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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
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