Getting Ready for the Holidays

Hola! Mr. Don has arrived. We are very happy that he was less than 2 hours behind schedule, even having to transfer at O'Hare for the flight here. He arrived before 6:30 p.m. as I was just getting into shoveling out the driveway from yesterday's snow. We had a brief reprieve of weather earlier today. The temperatures have been moderate, but a storm is going to bring a mixture of snow/rain/sleet and strong winds over the next 2 days. It held off until about 3 p.m. or so. Today was a busy day working around the house. Don and I prepped areas of the woodwork in the kitchen, dinette and family room for painting and staining tomorrow. That was harder work than I thought it would be. After the insulation contractor came by early this morning and we had our consultation about insulating the sill cavities in the basement, Mr. Don and I bundled up and walked down to Meyer's Restaurant for a leisurely, delicious breakfast. Then we went grocery shopping and lugged everything the mile home through deteriorating weather conditions. Then we got busy with the prep work - (Photo from Kegel's website) Earlier this evening we had dinner with my friend Ann at Kegel's. Yum! Unfortunately, Mr. Don's digital camera wasn't working correctly, we can't figure out why since the batteries are practically brand new. None of the photos came out - all were too dark and they were also blurry. With the weather turning nasty - by the time we left Kegel's the streets were already snow-covered and slippery. It was certainly "christmasy outside!" Before bringing us home, Ann took us for a drive through Candy Cane Lane. It is an area on Milwaukee's southwest side where many of the neighbors decorate their houses to raise money for the fight against childhood cancer. It has become a yearly tradition for area residents to take a drive through Candy Cane Lane and on the way "out" drive past Santa, who holds a bucket to collect contributions and doles out free candy. Don had never seen anything like it as, block after block, we slowly drove through the neighborhood admiring all of the decorated homes and beautiful lights and displays. With the snow coming down it was a perfect winter wonderland and perfect night for the tour, and we had lots of company! Finally, we were at the "end" and there was Santa! We put a donation for the three of us into his bucket and received hard candy in return. Thanks, Santa. It was a very enjoyable finish to a lovely dinner with Ann. Don couldn't stop talking about Candy Cane Lane for the next couple of days :) As we arrived home from Kegel's, a UPS truck pulled up and delivered a large package of goodies from Omaha Steaks, courtesy of Isis and Michelle! So now the freezer is filled with lots of good things to eat. Tomorrow I'm going to make beef burgundy for Christmas Eve supper, with candied carrots and a cucumber salad.

Ahhh, Lunch at Karl Ratzsch's German Restaurant!

