A Sad Day For Pittsburgh

It is a sad day for Pittsburghers. The Poplawski trial is over except for a sentence of death or life in prison. The jurors will decide that fate. Did it bring closure? I doubt very much that it brought closure to the families of the three police officers that Poplawski killed. The families would probably love nothing more then to see their loved ones walk through their front door this very moment. This is never going to happen.

As for the man who killed the officers…what did he accomplish? If he wanted to die, why didn’t he just kill himself instead of taking the lives of three good men? Funny, isn’t that what killers do…they kill others and revel in what they have done. They alter the course of others and themselves. For what? A footnote in a book?

I feel sorry for the families of those three police officers that were killed. It was a long week and I for one couldn’t read the newspaper accounts of what happened two years ago. I still remember it vividly without having to read the newspaper accounts.

As for the mother of Poplawksi…I no doubt believe that she loves her son and didn’t want this for him, the police officers that he killed or for the City of Pittsburgh. Wouldn’t it have been better if she had bothered to let anyone know about her son and the arsenal of weapons that he stockpiled in his house?

My continuous prayers go out to the families of Officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle, and Paul Sciullo. They will never be forgotten. Their lives ended on April, 4, 2009. The lives of their families changed on April 4, 2009, no matter what happens to the man, who killed them.

So maybe we should just say a prayer tonight for the three who died and their families and for the men and women who wear those blue uniforms everyday, and put their lives on the line for us.

Salt of the Earth Restaurant

I love food. I actually live to eat. Sometimes I even dream about what I will be eating the next day. That is my passion, food and eating. Recently my two daughters and I went to dinner at Salt of the Earth. The head chef, 37 year old, Kevin Sousa was named chef of the year and is on the cover of June’s Pittsburgh magazine.

After reading the article, I mentioned my interest and my daughter, who is a chef and owner of her own catering business, called and made reservations at the restaurant for her, myself and my youngest daughter.

I am not the most adventurous person when it comes to food. But after reading the review about Salt of the Earth, I definitely wanted to dine there, and at least try something different. Salt of the Earth is located at 5523 Penn Avenue in the Garfield area of Pittsburgh. The inside of the restaurant takes on the appearance of an industrial styled interior but chic in appearance. The downstairs dining area is more of a communal eating are with long light wooden tables and individual wooden benches. The tall ceiling and sleek hanging lights just adds to the ambiance. The cooking area is exposed and one can get an idea and enjoyment of watching the chef and cooks at work in the open stainless – steel kitchen. The upstairs is more intimate with stainless steel tables with black tops, and chairs with black accents.

There are no menus but a chalk board that has the menu divided into Starters, Mains and End. The wine list is limited but interesting. Our waiter was dressed in a black t-shirt with a circle and the NA-Cl emblazed on it. All the waiters are knowledgeable about the menu. Our waiter was polite and delightful.

We started off with a punch drink that had Rhum Barbancourt, Benedictine, pineapple and orange chunks and Lemon Hart Demerara. It was a very refreshing drink with the flavor of cloves lingering. We read the menu a few times, talked about the selections and settled on three Starters to share: a salad with cucumber, honeydew, calamansi-soybean curd, samphire,(edible plants) and almond; cockscombs with cheesy grits, collard beans, truffled soy molasses, and Scallops with cauliflower, lobster roe aioli, banana and sesame. With my scallop allergy – I passed on this dish but my daughters enjoyed it, and acknowledged that it was truly delectable. The salad was delicious but my favorite was the cockscombs with all the exciting and different tastes that were tickling my palate.

When it came to our dinners, the Middle – my two daughters ordered Pork Baguettes – the baguettes were cut and delicately wrapped, and served with pate, jalapeño, citlantro and pickle. I ordered the Flank Steak, which was plentiful and so tender all I needed was a fork to cut it. The steak was accompanied by black –eyed peas, peach, asparagus and chimichurri, (variant of a green sauce). The color, flavor, and textures of the food left me feeling pleased that I had ordered this dish.

At the End, we shared an amazing dessert of white chocolate with lavender, honey, argan, (nutty tasting oil from an argan tree), and pistachio. The flavors of the dessert were something we still talk about. The taste of lavender, honey and the garnish of blood red orange are still on my palate, days later.

I speak for the three of us that we definitely would love to go back for another dinner. It was a comfortable, delightful dining experience. We would probably try something different, just to taste a new dish created by Chef Kevin Sousa.

But I would definitely order the white chocolate dessert for myself. It is a dish that I need to feed my palate and memory.

If you have ever been to Salt of the Earth – let me know how you felt about the food and dining experience.

Check out the website for Salt of the Earth (www.saltpgh.com)

The photo of the restaurant was taken by Laura Petrilla.

Lake Chautauqua

Chautauqua, New York, is located about 2-1/2 hours from my house in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, down 79S to 90E to I-86. Last year, I spent a weekend with my oldest son, wife, and five children, 8, 4, 3, 2, and 1.

