Colder, Some Gray and Clearing Later In Day

This Morning at 8:05

One Year Ago, 1/15/2012

Two Years Ago, 1/15/2011

Three Years Ago, 1/15/2010

Up at 7:00, to a chilly house, a dusting of snow outside, a fishing village already busy on the lake.  It's 27º, temperatures will continue to fall, with some sun later. We ground up some Costa Rican coffee beans last night, to see if there was much difference between freshly ground and Folgers...not much though we do not have very sophisticated palates, at least for coffee. Perhaps a bit milder, less bitter but hardly noticeably.

We did get out yesterday morning, driving to Mayville, to pick up some prescriptions at Johnson's Pharmacy.  Instead of waiting, we walked for about forty five minutes along Sea Lion Drive, not the most attractive walk in the winter.  We forget that much of the area is a virtual wetlands, yards filled with water and ice, and the surroundings are not helped by the absence of snow, muddy yards and forest floors,  leafless trees, occasionally relieved by pine groves, a typical spring day, at least visually which is why we try to head West in April, to avoid this mess.

Before we left for Mayville, we put together a winter minestrone soup recipe from Moosewood Cookbook, with parsnips, fennel, sweet potatoes, and kidney beans, besides the usual carrots, onions, and celery.  We let it simmer, put it on the porch, and won't have some until today.  It's great to always have a good soup on hand for lunch.  We did finish up the Turkish lentil soup for lunch, and Evie made me a cheese steak wrap for me with the leftover steak from Sunday night, even better than on Sunday, I might add.

Around 3:30, we went to see the much acclaimed American Hustle, mostly because it's half priced refreshment Tuesday.  Fourteen bucks for two tickets, plus a large popcorn and coke for five bucks, and we were happy.  I have to be honest...I was not taken with the movie, interesting but not compelling.  Great performances from the cast, especially Christian Bale, the least ballyhooed of the group.  I just did not find the story that interesting, the film making and costuming yes (the late 1970's,) but not the story of the Abscam Scandal, which it portrayed.  We both thought True Detectives, the first episode of a HBO series, which we watched the night before, was more interesting and compelling.

We went to dinner at at fairly new restaurant in Lakewood, the Fuji Sushi and Steak House.  We got there about 6:15, were the only ones in the restaurant (not a good sign) though by the time we left, there were about fifteen people enjoying their meals.  We sat at the sushi bar but there were also tables with large grills in the center where a chef would grill your steak, chicken or shrimp.  It looks like it could be fun.  We ordered beers and had some sushi, one roll actually, called Dragon Roll, which was made with shrimp tempera, spicy tuna, avocado, with soy paper holding it together.  There were eight good sized pieces and because it was so rich, and we had filled up on popcorn, it was more than enough.  We will go back; the roll was really quite good and I would like to try the hibachi bar.  We couldn't visit this strip without a stop at T. J. Maxx, for Evie to her shopping fix.  We left with a purse, sun glasses, a top and coffee beans for me.

We were home by 8:00, in time to start a series we had started a few months ago, Top of the Lake but for some reason, we didn't continue with it.  It stars Elizabeth Moss (she won the Golden Globe for her performance in it).  We watched two one hour episodes and are now into it, but I know why we stopped.  Because it's set in New Zealand, the accent of some of the local bad boys is very difficult to understand, needing full attention and an increased volume.  In the seven episodes series, Moss is a detective, come home to stay with her mother who has cancer.  She gets involved in a missing child case, a couple of murders, and a town filled with male chauvinist pigs, or so they seem.  I am looking forward to seeing another episode tonight.