Category Archives: Alan’s Life

O’Hashi O’Holiday soups – O’Zoni and O’Yster Stew Redux – 2015

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Christmas Eve with spiked eggnog and oyster stew.

Christmas Eve at the Hunter’s with spiked eggnog and oyster stew.

Christmas Eve got away from me. By the time I got around to getting to the store it was after a party in Longmont. Turned out that the only place open after 7pm was Target.

These days, I mostly get practical stuff for Christmas – laundry soap, floss, toothpaste, contact lens solution.

As for the 2015 Christmas Eve oyster stew, I had to settle but the concoction was good, not great.

In the recipe below that I wrote about in 2014 substitute canned for bottled oysters. 

Since my parents died, I’ve been having to retool my December holidays.  We used to have a standing rib roast with all the trimmings on Christmas Eve.

On New Years Day, my grandparents were the focus and they always had a big spread of American food like turkey, ham, yams and Japanese-type food like sushi, abalone salad, tempura shrimp and veggies.

Can you still get Bisquick?

New Years Day morning, my dad always would have cooked a Japanese soup called ozoni. It varied from year to year, but generally it had a fish base (dashi) with napa cabbage and this fish cake stuff called kamaboko. Sometimes he would cook up a chicken soup. In any case, there would be a couple mochi (pounded rice into globs).

New Years Day, in front of the Boulder courthouse on Pearl Street, some Japanese guys who work over at the Sushi Zanmai restaurant, bring rice and big wooden mortars and pestles and pound rice into gooey mochi and serve it to the onlookers with a bowl of miso soup.

mochi pounding 2009

Mochi pounding on the Pearl Street Mall in 2009. I haven’t been able to find if it’s happening this year.

I just read that Sushi Zanmai cancelled the mochitsuki event due to cold and snow. Maybe it will be rescheduled. Here’s a picture from the mochi pounding back in 2009

My Japanesish tradition now isn’t really a tradition, since I make a variety of soups from Christmas to New Year and add in a couple mochi cakes with each serving.

New Year Ozoni I’m making this year a kind of “surf and turf” soup with chicken and shrimp.

Alan's Ozoni

Add a mochi cake and kamaboko slices just before serving, otherwise the mochi can disintegrate in the hot soup and the kamaboko gets discolored by the broth.

You’ll need this stuff:
8 oz of fresh or frozen peeled and deveined shrimp (I use the frozen ones in a bag)
12 oz of skinless and boneless chicken cut into bite – size pieces
4 cups chicken broth (this time around, I have a couple cubes of bouillon)
2 cups of water
8 mushrooms quartered up
1/2 cup diagonally cut celery
8 oz bean sprouts (snip off the bean head part, otherwise it will turn the broth dark brown / black)
1/4 cup diagonally cut carrot (I’m not much of an orange food eater)
1/2 green pepper chopped up
2 mochi cakes / bowl (I use frozen mochi from the Asian market)
4 green onions chopped up in 1 inch pieces
2 tbs soy sauce
pepper to taste

This is how you make it:

It is best served piping hot.

It is best served piping hot.

1. Thaw out the shrimp, if frozen. Rinse shrimp, pat dry and set aside. Spray PAM (I use vegetable oil) onto a 4 qt Dutch oven or other larger pot and preheat over medium heat. Add the diced up chicken and cook until no longer pink

2. Add the chicken broth and water to the pot. Bring to a boil. Add the shrimp, bean sprouts, mushrooms, celery, green onions and soy sauce. Return to a boiling; reduce heat until shrimp are done and vegetables tender.

3. Get the mochi ready. If it’s frozen, thaw it out either ahead of time or in the microwave. Mochi can be purchased quasi-fresh in refrigerated form. There’s also fine rice flour called Mochiko that can be pounded into mochi, less ceremoniously in the privacy of the kitchen.

4. Serve the soup and add a couple mochi globs on top of the soup and serve. Take some pix and let us all know how your ozoni turned out and have a Happy New Year.

The Silver Sage Village community, where I live, is having a New Years Eve thing at which everyone reminisces their pasts. My job is to set up the record player and get it to play through the sound system in the TV room. We’re spinning some discs from the past.

