It's an arbitrary difference, sure, but I still hope it's step in a different direction. Preferably a preferable one.
Best wishes, gang.
13 thoughts on “January 1, 2021: Two Oh Two One”
There's no "Winter Wonderland" report today because there weren't any games. Everyone's taking a break for new year's.
Speaking of cooking, I made steak for dinner last night. Our covid pod had an out door dinner for 4. I bought 4 of the most beautiful ribeyes I've ever seen. We have socially distanc'd grill'd in their back yard several times, so last night I brought over the cast iron pan and heated the everloving shit out of it over a roaring fire and seared off the steak before adding an unhealthy amount of butter and spooning the molten fat over the steaks. I had 4 to do so two at a time it was. Then I seared off a bit of the fat on the surface just to give it the grill mark and served it with a salad and some bacon cheese potato baked something or other.
We also had puff pastry baked brie with spicy raspberry jam. Delish.
Was a nice night, but also kind of somber. Except for the neighbors who were partying like it was 1999.
We had zoom cocktails with friends (I made lemon drops with limoncello and Meyer lemons the had given us). It turned into a 2.5 hour evening, which meant I had to re-refrigerate everything I had prepped for Tuscan shrimp with white beans. We ended up heating some Costco tortilla soup and "enjoying" the local artillery display.
Mrs. Twayn and I had a party for two last night. We made a bunch of appetizers, I tended bar, and we finished watching season two of The Umbrella Academy. We opened a bottle of champagne at midnight, had a glass, put away the food and hit the hay. This morning we finished the champagne in mimosas along with cappuccinos, leftover deviled eggs and little smokies for brunch. I'm convinced that God invented hangovers to remind us we're not as young or as smart as we like to think.
I nursed an old fashioned and then a whiskey sour through the night. That worked well.
We had a nacho platter, charcuterie, fruit and veggies, and tons of sweets that we grazed on all evening. Heidegger (4) almost went to bed at 10, but rallied and all of the kids made it to midnight. Many many games were played, and at this point in my life I couldn't imagine a much better NYE.
I went with Jameson and ginger most of the night, but I did have one whisky grove, which is what we call whiskey and Spring Grove Lemon Sour soda. I'm reminded of one of our favorite New Year's Eves from years ago when the girls were little and invited friends to spend the night. Starting with dinner at six, Mrs. Twayn had a different activity for them planned for every hour, culminating at midnight when we went outside in PJs, coats, boots and silly hats to blow on noisemakers and run around in the snow with sparklers.
Any time my kids attempt to play a game together, it ends in screaming or tears. Or both. I would have thought by this point in the pandemic my kids would have found a way to work through this, but apparently it's just never going to happen.
Rick has been at a slow, steady scream for a few months now.
Last nite a group of us hiked to a lookout point in Penwood Park with a cool westward facing outcrop. It was cold and windy, but we had champagne and wore 2021 glasses for pix. We hiked back to the cars in the dark with flashlights. 3 miles.
Today we had crab legs and lobster claws for lunch. Not bad.
My NY Eve consisted of getting my butt whipped on a busy night of take out at the joint. I gotta be honest, nights like last night are the ones that are a bit tough on myself and the staff. Another $10k or so of sales lost. Believe me when I write that I am not one of those owners screaming to open full blast or threatening to open illegally. It's just getting to be a long slog of reinventing the business continually, watching staff struggle financially (and not being able to help them more), and probably most tiresome is people coming in to grab their food and looking at me like I am a dead man walking. Like everyone else in the world, I just want normal again. (and I know I won't get that for quite a while). On a more positive note, this second round of PPP is going to allow us to comfortably survive this and in a few weeks, when we receive our loan/grant, I will be able to shore up my staff financially as well. I am grateful for that.
Went home at 8 with some take out of my own. Lemon-Grilled Shrimp with Black Rice Risotto for me, and Buttercrumb Walleye with a Black Rice Pilaf for my wife. A couple glasses of red wine followed by a Rye Whiskey on the rocks. Watched an hour and a half of Michael Shynes' concert on the computer (he was pretty buzzed), and then watched Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper get tipsy on CNN. The highlight was Cohen quizzing Snoop Dog on where he has gotten high (including the White House). We actually made it to midnight, then crashed hard. We don't open the joint until 3 today, but I have been here since 9 taking care of a lot of paperwork and other tasks, including fighting with my 3rd Party delivery service. I told them we would be closed until 3 today a few days back and they keep calling, asking if we got their orders. No... we are not open yet!
The faster we get vaccine into arms the better. I'll feel much more inclined to dine out knowing I've been vaccinated and the restaurant staff has been vaccinated. I'm sure I'm not alone.
I think the first turning point, for me, will be when those 65 and older who are still in the general population are able to get their vaccine. Once that group is vaccinated, the risk factors go down significantly. But yes, I can't wait until the rest of us all get a shot in the arm too!
