Posts from — October 2008

Since this month’s printed article focuses on preparing a delicious all-natural Thanksgiving feast, I didn’t to leave you hanging without a great beverage. So, here is a recipe for my spiced cider, which I always find is the perfect drink to kick off the holidays and celebrate Autumn:

O’Hara Family Spiced Cider

5 allspice berries

2 cinnamon sticks

4 whole cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 orange peel (whole)

1 lemon peel (whole)

2 quarts apple cider

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Ground nutmeg, to taste

10 cinnamon sticks, for garnish

Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum (substitute Papagayo Organic Spiced Rum, if you can find it)

Directions: Place the spices, salt, and fruit peels in the center of a 12-inch square of cheesecloth. Gather up the corners and tie with butcher’s twine to create a small packet. In a large pot over medium heat, heat the cider until steam begins to rise off the surface. Add the brown sugar and stir until melted. Add the spice packet to the pot and steep or 10 minutes, or until the cider is infused with spice. Serve in mugs with a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg on top, and a cinnamon stick stirrer. If you liked it spiked (like me), add a generous dollop of spiced rum to each serving. Serves 10

This recipe originally appeared in Hot Toddies: Mulled Wine, Buttered Rum, Spiced Cider, and Other Soul-Warming Winter Drinks (Clarkson Potter / Random House).

The weekend flew past, we visited with my brother, attended Harborfields High School home coming and converted my son’s crib into a bed, ran our errands and did what we all do.

By last night my wife Adele and I were both excited to see the Giant’s game we DVR’d and took great pains not to see or hear the score during the day.

We finally got to start watching the game around 8:45 pm. I tried to fast forward through commercials and other distractions to see how the Giants fared. Adele fell asleep by the 3rd quarter, or as she likes too say… was resting her eyes. The Steelers were up 14-9 and as I tried to fast forward again through commercials, but the DVR wouldn’t let me.

It took a couple of minutes for me to figure out what went wrong and I finally saw to my dismay….there 9 minutes left in the game, an eternity in football and I hadn’t programmed enough time. So there I was my viewing of the game was over and I was relegated to highlights.

I had to go to sleep knowing the Giants won, but without seeing what got them there.

This morning I was excited to share the game and my story with my colleague Chris and business partner Matt - a Steelers fan.

Upon entering the office, before I got to ask Chris about the game, he informed me we had no power in half of the office. So we spent the first couple of hours this morning working through the Monday headache.

Monday, Monday - Matt and I say there always interesting here at canvas, so why would today be any different?

Monday, Monday - up the hill again.

Tom Pellicane - Publisher, canvas Magazine

I always start to think about putting my boat away around Halloween time. It is, at once, something to be dreaded and enjoyed. This summer wasn’t exactly the greatest boating summer. With little Mia in her first year, coaching two soccer teams, and the demands of running the sales side of an Internet start-up, I think I got on the boat about 3 times this summer.

Now, the prospect of going to Lloyd Harbor park, lining up the trailer, paddling out to the boat in the icy cold weather, and trailing the boat out to Westhampton (where I store it for the winter) is daunting. That’s a lot of work for three days of boating–never mind the $500 winterizing bill I’m going to get from Powles Marina in Cold Spring Harbor (and that’s if Joe doesn’t find anything to fix–which would be a miracle).

All that being said, putting the boat away will give me a few hours to spend with cousin Sonny, and always generates a few laughs (usually intermingled with curses as we try and get the trailer attached to our truck). It is also a natural stepping stone between summer and fall. Although I didn’t get on the boat an awful lot, we did have great trips to Hyannis Port and Montauk this summer. I did get to watch my adorable daughter enjoy her first days on the beach. I did get to spend hours and hours with my son and daughter coaching soccer. And–thank God–I did get to grow our new business.

Summer may be over, but there is a great Halloween party this Saturday to look forward to, a few sweaters that I wouldn’t mind wearing again, and the sleeping weather has been just fantastic. Once I get the boat out of the water, I may actually start looking forward to fall!

The Krusty Krab

Last evening canvas hosted another great GreenDrinks event at Maxwell & Dunne’s Steakhouse. There were plenty of interesting folks in attendance, and given the final presidential debate was happening later that night, you can imagine where most of the conversations tended to lead.

