Gary Danko. Everyone woos and ahhs when you said you've dined there. It's like pinning a star to your lapel. I have been wanting to check it out but never had the chance. For starter, there is a two-month waiting list for a table.
At last, I got to visit last night with my buds. What's the occasion? Just because the girls want to get together and to splurge a little.
What an Experience! Our party was super lucky. We were able to reserve a private room without room charge because we booked for the right date and for the right time.
The menu is long and extensive. The amazing part is that GD lets each guest "design" his/her own courses from appetizer to dessert. I can imagine the work and the control that go on in the kitchen. Each dish is prepared with detail and all of the dishes come out at the same time. No miscues. And to think, they do this every single night for every single party.
Everyone is a VIP. Not only the wait team professional, they are attentive. They know when to step in and when to leave you alone. Water and bread are promptly replenished without being asked. Yes, this is basic service but how many times we have to look around and wave for attention in restaurants? Not here.
We got out of the restaurant feeling pampered - like after a good massage. I'm sure all the guests walk out feeling that way. I ask myself. how they do it? What makes GD one of the best? Why couldn't all restaurants be this way?
What have I learned? To be great in anything, you must have the passion to execute at the highest level, and I think the hardest part is to do it day in and day out. I think most of us fail on the consistency part. You really need to have a strong well for it.
So much to enjoy. So much to learn. What an experience!!
Shirley's parents let everyone know that they found Shirley's body today. She died about a week ago after being struck by a train.
I have thought about the worst since Shirley has not been sighted since last Sunday. I thought she might have succumbed to her injury or her disease or die from exhaustion or hunger. I would never have thought - and I'm sure her parents and all who follow her story - that she would be killed by a train at the end.
It's so tragic and it is the worst of worst outcome imaginable.
RIP Shirley, the missing Great Dane from Philly. At least you are no longer lost. God bless you and your parents.
Updated 09/17/12: Community Mourns Shirley
I have been following this little story on Facebook about a 3-year old Great Dane that gone missing for the past 10 days. Shirley is her name. Shirley was hit by a car when her mom was taking her out of the car. She was startled, bolted, and disappeared into the woods.
Shirley's story unfolded in Germantown, a neighborhood of Philadelphia. Apparently, it has a huge woodsy area because Shirley ran into the woods and has been lost for the past two weeks (since August 29th).
The story got me because as a dog parent, I can relate to the pain, the fear and the heartbreak. Any pet parent can relate. It's just like your human child gone missing. I can't imagine losing any of my dogs. Fortunately, I never had to experience it with Beau, Max and DuDu. I'm praying that I would never have to go through such horror with Dexter and Victor.
Shirley's mom has been frantically looking for her. To complicate things, the mom is in graduate school with a heavy class load, the dad is in the military hundreds of miles away and he is deploying to Afghanistan in two weeks. Worst, Shirley is injured and has a medical condition called the Addison's Disease.
What's Addison's Disease? According to Wikipedia, it's a disorder that occurs when the adrenal glands fail to produce enough hormones to keep the body functioning normally. Without medication, the bodily functions will go haywire and will result in death.
What a horrible combination! The added worry and the stress must be unbearable. My heart goes out to Shirley and her parents.
Many people are involved in finding Shirley. There is a search going on right now as I type this. The searchers are racing against time. If Shirley is not found this week and treated, she will for sure die. It hurts to think that she will die of pain, suffering in loneliness and fear.
I follow the development through the Facebook posts. Strangers from all over the world pour their hearts out to support the parents. People volunteer to look for Shirley day and night. It's at times like this that the best side of we humans shines: compassion, love, generosity and devotion.
It's already past 8pm in Philadelphia. No words from the search group. I can only hope for the very best for Shirley and her parents.
We all know that we will eventually part with our pets. However, not like this.
So say a prayer to the Dog God and hug your dog a little bit tighter tonight, peeps.
I broke down and bought a kitchen scale today. Yes, I accepted my defeat and gave up manual conversion from metric to the US measurement when it comes to cooking and baking.
All these years my little 5-cup-and-spoon measuring set serves me just fine. As a matter of fact, I still have the yellow plastic measuring set that mom bought me for my home-economic in junior high back in the 70s. I never would have thought measuring ingredients is such a complicated task until I start playing with recipes that call for metric measurement.
At first, I thought I can just use the conversion chart and save money not getting a scale, but I see things are not so easy. The US system measures volume while the metric measures weight. So, bad news: 1 cup of water does not equal to 1 cup of milk and not 1 cup of oil. Worse: 1 cup of white flour does not equal to 1 cup of wheat flour and not 1 cup of sugar. Worst yet: 1 egg is not always 1 egg. See what I mean???
OK, I know that the US is the odd ball in the world of measurement. While other countries have adopted the metric system, the US, Liberia and Burma have not (knowledge perused from Googling). Recipes and chefs say the metric measurement is more precise than the US measurements but it's working fine until I have to use metric recipes!
How I wish that there is an automatic conversion app that would just show everything in cups/ounces and table/teaspoons depending on the ingredients at a click of button. Of course life won't be so simple. Even if I convert recipes with minimal effort, I will still have to deal with measurement such as 1.27 cup or 4.5768272 tsp. Now, how the heck will I ever be able to measure that?
So I conceded. I bought a kitchen scale and will get to know my grams and milliliters (or cc). I just have to accept the fact that a 45g egg is not just any one egg. I will have to weigh it and find this precised measured out egg all in the name of metric.
I read a lovely story on cnn.com today. It's about a group of 5 friends who made a promise to each other that they would take a photo at the same place with the same pose every 5 years. They started this tradition in 1982 and they have been going at it for 30 years. They now have 6 photos to show off.
The story reminds me of my buds. Even though we don't have a photo tradition, we have plenty of photos to document our friendship and the passage of time.
Yes, our look have changed. We went from teenieboppers to middle age women and our lives took us to different paths in the past 30 some odd years. We don't even have a chance to see much of each other, yet, every time we meet, it's just like we just saw each other yesterday.
These 5 gentlemen made a pact and they stuck to it. Their photos are heart warming. Everyone should take a good read of their story and be grateful for the friends you have made in your life.
Friendship. Commitment. Frozen moment. Unstoppable time. Life-long memories. Just priceless.
Here's the story: Five Guys Take Same Photo for 30 Years
Gary Danko. Everyone woos and ahhs when you said you've dined there. It's like pinning a star to your lapel. I have been wanting to check it out but never had the chance. For starter, there is a two-month waiting list for a table.
