829 Southdrive

829 Southdrive

A New Jersey state of mind



Thursday, May 31, 2012

Quiet Thursday on Barnegat Bay




Captain Bill and I went head-to-head for a bit and had a few 
friendly words.  Sailboats ruled the bay today, and this confirmed
my preference for sailing on weekdays.  I'm lucky that I'm able to
do so, and really lucky to get a weekend day off as well.


What He Said


\


Clarified herb butter, Sous Vide Cote de Boeuf?  Holy............
When the meat was sliced, nothing bled out. It rested while being
submerged in the clarified butter.  When the meat rests, the juices
stop flowing, and then when the meat is cut, less juice flows out of it. 



Monday, May 28, 2012

Enjoying Our Freedom




Freedom to drink any ice cold, cheap American beer we want.





Railmeat with a side of Bratwurst.





The baywater was end-of-summer warm, and some of us made it
even warmer.  I couldn't resist taking sea level pictures.  I'd just
polished the transom of its ugly diesel smudge and thought it was 
a good opportunity for a photo. 






 It was just deep enough to require me to kick vigorously while 
snapping the photo.  I love seeing the boat from the water.





The bay is nice and clean and where we anchored, about four and 
a half feet deep.  The rudder was inches from the bottom. 





Wiener dog swam much to her chagrin, but was re-vitalized 
once back on solid fiberglass and teak.  "You owe me big time!".



Wave That Flag





Happy and Safe Memorial Day.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Like Buttah





For at the very least one of my two readers:
This is like seared foie gras on top of a diver scallop,
garnished with sea urchin and white truffles.

I think they could've had Jimmy's amplifier a bit louder though.
Shut up Davey.  Can I borrow your lighter Dude?



Monday, May 21, 2012

Daddy's Home Tonight




Put them Tyson chicken tenders back in the freezer, rapido!

Bottomless Steak





Wooden buttons:   $2.00 each
Custom embroidered cap:   $20.00
White long-sleeve oxford shirt:   $49.95


Wooden bow-tie:  Priceless


Thanks for the photo Charley.  It must have been a great event! 



Thursday, May 17, 2012

Off The Dole




I got so sick of free soup, coffee and doughnuts.





Today was my first day off  in a year and a half.
It felt completely different than every day of the last year and a half.
Because I knew for sure, once again, that it would end really quickly.
And I made the best of it.  Just me and my sailboat.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mothers' Day




The only reservations I had about Mothers' Day were trying
to get reservations on Mothers' Day.  Shhhhhhhh............,
between you and me, today, Valentine's Day, and New Year's
Eve are the three most amateur dining events on the culinary 
calendar. You're better off going out one or two days before any
 of these dates; reservations are easier to get, it won't be quite as 
busy, and you probably won't get roped into a prix fixe menu 
where you all have to pay the same price for a menu you're 
not necessarily interested in.  But hey, you wanted to go out on one 
of these days.  We're happy to see you.  We just need your credit 
card number for a guarantee. We'll get the money whether you 
show up or not...............  Stay home. Between you and me. 


Get some cured olives and Epoisses Berthaut and a baguette.
Then let that Epoisses sit out a couple of hours until its sides start
to bulge out.  Frost two champagne glasses and fill with chilled 
Champagne.  Go out to the patio and sit back.  The rest I don't
need to tell you.  I know you both well enough by now.





Get some Ro Dylin King Crab legs, and with an herb snipper,
cut the length of the shells and remove the meat, placing it in a
saucepan with melted butter.  Then snip some chives over that 
meat and put heat on low.  You can cover the pan to keep the 
moisture in until you're ready to serve.  





Grill some marinated, butterflied leg of lamb over some applewood
chips, let it rest for 5 minutes so the juices stop boiling inside, so 
when you slice the meat, all the flavorful juices don't flow out onto 
and over the edge of the cutting board.  Place your perfectly boiled 
asparagus and impeccably roasted weird-shaped fingerling 
potatoes on the plate, then fan your rosy-pink lamb slices and drizzle 
pesto you bought at Wegman's around and over.  
Hey, sometimes you need a little help.