I’d mentioned to someone that a couple of weeks ago I posted a blog about Sarah Palin, and then quickly deleted the post a few minutes later, realizing that as an editor of a magazine and member of the media, it wasn’t appropriate to publish my personal views on the subject. I found last night it was even harder in person, especially after a cocktail, to keep mum on the subject. What I did find last night, and throughout this campaign in particular, is that people have very definite ideas about who they support and why, and are more passionate and vocal about it than I remember from past presidential races.

Being very steadfast in my own opinion, it was particularly hard (and admittedly I wasn’t too successful) staying neutral at the event. Especially when a new friend (who shall remain nameless—but she knows who she is) I’ve met at the past few canvas events and really admire told me who she’s backing, and then later pulled me and the publisher of canvas outside to look at what we thought would be the full moon, and turned out to be John McCain’s motorcade leaving the hotel across the street , heading for Hofstra to the debate. Given the situation, and our quick near-brush with possible-presidential fame, I confess that I failed to hold back, and pretty strongly at that. So I apologize to our publisher Tom, the two gentlemen having a smoke who watched the spectacle with us outside the restaurant, and to my new friend who I still like despite her political preferences (and know not to talk politics with anymore).

One of the topics that came up last night was how this political campaign is dividing people, including friends and family who have opposing opinions on the subject. One of my sisters-in-law has banned it from conversation, since she’s rooting for the other team and prefers not to let it impede on our friendship. I’ll bet plenty of you are having the same issue, and it continues to get more heated every day. I can’t wait for the election already. Enough is enough!! (And may the better man win.)

But getting back to McCain’s motorcade, there were what seemed like more than 20 motorcycle cops, followed by several police cars, a long string of black SUVs, and a dozen or so white unmarked vans. All with flashing lights, of course. I’m sure Obama had a similar parade of protection. Do these candidates have such a large entourage wherever they go, or was this just because it was New York? And is this what our tax dollars are paying for? These were the things running through my mind as I watched from across the street. And later, while listening to the debate on TV, I wondered about our tax dollars some more, vis a vis the plans the candidates laid out, as I’m sure the rest of the country was, wondering and weighing, and hopefully committing to vote one way or another on November 4th (with all due respect, hopefully for the right man).

The debate was supposed to rival the Superbowl in audience; with any luck, and so much passion about this race, here’s to having a record-breaking turnout at the booths. That’s one thing we can all raise a drink together to toast about.

—Diana Murphy, canvas editor in chief

McCain and Obama Cups
Is this what we have come too?

What joke! Does 7Eleven really expect to gain anything other than cheap headlines in places like Newsday by offering coffee drinkers the option of picking up a red McCain or blue Obama cup with their morning Jo.

I’ve watched each morning as people in the 7Eleven I frequent look bewilderingly at the 20 oz cups hoping to find a safe beige one, not wanting to indicate who they might be voting for. I’ve literally seen cups of various colors abandoned as the color offender, after realizing their dilemma, moves on to another cup, usually beige.

As a 20 oz coffee drinker I’ve stood there myself trying to do the same. The first morning I picked up a red cup, did that mean I’m voting for McCain? The next morning I picked up a blue one , does that mean I’m for Obama. Or am I undecided?

On subsequent mornings I’ve opted for the beige 20 oz or smaller size in beige to avoid sharing my politics. Today I opted for the Obama Blue. Why? Maybe because Palin scared me into picking it up. That’s right I think she scared me right into the blue cup of Jo.

As someone who votes for those who he thinks will make the best difference, I’ve voted Red and Blue. It appalls me that 7Eleven would team up with USA Today on a stunt like this boiling our democracy down to the color of a cup. Frightening us poor morning goers, as we teeter between half consciousness and falling asleep again with the hard decision of picking our color.

Yes 7Eleven teamed up with USA Today, an all American icon, to bring us the cups. For $1.99 you get a coffee and a paper. Sounds good right? We’ll being a former newspaper person I was curious to learn how its working for USA Today. At my 7Eleven it is was quite revealing – they said they didn’t know the promo included USA Today, they just put up the signs and put out the cups. Not so good. They also said they have not received anymore USA Today’s then usual and haven’t sold any more either. Not so good again.

So a lesson can be learned by future marketers…
1) Don’t put people through this amount of angst for a cup of coffee
2) Especially in the morning
3) Red + Blue = Beige

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine