Text 18368, 111 rader
Skriven 2007-07-31 17:15:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: Road trip 910
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 -=> Jim Weller said to All <=-

 JW> The trip got delayed from Thursday night to Saturday afternoon as
 JW> there was both a calamity and a tragedy in the extended family, not
 JW> in my own family, but those of relatives of relatives.
 JW> My SIL Sandra's husband's sister, after being dry for years, went on
 JW> a week long drunken rampage and ended up being arrested for assault.

Sorry to hear about that.

 JW> Social Services seized her 5 kids and dropped them off with Matthew
 JW> and Sandra as all the group homes were full and Matthew is the only
 JW> responsible, stable and decent one in his family. He and Sandra are
 JW> already raising 2 of his grandkids so they couldn't cope with 5
 JW> more in a small 3 bedroom home. An aunt of the women's boyfriend
 JW> took 2 the next day and my daughter Raine took the 2 youngest (she
 JW> knew them casually).

Problem is that putting this kind of pressure on even a functioning
family is likely to strain it to the hilt. You sane ones have to
give and give and keep giving.

 JW> The other sad event was that one of Neekha's cousins drowned in a
 JW> boating accident

Very sorry to hear about that,

 JW> Neekha on cell during the middle of this she said, "Mom is frantic
 JW> and crying a lot and Aunt Nikki started drinking again, instead of
 JW> being brave and taking care of the other cousins; I HAVE be here to
 JW> take care of them all." How sad is that? A couple of days later she
 JW> reported quietly that the funeral was a nice one and that it was all
 JW> over. I am continually amazed by her emotional strength and her
 JW> maturity.

She certainly is a wonderful child, and it sounds from what you
have said before as though you are all allowing her the childhood
part as well, but you've got to be vigilant about that - the provision
of some counseling may be a very good idea. When you have a kid with
that maturity, you sometimes forget she's a kid.

=
At least the trip sounds interesting, once it got started.

 JW> inauspicious location in the northwest end, near railway tracks,
 JW> meat packing plants and pawn shops but, hey, that's often a good
 JW> sign of a hidden treasure. Not this time. There were a few dishes of
 JW> note though: good meaty large short ribs, nice big spicy Cajun
 JW> shrimp, steamed mussels on the half shell with Chinese black bean
 JW> sauce and a chocolate fountain with fresh fruit for dipping. We ate
 JW> heartily despite my bitching all the same

Come on. Shrimp, mussels, and short ribs, and you're complaining?

 JW> restaurant called Sage in the River Cree Casino on the Enoch Reserve
 ...
 JW> For mains we had a lightly five-spice spiced, double thick, pork rib
 JW> chop with wild rice, another wonderful scallop dish with couscous
 JW> and some pan fried wild caught pickerel together with a couple
 JW> bottles of Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

Sounds excellent. And the Kim Crawford is good enough that even
I'll drink it (but not order it!).

 JW> Saturday was family barbecue day. In attendance were ourselves, Hank
 JW> and Olive, Darlene (another of Roslind's sisters) and Bob, her newest
 JW> partner, John (one of my brothers) and Lily. Darlene and Roslind
 JW> cooked. They grilled Aletha's chicken up Barbados style, with thyme
 JW> and lime

Sounds good. But too spicy, perhaps, for Darlene to eat, given
what you say below?

 JW> fancy fruity house cocktails by pointing at the pictures on the menu
 JW> rather than trying to order a half and half dirty martini from a
 JW> bartender who doesn't speak English. I had a Mai Tai and Roslind a
 JW> Singapore Sling, both were most excellent and suited the food better
 JW> anyway.

Didn't sound like the kind of place where you'd order a Martini at all.

THE SINGAPORE SLING
cat: booze
servings: 1

1 oz Plymouth Gin
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz Cointreau
1 chunk of pineapple, crushed
Splash of Benedictine

Ginger ale Shake all ingredients except the ginger ale
with ice in a shaker and strain over fresh ice in a
sling glass. Top with the ginger ale. Garnish with a
fresh cherry and a lemon butterfly. Invented at Raffles
Hotel, Singapore, by Ngiam Tong Boom in 1915.

Bill Marsano, Hemispheres magazine 5-06

 JW> That evening we took Darlene and Bob to the New Asia Village, a
 JW> Punjabi place and another chowhound recommendation, but with some
 JW> trepidation as Darlene had announced she didn't like Vietnamese food
 JW> as it was too spicy

Not liking Canadian Vietnamese food because it's too spicy
is a real red flag. I presume she has other redeeming qualities?
As Roslind's sister, she must.
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