Blinking Hawk

Caught this fellow blinking yesterday.

What we see in the second photo is actually the third eyelid, which, I believe, comes from the right side of the eye (maybe from the back of the head). The first two eyelids are rarely used during the day. Read more here.

A Death in the Vineyard

Robert Gerald Mondavi (1913-2008)

died on the 16th of this month. He was the patriarch of the modern Napa Valley wine industry; Doing more than anyone to change the perception of California wine from jug wine to fine wine. He traveled to fine restaurants all over the country promoting his wine at a time when fine restaurants only had French wines on the menu. He was first to promote fine food as a way of selling fine wine--First to have winery tours and wine tastings-- First to reach out to other vintners and to form partnerships. The most famous paring was Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s Opus One wine.

He was a helpful friend to many, especially competitors. Like his father’s Bob Mondavi’s word was bankable.

Bob’s parents were immigrants from Italy. They succeeded with hard work and risk taking. His father Cesare insisted on pronouncing their name in an Americanized fashion—Mon-davey and it was not until Bob founded the Robert Mondavi Winery and his father was dead that he changed the pronouncing back to the correct Italian, three syllables: Mon-da-vi. His brother, Peter, continued with Mon-davey until just a few years ago. It was a challenge for the business community to remember how to pronounce the name. It depended upon which branch of the family to whom you were speaking. They would correct you.

His parents' treatment of him vis-à-vis his younger brother, Peter, led to the estrangement of Bob and his brother. That led, in turn, to a ten-year, messy lawsuit that split the family forever. Ironically Bob made similar mistakes with his two sons and today they do not get along well.

This failure eventually led to the Robert Mondavi Winery’s being sold. Now none of the Mondavi family is involved in the company that was so much a part of their life. Peter Mondavi, with his children, continues to own Charles Krug Winery. This story is told in Bob’s autobiography, Harvests of Joy. For a more interesting, less self-serving telling read House of Mondavi, an excellent book by J. F. Siler. I recommend both. Anyone with a family business and children would be wise to study the Mondavi family history

Robert Mondavi was almost insolvent near the end of his life. He had pledged great sums of money to charities. When the Mondavi stock price fell his holdings were valued at less than his pledges. He did not renege though. He gave up control of his namesake winery to keep his word.

Bob Mondavi…rest in peace.

What is it?

Quiz for Monday morning. Can you identify the following item?
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Hints: In was photographed this morning three steps from our front door.



Here is another photo of the item--showing a larger view...Got it yet?

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Well here is the answer.

And a photograph of the artist.

I hope that is a mosquito.

My first thought was that the spider web formed a diffraction grating. That doesn't make sense since the fibers are too far apart. I believe it is due to dew on the web.

Other ideas?

Thanks for looking.

Easter Bunny

When we moved here 12 years ago we saw rabbits everywhere. Since we had no garden they posed no problem for us. The fat hawks and owls seemed to enjoy them too.

The previous owner had taken a liking to rabbits and had purchased a dozen. After a while he had a lot more rabbits and decided to give them their freedom. My next door neighbor had a horse and barn at the time. The rabbits moved into the barn and started making burrows everywhere and sharing the horse's food. This upset the neighbor and the horse.

They decided to get rid of the rabbits and so they sold off what they could catch. The neighbor claims some got free and mated with the wild rabbits. Maybe.

Over time with a local community of feral cats and dogs and the skill of the owls, hawks and foxes the population dwindled. We hadn't seen a rabbit in years.

Yesterday we saw our first one in a long time. This one was was really small so I assume it was a baby. The identification is tenuous so if someone knows for sure please correct me.



Young

Restaurant Review: P. F. Chang’s China Bistro

St. Johns Town Center, Jacksonville, Florida

Why have we eaten at this Chinese restaurant six times within a year? Is it the quality? Yes, but relative quality not absolute quality.

Let’s take a ride on this rickshaw!

Hot and Sour Soup. Prepared by an accomplished Chinese chef this dish is an easy-to-understand example of the balance in Chinese cuisine. Think yin vs. yang. P. F. Chang’s’ version does not attain balance. They take out the Hot and they take out the Sour and we are left to savor “their version” of hot and sour soup. It is not bad soup but it is not what we expect in an authentic Chinese version. Mine arrived lukewarm in temperature…just hot enough to discourage my returning it. But it was bland. I tried to give it some “Hot” via the chili oil on the table. I kept adding oil and tasting and by the time the waitress had returned my soup was three-quarters gone. She suggested the chili sauce, also on the table. It did work. A spoonful into my quarter cup of soup drove the soup right through hot to HOT, completely over shadowing the Sour. So I just gave up and left the balance in the cup…finally some balance. The waitress returned; removed the unfinished cup and said nary a word about it.

The wait was a little long for the entrees and when we were feeling the necessity to mention it…they came—together and hot.