Ms. P and I have established a mini-tradition. Last year during the holiday season we ventured out to Karl Ratzsch's German Restaurant in the heart of downtown Milwaukee in bitter cold, less than two blocks away from where we work. This year Ms. P and I determined to once again dine at Ratzsch's for the holidays. We chose today for our festive luncheon. Shortly before the time we had agreed to meet in the lobby of our building to do the short trek to Ratzsch's, I ran down a floor to Ms. P's office and presented her with a festive gift bag. She, in turn, presented me with my much larger and heavier bagged gift. Oh my! She said she hoped it wouldn't be too heavy to carry home on the bus. I hefted it a few times - it wasn't. I've carried more weight the mile home from the Pick n' Save - up hill, many a time. The gift, Ms. P. said, was selected with me and Mr. Don in mind, as she knew he would be joining me for Christmas. When I got the bag back up to my office, I checked the gift out. It is in a bag from a local Cedarburg winery. Hmmmm - wonder if it's wine? I'm hoping so! Ms. P didn't say the contents needed to be refrigerated, but it could be a fake-out. Maybe it's just a year's supply of grapefruit. Still, I'm not opening the wrapped package, which is now resting beneath my Christmas tree, until Mr. Don gets here. Ms. P made reservations for our holiday luncheon - online, I learned today (I didn't even know Ratzsch's has a website!) and we arrived shortly before noon. When we visited last year around this time, I hadn't eaten there in probably 35 years - and so it was an adventure for me. Perhaps 4-5 years ago, the owners of Ratzsch's wanted to retire and after not being able to find a buyer for the business, announced that it would be closed! This was horrid news! Ratzsch's is one of the few fabled German restaurants left in Milwaukee that serves genuine German recipes. Some years earlier, the John Ernst Cafe, a short trip north of downtown, closed because of declining business, never to reopen. It's lovely building on the corner of Ogden and Van Buren was eventually turned into condos. The only authentic German restaurants left in the downtown area in this historically German city are Ratzsch's on East Mason Street and Mader's on North 3rd Street. Fortunately for Milwaukee and tourists who appreciate genuine and not kitschy atmosphere and really fine German food (some "American" entrees also offered), some long-time employees of Ratzsch's came forward with an offer to buy the restaurant, and it was accepted! Financing was procured and voila! A Milwaukee institution was saved and a new day started. I am so glad. Ratzsch's is really a lovely restaurant, and it is a tradition worth saving for our city. It is a wonderful place to eat, heavily Gothic/Germanic in style but with wonderful, whimsical design surprises everywhere you look. I love it! The eye finds constant delight in roving about the large dining room (great for couples who do not have much to say to each other, or business strangers going out to lunch or dinner by circumstance). For special guests (like romantic couples), there is an upper gallery that provides candle-lit intimacy with a great view of the great beamed dining hall below. By the way, the indescribible bar area itself is worth a separate visit :) Ratzsch's is a white table cloth restaurant with excellent food, excellent service, and excellent aura. If you are ever in Milwaukee, please stop by Ratzsch's for lunch or dinner. If you've got a sweetheart out on a date, ask to be seated in the upper gallery. Trust me, it's well worth the $10-$20 you pass to the maitre'de, depending upon how busy the restaurant is. The restaurant now offers convenient online reservations! Check out the Christmas Day dinner menu. After I read that earlier this evening, I was tempted to skip dinner at my sister Deb's place this year and take Mr. Don to Ratzsch's to experience this unique dining experience - Christmas Day! But I'm feeling guilty even writing those words... Well, I suppose Mr. Don and I shouldn't skip the family dinner, but if I can fit it in, I will take Mr. Don to Ratzsch's during his all-too-brief week here for Christmas. We're already scheduled to dine at another local (but not so famous) German restaurant institution - Kegel's, on December 23rd, with my good friend Ann. I love Kegel's, and I think Mr. Don will fall in love with it, too. Certainly not so grand a setting as Ratzsch's, but the service is as good and the food is fine, with lots of traditional German entrees! The neighborhood feeling - can't be beat. Ratzsch's has been beautifully decorated for the holiday season, with a large kissing bough in the center of the restaurant, traditional boughs of holly, and this year, lots of really cute teddy bears and other native Wisconsin critters appearing as stuffed animals tucked here and there, some in costumes, some not, all about the place. Ms. P and I were so busy talking, I have to say I hardly noticed the surroundings, except to soak in the general relaxing ambiance of dark wooden beams, stained glass, oil paintings, finely crafted large brass platters scattered about the walls, pristine table settings and sparkling crystal, and the greenery of the Yuletide season. My Goddess! I sound like an advertisement! LOL! Ratzsch's offers delicious daily specials at great prices. Ms. P had one of the specials, a half rack of pork ribs with spaetzel and red cabbage. She ate every single bit of food on her plate. I have NEVER seen her do that before! Not being a particular fan of red cabbage or sauerkraut, I ordered off the standard lunch menu a philo-crusted chicken breast with bacon smothered in fresh-chopped spinach and alfredo sauce, served with garnish/sides of pureed sweet potato and light as air spaetzel. OHMYGODDESS! Well, we were both splurging calory-wise today :) I found the sweet potato puree tasty and it was light as a feather and beautifully presented in about 3 inch wide piped swirls on either side of the entree, but it seemed to be lacking something - not sure what. Perhaps there was too much cumin and not enough cinnamon? Or no cinnamon? Or, now that I am thinking about it, a quick dash of salt may have done the trick. Duh! I told Ms. P that I thought my whipped sweet potatoes are better (my recipe doesn't use cumin). LOL! I'm not complaining! Everything was delicious. I only stopped eating because the alfredo sauce was so rich, and I wanted very much to have one of Ratzsch's famous desserts. As it was, I ate every single bit of chicken and bacon and left behind only whisps of spinach, sweet potato puree and spaetzel. The meal was impeccably served by a busy but attentive waitress in traditional 19th century German costume. She was a very good waitress, and so was the food. Yum! Ms. P and I managed to chat and broke all etiquette rules by talking with semi-full mouths, but I she was telling me about the latest amusing episodes with her two new kitties and I was telling her about the continuing adventures of selling this house and buying a different hous. And then, our plates were finished! Our waitrress asked about dessert and/or coffee. Ms. P and I looked at each other and said "YES! to dessert and "NO" to coffee. Our waitress suggested splitting a dessert, which was wonderful. So many places frown on this practice. However, Ratzsch's desserts are generously large and infamously rich, and so we welcomed the suggestion to split. We chose the Black Forest Torte which looked like one of the "lighter" offerings on the dessert plate. (I use the word "lighter" advisedly). The Black Forest Torte (with narry a cherry in sight) arrived at our comfortable leather-lined corner boot table shortly afterward, dressed with a generous tablespoon or so of fresh-whipped cream and it was absolutely gorgeous. Oy! The layers of the cake were traditional "German chocolate" - not the devilsfood dark chocolate one typically sees in Americanized versions of Black Forest Torte. We were presented with two dessert forks. Oh, that attention to detail, such a crucial touch to a delightful dining experience. Ms. P and I chatted away and soon the dessert was gone, and we were full and happy, but we were not uncomfortably "stuffed." Neither of us wanted to go back to the real world of office and work. We were sad. But the check made us smile. For two ample, delicious and beautifully presented entrees, two glasses of wine and the shared dessert that was like eating a little bit of Heaven, the total bill was less than $45, including tax. We left a generous tip, and there was nary a nay-say from Ms. P, who is very particular when it comes to restaurant servers and service. Thanks for a lovely day, Ms. P. May be have many more. Ms. P and I shared a lovely toast. May it come true for us and our loved ones in 2010. I'm already anticipating our 2010 Ratzsch's luncheon :)

