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Wednesday, April 17, 2019

How great to step out into the street at 7.00pm and not be beaten back inside by the frigid air.
While not summer-warm, 53* is certainly pleasant enough for a night time walk.
After that interminable winter walking out at night is a cause for exultation.

And I was on a mission: to buy a leg of lamb tonight so I have it in house when I wake up, with the option to roast it before I take my morning walk.

But at night, few stores still have their meat cutters on.
Shoppers must make do with what’s left from the day’s butcher shop estimate of what they will sell.
That always means that the late bird must scratch in the dirt.
But I have three acceptable stores on my route.

First stop, from the Aquarium near where I live, to beyond Government Center where lies Whole Foods. No leg of lab.

A few blocks away, near the Public Garden, is Savenor’s, purveyors of high-quality meats.
And they do indeed have a lamb roast, just the size I want for my cousin and I.
For only twice the price of a standard roast lamb.
Who could resist.

Not me, lifting a roast and taking it to the person behind the meat counter to ask why I, or anyone, should pay such a price.
It not going to be difficult to encourage me, already intrigued by the preciousness.
And he does, answering, “Very little fat in this product, and if you factor in…”

I bought it.
Walking out of the store kicking myself that I didn’t buy it all to corner the market on this precious and rare commodity.

How great to step out into the street at 8.00pm and not be beaten back inside to buy a less desirable replacement.

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Postings Count, Weather Brief, and Dinner
Wednesday, April 17, 2019

My 376th consecutive posting, committed to 5,000.
After 376 posts we’re at the 7.52% mark of my commitment, the commitment a different way of marking the passage of time.

Time is 12.01am.

On Wednesday, Boston’s temperature will reach a high of 55* with a feels-like of 54* with full sun.

Dinner for tonight will be Boneless Leg of Very Expensive Lamb.

question

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Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Love your notes.
Contact me at domcapossela@hotmail.com

Here’s a piece from Sally C, offering a recipe for truly special oatmeal loaf. She’ll email recipes out on request.

To Dom's Adoring Fans (you know who you are):

After sampling my oatmeal bread at Dom's marvelous blog birthday party last week, a few of you expressed interest in the recipe. 
It's no family secret, and if you are willing to put the work (the extensive kneading) into it, you are most welcome to make it for yourselves. 
Send me a request at brasscastlearts(at)gmail.com and I will send the recipe to you tout suite.  Mmmmmm!  (You don't have to have been at the party to ask for it. 😉 ) 
Happy bread making and eating! 

Sally M. Chetwynd (another of Dom's adoring fans)

Cheers!

Sally 

Web Meister Responds:I’ve sliced the loaf and frozen it. How sweet to pull one out in the morning and toast it. Spread butter and honey. Yummy in your tummy.

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Chuckle of the Day:
One day the husband comes home from work and his wife says, "Honey, you know, in the upstairs bathroom one of the pipes is leaking, could you fix it?"
"Who do I look like, Mr. Plumber?"

A few days go by and when he comes home from work his wife tells him the car battery died. Could he change the battery.
He says, "Who do I look like, Mr. Goodwrench?"

Two weeks later there’s a rainstorm and the wife discovers a leak in the roof.
She asks the husband to fix it and he answers, "Who do I look like, Bob Vila?"

A few days later the husband is pulling at a beer, sitting at the kitchen table waiting for dinner.
He says, “Say, what did you do about all those things that needed fixing?”
“What things?” she asks.
“You know. The roof, the pipes, the car?”
"Oh, I found a handyman on line who came in and fixed them all in a morning.”
"Great!” he says. “How much is that going to cost me?"  
"Nothing,” she says.
“Nothing? How’s that?”
“He said he'd do the jobs for free if I either baked him a cake or slept with him."
"Wow! Great! What kind of cake did you make?"
"Who do I look like," she says. "Betty Crocker?"

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Answer to Question of the Day:
What is Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris?

Notre-Dame de Paris also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France.
The cathedral is considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.
The innovative use of the rib vault and flying buttress, the enormous and colorful rose windows, and the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration set it apart from the earlier Romanesque style.

The cathedral was begun in 1160 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and largely completed by 1260, though it was modified frequently in the following centuries.

In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration during the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed.
In 1804, the cathedral was the site of the Coronation of Napoleon I as Emperor of France.
During the 19th century, the church was the scene of the baptism of Henri, Count of Chambord in 1821 and the funerals of several presidents of the Third French Republic.

Popular interest in the cathedral blossomed soon after the publication of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in 1831.
This led to a major restoration project supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who added the cathedral's iconic spire, from 1844 to 1864.

The liberation of Paris was celebrated within Notre-Dame in 1944 with the singing of the Magnificat.

Beginning in 1963, the façade of the cathedral was cleaned of centuries of soot and grime, returning it to its original color.
Another project of cleaning and restoration was carried out from 1991–2000.
The cathedral celebrated its 850th anniversary in 2013.

The cathedral is one of the most widely-recognized symbols of the city of Paris and the French nation.
It has inspired many works such as Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame contains the cathedra of the Archbishop of Paris (Michel Aupetit).
12 million people visit Notre-Dame yearly, the most visited monument in Paris.

On 15 April 2019, the cathedral caught fire and sustained significant damage, including the collapse of the entire roof and the main spire and substantial damage to the rose windows.
The stone vault remained largely intact, and the interior was described as 'relatively untouched'.
Many artefacts were saved and President Emmanuel Macron announced that it will be rebuilt.

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Good Morning on this Wednesday, the Seventeenth Day of April.

We commiserate with the damage done to the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
We posted a piece on a pleasant walk in search of a leg of lamb.
And about the calendar, the weather, and dinner.
We posted a letter from Sally and a chuckle for the day.
We presented a short history of Notre Dame de Paris and, finally, posted two pictures of Monday’s fire at Notre Dame.

And now? Gotta go.

Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?

See you soon.

Your love.