WEEKEND ON THE GRILL: Semi-Smoked Rib Eye

I've got one of those big packs of rib eye steaks from Costco. Been kind of bored with how I've been cooking steaks lately so I thought I'd try it like I cook my tri tip.

That, I marinade overnight in a 50/50 blend of pineapple and orange juice to break down the connective tissues and make it more tender. Then, it's seasoned with rub and cooked low and slow for a few hours in my smoker.

It's not necessary to to the "low and slow" method for the steaks but much of the rest of the recipe is the same.

I marinate the steaks for 4 to 5 hours. After that, I sprinkle some Kosher salt and black pepper on them.

Then, using a pinch between my fingers, I sprinkle each of the following: cayenne pepper, onion powder, mustard powder, and paprika.

On a charcoal grill, I sear each side for three minutes over direct heat. Move each steak to the indirect side of the grill, cover, and cook for an additional eight minutes per side.

When done, I cover and wait 10 minutes before serving.

INGREDIENTS

2 inch thick choice or prime rib eye steaks
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp mustard power
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
8 oz orange juice
8 oz pineapple juice


We're blowing out our classic vinyl LP albums at The Musick Channel Garage Sale on Ebay.Find some bargains on great music today.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

I'm Gonna Get You Sucka! Keeping the Crepe Myrtle Sucker Free

This Week's Gardening...

Crepe myrtles are great trees. They have gorgeous flowers and, when fully bloomed, look like a giant living cotton candy on a stick.  They go deciduous in the winter, protecting themselves from the cold, and can stand extreme heat in the summer. In fact, they thrive on it.

While our other plants wilted and browned during this summer's most intense heat (120 degrees plus), the crepe myrtle just laughed it off and produced some more flowers.

The one drawback to them is that they're a prolific producer of suckers...stems growing from the ground around the bottom of the plant.

If you want yours to be a bush, rather than a tree, no problem. Just leave them be. But, if you're like me and want to train it into a tree, you need to get those suckers.

If left alone, you'd get a tree like this one at our local YMCA, where the suckers grow like a little bush around the bottom of the trunk.

Otherwise, you just need to go out once a week with your pruning shears and snip them off at the base.

It's not a hard job but you need to keep on top of it.

In other gardening news, I found a cluster of grapes on our vine that somehow survived that intense heat and was able to harvest it.

We're blowing out our classic vinyl LP albums at The Musick Channel Garage Sale on Ebay.
Find some bargains on great music today.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

No Sitting Together at the Ballpark, Not for You Wheelchair Boy: The Great Companion Controversy of Anaheim and the ADA Resolution That Followed

The curse started for me over half a century ago when my dad took me to my first Angels game at the brand new Anaheim Stadium in 1965. That game impressed upon me so much that they became my team and I was an Angel fan for life.

Sure, they were the second tier team in town. Walter O'Malley had brought his Dodgers to Los Angeles a few years earlier from Brooklyn. They owned L.A., and still do to this day. Although I enjoyed seeing Dodger games in L.A., they always seemed a bit uptight to me and didn't quite click

It was the Angels with their underdog status and the team's laid back approach to pleasing their fans at the stadium that somehow wooed me. It sure wasn't their winning ways...the team was a perennial loser, no matter how much money the team's owner, singing cowboy Gene Autry, would throw at a superstar in the twilight of his career to come play here...but it was still a great place to go see some baseball and have a good time.

"Win one for the cowboy" would just be an empty phrase as long as he was alive. Sure, they came within striking distance, making the playoffs in 1979, 1982, and within one strike of going to the World Series in 1986 until closer Donnie Moore threw a beach ball to Dave Henderson who knocked it out of the park. 

After the Cowboy died and the Disney Corporation took over the team, they finally put it together to win their lone world championship in 2002.

My wife and son caught the dreaded Angel fan bug from me. We used to go to about a dozen Angel games a year. We had no problems with wheelchair and companion seating until Arizona billboard magnate Arte Moreno bought the team in 2003. After that, since they’d recently won a World Series and (in their words) tickets were at a premium, they enforced the companion seating policy as was written in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at the time...at least one companion seat for each ticket sold upon request. They would not sell a third and I could not even get an extra ticket anywhere close.

I complained to the team and we had several long discussions with them about it and they wouldn’t budge but they were within the letter of the law so what could I do?

