Message from Bailey

Hang in there.

Fresh Fish Daley

Dear FFder’s,

Let me quickly mention some really fine freshness found today in the Haddock, Cod, Hake, Flounder, Grey Sole,( not much else swims in the North Atlantic this time of year) yup we got those and plenty others like Bluefish and Wild and Farmed salmon some Halibut and plenty of Beautiful Gulf of Mexico Red Grouper. There is a reason that all the Grouper I bring back has such a faithful following: It tastes really good!!! It has versatility and substance to its texture and is great with fruity salsas, blackened or broiled with just lime and cracked pepper. We have an occasional Asian customer inquiring about grouper heads for their soups. The flavor of the stock and the meat yield from the collar and cheeks is abundant and very rich tasting, which brings me to the theme of the this blurb.

While twiddling thumbs waiting for the afternoon crowd we’ve used this grouper stock in two soups that are simply gold medal winners.Just don’t ask see the medals , just ask your neighbor who will attest readily to their enjoyment.

1) Traditional Fish Chowder: oodles of assorted fishes( perfectly aged ) combined with red new potatoes and onions quickly sauteed in a splattering of salt pork . This latter ingredient I will almost always ask a customer if they intend to use it in their chowder since I believe in it’s priority. The settlers dropped it in practically everything and I can see why they did same. Either way the one we make is quite gelatinous until heated attesting to its high fish fat ratio which leads to the silky texture and combined with some secret seasonings the raves are incessant.

2) Seafood Gumbo. This tomato based conglomeration begins with Trader Joe’s “Roasted red pepper and tomato soup and when combined with the Grouper stock and Quahog Juice saved from shucking for the Baked stuffed clams the taste is almost enough by itself.. However we add again the perfectly aged fishes, mussels , a splattering of calamari , you may find a shrimp or two . For color and the southern aspect of the gumbo there is morsels of andouille sausage and minced collard greens. Since no one has ever made anything quite like this and no recipe exists, there is no medal for this either , but believe me if entered into any contest there would be no contest. Humbly put : you should give it a shot.

3) Spicy crab and corn Chowder: can’t take any credit for this one except to say we had the right feeling about it. Tried it for the Holidays when people would be looking for something a bit more festive and ever since we’ve gotten the requests. This is perfect for the Super Bowl crowd and it’s made by the Kettle Cuisine folks that do everything from scratch and they are pros and we let them handle these complicated ones.

So we’ll try and stay on top of a few of these during the next few weeks of cold, wet, raw, dank weather that calls for something that warms the insides and stays with you to boot. Enjoy! and thanks for your time,

Fred

freshfishdaley.com

Local news 1130 am

Julie Gilman a sitting Selectwoman has filed to run for the Town Clerk slot! So, if she runs and wins,then the remaining Selectmen will have to name a person to fill her seat till next year. If she loses, she will retain her seat since she is not resigning.If she resigns then we could go with  2 candidates for Selectmen and get busy without a lame duck.

This news  threw me a little.

Mike

UPDATE/Corrections

Julie Gilman would have had to resign prior to the 23rd, the Warrant is set after that date.

So, we will have a temporary Selectman should Julie  assume the top spot in the Clerks office.

You can’t wear two hats. Some do, but it looks silly with one always askew.

In that  event, a major win at the polls for Mrs Gilman,(extended hours at Clerk windows? Having trouble with campaign hooks here) let’s organize a press gang and slip over the Squamscott River to Paul  Scafidi’s house. Really, who else you gonna call on?

We should however  allow Paul  great dispensation relative to his activities on the links.

The Acting Town Clerk Andrea Kohler was tapped #2  as she is the only other Exeter resident employed by the Clerks Office apart from Mrs Hartson(Town Clerk) who has now retired. You must be a Exeter resident to assume the number one and two position in the office. When we get to the Candidate Nights we will have a chance  to meet everyone running for various positions.

Why  is the Town Clerk position an elected slot? Anyone?

I find the dog tags that are issued quite cheesy and not reflective  of our Historic  Town. Bailey would appreciate an upgrade and perhaps a color choice or two, he is very into Seasons.

“Geez! C’mon will ya,  I just want to register my car”

“Sir, hold on please”

“Some  people really!”

