A Heritage of Humor – Stories from my Kitchens

Post #817 We’ve Arrived!

September 27, 2021 at 12:24 PM | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Post #817 We’ve Arrived!

Moving sucks! There’s just no way to pretty it up. We’re done, in the new place, and recuperating. The timing on this move kept getting pushed back. We were originally supposed to move at the end of July. But, because of difficulties in timing for the new landlord, we actually ended up signing the lease in mid September and we moved on the 18th. The week prior to the move was escalating chaos. We drove down to the new apartment the week prior to get internet connected so it would be a seamless move for Partner/Spouse’s work life. He put his desk together, and we took down a car load of stuff along with the dog. Then mid-week prior to the move, we took another carload of stuff down, checked to be certain internet was still working, and took the dog. Then on Saturday, we picked up the truck. Pardon my verbiage, but it was a big-ass truck. We rented the largest UHaul to be certain we had enough room on the truck for our stuff. As usual, nothing went smooth, but we planned for that. We went to the rental place at 6am and their online system wasn’t working. We finally got everything accomplished and the truck on the road by 7am. Our movers showed up at 8am. We were impressed because they managed to have everything done by 10:30. Of course, we’d put everything out on the free table we’d set up in the neighbor’s yard in the days prior so our stuff was reduced by 30%. We still have too much stuff for this apartment, but we’re finding creative solutions. We scheduled the unpacking of the truck for Sunday, and those two were also very speedy. They arrived around 8am and were done about 9:30am, including putting the bed frame together. I asked the lead if making the bed included putting the sheets and blankets on it, but he said that he didn’t even do that at his own home.

We’ve eaten at 5 Guys quite a few times with the trips back and forth, so I’m very tired of 5 Guys for the moment. However, on our first Sunday, we found a diner that’s rapidly turning into our favorite diner. It’s called Blue Benn and is one of those 1950s style roadside diners set right in the middle of town. It’s literally five minutes drive time from our apartment. We got there on Sunday, late morning. Partner/Spouse had breakfast and I had a cheeseburger. It was just the standard, no fuss cheeseburger with tomato, lettuce, and mustard with chips and pickles on the side. But I got a wonderful surprise. The pickles were the same pickles that are my new favorites that we get at a farmers market in Norwich right next to King Arthur Baking! The flavor is distinctive and powerful so I recognized it instantly. So cool.

So, the pack up and drive down on Saturday. The unpack and truck return on Sunday, along with starting to unpack our stuff. Monday, we had to drive back to our old stomping grounds. I had to have a cancer procedure done on the side of my neck.

Last Spring, I noticed an itching on the side of my neck that wouldn’t go away. I could touch a spot that felt rough. It wasn’t large, but it grew bigger and smaller at various times. It also itched, then not itched, then at time would be sting, and other times be very sensitive. When I pointed it out to my doctor at a regular check up, she referred me to a dermatologist in Burlington, which is about 45 minutes from our old house. He looked at it and and did a biopsy. The biopsy showed cancerous cells similar to the ones FiL had. I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I was sort of expecting it since I grew in Arizona. Skin cancer is a fact of life there. They scheduled a procedure to remove it and of course, because of the delays in the move, the move and the procedure bumped into each other. All that being said, it was stage 1; it’s the easiest kind of cancer to deal with; the doctor removed all of it; all edges were clean and viable; I’m find and going to remain so. There is nothing to worry about. The worst part of the whole thing is it still itches because of the dissolvable stitches.

On the drive back, we decided to stop for lunch at this place:

Who remembers these? This one also has a dining area under some trees right behind where I’m standing. It was a blast from the past. We had the dog with us so we parked in the back and walked him first. Because of packing and unpacking, his water bowl was no longer in the car for some reason. We walked up to the window, but were intercepted by the outside waitress. She was a phenomenally sweet and funny middle aged woman who not only loved her job, but she loved every customer she came into contact with. She explained all we had to do was sit at a table and she’d be right out to take our order. Menus and condiments were at the tables and we were welcome to sit anywhere. There were a few people at the tables, including a motorcycle “gang” that wasn’t a gang because they were way too nice, but we managed to score a table in the shade where we could see the car and hear Bear barking at us.

She came out and engaged us in small talk as we ordered. I wanted a bacon double cheeseburger because even though I was tired of 5 Guys, I’m never tired of burgers with cheese and bacon on them. I asked if I could have it without onions or special sauce.

“Hon, what would you like on it?” she asked.

“Whatever else you have for it,” I said trying to be helpful and not a problem.

“This’ll go much quicker if you tell what you want on it rather than having me list it all. I find that as soon as I start that, people find way more things they don’t want.”

I couldn’t help laughing at that. So we did it her way. After we were done, I asked her, “We have a dog in the car who needs a drink of water. Do you guys have a small bowl for salads or something that I can buy an empty one of?”

