they can take over one of the few stable countries in the region.

I hope I am completely wrong about this. I worry that I am not.

Jerusalem is Calling

I met one of my avid followers, who accosted me and DEMANDED that I post something. She was somewhat mollified by the previous post, and it is good to see Soupeater back in the writing saddle, but gave me a hard time for the previous title just popping up every time she checked the site "Sad Music, Sad Music, enough already!"

So now I have written this and satisfied my obligation to her. However, I think I should perhaps add something of substance as well.

The good Doctor is going on the road! This is big news, as I really don't get out much. I am heading for the holy land for a quick spiritual recharge. The funny thing is I didn't realize how much i needed to go until Friday afternoon.

There is a song by journeys about Jerusalem that always choked me up when I heard it. It reminded me of my time there, and how I wished to go back. Eventually, i did make it back, and try to go every few years now. I haven't heard the song in a while, but Ace said they were using it in her concert.

Even so, as of a few weeks ago, when she told me, I had no real reaction to the song. However, on Friday we were singing a few bars, and as I now have the date set for my trip, I felt myself getting quite emotional at my return to the holy city.

I can't wait to go.

Choose Life!

which do you prefer?

Wonderland indeed!

Every time it snows, especially in suburban or rural areas, someone is bound to look out the window and exclaim, "Oh, a winter wonderland!" And, admittedly, it does look pretty, everything white and pristine and sometimes, toward evening, with a lit up house in the background one idealizes the scene of a family, warmed by and cozied up to the fire while winter rages outside.

Enough!

I prefer a summer wonderland. Where the lawn is green, the trees are in full leaf giving shade and visual pleasure to the eye, flowers are blooming and the sun shines its blessings on the earth. No coats to wear, no snow to shovel, no ice to slip on. Winter is only black and white, stark and unfriendly, bare and dead. Summer is colorful, vibrant, full of life.




Choose life.

Sad Music

I was listening to streaming music at my desk yesterday. There is a very disturbing trend in Jewish music that really isn't new, but it is bothersome. It is the use of English music with Hebrew words. Allow me to explain.


Without thinking too much into how I know these things, there was a Hebrew ( modern Hebrew, thank goodness, not words of Tanach) set to a Lady Gaga song. This was bad enough. However, what really got me was a Lecha Dodi set to a medley of Beatles songs. Now that was very well done, but it is still inappropriate.


I remember years ago singing something in Shul to a beautiful popular song, and afterwards Soupeater informed me that it was not appropriate to use popular songs during prayers.


Unfortunately, most people do not have someone to tell them what is proper, or worse, a song gets into our consciousness and them it spirals into more and more inappropriate settings. Such as the Beach Boy song that a kid sang for Kedusha, and when we called him on it, he told us it was a D'ror Yikra niggun, so that is what he was singing. I am not sure he even realized it was a popular English song.


This should be differentiated from the Variations and Country Yossie lines of music, which are clearly meant as spoofs of popular music, and clever plays on the originals. They do not usually creep into our davening though.


It's just sad that our rich heritage is being infused with this music due to the laziness, lack of creativity and larceny of our popular musicians today.

Do They Use Blood in Tea?

What was a blood libel? It was the hysterical knee jerk reaction to something horrible, where the blame was erroneously but deliberately placed against the "usual suspects" with actions them taken against the accused knowing the basis for the claim had NOTHING to do with them.

Now lets see how this plays out. A horrific shooting by an unstable mentally sick individual. The liberal press immediately claims it is the work of an "extremist" (extreme what is not said, just assumed that he is a tea partyer, since there is a gun involved). Then the fault is squarely put at the feet of the Tea Party movement since their rhetoric is SOOOOO inflammatory.

Of course, the entire line of reasoning was so much nonsense, since it was the sick mind of the shooter that prompted his actions, nothing else.

However, once this was correctly compared to a blood libel based on the way it snowballed with blame placed without facts or logic, all the liberal left wing Jews, who always try their hardest to distance themselves from their brethren and G-d, are suddenly outraged and oppressed Jews.

It's disgusting to see. These Jews should be ashamed of themselves. Stop demonizing Sarah Palin, that is what the blood libels did, demonized the Jews. If Mrs. Palin was Jewish, (and NOT a conservative) she would be lauded for her sensitivity and ability to see this unwarranted attack on her for what it is.

Besides, her name IS Sarah..., who knows?

(Interim) Waffle Utopia

Before I saw today's post from Soupeater, I had decided to make fresh waffles for the tasters as a treat (?!). As they have in the past indicated that the fat free version was the least offensive of the bunch, I chose to go in that direction, but with some modifications.

I was out of apple juice, so used some cranberry juice I had. I also felt that to get away from the rubbery consistency complained of by my guest taster, I would try, again, the yeast route, hoping to fluff up the end result.

So I happily measured, mixed, and made a mess in general. I shouted out to Little Miss Sunshine " You lucky girl you, fresh waffles for you in honor of the New Month!" The response? A decidedly tepid "Whatever" ( I was not in the room with her so I missed any eye rolling, but I am pretty sure there was some.)

After pouring the batter, and waiting for the end results, I took the first one and gave it to the older taster, who tends to be less picky and a bit kinder in her analysis, and she didn't seem to hate it. ( in full disclosure, she really just took it with her to eat on the bus, but she didn't gag from the smell.)

then the moment of truth. One for Boo. The response?

"Good" with further edification "Apple-ly, and has some taste"

EUREKA! I AM IN WAFFLE HEAVEN!!