It should be fun for all us Baby Boomers.

As for Christmas, the last three years, I started making oyster stew. Apparently, it’s a tradition that throws back to Italians, Catholics and seven fishes.

Last year, I had all the ingredients in the fridge, which aren’t many, but I landed in the hospital and physical rehab for six weeks and didn’t get around to it until Super Sunday.

When I got out of the hospital, part of my occupational therapy was getting stuff out of the cupboards and refrigerator. It was quite a chore to grab and lift a gallon of milk, but I managed.

I tried making the stew and found out that oysters have a shelf life. They were totally disintegrated when they were cooked. It was more of an oyster puree That was on Super Bowl weekend.

This year – 2014, I bought the ingredients fresh.

Christmas Eve Oyster Stew turned out much better. Here’s the gluten – free recipe I used:

You’ll need this stuff:
3 cups milk
1 cup half and half
1/4 white onion
2 stalks of celery
four cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
one bottle oysters
4 tbs butter
salt, pepper (to taste)
parsley (optional, its for color)

This is how you make it:
1. Melt the butter in a pan or pot over medium – high heat; stir in the minced up garlic, finely chopped onion and celery; cook until soft (5 or 6 minutes).

Oyster stew on Christmas Eve.

Oyster stew on Christmas Eve.

Slowly add the milk and half – and – half stirring constantly; stir in the salt, pepper and parsley.

Reduce heat to medium until the mixture bubbles.

2. Add the oysters and the liquid from the bottle; cook until the edge of the oysters curl.

3. Easy Peasy – take a picture and tell how guests liked your version.

Oysters – raw or cooked – are an acquired taste. My mom made oysters by deep frying them and serving them with lemon and soy sauce on the side. I learned about oysters at an early age and have eaten them ever since.

No matter what your December holiday and New Year traditions and memories may be, I hope they are memorable ones.

Christmas bliss, yoga and my root chakra

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This Santa Claus is the nexus between Christmas and yoga.

This Santa Claus is the nexus between Christmas and yoga.

The reason I like the Little Yoga Studio is because the teachers tell a story to go along with the day’s class.

Today the teacher, Nafisa, mused that the December holiday season pushes everyone to be extroverts which can be stressful. For introverts like me it was fitting that the day’s practice focused on grounding. It was helpful for me mentally and physically.

Considering last year on Christmas and New Years, I was flat on my back at the Good Samaritan Hospital recovering from emergency surgery, I’m much better.

My robot care givers - monitors that check out how I was doing at any moment.

My robot care givers – monitors that check out how I was doing at any moment.

I really can’t remember what I did on Christmas 2013 since I had undiagnosed sepsis and had no appetite, lost 30 pounds, apparently pretty drugged up.

This December holiday season, a friend of mine, Med, is in rehab at Manor Care in north Boulder and likely there over Christmas and New Years.

I pop in on him whenever I drive by.

From experience, being laid up is lonely and because of societal pressure the holidays seem to be lonelier than all the other lonely days in confinement.

I was at Manor Care in Denver and was in a craft class where we painted Bronco balls.

I was at Manor Care in Denver and was in a craft class where we painted Bronco balls.

I did two weeks time at the Manor Care in Denver after my four-week hospital stint. When I stop by to see Med, there are certain sights and smells that bring back fond memories, which is a little strange to me.

I was finally sprung from there in time for the Super Bowl. Wheel chair and walker restricted.

This Christmas I’m mostly back to health and fully upright. Yoga has helped me regain my strength and balance. I now find myself over-reacting to “symptoms” that I notice in myself. You hear about people who “over-use” the medical care system and now I know why – prevention is the best medicine.

I’m now one of those people.

Fortunately, my doctors are open to consultations using email and phone calls. It’s amazing to me how much they can tell from blood tests. I am grateful for all the health care providers from the CNAs and docs who kept me alive. They barely keep a person kicking, but that’s good enough.

My Coca Cola Santa doll makes an appearance once a year.

My Coca Cola Santa doll makes an appearance once a year.

