With sadness I report that I believe I tore a meniscus on Sunday morning.  My knee is stabilized and my running is halted for now.  The likelihood of running the marathon in a few months seems unlikely at this time but you never know.

I will continue with periodic, good-natured, non-running- related blog posts as appropriate.

CHS BRAVE Luncheon

On Friday I attended "Bring a Veteran to Lunch" at the Cheshire High School.  My daughter was my escort and she invited my father/her grandfather as well.  The function was organized by the CHS club B.R.A.V.E which stands for Bringing Remembrance to All Veterans Everywhere. A couple times a year they put on some sort of festivities in which all local veterans who wish to attend are honored in some way and fed extremely well with an enormous spread of entrees and desserts.  BRAVE always does something for Veterans Day and at least one other day which, this year, was Memorial Day.  We were greeted warmly and escorted inside where the kids had made and hung all sorts of patriotic--in this case personalized--posters.  

The marching band came in and played Armed Forces Salute and The Star Spangled Banner.  The VIP Chorus did a couple of vocal numbers and the Jazz Ensemble played while we feasted.  There were several student speakers, their faculty advisor said a few words and of course the principal had some remarks.  The students always put on a very warm and touching event and usually at these functions I get emotional a couple times at least.  Often it's the slightest thing which brings on a wave of emotion.  It's hard to explain and it passes quickly so I would just say that it's brought on by the pride and patriotism and kinship and the thought of those no longer with us that many--not all--Veterans share.

OOPS--I'm getting emotional now just thinking about it. There were Veterans present from every American conflict from WWII to Afghanistan.  All service branches were represented.  A good time was had by all and the kids took such pride in honoring and serving us.  Aside from the ceremonial nature of the festivities, one thing which was very endearing was how the kids scarfed down all the leftovers after the honorees had had their fill at the trough.  The club members, the musicians, the singers, the speakers all loaded up their plates then strapped on a feedbag and went to town.  It was really very sweet.  Anyway, until next time.....GBA!

OK so this was kind of a weird week.  It still is.  Another weird week in New England.  So lately I've been a bit tight in the left calf and kind of just "feeling" my right hip.  No need to limp or anything but I decided to take Monday off but I just had the need to move so I went out for a 3 1/2 mile walk.  Haven't done that particular loop in years but it just felt like the right thing to do.  Meanwhile it was like 80 degrees that day.  Tuesday I was still a bit tight but I have this thing where I just start running anyway and after a few miles it loosens up and I feel fine.  Tuesday was like 85!  Wednesday/Thursday/Friday I was idle due to hectic schedule and commitments.  Now today we hit Memorial Day weekend and this cold front moves in.  It's been rainy and damn cold since yesterday.  I went out this morning for a nice 10K in a light rain at 55 degrees and by this afternoon it was down to 45--still raining.  Remember--the other day it was 85. Sunday is supposed to clear up by noon so hopefully we get our local parade in.  Hip still feels a bit.

Haven't had much to say this week but I was out pounding the pavement for sure.  Followed up Sunday's 10 with 5.2 on Tuesday and 6.2 on Thursday.  Today, Saturday, I couldn't decide how far to go so I just set out running and when I got to the 5.2 turn-off I kept going right on past it and then when I got to the 6.2 turn-off I kept going right on past it and went for the full 10 mile loop again.  Kind of a cool breeze going and it felt great.  I'll take tomorrow off.

Beautiful 10 mile loop Sunday morning.  I'm back, baby!

On Benghazi-Gate

For more than 10 years of my working life I was involved with a group which investigated internal dishonesty in a large retail setting.  Part of our job was interviewing (interrogating) people suspected of stealing from our company.  Our team of investigators was trained in the Wicklander/Zulawski method of interrogation and most of us were very good at our job.  As you can imagine, we were no strangers to having people lie directly to our faces--just look us directly in the eye and lie to us no matter what we said and no matter what damning evidence we had on them.  All these people had one thing in common:  they did not want to sit around talking to us.  They just wanted to avoid the issue and get the hell out of our office.  Some literally ran out of the office and out of the building (to no avail).  Most of them stayed to talk but all of them just went about lying, obfuscating, and shading the truth.  Almost always we were able to get them to come around to the truth, confess, and write a detailed statement and sign a promissory note.  

BUT.......

