Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, October 19, 2019

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Mountain View News Saturday, October 19, 2019 

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 

 by Deanne Davis

TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dills

thechefknows@yahoo.com

“Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen, voices 
whisper in the trees. 

“Tonight is Halloween!”

“When witches go riding and black cats are seen, the 
moon laughs and whispers, 

‘tis near Halloween.”

“Silent phantoms of the night in their robes of ghostly 
white, they are always to be seen on the night of 
Halloween.”

All Hallows Eve...Be Afraid...Be Very Afraid!

 

All Hallows Eve.... is coming,

A deadly.... dreadly night.....

When ghouls and ghosts and creepies,

And other awful blights,

Are free to roam and wander,

Anywhere they might.

Creating scary terror everywhere they can,

And scream inducing, faint-producing, 

hair-raising, bone-melting, 

What’s that right there behind me...

Quivery, shivery...Fright!!

 

They creep out of their crypts and graves,

These creatures of the night.

They haunt the roads and byways,

Run rampant through the park.

They hide between the bushes,

And everywhere it’s dark.

 

All Hallows Eve.... is coming,

A deadly.... dreadly night.....

When ghouls and ghosts and creepies,

And other awful blights,

Are free to roam and wander,

Anywhere they might.

 

Up and down the streets of town,

They race in search of plunder,

These ghouls and ghosts and monsters,

About three feet tall or under! 

They shriek for treats and threaten tricks,

But are satisfied with candy.

These creatures rule the darkness,

As long as Mom and Dad are handy.

 

All Hallows Eve.... is coming,

A deadly.....dreadly night....

With ghouls and ghosts and monsters,

And other awful sights,

Dancing through the shadows,

Into circles of street lights. 

Beware...take care,

Who knows what’s waiting,

Just around the bend.

Could be Jack the Ripper, come to call again,

Or Dracula or Frankenstein, the undead walk tonight.

Maybe just stay safe inside...and turn off that porch light.

 A fun Halloween fact for you as you’re stocking up on candy: Costco says Americans spend 
approximately $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the second largest commercial holiday in the 
U.S., after Christmas, of course. Go ahead, buy the good stuff. You know you want a few of those little 
Milky Ways and Snickers for yourself!

 Another scarecrow this week, and another pumpkin latte. I really want a piece of pumpkin cheesecake! 
Have a great week and if you haven’t bought your little ghoul a costume, don’t wait too long! 

“Sunrises & Sunflowers Speak Hope” 

is a great gift for yourself or someone you love! 

Look for it on my book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 

Star of Wonder the CD is now on TuneCore! Take a look!

Blog: www.authordeanne.com Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@playwrightdd

 “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter”

is also available on my Amazon book page.


YOU SAY ORGANIC I SAY YUM

In my quest to keep you, my loyal reader educated, we will discuss Organic and Natural Wines. Last 
week I visited the Urban Plates Restaurant on South Lake and the lunch crowd was dense and there 
was a buzz in the air. The line for your food is similar to Chipotle or a cafeteria setting, but that’s 
all you can compare. The task I had while visiting Urban Plates was to taste the food and see what 
kind of wines pair perfectly with their “protein” focused menu. Some of the food I tasted was the 
free-range chicken, California line caught albacore, and a turkey meatloaf that my grandmother 
would have been proud of. I scouted the menu and have a few other entrees I would like to try on 
my next visit; some of them are the sautéed brussels sprouts and organic potatoes. I don’t know 
about you, but I cannot seem to tell a difference between organic non-organic potatoes. However, 
our generation is keen on natural, 
fresh, farm-to-table food where 
everyone seems to be a “foodie” 
and knows what is good or not. 
The menu at Urban Plates has 
many different healthy options, 
there is also the not so healthier 
option to choose from as well. 
One of the not so healthy options 
that caught my eye was the pork 
ribs and macaroni and cheese, 
which pairs great with a Stone Pale 
Ale or the pride of San Diego, the 
Mission Blonde Ale. Each entrée 
comes with a delicious, perfectly char-grilled focaccia bread! 

