2005 Tasting

Sunday, September 14, 2008

I went to Taste of New Paltz today. A large number of local restaurants set up booths serving their specialties.

"Taste" my eye! It was $5 to get into the fair grounds, then you had to buy tickets at $1 each to trade for food. Most of the food took 2 or 3 tickets.

I'd never been to this particular event before, but I had been to "taste"s at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. There you paid a bit more to get in, but then all the goodies were free, and they were truly tastes, just a tiny bit, like a forkful or two, so you could taste 20 or 30 different things without filling up.

At New Paltz, I knew I was in trouble at my very first stop, pulled pork. An entire sandwich worth. At another booth I got New England clam chowder, a good 10 ounces. Then some delicious mixed mushrooms in a wine and garlic sauce on bread that soaked up the yummy sauce. I'm not a big eater. I always take doggy bags home from restaurants. Today I ate the equivalent of five full meals.

Of the fifty or so options, I chose well, I guess. Everything was very good.

The first person I ran into was Nat. He's like 6'9" tall and skinny. He was volunteering at ticket sales and was about to go back on duty, but Angie was about to come off duty, so I walked with him over to where Angie was. We got some odd looks. We do look strange together.

Angie and I wandered around booths and displays until she had to go back on duty. While wandering, we found Andie, also volunteering at a booth, and ran into The Pixie and her Dark Prince. I kept an eye out for Gypsy, whom I half expected to be there, but I didn't see her.

It's very unusual for me to see anyone I know at these things.

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It has been very cold at night lately. Days get into the low 70s, but that's not enough to warm up the house to get through the night, so Friday I gave in and turned the furnace on (threw all the switches, climbed ladders and swapped all the baffles and dampers, closed off water and opened up oil).

I expected today to be like the past few days, so I wore closed shoes and knee socks, slacks, and a 3/4 sleeve knit top.

When I parked at the fair grounds (an hour from here) it was already 87 degrees. When I left, it was 99 degrees. Midday I had sweat running into my eyes. I can't imagine what it was like for all those people cooking in the booths.

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I also got another Tarot reading at the Tasting. It was different in several aspects from the previous two, but all three readings have mentioned something significant happening with The Man in late October. On one hand, I'll be awfully disappointed when October passes with nothing significant happening, but on the other hand, whatever happens may not be good. "An offer will be made that I will turn down, and we will argue." (I can't imagine arguing with him. We don't argue. One or the other may get annoyed or angry, we explain our positions, one or the other apologizes and agrees to be more sensitive to that issue, and we reach some kind of compromise. No argument.)

All three also mentioned something significant happening with my house - major renovations (the A/C?) and/or probably a move. Hmmmm. I can't imagine moving, either.

So, stay tuned for late October.
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