struffoli

i don't know if you've ever had it or not, but it is one of my all time favorites. i've made it from time to time as well. it's sticky and messy to make. a royal pain in the buttocks. it's ALL worth it though

White House enjoys city bakery's 'struff'

TONY SPINELLI tspinelli@ctpost.com

BRIDGEPORT — You know the Christmas cookies are good when there are no leftovers.
That's the case for Anita Bevaqua McBride, the Bridgeport native and chief of staff for first lady Laura Bush, who recently requested a tray of Italian Christmas cookies from Bridgeport to make her holidays a little more like home.
While she was growing up, McBridge attended Holy Rosary Catholic Church here. Her friend, the Rev. Matthew Mauriello, the pastor of Holy Rosary, brought McBride a three-pound tray of struffoli from DelPrete Bakery here, fulfilling McBride's Christmas wish.
The little fried balls of egg dough dipped in honey and coated with candy sprinkles were a holiday treat at the White House.
"I shared them with the staff. They were a hit and went fast. There weren't any left for the president and Mrs. Bush," McBride said.
Mauriello visited Washington Dec. 19 to see the White House decorations for the recent holidays and brought McBride the struffolis at her request.
"They even went through the metal detector machines, of course," Mauriello said.
He got them at Del Prete, an Italian bakery on Main Street in the Bull's Head section of the city.
"It's a Christmas specialty item," said Lou Mezzo, the bakery's owner.......

(my FAVORITE in the whole wide world you ask. easy. it was my noni's cenci. EVERY country has the same recipe. they just call them different names. my non's were THE best though. THE ABSOLUTE BEST)

picture: www.piudolci.it/.../05651.jpg (struffoli)

picture: globalcookies.blogspot.com (cenci)

please stop by andy thibault's

cool justice report to see what's going on with the infamous 'douche bag case'. well his foi portion of it.

i highly recommend his blog in general by the way. not only does he report on justice mainly in our state (OR lack thereof) but he has many postings about the arts, literary in particular

Douche Bag FOI Hearing Runs Two-Plus Hours
Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission HearingJan. 4, 200818-20 Trinity St.Hartford, CT 860-566-5682 Complaint by Andy Thibault Against Paula Schwartz, Superintendent of Schools,Regional School District #10Editor's Note: Today's hearing opened shortly after 11:30 a.m. and concluded about 2 p.m. The hearing was taped by CT-N, the Connecticut Network. The network posts its schedule at http://www.ctn.state.ct.us/ and generally broadcasts such hearings a few days later.
Connecticut Network, CT-NThe hearing officer's decision generally follows several weeks later. However, both parties have until Jan. 17 to file briefs summarizing the case and making final arguments.The hearing officer's decision will be voted on during a regular meeting of the Freedom of Information Commission.In a significant development, counsel for the Region 10 Board of Education, Atty. Christine Chinni, agreed to produce unredacted billing records from her firm for an in-camera or confidential review by the FOI Commission. This followed requests during the hearing and in prior correspondence.Outstanding issues include the question of whether the Region 10 Board of Education is using an insurance company as a front or beard to hide public records. Other issues include claims that Superintendent Schwartz failed to produce records including ballots in a timely manner as required by the FOI law. A sample write-in ballot for Avery Doninger, Secretary Elect of the Lewis Mills High School Class of 2008, was entered into the record.Prior correspondence on file at the Freedom of Information Commission -- including a request for a subpoena of Chinni -- was not allowed into the hearing record.Chinni had written to the FOI Commission on Dec. 7, 2007: "While I will be representing the respondent, Paula Schwartz, Superintendent of Regional School District No. 10, in these proceedings, my partner, Craig Meuser, will present my sworn testimony on these matters."Chinni refused to testify today. No explanation was given.Most, but not all of my following remarks were allowed into the record. I also inserted a statement a couple of times as follows: The FOI law demands that the respondents produce originals of documents in a timely manner.-- Andy Thibault.................
(more at the link above)