“Is he a happy dog? Or does he try to bite?”

“He’s exuberant, strong, and a puppy in mid-training.” We both answered.

“He’s welcome to sit here with you guys if you like.”

We shook our heads. “No, we’d never get to eat anything. We’d spend all our time dealing with him.”

That food came up hot, fresh, exactly as ordered, and delicious! Even the fries were outstanding. Partner/Spouse got corn dog bites and onion rings and couldn’t say enough good about them. Even Bear like the water.

Got a little shock though. They took cash and checks but no cards. She presented our bill when she brought the food, and of course, we had no cash. She showed us where the ATM was (not the first time they’ve run into that situation) and instructed us forcefully to eat while it was hot and pay her later.

A&W hot it’s start back when drive-ins had their heyday. They were famous for their distinctive root beer which has a strong flavor. They thing that really made their brand was their root beer float. As a kind, I must have had close to a hundred of those. A huge frosty mug with a massive dollop of soft serve vanilla ice cream floating in the best root beer known to man. This place still made them that way, although we didn’t have one. Another thing they were known for was their menu. Since it was a family restaurant, their burgers were a family, too. There was the Papa Burger, the Mama Burger, the Teen Burger, and the Baby Burger. I cannot remember what the differences were except the sizes. Sadly, the only one to survive to today is the Papa Burger, and even that got upgraded to something that didn’t match my memory.

I don’t know how many of these are still around. I seem to recall there was one in Rhode Island when we lived there. But they certainly aren’t everywhere like they were when I was a kid. This one is about two hours away from us, but it’s on the main road that takes us north into the state. We turn out of our apartment, hit the main road and take a right, and drive two hours and we’re there. What could be easier?

On Saturday, we wanted to get out of the house, and we needed to get some stuff to make apartment life easier for us. The first thing we did was hit the local farmers market. I got two of the biggest and juiciest tomatoes. I’ve been going nuts over tomato sandwiches recently. Two slices of good solid sandwich bread with a good slice of Cabot’s cheddar cheese, several thin slices of ripe juicy tomato sprinkled very lightly with coarse salt, and a tsp of yellow prepared mustard drizzled over it. My mouth is watering now. We also got some orange marmalade for barbecue sauce, and some honey crisp apples right off a tree. We got a few other things, and we only spent $7.50. Then we drove to a nearby town, got lost, double backed, saw lots of interesting things, and were unsuccessful in returning out old cable equipment. Seems Spectrum doesn’t mind renting you the stuff, but makes it extremely difficult in returning it. The only Spectrum office in Vermont was in our old town, and it shut down due to lack of manpower. Looks like we’re going to have to UPS it somewhere. But the drive was great, and we found a nearby bakery that looks interesting.

So, we’re settling in. Once everything is put away and doesn’t look so trashy, I’ll take pics for you all. In the meantime, take care. I’ll be blogging again soon, with fun stories and recipes. Tonight, I’m making chicken soup!

As always,

Post #816 Updates and All

September 5, 2021 at 10:03 PM | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Hi Everyone! I’m very sorry for the lack of posts and all, but life has been very hectic for the past couple of weeks. This weekend has been no different.

We finally got confirmation of our move date from the new landlord so on Sept. 11th we’ll be taking the keys and having cable/internet installed so the move for work will be seamless. We’ve got the movers scheduled for the 18th to pack us up, and the 19th to put it all in the new place. We’ve been lucky, though, because we put up a “free” table to pile all the stuff we didn’t want to take with us, and it all disappeared! Lots of people asked why we didn’t sell it, and the answer was because it moved quicker when it was free. We still have more “free” stuff to put out, but with donations to charity, the free table, and judicious recycling we pared down what we’re going to move by about half. On the 11th, we’re taking some stuff down with us, then a couple of trips during the following week. The pack up on the 18th should be a breeze. The two main rooms that are left for clearing out are the kitchen, which is usually in such good order it won’t take long; and my office which has turned into a basic “catch-all”. We’ve got a lot of books to go through, and tearing my desk apart to give away, and boxing up games, and other odds and ends. So we’re good in that area.

But there’s sad news to report. I was four paragraphs into a very different post earlier today when we got news that the FiL had passed away this morning. He’d been in a “failure to thrive” situation for several weeks, and had been in the hospital and hospice care for most of it. He made the decision to forego medication and life support systems. He went home to his oldest son’s house middle of last week to be comfortable and with family. So a kind, gentle, generous, funny, and well-loved man has gone to rest.

Well, there’s the updates for now. Due to the upcoming tasks and challenges, I’m going to pull back from the blog until the move is completed. I will be back, and no later then Oct 1. Till then, take care of yourselves, and

as always,