That's a not-so-subtle reference to Bruce Feirstein's 1982 best seller; "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche", which I actually owned and read once upon a time. What brings it to mind at this late date? An interesting looking Broccoli/Bacon (who doesn't love bacon) quiche recipe (click here for the recipe) popped up on my Facebook page the other day so I decided to make it. For guys who think they can't cook, that might only be true if you absolutely, steadfastly, refuse to follow any directions, ever! However, if you can put together Walmart kit furniture, assemble a bicycle, or even manage to complete some of the more complex Legos, you can cook. It is as simple a getting a recipe and following directions.
Since Maureen was out to brunch with her friends, I set out to make breakfast for Liam and I. Ever try to assemble something only to discover the box didn't include all the parts? When I went to our freezer we didn't have any bacon and we didn't have any broccoli. We did have ham in the refrigerator which was an acceptable substitute for the bacon. And we had some turkey sausage in the freezer. The turkey sausage was as close to a vegetable as I needed to be so I started cracking eggs. My next obstacle came when I realized there was no seasoned salt in the house. What do "Real Men" do in the absence of seasoned salt? We go for the Tabasco sauce! We did happen to have Parmesan and cheddar cheese so I finally was able to throw together an acceptable facsimile of the original recipe. It actually ended up pretty tasty. You see, "Real Men" can follow directions and put stuff together even when they don't have all the parts, even quiche! On a side note, I couldn't help myself so I went out the next morning and bought some bacon, broccoli and seasoned salt and made the original recipe for Maureen. Although it was not as "Manly", it was good too. Since then I've also used the original recipe foundation and substituted tomato and mushroom. Who knew I as a "creative cook"?
I had my first oil painting class. We spent most of the time with orientation and prepping a canvas for a main project but then the instructor passed out an 8x10 basic single line sketch with the instruction, "it doesn't have to be good, it just has to be fast." And "to just put paint to paper!"
It also appears that I've found a couple of guys to play racquetball with. I've only had the opportunity to play once and although I was obviously rusty from my decade of not playing I didn't do that bad. I was a little surprised at how sore my shoulder was the next couple of days after my match. I've been exercising consistently going on two years now, including strength training. I guess wielding that racket used muscles that weren't getting worked regularly. I wasn't sure if my old racket strings had deteriorated and would hold up through an entire hour of play so I went to Walmart and purchased the only racquetball racket they had, a cheap $19.95 Head brand racket. I took both to the court a little early to get a little practice and try them both out. My old racket was the "Cadillac" of racquetball rackets back in the day, an Ektelon that I paid $150 for 20 years ago when I was playing competitively. And it truly was a great racket that served me well. However, the technology apparently has changed so much, compared to my $19.95 Walmart racket, my Ektelon (Cadillac of rackets) is only good for sifting gravel or mashing potatoes. I'm going to have to come up with an appropriate retirement for my old faithful Ektelon.
So I'm slowly divesting myself of the hobbies I picked up during the era of Liam; soccer coach and referee, air soft combat, track spectator, etc... and am getting back to doing some things I did for recreation for myself in the past. I'm even looking into getting back into competitive shooting. The gun range in the south of Asheville has a recreational shooting league on Monday evenings that I hope to participate in around my Lions club and poker club meetings. I've even joined the GSSF (Glock Sport Shooting Foundation) with the goal of competing in some of their events, maybe when I'm back in practice. Of course for me the limiting factor in my ability to compete may be my eyes. At my age that can be a substantial disadvantage. Good thing there is a senior division. Something of a level playing field I hope. Maybe I'll get into practical pistol competitions. I'm bound to be in better physical shape than most guys my age that shoot as a hobby and I understand there is some running involved in those events.
Now if I can just find someone to play golf with. I met a guy who was going to get a foursome, including me, out on the Grove Park Inn course (normally $150 a round) at a discount today. I didn't hear from him this week but I don't mind at all. Today's high was 28 degrees Fahrenheit and with the wind chill feels like 17 degrees. So instead of freezing my [see cartoon below for the appropriate body part reference] off out on the golf course today I'm sitting by the fire watching Ancient Aliens and typing my blog entry. In my book, not a bad trade off.
It snowed a couple of times this past week. Just a couple of dustings, not enough to stick on the roads. I've already mentioned how cold it is today. And for a good part of the day we've had light snow flurries. Maureen and I ususally go out to socialize with our friends on Friday evenings but I think we've both decided it's just too dang cold. And I'm warm here by the fire. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm about ready for spring! How about it?
Take care,
Rick
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