Good morning!
Another lovely morning in the Florida keys!
I stepped outside to enjoy a cup of tea. The tide is out. Dramatically so. One of the lowest water levels I have seen in the 19 years I have enjoyed this home.
An interesting sight. Huge rocks rarely observed are visible. The water level significantly below mangrove roots. The water still.
Today, I share the seven fishes usually enjoyed Christmas Eve by my people. Persons whose family immigrated from southern Italy.
Before I do, I want to respond to some comments to this blog over the past few weeks.
I write the blog for me. It gives me pleasure to express myself on a multitude of issues. I do not write to please my readers. At this stage of my life, I feel honored some enjoy reading what is written.
My life is more than this daily blog. I do a weekly radio show. Up to this past summer, wrote a lengthy weekly column for a local newspaper. I am still working on a new type internet show that will be in addition to the podcast I do tuesday evenings.
I could not work the show out to please my needs. I wanted to use Key West Lou on You Tube and have a separate comment column. The Key West Lou thing screwed it up.
I have decided to utilize Facebook. A comment suggestion led me there. When I get to it, I will get to it. I am retired. I do this for pleasure. No reason for me to hurry.
I generally do not respond to comments. I did at the beginning 10 years ago. It ate up my afternoons.
I am thrilled to read your comments. It stops there however. I do not seek the back and forth responding would require.
Then there are those crude disparaging comments that do not warrant responding. Why would I waste my time! The commentor’s language speaks for itself.
I do the tuesday night podcast. I continue to write three books simultaneously. Wonder if I ever will finish another.
As to topics discussed, I get to what I want to get to in good time. If I want to. A few weeks back I was criticized for not responding to an inquiry as to what the seven fishes were. A good topic. In my good time, however.
Timing is important. The primary purpose of the blog is to describe my life in Key West. Which means I have had to do something the day before in order to have something to write about the next day.
Tuesdays are generally spent home. All day. I am fine tuning my podcast show to be presented in the evening. Which leaves me with nothing to write wednesday mornings about my Key West life the day before.
I save a seven fish story for those times. Like a wednesday. That is why seven fishes will be shared today.
I enjoy the political banter. Those in the comments section. I enjoy the play between the commentors.
My political exchanges take place at the Chart Room. Where few agree with me. So what’s new?
The Chart Room gives me Libertarian Victor. A smart guy. All smart. John the bartender, David, Che, and tourists. Marty from days gone by. I miss Marty. We were diametrically opposed politically.
Even my discourses with Liz. A year older than me. Her history includes Deanships at two law schools. A smart lady. A black hearted Republican! Even liked Trump. Disliked Hillary who she knew personally.
My point, I get my political exercise via the Chart Room and Liz.
Having expressed myself thusly, my blog for this morning will be held over till tomorrow. Except for the seven fishes.
My people came from southern Italy. My mother was born in Italy. Southern Italians brought with them the seven fishes. To be eaten Christmas Eve evening.
I am sure seven fishes has listings in excess of the seven I will be sharing with you. I only share those fishes we ate. Especially in my home.
Shrimp cocktail. With cocktails before dinner.
Fried shrimp. Delicious! Shrimp in an egg-flour batter fried in oil. We would congregate in the kitchen eating some before dinner. So good, we could not wait.
Stuffed calamari. Actually, stuffed squid. A part of the squid is like a condom. Cleaned well during the day. Stuffed with bread crumbs, egg and parsley. Sewed closed. Cooked in the pasta sauce. Served over a large bowl of linguine. A meal for the gods. Tasted even better the next day cold.
Baccala. Actually, cod. Prepared many different ways. Cod is hard and salty. Supposedly to make people recall days when things were tough. We did not eat it hard and salty.
Baccala took three weeks to prepare. Softened in a bowl of oil for three weeks. All kinds of herbs in with the cod. By the time Christmas Eve came around, the baccala was soft and tasty.
Broiled Maine lobsters. Covered in hot butter.
Baked clams.
The final fish a piece de resistance! Smelts! I was crazy for smelts. Another dish we cheated eating as the smelts came out of the pan in the kitchen. Why wait!
Smelts are tiny tiny black fish. As long as your little finger. A third the size width wise.
Fried in oil. Came out crispy. Very crispy. Eaten bones and all, including the head.
Two more topics before I conclude.
My blog talk radio show last night. Hit hard on the theft of Social Security by our government, China moving into robots big time, and an example of Mexican immigration leading to rape.
Tonight at 7, Syracuse/Miami. Miami a one point favorite. I have no comment.
Enjoy your day!
Louis, in the 1950s out here in Up North rural Michigan I recall that everyone went out to a local eatery for smelt dinners. Deep friend. Delicious. No longer the culture sadly.
Your Christmas Eve dinners were a bit different than ours. Most Italian families had their own twist on the menu.
We used to net Smelt by the millions. But, we would clean them which meant scissors for gutting and beheading. I’ve never seen a black Smelt. For some reason the Smelt runs aren’t what they used to be in our area.
I can’t remember talking to a single person that knows hillary that likes her. Just read any book written by White House staff during their residence. JoAnn and I worked with her once, once was more than enough.
I love your response, Lou. I wonder why people who don’t like your commentary bother to read it or respond. When I read something I don’t like, I just stop reading. Life’s too short to get all worked up about something so easily fixed. You keep doing it your way. You are the best!
Happy New Year Lou
If you ever get up to Niagara Falls NY area Lewiston is only 10 minutes north and all the smelt you can eat in May. Notice the festival is only hours long. (Restaurants in the area have smelt on the menu all week) 2017 info has not been posted yet
“Lewiston never smelt so good” during the annual Lewiston Smelt Festival held in 2016. Sponsorships are needed for the Annual Festival hosted by The Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce, Village of Lewiston, with sponsorship by Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours and DiMino’s Lewiston Tops in cooperation with the Niagara River Anglers. The evening is in celebration of the region’s most famous natural resource – Smelt which are netted in the Niagara River. The festival takes place on Friday, May 6th beginning at 5:00 p.m., at the foot of Center Street along the Lewiston Waterfront. The Niagara River Anglers and Niagara River Region Chamber staff, board of directors and local dignitaries will serve free Smelt samples on Friday night.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation deemed Lewiston as one of the best places in the country for smelt dipping. Smelt are one of the few fish that sportsmen are allowed to net.
Beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, the Niagara River Anglers will batter and fry 400 pounds of smelt, given out as free samples (donations are accepted and go towards Niagara River Angler’s community programs) and sponsored by DiMino’s Lewiston Tops and Waste Management, Inc. Additional food and beverage will be available for purchase.
Smelt-tasters can enjoy entertainment from 90 West on Friday night. This event is geared toward an adult audience. The Tent, stage, and tables are supplied by Falls Tent and Awning.
Lewiston restaurants will also be busy preparing their own culinary variation of smelt over the weekend. Participating restaurants can be identified by a decorative fish flag outside their door. For additional information, contact the Chamber office at 754-9500 or online at http://www.NiagaraRiverRegion.com
You’re full of it. You use your blog as a conversation starter and, more generally, for attention. And just to bust balls, the comment you didn’t respond to here was asking what Lisa served for Seven Fishes dinner on Christmas.
Lou doesn’t respond to many comments or questions. Thats entirely up to him, its his blog. The lack of response does say a lot, but, its his choice and time. A lot of time.