Avast, Me Hearties!

Thar she be! The fiercest and fairest pirate lass ever to roam the seven seas!

Sweetpea, my lass, yer ole' gra'mom hopes ye' have a great, grand Hallow's Eve, and come a-sailin' back home with a hefty booty of chocolate doubloons and pieces-of-eight. Fair sailin', me hearty!



(photos by Kelsey)

Pirate Trivia:

Article VI of the Pirate Code agreed to by Bartholomew Roberts ( Black Bart ) and his pirate crew in the Shipboard Articles of 1721 stated: No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall suffer death.

But in the course of my recent reading on Ireland, I came across one brave, fierce, female Irish pirate, named Grace O'Malley. A story is told about a meeting she had with Queen Elizabeth, of England. Grace was seeking the release of some family members who had been imprisoned by England. While standing in front of the Queen and her courtiers, Grace, whose manners were, naturally, fit more for the sea than a Queen's court, sneezed. One of the Queen's courtiers handed her a beautiful lace handkerchief. Grace blew her nose, loudly, on the hankie, and then tossed it into the fire. The Queen, offended by Grace's disregard of the lovely gift, told her she should have put the kerchief into her pocket. Grace replied that the Irish do not put soiled items into their pockets, and, therefore, must be a cleaner people than the English. Yo ho ho! Way to impress the Queen, Grace O'Malley!

Did you know that pirates are still active?! The luxury liner, Seabourn Spirit, was attacked by pirates on November 5th, 2005 about 70 miles off the coast of Somalia. Pirates boarded the ship from two small boats. The pirates used machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades when attacking. Luckily only one person, a crew member, was slightly injured - due to shrapnel.

Every September 19 is "Talk Like a Pirate Day". If you missed out on it this year, be sure to be a-talkin' like a pirate next September 19, else you'll be a-walkin' the plank and visitin' ole' Davey Jones' Locker, matey! And, speaking of plank-walking, did you know that it was not a common practice among the pirate community? They were more apt to use swords or blunt objects to eliminate their foes. Apparently it was the story of Peter Pan that popularized the concept of walking of the plank. In preparation for next year's Talk Like a Pirate Day, you can brush up on your pirate-speak with a fun little quiz, right HERE.

The Daring Bakers' October Challenge - Pizza Napoletana

A whole month has already passed, since our last Daring Bakers' Challenge. This month the challenge was hosted by Rosa of http://www.rosas-yummy-yums.blogspot.com. She chose to have us make “Pizza Napoletana,” a recipe taken from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. (Recipe HERE.)

The recipe makes enough dough for six small to medium sized pizzas, half of which I froze for later. The part that was most challenging for me was Rosa's requirement that we toss at least two of the crusts! Now I've watched those fellows at the pizza restaurants toss pizzas high into the air, but I'd never tried it before, myself. When I pictured myself doing it, all I could think of was that famous I Love Lucy episode, where she tries her hand at it.


But I finally worked up my nerve to make the dough one night - that part was easy - and then, the next evening, to shape the crusts, top the pizzas and bake them off. The crusts were both tender and crispy, and as good as I've ever had! They had to bake, on a stone, in an oven pre-heated to "as hot as possible," which, for my oven, was 550 degrees. They baked quickly (about 5 minutes each), and the high temperature was what made for the nice, crisp crust, but was also what caused the house (and the pizza chef) to overheat!

Here are a few pictures from the preparation.

For Dan's pizza, I sliced up some fresh mushrooms.

I sauteed them in butter until they were just slightly browned.

For mine, I used black olives, and then topped it with fresh sliced tomatoes after pulling it from the oven.

Both of our pizzas had ground beef and freshly shredded mozzarela cheese.

Here are the results!

Dan's, with ground beef, sauteed mushrooms and red bell pepper.

Mine, with ground beef, black olives and topped with fresh sliced tomatoes.

Click HERE to see a real pizza-tossing pro. Maybe the music is the magic ingredient I was missing.

CLICK HERE FOR PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE.

Other Completed Daring Bakers' Challenges: Lavash

CLICK HERE FOR NEXT (CARAMEL CAKE)

Here and Gone . . . Just That Fast!