vodka is my drink of choice

so if you EVER need a tester mr kozub, i'm your babe (really). my friends at the the half door (well eddie in particular and shawn as well) set up a test for me a couple of years ago. i went outside and they poured i believe it was 4 or 5 little sips of vodka. i was only to tell the high end from the well. i not only did that, but i named each brand (that part most likely was luck but one never knows). my drink of choice is stoli o, and stoli in general (their elit is over the top i tell ya!). i like level, ketel one and skye is passable. i dislike with a PASSION grey goose. it tastes like mold to me. i don't know how people can drink it. it's horrid

Vodka Maker Gets His Big Shot
By ERIC GERSHON Courant Staff Writer
Paul Kozub hadn't come to the Sidewalk Cafe looking for Julie and Doreen, two Hartford schoolteachers sipping martinis on a Thursday afternoon.But they were just the sort of people he likes to meet: vodka drinkers.And once they learned who he was, the sense of good fortune was mutual. "You hit the right people," Julie Morrin told Kozub upon his offer to pour them a taste of the high-end vodka he developed in his basement in Hadley, Mass., and produces in Poland, land of his forebears."We are big vodka people," Doreen Clapis chimed in.Kozub was off and running. The 33-year-old aspiring vodka magnate had left his job as a commercial banker two years ago. Since then, he had been selling his spirits one bar and one package store at a time, building a customer base 500 strong in Massachusetts...............

pettibone tavern

UPDATE: FROM SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 SEE THIS POSTING: i've been getting a lot of hits lately..........

was damaged by a sprinkler system. it went off because of a small fire - but the sprinklers kept raining for a long time before being shut off.

it's an historic location. it's wonderful AND haunted (by abigail pettibone). years ago (before it was this incarnation of pettibone and before it was the other place, i think the chart house) when it was pettibone, i used to go there at night sometimes. it was not locked. i had friends who lived across the street. we went to explore. we never took anything or caused any damage. you could feel the stories the house held. perhaps i saw abigail as well......... i do hope they get it back to 'normal' soon

Pettibone's Tavern Damaged
Small Fire Extinguished By Sprinkler System That Runs For Hours

By LORETTA WALDMAN Courant Staff Writer

SIMSBURY — - A smoldering cigarette is being blamed for a trash can fire early Friday that left historic Pettibone's Tavern inundated with water from its sprinkler system.The flames near a second-floor bar were extinguished within minutes, fire officials said. But because no one heard the building alarm and the sprinkler system was not being monitored, the water rained down for hours — causing extensive damage to the 200-year-old wood-frame building."The fire sprinkler really did do its job," said Patrick Tourville, Simsbury's deputy fire marshal. "Unfortunately, due to the fact no alarm company was monitoring the system, the water continued until someone came in the morning.".......

a recipe i created yesterday

because i had a fennel bulb AND sweet potatoes that HAD to be used as soon as possible

Sweet Potato and Fennel (vegan)

3 Large Sweet Potatoes
1 Fennel Bulb
1 (or 2) Granny Smith Apples (or the apple of your choice)
Onion (I like onion so I used lots)
Soy Sauce (1 or 2 T)
Cornstarch (1 T)
Hoisin Sauce (1 T)
Cumin (1/2 t or to your taste)
Cayenne Pepper (1/2 t or to your taste)
Maple Syrup (1 T or to your taste)
Stevia (1 packet)


Mix the Soy Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, Cumin, Cayenne, Maple Syrup and Stevia with approximately ½ to ¾ cup of cold water. Stir in the cornstarch

