The Campbell Apartment

Usually, I take time today to give thanks to all the blog and Twitter weirdos that I follow or who follow me. But I'm not in a list-y mood, so consider yourself thanked. Whomever you are.

I will give some specific thanks to my Gia and our friends who took me out for a raucous time in NYC this past Saturday for my birthday (which was actually this past Sunday). We had a blast!

For a change of pace, we decided to start out the day in and around Grand Central Terminal. Had drinks and oysters at the Oyster Bar (duh!), then found a joint called The Campbell Apartment which has an entrance into Grand Central on Vanderbilt.  The name is a bit of a misnomer. The spot was actually the huge office space of John W. Campbell, a mega-rich financier from back in the day. Here's a shot which shows off the high ceilings, opulence and the giant safe that Campbell kept in the fireplace (to show off his wealth):

Source

The place was massive, and ornately decorated. And the drink menu was fantastic. I had two cocktails there. A bourbon drink with fennel and candied ginger called a Kentucky Ginger, and an odd mixture called The Port of New York. Dark rum, port wine and chilled espresso. Normally it wouldn't be close to my thing, but I was intrigued. And it was fantastic! 

Source: my phone

You can even see the dead remains of my Kentucky Ginger in the background and someone's Prohibition Punch (in the large snifter) in the background. All were tasty as all heck.

The rest of the day progressed lovingly along this booze path. I believe* I was out until the wee hours with one of the crew chasing after live music down in the Village, but it all got a bit fuzzy after dinner at our friends' apartment. Fuzzy in a good way though.

Wonderful day and evening out in the city. Who could ask for anything more? 

*Just kidding. I remember everything. Almost.

Thanks

To these things, I give the thanks:

• Our four cats. Gogo, Wolowitz, Bootsy and Bennington.  They make us so happy nearly every day. I say "nearly", because happiness doesn't just happen every day. Sometimes they puke on the carpet and you step on it with your bare feet. Those days aren't so great.
• Jim Beam. I love me some bourbon, and I love me some classy bourbons. But most times, I just want some plain old Jim Beam. Filet mignon is awesome, but a lot of times you'd rather just have a great burger.  Jim Beam is that great burger. You know what I mean.
• Baseball. I've been enjoying this off-season of baseball nearly as much as the regular season.  Having the weekly radio show certainly helps. Being a fan of a team that you know is gonna spends some money to ensure a quality product is out on the field every day is an even bigger help. 
• Cooking. It both excites and calms me. I was a indifferent chef for most of my life, but now I try to inspire myself in the kitchen at least 4 or 5 times a week. Good for me, good for Gia, good for our health. It might be a more recent passion than booze or baseball for me, but it's just as important.
• The Internet. Without it, I wouldn't be watching Breaking Bad or Mad Men on Netflix, boring y'all with this here blog of mine, wasting time on Twitter or playing silly games. I also wouldn't be finding as many cool recipes or friends or opportunities for...whatever. I never want to be unplugged again.  Except for the times when I don't wanna be plugged in. Again, you know what I mean.
• Tom Waits. I wasn't a big fan growing up, but I've really come to appreciate the man and his music.  Whenever I'm feeling particularly down or up, Tom centers me.  I dig that.
• My family. This is the extended family I'm talking about.  My family, Gia's family, our friends, our friends' families.  It's all family to me. They are...the best.
• All y'all. That, according to a Southern friend of mine, is the plural of y'all. Which, of course, is a plural expression. "You all". Hey, I don't try to make or break any rules.  But all y'all are pretty damned special, and I appreciate the hell outta you.
• My Gia. She is my world.

That's enough for now. I've got a lot more to be thankful for, but I'll save that for another time.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. 

Make it your own.  Fly your turkey freak flag.

Last Thanksgiving Post

I swear.

So I showered you all with some recipes over the weekend, but I failed to mention the most important thing that almost didn't happen on Thanksgiving.

As in Thanksgiving itself.

Yeah...it almost didn't happen. For us, I mean.

Here's the dirt.