Friday Night Miscellany

Hola Darlings! Last night I was home late and so did not blog. It was a night out with a good friend - good drinks, an even better dinner, the excellent company of my friend and all the $$$ we spent went to supporting a locally family-owned establishment bar/restaurant called Kegel's that is time-worn around the edges but still serves dinner on crisp white tableclothes and wine is under $5 a glass. Oh - the food is uniformly excellent too. No nouvelle cuisine, just good German and American dishes presented on a modest two page menu in a no-nonsense manner. The dishes offered are all excellent. I usually get a filet mignon or the veal liver, Ann gets the German-style beef tips in gravy over thick homemade noodles. By the way, their baked potatoes are NEVER over-done. I've eaten at some high-brow restaurants where that was not the case. The prices have gone up a dollar here, and dollar there, since I've been visiting Kegel's the past 3-4 years, but the service has remained the same - relaxed, friendly and unassuming. It's the kind of place a woman alone can feel comfortable sitting at the bar to have a drink or two after work or spend some time alone, and not feel uncomfortable. All age groups visit Kegel's but the droopy drawers set who think they look cool (har!) don't hang out there, thank Goddess! Last night on our way out from dinner I was introduced to a fellow legal eagle who was sitting at the bar working a crossword puzzle. She had what I believe was a martini in the trademark-shaped glass, and what looked like dark beer in a stubby glass waiting on the side :) Now that's the south side of Milwaukee for ya! So, posting tonight, I'll see how long I last. I'm very tired; it is our busiest time at the office (through April 15) and Sunday night the critters in the attic reappeared with a vengence, waking me up at quarter to three in the morning; I finally gave up trying to get back to sleep upstairs where I could here every little scuff and scratch and, I fancied, even a few squeaks from time to time. Arrrggggghhhh! I finally removed to the recliner in the family room downstairs on the opposite end of the house from my upstairs bedroom. Suffice to say I didn't get much decent sleep. Monday night I slept in the guest room, but the mattress is hard, ouch! I need to get a better mattress pad for that bed - that will entail an extensive shopping trip to the local mall, I'm sure. Tuesday night I slept in my room, and I again heard the critters in the attic, so Wednesday night I moved back to the guest room. Last night I returned to my bedroom and it was a quiet night, thank goddess! I suppose until the excess mouse population has been disposed of through the unfortunate method of poison I will continue to experience these critter home invasions. Sigh. You can be sure bright and early Monday morning I was on the telephone with the critter people. We'll see if it's quiet tonight and the next few nights...

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A storm is on the way later tonight, we may get as much as 6 inches of snow, starting at midnight. Blechy! I am SO over winter. Here it is February 20th, we've got probably another 4 to 6 weeks of winter and perhaps even April and May. I cannot wait to get on that jet and fly away to New York. It's generally mild there in May - at least milder there than here! That trip is coming up fast! I'll be on vacation from May 7 - May 26th, yippee!

Some items that you may find of interest - they may make you laugh, they may make you cry: Here's a good one - the Chinese scientists have caused an uncontrolled blizzard of man-made snow that closed 12 highways. So much for being able to control the weather, har! Melt-pools 'accelerating Arctic ice loss' One of those "duh" articles - it took them HOW long to figure this out??? I mean, geez, it's only been reported for the past twelve months or so that the polar ice caps are melting faster than anticipated by ANYONE, but they didn't know why! Oh come on guys, don't you cook? You can thaw a totally rock solid frozen steak by wrapping it in plastic to be water-tight and floating it in a tub of cold water for 30 minutes or so. Isn't this the same effect, basically? I don't know the science, I only know it works. You're the scientists - why did it take you so long to figure this out??? The Candidate's chess match between American hopeful GM Gata Kamsky (who used to play for Russia years ago when he was an underweight teenager) and Bulgarian hopeful GM Vesilin Topalov is taking place right now. Today game 3 was played, and Kamsky playing with the black pieces drew the game, coming back from a defeat behind the white pieces in game 2. The score now is Topalov 2/Kamsky 1. Game 4 proceeds tomorrow. I believe the match is 8 games - not much time for either player to achieve a dominating position, so look for some fireworks tomorrow at this half-way game. GM Susan Polgar has provided live commentary on all of the games; here is her commentary on game 3. Others are also providing live commentary and analysis of these games, but I prefer SP's analysis. I can follow along much better with the action than when I read other GMs' comments/analysis. I am NO expert, that's for sure - but SP's analysis is usually spot on, and she explains how the game is proceeding in a way I can grasp. Perhaps it comes from all of the teaching courses and videos she has put together over the years, to help kids (and the rest of us) learn how to play chess :) She's got the knack of informing without being obscure, and presenting potential lines of action without being overwhelming. I highly recommend reading SP's commentary on the games, and playing the moves out on a chessboard as you go along. I cannot do that at work, but she's so good at what she does I can sometimes "see" the chessboard in my head as I sneak a peek at the progress of the games, which totally amazes me! Life goes on, the world keeps spinning around the sun, and the sun won't blow up for another billion years or so, at which point I won't give a damn cuz I'll be dead in less than 100 years (barring a miracle, darlings). Why, then, does this article about a new "Atlas" of dead and dying languages make me so sad? A fascinating story I read earlier today at the Wall Street Journal. I know next to nothing about the world of art (as in paintings and sculpture), but I know what I like, and I like a lot of the "Old Masters" because their paintings at least are recognizable as people and things and animals and plants! LOL! So I'm a barbarian - but I do speak the Queen's English properly (for the most part). Anyway, darlings, when I spotted this person's phiz in the print edition of today's WSJ, my first thought was "My Goddess, that's a woman disguised as a man!" My second thought was "what happened to her face, ohmygoddess!" Well, it turns out that he is - or was - not a she. He was a he - Harold Smith, who fathered at least half a dozen children, so I guess I cannot build up a proper fantasy about a "man" taking a great secret to her grave :) It's still a fascinating story - about an art heist and the people who investigated it, including Harold Smith, an iconic figure in the world of art - one of the best experts ever on recovering stolen art, who tried to track down the perpetrators and recover the stolen art. Really good stuff. I will read this book: The Gardner Heist" (Ulrich Boser) review by Guy Darst 2/20/09. Sorry - no link, but there is that photo of Harold Smith... Harold Smith's face was disfigured by a decades-long battle against skin cancer. A lesson for all of us who think skin cancer is relegated to a mole or two that can be easily excised by a doctor's scalpel.