Pig Ear Soup

For those of you that think I'm really lucky to eat at the Alta Club everyday, think again. Yes it's free for which I am very grateful, but more often than not I just end up eating cold vegetables and rice. I didn't say raw, I said cold. The only reason those are the things I eat is because the rest just isn't appetizing. Here's how it works. The Alta Club has an event. The guests don't eat what the club planned on. So what do they do with the left overs? They feed it to us. The left overs become our lunch for the following week(s). When the yolk starts to crust on a deviled egg, chicken starts to taste like cardboard, and you start combining dishes together to make one big trough of food...that's a pretty good indication that it's time to discard the food and start over. Seriously. So today, as I'm trying to figure out what the food was that I was staring at deciding whether or not to partake, the chef comes up and says-"Can I get you some pig ear soup?". I thought he was kidding until he directed my attention to our grill chef's bowl. There it was-big pig ear poking out from the middle of his soup bowl. I could feel the dry heaves coming. I couldn't look at it, and yet I was so curious. People actually eat that stuff? Then he just reached in, grabbed it, and took a bite. I had to leave. He did it just to get to me. Oh, wow. Talk about killing an appetite. Note to self: stick to the sandwich shop next door. It's not free, but at least I know what I'm eating. I'll spare all of you by not including a picture of today's food selection.
Typical words from my Uncle Milton. We celebrated his 60th birthday yesterday with a surprise party and tributes to him by my Aunts, Uncles, and his close friends. After the remarks were made he said, "It's like I'm at my own funeral". Lovely sentiments. He's hilarious...and does the best Sean Connery impression of anyone I know. Looks like him too. Happy Birthday Uncle Milt!

The joys of living on a private lane. All the home owners on our street decided to re-tar/paint the road, so that it actually looked like a road....that's what my neighbor said. The road was fine..but it definitely looks like a black road now, so mission accomplished. I kind of liked that no one knew we were back there. Why draw attention to ourselves? They shut the gate so no cars could get in and out after the tar-paint was slopped on. Originally my neighbor told me that we'd have to go through our backyard, cut through the park, walk around the assisted living center (which we live directly behind), and back up through the parking lot that leads to the road to our house where we could park while the road was being completed. Sound complicated? Well it was. "Or", I said to myself, "Self....you could just climb through the broken gate where they've stretched yellow tape acrossed to keep people in/out. " Much easier. The road is supposed to be dry and finished this morning. Nice to not have to tell friends coming over to climb through the yellow tape and watch their step to avoid black tar on their shoes. But wow, did I mention it really looks like a road? Great job, tar guy!!!

*Pictures coming soon. Still having problems.