Knot On Call

People name their boats creatively and personally, like the "Knot On Call" shown below.  Another cute name, also found at LumberJack's Patio Grill on the Niagara River just north of Buffalo, New York, was "Sea E O".  Check out the link below for some more chuckle-worthy boat names like "She Got the House" and "What’s Up Dock?".

https://www.veranda.com/luxury-lifestyle/a41001953/best-boat-names

Niagara Falls

The picture below is of the American Falls on the Niagara River, the second-largest of the three falls that move water from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.   While you can see the largest, Horseshoe Falls, from the American side it's not nearly as impressive as the view from the Canadian side.  We drove to Niagara Falls State Park (free admission, but pay for parking) located on Goat Island, and walked to views of all three falls (Bridal Falls being the third) where getting caught in the mist is part of the fun.  A poncho is a good idea.

One thing we learned, as detailed in the link below, is that water is diverted from the falls at night to provide for more hydroelectricity generation and even more than that in the winter off-season.  

https://www.niagarafallstourism.com/blog/do-they-shut-off-the-falls-at-night

Homemade Arepas

Shown below is my first attempt to make arepas at home.  The corn pocket was made using warm water, salt, and precooked white cornmeal as detailed in the YouTube video at the link below.  It's formed by hands coated in oil and water to minimize sticking, shaped into a circle to the diameter and thickness you desire, and fried for a short time in a frying pan to get some color.  They are finished by baking them in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes.  When cool enough to handle, they are sliced horizontally and filled with whatever strikes your fancy, in the case below some leftovers from last night's dinner at Jorrge's.

The only difficulty in this recipe is finding the precooked white cornmeal.  I found a package of the brand Pan at La Raza in West Carrollton, a small Mexican store and restaurant at 2175 Imperial Road, which was a bit challenging as I don't speak a lick of Spanish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbvh5XaBpJk

Copa Di Vino

I appreciate unique packaging like the Copa Di Vino hourglass-shaped beauty shown below. Holding about 6.3 fluid ounces, it comes filled with one of several kinds of wine. Its splash-proof cap is perfect if you're on the move or just want to keep the bugs out. Gourmet Chef, Elaine, and I agree that drinking from a glass (i.e., made of real glass like these) is the best (i.e. only) way to enjoy a beverage.

I plan to buy several of their white wine varieties.  I can't speak to the quality of their red wine selections, but in my experience, they tend to vary all over the place where white choices are generally at least OK.   I will refill them with some of our better wines or cocktails for our next tailgate party. 

https://copadivino.com

NY Tolls

The sign below is one of two on our way on I-90 in New York on our way to Buffalo, a disappointment because we have E-ZPass transponders and it's a hassle, albeit minor, dealing with a bill in our mailbox.  But after a couple of months and no bill, I didn't know what to think or do.  But just before our second trip, I checked our online E-ZPAss account and voila, the charges were there.  While I can't find anything online that will validate me, it looks like New York sent the bill to Ohio first to see if we were E-ZPass customers and when we were, Ohio took care of the charges and debited my account.  So only half of the sign is true; they don't use E-ZPass transponders, but they do take E-ZPass accounts.  Sigh...

Red, White And Blue

We should all know that the stars on the United States flag represent the current fifty states and the red and white stripes the thirteen original colonies.  But do you know why these particular colors were selected?

• Red stands for hardiness and valor
• White symbolizes purity and innocence
• Blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice

The flag is usually displayed from sunrise to sunset, but the locations below fly Old Glory 24 hours a day 

• Fort McHenry, National Monument and Historic Shrine, Baltimore, Maryland
• Flag House Square, Baltimore, Maryland
• United States Marine Corps Memorial (Iwo Jima), Arlington, Virginia
• On the Green of the Town of Lexington, Massachusetts
• The White House, Washington, D.C.
• United States customs ports of entry
• Grounds of the National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge State Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

More on the interesting history of our flag can be found at the link below.

https://www.pbs.org/a-capitol-fourth/history/old-glory

10X

At the bottom of the picture below, which appeared for less than a second on a commercial for some humanitarian fundraiser I don't remember, is a line that caught my attention.  I had to "rewind" the commercial to quickly snap the picture. It states your donation "can" be used to get government money and that it "can" multiply its impact by ten times.  I suppose that also means it could be a great waste of money and only benefits grant writers or lobbyists.

What irks me more than anything is the use of the huge "10X" which I'm sure is meant to distract you long enough that you wouldn't notice anything else on the screen before it passed.  When an organization tries this hard to get you to miss what I'm sure a line their lawyers said had to be included, I'm inclined to believe I'm wasting my money on this one.

Am I just getting more distrustful the longer I live, or am I just getting smarter?

Mascarpone Limoncello Pie

If you closed your eyes and tasted the Mascarpone Limoncello Pie pictured below, you could easily mistake it for the best Key Lime Pie ever.  The crust is ground-up toasted pecans and coconut crisp cookies blended with butter and sweetened coconut.  The filling starts by whipping heavy cream to soft peaks and then whisking in mascarpone, condensed milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and Limoncello.  The filling and crust are combined and placed in a freezer for at least 3-4 hours.  We're not big dessert eaters, but there wasn't a crumb left.

Argon

Way back when Gourmet Chef Elaine and I were dating, we played trivia with a group of friends at a local watering hole named Bosco's.  One of the questions was "What's the third most gas that makes up air" to which I immediately wrote down "argon".  She looked at me and asked, "How on earth do you know that!?"  Well, I'm a geek, pure and simple, and that was my value to our trivia group.  She brings a vast amount of medical knowledge and each member of the group had their specialties, and we always did well.  

The name "argon" is derived from the Greek word meaning 'lazy' or 'inactive', as a reference to the fact that the element undergoes almost no chemical reactions.  And I just had to buy the coffee mug shown below as a remembrance. 

Android Camera Delay

For those of us smart, lucky, or handsome enough who have Android phones, we also have the option to set a camera delay like I posted yesterday for iPhone folks.  Launch the Camera app and click the gear icon to bring up the screen below.  Like the iPhone, there are the same 3 and 10-second delay options.  Pick one, return to the app, and press the shutter to start the countdown.  That's how it works on my Pixel 7 and that varies on the type of Android phone you have, which is talked about in more detail at the link below.

https://www.alphr.com/set-timer-android-camera