Sunny day in Oakland

This past Sunday Sarah got together with some of her Wizard Rock friends. They met at their favorite spot, on the Schenley green in Oakland. There is a nice open space between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie-Mellon University campuses. Because I like that area too I like to go to a nearby coffee shop or restaurant to read or write.

But because Bobbie had a full afternoon of yoga and a tea party, I took John and Janine with me as well.

They were great, but we spent more time at Wendy's instead of some of the more interesting spots. Next time no Wendy's. In fact no burgers at all. Next time it's the Original Hot Dog shop. We also need to take the tour of historic Oakland and visit the last remaining part of the outfield wall of Forbes Field.

A final thought. A friend of mine of a certain age tells a funny story about Elroy Face, a pitcher for the Pirates in the '50s and '60s. According to the story, when Face came up to the majors, he parked his car at a gas station near Forbes Field. The owner charged him a dollar to park but told him his parking was free if he won the game. I don't know if Elroy Face was a cheapskate at heart, but he lost only about three games that season.

Early fall

This morning John and I took a walk on the nature trail behind our house. On the way we spotted this tree at the neighbor's. It is only mid September and this tree is well on its way to peak color. Before too long it will be bare, perhaps before all the surrounding trees.

As you can see the pin oak on the right is beginning to look peaked and wan. That is if one can use those words to describe a tree. Here we are in the last days of summer. Everything is overgrown and looking a little brown around the edges like these trees.

We will return to this tree later this fall to find out how it's head start turns out.

A fine evening

Here's a photo of our front yard on this beautiful evening. It's about 70 degrees, clear and fairly dry. Finding all three together is unusual in these parts, except at this time of year. This was a perfect evening to sit out on the front porch and take in the sunset.

Please excuse the state of the garden. Bobbie has a perfect combination of perennials that bloom from April to July. August and September are what annuals are for. (The dahlias are out of the photo on the far left next to the driveway.)

Indeed the best time to visit Pittsburgh is in May, September, and October. Perhaps that's why Bobbie and I got married 20 years ago on October seventh.

I would love to place the weather for a day like today in a bottle to break out on a rainy November day or a dank one in July. But not being able to do that makes one better appreciate days like today.

Mad Men Yourself

You find the craziest things on the internet and here's one of them. I created this avatar here. As a former ad man myself, this probably best captures what I would have been if I worked at an agency in the '60s rather than the '80s.

So it's 1962 and here I am, although I'm not sure what the missus is up to. Either I have a cold and will quaff a TheraFlu instead of a Martini, or I am about to be scalded for the rampant adultery depicted in the program.

Mad Men is an interesting show, but I find it a bit pessimistic. In fact I find it very pessimistic. Every time someone does something nice, the ulterior motive is revealed in the next scene or two. While it is very well written and researched, I also think the writers like to play for a little shock value to our contemporary sensibilities.

For example, I would like to keep a scorecard for the number of times the now pregnant Betty Draper lights up a smoke or has a drink in her hand. I'm sure the scene in which the kids were rolling around in the back of the car when Betty stopped suddenly was a shock to many 20 somethings. Heck I remember opening up the back seat to look at the battery in our VW bug while my mother was winding through traffic struggling with the stick shift. Was it safe? No. But my mother was a safe driver with her children's and our family's best interests in mind.

Oh my! While I was setting up my Kennedy era domestic bliss, my oldest daughter created her avatar shown here. I'm beginning to worry...

Tea party

This past Friday evening Sarah had a tea party for a few friends. She went all out with a full range of fruit, tea sandwiches and homemade scones.

They all had a ball. They all started very properly, enjoying the tea and snacks. But they soon changed back into their jeans and t-shirts and started to roam the neighborhood.

In fact I had to go over to the nature trail park behind our house to tell them all to come in after dusk. I bribed them with the supreme currency of teens, pizza.

Sarah was great because she invited Janine and the girls next door. They came dressed for the occasion, but they were called home as Sarah and company moved into the yard. A good time had by all.

Tomato delight

This past Thursday Bobbie bought four bushels of tomatoes to cook down into sauce and can. After a lot of work and almost a week, the kitchen is back to normal. The benefit will be the great tasting sauce that we will be enjoying well into 2010.

The first step in the process is washing the crop. This is only the first of many in the sink.


The next step is to cook down the tomatoes using a specific sauce recipe. These are the first of a few pots of Summer Sauce. Later, Bobbie made simply reduced, cooked tomatoes. We will add the seasonings later.

A few years ago we found an Italian made food mill on a close-out table for about $25. It is a clever device that separates the tomato seeds and skins from the tasty pulp. Here's John cranking through the cooked mixture. Janine is monitoring the output of liquid and tomato paste on the other side.

At this point everything is far too diluted. So it all goes in to cook down to reduce the liquid content.

Finally, Bobbie adds a dash of white wine vinegar and cans everything. One by one you can hear the lids pop down as they cool.

I will print labels to keep them all in order. Finally we will put all in the basement pantry for storage. Look for an update this winter when we crack open a jar for spaghetti.