“Yes, I agree the copper color looks great on his day collar, but wait, what about evenings?”

“Well, we do have the special edition collection, let me grab that sample case”

Mike

of interest

I found the following story on the NPR iPad App:

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/14/145101748/is-it-time-for-you-to-go-on-an-information-diet?sc=ipad&f=1008

Is It Time For You To Go On An ‘Information Diet’?

by NPR Staff

NPR – January 14, 2012

We’re used to thinking of “obesity” in physical terms — unhealthful weight that clogs our arteries and strains our hearts. But there’s also an obesity of information that clogs our eyes and our minds and our inboxes: unhealthful information deep-fried in our own preconceptions.

In The Information Diet, open-source-Internet activist Clay Johnson makes the case for more “conscious consumption” of news and information. Johnson, the founder of Blue State Digital, which provided the online strategy for the 2008 Obama campaign, talks with NPR’s Scott Simon about ways to slim and stretch our minds.

Interview Highlights

On the similarities between eating food and consuming information

“Our bodies are wired to love salt, fat and sugar. … Our minds are really wired to be affirmed and be told that we’re right. … Who wants to hear the truth when they can hear that they’re right? Who wants to be informed when they can be affirmed? What we do is we tell our media that that’s what we want to hear, and our media responds to that by telling us what it is that we want, and sometimes that isn’t what’s best for us.”

On recognizing his own unhealthful media diet while working on Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign

“I noticed that because of our media diet, we were consuming everything that was great about Howard Dean. Even after that scream incident in Iowa, we still thought we could win and that we would make it, and we went on to New Hampshire and South Carolina thinking that victory was just around the corner. That was when I began to see that we can get a little delusional in the world of politics.

“It sort of culminated with me when I saw a guy holding a sign over his head in front of the White House a couple of years ago that said, ‘Keep your government hands off my Medicare,’ and another person in front of Walter Reed Army Hospital saying, ‘Enlist here to die for Haliburton.’

“That’s what made me start thinking: There’s something going on here with our rhetoric, and there’s something going on here with our media diets, where even the most highly informed of us can be ignorant.”

On how more information can narrow, rather than widen horizons

“What choice gives us, what choice of information gives us, is the ability to misinform ourselves in all kinds of new ways. If you can have a discussion with someone next to you who says, ‘I think X is correct,’ and the other person says, ‘I think Y is correct,’ and then you can turn around to your mutual computers and then build a case for why you’re both wrong — then all of a sudden, that synthesis that has really made … democracy great starts going away. We lose our ability to synthesize when we can always prove ourselves right.”

On why your “clicks have consequences”

“Just because your boss doesn’t see you looking at that Kim Kardashian post on The Huffington Post doesn’t mean that it’s not without consequence. When you click on it, you’re making it so that it’s more visible to other people. That means an information diet is something that’s of ethical consequence to you and others. …

“When you go to The Huffington Post or many major media outlets right now, what they do is they’ll come up with maybe 20 or 30, or maybe just two, different headlines for a particular story, and then when you click on that, that’s a vote for one of those headlines. Over time, the headline with the most clicks wins and goes on the front page. And that’s how we’re making some editorial decisions now. …

“A lot of AOL properties and other “content farms” … who are trying to sort of commoditize the production of content, wake up in the morning and look on Google search trends. Google makes it publicly available what are the top things that people are searching for every moment. So, editorial decisions get made based on this information. It’s really this idea of voting for — in very small, almost nontransparent, subconscious ways — for content that isn’t very good for people.”

On why fast-food companies aren’t entirely to blame for unhealthful eating, and online communities aren’t entirely to blame for unhealthful information consumption

“Obesity is a complicated problem. Obviously, obesity has to do with access, and obesity has to do with the economic conditions, but it sometimes also has to do with overeating, and the same thing happens with information. I think a lot of people don’t have great access to information and good information, that’s for sure, but also in the world of the Internet, we have almost universal access to everything that we need. And that means that we have to make empowered decisions and informed decisions about what it is that we’re consuming. It’s the only way to sort of ‘live right’ online.”