I must say that I am still not thrilled with the final product, it is still somewhat chewy, but I think that is more a function of the fat free nature, and I am still loathe to go the 27 pound butter route. I might once just to see if that is really what makes the difference. So I have a ways to go, but I am definitely getting there. I hereby formally invite Soupeater back for another taste, but in the meantime, allow me to share the recipe with all of you, as I have committed it to memory. (that does NOT make it an obsession!)

2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons apple sauce
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup light cranberry juice
1 cup fat free milk
1 packet of yeast.

Non stick spray

combine first seven ingredients. heat up milk and put in yeast when proper yeast temperature.
wait a few minutes for yeast action to work ( I must admit, I really have NO IDEA what the last two sentences mean, but it seams to be in all yeast recipes, and it does sorta work). Add the milk and whisk all the ingredients.

Turn on waffle maker to desired temperature. ( I use the setting just past 12 o'clock.). When heated, spray with non-stick spray. Pour in mixture. flip maker, wait for green light to come back on. Flip maker over again. Open lid. remove waffle. Inhale the aroma, enjoy.

Then blog about it.

I TELL IT LIKE IT IS, WITHOUT WAFFLING

This past Sunday, the good doctor called me up and invited me to partake in a waffle or two made from his latest fat free recipe.

In reading his recent near obesessional posts about waffles, I recalled that my mother had a waffle iron back in the late forties or early fifties and that its products were really quite good. I have no idea what she put into them but in those days, no one was concerned about cholesterol or obessesed about food allergies and contaminants. If you got sick, you might have to spend some solitary time in unpleasant surroundings but no one thought the consequences were as serious as an atomic attack which was all the rage at the time. Today, you can read things like "white rice is lethal," and other likeminded outrageous statements made by seriously committed Carson looneys. What of waffles containing a half pound of butter, whole eggs, and enough whipped cream, ice cream and chocolate to cause an elephant's aorta to clog up. Well, pick your poison but "nothing to excess" includes these items as well.

With that in mind I hied myself over to the doctor where the whole gang, lovey, bug, stretch and the rest of the panoply of characters who inhabit the pages of this blog were gathered over a Sunday afternoon kaffee klatch. I slid right into a seat after examining the showpiece of the mansion, the new rotating waffle iron. Not much different from the 40's version except that this one rotates and makes round waffles. I was offered a fat free waffle which, outwardly, was a paradigm for the masterpiece of the genre. I was offered fat-free ice cream and I scooped out two delicious gobs of the same to place upon the center of waffle, poured some artificial maple syrup into the waffle's crevices then topped the ice cream with some chocolate syrup and just as I was about to take my first forkfull of this delightful concotion, I was offered the piece de resistance (which I could not resist), a maraschino cherry. I left off the whipped cream because it isn't fat free. (All this took place before I had read a recent comment on this blog that the waffles should include these toppings)

Here's what it looked like at that moment.



Now here's the sad part.

With avidity I plunged my knife into the waffle, expecting to feel the crunch as the blade scraped over the waffle's crusty ribs. I knew I was in trouble when, instead, I felt a sensation akin to trying to cut into a rubber band. But, being the brave soul I have spent my life trying to make my persona, I foolishly placed the morsel into my mouth and started chewing for all I was worth.

The ice cream with the two syrups were great, to say nothing of the cherry.

Waffle Quest Continues

After many protests from my tasters that the original recipe for the Quest for the Perfect Waffle (please note: now, since it is capitalized, it is officially a Quest, and no longer an Obsession) was the best, i decided to go back to it, just to be sure that they weren't fondly remembering the initial experience with rose colored taste buds.

So on Sunday I called Soupeater ( I need to mention him, since he hasn't written in a while and I don't want you all to forget him) and told him I was gonna mix up a batch of the original fat free recipe.

I used regular flour instead of whole wheat ( since I was out) and tried to make the yeast work,to give it a bit of lightness ( it didn't) and cooked up the batch.

We served it right, with ice cream, syrup (pancake AND chocolate) and a maraschino cherry. Here is a pic, with Soupeater's ( waffleeaters?) hand about to take the monumental bite and pass judgment.

The judgment? Needs work.

The others? Fond memories are sometimes just that was the basic concensus.

Back to the drawing board, or the store to just buy some.

Happy 2011

Well, it is a secular New Year, and the world uses this time to "turn over a new leaf" and do some introspection followed by resolutions to better oneself.


I ( and many of my readers, I am sure) tend to do this at the Jewish New Year a few months back. However, as the numbers reset for blogs for the years, I think it would be good to take this opportunity to look back and forward a bit here too.


Recently, in case you haven't noticed, this blog has focused quite a bit on food ( or ONE food, to be sure) and the politics tend to rant about one person in particular.


That will probably not change in the foreseeable future, as we still have not attained the perfect recipe that will have my tasters and eaters exclaiming in delight over the heavenly taste of my waffles. Furthermore, as the pompous jackwagon (donkey) masquerading as a mayor has three (gasp! help us) more years of abuse to heap on us, that probably won't change much either.

However, I do resolute the following:

I will try to be funnier so that you don't get bored. Although I usually think I am at the epitome of humor.

I will not write exclusively about waffles, every now and then, there will be other posts. I am thinking of getting into making sushi.

Unless the Moron resigns. no bets on laying off him.

I will try not to fight too often with other blogs.

Comments will be posted with all due alacrity. Subject to my being near my computer or my phone being charged, on, and me remembering to check it.

Now, for you people, a little more interaction would be wonderful. Just no anonymous.