It was a good weekend last week, starting out with another fine BBQ on Friday after work, and ending with the Churchill Club on Saturday, gathering together to smoke cigars, drink the liquor of the devil and discuss matters that are far from serious.  So, I will show you the cigar gathering first: We only numbered eight, but we enjoyed ourselves and are already planning the next one.  And the fine BBQ the previous day was hosted by the Facilities Department.  The MeatMaster of the feast used only salt and flavored the meat by different types of wood used to smoke it. I will tell you in all honesty, the meat I ate that day was the best tasting steak I have ever had.  Generally overseas, including Brazil, the beef is mostly range fed and is not tender.  It has an amazing taste, but it is tough to chew.  The meat I had Friday was extremely tender.  I could have eaten a large plate of it.  My RST, the Good Mister Wilson, told me it was from the flank of the cow.

And as I walk home in the evenings, I will occasionally stop by my buddy Antonio and get a couple of sausages from him.  I have also learned to look at the meat and make him cook it longer if needed.Life continues to be good.  Adventures come and go and if you have an open mind, you will be amazed at what you encounter.

D.

I am my father’s son in many ways.  I hate having to listen to commercials on TV.  Many commercials insult the intelligence of any cognizant viewer; and those viewers who are not cognizant, will just cherish the celebrities and the fantasies they portray.

Many years ago, my parents purchased a new color TV.  Since I am a strange technical guy by the standards of the time, I installed a switch on a cable that plugged into the back of the TV, where Pop could turn the sound off of the commercials.  He was elated.  I personally would have used it for his Lawrence Welk shows also, but I didn’t suggest it to him.

So, fast forward decades later; I am sitting on my couch eating hot wings watching the old movie, The Magnificent Seven with Yul Brenner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and several others, and every time a commercial comes on I have to use a knuckle that has the least sauce on it, to push the mute button on the remote.

Now, a quick side note here.  I have all sorts of gadgetry in my apartment, most of it connected to the strange Alexa/Echo I have scattered about.  There is a little black module I paid maybe $12 for that will turn my air conditioners on in my living room and bedroom.  So when I am sitting at my Portuguese class at the Orange Bar, I can open an app on my phone and turn on the AC as I head home.  See the black module below:Well, the same little black module will also do its magic on anything that uses remotes, such as my TV, Stereo and DVD player.  So, I was surprised, no …. thrilled to find out that if I say, Alexa, mute the TV, she does!

Ya know, Life is damn good!

Now for the subject you have been waiting with abated breath; I think my gluten intolerant is just gluten sensitive.  But since we have last visited, I have been baking gluten free breads in my bread maker (BM).  As I sit here writing this, my BM has a nice loaf cooking and should be ready to remove and cool down in 32 minutes.  I am amazed at the flavor of these breads.  I will probably gain 10 pounds this month alone.  I eat far more bread than I did several months ago.

I would be lying if I said the bread mixes were cheap, because they are not.  That is where the amazing Capitalism comes in, because these small companies that make the breads (gluten and gluten free) have to make them worth paying extra for, and I will gladly purchase them.

I will hold off an hour or so to publish this, so I can add a picture of the loaf that is currently cooking.  Until next time, kick butt and take any adventure Life lays in front of you; and eat the good gift of nature, bread.Done.  Fini.

As you may have noticed, I did indeed not die.  I just have to be careful on how much normal bread I consume in one setting.  … unless I am with my older sister.

And now I have directed my endeavors to becoming a FryMaster to add to all my other “Masteries”.  I purchased an air fryer sometime back and use it mostly for chicken wings, but then I decided to try my hand at making gourmet french fries.

I remembered in years past that MotherDear had a potato slicer and so I went online and found the best product to slice potatoes into fries.  It will cut 3/8″ and 1/2″ – just what I needed.  See below the first batch of sliced potatoes.After the first attempt, I realize the best way to fry fries is with with a deep oil fryer.  The air fryer just does not do it correctly, but it gives me the chance to experiment with various ways of flavoring the fries.

I did use the fryer to toast a new invention of mine: Toasted tomato and mozzarella cheese with basil and garlic spread on a gluten free black bread.  I could tell you it was amazing and it needed nothing else, but I would be lying, but it does give me the ability to perfect it. I will endeavor and will succeed.  On another note ….

Most days after I get off work, I will stop at my Portuguese class which I call the Orange Bar, to have a few drinks, practice my Portuguese with Luciano and watch the local fauna walk by.

I realize that Brazilians love their dogs.  With 3 or 4 pet shops or veterinarians in the area, I see many people walking their dogs, and they take very good care of them.  It seems to fit the idea that Brazilians are happy on the inside.

One day as I sat watching everyone, a kind looking gentleman walked by with his dog that seemed to have seen many years and stopped at one of the tables, and the Master ordered a beer.  The dog appeared to be very well behaved and sat down on the concrete.