Tuesday night we expected to see Aaron and Snow pull up to the house, sometime after nine or ten o’clock. Marci was especially anxious to have them here, and we tried to keep her mind occupied by playing a couple hands of Canasta. Finally, though, since both Dan and I had to go to work the next morning, we said our good-nights, leaving Marci up to wait for the “kids.”

Sometime around 12:30 a.m., she got a phone call from Aaron, saying that they were only an hour or so from Albuquerque, but too tired to go any further. So they stopped and spent the night in the tiny town of Grants, NM. They planned to arrive in Albuquerque sometime before noon on Wednesday.

Marci called me at work on Wednesday, around 12:00 noon, to say that they had finally arrived, were hungry, and were heading to Chili’s for lunch. I told her I was about to leave work, and would meet them there.

We all pulled into the parking lot at about the same time. I had no problem spotting them – Aaron, our tall, handsome young nephew; his mom, Marci - also very tall and red-headed; and Snow, a petite, fashion-conscious young lady with beautiful, long, shiny, dark hair. Tiny as Snow is, she amazed me by putting down a full rack of her favorites - baby-back ribs - for lunch. Afterward, we headed to the mall; shopping is another of Snow’s favorites.


I enjoyed, immensely, watching how Marci and Snow, during our shopping expedition, began bonding as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. After learning that Marci was looking for a pair of casual slacks, Snow was intent upon helping her find the perfect combination of pants and top. She encouraged Marci to try on lots of outfits, pushing Marci just a little outside of her comfort zone, but they were both having a lot of fun. In the end, Marci bought a pair of pants, but no top.

From the mall, we headed back to the house. Dan was home by then, and it was his turn to get to see Aaron, again, after his four-year absence from the States; and to meet Snow. Tim came over a little after 6:00, and we all six went out to dinner at El Pinto, one of Albuquerque’s historic and well-loved Mexican restaurants. It was Snow’s first experience with Mexican food (other than, I guess, a Taco Bell taco), and she didn’t find it to her liking. It wasn’t spicy enough, she said! She did enjoy the tortilla chips and salsa, and the sopapillas, though.

There were three talented mariachi musicians strolling around El Pinto, entertaining the diners. I tipped them off to the fact that we had “newly weds” at our table, and they came to serenade them with a love song. (The truth is that Aaron and Snow have been married nearly a year, now, but it is the first time the family has known them as a couple, so I consider them still newly weds.)
Back at home, after dinner, Dan and Aaron found a common interest in the world of computers, while Marci, Tim, Snow and I visited in the family room. Snow and Aaron presented us with a gift of a beautiful Japanese Chokin plate that they bought during their layover in Tokyo. (Thank you, again, Snow and Aaron!)This morning Dan and I left for work at our usual early hour, while the others caught a few more winks, in bed. At about 8:30, though, I received a call from Marci, saying they were heading out the door for the ten-hour drive home, to Prosper, Texas. It was a short visit, but one we'll always remember fondly.

. . . And Still Waiting

Every day we think, "This is the day that Aaron and Snow will be heading our way." And every evening we find out, through some means (they don't have a cell phone that works in the US), that they are still waiting on the car's release. Marci is still here with us, and I sympathize with her motherly anxiety.

Yesterday, however, we talked with Aaron's cousin, Jacob, in LA, and learned that today (Tuesday) is really the day. They are supposed to retrieve their car this morning, after having been delayed these seven days, and they will drive until they get here to Albuquerque, probably very late tonight. Ironically, Customs warned them, yesterday, "It's ready, and if it's not picked up by 9:30 a.m., you will be charged another day of storage fees." Ha! That reminds me of my childhood pet dog, Fritz. I'd put a piece of dog biscuit on his nose and say, "Stay, stay, stay" (in Aaron and Snow's case, make that seven "stays"). Little Fritzie would obediently wait, quivering with anticipation and looking cross-eyed at that morsel. Then I'd say "Get it!!" and, quicker than lightning, he'd toss the treat into the air, snap his jaws open, and gobble it up.

"Get it!" Aaron!