On adapting Michael Pollan’s famous food diet (“Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants”) for information

“Seek. Not too much. Mostly facts. Eat low on the sort of ‘information food chain,’ and stick close to sources. If it’s an article about a bill in Congress, or even at a statehouse somewhere, going deep and actually trying to read the bill itself is really, I think, advantageous. And it takes a little bit of time to pick up. Bills … [and] house resolutions are not, the most entertaining things to read for most people. But getting to know what our legislative language is helps us, I think, become better citizens.”

On encouraging good habits

“The question is, can we make enough people go: ‘Hey, you know what? I’m done. I’m done with the sensationalism of media. I’m done being taken advantage of by media companies so that I can have ads sold to me.’ … If we want to make media better, then we’ve got to start consuming better media.” [Copyright 2012 National Public Radio]

To learn more about the NPR iPad app, go to http://ipad.npr.org/recommendnprforipad

53 degrees

There were a few other fish shacks the other day, obviously pulled by prudent fishermen.This particular model must be equipped with some floatation. All fishing shacks have to removed by the owner at the end of season.  In past years several have been left to wash up on the banks of the Squamscott. The owners name should be on the shack. 40 degrees is  forecast for Wednesday.

Mike

Food for Thought

Last evening we attended with  friends, the launch of the Blue Moon Evolution Dinner Series. A dinner, lecture and table talk about sustainability and food. It was a glittery night. Gary Hirshberg President and CEO of Stonyfield Farm was the evenings guest speaker. His presentation was peppered with facts and figures detailing the mess we have made with agriculture and the use of  chemicals to enhance yields. The key seems to be in legislation aimed at food  labeling. If we could  have truth in labeling the consumer would make the right and healthy choice.

Right?

The payoff to individuals and society from such legislation would be highly beneficial for the Future.

Kathy Gallant & Gary Hirshberg

This special event, and there are four more scheduled through May was sold out.

We all were wearing name tags,so I could not help but read the names. A diner across from me , a striking woman, had her full name.

I whispered to  Doozie “that’s somebody” I was having some trouble placing the name, “tennis, or figure skating, I am not sure”

People came from all over New England to attend the event and I was sitting across from Tenley Albright.

Who?

Tenley Albright the first American woman to win a Gold medal  in figure skating in the Winter Olympics of 1956. In 1952 she took the Silver medal. A World Champion, and a Surgeon. Truly a remarkable figure by any measure.

I shook her hand.

Mike

You can  read more about the series here    www.foodandhealthforum.com/

You can also add your name and  a personal message to a petition to the FDA at this site. Just Label it

Northern Cardinal adult female

Throw another chair on the fire this evening.

Mike

when it’s cold

I will often put my entire upper body  in the dryer after completing a cycle, and just for a moment, I am on a beach.

Harmony tip.

Dumping a load of warm bath towels fresh from the dryer  on Doozie while she is couch surfing is, of late, most appreciated.

Big smiles.

“Ok  they  are cold now, come and fold them”

Mike

Wake up call this morning

Mike

untitled

Everybody I talk to is ready to leave

With the light of the morning

They’ve seen the end coming down long enough to believe

They’ve heard their last warning

Standing alone

Each has his own ticket in his hand

And as the evening descends

I sit thinking ’bout everyman

Seems like I’ve always been looking for some other place

To get it together

Where with a few of my friends I could give up the race

And maybe find something better

But all my fine dreams

Well though out schemes to gain the motherland

Have all eventually come down to waiting for everyman

Waiting here for everyman–

Make it on your own if you think you can

If you see somewhere to go I understand

Waiting here for everyman–

Don’t ask me if he’ll show –  I don’t know

Make it on your own if you think you can

Somewhere later on you’ll have to take a stand

Then you’re going to need a hand

Everybody’s just waiting to hear from the one

Who can give them the answers

And lead them back to that place in the warmth of the sun

Where sweet childhood still dances

Who’ll come along

And hold out that strong but gentle father’s hand?

Long ago I heard someone say something ’bout everyman

Waiting here for everyman–

Make it on your own, make it if you think you can

If you see somewhere to go I understand

I’m not trying to tell you that I’ve seen the plan

Turn and walk away if you think I am–

But don’t think too badly of one who’s left holding the sand

He’s just another dreamer, dreaming ’bout everyman