Waitin' for the Weekend

A valentine dream for all my truckbuddies -- "The Handyman" by Nicholas Downs:

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Sunday Drive: My Funny Valentine

For M.P. 

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The Pork Boys Do Valentine's Day, 2023

 Le Menu

Pink Champagne

Vichyssoise

Boeuf Bourguignon

Parsleyed Noodles

Chips de Navet

Haricots de Lima with Tomatoes and Sausage Bits

Homemade Croissants with Sesame Seeds

Chocolate Mousse

Coffee

M.P. outdid himself again, working all day long in the kitchen to whip up a little feast of our favorite foods.  Certainly it was a dinner to remember:  tres delicieux et tout a fait fabuleux!  I tell you what, boys.

M.P. printed and cut out the Victorian valentine cards for decoration, using artist's pinking shears - a charming touch.

Our new red-and-white china from the dollar store 

was perfect for the occasion.  Clockwise from noon:

turnip chips, lima beans, boeuf bourguignon and noodles, 

croissant slathered with butter.  Not pictured:

a bowl of scrumptious chilled vichyssoise.

Mousse au chocolat --

alas, we forgot the whipped cream!

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Valentine

Pianist Jim Brickman and country music star Martina McBride teamed up on this lovely song in 1996.  Here's wishing love, joy, and peace to all my truckbuddies.

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The Pork Boys Do Valentine's Day

M. P. set the prettiest table you ever saw for our Sunday dinner, and picked out the flowers especially to go with the candles and tablecloth:  pink roses, white hydrangea, and a bit of purple stattice to give it verve.

We haven't always done anything special for Valentine's Day, but this year, inspired by the culinary and decorative possibilities of the occasion, M. P. pulled out all the stops for our Sunday feast--and it was grand indeed.  Just wait till I show you.

But first I must tell you that for last Saturday's "blue-plate special" dinner, M. P. made a truckload of his famous Chicken Enchiladas, enough to fill a large baking dish and two smaller ones, which we put in the freezer for later use.

Sure, you've had regular old beef enchiladas - but chicken enchiladas are even more delightful, enveloped in a creamy cheese sauce and topped with green onions, black olives, and grated white and yellow cheddar cheeses.  

Of course M. P. made his deluxe frijoles refritos to go with the enchiladas - with a little sour cream added.  And you can't eat enchiladas without some Spanish rice, cooked in chicken-tomato bouillon.  Ay caramba, que delicioso!

For Sunday night's dinner, M. P. took care of everything, including place settings.  My sole contribution to dinner was to uncork the wine, our usual White Zin.

Our feast began with a really scrumptious broccoli-and-carrot soup, M. P.'s own variation on Julia Child's broccoli soup, made from a leek and potato base, and here garnished with shredded Swiss cheese and some homemade croutons.  Luscious!

And here is what the main course looked like:  M. P. surprised me with a fabulous Surf 'n' Turf dinner, with which he took especial pains to make everything nice and tender so I could eat it without dental difficulties.  From the 6 o'clock position, going clockwise:  Rock lobster tail, broiled in butter; ribeye steak (seared in a skillet, then baked low and slow in a covered pan till it was falling apart); Just Bread (explanation follows); a lovely big baked potato, loaded with butter and sour cream; stuffed yellow squash, filled with minced onion, mushrooms, and crumbled Ritz crackers; fried red tomatoes; and tender little asparagus tips underneath M. P.'s marvelous homemade Hollandaise sauce.  One of M. P.'s most magnificent dinners ever, and certainly the most beautiful.  I loved it, and savored every single bite.

M. P. made this huge loaf of soft, tasty bread to go with our dinner.  When I asked him what the name of it was, he answered, "Just bread."  In between all the other preparations, he simply mixed up some yeast dough, sprinkled it with sesame and poppy seeds, and baked it without consulting any recipes.  Nameless or not, it was mighty fine bread.  I tell you what.

And finally, the piece de resistance--a superbly concocted Chocolate Mousse, tasting more chocolate-y than anything you've ever had before, and with such perfect texture that it would not fall from an upturned spoon.  I know because we made the experiment ourselves.  But shhh, fellas - don't tell anyone.  People would be breaking the door down if they knew we had something this good in the house.  And yes, there are several more glasses of mousse left for us to enjoy this week.

As you can see, though the world in general may be racing headlong to hell, the Pork Boys are undaunted, manfully keeping up the best traditions of civilized life to the utmost of our strength.  We are both gratefully aware of how lucky we are, he to cook and me to eat (and wash up), and both of us to enjoy these wonderful meals--which are, in fact, just about our only recreation.  Getting by on a limited, somewhat precarious income, we never go out to movies, plays, concerts, or nightclubs, and we eat out only once a year, for one birthday or the other.  But why should we go out to eat, when we can eat so well, and so cheaply, at home?

Dat mousse!

And so with such a perfect ending to such a perfect meal, I bid you fellas goodnight and wish you all bon appetit! at your own tables.

The Pork Boys Do Lovers' Pie

Last Sunday's dinner anticipated Valentine's Day and was especially delightful.

