New York Walking Tour - Part 1

We decided to go to NYC with our friends and see the city. We drove in, parked, and took the subway to Canal Street on the edge of Chinatown.

After being offered many deals for bags and watches, we made our way past several markets.


The produce looked great, and the prices were significantly less than at the grocery store. We would have bought some if we weren't walking around the city all day.


I took lots of pictures during our sojourn, so I'm going to separate them into different posts.

Next - What we discovered about shopping on a Monday.

Moqueca in New York

We are visiting some good friends of ours who live outside of New York City. We met them when we were young married couples in New York and before we had our children.

These friends lived in Brazil for several years and learned how to make Moqueca - a dish they made for us tonight. It is a type of seafood stew with a great combination of flavors - lime, cilantro, coconut milk, and peppers.

It is served with rice and is one of the best meals we've had.

Bûche de Noël

One of our Christmas Eve traditions is to make a Bûche de Noël. And every year, we are amazed at how many eggs we use. The recipe calls for two dozen eggs and four kinds of chocolate.


Some of the eggs are for the merengue mushrooms which are made by piping the tops and the stems and drying them in an oven. Melted semi-sweet chocolate is used to attach the pieces. And it makes them look quite realistic.


There are more eggs in the sponge cake and egg whites in the butter cream icing. My wife reminds me every year that this dessert is actually several recipes.

But, it sure is a great dessert at the end of our Christmas Eve meal.

Fruitcake Cookies

My wife's grandmother has a secret Christmas Cookie recipe. She got it from someone in her town in West Virginia many, many years ago. She was sworn to secrecy.

After decades, she told her daughter (my wife's mother), and finally my wife. They are a Christmas treat that I look forward to every year. My wife makes them now and sends a tin to her grandmother.

I've watched her make them, but I'll never tell what's in the recipe.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

The first big snow storm is always exciting.

Yesterday, the snow started falling in the afternoon and continued through the evening. We woke up to over a foot of snow on the ground.

We are supposed to get more snow tomorrow. It looks like winter is here - just in time for a White Christmas.

Decorating Gingerbread

Over the weekend, we went to dinner at a friend's house. They invite people over in December to eat and decorate Gingerbread Houses.

This year was great for creativity. One group designed a "Green" Gingerbread House complete with a water tank and solar panels. Another group abandoned the house and built a skyscraper out of wafer cookies and graham crackers.

We decided to focus on small detail and made an English country church. My wife and I were especially proud of the rose window - made with Fruit Roll Ups.

A tale of two Decembers

Last week, I started off in warm San Francisco and ended up in an ice storm in Boston.

In between meetings, I was driving in Palo Alto and took the picture above. I couldn't believe that the flowers were still blooming.

By the end of the week, I was back home and hunkering down through the ice storm. It started with just rain, but overnight the freezing rain coated everything with a 1/4 inch of ice.


We lost power for a short while, but didn't have any major problems. We have a wood burning stove which kept the house warm while the electricity was out. Some friends of ours are starting their 4th day without power.

The ice was beautiful, but it is causing a lot of problems here in Mass.

Hobee's Breakfast

I was in San Francisco Monday and Tuesday for some meetings.

Yesterday, I got a chance to go to Hobee's for breakfast. It is a popular place in the Bay Area and after eating there, I can see why. The food was amazing.

I decided to get Huevos Rancheros which, as you can imagine, is not frequently on the menu in New England. The dish is a made by putting black beans, cheese, eggs, sour cream, and chorizo in a tortilla. After I finished, I was full until dinner-time.

It gets cold in Ottawa

I flew to Ottawa yesterday for work.

While I was there, I learned that Ottawa is the second coldest capital city in the world. It also has a beautiful downtown.

As I walked in the city, I realized that I should have brought my winter overcoat.; it was cold. The wind was whipping through the city and was bone chilling. But, the buildings were spectacular to see, and it reminded me of being in Europe.


There is a canal that runs through the city center. During the winter, it freezes over and creates a long ice skating run. You can see in the picture below that it is just starting to freeze. If I go back, I'll bring my wool overcoat and maybe try skating.

English Butter Toffee

Let the Christmas treats begin...

After the Thanksgiving feast last week, I have been thinking it would be good to eat in moderation for a little while.

But, last night, my daughter announced that it was time to make some kind of Christmas treat. She convinced my wife that we needed English Butter Toffee.

So much for my thought about eating in moderation. I can't resist Toffee.

Nashville's History

The day after Thanksgiving we were still full and ready for an outing.

Shopping wasn't an option. I know that thousands of people like to hit the stores on Black Friday. This fact is precisely why I refuse to go anywhere near a store.

Instead, we went to Nashville to see the capital. The capital building stands at the top of a hill with a series of parks at the base. There is a wonderful timeline showing the history of Nashville. We walked along and spent some time at the WWII memorial. The globe above shows a depiction of soldiers who left Nashville to go to Europe or the Pacific.

I was also drawn to the Civil War marker - a granite stone split in half.

My wife loves the Civil War time period. And, I thought to myself that I need to pick up a good Civil War history book for my next long flight.

BBQ in Nashville

We are visiting my brother in Nashville for the Thanksgiving holiday.

When everyone arrived, we took a quick drive into Nashville to get some ribs. As we walked down the street, I passed this great store with cowboy boots and had to take a picture of the blue boot.

We made our way to Jacks Barb-B-Que, a local rib place in downtown Nashville.


My brothers, cousin, and I talked each other into ordering a rack of ribs each.

None of us finished our plates...

Concord Players

Last night, we went to see Hay Fever at a local community theater in Concord. I have been driving past this theater for years and never noticed it.

It is a gem. The theater is small, intimate and perfect for a night out. The play, Hay Fever, is a comedy based on how a family treats their guests over a weekend stay. It is set in England in 1925.

We have just discovered how many community theater organizations there are around Boston. I looked on a bulletin board in the theater and was amazed at how many other plays and musicals are being performed in the area.


Across the street from the theater, is one beautiful old church. I had to stop and take a picture even though it was bitterly cold.

Garden cleanup

I've been raking the leaves out of the flower beds this week. And it is time to cut down the Iris leaves etc. I am always amazed at how much debris I can rake and cut out of one flower bed.

But, now is the time to get it done. It seems like every day is getting a little colder. Early this morning, it was 26 deg when I looked out the window.

Japanese Maple

The leaves are all gone from the trees now. But, I had to post one last foliage picture.

Right in the middle of our front yard is a Japanese Maple tree. Given its size (as tall as our second story windows), I think the tree must be decades old.

Every year, I look forward to the leaves turning red. The tree turns later than the older maples in the yard, but it is worth the wait.

The combination of the color and the shape of the leaves always reminds me of Japan.

Pumpkin Pie

My wife makes the best pies.

I like almost any kind of pie, but they have to be seasonal. I like berry, cherry, and banana pies in summer. At Christmas, I like a pecan pie. But, this time of year, I really crave pumpkin pie.

I like to eat it for dessert; I like to eat it for breakfast. I would eat it here or there. I would eat it anywhere.

On Sunday, when my wife offered to make pumpkin pie, I couldn't say no. She made two pies, and they were great.

BYU Football

I wrote last week about going to Utah with my son. Here is another post about that trip.

We arrived in Salt Lake and drove down to my alma mater, BYU. Once we were there, we headed for the bookstore. My son wanted a sweatshirt and my daughters wanted me to buy them some "cinnamon bears".

Then, we walked around campus. I was surprised how it had changed but was still familiar.

The next day, we went to the football game. We had seats on the top row of the north end zone section. Even from up there, the game was great to watch. BYU won, our faces got a little sunburned, and we sang the Cougar Fight Song.

The last flower

I looked around the yard this morning and noticed the final roses. I have one rose bush that blooms late into the fall. One last reminder of summer.

When Roses Cease to Bloom, Dear, by Emily Dickenson

When roses cease to bloom, dear
and violets are done,
When bumblebees in solemn flight
Have passed beyond the sun,

The hand that paused to gather
Upon this summer's day
Will idle lie, in Auburn.--
Then take my flower, pray!

Happy Halloween

I like Halloween. Over the years, we have dressed our kids up as pumpkins, dinosaurs, witches, ghouls, soldiers, princesses, and vampires.

But tonight, for the first time, all of our kids will be going somewhere else to celebrate. Our teenage daughters have a "teenager party", and our son is going to his best friend's house to trick-or-treat.

That means my wife and I will celebrate at home alone. Maybe we'll watch a scary movie or tell ghost stories...like this one.


There are fields in our town near Gary's farm. People say that during the Revolutionary War there was a young man who lived near that farmland. He was in love with a girl from town.

She loved him too, and they decided to get married. But the war intervened, and he went to fight the British. He was a good soldier and fought hard. Even so, he was killed in battle. She was heartbroken. But after many years, she found someone else and married.

If you are near those fields at night, don't linger in the moonlight. You'll likely meet up with that young soldier if you do. His ghost is said to haunt those fields as he is still searching for his girl.

Utah Canyons

I took my son to Utah for the weekend. We went to visit my brothers, go to a BYU Football game, and see the mountains.

After arriving at my brother's home, he offered to take us to a nearby canyon for a quick hike. I couldn't believe that the start of the hike was only 5 minutes away.

We started up the trail and came across this small glade of trees.


A little further down the path, we crossed a small bridge.


And finally came to a rushing waterfall.

It was a little cold to stand under the water, but maybe someday we'll go there in the summer and swim.

Maple trees

We have some very old maple trees in the front yard with leaves that turn yellow and orange this time of year. I like to look out the kitchen window in the morning and see the sunlight streaming through the leaves.

Of course, after I look at colorful leaves on the branches, I can't help but look at the ground. Pretty soon, it will be time to rake.

Misc Japanese Food

I got back from Tokyo on Saturday and am only now starting to get over the jet lag. During the week, I had some great meals with people from work. The picture above is some sashimi (raw fish) at a dinner. It tasted quite good, but I wasn't interested in the raw scallops.

At a different dinner, we sat cross legged on tatami mats in an enclosed room. By the end of the dinner, by legs were feeling a little numb. I'm not as flexible as I used to be. The seafood pot was cooked at the table - kind of like a Japanese "fondue".


And finally, some friends took me to a great ramen place. We tried to get there before there was a line, but by 11:30am, the line stretched out of the door.

They put a spoonful of hot sauce in the bottom of the bowl before they fill it. The combination of spicy and ramen noodles was great.