As if the food doesn’t sound good enough… the price is just as good. All entrées are in the ten 
to sixteen-dollar range and wine ranges from eight dollars and up per glass. The wine list is quite 
small, about eleven or so wines by the glass that are offered but the management informed me that 
when they receive a request for additional wines, they will expand. I spend a lot of time in Santa 
Barbara and feel I am very familiar with the brand, Seaglass Unoaked Chardonnay. It is offered at 
Urban Plates ($7.50) and will pair great with the chicken or albacore. The Pork Ribs will pair nicely 
with the Predator Cabernet ($10). All in all, great food and a nice wine list! 

What exactly is an Organic Wine? Well, the word “organic” has the same meaning as when applied 
to other products of our everyday consumption (i.e. organic poultry or organic produce). Organic 
wine makers use only natural fertilizers and never use pesticides on their vineyards. It is simply a 
pure and natural method of growing grapes and making wine! Personally, I find that there is no 
difference in taste when comparing organic and non-organic wine. However, there is a difference 
in prices, so if you feel up for spending a few extra pennies, give it a taste yourself. Lastly, if you 
are really into the health craze, I stop at my local grocery store each morning for a nice bottle of 
kombucha; Urban Plates has kombucha on tap! Swing by next time you have a chance and try 
Urban Plates out yourself! 

Urban Plates: 55 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena 

Great for Lunch and Dinner! 

Listen in to Go Country 105 for more of my food tips every Sunday morning at 8 am! 


KATIE Tse....This and That

I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN 
FRANCISCO AND MY KIDS IN 
KANSAS

 
Alas, it’s been one of those weeks. One of those weeks I’m guilty of 
recycling articles. But I barely remember it, which means you won’t, 
either. This one’s about my mom’s friend Florence. Aside from being an 
all-around lovely person, 
Florence is an endless 
source of anecdotes that are 
either hilarious, stranger 
than fiction, or, more 
often, both. Needless to 
say, I shamelessly pilfer her 
stories whenever I get the 
chance. And this latest one does not disappoint, at 
least in the “stranger than fiction” category.

 During the Great Depression, two of Florence’s 
spinster aunts ran a bed and breakfast on some 
of the family’s sprawling property in Kansas. On 
one occasion, a couple with twelve children stayed 
for several nights and then skipped out of town 
without paying their bill. But that’s not the only 
thing they skipped out on --they also left behind 
one of their children!

 “What do you mean they left one of their kids 
there?” I asked Mom incredulously after she returned from her dinner with Florence. I’ve 
heard of people depositing unwanted newborns at fire stations. But how exactly do you leave 
your flesh and blood in the uncertain custody of total strangers. Strangers to whom, I might 
add, you are already indebted.

 Since this all took place during the Depression, I assume that the parents’ decision was purely 
financial. However, how did they choose which child they would leave behind? Apparently 
he or she wasn’t the oldest or the youngest of the twelve. I can imagine a line of reasoning that 
would either say the oldest should go because they are the most independent or the youngest 
should be left because they are the most dependent. But how do you randomly pick one from 
the middle? Child psychology says that middle children are more well adjusted, so maybe this 
couple were ahead of their time in that regard. Or maybe they just chose the kid who annoyed 
them the most. That’s what I would’ve done anyway. 

 Luckily for the child, Florence’s aunts welcomed him or her into the family and possibly even 
went through the legalities of formal adoption. This brings up all sorts of fascinating hypothetical 
situations. If this child became the legal heir to Florence’s family’s estate, did the biological family 
try to horn in on the inheritance? I can totally imagine a group of greedy relatives pounding on 
the door for handouts. Wait, I think I did see this story before. Yes, it was “Secondhand Lions” 
with Robert Duvall and Michael Caine. However, I’m sure if we really analyzed the story against 
Florence’s account, Florence’s version would be even more outrageous. Like I said, with Florence 
you know the real story will be stranger than fiction!

 *Speaking of fiction, check out my novel, “A Year at Apex!” It’s got humor, romance, the 
human condition, and public education. Look for paperback and ebook on Amazon and Barnes 
& Noble.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com