When the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) was asking for suggestions on how the ADA could be modified and refined in 2008, I sent them a letter about this...how could it be OK for an able bodied person to buy as many tickets as they want together but accessible seating was, in effect, limited to two tickets? Thus, my suggestion was heard and a new modification to the ADA went into effect...teams and other public performance venues now had to sell at least 3 companion tickets to each wheelchair ticket when requested. 

Once this was coded into the ADA and the date had passed so that it was in effect, I tried to buy a wheelchair ticket and two companion tickets to a game. I was told only one companion seat would be sold, just like before. It’d been years of wrangling with them. I was through, I turned it over to the DOJ.

You could imagine my surprise when they assigned it to an attorney that worked down the hall from me at my office where I worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. It caused a little consternation at first because I was a DOJ employee but I reminded them that I didn’t give up my rights when I came into work. 

They agreed and did a ‘soft’ litigation...basically informing the Angels of the law. The Angels said a mistake was made when I tried to buy tickets and that they were in full compliance. The attorney asked if I could go to a game and report back to him what happened.

(At this same time, the Angels had just settled a full blown lawsuit that a fan filed for the same reason because they only built in one companion space for the only two wheelchair seats that they had in the club level, a popular premium level for fans)

I went to buy tickets as was told that in the section we wanted to sit in (left field, cheap seats), that we were required to buy their “all you can eat” package. I argued but that’s all they would sell me. We went. There was a snack bar ten feet behind our seats. I went. Was told the “all you can eat” snack bar was in another location on the top deck of the stadium...three levels above us.

Back at work, I informed the attorney. He unleashed some hell on the team and also found out that in the section we were in, only the wheelchair row was required to buy the food package.

That was the last time we went to a game there, four years ago. The DOJ got the Angels to stop the food package practice and all compliance had been adhered to...so they told me.

Today will be our first time back. We’ll see how it goes. We'll let you know in this week's Fields of Dreams post on Wednesday.

On a side note, the team fired their VP in charge of ticket policy and sales. They also fired their attorney who, as was unofficially told to me by very informed sources, cost the team over $4 million in fighting these various actions. I’m told he now is the team attorney for the Jacksonville Jaguars football team.

Always try to work it out ahead of time but if it comes down to it, here's a link that tells you how to file an ADA complaint.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

Cheap and Easy...Trader Joe's Bool Kogi

While we've been known to get pretty elaborate with our recipes here on the blog, it's a bit much to expect to sit over a hot stove on a summer day when the temps are trending over 110 degrees. Still want to eat at home but without too much effort.

That's where the magic of Trader Joe's comes in. Here there are plenty ready to eat and pre-prepared groceries that are delicious and easy to cook.

Recently, it was another dreadfully hot Sunday and...honestly...cooking was the last thing I wanted to do but it is my responsibility to provide the meals on that day. I was picking up some staples like milk and eggs at my local Trader Joe's, thinking about what quick-serve place I could go to pick up dinner that night.

For some reason, I wandered over to the pre-prepared foods cooler just to see what was there. The 'Bool Kogi,' TJ's bulgogi Korean-style beef, looked good and easy so I picked up a package.

To get to the point, this made for a easy, quick dinner. I put some rice in the steamer, fired up my Weber grill with a load of charcoal, and opened the package.

Basically, it's flank steak marinated with a variety of Asian style seasonings and sesame seeds...sort of a Korean carne asada.

The hot grill made short work of cooking the meat.  So I chopped it up and served over rice in a bowl.  Not bad but needed a little extra. We had a few lefter over Waba sauce packets (teriyaki sauce that's served at the Waba Grill restaurant chain) and put a little on top.

There it is...quick, delicious teriyaki bowls made at home for a fraction of what I'd pay at a take out place.

Better than that, we had plenty of meat left over. The next morning, I threw a handful in a skillet and cracked open some eggs.

Pour an egg, cream, salt and pepper mix over it...sprinkle on some shredded cheese...and scramble to make some of the most delicious steak and eggs I've had in quite awhile.

This Week's Gardening - 

Weeding and trimming, mostly, like cutting back on the deadheads of this glaucous daisy I have growing around my mailbox.

You can already see new flower buds coming. Also, spraying the front yard roses with deer repellent. Let's see if that works, and doing a sprinkler check for clogged emitters.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

PUBLIC TRANSIT OPTIONS FOR THE DISABLED: Riding On The Los Angeles County Metro Rail System - Using it in Real Life

Last time, I gave you an overview of how Los Angeles has built a new rail transit system from the ground up in the last quarter century.