Lovers' Pie - a fabulous dish that M.P. read about somewhere and decided to try.  First, he cut beef sirloin into very thin slices, then wrapped each one around an oyster, and baked it all in a flaky piecrust with caramelized onions, beef consomme and red wine.  Magnifique!  I tell you what, boys.  You never had anything so good in your mouth.

In case that hadn't worked out, M.P. also made a new variation of garlic chicken, butterflied, breaded with panko and finely chopped garlic, and slowly baked in a white wine sauce until perfectly tender and juicy.

From 6 o'clock, going clockwise:  garlic chicken, herbed rice and luscious cream gravy; garlic Texas toast; fried Italian green beans; Lovers' Pie.

The Lovers' Pie was so good, we had to go back for seconds.
If anybody out there doesn't love oysters as we do,
I'm just sorry as I can be for you.

We had no dessert to speak of at dinner; but earlier in the day, M.P. had made up four pans of his wonderful cinnamon rolls, decorated with pink icing and candy hearts, which he delivered to his kids and grandkids.  There was also a fifth pan, twice as big as the others, which he made for the delectation of your Head Trucker, who was most grateful.

Hold the Roses

A guest post by my truckbuddy Tim from England, now resident in Spain:

Hold the Roses

Introduction

Captain Chris Redfield decides celebrating Valentine’s Day in the traditional way is not for him. His second-in-command on the battlefield, and his partner at home, Lieutenant Piers Nivans, comes up with an alternative celebration; but Alpha Team have other ideas for their two commanding officers.

You and I (Nivanfield) by the talented tuzkiyoushi, at deviantart. My thanks.

Chris Redfield’s house, the 'Old Cave', as his partner Piers Nivans called it, was now sold. And their new home, given the military codename the 'Deuce of Hearts', had the builders in. Barely three months after having left, they found themselves back in Chris's suite on the top floor of the Officers’ Mess.

It had quickly become obvious to both of them that it would be impossible to do all the work on the Deuce of Hearts on their own, much as they had wanted to. So with their renovation plans drawn up and approved, they had reluctantly turned the work over to a local construction company in Williamsport. Chris had simply said, "Make it so" to the project manager as he showed the man the detailed plans. He left it to Piers to make the detailed caveats.

"I shall be watching, closely." the young Lieutenant had said in the cold, clipped voice he usually reserved for his training classes. "I'm a trained sniper." The man laughed, nervously.

"Of course Mr Nivans, as you wish."

There was a lot of Piers in the internal changes. As he and Chris had agreed, their new home would be 'old' outside and 'new' within. And naturally, they both wanted the work to be completed as soon as possible.

Chris smiled at the man. "Don't worry about Piers. He's a bit OCD, as well as being our best shot. Ha! What he means is stick to the plan, it's always the best advice." Chris grinned amiably as he patted the project manager on the back with a large paw. The poor man staggered under the blows. And he could have sworn he heard the Lieutenant growl . . . .

"That went well." said Piers cheerfully after they'd left the builder's office.

"Yeh, bad cop, bad cop, never fails." Chris chuckled.

"Hmm, I thought you were meant to be the good cop?"

"Ha! You don't know how hard I patted him."

Continued below the jump . . .

The 55th Valentine

After being a couple for 54 years, Jack Evans and George Harris were the first gay couple to wed in Dallas County after the Supreme Court's landmark Obergefell ruling last June.  Now Necco, the makers of the candy hearts we all know and love, are featuring the couple in a timely advertisement:



Sweet, huh?

Be My Valentine

Couples from the past, about whom we know nothing. But we can guess . . . .

Bonus: Texas legislator files Freedom to Marry bill on Valentine's Day.

Of course, it has no chance of passage this year. But one day, another will.

Valentines from All Over

Honk to Joe.My.God., where I swiped borrowed these from.

First up:  a gay kiss-in for Valentine's Day from the Place St. Michel in Paris, where demonstrators assembled after a couple hundred Christianists threatened to bash their heads in at their original venue, in front of Notre Dame.  Way to go, mes amis.  Vive la France!



And here's the official release of We Are the World 25 for Haiti.  Your Head Trucker is getting to be so antique now, I haven't got a fucking clue who the vast majority of these people are.  Streisand I recognize, of course, and the obviously immortal Tony Bennett, and Celine Dion, and maybe Stevie Wonder?  Aretha? 

Some of those young folks can sing pretty good, it's a fact; they should keep up with that, maybe they'll get a career in the music business one day.



Worth noting:  Canadian lesbian kd lang opened the Vancouver Winter Olympics with this rendition of a Leonard Cohen piece.  She also sang at the Calgary games back in 1988.  Hmm, has there ever been an out performer sing at a major sporting event here in the US of A, I wonder?  Not embeddable, but see the clip on NBC here.

Finally, a slap-you-silly valentine to all the military homophobes.  Never heard of Bryan Safi before, but the boy gives the definitive answer to the fear that has all them big, tough, macho soldiers peeing in their pants:  the prospect of what Joe Jervis laughingly calls "a non-stop homo rape-a-rama" if DADT is repealed.  Which btw, even Dick Cheney came out in favor of overturning today.  He may be a fascist, but he does have a gay daughter, you know.




So what did your Valentine give you today, huh?