Every once in a while--very rarely--we would err and accidentally begin an interview on an honestly innocent employee.  That was our worst nightmare and when it did happen--when we realized in the interview that we had the wrong guy--we needed to "back out" of the interview in such a way that we could return the person to work without dire consequences for us or the company.  These people also all had one thing in common:  they did not want to leave the office.  They wanted to go to the end of the earth to convince us and prove to us that we were wrong and that they were completely and totally innocent and honest folk. They wanted us to believe in them.

So, to those who support President Obama and Hilary completely and blindly regarding Benghazi-Gate:  had the Administration done nothing wrong before, during, and after the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on our Consulate they would be out every day shouting the truth from rooftops until everyone believed in them instead of saying things like, "That was a long time ago," and, "What difference does it make?"  

The cover-up is always worse.

An awesome 6.2 miles on Friday afternoon with the temp around 80.  I forget why I didn't run on Thursday--I try to go every other day but for some reason I had to skip a day and I really can't remember why.  Oh, wait--now I remember.  So I had to go Friday because Saturday was supposed to be rainy--which it is.  Anyway, my baby girl of 16 got her drivers license Friday morning and later took her first solo drive with the car to work.  So I set off running in time to get back just before the time Maryann (wife) would be returning home from work.  So I go running and, like I said it was around 80, and when I get back from such a run it looks like I just climbed out of a swimming pool.  Not to get too graphic but my attire is saturated and there's sweat pouring off of my brow and my arms and legs are visibly wet.  So I get home and serve myself a huge glass of ice water to re-hydrate and sit on a chair out in the front yard.  Not only am I saturated but my hair is blown back and my face is usually some shade of redness from exertion.  This is a long way to go for this next comment, I realize, but Maryann pulls up, gets out of the car, and walks over to see me.  After conversating with me for about 7 to 10 minutes she says, "So are you going for your run now?"

Anyway, after getting cleaned up we eventually made our way out for the evening just to go do some shopping for a dress because Maryann's going to a wedding soon.  In the mall I find $2 on a bench so I say--hey--let's go splurge on the massage chairs:  a buck each for a 3-minute ride.  It felt good at the time but today my back is absolutely killing me and I can't think of anything else which could have caused it except for that idiotic massage chair.  They are quite harsh.

Beautiful, glorious day today.  Couldn't resist going the extra mile today--6.2--even though I just said on Sunday I was going to wait a while before stretching it out.  The weather was so perfect it just felt right.  Awesome, leisurely 10K.

5.2 today on a beautiful Sundae morning.  Again, testing out the legs post half.  Really thrilled I'm feeling great so soon.  I'll keep up the light work every other day for a week or two before I stretch it out again.  I do miss my 10 mile runs.

Chicken Adobo (Recipe #4 in our series)

Ok, so here we are presenting the fourth in our series of recipes from Two In a Rain Barrel.  Today we are sharing our award-winning recipe for Chicken Adobo, one of the staples of Philippine cuisine.  Many a family in the Philippines has passed down its Adobo recipe from generation to generation but in this case I have simply taken my wife Maryann's recipe, given it a little twist, and made it my own.

I was initially introduced to Chicken Adobo while serving in the Philippines.  At the time, I thought it was very good no matter who made it but Maryann's was always a cut above.  Today, Maryann won't even make it because she says mine is better.  Indeed, I've been called upon by several of our Filipino friends to make Adobo for them because they either don't know how to make it or they acknowledge that they'd rather have mine.  No brag--just fact.  So you're in good hands, I assure you.

So, to begin with, let's start out with one of these bad boys:

I go with the Perdue because I find it to be the best.  That's it--no other reason.  You can also use boneless chicken breast and chop it up but it will not taste the same or as good--something about the flavor coming from the bone and marrow and the whatever.  Go with the whole bird.

Skin that puppy and chop it up good:  legs, thighs, wings, and cube the breast.  If your whole bird includes the liver then cut it up and toss it in the pot (we won't be using fava beans or a nice chianti) but don't use any of that other crazy crap like the heart, lungs, gizzard, or neck.  That goes in the trash with the skin.  There's just no place in polite society for that nonsense.

                        

Rinse it repeatedly with running water to get all the Salmonella off of it. Just kidding--there's probably no Salmonella on it but rinse it off good anyway and, for crying out loud, if you see anything in there that you don't want to eat then now's the time to get it the hell out of there. Drain off the water complete then place it on the burner and turn it up to eleven (that'd be the highest setting, please).   

