A Good Day

Over a year ago, I wrote about my dog Cody’s last day and the efforts I made it to give him a special one. I let him explore at the park without a leash. I partially cooked him a fine piece of beef. I brushed his coat, because I knew he loved the feel of it. All in all, a pretty good day for the dog.

Looking back at my life there have been dozens of good days. Marriage….kids being born…promotions. Those are all easy to identify. Traveling to wondrous places….laughing with friends….eating “perfect” dishes. Also easy to remember.

As a kid, those perfect days also came, but as my memories as a kid are quite a bit fuzzy, only a few stand out. In my mind the day below was all on the same day, but I could be mistaken. Only the Ranting Mom and Ranting Brother would know for sure.

One early June day in 1977, the family headed off to a company picnic for the group my father worked in. As he was in the Air Force, it wasn’t a company per se, but was still a large picnic. I really don’t remember much of the picnic except they had self-serve soft drink machines. Back then, to a kid, this was HUGE. I had never seen one before and could not comprehend how something so valuable would be just left out in the open….where ANYONE COULD HAVE AS MUCH POP AS THEY WANTED! It just blew my mind.

I recall a group of us running around and returning multiple times to the machine. It had the four biggies: Coke, Orange, Root Beer and Sprite. Over the course of the afternoon a challenge emerged. In order to meet the challenge you had to quickly drink a whole cup of “suicide”. “Suicide” was the even mix of all four drinks. I can’t recall how much I drank that afternoon, but it was more than quite a bit.

I recall having to leave the picnic because my parents wanted to take us to a movie. We went to a number of movies those years, but most were of the Disney kind. We pulled up to theater to see a long line of people waiting to buy tickets for a show. We parked, stood in line and eventually got into the theater. It was then my movie-watching life changed forever with the screen showing “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

It was Star Wars! It is still my favorite movie to this day. Now that was a day to remember.

Brussels Sprout Slaw

Lots of stars in this great side dish.

A few ingredients here.

Make the dressing.

The easiest way to shred those little balls.

All together.

Tart, sweet and full of flavor!

Brussels Sprout Slaw

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pepper to taste
1 pound shredded Brussels sprouts
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

Directions:

Whisk 1/3 cup olive oil with 3 tablespoons cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons each Dijon mustard and honey, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper to taste. Toss with 1 pound shredded Brussels sprouts and 1/2 cup each raisins and chopped toasted pecans.

Source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/articles/50-vegetable-side-dish-recipes.page-4.html