My son’s Lake House is about 10 miles from the Chautauqua Institute. The house is within walking distance (about 8 houses) from Lake Chautauqua. There is a little park just before the lake with an area for basketball. Next to the basketball court is a small playground, which includes a jungle gym, playhouse, swings, and a slide. I pushed my granddaughter and grandson on the swing set for a while. Afterwards my son and the rest of the family arrived at the playground with their dog, Coco. We spent more time at the playground before we went back to the house to get ready to go swimming.

We drove to the Chautauqua Institute, parked the car and took out beach chairs, towels, and a huge beach bag packed with the children’s sand toys. My son, daughter-in-law and I sat on the small sandy beach and watched the kids splash around in the water, as a number of sailboats trailed out, one after another. I counted 34 in the “Saturday Sailboat Regatta” and found it a lovely, calming site. Everything was lining up just right for a perfect weekend – from the kids playing, the sailboat regatta, the light wind, the hot sun and the warm sand. The sky was a beautiful blue with white clouds moving slowly by.

We would come back to the same beach again on Sunday. Along with spending time at the beach, we checked out the local shop with clothes, books, and a very cool garden center, and some area restaurants. The man who worked in the lush garden center knew absolutely nothing about the flowering plants, making me wonder if he was growing more than flowers in the back room he had just come out of.

We ate pizza outside at a small Italian restaurant for my grandson’s 9th birthday. The pizza and wings were delicious. We followed this off with ice cream cones, where inevitably a couple of the ice cream scoops fell off and hit the warm ground. We managed to find a playground, which diverted a total meltdown. Two of the children ran around and played on the slides, while the other children sat on the swings, while we pushed them higher and higher.

I slept in my own bed but shared the room with my two little granddaughters, Bella and Anna. Between the sounds of their chatter and giggles, and the “I love you, grandma,” I fell asleep.

The next day we ate lunch at a 50s style diner. The waitresses took our orders and delivered our food promptly, on roller skates, much to the pleasure of the kids and the adults. Then we returned to the garden center and purchased a few plants to take back home with us.

New York is a pretty state. The roads are great, and the scenery is beautiful. I thoroughly enjoyed going away with my son and his family. I’m planning on returning to Chautauqua again, whenever I am invited. Plus, I plan on using my son’s Lake House to go away for a few days and write.

Divorce/Annulment

It has been a few months since my class on annulments in the Catholic Church. I digested the information, which gave me an acute case of indigestion and anger and decided that would be my last class that I would ever attend on the subject of divorce and annulment.

Divorce – annulment…what is the difference? Divorce is the civil dissolution of marriage. Annulment just nulls and voids a marriage and is given the stamp of approval, much like the Good Housekeeping stamp of approval, and the blessing of the church. It says you were never really married in the first place.

I was married for almost 33 years, had nine children and a husband, who walked away from me and our whole married life. He filed for divorce and I became an ex wife. But if I ever wanted to remarry in the Catholic church, I would have to file papers, go through a list of questions, and my ex could choose to respond to the papers that he would get or not. Whatever the case, I have no intention of doing this and hope my ex doesn’t even try for an annulment. To me it would be like going through a second divorce and all that pain all over again. Even though I was married all those years and had all those children, if my spouse would file for an annulment, it probably would go through. To think that my marriage could be declared null and void, I wonder, how could the children be from a marriage that never existed?

In my class I watched a video explaining annulment by a priest, who probably had a law degree, and wondered what does he know about marriage and a family? He spoke in such a matter of fact voice, detached and without feeling. He has taken a vow of celibacy and he will never know the pain of having a spouse walk out of his life and have his heart broken like that. The Church has its own criteria for an annulment. It takes a while, some money, a lot of paper work, and I am sure a lot of personal anguish. Seldom does the Church turn down an annulment. From the questions I have seen, any marriage can be found wanting.

I actually thought about my marriage. I believe that both my ex and I were in love, wanted to be married, wanted children and always thought that our marriage would end when one or the other died. Our parents’ marriage seemed to be good ones as well. I can honestly say that our marriage was also a good one. Whatever happened to make my husband leave me is still a mystery to me. He never bothered to explain why he left. For whatever reason how could the church figure out what went wrong and therefore how could they grant an annulment stating that we were never married in the first place.

I am not a scholar of the church. I am just a member of the Catholic Church and find however or whatever they think…they too are condoning the end of a marriage. I know nothing is ever just black or white. But I guess what I am saying is just acknowledge that this is a divorce and stop playing with the terminology. Stop playing with the words and call an annulment, what it really is, the catholic version of divorce. I along with a lot of other people see it that way.

Divorce/annulment for me is that they are different in that one is a civil dissolution of marriage where one pays lawyers and the court usually grants it. Annulment is the Catholic divorce, where you pay the church and they dissolve your marriage. They declare it null and void, as if it never happened and give it the Church’s blessing. Tell that to your children and your broken heart because neither exists in this bizarre pronouncement. Regardless of the outcome, I just don’t agree with annulment. I don’t agree with the terminology. I don’t care if it has the Catholic slant or the Approval of the Church. When all the words are dissected and cut away, and when you really look at it for what it is – it is a divorce, plain and simple.

