Ghosts were People too~~

  All Work and no Play makes Johnny a dull Boy.

      The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado was the catalyst for Steven King's novel, The Shining, a cult favorite.   The "Overlook Hotel" is where the disturbing story of isolation and horror unfolds.  The legend goes that Stephen King stayed in room 217 the "haunted" room, where he penned most of the novel The Shining.

     The hotel was constructed in 1906 by F.O. Stanley, he also had tuberculosis. His doctor suggested he move out west where the air quality was better.  The hotel opened it's doors in 1909 and entertained famous guests like the Unsinkable Molly Brown(who stayed in room 217), John Phillip Sousa, President Theodore Roosevelt, the Emperor and Empress of Japan and Stephen King, who was a guest for five months. This hotel was unique in that it had running water, electricity and telephones, the only thing it lacked was heat, and that was provided by fireplaces on the first floor.

     The hotel has many permanent guests, that never want to leave like, the Stanley's themselves.  Mr. Stanley likes to frequent the lobby, Billiard Room and the bar perhaps in an attempt to still exert his ownership.  Mrs. Stanley still loves to entertain guests with her ghostly piano playing.  The most haunted area of the Stanley Hotel is the Fourth Floor, which was the old servant's quarters, and room 418 has the most paranormal activity.  The echos of children playing fill the hallways, even though there are no children.  Guests and employees report ghostly figures disappearing into closets. Chambermaids report seeing impressions left on the bed when the room had been unoccupied.

     Whether you want to enjoy the crisp mountain air or delve into ghost hunting, I am sure The Stanley Hotel Ghost Tours will get you started. On October 31st, you can attend the annual costume party--The Shining Ball or take a spooky wagon ride in the aspen and evergreen haunted woods at Aspen Hollow. Scary Wagon Rides . When your ready for a bite to eat visit Smokin' Daves BBQ and Taphouse at the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park, they have generous portions, a friendly staff , live entertainment and 15 years experience giving the public "The American Barbecue".

Potato Chip encrusted Rocky Mountain Rainbow Trout

4 trout fillets
1/2 cup crushed potato chips
1/2 flour
1 lemon
1 egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 oz olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 ounces butter
1 tablespoon fresh chopped tarragon
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste.

Combine the potato chips, flour and salt and pepper. In another bowl mix the egg and buttermilk.  Rub the fillets on both sides with the lemon and dredge in potato mixture, dip into buttermilk mixture and then back again into the potato mixture.  In a saute pan, heat the olive oil to almost smoking, cook the trout on both sides until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.  In another pan, melt the butter add honey, the juice of one lemon, fresh tarragon and season.  Pour over the trout and enjoy.

Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake.~Author Unknown

Mother of Pearl, dem's big oysters!!!

Oysters, you either love them or you hate them.  I fall into the latter, but it never prevented me from delivering them to my customers. I had the luxury of being able to experience the West Coast variety(way bigger) and the East Coast variety(it is OK, you still matter). Either way to me, they are ickkkk. But because I believe in the democratic process.  I will give you the rest of the story.

Aphrodisiac....hmm there is a root there?  Aphrodite perhaps?  There is a painting of the mighty Aphrodite,the Greek Goddess of Love, springing forth on a ? I say.... "What is an oyster shell for $200?, Alex"? Oysters have been around for EVER.....the Greeks served them with wine and the Romans were so excited about these mollusks that they sent slaves to the shores to gather them.
Oysters, surprisingly breathe like fish.  With gills and a mantle, a mantle being thin-walled blood vessels that take oxygen from the water and give off carbon dioxide. There is actually a three chambered heart that lies under the muscle that holds the oyster to its shell, called the abductor muscle. This pumps blood and oxygen to all parts of the oyster.  Now when I say blood, I mean oyster blood. If that was not amazing enough, there are kidneys on the underside of the abductor muscle that purify the blood of any waste it has collected.
Oysters can in their lifetime change sex once or twice, they possess both male and female characteristics.  From what I have heard,  oysters are delicious but did you know that oysters pack a hefty nutritional punch?  They are rich in protein, carbohydrates and  lipids, also rich in vitamins and minerals.

