Oh, the memories of old. I always enjoyed delving into the egg dying kit. I always insisted on partaking in full, by tracking the egg’s progress with fingers immersed in each color; not using a spoon or dipper. Needless to say, I always ended up with marinated splotchety skin, probably lasting well to the approach of the next seasonal solstice!! (smile)
Happy 10th year anniversary of catching the bus to Boulder for the first time!! That move ultimately lead to being able to show people a niche that ***I found and created, on my own!! It was done totally from scratch, and here it is 10 years later!! Off to Denver to Bill and Lenora’s for Sunday Easter din, Sunday morn, (well, that is, heading there; not having din in the morn).
I’ll be reading Saturday night Vigil at Saint Tom’s, the final reading. Glad I found the right page and year cycle. It is the perfect time of year for further renewal, and awakening.
By several requests, I’ve been asked to post this, but you can find it in the bookmarks section as well.
GENUINE BROOKLYN EGGCREAM SECRET RECIPE
copyright 2000 by Michael Isaacson
HISTORY – The Genuine Brooklyn Eggcream.
This drink once concocted by Brooklyn candy store owners (old time candy stores all used to have fountains for mixing eggcreams, malteds, lime rickies, black & white sodas etc. ) used to contain both eggs and cream to fatten up skinny Brooklyn immigrant kids from Europe at the turn of the last century; however, today, this classic recipe contains neither. Even without these fattening, high cholesterol ingredients, if you follow the directions below in exactly the same way as I learned them from my revered teacher, Sol, who used to make the very best Genuine Brooklyn Eggcreams, you will experience a libation the likes of which will send you craving for seconds. Unfortunately, I cannot be responsible for any weight gain associated with multiple gulpings of this Nectar of the Flatbush Gods.
This recipe is, indeed, secret because even after knowing all the right ingredients in the right proportions, if you do not mix and serve them exactly as I will indicate, you will not enjoy the maximum pleasure derived from its precise execution. After you learn the secret and have mastered the technique, you have my blessing to freely share this new delectation formula with your friends and family and legitimately claim to know an authentic Brooklynite who personally taught you, first hand, how to make a Genuine Brooklyn Eggcream.
INGREDIENTS & MEASUREMENTS:
* Enough whole milk (not skimmed or fat free – sorry dieters) to fill the bottom of an 8 oz.Coke glass before it flares out. FIRST SECRET: milk must be in the freezer until it is “chippy” cold; not frozen, but cold enough to have chips of frozen milk floating. (This gives the eggcream its creaminess).
* Chocolate Syrup: Popular wisdom has always suggested Foxs U-Bet brand syrup as the best, but Bell brand or any comparable fully sweet chocolate syrup will do (caveat: Hersheys semi-sweet will not do ! ). Two full squeezes from a fountain pump (about 3 to 4 generous tablespoons should do nicely).
* Seltzer water: The best kind is from a well charged fountain or a seltzer bottle with a siphon, but in a pinch ice cold, pure seltzer water from a bottle may be used; (not carbonated water or mineral water with added salts etc.) just enough to fill the Coke glass ( never use a paper or plastic cup for the genuine experience.)
* A Mixing Spoon: A metal fountain spoon about ten inches long.
PROCEDURE: THE BIGGEST SECRET OF ALL
1. Place the Coke glass on a faded pink or green formica counter in front of pretzel rods in a canister in a candy store under an El run by a cigar chomping proprietor named Sol, Irv, Nate, or Joey. (only kidding – nostalgia overwhelmed me in a moment of abandon – any flat surface will do.)
2. Gently pump or spoon in the chocolate syrup (be careful not to run any on the sides of the glass. If this should happen immediately abort the attempt and try again; were all about perfection! ) 3. Remove the milk container from the freezer and fill up the bottom unflared section of the Coke glass with the chippy cold milk. 4. THIS STEP IS CRUCIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR GENUINE BROOKLYN EGG CREAM. While someone else is briskly pouring in the seltzer (Advanced technicians may be able to pour and mix simultaneously; but this is certainly beyond the skills of neophytes.) gently bounce the spoon up & down thereby mixing the syrup and the seltzer on the bottom of the glass; the milk above it will elegantly & independently rise in a pristine white froth to the top. DO NOT STIR UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! this will cause the milk to join the other ingredients and all you will have to show for your efforts is a pathetic chocolate soda with milk. Pffeh ! If using a fountain, advanced technicians may add a quick back hand of CO2 to add a zetz to the gassy seltzer. ( Note: Never top your eggcream with whipped cream – a detestably insensitive aberration from the New Jersey shores showing a complete disregard for tradition and taste – But dont get me started!)
A Genuine Brooklyn Eggcream is a cold, sweet, dark chocolatey drink with a creamy white head. This is your ultimate goal. Practice, practice, practice, and serve it with a thick, crisp, pretzel rod if you can. Good luck & may the muses of Brooklyn be with you and your dear ones. I sincerely hope each one of you enjoys your Genuine Brooklyn Eggcream in good health for 120 years!
