Yum

We just got back a short time ago from an extended stay in Little Rock, AK settling the affairs of my wife's mother after her passing.
Little Rock would require a posting all it's own so we won't deal too much here other than to say it's a bizzare place. The people were friendly but their friendliness didn't outweigh much else about the place...except the food.
As we typically do when we travel we seek out the unique, singular, more often than not mom& pop, places to eat and try to avoid chain restaurants as much as possible. Even at that we do find ourselves in a CR now and then much to our chagrin. I am happy to say the few times we did we were pleasantly surprised. Partially because they were CR's and partially because Little Rock is hardly a destination place much less a culinary watershed.
Some of our experiences were largely forgettable but a few were not only memorable but worth mentioning.
The first is Jerry's Serious Sandwiches. A small sandwich shop just around the corner from my mother-in-law's place that made the best sandwiches you could ever want made from fresh ingredients that were hand sliced when you ordered (to include the tomato's), fresh salads and sides, soups and desserts made on premisis.The ownners looked nothing like transplanted hippies but their desire to use local organic products showed through everything they did. It quickly became our "Go To" lunch place while we closed up the house and dealt with the possessions.
One afternoon while in search of a Super WalMart (not as easy as one would think in LR...even if they're based there)we drove by a cute little place in west LR called Caper's (capersrestaurant.com) and returned that evening to discover a three star restaurant with an enviable wine list, gourmet market and has won awards from publications like Wine Spectator every year for the past ten years. Their menu is seasonal but absolutely amazing. The bacon wrapped shrimp I had the first night is still an all time winner. The desserts are all made daily and worth saving room for.
Our first surprise in the CR arena came from a place around the corner from our hotel in the form of a BBQ place called Corky's (corkysribsandbbq.com). This was a great place and the food was incredible. It's everything you would expect in a BBQ place. One of the owners is Joe Klein The former Phoenix Sun center (and Celtic along with Danny Ainge)and all-round nice guy. They have several locations atound the south and southeast but (unfortunately) have no plans to head west anytime soon.
Another afternoon/early dinner place was right across the street from our hotel called The Purple Cow (purplecowrestaurant.com). A fifties style diner with good food and great fountain desserts plus "Adult" milkshakes spiked with a shot of your favorite spirit. They're only in Arkansas and Texas but if you're in the neighborhood...stop in.
An accidental find was Arthur's Prime Steakhouse (arthursprimesteakhouse.com). This is a one of a kind white tablecloth eating establishment located in west Little Rock (think N Scottsdale/Paradise Valley). Their steaks and seafood are cooked perfectly and served with flair. Their side dishes are a la carte and family style so there's more than enough to share and sample many things. If you have the unfortunate experience to have to stay in LR for longer than a day check it out. It's worth it.
Our last find (and the reason for writing this at all) was Cantina Laredo (cantinalaredo.com) a "Gourmet" mexican place again just around the corner from the "In-law's" place. A CR with class. The food was great and the atmosphere just as nice. Fresh table made guacamole exotic seafood and mole' parings plus an apple pie dessert than needs to be experienced to appreciate how good it is. When the manager found out we were from Arizona we suddenly found ourselves his new best friend and were given the address and manager's name for their new restaurant in N Scottsdale at Scottsdale Rd and Frank LLoyd Wright. We stopped over recently (one of our daughters lives nearby)and found it to be wonderful. The manager we were told to ask for is no longer there (he's opening a new restaurant for them in London, England)but the new manager made us more than welcome. Stop by and see this place...you won't be disappointed.

CHCHCHCHCHChanges....

Steve Kerr announced he was leaving the GM post for the Suns at the end of the month to take a broadcast job with TNT...it can't happen fast enough.
I have nothing against Steve Kerr the man but have been less than impressed with him as a GM and during his tenure has made some of the most boneheaded blunders anyone can imagine.
The downside of him leaving is that, unfortunately, "Bean Counter Bob" will be looking for the cheapest GM he can find which will,no doubt, translate to the worst Suns team (probably without Amare')this franchise has ever had.
Now let's talk about the D-Backs. They traded Conor Jackson to the A's for a AAA right handed pitcher (like we need another righty in the bull pen). How un-impressing can that be? With this earth shattering announcement veiled statements were made about possible additional movements as well...gee ya think you might need to?
At the beginning of Spring Training it was implied they would discuss trades for just about anyone not named Justin Upton...someone who has the potential to be a great player if he learns how to take his ego out of his ass and leave it in the locker room. Until that happens he's just another Ho-Hum player who accidentally runs into the ball once in a while. Why is it taking the front office so long to do what they've been supposedly working on for the past four months?
At this juncture in time the only people that should be kept is Mark Reynolds and Dan Heron. They're the only consistent players they've got (with possibly Chris Young included).
While they're at it...it's time for the front office to get rid of the "Young Ol' Boy" Club up there. Josh Byrnes hiring AJ Hinch to manage the team was like repaying a favor to a frat buddy. Hinch isn't qualified to manage at this level and the "On the Job Training" he's getting is costing the team everything. It's time for him to go. He's already made more stupid blunders than Buck Showalter (which screwed up alot) and Bob Melvin combined (Bob Brenley mad far fewer but couldn't seem to stop butting heads with his bosses).
It's time for Derick Hall and Josh Byrnes to take a long sobering look at themselves, figure out a way to keep Ken Kendrick (Mr Red and Tan himself) out of their way, and then make some real decisions that might actually have a real affect on the team and their potential to win... while you're at it, bring back the old colors. This red and tan shit makes us look like any other AAA out there and, unless I'm mistaken, the D-Backs are in the big leagues and are supposed to stand out...not look like sixteen other teams.

Triple D

We've finally hit the triple digit temperature range. Many hate it...I personally love it. Everything moves outdoors and towards bodies of water, barbecues and relaxing times.
For the past several months we've actually had a Spring. Everyone got their gardens planted and started on their tans so we're all feeling healthier and happier. For all of those reasons I'm looking forward to the next three to four months.

Gabion

FEB STATISTICS

Tick,Tick,Tick

When I was young I didn’t know I lived in a big city. It was just the place I lived in. I was told it’s a big city but at that time I had nothing to compare it to.
Every week I would ride down the street with my mother to a nearby market to pick up basic staples then we’d go across the street to my Great Uncle’s dairy store. The store was deeply set in the lot with a big horseshoe dirt driveway. Even the store was horseshoe shaped with a long porch across the front.
My uncle would sit on the porch all day in a metal chair with his feet propped up on a milk crate until someone pulled up. He’d walk out to their car and call them by name and ask what it was they needed then go to one of the glass front refrigerated doors on the porch and get out the milk, eggs, cheese and butter they had asked for, put it in a soda crate and take it out to the car. They’d pay him and he’d go back to his chair where he’d sit and swap stories and lies with whomever had stopped by to visit until the next car came up the driveway.
The goods he sold came from his dairy farm that was just behind the store. A large expanse of pasture that went from 32nd Street and McDowell north about a mile to Oak Street and my Grandparents house then east to 52nd St and my uncle’s house made out of river rock from the nearby Salt River and all of the barns, chicken coops and pens. We lived in a new small subdivision at 48th Street and McDowell. From the backyard of my friend’s house across the street I could see my uncle and his workers on the other side of the road take care of the livestock, vegetables, corn and citrus he grew. Once or twice a year I would watch them drive a small heard of cattle the mile or so down 48th Street to the slaughter house where they would be auctioned off and processed before being sent to the local markets. The sight was always a little magical watching the cattle lumber down the street with the workers riding on their horses trying to keep them together while cars would pull over to the side to let them pass.
The whole family would gather at my uncle’s house once or twice a year when relatives would come into town from out of state. My father would always stop at the entrance to the driveway and let me out with a potato sack and I would walk through the citrus grove in front of the house and pick fruit to take home as I walked down the long driveway. Once I got to the house I knew to immediately head around to the side of the house to the patio where my cousins would be playing and the men in the family would be sitting in the same metal chairs my uncle has at the store with their feet propped on the low stone wall surrounding the patio and drank their Coors in the shade of the big orange tree beside the patio.
Between sips of their beer they’d recount their latest adventures, talk politics, and tell jokes and whatever else came to their minds. Those stories were colorful without being profane, capture your imagination without being perverse and more often than not grab a seed of wisdom out of them. You could picture the bull chasing the farmhand up the tree while screaming for his life and the rattlesnake in the vegetable garden prompting my aunt to dance wildly and nearly stepping on it instead of getting away. They were never in short supply for things to talk about. I don’t remember ever watching a TV at my uncle’s house because of that.
Now and then one would sigh and observe how everything was changing so fast they can barely keep up with it at all. I would follow their gaze across the pasture and wonder what he was talking about.
One day on our way to the market I notice new roads had been cut through parts of my uncle’s pasture. The fence line had changed and there was construction equipment dancing around in their own ballet removing the grass and moving the dirt around with some unknown purpose.
When we got to the dairy store I asked my uncle what was going on. “I sold some of the land so they can build houses on them” he said matter of factly. “I’m going to sell some more to another fella next week too”. True to his word he did and over the next couple of years he sold the entire thing except for the lot where his house was. The dairy store was the last to go.
We still had family gatherings there for a long time after that but the stories started to be fewer and fewer. With the loss of each person we lost a little of the human spirit that was our family. Eventually that all came quietly to an end as the city absorbed us all and we became little more than a group of bodies in a larger group of bodies.
If you drive through that area today you’d never know there was a dairy farm there. It’s all houses, apartments, strip centers, gas stations, convenience stores and what not. The house my uncle owned is still there but you can’t see it unless you’re looking for it. It’s hidden behind four rows of duplexes where the citrus grove had been. The backyard is barely there anymore with the view blocked by the back wall of a twenty foot tall concrete block warehouse.
The uncles and aunts are all gone. The cousins seldom get together anymore. Everyone’s lives are too fractured and self important to make that time. When we do get together it’s usually for a funeral and nobody has any stories to tell. They can’t think of anything interesting or funny to talk about. Even if they did they’ve forgotten how to tell them. They’ve become so wrapped up in their own life they stopped becoming human enough to notice what’s going on in their life.
The big city I grew up in was swallowed up by an impersonal big city one day.
I wonder where it went.

Arizona Wines

It seems like at every social gathering or event I've attended over the past few years people keep asking me about Arizona wine. They ask things like is it good or a myth etc.
Here's a link to help answer some of those ever growing questions.

http://arizonavinesandwines.com/wineries.html