Over the last couple of years we have been doing more than our fair share of riding on the Gold Line. Before he retired from work earlier this year as an IT Specialist, my dad would ride it to and from his office in downtown Los Angeles. Besides that, we have ridden on the Gold Line on many occasions to some of the other cities that it goes through such as Pasadena, Arcadia and Azusa. Of those stations, our favorite one to go to would probably be the one in downtown Azusa.

In each of those cities there are stations along the line that are located in some very nice downtown or industrial areas. In Pasadena there are the Memorial Park and Fillmore stations that we like to go to quite often. The Memorial Park station is located in the Old Town neighborhood of Pasadena and the Fillmore station is located close to the Huntington Memorial hospital. At the Fillmore station there is also a really good pizza place that we like to eat at called Pitfire Pizza.

The Arcadia station is located in a mostly industrial area in the city of Arcadia. Other than a few businesses that are within walking distance from the station, there is not much to see when you are there. The two biggest attractions or places of interest that are near there are the Mt. Lowe brewery and a 24 Hour Fitness gym.

Between those two places, the one that my family and I go to the most often is the Mt. Lowe brewery. In addition to having a very good selection of beer to taste, the Mt. Lowe brewery also plays host to a wide variety of food trucks that stop by there and serve many different food items throughout a given week.

The best station on the new Foothill Extension section of the Gold Line however is probably the one that is in downtown Azusa. This particular station is very close to many of the restaurants and shops in downtown Azusa such as Max's Mexican restaurant, Congregation Ale House and a Target store that greets the riders when they first get off of the train.

For us, when we have taken the train to the downtown Azusa station, one of our favorite things to do is to go over to Max's and have a meal and a round or two of some very good Cadillac margaritas.

There have also been times in which my family and I along with some of our other family members and friends have taken the Gold Line all the way to the East Los Angeles area for the start of an all day pub crawl. When we have done these pub crawls in the past, after we start the day somewhere in East L.A. for breakfast, we will then usually make our way at a very leisurely pace all the way to the other end of the line in downtown Azusa at either Max's or Congregation Ale House for dinner.

Moving on from that brief discussion of some of the fun things that you can do when riding the Gold Line, the next thing that I would like to talk about are some of the basic fundamental things that you may need to know when riding the Gold Line or any of the other light rail or subway lines on the Los Angeles Metro Rail system.

The first thing to know is that when you arrive at a station to board a train is that there are ticket fare scanners which are located at the station entrances where you have to scan your ticket or fare card before going on the train. One of the most common forms of ride fair on the entire public transportation system in the Los Angeles is known as the Transit Access Pass or TAP card for short.

If you are someone who is disabled and or uses a wheelchair like me to get around, then you can use your ID card that you get from Access Services paratransit for your ride fare if you have one and are an eligible member of Access Services paratransit. If you do have an Access Services ID card then you and one Personal Care Attendant or PCA can ride for free anywhere on the public transportation system in Los Angeles.

Once you get to the scanners at the entrances to the stations, you will then have to place your TAP card or any other acceptable form of ride fare in front the scanner screen until it makes a beeping sound and displays the word "GO" in big bold letters before proceeding to the station boarding platforms.

When you get to the boarding platforms, the waiting time for the train can range from 6 to 12 minutes during the rush hour periods in the morning and early evening to as much as 20 minutes when routine track maintenance is being performed on certain portions of the railroad tracks.

For disabled people and or wheelchair users, depending on which direction you are going, after the train arrives at the station, the train car doors will then usually open up by themselves and you can go inside the train. Once you are inside there are usually a couple of designated areas of space for people with disabilities or who are in wheelchairs that are marked by a blue colored sign on the walls of the train with either a stick figure person who is sitting in a wheelchair or is using a walking cane. The seats in each of these disabled person seating areas are able to be folded up or down in order to make access a lot easier for people who are disabled. Sometimes there will be passengers who are already on the train who may already be using those seats in the area where you need to sit at that you will have to ask them very politely to move to another seat in the train so that you can sit there and they usually are very nice about moving and giving up their seat.

If you use a wheelchair when you are on the train, the proper way to park your chair once you are in the designated seating areas is to put in the vacated area of space that should be available after you fold up the seats next to the windows of the train car facing forward. Sometimes there have even been instances when I've been on a Gold Line train in which even though I have parked my wheelchair in the forward facing position to begin with, it will feel like I am riding on the train in a backwards direction depending on which way the train is going toward either downtown Los Angeles and East L.A. or Azusa. The first few times that this happened it did take some time to get used to riding it like that but the more frequently it occurred it was not too bad.

