The Turkey Shoot

For Jack, it had been three years, maybe four that he had begun the Thanksgiving/Christmas season, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, amongst old friends, for a good old-fashioned wild turkey shoot. When they got together, there was always great camaraderie and questionably-believable story-telling, and lots of lies. They caught up on old times and discussed life's misadventures. There may have been stories of stolen tractors, crooked salesman, and pesky lawyers. There were undoubtedly stories of the best college football teams and how the University of Buffalo would one day be among them...Read more

Cuban Night

Since Habana Grill shut down last year, there has been a big Cuban void in my life. You see, Cuban food (and drink) is my downfall. I just can’t get enough. I like the spices and flavors and the way the food is prepared. At Habana Grill, my wife enjoyed the veggie Cuban Haystack with sweet maduros or tostones and I liked the Carne Asada, the Ropa Vieja, the Lechon Asado (favorite), the Vaca Frita, and on and on. And don’t forget the cocktails, the Mojito or the Caipirinha, or the Sangria.

I haven’t had any of these dishes since Habana Grill closed. There doesn’t seem to be a comparable Cuban restaurant in the area. Now, I know some of the Mexican restaurants, Garibaldis and Habaneros, serve some of these dishes. While good, they are not the same. Habana Grill had an unmatched Cuban authenticity that I haven’t found anywhere else… yet.

The point of this is not to cry over the closing of my favorite restaurant, but to introduce you to another fantastic Cuban dish.

Early in my career, I would frequent a hole in the wall dive called Black Bean Deli. It’s been years since I even thought about the place. Recently, a friend mentioned it and got me thinking about going back. It’s a little far from me now, so I haven’t been able to go. But my craving for their PICADILLO was just more than I could handle. So, this past weekend, instead of going there, I decided to make my own Picadillo and see how it turned out. Picadillo is a sort of a Cuban Hash, almost a stew or closer to a chili. It’s slow cooked and has great flavor.

So, I set up my grill’s side burner to do this outside while watching football (GO DAWGS) on the back porch with my son. It was a great day for it, nice and cool outside. Let me tell you, it turned out great. It was so good, in fact, I thought I would share the recipe with you. Please give it a try and let me know how it turns out.

Obviously, you can do this inside, but if the weather is nice, take it out back.

Click here for recipe.

Don't be an Oyster

A great idea…People, I urge you to pay attention to the proposal for a new tax system in America called the Fair Tax. It is a system that taxes what we choose to spend rather than taxing the income that we work so hard to earn. Do you understand what that means? No longer will our taxes be seized from our paychecks, instead we will pay taxes, voluntarily, on new goods and services that we choose to consume. Now doesn’t that sound better? I think it does.

We will receive our entire paychecks – no more Federal withholdings or Medicare or Social Security withholdings. We keep it all. This will put more dollars in our pockets that we can save, invest, or spend. Only then, when we decide to spend, will we pay a single dime in taxes...Read More

  

AutocCAD with Professional Charm

Ten years ago, I was hired at a firm where the only computer was shared by everyone. At the time, the firm consisted of the two founding principals, the part-time office manager, one other entry level landscape architecture graduate, and me. There was no AutoCAD.

I was brought in to help lead the firm’s efforts to begin incorporating AutoCAD into the daily operations of the firm and keep us evolving with ever-changing and advancing technology. My only AutoCAD experience was a course that was offered in college when I was there. It was a general overview course that touched briefly on many different topics but not too deeply into any one thing...Read More