Today, May 20th, 2023, while doing our daily routine at Cosmin’s resting place, we had an unexpected visit from a family of Hawks. Three Harris Hawks Usually there are some small, singing birds, and lots of crows. But this was a first. They came, looked at us, and when we left, they left, too. If…… Continue reading Unexpected Visitors
Category: English
Don Steffano – Confessions Of A Romanian Chatterbox
Memory
In October of ’22, at a restaurant in Bucharest, it was our High School reunion, with the majority of the guys actually attending, and the out-of-towners connecting via Zoom. I had been part of some other get-togethers in the past, so there was no news from this guy, but one newcomer was a lady from…… Continue reading Memory
Mother’s Day
Somehow we survived Mother’s day. With the help of a bottle of rum from OSHO Distillery and a bottle of chianti. But mostly the rum. “Here’s to the ones that we gotCheers to the wish you were here, but you’re not’Cause the drinks bring back all the memoriesOf everything we’ve been throughToast to the ones…… Continue reading Mother’s Day
An amazingly messed up birthday
I did it to myself: I turned off the Show Birthday on Facebook. I have 253 friends, i wanted to see how many of them will remember.
Eggplant Spread by Don Steffano
I bought four very big, ripe, perfect eggplants from the friendly corner store for a buck a piece. I also got a black label Texas sweet onion, and some Shiner beer: a six pack of beer flavored beer and a six pack of grapefruit ginger and other natural flavors beer, just because I was curious.
One Morning, Like Many Others
This melting pot named US of A… one morning, in the sleepy town of Tempe, Arizona, hysterical dogs and chicken running around, letting out screeching cackles, in full panic mode for unknown reasons: “Yo, Roscoe, shut the fuck up! Mister Jones, quiet! Smaranda, keep your beak closed, you old horse! Bibi, come to mama, good…… Continue reading One Morning, Like Many Others
Cantaloupes and Other Stuff
Today I experienced a wide range of emotions, from reminiscing about my youth to laughing about … well, I forgot about what. Everything started with smelling a cantaloupe at the farmers market. Actually, cantaloupes. Actually, cantaloupes and roasted chile peppers, but let’s stay only with cantaloupes for now. Honestly, I wanted the one with the…… Continue reading Cantaloupes and Other Stuff
Quick Unleavened Bread
No fancy introductions, just straight to the recipe. The ingredients are given using the metric system due to international cooking conventions, except for the temperature, which I have already converted to Fahrenheit to avoid any confusion. Ingredients 1 kg all-purpose flour700 ml lukewarm water20 grams sugar14 grams dry yeast or 50 grams fresh yeast20 grams…… Continue reading Quick Unleavened Bread
How Did We End Up With Baloo
…she shows me three dogs, two I don’t even know what breed they were, and Baloo, in all his splendor, a picture of him on 2 paws, as tall as his human. And I say, “The big one, monstruella.”
How Did We End Up With GeeCoo (Gicu)
First one was Indie. They (Indie and The Foster Mom) came to us and we met in the small park near our house. She was much, much smaller than on the website description. They said she is twenty pounds, she was barely ten. At the age of two and a half years she was still…… Continue reading How Did We End Up With GeeCoo (Gicu)
The Truth About Great Pyrenees
Even if Baloo is only 25% Pyr, this article is 100% true. This is the truth!THE GREAT PYRENEES(Author unknown) There is no difference between your Great Pyrenees and a spouse or significant other. That cute ball of fluff heard what you said, knows what you want and still doesn’t care. If you had great plans…… Continue reading The Truth About Great Pyrenees
Traditional Romanian Roasted Peppers Salad – Salată de ardei copți
… any kind of pepper can be roasted. Sweet, round, flat, pointy, hot, red, green, yellow, if you have it, you can roast it….
Romanian Eggplant Salad – Salata de Vinete
In Romania, one of the most traditional foods you can find around is the eggplant salad and it’s made mostly in the summer/fall, when the eggplants are in season. … I cannot recommend a serving size. It just doesn’t apply.
How To Drive In Phoenix
You must first learn to pronounce the city name, it is: FEE-NICKS’. There are other names to learn such as Ahwatukee (Ah-wa-Too-Kee) but that will be included in the advanced course.The morning rush hour is from 5:00 am to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon to 7:00 pm. Friday’s rush hour starts on…… Continue reading How To Drive In Phoenix
The Bucket
Two or three weeks ago my beloved cheerfully told me that the H.’s invited us for a Saturday of fun, the girls will hit the pool, the boys will shoot a bucket, followed by an evening dinner. “Great”, I said, happy that I will finally get to try my long time ago acquired, never used…… Continue reading The Bucket
A Dog’s Long Night
Before I woke up at 1 am ‘cause Gicu the young one had a tummy ache from eating half o’ dead bird with Baloo the giant one and he woke up whining and I had to let him out to do his business and then I laid down on the couch in the living room…… Continue reading A Dog’s Long Night
OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS PARTY
“…First of all, the rule that “this is the only evening to let your hair down, no judgment” is not true. When you work for a big corporation, any event, no matter how small, is a good opportunity for the higher ups to observe and remember how the little guys behave. “
Family quality time
My son calls me at 6:30 in the morning telling me that his car doesn’t start and all the lights on the dashboard are on and there is a noise, like tzac tzac tzac . “OK”, I said, “that’s it?” “No”, he said, “it’s also a message, that the battery is low. Look:” The Cryptic…… Continue reading Family quality time
Letter from Lucy
I just want you to know how happy I am to be in doggy heaven…
… it really was time for me to go, and I thank you for your help in making it dignified and easy.
The Famous BA288 – Phoenix to London
I knew that something was wrong when I saw that the time shown on the tiny entertainment screen was almost double the time scheduled. We were already in flight, so definitely something was not OK.
Nea Fane - Un Biet Român Pripășit în America / A Hapless Romanian Stuck in The US 