No Casu Marzu for You!

Yes, I know -- what the heck is casu marzu?! I will spare your looking it up, but be prepared to say, "Blecch!" in proper Charlie Brown fashion. It is a Sardinian cheese made of sheep's milk and it contains live larvae (maggots).  Ugh, ugh, ugh. It has been made illegal in the US and many places in the EU although there seems to be a black market for it. Believe it or not, the bugs can survive stomach acid and create havoc. One method for eating this soft cheese is to put it into a sealed paper bag. When the critters run out of air, they die and you can tell because the pitter patter of their jumping around in the paper bag stops.  

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On Wednesday (January 26th), we had a lovely gathering of like-minded Mexican Train Dominoes enthusiasts. I did not get permission from people to reprint the group picture, but I do want to tell you that Mom looked great in a navy blue pants suit and gold jewelry. I wore my blinged out red peacock blouse which glittered when the patio sun hit it. I was very sparkly. Pepe made us a huge roast pork shoulder. I think it must have weighed ten pounds. And Carole made scrumptious baked potatoes that were so huge, three of us split one. These were even bigger than I've seen in restaurants.

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The big excitement around here has been the opening of Raising Caine which is a fried chicken place. It has been open for a week and they still have to have someone directing traffic into the place because it's so busy. Mom stopped in on opening day and she said it was a zoo. The chicken fingers were great. She didn't get the 'regular meal' which apparently has fried chicken, fries, a hunk of Texas toast and a drink. I guess the toast is to compete with the Colonel's biscuits. We had KFC a few weeks ago and it was not good. The Palm Springs one has gone way downhill since Leeanne and I used to sneak over every once in a while for a piece.

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When I came out of an eye doctor's visit in Palm Desert, this little guy was running around. There were actually two of them but the other was too shy to come near the cars. I suspect that was the female and this was the male.

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We're going to hear Rigoletto by the Metropolitan Opera tomorrow. It will be live screened at our favorite theatre (the Regal). I love the captions giving me the lyrics. Otherwise I would be totally lost.

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January 19 (above and below)

January 11

I had a very chilling haircut yesterday. As you all know, you don't want your hairdresser to be worried about anything -- mine was enraged. He had found out that his company who leases space at Walmart is not renewing their lease and they are closing the shop on January 31 -- and they had not notified the employees with a note or anything. So I got snip, snip, gripe!  It wasn't that bad (you know how I love hyperbole), but I did do a bit of wondering at the outcome. That's the great thing about curly hair: it can cover up any kind of a cut if necessary. 

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Mom and I did enjoy The Gilded Age on HBO Max. She gets it with her cable. It's a period piece about the 1800s. I love the bustles on the women's dresses. I am so glad I don't have to wear any of that nonsense. Christine Baranski is great as a snarky dowager who lives with her spinster sister (Cynthia Nixon). It is written by Julian Fellows who wrote Downton Abbey.

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And this color show was last Wednesday's sunset. Neat, huh?

Be well! Cheers!