7 NOV 08: CHEF TELLS

So I'm watching the 12:00 noon news Thursday, and learn something I never knew before. Mr. Food declared it was "National Men Make Dinner Day." That's easy for him to say - since he makes dinner during the news almost every day of the week.

In most regular families, it's probably a big change of pace when the man of the house prepares dinner. When I was a boy, Mom had to spend occasional stints in the hospital - and Dad seemed to make only one real specialty. Toasted bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches admittedly became old after a couple of days.

My late father wasn't the sort of man who would put on an apron and fire up a grill during the summer. In fact, we didn't own a grill. And this was in the pre-microwave era, when a toaster oven in the kitchen was a VERY big deal....

But I've surprised some people over the years, who think Mr. Single Guy goes out to eat all the time. In a typical week, I do it only once - on Saturday nights, after my twilight run. I replenish all those burned calories as fast as I possibly can.

During the recent vacation blogging, I noted I took a "Chef's Class" in eighth grade. It was a bit like home economics, except it was males-only and emphasized cooking. Our big "coming out event" was a field trip one morning to a supermarket.

Then during college, I lived in a "scholarship hall" where about 50 students did all the duties - including teams preparing lunches and dinners almost every day. We were on our own to prepare most breakfasts. But there was a special incentive to wake up early on Saturday mornings. Otherwise, the specially-delivered doughnuts might be gone.

I don't really remember how it happened -- but in the transition after college, I started cooking for myself on a regular basis. People ask if I "cook from scratch," but that can be a tough question to answer. If you follow the instructions on the Hamburger Helper box, does that count?

Through hand-me-downs from my mother followed by her death, I gained a full set of pots and pans - then a nice complete set of Corning dinnerware. I also inherited her set of stainless steel.... uh, well.... if it's stainless steel, you can't call it "silverware". And if the spoons and forks are arched, why do people call them "flatware?"

I still use those hand-me-down items today, almost 25 years after my mother died. And my cooking schedule has become relatively routine. On this Friday, I plan to make a nice big dinner to start the seventh-day Sabbath. Since I'm single, there probably will be enough leftovers to last three or four days beyond that.
And as a result, they actually do NOT "know me at Applebee's."

If there are days left over in the week after eating leftovers, I'm prepared. My kitchen pantry is stacked with canned items for dinner - primarily cans of chili. It's inexpensive to buy. It's simple to heat and eat. It fills me up. And the beans make sure my body is (ahem) properly cleansed.

Then there's the freezer, which has several dinners waiting. For years that meant store-brand frozen pizzas or Banquet chicken dinners, but that trend is changing. Lean Gourmet dinners are becoming an inexpensive alternative -- although they seem weird to buy, because I'm neither lean nor a gourmet.

There's a shoe box filled with recipes in my home. But it's stashed under the TV set in the living room, and I hardly ever bring it out to prepare anything special. Shame on me for that - as I get too busy watching TV to pull out anything under it for dessert.

As it happens, today is my twice-a-month big grocery trip. So if you run into me at the supermarket, keep Mr. Food's announcement in mind - as this man makes dinner more than one day a year. In fact, it would be nice to find a girlfriend willing to volunteer on a fill-in basis for Thanksgiving weekend....

How did our Thursday night of poker go? The answer awaits you at our other blog -- "On the Flop!"

E-MAIL UPDATE: Your campaign comments keep on coming. We start with one about an Election Day construction crisis....

From the who gives a cr*p file...Bill Madison's complaint about the paving project keeping voters from getting to the polls just goes to prove how uninformed and misinformed anybody can be. First of all, the employees of Robinson Paving didn't schedule the paving project on election day. They are hired to do a job. Their job has to be done when the weather permits. Election day is just another work day, plain and simple. As to the "inexperienced workers" handling traffic, that's not Robinson's job. I'll match Robinson's workers and their "experience" in what they do as compared to what Madison does with his "inexperience" in his job any day of the week and twice on Sunday, as the old saying goes. Once again it comes down to Madison just doing what he is definitely most "experienced" in....complaining. He no doubt has labeled a complaint against the DOT and Robinson Paving in the past for referring to their job as "blacktopping" the road surface.

The road work at Buena Vista and St. Mary's Road had been underway for at least a couple of weeks before Election Day. I drove through that area one Saturday night and noticed that. If the crew followed the Atlanta approach and worked on a Saturday night, we might not be having this discussion.

