Text 35785, 85 rader
Skriven 2013-04-06 15:39:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: field trip 389
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Chris asked if we wanted to see the Columbus Chapel. Now one
of the Boals married one of the Colons, direct heir of one
Cristobal Colon, known in these parts as Christopher Columbus.
She inherited the family estate, but not wanting to live in
Spain, brought the family chapel and its contents here across
the water, so she could play the ancient pump organ on Sundays
in the setting where she had grown up. In this chapel reside
some artifacts that would have people beating a path to the
door if the location were anyplace other than nowhere, PA.
Most of the art is 16th-17th c. Spanish, but there's a 15th c.
Flemish devotional painting there next to the ancient Chris's
sea captain desk from the Santa Maria. Also the family records
have made their way here. Also the Archbishop of Lyon had
presented a couple splinters of the Holy Rood to the family,
so that occupies a prominent place on the altar. I hope there's
good security, though I didn't see any. Maybe it's very good
security. I thought it was a tremendous little tour and worth
the $10 a head. Mike and Jill didn't seem to think so and were
a little put out when Annie identified them by name (when one
is a first family type, it is just as well to travel incognito,
but Annie is very impressed by those more famous than she).
She also rather improvidently put herself on the mailing list;
the first begging e-mail came in a little over half a day.

Our last stop was the Berkey Creamery on the Penn State campus,
so Annie could get some Peachy Paterno, a rather rich but
perfectly standard fruit ice cream. She picked up a gallon. The
three of them all got cones of various sorts, but I diverged
from the plan for obvious reasons and had two donuts, which had
enough dairy for me. The creme-filled one, though tender and
not too sweet in the pastry part, disappointed in that the
creme was not real cream nor real pastry cream nor yet any
custardy or creamy substance but rather an ugly concoction of
whipped shortening and sugar syrup. A coconut donut, light cake
with coconut glaze and toasted coconut, was quite nice, though,
and went nicely with Yuengling Light (yes, we brought beer on
campus; no, we were not seen swilling it down in public).

Of course, I was bursting the whole trip back and was quite
relieved to get back. I suggested (plaintively) a pit stop at
Lock Haven, but I was told that the house rule is stops are
allowed only on trips of over 4 hours. I now recalled why I
prefer airplanes to cars, even though this one's seats were
quite like first-class plane seats.

Dinner with Robbie. I don't know why Annie didn't have Mike and
Jill over for supper; it's as though she can take only so much
companionship, and then that's that.

Our appie was the rest of the oysters, with Helmrich's cocktail
sauce (pretty much the standard, ketchup and horseradish), but
for me lemon, salt, and pepper. I am not sure why she and Rob
like these oysters, which are to me bland, unsavory, and Gulf.
I prefer briny eastern ones, myself. These are oysters for which
the recipes for oyster stew or pan roast or scallopped were
designed, in which the cooking intensifies the flavor (with east
coasters, cooking to me mutes the flavor).

We'd put in some beef ribs before we left. Covered, 200F, so
they slow roasted and became rather like stew but not quite;
we put them under the broiler to crisp up at the last minute.
They were pretty good, but, you know, I'd had enough Calories
so had only two, the second only because Annie was pouting that
I wasn't doing her food justice.

I sauteed mushrooms in some of the beef fat and threw in the
leftovers of the peapods sauteed with ginger from the Chinese
meal. Pretty good.

Annie made black-eyed peas with bacon from Tony's. Tony's bacon
is not salty, so the dish seemed a little underseasoned to me;
plus black-eyed peas are about my least favorite legume, all fart
and no flavor. Robbie went through a large amount of these, so I
was not too sorry to see him go. He actually stuck around longer
than usual and instead of just up and leaving, the way Annie says
he does, he waited until Annie's boy toy called and made a polite
and discreet exit.

Leftover pineapple and strawberries in Grand Marnier for dessert.

Pretty good day.

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