Hop on pop's bandwagon, and wish him a Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP)!

Americans first celebrated Father's Day in Fairmont, WV on July 5, 1908. Seven months earlier, 210 men -- all fathers -- perished in a mining disaster in Monongah, WV. Organizer Grace Golden Clayton sought to honor the dead paternal familiaris, and chose a date closest to her own father's birthday. Few, though, paid the event -- too close to Independence Day -- too much attention. Clayton's holiday was "one and done." Two years later, Spokane resident Sonora Dodd created her own Father's-Day-themed celebration. Congress entertained legislation to create a federal holiday honoring fathers. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson came to Spokane to promote a federal Father's Day. However, Congress -- supposedly fearing Hallmark-style commercialization -- demurred. Although President Calvin Coolridge recommended a national holiday in 1924, he did not issue a federal proclamation.

The fathers of America -- unlike the mothers in the country -- went unrecognized and unheralded for another three decades. In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith rebuked her congressional colleagues for failing to honor fathers thereby "(singling) out only one of our two parents." Federal recognition would come almost a decade later when President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a federal proclamation in 1966 that designated the third Sunday in June as a holiday honoring American fathers. In 1972 President Richard M. Nixon signed into law legislation that created Father's Day.

If you're grilling steaks for dad, fix him a cocktail -- provided that a doctor and/or judge hasn't prohibited him from imbibing. The Bourbon Sidecar is a whisky cocktail that will whet Dad's appetite while he snacks on Ruffles and onion dip.

Bourbon Sidecar

2 oz. bourbon

1 oz. triple sec

1½ oz. lemon juice

Combine the ingredients in a shaker filled with ice.

Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Remember to tell your mama 'Happy Mother's Day"

Happy Mother's Day from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP)!

An acquaintance confided that Mother's Day -- celebrated on the second Sunday in May -- caught her by surprise. The confusion is understandable given that we celebrated Easter a couple Sundays ago and the weather is more appropriate for March Madness than the Kentucky Derby.

A brief recap on the history of Mother's Day. In 1914, Congress passed a Joint Resolution establishing the second Sunday in May as "Mother's Day" to acknowledge the roles of American women in nuclear families. Anna Jarvis, who made it her life's work to establish a holiday honoring mothers, opposed the inevitable path to commercialization. "I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit," she said. Jarvis decried the purchase of greeting cards as "a poor excuse for the letter that you are too lazy to write."

If you have invited Mom to brunch, impress her with a Mimosa (provided that neither you nor the maternal familiaris are barred by your doctor and/or attorney from consuming alcohol).

Mimosa

¾ c. sparkling wine (champagne)

¼ c. orange juice

It doesn't get any easier -- three parts sparkling wine to one part orange juice. Pour drink into flute. Garnish with orange twist, strawberry, maraschino cherry, or mint leaves, etc.

New Mariners season, same tepid bats

The start of the 2011 Major League Baseball (MLB) doesn't look different from the conclusion of last year's campaign for the feckless Seattle Mariners. Thus far -after last night's embarrassing 12-3 home opener against the Cleveland Indians - the Mariners are tied for last place in the American League (AL) West race with a 2-5 record.

This time last year Mariners expected a lot after Mariners general manager "Trader Jack" Zdruiencik signed Chone Figgins and traded for Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and problematic Milton Bradley. We entered this season with a patchwork team made up of little-known-and-forgotten players (Jack Cust, Miguel Olivo, Adam Kennedy and Josh Bard). Few hold hopes that the Mariners will climb out of the AL West cellar. Is it surprising given that Seattle Mariners Owner Hiroshi Yamauchi hasn't demanded the termination of Chief Executive Officer Howard Lincoln and President Chuck Armstrong? The "Howie and Chuckie Story" continues unfettered despite minimal success and one of the more generous payrolls in MLB.

