I'm a Yankees' fan, but...

... How can I explain this?

I'm rooting for the for the Mets.

It's not a "New York" thing - that 'If my team isn't in it, I'll support my hometown team' thing. It's a roots thing; a DNA thing. See, I have the Blue and Orange in my blood. Got it, like a lot of things, from my Dad who hated the friggin Giants so much for leaving his beloved Brooklyn, that he switched teams, but not leagues. Oooo, shudder. Never leagues. NEVER!

How, you ask can I even consider Pinstripes as an option? Well, don't tell my DH (ha! rather appropriate here!), but it really has very little to do with the Yankee-lover I married. (Get it? DH can equal dear hubby, or in the AL, designated hitter.)

My Pinstripe Proclivity has waaaaay more to do with first and lasting impressions. Though not chronologically correct - nor filled with Bombers' memories - this list was formative. 

-The summer of 1976, I went to my first baseball game - and for some reason, it was a Yankees game - and I can still how magical the grass looked to me through a sea of blue seats that stretched to the famous white frieze. And as my Mom recovered the living room sofa in anticipation of my upcoming bat mitzvah, the Yanks - Reds World Series game drowned out the staple gun;

-Reggie Jackson became Mr. October; 

-Dad called me away from my homework to watch each of Hank Aaron's at bats, when he had 714 home runs under his belt, until he broke Babe Ruth's record with No. 715; 

-When I close my eyes and see Willie Mays' famous over-the-shoulder catch as he sprinted to the centerfield wall, it's in technicolor. Can't be - it was 1954;

-And come April, the crack of the bat emanating from each of my grandmothers' television sets heralded the promise of warm weather.

Well, the warm weather is once again gone, but thankfully, baseball is still here. To 'celebrate' we had stadium-worthy hot dogs with homemade chili sauce.

Details?

Here goes:

-Sauté a medium chopped onion in a heavy pot lightly coated with olive oil. 

-Add three minced garlic cloves (less if you prefer), 1t ground cumin, 1t ground coriander, 1T tomato paste, 1T brown sugar, 2t (hot) chili powder, and a half t each of salt & pepper. Stir until very fragrant, then add 1 8-oz tin of unsalted tomato sauce and 2 1/2 cups water. 

-Here's the odd part: When the liquid boils, add 1 pound of *raw* chopped meat (beef or turkey) and rapidly stir to break it up. Yes, this works.

-Boil until thick, but if you are impatient take out about 2T of the liquid and make a slurry with an equal amount of corn starch. Stir the pot vigorously as you add it back. 

-Get your dogs cooked while the sauce thickens. Check the seasoning in the sauce; might need a bit more salt or heat. Then ladle it on your dog with some spicy brown mustard!

Regardless of the outcome, there isn't much baseball left in 2015 so soon we'll have to wait for that particular sound to herald Spring. But I'm pretty confident the Amazins will prevail - giving us something to cherish this winter.

And unlike my Grandmother Rose - who refused to cook dinner each night her precious Dodgers lost - I'll keep on cookin!

...unless the NYRangers screw up in playoffs again. Then, all bets are off!

My Electronic Void

For the first time since they became de rigueur for professionals, I don't have a cell phone. And I feel rather naked.

No contacts or calendar at my easy fingertip disposal; no moooing when it vibrated to let me know an email needed my attention. (It didn't matter if that email came from Anthropologie!)

But I also feel somewhat liberated...whodda thunk?...no futzing with the Bluetooth ear piece, no playing with the profiles so it doesn't BRRIIIIINNNGGG!!! in an echoing bathroom stall...no tether to Boss Lady...no 'Um, Mom, are you still at Weggies?' 'I'm checking out.' 'Oh, we're out of cat litter.'...You get the idea...

I do catch myself stealing glance over at the basket where my Beloved Blackberry used to recharge, unwinding from its hectic day of showing me emails, sending off others and, yes, connecting me with The Call. A friend with a souped-up edition referred to my antiquated model as "quaint"... I referred to it as my lifeline to the world.

Feeling particularly sad to be in an electronic vacuum - an you know how cold they are! - today, The Bubbles dictated chili for dinner!

Details?

Here goes:

-In a large pot - dutch oven, what have you - fry up about 2 strips applewood smoked bacon in about 1 t olive oil...remove bacon when crispy and add 3 minced garlic cloves, a half diced (leftover) red onion and 3 diced celery ribs (of the smallish size, about a half c total) to the remaining fat.

-Sweat the veg on med heat adding salt and freshly ground black pepper.

-Next, add 1 lb ground beef and when it's almost cooked through, add 1 minced jalapeno (see yesterday re: seeds & ribs), 1 t cumin, 1 t Chinese 5 spice powder, half t adobo seasoning and 1 T chipotle in adobo sauce. Continue sauteing until the meat has completely browned.

-In another pot, start the rice...I made 2 c rice and tried something new here, so alter your proportions accordingly. Each c of rice needs 2 c liquid to cook...to get 4 c liquid, I drained 2 15-and-a-half-oz cans beans (tonight they were Pintos) into a measuring cup (got almost 2 c liquid), added 1 8-oz can tomato sauce, the rest of the boxed chicken stock from the fridge and made up the difference with water...add a 3-inch cinnamon stick and when boiling, add the rice (I used jasmine rice and it reminded me of a lovely Thai lunch I had with a friend on an Opera Saturday back when I was connected to the electronic world, sigh...), cover and leave alone for 18 mins.

-Add the beans to the meat pot, 2 14-and-a-half-oz cans diced tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste.

-Cook and occasionally stir until rice is done.

Quaint or not, I may feel naked, but at least I'm a little warmer!