Even though I prefer to live in the present, I do have some remnants of Christmas past including a stocking made by my mom and a Santa Claus from my dad. He worked for Coca Cola for 40 years and passed Santa dolls around the neighborhood.

Back in the day, Coke was known for the Santa Claus Christmas ads – now culturally incorrect.

He only gets out of the box for a week or so every year and he’s still in pretty good condition.

The Coke tree ornaments in the image are also Coke advertising premiums.

The cat from the angel-cam. The angel was a project of my mom's.

The cat from the angel-cam. The angel was a project of my mom’s.

My mom had craftsy Christmas projects every year. I still have a crocheted angel that hangs atop the tree. She must have starched then ironed it.

Both my parents are gone now and so have the Christmas traditions.

Coming up with new traditions is easier said than done.

Waiting outside The Little Yoga Studio.

Waiting outside The Little Yoga Studio.

For those of you who have your parents still around, spend some time talking about the future and not just about estate planning but more importantly tradition planning.

Before you have family meetings like this, I suggest taking some yoga classes.

Today, looser hips and thighs have made me more  aware of my root chakra – bring on the Christmas havoc!

Dec. bowl game guesses – lots of MWC teams and odd sponsors

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In 2000 Hastings College classmates John and Julie Johnson played host to the Tostito Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix. Nebraska played Tennessee.

In 2000 Hastings College classmates John and Julie Johnson played host to the Tostito Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix. Nebraska played Tennessee.

In a past life, I was the sports editor for a small town Wyoming newspaper and tried to diversify the stories about little kid soccer games and high school sports with an annual “pick the bowl game winners” contest.  One of the local restauranteurs was also a big sports fan and donated a couple dinners for prizes.

This year, I noticed that there are a lot of Mountain West Conference teams in the December bowl games and made my guesses. I also think most of the bowl game sponsors are a little odd and fans know less about them than the teams.

I’ll pick the January games, including the BCS tournament games after Christmas.

Back in the 1990s, there were 19 bowl games. Today that number has grown to 38 and shows the parity in football these days.

Watching Barry Sanders was quite entertaining at the Holiday Bowl.

Watching Barry Sanders was quite entertaining at the Holiday Bowl.

bowl game tix

My pal, Ray Candelaria, and I went on a Bowl-a-thon to Memphis, Jacksonville and Miami.

I was a big college football fan back then having followed Wyoming to a couple Holiday Bowls the Las Vegas Bowl and a couple Copper Bowl games.

It was a good time to run into old friends. Cowboy football brought people together. I always saw Jim Izzo at the game. When a team has good and bad years, it’s tough to get any fan consistency.

One winter, a pal and I flew into New Orleans on Christmas day and road tripped to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis – also the first trip I made to Graceland; the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville – the first time I’d tried chitlins and hawg maw, the Orange Bowl in Miami – it was freezing that night.

I used to religiously follow Nebraska in the post season: Fiesta Bowl – met up with lots of college mates; Rose Bowl – Huskers blown out in the national championship game, Alamo Bowl – Bo Pelini’s first and last head coaching gig before working at LSU.

I’m onto other pursuits these days, but nonetheless, here are my picks for the December bowl games.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl – Nevada v Louisiana – Lafayette
Dec. 20, New Orleans (11 a.m. ET)
The game is sponsored by a big trucking company. R+L must be hauling a lot of stuff. Being a Mountain West Conference fan, I’m pulling for Nevada. That’s a team that’s bounced around conferences. I mostly remember them being in the old Big Sky Conference, like Wyoming was in the original Western Athletic Conference.

In these lesser bowls, organizers always have to pick a local team to guarantee attendance and Louisiana-Lafayette fits that bill this year.

The game should be a good one to watch since both teams play a wide open offense.
My Guess: Nevada in a high scoring game.

Gilden New Mexico Bowl – Utah State v UTEP
Dec. 20, Albuquerque, New Mexico (2:20 p.m. ET) 
A clothing manufacturer sponsors this game. I bet part of the sponsorship is cheap T-shirts. I indirectly advertise for the game, but too bad the tags are inside the shirt.