When it was time for me to leave, I walked past them and with hand gestures asked the Master if I could pet his companion.  He said something I did not understand, but since I have never had anyone tell me No, I thought it would not be a problem.  I bent down to the animal and the Master quickly motioned me away!

Okay, do not pet the dog…

I do not know why I was not allowed to pet him, because when the waiter brought the dog a bowl of water, he affectionately touched his nose.  No matter what it was, if the answer is No, accept it and move on. But I will note how beautiful the animal is …

Until next time, kick butt and look for new adventures.          D.

On Christmas Eve, I walked to the local food store and picked up a few things for Christmas dinner.  On the way back to the apartment I met a man on the street selling roses.  I asked: Qunta? (how much?) and he said Trinta, (30, which equals $7.75).  Now I didn’t know it it was 30 Reals for the whole bunch but decided to purchase some.  I gave him 30 and he handed me the whole bunch.  I smiled slightly like I expected to get the whole bunch and told him:  Obrigado e feliz natal  (thank you and Merry Christmas)

I will tell you that they lasted only a few days but I did have 13 beautiful roses on my table during Christmas, which is all I wanted.  And I remembered, that as I stopped and purchased these roses, the little guy in the back of my mind commented, This is what Terese would have done.

@}-}–  *  –{-{@

A few weeks ago, I gleefully received a much anticipated bread machine in the mail, along with a bundle of bread mixes to use in it.  Notice how shiny and new it is. We had a machine in Turkey, but gave it away because it was a 220 volt machine and we knew we would never use it again.

Now, since living in Russia, I’ve had a craving for the black Russian bread – chernyy khleb that we called “chorny bread”.  It is a dark pumpernickel bread with garlic butter and just a touch of coriander.  I know this, because that is what Terese said it was.

So, the first pack of bread I made was the Russian black bread and ate a few slices.  At the time, I had neither garlic butter nor coriander, but it was delightful.  Afterwards, I made some honey-something bread, and it too was amazing.

Then, something bizarre took place.

My innards rebelled in such a way, I thought I would die.  Die, I thought I would.  It was not a pretty picture.  The only thing nice about it, was the flatulence.  For those male readers, you will understand that men do not mind the act of farting, especially if they grew up with an older sister.

But a dark cloud began to roll over me as I realized (to my horror), that I may have become gluten intolerant in my old age.  It took several days for the symptoms to subside, during which time I ordered several bread packs of gluten free breads.  I also found the shelf at the grocery store that has specialty breads and purchased a few miniature loaves of pão sem glúten – bread without gluten.

The gluten free breads were nice and satisfying, but I still did not know for certain that I had suddenly acquired this … deficiency.  But I can tell you, that since that time period I have gradually been testing the waters (sort of speak) to see if the symptoms would return.  Yesterday, I ate at the Olive Garden with a lunch loaded with gluten and so far …

I will either die, or not die.  If you do not hear from me again, I have kicked the bucket.    D.

At the last minute, I decided to host a Christmas Eve wingfest and I had some very pretty ladies show up.  There were three in particular that made the evening … er, chaotic, but everyone survived.  Below are pictures of Ava and Anna sitting with several of us at a nearby restaurant before the wingfest.  They were sitting on a bench and waving at the vehicles on the street.Then during the actual wingfest, I caught the two sisters at various places in my apartment looking guilty of something or another.And the third pretty girl is Kwynn who I often have the pleasure of visiting with.  She the little one in the middle.  You’ve seen her before squealing at the  irritating mechanical furry animals in the previous post.Additionally, there were two other couples, one who were the parents of the two previous ornery girls and a little one that is new to Brazil.And some of the food prep :I always enjoy hosting these and have several other people who I need to invite.

And before I leave you again, I wanted to show you a gift a “friend” gave me for Christmas.  She said it reminded her of me.  Seriously, I never saw myself as a John Wayne type of guy.

I see many strange things that can be bought on the Internet these days, and recently purchased several of these furry devices that repeat anything you say, and jump like fools when doing so.  Here is what they look like at rest:

I asked one of them its name and got this:

 

Then I sat both of them together for an intelligent conversation:

 

I gave one to the beautiful daughter of a friend of mine and she sent me videos of her reaction to this crazy furry thing.

 

Another interesting story:  When I first came to Sao Paulo, a neighbor who also works at the Consulate took me to the nearby store and showed me how to get food.  She said, at the check out they will always ask you two questions, (something about a tax receipt) and your answer will always be No.  Sounded simple.

But occasionally, I noticed they would ask me three questions, and I would always give them the safest answer of No, especially if you don’t know the question.

As I started learning more and more phases, I realized one day, that sometimes when I went to the checkout the first question would be boa tarde?

… and it hit me.  boa tarde simply means, Good Afternoon.  Which explains why they gave me a funny look when I resolutely stated, No.

An old friend of mine once told me, Life is pretty damn tragic if we don’t learn to laugh at ourselves.

I tend to laugh at myself quite often.