Down on Pearl Street, Boulder. Mongolian Barbecue. I gather you choose your meal components, and they grill them at your table. I’ve never done such a concept before. That will be with Curtis and Doris Willoughby, this evening.
Be sure to watch “Extreme Makeover”, on A B C. My sister Mary T works for Fieldstone Homes, and their Texas division is building a home.
No conference trip for me this year in May, but will be in New York May 9 thru 14. It’s the annual benefit for Independence Residences, May 11, and Mothers Day and various birthdays weekend. You can read all about I R I over on the bookmarks section. If you search down to letter I in the alphabet, you will see Independence Residences, obviously beginning with letter I (smile).
Friday night was the first time I’ve ever been to a Lent soup supper at church. Wonderful stick to the ribs homemade style mushroom soup, and bean soup. No lentil soup, but maybe that would be a choice for Lent. It was a great turnout; probably 35 or 40. I did a getting to know you talk; my story, biographical, reflections on fresh starts and moving forward with change, with all kinds of anecdotals. It was great meeting more new folks, brought into the circle. More speaking coming up at the university, after this week.
The faithful microwave I had didn’t quite survive to reach it’s 10th anniversary. I noticed a sizzling scent, and a case of the shakes and vibes. I didn’t hear anything odd, and knew I didn’t have metal in it. I figured Keith The Cabdriver could take a look. We tried boiling water, and, after a hint of sparks, smoke, flashing white light, and the potential big bang, he said this could be ugly, and took it to chain it up outside. Apparently even the inside dish wasn’t salvagable; rather charred and old. I think I’ll get a talking model, when finances are in order. I’d rather not modify and improv on a model with a flat touchscreen, by putting labels and marks on it. Besides, I no longer can hear the feedback beeps that confirm your entries when you press on things. Even a voice will be better than high pitched tones, and it will be a model with physical buttons. It’s unfortunate and a constant battle, when you see that most consumer products made today don’t have physical controls, but rather a menu, or other graphic type interface, with no
accessibility. It’s great when an occasional company makes the occasional model the small blind market niche can use in full. As the microwave left the building to get beamed up, a passerby casually said she felt compelled to go home, and would gladly call and pay to have a star named after it!! (laugh)
It was off to Littleton for a great visit, and belated Saint Patrick’s Day cornbeast and cabbage!! With potatoes, charrots, and topped with vinegar!! Very marvelous. And biscuits too!! The thought was to have homemade keylime pie, which we figured would be a green thing for the occasion, but ended up opting for chocolate mint pie, and banana pudding. I’ll have to find out that recipe for banana pudding. But then again, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t enjoy constructing food preparations in the kitchen. I’m glad I learned some basics, (sort of), at various times in life, but, I always truly appreciate if someone cooks. At holiday time, I ***did, though, receive a potwatcher from Aunt Anna in New York. It’s a glass disc you place in the bottom of the pot being put on to boil, And it rattles and vibrates, signalling it is hot. Great when you can’t hear water in it’s various stages of motion. Hmmmm. Sounds just like the shower water episode (smile). It’s definitely a great idea for a kitchen item.
I’m just about to leave to head out in the morning, and stop in at the facilities. Gee, the bathroom’s all steamed up. At this stage in life, my current state of hearing doesn’t allow for the detection of running water. Makes for an interesting sensation when showering, washing things, or in the rain. I poke into the shower for a look see, and the water is on full force. I push the faucet back in, and turn it off. 20 minutes later, I go check again. Sure enough, it is back on. Time to call the plumber. Plumber arrives, and says valve replacement is needed. He leaves after getting it to turn off, and he finally hears back from the management. He had called them because the turnoff isolation for that bathroom would have fallen apart if he tried to do it, and in order to change a valve, there’s some work needed in the wall. Yep, nothing like when you own, and the good old differentiation of what is whose responsibility. It all hinges on what’s on what side of the wall. Hmmmm. Did I say hinges?? Aah yes. That’s another one I have to get fine tuned on the front door. Well, (no, not a water well with a bucket), but well, Tuesday maintenance will be by to do what they must do. I’ll stay away from that shower til it is fixed. At least I have 2 bathrooms, so can still use soap!! I was all set for folks to bring over a beachball, swimfins, and of course, the always-useful waterwings!!