Like fine wine oysters have a diverse following and differ from which the region they are harvested from.  Salinity and mineral differences in the water can affect the flavor. In the United States, oysters are popular in their raw form at "raw bars"where customers can order "shooters" in a variety of different ways.
Like all shellfish that you buy in the supermarket, it is uber important that it alive. The shell should be tightly shut, or when tapped on the counter, shut promptly. Avoid shellfish that are open and smell of sewerage, it's dead. Since they are alive, let's be gentle with them.  When you get them home, rinse them off and wrap them in a dampened paper towel and refrigerate until you are ready to use .
There are two ways to deal with the little buggers from here, one you can shuck and eat however you want, just don't tell me about it.  Two, you can cook them, most often times with shellfish you add heat and poof, open sesame...
I leave you with a little story about the oyster:
"There once was an oyster whose story I tell, Who found that some sand got into his shell. It was only a grain, but it gave him great pain For oysters have feelings although they're so plain. Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate that brought him to such a deplorable state? Did he curse at the government,cry for election, And claim that the sea should have given him protection? No-he said to himself as he lay on a shell, Since I cannot remove it I shall try to improve it. Now the years have rolled around, as the years always do. And he came to his ultimate destiny: stew. And the small grain of sand that had bothered him so Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow. Now the tale had a moral, for isn't it grand What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand? What couldn't we do if we'd only begin with some of the things that get under our skin." ~ "The Oyster" written by "Anonymous.


" I have never cared much for fish-it floats in the belly as much as in the pond."~Erica Eisdorfer, The Wet Nurse's Tale, 2009

The loitering Lobster.

Well lobsters, lobsters, lobsters!!! Hmmmm, I have been thinking about this topic for awhile and how I would capture the readers attention about the little buggers, and I mean buggers. I have been accidentally cut, jabbed and nicked by these delicacies more times than I want to admit to. Gladly ,only one time on a dare(you know who you are!) I purposely stuck my finger in his unbanned claw. Let me tell you those suckers are strong, but alas, and I say this laughing now, I whipped the little varmint across the kitchen with no warning to hold on. It rued the day it messed with me, I think it was a guest to dinner?
So here goes the Lob blog. Long ago, WAY before the fillet-o-fish, lobsters were so plentiful that farmers used them as fertilizer on their fields, and fisherman used them as bait. In Colonial times, they were actually considered "poverty food". They were harvested from the shores and tidal pools and fed to children, prisoners and slaves.(What??!! we had slaves in the North??) Well, let me tell you, these servants(slaves) rebelled against the Man. Result, a contract that stated servants were not to be served lobster more than 3 times a week.
Lobster at that time were mainly gathered along the shoreline, until the introduction of trapping. We all know what supply and demand means, the demand went up and voila here come the Smackmen. These men were named Smackmen because of their vessel, the well smack. They were small boats with tanks inside the boat that had holes drilled into it, to allow the sea-water to circulate, allowing these fishermen to keep the lobsters alive over long distances. We have come along way since then, now dealers can wait for the price to increase or allow a molted lobster time for it's shell to harden.
So how do you cook a lobster? Well it depends how guilt-ridden you are. But here is a humane way that might help you sleep at night. When you bring your lobsters home, put them directly under refrigeration to numb them up(kinda like hyper-sleep) , get your sea-water (regular water OK too) to a rolling boil and while your head is turned away, drop them in and slam the lid down, a few hail Mary's good to go.
So how do know if it is a Lucy or a Larry the Lobster, easy: a female has a wider tail to accommodate eggs, and the legs on the underside of the tail called swimmerets are feathery. The male's legs will be bony and hard.

What if you want to stuff the lobster? Well you would boil it much in the same fashion as I mentioned before, but you would only par-boil it for about 5 minutes. Remove the lobsters, and place it on it's back to cool so you can touch it. Take a sharp knife and cut the lobster down middle. Remove the dark vein that runs along the tail at the top, the tomalley or green stuff and the sand sac in head area, behind the eyes. Stuff with your favorite stuffing, mine is a combination of Ritz crackers and Clams Casino.

Life expectancy would grow leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.~Doug Larson