Happy Saint Patrick’s Day….

As luck would have it, an event scheduled earlier in the year was re-scheduled and they either didn’t have a choice about dates or picked this evening without realizing it was Saint Patrick’s Day. We have to cover it for the paper and even though it is at a place with a really nice restaurant that part is only open Fri-Sat this time of year. In light of what time we’ll be done, we won’t be able to get anywhere to eat until a little late and it’s not as if we have Irish pubs around. Although a couple of places are doing special dinners, they’re likely to be really crowded by the time we arrive. We decided to swap our usual Thursday pasta night and did that last night to save the lamp chops and mashed potatoes for tonight. We’ll prep everything before we go and it will be pretty quick once we get home. Granted, I normally do a nice Shepard’s pie, but things have been really hectic this week and I simply didn’t have the energy to juggle that.  I think there’s one or maybe two Guinness in the fridge and a Smithwick and I did go get a bottle of Jameson as we are almost out. Not sure yet if will go on the rocks or in Irish coffee.

A friend whom I lost track of was about as Irish as can be – Boston, former cop, and played the bag pipes. We met my first summer ROTC camp which was at Fort Riley and we overlapped for two summers. He was great fun and played the pipes well. In one of those ironic placements, his ROTC assignment was in Alcorn, MS – about as far culturally from Boston as one could be. He did have some adjustments to make for sure. I hope he’s doing well and having a great time tonight.

 

Good Food With a Little Whimsy……

Yesterday was another of a couple of extra tasks thrown in when we already had multiple tasks to handle. The additional began to verge on “juggling” instead of handling, although the extra did mostly include fun.

I read about, then was told about Royd’s being open; something new for Redland, the historic agriculture area where markets pop up periodically. The individual who wrote them up in the weekly Redland View said he’d been keeping an eye on the place because he was curious as to what was going on. A family – still not sure if it’s just husband and wife or if there are two generations involved – have one of the farms and decided they wanted something more to share with people. Royd’s has a set of swinging saloon doors of The Gateway with the store front of The Jail and R l Everglades General Mechandise to the right and City Drugstore to the left; in the Western Store style. It’s actually open on three sides, but has overhead covered with picnic tables inside and the area set up with the mechanical bull. The kitchen truck (might be two) are outside and servers take orders and bring the food. It’s a breakfast and predominantly lunch place closing at 5:00 Wed-Thurs; 7:00 Fri-Sun and opening each day at 8:00. It’s a blend of American and Cuban dishes with sandwiches and full entrees plus desserts. And like most places in Redland, milkshakes are a big draw.

I had the hamburger and brought most of the fries home to Hubby and resisted ice cream. Well, I resisted asking about it because I thought the temptation might be too much. There is also supposed to be a petting zoo or at least animals to see on weekend. I’ll find out more about that when I talk with one of the principles on Monday.

Bouncing Between Stories……

This is one of those weeks with two stories already on tap for the paper and the third one hit this morning. On the other hand, it happens to be the follow-up piece to one I initiated couple of weeks ago and is a totally “feel good” piece.I didn’t previously post about ,”The Redneck Talent Show”, which put together by a YouTube star who has some connections to the area. His work has built up a following of more than 9 million and the Talent Show was something new for him and his team. The “talent” was wide open to different things with entertainment being the goal. With a prize of $10,000, it drew in more than locals. However, a local dance group (the newest in the area), did win. I wasn’t familiar with them and have been impressed with the day’s exchanges.

Of the other two, one is something relatively new that may well become an annual event and should bring a lot of people in who will be staying in hotels, dining out and so forth. Some will come in RVs since it’s an athletic event at the Speedway, but even with that, they’ll probably have to gas up before leaving and that certainly generates sales tax. There is still a perception that the Speedway is only about NASCAR or open only part time rather than understanding they have about 300 days a year with events. Some are small, and some, like this one have nothing to do wit cars/vehicles. The MIAMI CLASH is one of several locations and includes Pro and Amateur biking, running, and swimming competitions. Hubby will cover the actual events and I’m doing the preliminary to let people know about it.

The one that is distressing deals with thefts and vandalism against one of our Boy Scout troops – the historic one founded in 1946. Acts like these are never good, but when it involves a charitable/civic group it’s especially disturbing. A little publicity might possibly result in some useful information getting to the police.

Great Music Plus……

There are unexpected things that can touch us and for a number of people that happened in the unlikely place of the Seminole Theatre Saturday night. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, the Seminole has a Showcase series where they book a mix of performances and then there are multiple other productions by individuals and organizations such as when Homestead Center for the Arts does a show. Due to the cost (which of course then drives the ticket price), there is usually only one ” big name” per showcase series, but they bring in quite a few tribute bands. These are the bands who specialize in a famous band’s music and we’ve attended several over the years; all of which have been good.

So, Saturday night was the “Best of the Eagles” and with continuing concerns, the audience was smaller than it probably would have been otherwise, but there were still maybe 200. Ordinarily, the Seminole Director speaks to the audience in the beginning with a welcome, etc., We’d seen her earlier actually helping out up front to open the second bar and a gentleman we didn’t know was at the microphone instead. I didn’t catch the name (and now wished I had), and he explained they would start in a few minutes. They were from New Jersey and he was the promoter. Although this was his first time to bring a show to Homestead, he was impressed with the theatre and staff and had two or three others lined up for the season. He asked for all active duty military and veterans to stand to be recognized. After we sat down, he said he usually started a show with the Pledge of Allegiance, but since there wasn’t a flag, he would pass on that. Two things happened next; Katherine Rubio, the Director, (or it might have been another staff) called out there was a flag and one of the staff dashed down the aisle to go behind stage. There was a guy in front of us who had a flag patch on the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing and we all called out to say, “Hey, here’s one.” The guy looked only momentarily confused as the promoter asked if he would mind; that he didn’t want to be disrespectful of the guy. The guy willing went forward, and held his arm up toward the audience at about the same time the staff member brought a flag out. He positioned it where it was aligned with the guy and everyone recited the pledge. Now for the next part.

The promoter said he was at a venue (which he didn’t name) and they told him he could never do that again. He said he had multiple shows booked there and cancelled them all, that he wouldn’t agree to that rule. “Yes, it cost me a lot of money, but that’s okay.” Not surprisingly, there was a big round of applause. The band then came on stage for what was an excellent performance.

And Then It Was Five…..

People sometimes wonder how I manage to get so many things strung together. Yesterday was one of those days. I have a standing Friday Happy Hour and it was also the Friday for a monthly luncheon. A task that was originally scheduled for Monday had to be postponed and was going to be on Thursday. Then, something else came up which could only be done Thursday, so slipped the other task to Friday morning. Okay, now I’m at three and that’s manageable.

Two extra tasks came up which I wanted to take care of Thursday as they were both close to where I was going to be anyway. As I was completing one, I sent a text to arrange the other. Oops, individual wasn’t going to be available until Friday – okay, that can work as it was close to where I was going to have Happy Hour which happened to be in a different place than usual because it was combining some work with enjoying wine. When I opened my email after returning home, an individual I was trying to meet up with wanted to know if I could make – you guessed it – Friday afternoon. Ah yes. Okay, by fitting that in between the luncheon and the other, I could allow for an hour which should be plenty of time.

So, I make a run down to Key Largo Friday morning for meeting one; scoot back by house for short time to check email before heading to luncheon. Repeat before 3:00 meeting. Text to ensure individual is available for next meeting. That’s a go and I head in for that. Sit down, get started and receive phone call to verify I will be at the “working HH”. Oh yes, I’ll be there. And that’s why when I sent the 8:00 a.m. email out dealing with another major task I explained I would be out most of the day and would respond to questions this morning. Well, I did take the one call from a recipient who was on her way to the airport and needed to check one detail before beginning her international flight.

More Battle Bots…..

Season six of Battle Bots started a couple of weeks ago and I continue to be amazed at multiple aspects of the show. It’s grown in such popularity they moved it to Las Vegas. There are some newcomers although I’m not sure if this is referred to as a “League”, “Circuit” or other term. If I recall the number correctly, they start with 64 teams and have I think it’s 7 or 8 battles per show. As with other sporting competitions, wins are tracked as they move toward the latter part of the season when eliminations pare down to the final 2 teams that compete for the Giant Nut trophy.

The teams can be as small as 2 and some have 6 or more members and quite a few adolescents are involved which is nice to see. They come from different countries as well as the USA and the approaches to design are on quite a spectrum. Some are very large with hammering devices and blades; others are smaller with low profile as “spinners with wedges”. The idea with these is to close in to use the opposing robot’s bulk to flip and disable it. There are danger zones built into the arena of destructive hammers, etc., and if the opponent can be maneuvered/forced into these, the smaller robot doesn’t have to be equipped with much weaponry. The arena has high, shatterproof walls like in hockey since pieces or chunks of flying metal is the norm and there are shooting flames as well.

The M.C. is well known within the “community” as he has a voice like James Earl Jones and introduces the teams with rhyming comments that he apparently mostly writes himself.

There continue to be matches determined by the judges as a knockout is not always achieved. The spectators have their favorites and like fans everywhere, they cheer and have signs of support.

Being Creative With Leftovers…..

As I have mentioned before, we are believers in using leftovers, preferably in a different way than the original. Since we didn’t have as many people as anticipated for New Year’s Eve and I always have too much on hand anyway, it’s been a little trickier this time. I did give away three batches, but two of those were planned as part of the “having extra” anyway.

We did shrimp Alfredo one night and two different soups were created; the one I do as a low carb and Hubby made one for him which was definitely not low carb with a southwestern flair. His used the “Cowboy Caviar” as a base which is what took him in the southwestern direction. I found the remaining jalapeno from that and will roast it tonight for a variation on the Everglades sauce for fish. The regular ingredients are shallots, capers, key lime juice, butter, oil, and rum. I’ll use shallots, roasted jalapeno, lime juice, butter, oil, and Chaca – a Brazilian liquor instead.

The bag of peppers is the final vegetable we need to use so those will also be roasted tonight for a side. We also have salami and pepperoni left from a small deli tray which will get used in a matriciana sauce for Thursday’s pasta dish after I pick up some prosciutto. The nice thing about that dish is you can use multiple different meats in it or go with just basic prosciutto. The remaining frozen garlic bread loaf will last for a while as will the last pork tenderloin. We almost always have one of those in the freezer in the same way of having certain things in the pantry. A tenderloin is so versatile you can go in multiple culinary styles depending on the mood; very much like with chicken.

Almost Funny…….

The travel irritations continued for the kids with their return trip although not as bad as getting them down here. The 6:20 flight was delayed until nearly 9:00 which meant a long stretch at an airport which doesn’t have a lot to do while waiting. It was at least a direct flight, then getting luggage, retrieving the car and driving home to arrive after midnight. I do hope everyone slept in the next day. So, the whole thing with sending them home New Year’s Day was to allow a one-day “recovery” period before school/work started. (The dance studio schedule is aligned with the school schedule as a matter of practicality.) The big winter storm that hit the Northeast included their area so what should have been the first day back was instead a snow day. Not sure what happened yesterday. Ah well, an extra day for daughter-in-law to nurse the cold she picked up from granddaughter was probably helpful.

This will be another busy week with multiple meetings and a somewhat unexpected performance at the Seminole Theatre. I’ve posted before about the fact they have built a reputation as a preferred small venue. That’s led to bookings of bigger names for off-nights. In 2019 Martin Barre was doing a Jethro Tull 50-year Anniversary Tour and was to be in Key West for a weekend in April. His promoter said he would come to the Seminole on the Wed prior if they wanted him. The place was packed and talk about an energetic show! Barre had 2 or 3 of the other early Jethro Tull performers with him on tour as well as the newer members of his regular band. It was definitely a loud show, yet something special for rock fans. Anyway, several days ago, a notice popped up he will be here Saturday as part  of his current tour. I’m supposed to find out why the sudden booking; hoping to get the green light for article in the paper.

Seafood Explosion…..

For reasons that have escaped many of us, here we are 20ish minutes (given no traffic) from Key Largo and with Biscayne Bay as well as a great deal of fishing that occurs out of the Everglades, yet the last dedicated seafood restaurant closed several years ago. Until recently, there was a Red Lobster – also a bit of a puzzle as they don’t do regional seafood. In all fairness, the non-franchise restaurants do carry local seafood and last year I wrote about the great couple that opened Krab Kingz. It is one of the crosses between fast food and sit-down because you order at the counter and they bring the food to your table. They do serve with mostly plastic ware and they don’t have coffee, but they also source as much locally as possible and only USA products for everything else.

With that said, we suddenly have three different seafood places preparing to open – two for sure that are some kind of franchise and the third I only learned of the other day. The Crafty Crab has been “pending opening” for quite some time but it looks as if it’s close now. The Juicy Red Crab is much more recent and also looks as if it’s close to opening. I think the name of the third is Noah Noah Seafood and I believe it is a stand-alone and might have just opened. It’s in the Hotel Redland which was one of our hangouts until Chef E didn’t manage to get through the COVID closure. It’s supposed to be seafood and Mexican which should be an interesting combination.

We will have to try them all of course. I made a comment to Hubby the other day and he said one of the “food writers” mentioned not long ago these crab franchises were the new trend.  I always hope new local businesses succeed, but to have multiple similar at one time might not be the best idea. We shall see.

In Praise of the Tortoise…

Okay, not a holiday theme, but I was in a meeting earlier today that brought this to mind. I have no idea how often the old Aesop fable of the Tortoise and the Hare has been told nor is there probably any way to know. The spin-off sayings of, “Slow and steady wins the race,” etc., all convey the same concept. There are other instances where being slow is indeed inertia and someone does come along and “light things up” to help achieve a goal.

Locally we have two important projects that languished for decades; not for lack of want or effort, but because getting the resources was complicated. In both situations, a group of people steadfastly kept plodding with an occasional “surge” until resources finally improved. The specificity of the projects – one of which is still not complete although far enough along now as to seem genuinely on track – is not important.

The aspect of the meeting I had this morning involves the art side of the community. When the last art galleries closed in the 2008-2010 real estate bust, there were hopes they would recover as did the general market. That didn’t happen and while efforts to date have not been successful, the adverse impact of COVID was and continues to be a factor. However, there are some things “bubbling along” – okay, “simmering” might be a better word – that won’t necessarily bring galleries back yet, but may provide more routine venues for artists. There are still pieces to be moved into place and that’s what some of us are working on at this point. It’s always tricky with scarce resources and “collaboration, not competition” is vital. We’ll have to see what happens as we continue to be more tortoise than hare, and do hope the fable is proved to be correct again.