Friday we attended a great reception celebrating 75 years of the Library of Congress braille and talking book program, and the congressional act responsible for it. It’s funny thinking back to when you began receiving library services. Maybe it was when you were very young. You subconsiously started learning about other geographic locations. That is, each time you heard on a talking book where it was recorded, you soon knew about New York, or Louisville, Kentucky. And if you read braille books and magazines, you learned they were from Louisville, Philadelphia, or Cincinnati. And you learned the recitations of the announcements, (but maybe you didn’t know what they meant). Things like “special distribution made by act of Congress under public Law 89–522”. Or, in the days when books were on records of various sizes, we learned at an early age to “pleas be careful not to scratch, or otherwise damage these records. Remember that many other people wish to read them.” And then, when you finished a book or part of a book, you were politely reminded to “please replace this record in its envelope and container”. Hmmmm. I always worried and pondered whether the book police would ring the doorbell if I didn’t comply before going downstairs for lunch when called to the table. (smile)
Saturday at the grocery store. Find a cart, and around we go. Suddenly, a short little fella My errands helper, Allison, begins to wonder what’s going on, and is like, gee, maybe he’s never seen anyone before? He then peers up and says, ”***I know you!! You came to our class the other week!!” He was one of the 28 preschoolers from Sunflower School. I guess something was memorable after all. He knew me, and I don’t even carry the American Express card, like in those old commercials of the past.appears in front of us, and begins staring intently.
Like I’ve said before, I gather you can get this here blogg as an rss feed so you can have an instant fix of whatever is current. I also was told of a free service where you can specify a page, and, when the page is updated, you will get an email notification that the page has new things. Just what you need. More email (smile). That’s okay. Chuck Hallenbeck in New York and I have been having adventures playing with, installing and tweaking spam filter software. So, I’m on the constant lookout while fine tuning, making sure none of you faithful followers’ addresses do the bounce all over the place. If you ***do want email notifies that something enlightening has happened on this page, you can check out
changedetection.com
The other night, I had this cab driver, who I certainly know. I don’t see him often, but we know each other. I decided to stop at the drive through and pick up a burger. We arrive at the window. He says okay your turn. I say what I’d like. Order taker responds and I don’t hear. Say again please I ask. And I ask, what did she say? No answer from driver. I figure he can’t tell either. This happens for several go-rounds. Finally, the order appears, and of course it is wrong. Driver then ***does speak up to say no, that’s not correct, and then ***does repeat what I’d been saying. Once finished, we drive off and I ask what was it regarding why he didn’t say anything before? He said well, it’s just that I’m totally and completely vegetarian, and I refuse to basically aid and abbet in any form of interaction regarding ordering anything wild species. No, it doesn’t matter that he wasn’t ordering, but the thought made him cringe, shudder, fluster, and swoon, for all I knew. I said, gee, I really would have appreciated your help on that one, and since I couldn’t hear, and so on and so on. He said, okay, we’re cool. I didn’t think of that and let my politics get in the way, but I’ll know next time. Oh well. I guess that could have occurred anywhere, but, definitely quite the mindset here in the People’s Republic of Boulder!! (smile) I guess anything for a diversion to make a week eventful.
All readjusted, tweaked, fine-tuned, made bigger, you name it. Quite the 4 hour fascinating artistic process as always. Lots of staring contests, to assess how they were moving. They sure developed a mind of their own, due to internal socket changes with the scar tissue on both sides. Things like that are bound to happen. Oh yes. They got polished to a new sheen as well. There was much wax used to simulate the rebuild as we went along. Once done, we entered the in and out phase of final adjusting. Probably like sculpture posing. They both needed major work on everything from sides, top and bottom. Now they fit and look great again. Much better!!
Today was off to Sunflower Preschool Today was a fine group of 28 Preschoolers at Sunflower School, where I’d done a session a number of years ago. Great questions and curiosity expressed by the 3 to 5 age group. They all clamored over the print/braille picture books I brought, and had a majority vote of what should be read. And, they liked the magical box with the robotic voice and the dots that moved up and down, when several expressed interest as to how I did computer. And the eyes must really look real, as a very analytical child wondered something like “well gee. If your eyes don’t work, they still open and move okay” (smile) Needless to say, they all wanted me back tomorrow for more. I was glad to have this chance, as it got my mind away from all the other happenings going on. I really must get some additional books to add to the selection for such occasions. Next stop on the speaking circuit will probably be my university talk with the freshman intro to disability awareness course.
Nicky and I are parting. Just a month shy of 6 years February 12. Like the song says, “but we really did try to make it. Something inside has died”, and any other lyrics that come to mind. I know both of us had things that got beyond lopsided and broke to alter. I feel no ill will, and I hope whatever needs to be found and worked out in life can be done. Not much more to say right now. No time is good to convey such news.
Happy new years!! Back after a great 10 days away. Rolled in yesterday around 2 a m, after delays taking off with 20 planes in front of us in the wind and rain. Here’s to starting the new year with many good things for all. Looking forward to involvement and starting off attending Saint Tom’s parish in Boulder. Sounds like it will be a great atmosphere. Feel free to add in paulmigs@migliorelli.org to your instant messenger, and I’ll add you as well. I also have a o l messenger, but I find the “bong” tone it makes on every message gets in the way of the speaking of the text. More later… Come by often!!
Off to New York tomorrow night, back Jan 2. I’m not net capable on the road as yet, so feel free to call the shoe which is 3 0 3 5 1 9 5 3 4 6. Best to all!!
Yes, it must have worked, as the water returned late last night!!
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