Gristle and hot knives

This blog is about gristle and hot knives. It's probably mindless drivel to you, but I really don't care. I started to blog because it was a way for me to write about things and in doing so, release them from my conscience so better things could enter and take root. This is one of those blogs.

Today is at least the third day since being posted on 12/22 that I have been enticed to click onto MSN's music hot gossip section by Kat Giantis after checking my Hotmail account. It's exactly the same article and it doesn't change but I am intrigued and I can't entirely explain why. On the surface, it's about peoples lives and who they choose to be with and who makes them happy and not making music for the masses. Maybe that's what is irritating about it more than anything. It could be considered gossip if it weren't true and nobody knew, but there is it... spread all over the Internet for everyone to see.

Maybe it's the English in me and of it all or the seemingly proper way people behave improperly to get what they want out of the ones they adore, I don't know. Or maybe it's the fact that it's easier to make a succession of bad decisions because we all know humans are creatures of habit than to struggle with a choice and be able to make one good one for someone other than yourself. I think you would have to be a devoted parent with children to understand the depths of that statement.

So back to the story. It was rumored on one of those greasy entertainment television gossip shows in the U.S. that Guy Ritchie said making love to Madonna was like being with a piece of gristle. The statement itself must have been shocking enough for the producers of the show, as well as myself, to form it into this viral sound byte that has also been sticking in my head for days. I'm not a great big Madonna fan, but I do admire the woman's work ethic, so I'm sorry if she is older than I am and works out regularly to stay fit and be able to perform her grueling tour schedules in order to make money for her family. Oh the horror of it. I know men who would kill to be with a woman who cared for her own body like that. And then, I looked up the so-called link Guy is supposed to be clamoring over and it's another skinny 'richie' (See this link that explains exactly who party girl and billionaire heiress Jemina Khan nee Goldsmith is and I just don't get it. You'd think if he wanted a woman with padding, we'd hear about him getting with Adele (note her summoning the essence of Cass Elliott of the 'Mommas and the Poppas' in this photo), but she probably has more class in her big toe than to do something silly like that. Thank God.

And that is our transitional statement. Thank God. Thank God as Americans we are able to make choices for ourselves however good or bad they may be hopefully to grow from our experiences and allow better opportunities come into our lives down the road. Case in point: Martha Stewart and her current affiliation with my favorite department store; Macy's. In my quasi effort to pump up the nations economy, I went shopping last night with the hope that I could use my $10 off certificate I received for previously shopping to a certain degree at Macy's. Hence, I love Macy's... they love me and sent me this coupon to use before the end of the year. I thought about using while all of the Christmas sales were going on, but one of the stips to using said coupon was that many, many of the cool things I'd like to get with it were sale items, so I was disqualified from using it, until last night.

After a hellish drive for three and a half hours going home from work, my tummy was growling and I was road weary. I stopped into Westfield's Mainplace Mall and headed directly for the food court at level 2 and something satisifying and familiar... McDonalds. I had the #15 menu item choice... chicken mcnuggests, small fries and a small hi-c orange drink. Then, feeling somewhat renewed and fortified with high levels of fat, sodium, and sugar flowing though my veins, I headed on over to Macy's.

Now, the last time I had loaded the dishwasher at home, I examined my set of knives previously purchased at WalMart about two years ago with the brand name of Farberware. When I was growing up, it was a well respect name brand in the kitchen, but time and Chinese exports seemed to have killed that notion. The knives were cracking where the blade met the handle and collecting water internally. They were also becoming pitted and tarnished with rust that could not be removed. It was time for something new. It was time for a change. It was time to utilize that $10 coupon and buy new knives at Macy's.

Macy's housewares is on the third floor. I found my way over to the kitchen electrics and then past that display to the knives hanging on the back far wall. The display was in disarray and incomplete due to the fact that the products that had been depleted since their after Christmas sales had not been replenished yet. I was not horrified, but rather determined to find something that would work better than the ones I wanted to get rid of.

I checked out the highest priced knives I could find... Shenkles and Wustoff. I'm pretty sure I spelled those wrong, but I'm not going to correct them. I'm looking at these boxes, collections of cutlery that were over priced $200 each. Good grief. Then I poked around the display some more to find some made for Cuisinart and Martha Stewart. The Cuisinart has this wooden block that was stained and sealed and I really didn't like the look of it at all. I held the the steak knife in my hand and then looked at the construction of it. It was steel all the way through, but when I tried to bend it against the top of the display, it felt weak. Then I moved over to the Martha display of knives. They felt more substantial in your hand and would not bend as easily as the other. I liked the chunky look of the block, the thickness of the blade through the handle and the three rivets through the handle, too. And most of all the value for the money. Regularly $149, on sale for $99 and my coupon was accepted for this purchase which made the price $89 for me for Martha Stewart's 25 piece knife+block set. What a buy! I was so excited when I got home, my son and I put it together and placed it upon it's new position next to the cutting board on the left side of the microwave oven. Lovely. I'm sure if I had to, it would cut through the gristle.