Culinary News

Fine cuisine is not dead in the United States.

I offer as proof, the following notice snapped in the grocery store yesterday.

Thats good to know with Christmas dinner coming up fast.

There are a couple of points regarding this one. 

Firstly an appreciation of the thoughfulness of that last, purely pictorial, line. Its good to know that none will miss out on this important news for reasons of limited literacy.

And secondly is a question. Are we sure the punctation is correct? Exclamation point or a question mark?

NOW THAT'S A MEAL!

becomes

NOW THAT'S A MEAL? 

And no Brits that is not chicken and french fried potatoes. That is chicken and a bag of crisps.

Apparently Less Is Not More...MORE is More

We here at Chateau Banished don't go in for Xmas decorating in the yard as keenly as we indulge our halloween habit.

This is my feeble 2 penguins and a bush. Mine because it seems I am responsible for external decor where as Mrs B does the interior.

Banished Jr. though likes his yards a little on the gaudy side. We do a neighbourhood tour most evenings on the way back from school to see some of those 'enthusiastic' decorators. And Jr.'s favourite is the 'singing trees yard' named after the 3 lighted xmas trees at one end that flash on and off in time to the festive tunes from adjoining speakers.

This then is the 'singing trees yard'

The lights around the roof flash and morph through an array of festive shades and the big inflatable snowman 'shivers'

Tis the season to run up terrifying electricity bills it would seem.

I'm sorry to say that no useable photograph could be obtained of the other yard which contains only a inflatable snowman carrying a rifle and a gutted and bloody reindeer suspended head-down from a near by tree with a stream of red fairy lights 'trickleing' from its mouth

Shame I hear you all cry...it sounds delightful doesn't it?

This one sums up my general feeling on the whole yard wars thing.

 

Under Your Skin

Frank Sinatra would have been 97 years old today.

And so here is the finest popular vocalist of the 20th century singing  something from that century's finest popular composer Cole Porter.

What else is there to say?

Now We Are 10,000

Well, now we are 10,029 to be precise, as the actual moment of 10,000 page views slipped by in the night.

HALLELUJAH!

or should that be more of a

hallelujah?

Blue Christmas

Insane.

At the year-round 'Christmas Store' this weekend were these Christmas tree delights. I'm only sorry my phone couldn't capture all 25 plus variations on the E. Presley festive ornament.

All that was missing was the fat Elvis with a burger stuffed in his gob and looking like an over- stuffed rhine-stoned sausage.

Inexplicibly there was no similar range of seasonal Cornelius Cardews. I think they would be a huge seller.