Happy Mothers' Day to my lovely wife and mother of our two lovely
daughters.  You're the best friend I ever had, and I can't imagine 
living one day without you. 


Friday, May 11, 2012

Destiny




Go figure that I ended up in the hospitality/restaurant business.
Uncle Carl was my great grandmother's second husband, and the
 two of them ran a quite successful bar and grill in Irvington, N.J.
for years.  Coincidence?  Maybe, maybe not.
  
I'm thinking the guy crossing the street is lucky to be on foot 
instead of behind the wheel at this point.  Too many pickled eggs 
with his shooters and beers.  On the bright side, it looks to be 
early in the day. Hopefully he made the best of it.





Carl, on the left, was proprietor, while Gram was cooking (smiling
from the pass).  Check out the sparkling bar.  The back of a bar 
these days doesn't look a whole hell of a lot different.  He had every
 right to be proud of his establishment.  The Angostura bitters bottle 
has not changed.  A couple more familiar faces were in the crowd:
The man to the far right with fedora and wire-rimmed glasses
was Grampa, Mom's Dad, and her brother Don to his left, 
Mojo's Dad.  To this day, I have an oval platter from Carl's.
As time goes by, I use it less and less.  





In the twenties, Grampa coached the local Rahway football team.
Probably just a club team, they look too old to be High School
kids.  Again, probably no coincidence that I'm passionate about the 
sport.  Although he died when I was about 7 or 8, I have to believe
that he had visions of me playing ball.  The tall guy to his side 
is probably a good indicator of how I would have looked next to
 him.  Just not quite as narrow in the mid section.  It would have
been neat for him to have seen me play.  With a plastic helmet on.


With M2F in Mind


Photo taken several years before the author was there.  I'm surprised
the pickerel weren't jumping onto the foredeck.  Five feet long, minimum.


Check out the wooden wraparound splash guard on this vintage
Sunfish.  The gooseneck height was rigged for maximum tacking and 
gybing comfort. I sailed this boat many times on that same pond, 
Elbow Pond in Andover, New Hampshire.  Ragged Lake Camp,
 a  summer camp where my brother and I went for the summers of 
1972 and '73, was an ideal place for boys to go to gain appreciation
for the outdoors, live in tents, wash in the lake, eat in the mess hall,
drink bug juice, get eaten alive by mosquitos, and partake in all the 
other charming activities that summer camp could afford.

Now that I've opened this can of worms, expect more on this 
enchanted place, considering the onset of summer. 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Game Over




Did someone mention getting the mast stuck in the mud?
The spreaders are a great location for that mast to snap.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Keep Off the Grass!




After eight months of looking at a mound of ground up tree 
stump on our neighbor's front yard, we decided to have it removed.

These snowplow stakes are in place to keep the hundreds of people
wandering across our yards each day off of the freshly-sown grass
seeds. I'm not sure why the recycling can is there; maybe he plans on 
reading the newspaper while waiting for the grass to sprout.  





I kinda liked the way the tree looked there better.





Don't mind the stupid video, just enjoy the song.
I still don't know why they named a college
after toothpaste.

Fowl Play


This photographer also took that cool Flyers' Stanley Cup photo
and the one with the rafter of turkeys on his roof.  Something about wings.

Back to what this blog evidently was envisioned to do; report 
less about windsurfing and more about knitting crotcheting food.


Slow-roasted, herbed, O Docker side-of-the-river, roaming chicken,
with a knot of six red potatoes and an onion/eggplant manicure. 


There's something to be said about chickens that wander the
streets wherever they please.  It's quite charming in an Amish kind 
of way.  But what's to stop an innocent passerby from becoming 
instantly inspired by the sight of a free-range bird?


Sunday, May 6, 2012

Thursday, May 3, 2012

O Docker!




Where art Thou, Brother?

It's Always Something




Does either of you know someone who needs to take this?





We do.
P.S.- And she'll be well taken care of.