Peel Sweet Potatoes, onion and Apple (you can leave the peel on the apple if you’d like) and clean and wash and trim the fennel bulb. I used a slicer to slice them all fine. If you don’t have one, slice by hand. You can either layer the ingredients in a shallow baking pan (which has either been sprayed with non-stick oil or greased with a little oil) or mix the ingredients and dump them into the baking pan which is what I did since it’s way easier. Pour over ½ of the liquid mixture (stir to make sure the cornstarch is blended) cover and bake at 400 degrees for ½ hour. Turn the heat to 350, uncover, pour the rest of the liquid over the vegetables and bake another ½ hour or until the sweet potatoes are done/tender

(I served mine with a dollop of vegan sour crème)

please DO keep fighting chris

i like MOST of what you do and have done (i think impeachment SHOULD be on the table and i think you SHOULD support that. i also think you SHOULD be doing more to bring our men and women home from the middle east). but i do admire you. i do like you. i do thank you

Sen. Dodd Drops Presidential Bid

By BETH FOUHY The Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut abandoned his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday after a poor showing in Iowa's precinct caucuses.
"Tonight I am withdrawing from the presidential race but let me assure you, we are not ending this race with our heads hanging but with our heads held high," Dodd told about 100 supporters here.
"I am not going anywhere," he added, to loud cheers. "I will be fighting for the United States."
Some of Dodd's supporters wiped away tears as he spoke. ............

john durham; crimebuster

i don't know too awfully much about mr durham. the little i did hear was rather positive. i wish mr durham very much luck in his new investigation. i want to believe something will come of this. something MUST come of this. i know what happened when our king promised he would make whoever was responsible for OUTING A COVERT CIA AGENT, pay. they 'convicted' a lesser peon but the king let him walk anyway.

i WANT to believe people who commit crimes against humanity (i.e. king george and the big dick et al) AND those who ignore the geneva convention will be properly punished. i have my fingers crossed here.

much luck to you mr durham.

Leader Chosen In CIA Probe
Attorney General Names Prosecutor From Connecticut
By EDMUND H. MAHONY And LYNNE TUOHY Courant Staff Writers

The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday named John Durham, a veteran mob-buster and public corruption prosecutor from New Haven, to lead a politically charged investigation into the destruction of CIA videotapes documenting the interrogation of al-Qaida terror suspects.Longtime colleagues of Durham, who recently concluded another bruising, special investigation of FBI corruption in Boston, said the appointment by Attorney General Michael Mukasey signals a willingness by Justice to conduct an unbiased probe into the destruction of the tapes. "He is ethical and has an incredible work ethic, and if anyone can get to the bottom on these facts, it is him," said Michael Clark, a retired FBI supervisor who worked closely with Durham on high-profile political corruption cases in Connecticut. "He will take the politics out of it and get to the bottom of it."Durham's appointment comes just weeks after the White House named Connecticut U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O'Connor associate U.S. attorney general, the third-ranking post at Justice. O'Connor, who is awaiting confirmation, said he had high praise for Durham during discussions of his possible appointment in the CIA case.......

a dios

LA PALOMA SABANERA

it closes tomorrow. i didn't know about that until i read this story. i SHOULD have seen it coming.

my office was just down the street from la paloma. however, we moved from hartford to windsor and i've not been in the old hood in a bit.

if you can, why don't you stop and say goodbye (AND more importantly THANK YOU)

A Place For Everyone
La Paloma Sabanera Will Be Missed

By SUSAN CAMPBELL Courant Staff Writer

La Paloma Sabanera, which closes Friday, was a lot of things, but it was never your regular coffeehouse/bookstore.It wasn't that the staff — led by affable co-owner Luis Edgardo Cotto — knew your favorite coffee. Nor was it the public art that decorated the walls inside and out, or the jazz concerts, movie nights, poetry readings and open mikes.La Paloma — ironically, named for an endangered pigeon found in Puerto Rico — was one of the few places in Hartford — maybe in all of Connecticut — where the clientele was mixed. Opened in mid-2004 by the Cottos — Luis and his sisters, Carmen, Cinthia, Leticia and Melanie — the small shop was home to neighborhood children doing homework in the lending library upstairs, city activists intent on changing the status quo, city politicos intent on preserving it, and a rabble of others who found the Yauco Selecto coffee strong, the music bracing and the company challenging.....

picture: LA PALOMA SABANERA owner Luis Cotto (center, in T-shirt), says goodbye to, from left, Glenn Geathers, state Rep. Kevin Roldan and Jose Rodriguez. (SHANA SURECK / December 24, 2007)

merry christmas

i collect ornaments. i love ornaments. here are some of them. lots are blown glass and wonderfully tacky - take for example the christmas mermaid (you can't see her tail from the angle but she's the pink and green one)! i had a blue space man that was my favorite but he's not on the tree this year (my sister decorated and i didn't feel like going to find him). the one with the carrot and moon also has the little bell in the picture. that bell ornament is as old as i am. it's beat up but it's special. my grinch (glass) and my ostrich and my purple moon pictures didn't come out. perhaps next year.

anyway, please have a merry christmas, joyous holiday season and safe and prosperous upcoming new year

it's the headline alone

that got to me. who needs to read the rest of the article?
(it's actually a GOOD story)
Nuns leave their brains to science

By Stephanie Reitz
WILTON, Conn.—When Sister Kathleen Treanor's soul ascends to heaven, her brain will go to a less ethereal realm: a medical lab in Kentucky. Two decades ago, Sister Treanor and 677 other members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame granted a young researcher's request to test them each year in order to track the progression of Alzheimer's disease and other age-related brain disorders.
more stories like this
The 61 surviving nuns recently completed their last round of intellectual and physical tests for the Nun Study, one of the world's most comprehensive neurological research projects.
One final sacrifice remains: When they die, their brains will be taken for further study, joining a collection of hundreds of other brains donated by the the nuns who died before them.
Sister Treanor, a 93-year-old former school principal who is one of the last of the volunteers at a Wilton convent, looks at her participation as service, not sacrifice...........

i had surgery a few years back

it was a five hour procedure (give or take) and it was on (well in) my neck. my surgeon said i would be in the hospital overnight. he wanted me there to monitor me. my insurer said NO, i wasn't to stay overnight. THEY reviewed my case and THEY decided i DID NOT have to stay overnight. so my surgeon said he wanted me there, THEY said no. my surgeon DID come up with a plan to keep me overnight (he'd just leave me in 'recovery' overnight) so all was well (my surgery was at 6 am and i ended up leaving the same night at about 7 pm. MY decision and i cleared it with my doc and he thought it was fine as long as someone was with me for that night and the next day). i cannot imagine needing a liver and being told NO. it's one thing to be booted out of the hospital for one night, another thing to be denied an ORGAN
Teen Dies; CIGNA Blamed
Refusal To Fund Transplant Debated
By MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES - — The case of a Los Angeles teenager taken off life support just as her insurance company reversed itself and agreed to pay for a liver transplant is highlighting tensions among physicians, patients and insurers over the definition of "experimental" procedures.Nataline Sarkisyan's family blames their insurance company, Bloomfield, Conn.-based CIGNA HealthCare, for the teenager's death Thursday. A leukemia patient, Nataline, 17, had been in intensive care at UCLA Medical Center about three weeks after complications set in following a successful bone marrow transplant Nov. 21, relatives said. She was covered under the policy of her mother, a real estate agent.Doctors treating Nataline told the family and CIGNA in a letter that patients in similar situations have a 65 percent chance of living six months if they receive a liver transplant.................