This is another Mountain West match up with Utah State taking on UTEP. The Aggies are another team that has bounced around having been in the Big Sky Conference. I miss UTEP, which also was a member of the Western Athletic Conference with Wyoming.

Utah State had an up and down season with a couple quarterback changes this year. If Utah State can take an early lead, that passing offense is tough to stop, considering the Miners are predominantly a running team.
My Pick: Utah State in a lopsided blow out

Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl – Utah v Colorado State
Dec. 20, Las Vegas (3:30 p.m. ET) 
Have you ever heard of Royal Purple synthetic oil? Not me.
For a fan like me, this is a great throwback to the Western Athletic Conference in which both teams originally competed and evolved into members of the Mountain West Conference.

Utah fled for the PAC-12 during the big shake up in 2011 and experienced culture shock there. After a couple bad seasons, the Utes have turned it around, but still not at the top of the league. Incidentally, CU joined the PAC-12 at the same time and is still trying to find a football identity.

As opposed to Colorado State, which has been dominant under erstwhile coach Jim McElwain who took the Florida job and won’t be working.

My Guess  I think this is going to be a close one. I’m going with a better balanced Utah team

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl- Western Michigan v Air Force
Dec. 20, Boise, Idaho (5:45 p.m. ET) 
This potato group has been advertising on cable TV lately. This game used to be called the Humanitarian Bowl, which I thought was a little strange. It features yet another Mountain West Conference tie-in with Air Force making the trek to Boise. I don’t know much about Western Michigan, but Air Force has always had a great running game and this year has been no different. Air Force had a bit of a topsy turvy season having upset both Colorado State and Boise State – both teams had a shot at the At Large BCS football tourney spot.
My Guess: Air Force, but the game could be a yawner

Raycom Camellia Bowl – Bowling Green v South Alabama
Dec. 20, Montgomery, Alabama (9:15 p.m. ET) 
I don’t know anything about these two teams. What I do think is interesting about the game is its sponsor, Raycom. It’s a media conglomerate that owns a bunch of TV stations in the south and a sports media company that started up it’s own bowl game. The other interesting thing about Raycom, is that it is owned by the Alabama public employees pension fund.
My Guess: A shot in the dark with South Alabama

Miami Beach Bowl – BYU v Memphis
Dec. 22, Miami (2 p.m. ET) 
The American Athletic Conference puts on this game. The home team is Memphis. BYU was the most despised team in the Western Athletic and the Mountain West conferences. So much so, the Cougs bowed out because they didn’t like to play Wyoming in any sport.
My Guess: I don’t like to ever cut BYU any slack – Memphis

ESPN Events Boca Raton Bowl – Northern Illinois v Marshall
Dec. 23, Boca Raton, Florida (6 p.m. ET) 
This game is sponsored by ESPN. ESPN should sponsor all the games. I’m thinking I should get a bunch of indie producers and partner up with a public access TV station and organize a bowl game someplace. Marshall was close to getting into the national championship mix, but lesser schools with one loss don’t stand much chance. I don’t know anything about NIU except that they’ve won the Mid-America conference a bunch of times recently. This may be one of the better games of the post season.
My Guess: Whatever team gets the ball last will win, which I’m hoping is Marshall.

San Diego County Employees Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl – Navy v San Diego State
Dec. 23, San Diego (9:30 p.m. ET) 
San Diego State is another Mountain West Conference mainstay. This is a home game for the Aztecs. There’s also a big US Navy presence there and should be a balanced crowd. The game is sponsored by the Credit Union and by the San Diego Bowl Game Association that also produces the Holiday Bowl. That’s a pretty good business – producing football games.
My Guess: San Diego State in a back and forth game.

Popeye’s Bahamas Bowl – Western Kentucky v Central Michigan
Dec. 24, Nassau, Bahamas (Noon ET) 
This is the inaugural game and a strange one at that. The People’s Republic of China built the stadium, but it only has 15,000 seats. That’s probably a good crowd for a cricket match. On top of that, the game’s presenting sponsor is Popeye’s. There are at least three chicken restaurants sponsoring games.

This one of those games that will be the game any lesser team will want to play. I don’t think there’s enough room for the Notre Dame or Michigan fans.
My Guess: Western Kentucky, but I don’t know why.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl – Fresno State v Rice
Dec. 24, Honolulu (8 p.m. ET) 
It stands to reason that Sheraton sponsors this game. Fresno State was an early fave to win the Mountain West Conference, but I can think of worse places to play football on Christmas Eve.

It was all over for the Bulldogs when hapless Wyoming beat them 45 – 17 on national TV.

Wyoming and Rice were both in the reconfigured WAC that was way to massive of a conference. I always remember the Rice marching band as having played one of the more well known versions of “Louie, Louie.”
My Guess: Fresno State, even though the Bulldog’s don’t have much of a defense.

Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl – Illinois v Louisiana Tech
Dec. 26, Dallas (1 p.m. ET) 
I don’t know much about either of these two teams except Lousisiana Tech scores a lot of points. The Illini play in the Big 10 and the game may be close. There must be a lot of successful chicken businesses in the south. This game is sponsored by one called Zaxby’s. I’ve never tried Zaxby’s Chicken.
My Guess: Louisiana Tech, but I think it will be close.

Quick Lane Bowl – Rutgers v North Carolina
Dec. 26, Detroit (4:30 p.m. ET) 
This is another one of those games that I don’t know much about either team. It’s the inaugural bowl game in the Silver Dome sponsored by Quick Lane, which must have something to do with the automotive industry. I did a little research and I didn’t know that Rutgers is in the Big 10.
My Guess: Rutgers

Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl – Central Florida v North Carolina State
Dec. 26, St. Petersburg, Florida (8 p.m. ET)
Times have changed. Bitcoin and Bitpay signed on to sponsor this game for the next four years, along with ESPN events. Visa must still think it has image problems – or maybe they aren’t allowed to squander the credit card 18% interest fees on football games. I don’t know if I’ve seen a bitcoin ad on TV.

All I know about UCF is that it has a huge presence in Florida and has produced a lot of rocket scientists and quarterback Blake Bortles.
My Guess: UCF – the Knights still have an explosive offense.

Northrup Grumman Military Bowl – Cincinnati v Virginia Tech
Dec. 27, Annapolis, Maryland (1 p.m. ET) 
I wonder why there isn’t a military connection to this game, since it also benefits the USO – maybe that’s Tech. The Hokies were involved in a big sex assault case a few years back that ended with SCOTUS gutting the Violence Against Women Act.
My Guess: Cincinnati

Hyundai Sun Bowl – Duke v Arizona State
Dec. 27, El Paso, Texas (2 p.m. ET) 
No American car companies sponsor games, which is a good thing. I haven’t followed either of these teams this season. With so much parity among the middle tier of teams, and so many deals between conferences and games, it’s tough to keep the games straight. The Sun Bowl is tied to the PAC-12 number 4 and an at large ACC team.
My Guess: Arizona State, for no particular reason

Duck Commander Independence Bowl – Miami Florida v South Carolina
Dec. 27, Shreveport, Louisiana (3:30 p.m. ET) 
This is another one of those games between middle of the pack teams from the ACC and SEC. If either of these schools were in other leagues they would be at the tops of their heaps. The game is sponsored by the Duck Dynasty guys. Who would have thought a duck call brand would present a football game. Logo on the hood of a NASCAR? Yes. Logo on a football scoreboard? No.
My Guess: Miami (FL) for no particular reason.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl – Boston College v Penn State
Dec. 27, Bronx, New York (4:30 p.m. ET) 
It stands to reason that New Era caps would be the main sponsor for the Pinstripe Bowl played in Yankee Stadium. If a bowl game can be held in New York in the dead of winter, a bowl game can be played anywhere. You have to hand it to Penn State for bouncing back like it has after that sex abuse coaching scandal there. Again, a couple teams from the ACC and BIG-10.
My Guess: Penn State is my sentimental favorite.

National University Holiday Bowl – Nebraska v USC
Dec. 27, San Diego (8 p.m. ET) 
I’m a big Nebraska fan and we’ll see how the Huskers play after Bo Pelini was fired. Big Red didn’t look that great in a few games, namely the Wisconsin thrashing.  I don’t think Nebraska has ever defeated USC over the years. This game is sponsored by National University, which is one of those big private colleges.
My guess: USC is favored, but I’m going with Nebraska.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl – West Virginia v Texas A&M
Dec. 29, Memphis, Tennessee (2 p.m. ET) 
I haven’t been paying attention to the SEC nor the BIG-12. Another match up between two “also-rans”. It should be an evenly matched game.  Why do car oil companies and auto parts stores sponsor games, but American car companies don’t?
My Guess: Texas A&M

Russell Athletic Bowl – Clemson v Oklahoma
Dec. 29, Orlando, Florida (5:30 p.m. ET) 
When I hear Russell Athletic, I always think of jock straps.  Just another ACC – BIG-12 game. I have nothing on this.
My Guess: Clemson

Advocare V100 Texas Bowl – Texas v Arkansas
Dec. 29, Houston (9 p.m. ET) 
This game used to be the Independence Bowl. It’s sponsored by Advocare, which, I think, is a multilevel marketing company. This game is one that old time college football fans will appreciate. The Frank Broyles v Darryl Royal game was always a classic game. That will be the hype this time around.
My Guess: Arkansas in a squeaker

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – LSU v Notre Dame
Dec. 30, Nashville, Tennessee (3 p.m. ET) 
The housing business must be pretty good with a mortgage company sponsoring the game. If I’m a homeowner, I’d rather have a lower interest rate than sponsoring a football bowl. Even though Notre Dame was on network TV every Saturday I didn’t watch a complete game. I do know that LSU has a pretty good running game and a good defense.
My Guess: LSU

Belk Bowl – Louisville v Georgia
Dec. 30, Charlotte, North Carolina (6:30 p.m. ET)
Belk is a department store in the south. Business must be good if it is sponsoring a bowl game. It used to be called the Queen City Bowl, the the Continental Tire Bowl and the Meineke Car Care Bowl. No wonder I have no heart in this one either.
My Guess: Louisville

Foster Farms Bowl – Maryland v Stanford
Dec. 30, Santa Clara, California (10 p.m. ET) 
This is another one of those games with an identity crisis now sponsored by a chicken company. It has always had some food sponsor being known as the Fight Hunger Bowl, then the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, then the Emerald Bowl, then the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl. Luckily hometown Stanford is playing.
My Guess: Stanford

Chik-Fil-A Peach Bowl TCU v Ole Miss
Dec. 31, Atlanta (12:30 p.m. ET) 
TCU has Mountain West Conference history. I was happy that they had a chance to move to the BIG-12. The Horned Frogs were the class of the league. There was a controversy a few years ago when the Peach Bowl was set for a Sunday and Chik-Fil-A refused to play the game on a day the conflicts with church.
My Guess: TCU in a rout

Vizio Fiesta Bowl – Arizona v Boise State
Dec. 31, Glendale, Arizona (4 p.m. ET) 
Mountain West Conference Boise State gets a shot at the PAC-12 this year. Who can forget that trick play Dan Hawkins pulled on Oklahoma in a BCS Fiesta Bowl game a few years back to win the game? Bob Stoops was ticked. The game is sponsored by Vizio. In the past Frito Lay Tostitos were the long time sponsor until last year. I have Vizio TVs am I supporting the game in some way?
My Guess: Boise State is explosive, but I’m picking Arizona based on strength of schedule.

Capital One Orange Bowl – Georgia Tech v Mississippi State
Dec. 31, Miami (8 p.m. ET) 
I have a Capital One credit card. That means I’m a part of this game. I went to the Orange Bowl when it was sponsored by FedEx. This should be a pretty good game. Mississippi State was tops in the nation for a few weeks then faded.
My Guess: Georgia Tech

There you have it. I hope some of my pals from other parts of the country and more aware of their regional college football teams will chime in and give their views.

Preparation for the bowl season is exhausting.

I’ll give my guesses for the January games including the BCS tournament in a wrrk or so.