Welcome to Chez Cliff!

Sometimes you just have to say “Screw it” and throw caution to the wind.

Originally we were only going to spend about 10 days in Tuscany.  Towards the end, my friends had sold us on joining them in Croatia.  To me, the only mention of Croatia was regarding the Bosnian/Serbian war that broke out some ten years ago.  Other than that, I knew very little.  But two, well-seasoned travelers in our group both said that Croatia was their favorite country.  With that, we headed out.  Since my friends already had air transportation we had to find our own way across the  Adriatic.

The first leg of our adventure consisted of the bullet train between Rome and Bari.  Bari is an old, port city.  And like many other port cities, the city grew up around the military fort built to protect it.  Fortunately it was compact.  A fifteen minute bus ride separated the port from the main train station.

Nearly 11 o’clock at night, I was standing on the bow of a large ship as it set sail for Dubrovnik.  Cruise ships never interested me.  My longest stay aboard a boat was an overnight trip on a sailboat.  This was 150 miles across the Adriatic Sea, taking 9 hours by boat.  Since the ferry had two restaurants, two coffee shops and two bars I said “Why not?”

Pitch black said Good-night to us.  The rising sun over the Adriatic said good morning.  In this distance, the mountains of Croatia were waiting.  The early morning fog had yet to disappear so we spent our time, sucking down the delicious cappuccinos the barman produced.  The caffeine was needed simply because we had to hit the ground running.  This was a Slavic country.  I doubted many of the people spoke English and probably fewer spoke French.  No clue where our friends were or how we could contact them.  If something had happened to them, we would not have known about it.  No idea what the currency was or even how to say “Thank You” in their native tongue.

We were flying in blind.  And loving every minute of it.

I hope everyone had a great holiday.  Me?  It was good.  Restful and experimental.  Just the way I like them.

First, thanks to Engineer X who showed me an easier way to get the paint off the walls.  He and I did almost an entire wall in about 3 hours, without the aid of a steamer or fancy equipment.  He started another wall for me, which I’ll finish sometime this week.  Maybe next weekend I’ll paint something . . .

Let’s talk about food.

Oh yeah!

When I was little, I remember the first time I saw cranberries.  I didn’t know what they were or how they tasted.  And, of course, you can imagine my surprise when the can was opened and the "contents" came onto the plate.  I thought to myself "Oh, this is like jello!"  Salivating like Pavlov’s dogs, I waited until we got done saying grace before I attacked.  If we were eating jello with dinner, I would be damned if I was going to let this slip by me!  Since I offered to help set the table, the "contents" were conviently set by me.  I piled three slices on my plate, which earned me a "You better eat all that!" from my mother.  The rest of the sides came and I politely took very little of each.  Today was going to be the day of jello and I was going to be happy!  I cut the first piece and slammed it into my mouth.

Clifford:  "What the heck is this in my mouth?  This isn’t jello!"
Mom:  "You’re not leaving this table until you’ve eaten everything on your plate young man!"
Clifford:  "But I thought this was jello!"  (Casting glances, looking for the dog).
Mom:  "The dog isn’t going to help you.  He won’t eat cranberries!"
Clifford:  "Mental note.  If the dog won’t eat it, neither will I!"

I have avoided cranberries like the plague.  Until now.

I read about this last week and I immediately thought of my favorite cooking phrase "Everything probably tastes good as long as it’s prepared properly."  Some of the foods rescued from the abyss:  Spinach, asparagus, brussel sprouts, liver.  Why oh why do people boil brussel sprouts?!?!?

I digress.

Cranberries by nature have a tart taste.  Some people like that.  And these are the same folks that can eat "Lemon Heads" like popcorn.  Me?  No way!  I like to taste something but I don’t want it contort my face into the shape an anteater.

So this is what I did.  (Step 1)  I took the cranberries and I did a quick boil in a sugar/water mix.  After about 5 minutes, they were ready for the next step.  (Step 2)  A juice cocktail was added: juice of a lemon, half an orange, and 1/4 cup of grand marnier.  With the cocktail followed a cubed apple.  (Step 3)  After about 20 minutes, this delicious berry smell had permeated my house.

Step 1.	Step 2.	Step 3.

Along with that, I also did some Cornish Hen.  I was going to prepare this Thanksgiving Day but elected to wait until the weekend.  It was my first time with this bird and, fortunately, I was able to find two great specimens for about $14.  Way cheaper than the $50 at the local restaurant!  It’s very easy to do.  Just drop the bird in the oven at 425 for 30 minutes and you’re done!  The stuffing, which I never created before, was easy as well.  But because I can’t help but to experiment, I made a blueberry/corn muffin stuffing.  When it was done, I can tell you that I was having to beat the neighbors off with a stick!

With a bottle of Beaujolais nouveau, dinner was served!

This is the way life should be.

I took some photos of Signal Hill and Shoreline Village, which is next to Long Beach.  Check out the new photo album.

I just love this time of the year.

I would be negligent as a francophile if I didn’t make this announcement.

Every year about this time, the new Beaujolais Wines are released to the world.  It’s no secret that this wine is released on the third Thursday in November . . . coincidentally before the fourth Thursday in November.  Or better known as Thanksgiving!   This nice fruity wine goes excellent with Turkey . . . and we all know that wine is the universal lubricant for family functions.

To learn more about this delicious wine, read this article