(i didn't name the insurer who denied me an overnight stay because i have forgotten who my carrier was that year. i'm just not sure, otherwise i WOULD have named them. i DO work in the insurance/financial industry but my company does NOT do medical)

what the hell is going on at ccsu?

first a 'satirical' piece on rape being fun (especially if you're ugly), then a 'cartoon' featuring a 14 year old grrrl LOCKED IN A CLOSET and urinated on (well they talked about urinating on her) and now this? is everyone going to say this is a harmless joke too, just like the other two 'jokes'?
Black Stick Figure Draws CCSU Campus Fury
While students at Central Connecticut State University headed home for winter break, campus police hoped they could catch a break and find the person or persons responsible for a hate crime.
It was in a bathroom at Barrows Hall where someone found a drawing clearly depicting a black stick figure being hanged. There is no tolerance at CCSU for such a blatant act of racism.
"I don't believe in it myself but we have 10,000 students here. There would have to be some of which are racist,"Rob Lamere, CCSU junior, said...........

now THIS is wicked cool

check out the video at the link. it makes sense, looks like it is much less of a burden than regular shoveling.

Snow removal is just wovel-ly

ROB VARNON rvarnon@ctpost.com

BRIDGEPORT — A crew of utility workers took a break from replacing a street light Friday to gawk as Greenwich resident Hank Pohl cleared some sidewalks of snow with his Wovel.
Pohl wasn't on some sort of court-ordered clean up. He's the vice president of marketing and one of the owners of New Canaan-based Structured Solutions II, the maker of the Wovel (wheeled shovel). The Wovel does warrant a double take. It looks like some sort of antique iron snow shovel attached to a wheel. Some have compared it to antique bicycles, but it also looks like the wheels on old sewing machines. Despite the look the Wovel is pretty light; the wheel is made of space-age plastic and rubber and the handle is steel. It weighs about 26 pounds. "Am I going ............

picture: Vice President of Structured Solutions II, and maker of the Wovel, "the snow shovel on a wheel," Hank Pohl, demonstrates how the invention works in Bridgeport on Friday as he puts on the wheel. (Whitney Kidder-Alvarez/Connecticut Post)

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: we have two senators in connecticut

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: we have two senators in connecticut

da liebs

lyin' weasel? well we'll just have to wait until later this morning

Lieberman's New Kiss of Death


Sun Dec 16, 7:05 PM ET
The Nation -- Senator Joe Lieberman will finally come clean on Monday, unleashing his inner-Republican to endorse the struggling campaign of Senator John McCain, according to several news reports. It is a bittersweet alliance for both men. Lieberman's move confirms his critics' longtime argument that he is a "Democrat in Name Only," while McCain looks desperate by leaning on backers beyond the G.O.P. base in the homestretch of a partisan primary. ..........

During his 2006 reelection campaign, Lieberman emphasized that he would support Democratic candidates in 2008. "I want Democrats to be back in the majority in Washington and elect a Democratic president in 2008," he said during a televised debate in July. Lieberman promptly backtracked after his reelection, announcing this January that he was "open" to supporting a Republican or Democrat for president, depending "on a whole range of issues." By not even waiting to see who the Democrats nominate, now Lieberman is revealing that the issues aren't important to him, either.

thank you for serving Sgt. Brian Johnston

and thank you

homes for our troops

Soldier gets a home for the holidays
by News Channel 8's Crystal Haynes
Coventry (WTNH) _ A Connecticut soldier got the keys to his dream house today and it's all due to the kindness of strangers and one non-profit group.
Last summer this construction project was barely house for wounded Marine Sgt. Brian Johnston.
Today, it's not only a house, built by hundreds of homes for our troops volunteers; it's a home just in time for the holidays.
"I knew it was going to be a surprise. I just didn't know what I was going to be surprised with," said veteran Sgt. Johnston.
To help him move in, his mother Vera Herron-Morrey flew in from Utah, a surprise courtesy of volunteers Sharon and Pete Robbins.
"I just cried. I don't get to see him very often and I'm just so proud of him," said Herron-Morrey..........

snow

shout out to todd m. myers

west hartford cop, simsbury volunteer firefighter AND HERO

as i've mentioned before, i have a friend who was in the horrific avon mountain accident. mark was injured so badly, he was lifestar-ed out. he's writing a book (i was privileged enough to be allowed to read the first four AMAZING chapters) about it. oh, and he's NOT writing it for profit (for himself that is). a shout out to mark as well! mark told me a few things about officer myers that were never mentioned in any of the articles written about him. let's just say he MORE than deserves this national honor. congratulations to you officer myers

President Bush Honors West Hartford Officer
Man Risked Life At Crash Scene
By FULVIO CATIVO Courant Staff Writer

President Bush honored West Hartford police officer and Simsbury resident Todd M. Myers Wednesday for risking his life to rescue victims of the horrific July 2005 crash at the foot of Avon Mountain.At an Oval Office ceremony Wednesday, Bush described as "heroic" the efforts of Myers and the four other recipients of the 2005-06 Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor. The four other honorees — two firefighters, a police officer and a highway patrolman — hail from Virginia and California."They will tell you they were just doing their job; I'm telling you they did their job with extraordinary courage," Bush said. "And so it's been an honor to award them this precious medal. And I want to thank you all very much for joining us. Proud to call you fellow citizens."..........

picture: President Bush and U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey pose for photos with recipients of the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007, in the Oval Office. From left are: Officer Kevin Howland of Sacramento; Officer Todd Myers of West Hartford, Conn.; Attorney General Mukasey; President Bush, Sgt. Kirk Van Orsdel of Hemet, Calif., and David Loving, a firefighter from Richmond, Va.

if you're in the new haven area tomorrow

from: justin goodman
Foxes in the Henhouse: Animals, Agribusiness, and the Law
Thursday, December 13, 6:10 PM , Room 122, Yale Law School , 127 Wall St .
Free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.
David Wolfson will present a lecture on the state of legal protection for farmed animals in the United States . Most state anti-cruelty laws exempt "customary farming practices." Wolfson will examine how these exemptions made it into the statutes and the dampening effect they have on courts' ability to hear even cases of egregious animal cruelty.
Wolfson is a partner in the Global Corporate Group at Milbank, Tweed , Hadley & McCloy LLP. He teaches animal law at Columbia Law School and NYU Law School , where he is currently an adjunct professor. He has represented several animal protection organizations—including the Humane Society of the United States , Farm Sanctuary, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund—and has written extensively in the area. Recent works include a chapter in Animal Rights (edited by Martha Nussbaum and Cass Sunstein) and a forthcoming article in Law and Contemporary Problems.

CONNECTICUT FOR ANIMALS
connecticut for animals

www.uchckillsmonkeys.com

some incredibly disturbing news

from the brass file by john murry (who did a great reporting job on this)
(via andy thibault the cool justice report who has written many great articles on this)

(to the smolinskis, i am constantly keeping you in my thoughts and prayers, i am speechless. i am greatly disturbed about this. i am in disbelief about this. i am wondering what sort of attorney took her case? i am wondering how these people sleep at night. i had better stop now )
December 2007 - A Punch In The Face
In A Bizarre Twist, Billy Smolinski's ex-girlfriend, Madeleine Gleason, sues the Smolinski family, and The Waterbury ObserverColumn By John Murray
How much abuse can Janice and Bill Smolinski take?The Waterbury Police Department failed them, the political process is messing with their heads, and now they find themselves trapped in a lawsuit filed by their son’s ex-girlfriend that amounts to legalized extortion. This extraordinary story began three years ago when Janice and Bill’s 31-year-old son disappeared in Waterbury. The Smolinskis were unable to get local authorities to treat the situation seriously, and their own efforts to find Billy have been thwarted by sloppy police work, bungled science, and a national missing person network with holes large enough for a herd of elephants to stampede through.Everywhere they turned for help they crashed into a wall of incompetence. Their faith in the system is shattered.“ Everything that could go wrong in this case has gone wrong,” Janice Smolinski said. “Everything.”..........