There's no "Winter Wonderland" report today because there weren't any games. Everyone's taking a break for new year's.
Speaking of cooking, I made steak for dinner last night. Our covid pod had an out door dinner for 4. I bought 4 of the most beautiful ribeyes I've ever seen. We have socially distanc'd grill'd in their back yard several times, so last night I brought over the cast iron pan and heated the everloving shit out of it over a roaring fire and seared off the steak before adding an unhealthy amount of butter and spooning the molten fat over the steaks. I had 4 to do so two at a time it was. Then I seared off a bit of the fat on the surface just to give it the grill mark and served it with a salad and some bacon cheese potato baked something or other.
We also had puff pastry baked brie with spicy raspberry jam. Delish.
Was a nice night, but also kind of somber. Except for the neighbors who were partying like it was 1999.
We had zoom cocktails with friends (I made lemon drops with limoncello and Meyer lemons the had given us). It turned into a 2.5 hour evening, which meant I had to re-refrigerate everything I had prepped for Tuscan shrimp with white beans. We ended up heating some Costco tortilla soup and "enjoying" the local artillery display.
Mrs. Twayn and I had a party for two last night. We made a bunch of appetizers, I tended bar, and we finished watching season two of The Umbrella Academy. We opened a bottle of champagne at midnight, had a glass, put away the food and hit the hay. This morning we finished the champagne in mimosas along with cappuccinos, leftover deviled eggs and little smokies for brunch. I'm convinced that God invented hangovers to remind us we're not as young or as smart as we like to think.
I nursed an old fashioned and then a whiskey sour through the night. That worked well.
We had a nacho platter, charcuterie, fruit and veggies, and tons of sweets that we grazed on all evening. Heidegger (4) almost went to bed at 10, but rallied and all of the kids made it to midnight. Many many games were played, and at this point in my life I couldn't imagine a much better NYE.
I went with Jameson and ginger most of the night, but I did have one whisky grove, which is what we call whiskey and Spring Grove Lemon Sour soda. I'm reminded of one of our favorite New Year's Eves from years ago when the girls were little and invited friends to spend the night. Starting with dinner at six, Mrs. Twayn had a different activity for them planned for every hour, culminating at midnight when we went outside in PJs, coats, boots and silly hats to blow on noisemakers and run around in the snow with sparklers.
Any time my kids attempt to play a game together, it ends in screaming or tears. Or both. I would have thought by this point in the pandemic my kids would have found a way to work through this, but apparently it's just never going to happen.
Rick has been at a slow, steady scream for a few months now.
Last nite a group of us hiked to a lookout point in Penwood Park with a cool westward facing outcrop. It was cold and windy, but we had champagne and wore 2021 glasses for pix. We hiked back to the cars in the dark with flashlights. 3 miles.
Today we had crab legs and lobster claws for lunch. Not bad.
My NY Eve consisted of getting my butt whipped on a busy night of take out at the joint. I gotta be honest, nights like last night are the ones that are a bit tough on myself and the staff. Another $10k or so of sales lost. Believe me when I write that I am not one of those owners screaming to open full blast or threatening to open illegally. It's just getting to be a long slog of reinventing the business continually, watching staff struggle financially (and not being able to help them more), and probably most tiresome is people coming in to grab their food and looking at me like I am a dead man walking. Like everyone else in the world, I just want normal again. (and I know I won't get that for quite a while). On a more positive note, this second round of PPP is going to allow us to comfortably survive this and in a few weeks, when we receive our loan/grant, I will be able to shore up my staff financially as well. I am grateful for that.
Went home at 8 with some take out of my own. Lemon-Grilled Shrimp with Black Rice Risotto for me, and Buttercrumb Walleye with a Black Rice Pilaf for my wife. A couple glasses of red wine followed by a Rye Whiskey on the rocks. Watched an hour and a half of Michael Shynes' concert on the computer (he was pretty buzzed), and then watched Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper get tipsy on CNN. The highlight was Cohen quizzing Snoop Dog on where he has gotten high (including the White House). We actually made it to midnight, then crashed hard. We don't open the joint until 3 today, but I have been here since 9 taking care of a lot of paperwork and other tasks, including fighting with my 3rd Party delivery service. I told them we would be closed until 3 today a few days back and they keep calling, asking if we got their orders. No... we are not open yet!
The faster we get vaccine into arms the better. I'll feel much more inclined to dine out knowing I've been vaccinated and the restaurant staff has been vaccinated. I'm sure I'm not alone.
I think the first turning point, for me, will be when those 65 and older who are still in the general population are able to get their vaccine. Once that group is vaccinated, the risk factors go down significantly. But yes, I can't wait until the rest of us all get a shot in the arm too!
That's actually one of my favorite Wilco songs.