Another thing that I had to learn about and get used to after a while whenever I have been riding the train was to successfully be able to drive my wheelchair in to and out of the space where I parked while the train either starts to move or is still moving and getting close to the station where I am planning on getting off the train is. During this portion of the train riding experience, it is usually a little easier for me to park my chair in the designated seating area when I am getting on the train than when I am getting off. That's because when I am getting off the train, I almost always have to start driving my chair very carefully towards the nearest exit with the automatic sliding doors before they open and close and the train leaves for the next station. If for some reason I am not quick enough when preparing to drive my wheelchair off of the train, then I run the risk of possibly missing the station stop that I want to get off at. Luckily my wheelchair driving skills up to this point have been good enough that I have not had too many problems or close calls when departing the train so far. I have also been fortunate to have either one of my parents to help me by giving me instructions and giving me regarding the proper way to park whenever we have ridden the train as well as helping me to navigate through any obstacles that I may have while boarding and leaving the train.

One last thing that I want to point out about the disabled access seating areas on the Gold Line trains is that on the newer model of train cars that the line currently uses is that the signs for these seating areas are a little bit more specific in comparison to the older model of trains with regards to the instructions of how those areas are to be used. From what I have seen in the newer train cars, people who use a wheelchair like me are supposed to sit in the seating area with the blue sign that says it is reserved for people who used "mobility devices" such as a wheelchair. All other people who have a disability or can walk with a cane are supposed to sit in the seating area with a sign that says that this seating area is reserved for "seniors and other persons with a disability."

(Update: based on the last few times that my family and I have ridden on the Gold Line, I can now confirm that both of the older and newer model train cars actually have the same exact signs for the disabled access seating areas.)

It is also worth mentioning that based on the numerous riding experiences that I have had so far on the Gold Line that the aisle ways which are inside the newer model of cars are a little bit wider and more spacious than those in the older model of cars. This added room of extra space makes it a little bit easier to maneuver a wheelchair like mine into one of the designated disabled persons' access seating areas.

So there you have it. That's just about everything that you need to know about the ins and outs of riding on the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system from a very knowledgeable and well traveled rider of the metro rail system here in the Los Angeles area. This is particularly the case with the Gold Line where I don't even need to look at the route map of station stops to know where it goes because my family and I have been on it so many times from one end to the other throughout the years.

Tim Musick
Copyright 2018
All Rights Reserved

Celebrating Independence Day With the Original Americans: Fourth of July at a Motherlode Indian Casino

It's the Fourth of July. We're waking up in our room at the Jackson Rancheria Resort (see our previous report, here) and Casino, a property of the Jackson Rancheria Band of the Mi Wuk Indians up here in the Sierra Foothills.

Other than not being used to a queen size bed (Letty and I have the biggest, widest king size bed we could find back home), it was a restful night. Breakfast is at Margaret's Cafe and Bakery, which we find really has the best food in the place.

Breakfast is pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, and some eggs benedict. It is outstanding and way better (and cheaper!) than the buffet.

Fortified, we head out to find out how they celebrate Independence Day in California's Gold Country.

One thing we find out quick is that if you want fireworks, you have to do it a day early on the 3rd.  This was explained to us years ago by the sisters that owned the Heirloom Inn in Ione back then.

Ione was the home of the company that put on professional pyrotechnic shows all over the surrounding area on the 4th. Therefore, they would not be available to do a local show on the holiday, so instead they did it the day before.

That tradition continues up here. Now, the show is held at Jackson's local junior high school and spectators cram every nook and cranny in the town for a view of the show.

We tried to go see it last night but could not find anywhere to park, not the least a handicapped spot, so we aborted and went back to the hotel for a quiet Independence eve.

For a colorful show of a different nature we head to Terra 'd Oro Vineyards in the nearby Shenandoah Valley. Today is the Cru Zin Car Show. We're luckier here as we snag the second to last parking spot available.

About a hundred or so classic cars are parked in the loading dock area of the winery. You've got your 57 Chevy's, Mustangs, a couple of VW's, Model T's, Nomads, and more. Even a few restored Corvairs. Ralph Nader must be feeling a disturbance in the force.

Inside, the winery is pouring free flowing tastes of their barberas, zinfandels, roses and more. A jazz band plays outside on the patio while a food truck caters the action. A one day 15% car show discount is applied to purchases of 4 bottles or more, which we take advantage of.

We sip a little outside then notice there are about 500 people here and exactly two bathrooms. Doing the math, we decide to move on.

At Sobon Winery, it's much lonelier so enough bathrooms won't be an issue. We get a mixed case with a 30% Independence Day discount.

