PURPLE POTATOES

We recently went grocery shopping and saw this bag of mixed colors of potatoes.   They looked really interesting so we got a bag of them.

one day we had the yellow potatoes.  A couple of days later we had the red skin potatoes.   And now it was time for the purple potatoes.   Never ever had purple potatoes before.   I was a little apprehensive how they would taste.

We mashed them and had them with some "dry rub" beef barbecue ribs.   Beef ribs always look so gigantic as compared to pork ribs.   Oh yeah, don't forget the  barbecue baked beans.   Just can't have barbecue ribs without the beans.   And did you notice the glass of ice tea in the upper left corner in the picture below?   Barbecue is like a package deal:  ribs, beans, ice tea, and garlic bread toasted.   Watching a football game on television helps also.

They had a deep purple color.   Really unusual.

How did they taste?   They seem to taste just like regular potatoes.   But maybe a gourmet with discerning tastes might be able to taste a difference.

Anyone besides me have eaten purple potatoes?   How about sweet potato casserole?   I always look forward to Thanksgiving for the sweet potato casserole.   Green bean casserole?   After the third year I was burned out on green bean casserole.   Have a great day.   Lew

Leonardo "Leo" Lillimagi

Leonardo "Leo" Lillimagi.   I was 11 years old and in the 6th grade in Highland, New York.   I had always thought of Highland as a town but actually it is officially classified as a Hamlet.  

 

No, I am not a Hobbit and my name isn't Bilbo Baggins.   But growing up in a Hamlet seems to be rather unique.

Leo Lillimagi was a classmate of mine.   He was a fantastic artist who had an incredible talent.   We were both in the 6th grade.   The year was 1954.   One day Leo was sitting behind me.   I noticed that he was sketching something on blank paper.   It was a scene of a Roman army in the midst of a battle.   He showed it to me.   I was so impressed by the picture that I offered to give him 25 cents for it (my lunch money).   He agreed and I went without lunch that day but I had that fantastic sketch.   I kept it for many years but somewhere in time it got lost.   I surely wish that I had it now.   Without a doubt I must have been the first sale of his artwork.      

Leo was powerfully built and was the star of the Highland High School football team.   That is him in the front row holding the football.

Leo graduated from Highland High School in 1960.   This is his graduation picture.

My parents moved to Miami, Florida during my senior year and so I didn't graduate from Highland High School.   I graduated from Coral Gables High School in Miami, Florida instead.   I attended the University of Miami which were the best years of my life.   One day I was walking through a breezeway of the Student Union and who is sitting at a table?   Yep, Leo Lillimagi.   We sat and talked for quite a while.   I thought that it was amazing that two classmates from this small Hamlet in New York would end up at the University of Miami at the same time and meet by chance.   He had gotten a football scholarship to the University of Miami.   Here he is on the left in the third row Number 52.   The picture is from the University of Miami yearbook.

Here is a close-up.

He graduated from the University of Miami.   After 2 1/2 years I transferred to Arizona in Tempe, Arizona where I graduated from Arizona State University.  Leo's graduation picture from the University of Miami.

I felt bad that he had died 2 years ago.   I only found out about it recently.  I wrote this blog because I just didn't want him to go quietly into the night and be forgotten.   If you knew Leo Lillimagi please leave a comment.   I would really be interested to read it.     Lewis Dallas

Here is his obituary from the internet.

March 7, 1941 - May 5, 2016

Formerly of Highland, NY

Leonardo “Leo” Lillimagi passed away May 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, NV. He was 75 years old. Leo was born March 7, 1941 in Tallinn, Estonia to Arthur and Miralda Lillimagi. In 1944, Leo with the family, emigrated to Findland, after six months emigrated to Sweden, then to Norway and finally in 1947 to the United States. He lived in Connecticut, New York City and Kingston. The family finally settled in Highland, NY in 1952.

Leo graduated from Highland High School. He received a football scholarship to the University of Miami. After graduating he held different positions teaching art and coaching football. He taught art at Marlboro School District before settling down in Las Vegas where he taught art for 33 years. He spent many summers at the family farm in Highland.

He is survived by his wife, Deanna Dill Lillimagi; his daughter, Lori Bohem (Gary) of Clintondale, NY; his brother, Arne Lillimage of Highland, NY; a niece, Karen DeMale (Kevin); two nephews, Erik Lillimagi of Brooklyn, NY and Kristian Lillimagi of Concord, CA; grand-nephews, Kyler and Klayton DeMale.

African Mushrooms

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=2624ae50430e&pieces=24

So here I was a young lad at 16 years of age.   I was working part-time in a grocery store.   I was working in the produce department.   The managers name was Fred.   A very likable and pleasant guy.   He always had a coffee mug in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth.   He really liked smoking and drinking coffee.   That coffee mug went everywhere in the store with him.   Once I asked him what type he did before working in produce.   He told me that he had worked in a dynamite factory.   I was shocked.   I said, what about smoking?   He said that smoking wasn't allowed anywhere in the dynamite factory but he would smoke in the restroom.   I stood in awe at smoking in a dynamite factory.   I know, I was gullible (and I still am).   Looking back I think that Fred was having some fun fooling a young 16 year old young man.    One other time I asked Fred a question.   There was a strange looking vegetable that I had never seen before in the produce department.

I asked him what it was.   He told me that it was an African mushroom.   Yeah, I believed him.   Later that day a woman came in and asked if we had any artichokes for sale.   I told her that we didn't.   She said, Oh, there are the artichokes pointing her finger toward the African mushrooms.    I said, no, those are African mushrooms.   She said once again that they were artichokes but I kept insisting that they were African mushrooms.   She left without buying one of the African mushrooms (artichokes).   Some doubt started to creep into my head about Fred.   Was he telling me the truth and they were African mushrooms or were they really artichokes and he was he having fun fooling me.   I decided that he was having fun fooling me and that they were really artichokes.   And to this day whenever I see artichokes in a grocery store the memory of Fred and African mushrooms comes to mind and I always chuckle a little to myself about it.   African mushrooms, indeed.   And when I did this jigsaw puzzle in the link above I thought once again about Fred the produce manage.   The link above will take you to a 25 piece version of the puzzle so it will be easy to do.   Enjoy.   Lew

Jigsaw Puzzles

There is an online crossword site whose puzzles I like doing.   They have a vast selection.

https://www.jigsawplanet.com/

They have different shapes in pieces.   I am a traditionalist myself.   I like the standard shape for puzzle pieces.   You can see the what the shape of the puzzle piece is going to be in the lower right hand corner of the picture below.   If you like going on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney then you will really like doing this puzzle.

I accidentally selected a puzzle to do and hadn't looked at the shape of the puzzle pieces.  What a complicated shape to the piece.   It was extremely difficult.

Want to add another layer of difficulty?   How about having to rotate the pieces to get them to fit.   To indicate that they put the piece at an angle.

Once again I wasn't paying enough attention the shape of the puzzle pieces and I did a puzzle with standard shape pieces that had to be rotated.   Definitely added another degree of difficulty.

If you haven't done too many jigsaw puzzles start at a low number of pieces like 25 to 50.   It will be much more enjoyable for you.   Each puzzle gives you a large selection of the number of pieces by moving your cursor over "PLAY AS" when you select a puzzle.  

By the way, the pictures above are screen shots of thumbnail, that is why they look so blurry.   Here is a screen shot of the completed pirate ship puzzle.

Have some fun with the jigsaw puzzles.   I do one puzzle each day.   I enjoy them.   Have a great day.   Lew

Casey's Corner Disney World

Hot dogs.   I love hot dogs.    When I go to Disney World's Magic Kingdom I invariably eat lunch at a counter-service restaurant called Casey's Corner. 

 I assume that it got its name from the old poem Casey at the Bat.  

A great poem that was required reading in High School (or maybe it was Junior High).   The cast members (employees) all wear the old style of baseball uniforms.  

And what is traditional to eat at baseball games?   Yep, hot dogs.    So I get it:  Casey's Corner  a Casey at the Bat a Baseball a Hot Dogs.   No hamburgers.   No meatball subs.   Just hot dogs.   All kinds of hot dogs.

I like the chili cheese dog best.

They also have foot long hot dogs.   I once got a foot long chili  cheese dog at Casey's.

The two little things of ketchup are for my french fries and not the hot dog.   I tried ketchup on a hot dog once and found the taste to be terrible.   I am strictly mustard for a plain hot dog.   The chili cheese dog already has a really good chili topping.   But the foot long was enormous and just too big for me.   Plus the french fries.   I couldn't eat the french fries and so I fed them to the birds and ducks.   Last week I went to Magic Kingdom and once again I had a chili cheese dog (standard size) with french fries.   They have indoor dining but that fills up pretty quickly.

They have outside dining which is where I sat to eat my hot dog.

I sat next to the wrought iron fence.   And along came a duck.   A female mallard looking at me eagerly wanting some food.   What could I do, there went my french fries which she enjoyed immensely.

On my next visit I will be getting their specialty hot dog for October which is the loaded mashed potato hot dog.   The toppings are garlic mashed potatoes, caramelized onions, cheddar, bacon, scallion sour cream, and green onion.   This will definitely be a gastronomic adventure.

Disney always keeps coming up with new things which is why I keep coming back.   And what's next?   Maybe the two foot long hot dog that Casey's Corner had for a limited time.   Looks like something from the Man vs Food television show.   LOL.

Have a great day.   Lew

THE FIREMAN



Well, not a real fireman but a cast member on Main Street of Magic Kingdom at Disney World portraying a fireman.   He was a very personable individual.   He would ask people "Are you on fire?"   And if they said yes he would ask them if they would like to be misted.   Within seconds after this picture was taken people were stopping and asking to be misted.   He had a red pump-up hand sprayer and would mist the people like the man in the blue shirt.



People were also getting their picture taken next to him.   I had not seen this character at Disney World before but the individual with his jovial and friendly personality was perfect for the portrayal.



No matter how many times I go to Disney World there is always something new or something that I have not seen there before.   Always a fun place to visit.   Like Disney said, The happiest place on earth.     Lew

moths and camouflage

I remember a long time ago being taught about natural selection and evolution.   The story that I heard was that during the Industrial Revolution in England that a species of moth called pale, speckled moth gradually changed color to very dark.   The problem is obvious with the two moths in the picture below.

There was soot everywhere from the smoke stacks of the factories.  The soot was on the sides of building, sides of tree, and generally just everywhere.  So these light colored moths stood out and susceptible to predation.   The darker the moth was, the more it blended in with the dark soot covered background and didn't get eaten.   A few days ago there was a very dark moth on the white ceiling of the garage and it really stood out.  

I took the picture on day one and it was back the next day in a different spot on the white ceiling.   Pretty hard for a dark moth to conceal itself on a white background.  On day 3 it was back again but on the window.   Mary managed to get the moth to fly out of the garage.   Hopefully it found a darker place to rest during the day.   Anything is better than a white ceiling.   It hasn't come back to the garage.   But the moth reminded me of a biology lesson from a very, very long time ago.   Lew

Lobster Thermidor

Lobster Thermidor.   I recently saw on the internet Disney Food Blog that the Grand Floridian Hotel in Disney World is offering a Disney Thermidor hamburger.   The Grand Floridan Hotel looks to be styled after the Hotel del Coronado located in San Diego.

HOTEL DEL CORONADO

GRAND FLORIDIAN

Do you see the similarities?
But a lobster thermidor hamburger.    I have heard of lobster thermidor but never a lobster thermidor hamburger.  What does it look like?    Here it is.

So much lobster in it.   I hope that the hamburger meat doesn't interfere with the flavor of the lobster.   How much is a lobster thermidor hamburger?

Did I mention that it comes with French fries?

 

Does it seem pricey?   Not really.   I usually pay $12.95 for a hamburger at Disney served cafeteria style.   Plus I have to take the tray with the papers and left-overs to a garbage can myself.
Does the Hotel del Mar have a lobster thermidor hamburger?   Has anyone ever tried this combination of hamburger + lobster thermidor?   Well, I had two lobster rolls yesterday for lunch and they were good.

They were really quite good.  There was so much lobster in it.   I was quite surprised by how much lobster there was.   I asked the manager if the lobster was real lobster.   He assured me that it was.   He told me that he had made up five cans of the mixture that morning.   This was at a fast-food seafood chain called Captain D's.   I don't know if they are a national chain.

 You're wondering how much it was?   Yep, $3.69 for two of these rolls.   These lobster rolls were just crammed with the lobster filling.   Piled on above the level of the bun.   Quite a bargain.   Definitely got the Grand Floridian beat. 

 

What epicurean adventures have you had lately?   As they say, "Life is too short for cheap wine".   Have a great day.   Lew

Scapular medal

I had a gold Scapular medal on a gold chain.  

Gold is nice in that it doesn't corrode.   Stays nice and shiny forever.  Unfortunately gold is soft and breaks easily.   And that is what must have happened.   One day I discovered that the scapular medal and chain were gone from around my neck.   I had worn the medal and chain for so long that I had gotten so use to it that I was not aware of it.   I looked but I couldn't find it.   I decided to replace the gold Scapular medal with a silver Scapular medal with a silver chain.   Silver will be much stronger than the gold.   Plus the gold was really expensive.   I decided to go to the Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine locally.   It is incredible huge.   Maximum capacity inside the shrine is:

That is a lot of parishioners.   The gift shop is equally large.  By far, the largest religious gift shop that I have ever seen.   They have an incredible selection of everything that you could ever think of, including some scapular medals.  They had three of the same design.  

But hey, guess who was there?

 Not really.   It was just a life size cardboard cut-out.

Their scapular medals were just too modernistic for me.   I am more of a traditionalist.  I still have an old scapular medal that I had which I have always liked the design best.  I think that it was gold on silver and after a period of time the gold started to flake off.

On the back side of the medal you can see how the gold has flaked off.

This particular shape is very difficult to find.   I did an unsuccessful internet search.   So I decided to see if I could order something of a similar shape and design from Amazon.   If it was close I would be happy.   I couldn't believe it when I found the same exact medal shape and design in silver for sale on Amazon.   I was elated.

It has been shipped and is on its way.   The silver should not break.   But it will tarnish.   But that is alright because it is easy to clean.  I am happy.   Have a blessed day.   Lew