it’s DUCK BLOOD soup, not DUCKSBLOOD SOUP, as i previously stated. i looked up recipes, and it seems that the soup is also popular in Poland. Hmm, i wonder if there are other odd recipes that are popular in two such different countries. here’s how one of the recipes begins: “Collect blood from a freshly killed duck. Immediately add 1 TBSP vinegar to keep it from getting lumpy.”
because if there’s one thing i can’t stand in my duck blood soup it’s LUMPINESS.
have i mentioned that we’re not going to have any cold weather this winter here at all? so if you want to head on over to spfld, you’ll find it quite temperate. last night we took the train to Lincoln (a 20-minute train ride) for my brother david’s birthday dinner. we had to stand outside a while at the train station here, and it was perfectly lovely and nice outside. when we had to wait for the train coming back, it was a half hour late, but once again, no worries, not cold. after that there was a violent thunderstorm, but by that time we were safely at mom and dad’s, eating chocolate cake.
so, taking the train to lincoln – mom is crazy about riding the train. she and dad took the train at least once from here to LA when i lived there. she also took the train to austin when i lived there. this makes me feel that perhaps i should move away again, so she’ll have a place to visit.
the train to lincoln is very brief, and the only problem with riding at night is you can’t see the countryside as you go. i do love riding on the train, watching the world go by.
the only problem with taking the train to lincoln for dinner is that i have yet to find a really good restaurant there worth getting to. we used to go to a restaurant called the depot, which is right next to the train stop, but it’s been quite mediocre the last couple of times we went there. i heard great things about a restaurant called guzzardo’s, so we tried it last night.
it’s sort of an odd place. not over the top odd like casa bonita, there were no cliff divers, no scary caves to walk through, no mariachi bands (the more i think about casa bonita, the more i love it). guzzardo’s was packed, PACKED with people. many of them the extra-large size. and each party of people was huge, too, with each table holding about eight to twelve people. in back of our table was a group of bachelorette party girls, who had brought their own champagne. the restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol, and we didn’t know you could bring your own.
in addition to the large parties, and the large people in the large parties, the portions, too, were gigantic. hmm, i see a theme here. i saw the (incredibly efficient) waitresses bringing out slabs of steak that were a couple on inches thick and as big as a large plate. the portions looked as big as the servings that wilma flintstone served to fred. remember those huge ribs she served him? why did i just remember that, anyway? and when’s the last time i saw the flintstones? is it on tv at any time during the day, i wonder?
anyway, massive portions, and we all got italian food since the place is called GUZZARDO’S. it was ok. but just ok, not worth the train ride to lincoln. when we left, we were outside and a cook came out to dump some grease into an enormous grease dumpster (did you know there were such things? it was a giant trash-looking dumpster, except when we walked by, it said it was for GREASE ONLY), and the guy called to us “did you get full?” and we said yes. he didn’t say “did you like your meal?” which is what you’d think a person would ask.
i have so many things to accomplish today, and this week for that matter, that it makes me want to stay in bed. if i can possibly drag my lazy body out of bed, i’m going to start with a run, which will hopefully shake my brain up enough to get busy.
i went to a cabin concert and ann and joe’s on friday night ann & joe’s cabin concerts, and yesterday morning i wrote about it and i’m thinking of actually printing them out and putting them around, since i’ve been WOEFULLY, let me write it again, WOEFULLY errant in doing this. it’s hard, when i don’t have a lot of motivation. T. (Teddy) suggested, again, that i get people to advertise, and to get people to advertise right here on this site, but i somehow can’t get myself to pursue that. why can’t i ever meet an enthusiastic marketer?
the cabin concert was great, by the way, and i’m actually going to another one later this afternoon. this one is also a potluck, and it’s going to be interesting, seeing how they coordinate 60+ covered dishes at this thing. what if lots of people have to heat stuff up? will they all bring crock pots, in which case will they blow a fuse because they’ll be plugged in all over the house? if they are, we could just wander from room to room and eat, a little chili in the bedroom, italian beef in the living room.
wil maring & shady mix are playing, and i’ve already seen them a few times, and so i know how good they are, and i’m looking forward to it immensely. but time is already SLIPPING AWAY from me this morning, i STILL have the many many things to do, so i need to stop this writing right now.
i started my GRACETALK #3 script the other night. i worked on it in the middle of writing an e-mail to somebody. i’m please with it so far, but i have a lot of work to do. new year’s eve, so far when i’ve told people that i’m going to be performing at first night on new year’s eve, they say to me “i’m sorry that i won’t see it because i’m going to be out of town.” will EVERYBODY be out of town? that would be somewhat disappointing. but maybe at least a couple of folks will stick around.
at least my family will be there.
ok ok OK, get to work! time’s a wastin’!
grace slightly motivated this morning although i’d really like to spend another hour in bed, reading.