Several months ago I dropped a mortgage payment on 3 tickets to the Minnesota Gophers / Nebrasks Cornhuskers tilt that will be taking place this Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium.
When Sue McGleno asked how much the tickets were, I considered lying, but I didn't.
I should have.
It's not like she totally nagged me about it, but she pointed out that the investmest was preposterous.
I don't think so however.
The way I look at it, and I mean this in complete respect, Nebraska doesn't have the same sports entertainment that we do here in the TC's.
All they have is Cornhusker sports, and you know....I kinda think thats cool. Cornhusker Football is like a religion down there, People plan the events of their life around it.
In my city, there are too many options in my opinion. The commitment to a team gets deluded.
So anyways, I just figure that if a guy is going to watch after my daughter (and that's not meant in sexist terms, I know it goes both ways...so don't even start)the least I can do is take him to a game where he can watch God's favorite team.....GO BIG RED!
But the bottom line is when I am dead, I want my daughter to know in no uncertain terms how I feel/felt about her.
Sue McGleno says you can't buy love, but I'm not so certain.
I realize I am daft, but sometimes I think people appreciate gestures where they know some sacrifice is being made.
Situations where their needs were put ahead of your own.
Sue McGleno shrugs, rolls her eyes and asks if I really think KiKi will even remember this game in 20 years.
Klecko responded by sharing a story that happened to him recently.
A couple weeks ago I went to the Lexington which touts a reputation as being one of the premiere fine dining restaurants in Saint Paul.
My dinner dates were Saint Paul poet laureate Carol Connolly and one of my newer "inner circle" friends Dara Syrkin. when I say newer, I have known her for a couple years, but it takes a long time for any of us to become a V.I.P. in somebodys life.
It takes more than commitment, it takes a history of commitment.
The thing I love about "D" is that she has the most unique laugh in the world, but in addition to that.....I love to see what she is going to wear to events.
I mean on one high brow evening when I met up with her (and it was a summer thing) she was wearing a longer (but not long) skirt that was blue & white and almost copped that...what are those Dutch plates called? The blue & white ones....Delft?
Yeah she copped a Delft vibe, for sure.
If that wasn't interesting enough, she accessorized it with black motor cycle boots.
It so worked.
I think my street cred went up 80 points that night, but back to the Lexington. almost always I am the first to arrive, but tonight both my dates beat me. Dara was clad in a Jackie "O" ensamble that was a sporting shade of Egg Plant. The sheen of black and purple was amazing.
Speaking of black, Carol Connolly always wears it. I mean always.
Carol Connolly wears black more often than Johnny Cash did.
So while the 3 of us chatted, dined and gossiped. Carol asked what was new with this Blog and I told her how Season #3 started and my thread of interest that i was going to weave through recipes was how daughters communicated with their fathers.
She smiled, and smiled, until I broke the silence and demanded that she give a little insight to her family history....that is if she wanted to.
I didn't have a tape recorder, and I didnt take notes, but if you want to trust my sketchy memory, I'll do my best to reenact the poet laureates response........
"Oh-my goodness - first off, I lost my father way to soon. I was 25 years old, and my twins were just 10 months. My mother had a heart attack and my father was driving her to the hospital.
When they were at a stop light, my father slumped over from a heart attack as well and passed away right there on the spot.
My mother was able to flag down a police officer who proceeded to take her to a hospital, but she passed too within a 1/2 hour.
My father was a big man, he was large like you Klecko (now Carol's face starts beaming) and he was so kind to us kids, but sometimes he would say the craziest things that I still laugh about today.
Once he told my little brother that if he didn't stop misbehaving, he was going to clock him in head and this would result in him bouncing down the street for so far and so long that he would die of starvation."
And now I see that Carol's glance has turned to the past. That made me smile. She continued......
"We never heard our parents use foul language, but I remember once he was moving a dresser down a starwell and he lost his grip. As the dresser tumbled end over end....my father actually laughed and said - LET THAT SON OF A BITCH GO, and us children couldn't believe it. We giggled all day."
As Carol finished reminiscing I noticed a tear shoot out of her eye, and then another.
Crazy, when you bring up topics that make people cry, they are usually considered bad, or inappropriate (in guy terms at least), but as Carol slid her finger underneath her eye glasses to wipe the moisture away...I was glad I did.
All I could think of is how much I hope one day my daughter will love me that much. Enough to cry at the Lexington and not even care.
At this point server dude strolls up and offers dessert, if you ever wanted an inside tip on how to impress Capitol Cities #1 poet, just order her vanilla Ice Cream, it's all she desires.
Vanilla / Orange Cookies
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 egg (room temp)
1 teaspoon orange flower water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
Alright-Alright, you know the drill.....Start by creaming your butter, shortening and sugar.
Next add milk, egg, orange flower water and vanilla extract.
Then we'll put in our flour, B-Powder and salt.
Mix it together until pliable and scoop in onto sheet pans covered with parchment paper.
Remember....sheet pans w/o sides work better.
When I scoop my cookies (and I do love to use authentic cookie scoops)I never like to press the cookie mound down. I have found that when they spread on their own they turn out better.
Next you'll place them into the oven that was preheated to 350 degrees and bake them until their done, but don't pull a "Sue McGleno" and leave them on the cookie sheet...they will continue baking and will burn.
So just give them a couple minutes to set up and transfer them to a cooling rack.
If you are not familiar with orange flower water, the stuff is aces. Kim Ode swears by it.
Adding orange flower water not only adds some s-e-x-y to your flavor profile, but it also adds a total different texture, which in turn creates a pleasant mouth feel.
If you can't find it at the store.....I just have one word......
INTERNET!
Now go cry about your fathers and get baking.
No comments:
Post a Comment