Regardless of whom you blame - there are so many guilty parties - the Mariners leadership is little more than a, tail-tugged-between-the-legs, hang-dog operation. There's little to celebrate until Big Changes to this chopped-ham-spread organization. What is deviled ham... a combination of ground ham and spices. Perfect for this team.

Deviled ham spread

• 4½ oz. deviled ham
• 1 tbsp. onion
• 1/3 c. mayonnaise
• 1/3 c. mustard
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• ½ salt
• ½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• ½ c. finely diced celery
• 6 hard-cooked eggs

Mince the onion and chopped the eggs.

Mix mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and onion into a large bowl.

Stir in salt and lemon juice.

Add celery, eggs, and ham, Blend thoroughly.

Happy Birthday... from the 'hood

Happy Birthday to our friend across the street, aka Biff and Zeke's mom... from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP)!

As the party planner of the block, you have achieved Pamela Harriman status in our 'hood as the "hostess with the mostest." We toast your birthday with a Pomegranate wine spritzer.

And tell Biff and Zeke that they owe as a column!

Pomegranate wine spritzer

• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon Grenadine
• 2 cups Prosecco
• ¾ cup pomegranate juice

Combine lime juice, Grenadine, Prosecco and pomegranate juice in a large pitcher. Serve in large glasses filled with ice. Garnish with mint leaves or citrus slice.

Let the March Madness begin

Congratulations to the University of Washington Huskies men's basketball team, which captured the Pacific-10 Conference Championship and earned a seventh-seed in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) tournament!

The Huskies will take on the University of Georgia Bulldogs Friday evening during first-round, March Madness action in Charlotte, NC.

If you want to embrace the cuisine of the host city, you might want to cook up part of a pig for a Carolina pulled pork sandwich. Thought that Carolina barbecue was mustard-based, which seems to run common in South Carolina.

Pulled Pork

• 1½ to 2½ pound pork shoulder roast
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon celery salt
• Pinch of ground cinnamon (about 1/8-tsp)
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ½ cup water
• Cider vinegar and Tabasco sauce to taste.

Brown roast in a small amount of fat, then place in large baking or roasting pan.

Add salts, cinnamon, vinegar, ketchup, chili powder, nutmeg, sugar and water in a saucepan, and bring to boil. Pour mixture over pork roast.

Cover pork with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated 325-degree oven at 40 minutes per pound. Occasionally baste with drippings.

Transfer pork roast to cutting board. Remove meat - which should be tender - from the bone. Chop or shred the meat into small pieces. Season pork to taste with cider vinegar, Tabasco sauce. Serve hot atop a bun.... brioche, whole-grain, potato, etc.

Woof, woof!

No longer vegan... another reason to celebrate your birthday

Happy Birthday to our friend in Pierce County!

We know that you won't go culinary crazy with Duck Confit or Beef Bourginon. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't celebrate with some form of dairy... a medium cheddar, sour cream or a pint of Breyer's mint chocolate chip.

How about a queso dip... a gooey Mexican concoction of cheese and chiles? Television commercials will tell you merely to combine Velveeta -- a "processed cheese product" -- and a can of Rotel tomatoes zapped in the microwave. You can do better.

Roasted Anaheim Queso

• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1¼ cups milk (cooks will tell you to use whole milk, but you're likely to add 1% or 2% milk. No Soy Joy)
• 12 oz. grated Monterrey Jack cheese
• 3 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 large grilled or roasted Anaheim chiles, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. cracked black pepper.

Melt butter on medium-sized saucepan at medium heat. Add flour and cook for one minute. Add milk and whisk until the roux is slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add chiles. Stir in chiles, cilantro, salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl. Serve queso with blue, white or yellow tortilla chips.

Plus, a cocktail is definitely in order, perhaps the Lemon Cosmopolitan martini. Like you, it's kinda free, kinda wow.

Lemon Cosmopolitan Martini

• 2 oz. Absolut vodka
• 1 oz. Cointreau
• 1 oz. cranberry juice

Combine ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Strain into martini glass.

Garnish with lemon twist.

