Best E-mails of the Week Dec 24, 2006 

 

Sette Pesce !

Seven Fishes Dinner!

Mom in her kitchen prepares the Christmas Eve dinner.

1. This is the Crab Rangoon.

 

2. Baked Clams.

 

Dad and Joanne at the table where we took these pictures.

 

3. Crab Cakes.

 

 

4. Mussels Marinara.

 

 

5. Baccala Salad (Cod)

 

 

 

6. Calamari

 

 I asked Mom if we could take another picture of the Calamari with the pasta.  Here it is.

 

7. Fried Scallops and Fried Shrimp.

 

 

Shrimp cocktail sort of counts as #7 with the other shrimp.

There were not, I repeat not 8 fish dishes at the seven fish dinner!

 

 

9. Cauliflower and Cod - Same cod used in dish number five !

So there you have the sette pesce!

 

Enjoying this scrumptious Christmas Eve meal are:

Mary, Kristen, Greg, Tom, Kate and Chris.

And across from them, Raf, Julie, Bob, Dan and Mary. Lou was helping in kitchen.

At the head of the table, beloved hosts Mom and Dad.

 

 

We so enjoyed the picture album from Raf and Julie on Christmas morning, as well as Greg's and Kristen's gifts.

 

Christmas afternoon saw Mary and Kristen walking in our neighborhood.

 

Then a wonderful Christmas night at Lou and Mary's with the cousins, uncles and aunts.

Why can't every day be Christmas?

 

 

 

Meanwhile up north, Auntie Rose was featured in the local paper

telling about her Christmas times during the Depression with my Dad and family.

 

"We didn't know how poor we were."

Few children who grew up during the height of the Depression did and Rose ...,

who now makes her home in ..., was no exception.

Despite her family's never-ending lack of money during her childhood,

Rose said Christmas always remained a special time for the ... family,

a far cry from the commercialism she feels dominates the holiday today.

Reminiscing inside her .. home recently,

 Rose said she has first-hand knowledge that people do not need a lot of money or gifts

to feel the true joy of the holiday season.

While a little girl, the now 83-year-old grandmother moved with her family from the

city of Tuckahoe to start a small farm..

located in upstate New York.

Upon arrival, the entire family of five needed to live in a tent,

then a garage, and finally a traditional free-standing home.

When Christmas rolled round each year, Rose knew no store-bought presents

would be found beneath their Christmas tree.

Yet it never seemed to matter, for the family had plenty of homemade pasta, cookies and cake to eat.

"We did not have money for gifts," Rose said.

What the family did have was time together and the imagination to make the holiday special.

The family saved up scraps of paper throughout the year, which they shaped into rings and chains for the family Christmas tree.

"We never heard of Elmer's (glue)," said Rose, adding the family made their own paste.

Rose and her two brothers also popped popcorn to string, yet another way to add a bit more cheer to the holiday. The family also sang holiday songs.

Seventy-five years later, Rose still celebrates in a simple way, with sparse decorations inside her home off Route 108. The numerous family photos covering the walls are a testament to the deep feelings she holds for her loved ones, especially during the holiday season. She has a daughter and two granddaughters. Her husband, Anthony, has passed away.

"I keep it just as simple," Rose said. "As a society, it has become very commercial."

Rose said she hopes people will learn the lesson she received during that simpler time decades ago: Christmas gifts come in many forms, not the least of which can be found in fresh air, sparkling water and green meadows.

Her family still celebrates with sauce and pasta made from the same recipe used during her childhood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 12 days of Christmas begin tomorrow!

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1017129949136

 

 

 

Thanks Doctor Donna for this nice card to Mary and me.

I love the image!

 

 

Meanwhile Christmas up north.

 

 

 

] (UNCLASSIFIED)

 


This is a night vision movie from Iraq, showing real live action  against Iraqi insurgents.
  The pictures were taken from an AC130 Specter gunship two  and a half miles away. The guys in the picture are setting up a roadside
  bomb and planning to ambush an American convoy which followed  a short while after the pictures were taken. They were setting up for
  the ambush and were pacing off the distance from the bomb  to where the convoy was to pass by.        
Turn  your sound up. The level of effort these crews put forth to control the enemy's  actions is commendable, and their marksmanship
  with those electronically controlled 40mm  cannons is astounding.      
(See  attached file: IraqiNight.wmv)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete, pretty nifty policing!
 
 

 

License Plate Recognition ...This is quite interesting
 
Amazing !!!  and very informative!!  It's amazing what new technology is out there especially as far as policing is concerned
 
http://www.baitcar.com/sites/baitcar-com.bryght.net/files/alpr.wmv

 

 

 

Subject: How observant are you????
Read out loud the text inside the triangle below.

 

More than likely you said, "A bird in the bush," and........

if this IS what YOU said, then you failed to see

that the word THE is repeated twice!

Sorry, look again.

 

Next, let's play with some words.

 

What do you see?

 

 

 

In black you can read the word GOOD, in white the word EVIL (inside each black letter is a white letter).

It's all very physiological too, because it visualize the concept that good can't exist ! without evil

(or the absence of good is evil ).   

 
 
Now, what do you see?
 

 

You may not see it at first, but the white spaces read the word optical, the blue landscape reads the word illusion. Look again! Can you see why this painting is called an optical illusion?
 
What do you see here?
 

 

 

This one is quite tricky!

 

The word TEACH reflects as LEARN.
 
 
Last one.
What do you see?
 

 

You probably read the word ME in brown, but.......
when you look through ME
you will see
 YOU!
 
 
Do you need to look again?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the picture Mary and I sent out with cards:

Taken in Rhode Island in November.

Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to you!

Pete

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