Gia and I showed up about an hour earlier than everyone else was due to arrive. Because we had Sammi, our sick cat, with us. She's still hanging in there, by the way. We have no idea how, but she's hanging in there. Anyway, we got there early because we wanted to get her used to the spare bedroom, feed her and make sure she got some rest before the madness started.

Because our Thanksgiving? It's madness. 28 adults and 11 children this year. That's down from last year because my brother and his family couldn't make it. And everyone was due to show up around 2ish. Dinner usually goes down around 5:30PM with appetizers and cocktails and lots of running around by the kids beforehand. The big turkey was in the oven, and everyone was bringing the rest of the side dishes. Mashers (me), stuffing, turnips, green bean casserole, creamed onions, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, etc...

That's when it happened. The oven just...broke. A big old double oven that just wouldn't work. Something to do with the electric control panel. It just stopped working. And we had the big turkey only half-cooked, three more smaller birds (lotta mouths to feed) totally un-cooked, and a houseful of side dishes to heat up. Yikes!

We had some not-so-wonderful alternatives. We do this every year at my sister's house because she's got the biggest place. My brother-in-law actually builds a huge dining room table every year just for the occasion. So that we can all sit at the same place. My mother lived pretty close...so does one of my other sister's. But at either of those homes we would be really tight. And everyone would be eating standing up or something. Like I said, some not-so-wonderful alternatives.

So here's what we did. We rallied.

My brother-in-law lit the barbecue in the back yard and on went the three smaller birds in a large broiling pan. My other brother-in-law grabbed the large bird and off he went to his home to throw it in the oven for the remainder of its cooking time. And I ran out to the store for pans and sterno for the chafing dish stations that they had in the garage. Then someone grabbed another bbq from their house, and between all this; 2 bbqs, a microwave oven, a stove top and three chafing dishes...well, we actually managed to get it all done. And not too much later than when we would normally eat. My brother-in-law even got the blowtorch out for those dishes that needed a little crisping on the top.

And you know what?

BEST THANKSGIVING EVER!!!

Everything tasted delicious and everyone was super-appreciative of the job that was done on all parts to get the job done. It was really a wonderful dinner.

And then we followed it up with some awesome dessert (I tried minced meat pie for the very first time), some more cocktails and then some friends showed up for the best night of karaoke ever!

I'm already looking forward to next year.

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. Good times...

Happy Thanksgiving, Turkeys!

Gobble, gobble, hey!

So what are you kids doing this Thursday/today?

I'm heading over to my sister's house with my sick cat (and Gia) to have a hella good time. I made wasabi garlic mashed potatoes and some regular old sour cream and chive mashers for the big event. That's the way we roll. Everyone brings a dish. My sister provides the bird, we provide the rest of the dishes. Beat that with a dead bird!

And I'm making this special after-dinner cocktail with vanilla brandy, bourbon and a simple syrup made from orange peel and chipotle peppers. Spicy!!!

I pretty much fucking rule.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. My favorite holiday.

Karaoke Turkey

That would be me. And the rest of my extended family.

After a sumptuous feast on Thanksgiving Day we break out the karaoke software, hook a few computers together with the sound system and we have a good 'ole time singing to the hits.  First the kids until around 9:30PM or so, and then we adults take over.  This year we cut the festivities off early and we were done by 2AM.  : )

I did a couple of solos to start things off. "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band. I don't know why, but I tend to go real country whenever I karaoke. The rock stuff is too hard to sing, I guess. Or maybe, like Marie Osmond, I'm a little bit country after all.  But I dance better.  Naturally.

One of the highlights was a silly duet (kinda) of the song down below that I did with a dude who smells like a wet dog.  Oh, and his duet with my Gia on "If I Close My Eyes Forever" by Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne.  That one rocked.

Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving weekend.  And for those of you outside of the US, I hope your plain old ordinary weekend was almost as wonderful.

Foo Fighters - All My Life (Official Music Video) - Watch the best video clips here

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. And now Slyde will mention something about "Come Monday"...just watch.

Gobble Gobble Hey!

Hope you all have a Rock, Rock, Rock & Roll Thanksgiving!

PS - I think I'm missing a "rock" or two up there in that sentence.

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. God(dess) Bless the Ramones.