A belated Happy Birthday, Jersey... it's not like anybody reads this blog

A belated Happy Birthday to our friend in Jersey. We conveyed our Facebook greetings and sent a gift your way. Yet we neglected to -- in Tony Soprano-speak -- "show our respects" by communicating our best wishes via Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP). Yes, you'd probably say, Fuggetaboutit.

It's never too late to party, as the pundits tell us that "life is a cabaret, old chum." We scoured the 'net for a cocktail recipe that reflects your 1980s sensibilities, and found the Fuzzy Navel. It's sweet, simple and sublime.

While you sip a Fuzzy Navel, surf the 'net for the latest dish on Brat-Packer-gone-really-wrong Carlo Irwin Estevez (aka Charlie Sheen), the self-described "rock star from Mars." When you think of Charlie -- if you must at all -- remember the promising young actor who starred in Wall Street, Young Guns and Hot Shots! Part Deux -- and not the raving lunatic who earns $1.8 million per episode for Two and a Half Men.

Is life fair? Think of the wisdom imparted by a former podmate, who once opined, "Fair only comes once a year."

Fuzzy Navel

• 1½ oz. Peach Schnapps
• Orange juice

Mix Peach Schnapps and orange juice in a highball glass filled with ice.

Stir.

It's February... Happy New Year!

新年快乐 from your friends at the Dog Denizens at Genesee Park (DDGP)!

Chúc mừng năm mới!

New Year? you might be wondering. Didn't we do that last month? It's post-Groundhog Day.

Whether you call it Lunar New Year or Tet, the occasion allows for cleaning out homes of bad luck, paying debts, purchasing new clothes and resolving differences with family and friends. Tet celebrants usher in the New Year with the Le Tru Tich celebration at midnight (Giao Thao) that includes fireworks. The popping sounds that you heard at midnight weren't gunfire in the Rainier Valley.

If you choose to celebrate with a libation, why not go old school with the Singapore Sling? Created in 1915 by Ngiam Tong Boom (嚴崇文), a bartender at the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel Singapore, the Sling combines gin, fruit juice, French and Danish liqueurs.

Singapore Sling

• 3 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1½ oz. gin
• ¼ oz. fresh lime juice
• ½ oz. cherry Heering
• ¼ oz. Bénédictine
• ¼ oz. Cointreau
• Dash of bitters
• Pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry

Combine pineapple juice, gin, lime juice, Heering, Bénédictine and biters into a cocktail shaker.

Shake (duh).

Strain ingredients into a highball glass.

Garnish with pineapple wedge and maraschino cherry.

New day, new year, same hangover

Happy New Year from your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP)!

If you partied last night like it was 2009, 1999 or 1989... you may have consumed too many spirits and are nursing a hangover the size of Skyway. While some imbibers advocate for Vietnamese pho soup or a coronary-artery-clogging breakfast (fried potatoes and eggs with melted cheese), a few daring individuals recommend menudo.

Menudo? you might wonder in horror. Wouldn't the musical stylings of the Puerto Rican boy group that rotated singers when an adolescent's voice changed cause increased headaches and gastrointestinal distress?

Yes, the music of the group Menudo (aka MDO) might make you more inclined to toss your proverbial cookies. But we're talking about menudo, the Mexican soup consisting of tripe (honeycomb-shaped stomach lining), a red-chili broth and hominy grits. Although your abeula would undoubtedly prepare a labor-intensive version. you may not want to ask your grandmother to prepare menudo if doing so would require that you tell her that you seek a hangover cure. Better that you prepare a quick-and-easy version for immediate relief. If only Goya or even Nissin made menudo.

Menudo

• 1 pound beef tripe, cleaned and cubed
• 3 minced garlic gloves
• 3 teaspoons salt
• ½ cup red chili power
• 2 tablespoons oregano
• 1 tablespoon course black pepper
• t teaspoon cumin
• ½ chopped onion
• 1 small can of hominy (yellow or white)

Put tripe in boiling water. Add onion, garlic and salt to pot.