NAACP President Bill Madison may be among the people who want Election Day made a holiday, so everyone gets the day off to vote. Actress Kerry Washington expressed this view, when she made a campaign trip to Columbus in January. Republicans might go for this under one condition - that it be combined with Veterans Day.

When I was young, I heard a Methodist pastor give a sermon warning about pejorative "black" phrases in our society. But Bill Madison might not mind "blacktop" right now - since a "black man" is on top of the polls.

Speaking of "That One" on top....

President Elect Obama may be the best thing to happen to generations of boys that no longer can fall back on the absent father excuse. And to think I voted Republican.............................

Thoughts along that line have occurred to me, too. If I see an African-American person doing something wrong, I'll simply ask: "What would Barack Obama think?" It could work like those Santa Claus threats in December - except Mr. Obama is real.

Dropping down to the Muscogee County Sheriff's race:

hey-rich-

you know that mark la joye person who is writing you, are you sure he is the real thing, lajoye! I mean he has very unprofessional language, and he is very well, not what you might expect from a sheriff. do you think it is someone else impersonating him? If not, maybe it is a good thing he did not get sheriff- seems kinda mean. and, the constable, tell him to come on over to this side of the river and do his thing here.

I have no evidence to indicate our messages from Mark LaJoye were bogus. In fact, 12 e-mails came from an address which matches the contact page on LaJoye's web site. Based on that, Sheriff-Elect John Darr might replace my "Idiot of the Week" title with one for Special Online Investigator.

Let's take one more e-mail, about Muscogee County schools:

Richard..When do the new members of the MCSD board take office,before or after the supt.selection? The Ledger said the candidates are interviewed by different boards around town..Do these board make suggestions as to their selection for the position?

A check online of the school district's policies shows the new board members officially take office 1 January. But I recall newspaper stories from recent years, where at least one board member hurried to a judge in December and took the oath early. Yes, the distrust is THAT deep....

Exactly when the school board will select a new superintendent is an open question. Keep in mind the position was posted on a Georgia state web site back in February. But when a special meeting was held Wednesday to trim the field of candidates, some thought that was a big post-election rush.

Didn't the Columbus Chamber of Commerce send a letter to the school board, offering to help find a superintendent? Groups such as that might be offering some advice. But State Senator Seth Harp advised against building the new administration building, and we know where that stands....

We still have a phone call to make on another e-mail. So we thank all of you for writing, as we move on to some Thursday headlines:

+ The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer announced it will have a special edition Sunday, on the presidential election. Some would say this proves the newspaper has a bias - but look at it the other way. If the Republican ticket had won, barbecue restaurants would be under pressure to add moose to the menu.

+ Georgia Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle spoke at the Columbus Diabetes Summit. But he said it's too early to talk about him running for Governor in 2010. From what I saw, Cagle also thinks it's too early to wear a "Saxby in the Runoff" button.

+ WRBL revealed Phenix City Fire Chief Wallace Hunter is filling in, as interim City Manager. We don't want to hear any department manager complain about getting "hosed" with their budgets....

+ Federal agents ended their on-site investigation of the Bibb Mill fire. They left without making any definitive statement about a cause. But I suppose with a fire this big, finding the cause is like finding a matchstick in a haystack.

+ The late-night news revealed the Metro Narcotics Task Force helicopter now has a "thermal imaging" device. One officer said it can spot someone "smoking a cigarette from 10,000 feet." So stay out of those no-smoking sections downtown or else....

(The Sin City Inquisition and Bar-B-Q blog reported the narcotics helicopter flew over part of Ladonia during the afternoon -- and Columbus Police cars were there as well. It's not clear why they were there. But this seems like a lot of effort to track down a runaway police recruit.)

+ The Landings shopping center on Airport Thruway turned on its holiday lights. Aw, c'mon - this is getting ridiculous! Isn't there a rule that Sunny 100 FM has to start playing Christmas songs first?

+ Shaw clobbered Kendrick in high school football 43-6. The Raiders will make the playoffs with a 4-6 record - which for several years has been about the only way Kendrick could do it.

+ Instant Message to all evangelicals: You know, maybe there IS something to this stuff about Barack Obama being a messiah. Did you notice his Chief of Staff is named Emanuel?

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