There are some VERY special people on DU

[Stinky The Clown]

So .... this afternoon the UPS guy comes up and rings the doorbell. As he normally does. And I normally don't hear him cuz I'm in the office. But today .... well ..... I heard the bell.

UPS guy running back to his truck (a regular Santa Claus in Brown.) Small box left on the porch.

From Penzy's Spices.

I take it in.

I open it.

The smell is heaven in a cardboard box. Bay leaves and allspice and Cinnamon sticks. Vanilla extract and ground Cinnamon and baking spice.

MmmmmmMMMMM!

There's a card in the box.

From someone right here on DU for whom I did a small favor. In fact, someone from right here in our little cyberkitchen. As I said in my thank you to her, the most wonderful gifts are those that are a true surprise.

Merry Christmas to everyone .... from the curmudgeon-gone-soft-for-the-season.

Or as Saprkly loves to call me ..... an old coot.

[catnhatnh]

1. Merry Christmas....

....to a son of the East Side....Regards Cat.
On Edit-not to give readers here the wrong Idea-it weren't me....

[OldLeftieLawyer]

2. In a world

where so much seems to be going wrong, this is so damn right, I just want to cry.

Kudos to the Secret Santa, and to H2S, as well.

Thanks for keeping my faith going...........

[Stinky The Clown]

5. I gotta tell ya ...... that may well be the best gift I get this year

Completely unexpected. And so very thoughtful. I was beaming about it all afternoon.

[catnhatnh]

3. And on further thought...

Go ahead and open this for Christmas...
http://www.east-enders.itgo.com/EE10.htm
Cat

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Akshully, I was from the East End (Hollister Ave), not the East Side

But that's a GREAT website! Brought back many memories.

My favorite Bridgeport story is an old one. Do you remember Mayor Jasper McLevey? He was a Socialist, and was mayor in my young years. I think he was first elected in the 30's, and died sometime in the 60s.

Anyway, all my growing up years I never remember a snowplow. Jasper never had them in his budget. His motto?

"God put it there and God will take away"

"Or you can, if you know how to do an honest day's work"

[catnhatnh]

6. Man....

...I was born in Bridgeport and lived there all my life till I was 12-1/2 months old.....But yeah,I enjoy the site for stuff we saw before every town had a suburban mall.Sadly,I don't actually remember Jasper but my Mom does,vividly as he used to wander about the city just talking to people (even just schoolgirls like her)...Living in Lordship our easiest commute was across the Burma Road and forever I'll remember the enchantment of the lights from the rides at Pleasure Beach Park....Anyhow,Merry Christmas and Enjoy...I count you as a cyberfriend and give the site to you.

[grasswire]

9. you're from Bridgeport?

I have a lot of old family history in the area, even though I've never been to that town in my travels to Connecticut. Did you ever hear about an 18th century house called the Wetmore house? My family line of Wetmores was settled in Stratford, Middletown, Bridgeport, Lebanon, etc.

[catnhatnh]

10. Actually,my first wife's best friend was....

Debby Wetmore from Stratford Ct-Father Claude if I recall correctly....last I heard of Debby, she was married to a John Conway who was on the Stratord fire department....The Wetmore house sounds familiar but I've been out of state for quite some time and forget...

[Stinky The Clown]

11. My parents lived two doors away from a family named Wetmore

in Hamden (immediately north of New Haven).

I don't recall a Wetmore house and I was really very up on Connecticut (and Bridgeport) history way back when. I left Bridgeport in 1972. My parents moved from Bridgeport to Hamden around 1975.

This past summer we were up that way, for my wife's class reunion in New London. On our way back, we stopped at St. Michael's Cemetery, in Stratford, to see my parents, and then went to cruise my old neighborhood. It looks more like Beirut than a New England city. These are three shots of the block where I grew up. The little Cape Cod was my house. The thing next to the junk Volvo is an old bathtub. Unbelievable, when I think how the place looked when we lived there.



The white house is right next door (to the right, in the picture above) and was the house my father grew up in. The empty lot behind the chainlink fence used to be a small neighborhood grocery and produce stand. The owner, who was my grandparent's contemporary and refused to move away, was killed in a robbery in the late 90s. She was in her 90's and still ran that damned store.



This other one is even more typical of most of the neighborhood, sadly. It is right across the street and where a close friend grew up.



Very sad.

[grasswire]

13. holy moly!

I never think of beeyootiful Connecticut in those terms. I know some areas are depressed and suffer blight.

I don't mean to hijack this cooking thread. Maybe we could have a non-cooking thread for chit-chat in this forum.

My Wetmores included the lighthousekeepers at Plum Island. My particular favorite Wetmore ancestor was the parson at Stratford, having graduated Yale in 1748. When the news of the British surrender at Yorktown came north, he was sermonizing on a Sunday. He said to his congregation that it wouldn't be seemly to cheer on the Sabbath, and so he led them in three silent hip-hip-hoorays. Rev. Izrahiah Wetmore. I've always loved that story.

[wildeyed]

15. We should have a non-food thread occasionally.

I always end up talking about my dogs and home renovation projects here. Hey, at least I am not involved with the wood chipper discussions......

[Stinky The Clown]

16. You didn't hijack this thread .... I think I did

But then ..... it was my thread to start with!

As this forum becomes more of a community, I don't mind the thread hijacks. I commented earlier how it has gotten to the point that I almost feel like I really know everyone here and have visited their kitchens. That's from the food-specific threads, to be sure, but it is also from all the pictures that get posted and from the extraneous comments that find their way into some threads.

As active as this forum is, it seems to me there's plenty of room for some non-food chit chat.

Lots of the non-food chit chat makes me wanna just give everyone a big :grouphug:

[anitar1]

7. What a wonderful surprise for you. Penzy's is the best,imo.

I love to give their gift boxes for holidays. My New Years resolution is to go up to Portland and visit their new store .

[wildeyed]

8. Aaaaaw!

Well Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family, too! :hi:

[NMDemDist2]

12. huuurmphf!

I'm only mad cuz I didn't think of it first LOL

hm........


congrats H2S, enjoy it in good health!

[Lugnut]

14. Merry Christmas H2S

Merry Christmas to all my fellow foodies. :)