Cook tripe and seasonings for one hour.

After one hour monitor tripe for desired tenderness.

Add oregano, pepper, cumin and hominy to pot, and cook for 15-to-20 minutes... longer if necessary.

Baby, it's cold outside... but there's no snow

The media made much of a potential snowfall this week -- so much so that Metro transit issued a "snow watch alert" this week. So, was anybody surprised when nary a flake of snow touched the Lovely Rainer Valley.

O'Doul the Weather Collie would have told you not to launch into a snow-driven hysteria. If you only listened to him... and not the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or the hysterical television meteorologists.

Mount Baker resident Tony -- O'Doul's official spokesman -- reports that the collie's shedding of his winter coat is of an "average" amount and not indicative of the harsh winter that NOAA forecast. Tony estimates that the collie shed enough of his summer coat to fill a 20-ounce, micro-can garbage container.

By comparison, O'Doul shed enough hair in 2008 -- the winter of the Seattle's record snowstorm -- to fill a recycling container issued by the Seattle utilities department. While NOAA forecasted La Niña winter -- defined by NOAA as characterized by "unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equitorial Pacific" -- the collie's hair fall suggested something less than a Little House on the Prairie climate.

How does Tony reconcile the difference between O'Doul and NOAA's prognostications? "Maybe they consulted the Farmers Almanac," Tony said of the federal agency.

While the streets of the Lovely Rainier Valley may be dry, the mercury could dip below 30 degrees. You need a heated beverage to keep you warm... like an Irish Coffee.

Irish Coffee

• 6 oz. fresh brewed coffee
• tsp. brown sugar
• 1½ oz. Irish whiskey
• heavy cream

Whip heavy cream and refrigerate to chill.

Combine hot coffee, brown sugar and whiskey in a Irish Coffee glass.

Stir mixture until sugar dissolves.

Top the cocktail with a dollop of heavy cream.

The gridiron in San Diego beats Shoreline in December

Congratulations to the University of Washington (UW) football team, which was selected to play in the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl in San Diego on December 30.

After enduring a God-awful spell of losing seasons from 2004 to 2009 (17-54, 24 percent winning percentage) -- including a winless 2008 campaign -- the Huskies became "bowl eligible" with a 6-6 record in an inconsistent season that three weeks ago seemed bleak. But the Huskies won three-straight contests and will spend December in Southern California -- albeit, San Diego. Credit UW Coach Steve "Sark" Sarkisian for keeping his eye on the prize -- the first Husky bowl game since the 2002 Sun Bowl.

While Former Heisman Trophy Candidate (FHC) Jake Locker saw his campaign for college football's top honor sink like a brick after a beat down by the University of Nebraska -- ironically, the same team that the Huskies will face in three weeks -- the Husky quarterback will enjoy a perk that predecessors Carl Bonnell, Johnny Durocher, Ronnie Fouch, Casey Paus, Isiah Stanback never experienced: the privilege of playing college football after Pearl Harbor Day. Seriously, it's nice to see Locker enjoy playing in a bowl game during his collegiate career.

What better way to celebrate a much-needed bright spot in the UW football program than with an appropriate cocktail? How about the Dog Sled, a crazy concoction of whiskey and citrus?

Dog Sled

• 1½ oz. Canadian whiskey
• 1½ oz. orange juice
• t tsp. Grenadine
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a shaker. Pour into an old fashioned glass.

Chuck-a-wow, chuck-a-bow.

Here's one interesting note about Bridgepoint Education. A self-described "innovator in higher education," Bridgepoint is "dedicated to those seeking flexible, high-quality choices in higher education" by tackling issues of "affordability, transferability of credits and online convenience" by providing associate, bachelor, master and doctoral degrees at Ashford University and University of the Rockies. Yeah, we hadn't heard of them either until now.

Is it winter yet? The collie isn't telling (yet)

It's the middle of November, so we're checking in with Weather Prognosticator O'Doul the Collie. Mount Baker resident Tony, O'Doul's owner and spokesman, reports that the collie's shedding was in "abeyance" over the past couple weeks. However, the pattern of heavy shedding of the collie's summer coat has resumed. Unlike the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which has predicted a La Niña winter with heavy snowfall, Tony says that the amount of shedding is "indeterminate" of the severity of winter. Tony estimates that he has collected enough collie hair to fill a 20-ounce, "micro can" of garbage.

If NOAA is right, more than a few people will find themselves nursing colds or flus this winter. You can purchase an over-the-counter cold remedy at the local drugstore... or you can fix yourself a Hot Toddy, a concoction of tea, honey, lemon and alcohol.

Hot Toddy

• 1 oz. of brandy or whiskey
• ¾ glass of tea
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• ¼ of a lemon
• 1 cup of hot water

Prepare the tea.

Coat the bottom of a mug with honey.

Add the liquor and juice from the lemon.

Pour the steaming tea into the mug and stir.

Garnish with a cinnamon stick, star anise or lemon slice.

If you had only obtained the flu shot when the opportunity arose...

It's World Series time: What's your beef?

It's four days from Halloween so in the wacky timetable of Major League Baseball (MLB), it must be the start of the World Series.

Pitting the San Francisco Giants against the Texas Rangers, the 2010 World Series characterizes the blue-versus-red-state, liberal-versus-conservative conflict at its best. On one hand, you have the San Francisco: inner-city, Wagyu carpaccio with grilled blue corn cakes and tossed arugula, MSNBC, Bill "Spaceman" Lee, Woodstock Farms organic peanut butter, Free Tibet, Anchor Steam, Levi 501s, Former Governor Jerry Brown (and maybe future governor in January), alternative energy sources, National Public Radio, Puggle riding in a doggie car seat in a Prius. On the other hand, you have the Texas/Arlington: suburban, Taste of Texas T-bone steak with corn salsa and cole slaw, Fox News, Curt Schilling, chunky Skippy peanut butter, National Rifle Association, Lone Star beer, Wranger jeans, Former Governor George W Bush, big oil, ESPN network radio, hunting dog riding in the bed of a Chevrolet Silverado.

Somewhere in the distance lags the Seattle Mariners, who finished a dismal 29 games behind the American League (AL) West champion Rangers. If the Giants are Wagyu carpaccio and Texas are T-bone steaks, then the lowly Mariners are really no better than chipped beef on toast.

What is chipped beef? the younger set must be wondering. Chipped beef is a dried, salted, paper-thin beef slices that Hormel described as "an air-dried product that is similar to breasola but not as tasty." Old-time military types dubbed creamed chipped beef on toast as "s*** on a shingle."

As you watch the World Series and pine for next year, you might need a snack. In commemoration of the Mariners' 100-game-losing ways, consider chipped beef on toast. Unlike the Mariners' $84 million payroll with minimal results, chipped beef on toast is grotesquely economical and expandable like Stretch Armstrong by Kenner. Maybe next year Seattle will play in the World Series and personify Thundering Hooves Porterhorse steak with frites and stir-fried baby bok choy... but for now the Mariners are chipped beef, Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes and carrot-and-raisin salad.

Creamed chipped beef on toast

• 6 oz. chipped beef, rinsed in cold water;
• ¼ cup butter;
• ¼ cup minced onion;
• 2 tablespoons of flour;
• 2½ cups milk;
• Salt and pepper;
• Chopped English parsley;
• Eight pieces of toast.

Shred beef into small pieces.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion until tender.

Sprinkle flour into butter-and-onion mixture. Stir constantly until roux is smooth for two-to-three minutes.

Gradually add milk to roux until mixture is smooth for five-to-eight minutes.

Add chipped beef, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on toast... a sour batard, a slice of Wonder Bread or Ener-G gluten-free, brown-rice loaf.