I think there is something called hypocrisy in all of this. Maybe annulment should really be called what it is – “divorce, catholic style.”

A Taste of Chicago

Recently, my son, granddaughter, and I drove to Chicago for the long Memorial weekend. Besides participating in a 5K Run and Walk, we took in some of the sights, and of course ate our way through Chicago.

When we arrived in Chicago, we found the Field Museum, paid a pricey sum to park, and found out when we got into the Museum, it was only opened for another two hours. The Museum was fantastic! We enjoyed touring the Egyptian area and the Dinosaur area. I especially loved the big dinosaur named Sue. I was also glad that it was only the bones on display and not the real thing, because I doubt very much if I would be here writing this blog. The downside was that we didn’t have enough time to see everything. Next time, I will make better plans.

We did eat at the original Uno’s Pizza Restaurant, in the downtown area, where we ordered one of their famous deep dish pizzas. It was a pizza to definitely rival all others. We would sample the famous Lou Malnati’s pizza. Lou used to work at Uno’s and then left and started his own pizza business. A total of 33 Lou Malnati’s restaurants and pizza outlets are scattered throughout the Chicago and surrounding areas. Both Uno’s and Malnati’s pizzas are eaten with a knife and fork, so as to get every bite of pizza off the plate and into one’s mouth. I have had Lou’s pizza before and it was outstanding. But when we finally ate one this time…Uno’s won. Uno’s melted cheese, and oozing sauce; half with pepperoni and sausage left us happy and wishing our stomach’s had more room to consume the whole thing.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel, after a delicious buffet, and started on a confused and stressful ride around the city, trying to make our way to S. Lake Shore Drive, where the Museums are located. Our problem was that our GPS kept telling us to turn left. But we kept running into no left turns permitted and road closed signs. Road construction, a parade, and some sort of run,finally made us head out of town to the western suburbs, where my niece and husband lives. My advice… leave your car at home and use the El.

That night, we ate at a delightful family restaurant called Trattoria Peppino. Let me start with what we all felt at the end…Groan. The food was great. We ate a deep fried shredded zucchini ball with marinara sauce, bruschetta with chopped, seasoned tomatoes, bruschetta with goat cheese and marinara sauce, and bruschetta with a garlic artichoke spread and marinara sauce. Italians love bread and that was reflected in the antipasto selections. Then we could actually order our meal off of the menu. This is when the groan came in but we still ordered more food and ate most of it. If you haven’t figured it out yet – we love to eat.

The next day we decided to drive back into Chicago because my niece said we would spend more money and time on transfers. We drove on the Expressway in a huge downpour that was making it difficult to see out the window, despite having the wipers going full speed. We made it to our destination and spent 4-5 hours in the Museum of Science and Industry. This Museum was worth the stay and made me realize you could spend hours on just one floor. We returned to my niece’s house to go out and eat another deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s restaurant.

Touring, eating, and laughing were our goal and we did all three very well.

I Ran - Sort of

The Doc Aiello Run for Someone has come and gone. I along with six members of my family either ran or walked it. Our family combined with my niece and her husband, her aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, faculty members of Loyola Academy High School, students and graduates. At least 500 people had registered for the Run, which was named in honor of my brother, Jack.

Mass was conducted in the field before the Run. My niece was given the honor to start the race. It all occurred under a blistering Chicago sun, with temperatures in the 90s.

Since I exercise at a gym, 4-5 times a week, work on the weight machines, and ride a bike for 16 miles at a time, I figured a three mile walk would be nothing. Sure, I didn’t have a cool pair of running shorts like my son suggested. But I did have the shirt that was handed out to each participant. We all looked the same. My son made fun of my pants that he called floods and I called Capris. He was right.

I made it around to maybe 1-3/4 miles, pouring water on my head and shirt, before my knee blew out on me. I forgot my knee brace. I was able to kick my granddaughter out of the wheel chair that she was in and her father was pushing. She had a walking cast on her leg and could walk. I gave my son some extra work as he pushed me the rest of the way. I kept saying that I would get out but you know something, I carried his eight pounds plus for nine months and longer, until he could walk.
We crossed the finish line, where my niece’s husband came in behind the old lady in the wheel chair! My time was about 55 minutes. My son - no time registered because I covered the number that was pinned to his shirt. But my arms were outstretched like I had come in #1 to wear a laurel wreath on my head.

After the race, the high school provided a cook out, Gatorade, and unlimited use of a Good Humor Ice Cream Truck. Let's just say my family and everyone else ate a lot of ice cream treats.

Around one, we hugged and said our goodbyes, and made plans to return next year for the Doc Aiello Run for Someone. We got in our cars and drove the 451 miles back to Pittsburgh. My goal is to try to talk more members of my family into participating in next year's Run.