Salt and Pepper Prawns. To a Florida boy these are shrimp, size approx 21-25…not prawns. But the dish is very well done and attractively presented with ornamental bright-red bird’s-eye chilies. This dish alone is worth a visit. The shrimp were fresh and not overcooked, a well-executed entrée.

The other entrée was Coconut Curry Vegetables. The combinations of vegetables and the degree of cooking was encouraging. Portion size was generous… Great to look at… but the flavor. This restaurant should either leave curry to the Thais, Indians and Indonesians or just steal their recipes. This dish could have been great but the sauce was too flat and unidimensional. It was very disappointing. The high quality vegetables were cooked just right but the sauce was a failure. A whole mushroom in the mix was obviously a dried shitake that had not been given time to hydrate and was inedible. They did remove the stem. Fresh shitake would have been the way to go.

On previous occasions we have had:

Almond and Cashew Chicken. Boring.

Chicken w/Black Bean Sauce. Expectations ran high. One of my favorite cook-at-home dishes is a Chinese black bean sauce shrimp dish: Unfortunately this dish fails. Dull and flavorless. Just don’t order it.

Mu Shu Pork. This dish is classic and prepared without error. Safe to order. But when served the waitress asked “Do you wish me to assembly the pancakes?” The tone said, “You don’t want me to assemble the pancakes do you, I really have more important things to do? Of course, sensing the tone, I accepted her assembling the dish. This is the same waitress that later tried to combine two different dishes into a single take home container—one on top of the other. You know the little paper cartons with the wire handles.

Orange Peel Chicken. This dish sounds so good. P. F. Chang’s must be proud of it. They have variations in Beef and Shrimp. It was a disappointment. Not bad... just not what it could be.

Sichuan Style Asparagus. A winner. Perfection. I was so impressed with this dish I tried to make it at home. I got close but theirs is definitely better.

The duck we had before now appears gone from the menu. It was good

Generally the quality of the ingredients and the cooking is very good. The failure is trying to please the mass market and resorting to a dummying down of flavors. Taking too much of the edge off. I don’t expect to find chicken feet on the menu but they could do so much better. Committees don’t belong in the kitchen.

The wine list deserves mention. In pairing wine to Chinese food some sommeliers would recommend… beer.

Wine paring with Chinese foods is not intuitive or easy. The two wines I would think were the hardest to pair with Chinese dishes are, ironically, the two that dominate the wine list: Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wine list, rather embarrassingly, separates white wines into categories of Fruity, Floral, Tangy, and Creamy and reds into categories of Lush, Soft & Tangy, Rich & Spicy, and Powerful. I find this overly simplified, arbitrary, useless and misleading.

There is only one Gewurztraminer: Covey Run a very inexpensive wine from Columbia Valley in Washington State. There were only three Sauvignon Blanc’s —all California. None from New Zealand, South Africa, Chile or France. They have seven Chardonnays on the menu…

Why? I believe they picked the wines without consideration of the food menu. Most likely from the distributor that showed them the most popular wines sold in restaurants. I bet they buy all wines from one distributor to get a lower price. What other explanation? Anyway, I passed on the wine.

It could have been different. After we had ordered our entrees a talented waitress could have said. “We have an excellent blank that will pair beautifully with the blank in the blank. It will balance the spiciness of the blank and I think you will enjoy it and we have it by the glass…SOLD!

On pricing. The food prices at P. F. Chang’s appear on the high side of fair. The place is well appointed and comfortable. Someone has to pay for that. But the wine and especially the bar prices reflect an obscene markup. Beringer’s white zinfandel (why they have this on the menu says a lot about P. F. Chang’s) for $6.00 a glass. You can buy this “wine” for $4.00 or so a bottle. It appears the mark up on wine by the glass is 5 times and by the bottle it is 2.5 to 3 times. They have an exotic sounding concoction of cocktails priced up to $8.50.

On Service. Really no better than a barbecue joint. Little evidence of training. Plates were served and removed from random sides showing no knowledge of convention. We noticed a fellow come in with a child. The mother was not there. A staff member brought a bolster seat, handed it to him and walked away. He stood there with the chair pushed in, child in one arm and the bolster in the other. He fumbled with the task at hand and in time another waitress approached and helped him. Bad show!

Will we return? Yes, but we will order very carefully and stay away from the Cantonese inspired dishes and more to the Sichuan. Maybe we just order the Salt and Pepper Shrimp and Sichuan Asparagus with white rice and a bottle of beer.

P. F. CHANG’S CHINA BISTRO
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Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)

We have had a family of these guys visiting for the past three springs. An attractive bird and rather large, 9 inches long, they are insect feeders (95% and 5% fruit/berries) usually catching their food on the wing.



They are very accommodating at being photographed. It's as if they are posing. The following photo was taken yesterday.






This bird was previously known as "Southern Crested Flycatcher" and it's common name is "Freight bird".