A Rededication

Today I took a trip to my old neighborhood for the re-dedication of a triangle in honor of a Chaplain who was killed during WWII on Okinawa.

He was a local boy and attended the same elementary school as I.  I always heard a lot about him.  Shortly after the war ended, the city dedicated this triangle to his memory.  I remember attending that ceremony.  Over the years, that event was forgotten and the triangle was considered by the city to be a Greenspace.  Most of the young people living in the area had no knowledge of the history of this triangle.  That is until a local historian learned about it.  He decided to find out more about Rev. Lawrence Lynch.

One day I saw a post on Facebook about Father Lynch giving some background.  I added what I knew about him, including that there was a book written about him, called Father Cyclone.  Today, thanks to the efforts of Mr. Wendell, that triangle was rededicated to Father Lynch.  There were all the local politicians there, along with veterans groups and even a niece of Father Lynch.

It was a wonderful day; it felt like we had gone back in time, a time when we all came together to honor a hero regardless of political affiliation.

When all the speeches were over and the new street sign unveiled, we all went to the oldest bar in Queens for a good old Irish lunch - corned beef and cabbage.

I'm so glad I went.

Cooking

I enjoy cooking and baking.  I am a better baker than cook because I like to follow a recipe step by step.  I don't seem to have the imagination to improvise and create my own dish.  The most daring thing I did recently was quarter small potatoes, add some olive and salt and bake them.  They are delicious this way and I'm eating more potatoes than ever.  I've always felt they were too much work - you have to peel them, cut them up, boil them, then mash them.  Definitely too much work.

The other day I was looking at my cookbook collection and realized that many of the books are getting dusty and that I'm getting bored with the same way of preparing my meals.  I took that as a challenge.  I am going to try one new recipe a week.

I don't know what this week's dish will be.  I do have a head of cauliflower in the refrigerator and the other day I noticed that my local supermarket has started carrying Tillamook Cheese.  Since my son gave me a copy of The Tillamook Cheese Cookbook, I can now make something from that book using the recommended cheese without substitutes.

I probably won't make anything until the end of the week since I have to do a little research to see what I have on hand.

I will report on my success or failure.