Use a large spoon like the one pictured here and get out your Marca Pina soy sauce and Datu Puti cane vinegar.  If you don't possess these ingredients STOP NOW and go get them at your local, friendly Asian food store.  You may not continue effectively without these.  If you try using regular vinegar or some pansy-ass soy sauce like La Choy you will cause irreparable harm to the dish and, quite frankly, lose face with me and about 5 billion other people.  

Three spoons of vinegar and five spoons of soy sauce and throw in a few bay leaves.  And while I'm on the subject, soy sauce is high in sodium.  If you're worried about that then perhaps eat something else.  

Your pot of chicken will now look something like this:

While that's on the boil, prepare the ingredients for your saute:  one entire garlic, peeled and smashed; one medium-size Vidallia onion sliced as so; an equivalent amount of ripe tomato as that pictured.  You may use half the onion and it'll turn out fine--I just use the whole onion because I like eating it and this way there's more to go around.

Use 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter for your saute and turn it up to medium heat.  DO NOT USE COOKING OIL OR LARD OR ANYTHING ELSE.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  

Meanwhile, the chicken should be boiling away like so:

Add your garlic and onion to your sizzling butter.  Let it ride for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.  IF YOU DO NOT STIR IT, IT WILL BURN.

Introduce the tomatoes.  In a few minutes and with a bit of help the structure of the tomatoes will break down into a mash.  Stir all the saute ingredients together.

Now, using one of those big spoons with the holes in it (I don't know how to describe it in words other than I've already used), remove the chicken and add to the saute mix.  This leaves the liquid behind momentarily and also allows you to remove the bay leaves.

Like so:

Then stir it all together like so:

We're almost done.  Now add the liquid to the saute and you'll end up with such:

Cover and allow a few more minutes of burner heat.  In my case, the burner is still set to medium but the liquid will be boiling away at this point.  I shut it off after a few minutes but because it's an electric range the burner keeps up the boil for a few more minutes still.  So if you're using a gas range probably leave the heat on for like 7 to 10 minutes.

Presto!  You're done and should be looking like so:

Serve on a bed of steaming white rice.  And it's got to be some kind of decent rice out of somewhere in Asia--like Thailand or somewhere like that (we use jasmine scented). I don't want to hear about anyone disrespecting this dish by serving it with Uncle Ben's.  Enjoy!!

Great news.  I can't even describe how happy I am.  So remember last year after my first half marathon it took me a full 6 weeks to fully recover to the point I was before the half--knee pain.  So this year I was extra cautious and rested five full days prior to resuming any running activity.  So this afternoon after work I set out on an easy run, not knowing what to expect and hoping for no pain.  I initially hoped to do 4 miles but when I got to the turn-off point for the four mile loop I was feeling so good that I just kept going and did the 5.2 mile loop without any pain or discomfort.  To my amazement I'm right back where I was right before the half.  I'm owing this to increased training, conditioning, and proper rest.  Now, I will add that after I finished my loop I stopped off at my father's house--lives on the same street as me--to say hello and sat on his stairs for about ten minutes.  When I got up my right knee was stiff.  My knee has never been stiff so I'm going to need to keep an eye on this but for sure there was no pain--just stiffness which walked off after about half an hour.  Feels fine now.  Anyway, l'll take a day off and get back out there on Sunday and hopefully all's well.  That is all.

Tips Gregory

So I've perfected my original recipe for steak tips, Tips Gregory, and in keeping with the spirit of Two In a Rain Barrel I thought I'd share.  Please give it a try and report back.

I start out with about 1/2 pound of quality lean steak--this here is "eye round."  This particular hunk is a bit more at .6 pound.   I trim off any fat missed by my local butcher (that'd be the kid working the meat counter at BJ's)....

...and cut into cute little cubes.

Sprinkle generously with Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning and mix it around so all the cubes are reasonably covered.

Chop up about 2 cloves of garlic with a bit of sliced sweet onion and sweet red pepper.

Set burner to slightly higher than medium heat.  I set my electric range burner to 5/8 heat.  With a tablespoon of real butter melted and beginning to sizzle in the skillet add the pepper/onion/garlic and then after a few minutes introduce the tips.

Stir continuously for 3 to 4 minutes, ensuring all tips are evenly cooked. Please cook to no more than medium done.  I don't want to hear about anyone ruining Tips Gregory by going fully well done.  Give me a break.

Plate and serve with your favorite vegetable.  This particular portion is man-sized.  Feel free to serve 2 or more as you see fit.

So there you have it:  Tips Gregory, the new original recipe coming to you from Two In a Rain Barrel.  Feel free to share and enjoy with your friends and loved ones.  "You'll thank me later."