Back in Plymouth, we stop to see our friends at Amador 360 winery collective to get another mixed case.

Storing our goodies in our hotel room, we freshen up and head up the road to Pine Grove.

We're going to spend the rest of our day at the town's community picnic called Groovin' in the Grove in their tiny city park.

A cover band called After Dark is playing. Wine and beer are free flowing...you can either buy it there or bring your own...and hot dogs or pulled pork are the food options.

Across the street is the 88 Giant Burgers, a fly-filled greasy spoon joint that the locals tell me has really good burgers. 

I run over and get three to go and come back to the picnic.

The burgers are very good. The music's even better and we get to spend some time making new friends at the festival.

Sitting in the sun, up in the pines of the Sierras, a glass of wine, a big cheeseburger, family, and friends. This is a very relaxing and fun way to spend our fourth of July night.

We'll go visit some new wineries tomorrow and have another picnic. Tonight, we'll just enjoy the music until it's time to go to bed.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Southern California's Best Margaritas and Margarita Madness!

Go to this link, Golden State Eating: Nine Tales of California Food Destinations,  to get your copy of our e-book. It follows us along as we go from Los Angeles to Napa Valley and back again, highlighting nine great food trips to take in this state.

To celebrate, here's our Margarita Madness Cocktail Hour which features the video that's embedded in Chapter 1 of our book. Enjoy...

The first chapter is our new Southern California's Top Three Margaritas and features this video that we've spent the last 6 months working on and putting together so we could launch it with our book.

Watch the Video!

Southern California's Top Three Margaritas

Check out the video and for the complete story...along with eight more delicious chapters and well over an hour of video...go over to Amazon and download the book. You'll have your own personal GPS to delicious eating up and down this Golden State.

Below, check out our Margarita Madness video where we try to determine our own personal favorite margarita recipe.

Thanks for you support - Darryl

We've been challenged, folks.

The first Cocktail Hour we ever did was my version of a margarita. A bartender in Baja California said it wasn't a margarita...to be authentic, a margarita had to consist of only tequila, Cointreau (or Grand Marnier or triple sec), and lime juice.

Watch the Video!

Now I've had a margarita at the bar legend says invented this drink and had it that way. It's OK, but not as tasty as I can make it.

But the gauntlet has been thrown and we must answer.

Tim joins me as we make a completely authentic margarita and we give it a taste. Then, we make one with my recipe and see which one tastes better.  Who will win? Watch the video embedded in this report to find out!


Classic Margarita
1.5 oz. tequila
1 oz. Cointreau (or triple sec)
juice of one lime


Salt the rim of a martini glass using the rind of the lime. Mix ingredients in a cocktail shaker half filled with ice and shake. Strain over the rocks in the martini glass.


Darryl's Margarita
1.5 oz. tequila
1 oz. Cointreau (or triple sec)
.5 oz. brandy
juice of one lime
1 oz. Sweet and Sour mix.


Salt the rim of a margarita glass using the rind of the lime. Mix ingredients in a cocktail shaker half filled with ice and shake. Strain over the rocks in the margarita glass.


Which do you prefer?


Cheers!
-Darryl

The Deer Hunter - This Week's Chores

Chores this week: deadhead roses, trim back citrus trees growing into walkway, pull weeds.

No, I don't actually hunt them but it is tempting sometimes. 

Actually, I love living in an area where we get to mingle with wildlife. Deer, bears, rabbits, skunks, coyotes, squirrels, birds, possums, and racoons can be seen with regularity. The deer most of all.

During the drought, the deer found out they could make a much more hassle-free living by coming down out of the mountains and living at the foot of the hills behind our house. Why hunt for food when the people in the neighborhood grow all you want for free.

They found the rose gardens on our street...including the half dozen bushes in my front yard...and eat those tasty blooms before they can even open.

During my recent front yard landscape project, I also planted a dwarf nectarine tree. Guess who else likes the taste of nectarines. Well, at least the leaves and branches. 

I found evidence of deer damage and put a tomato cage around the sapling.  That wasn't going to work so I had to move it.

I dug up the plant.

I put it in a hole in my fenced-in backyard where I had recently removed a rotting camellia bush. Next, watered in with some vitamin B1 and done.

Now, I had a large hole in my new front yard landscape.

I went to Home Depot and bought this bright red crepe myrtle and planted it in it's place. 

I already have a pink crepe myrtle about five feet away that the deer leave alone. Hopefully, they'll find this bush just as unappetizing.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved