NYC'S MAYOR'S OFFICE ON DISABILITY DISCRIMINATES.....Against the Handicapped.....

I don't think a Happy Blogger should ever Vent.....
You come here to maybe get a laugh or just smile about one
of my crazy antics....But every now and then Sue likes
to complain about one thing or another....Well...maybe more
then just now and then.....but regardless....The time has come
to Vent Big Time about the Wonderful City of New York
and it's "Mayor's Office on Disability".....
To which I have had my first and probably final encounter...
Who does this Office discriminate against your wondering???
Disabled People that's who......

 Let me be clearer....Disabled People who are not
New Yorkers......Visiting Disabled People....
Of which I am one...Have been since 1993....some of you are
aware of it most of you are not....
I am one of "Those People" that use a Handicap Tag
When I park even though I may look 100% Fine....
I am Not.....and I know there are a lot of other people
out there with the same problem....
Anyhoo....on to Mr. Bloomberg's Office on taking care
of the Disabled....

See this cute little symbol....Makes you think this Office is Actually Out to help you with that little arm around the poor "one armed" person's shoulder....
WRONG.....
So here is my story and up until today I will be sticking to it....
They only have three more days to correct the situation
and I really don't think it's in the cards for these people to
accommodate me.....Why should they...
I am not a New Yorker and as the NYC DOT put it
"What do you think your special?"
Gee I wonder if these are the people that give NYC
a Bad Name?

I will make this brief....that's not true.... so I can hold your attention.
I find the need to go to NYC in a few days to help out
the Daughter by babysitting Miss B while she is out of
School on Spring Break....
Not wanting B to sit in day care for over week while Mom
has to work....
I thought it only right for Grandma to volunteer my services...
It will be just Me and B for a whole week navigating
NYC....This is not a vacation this is a necessity...
And it was a last minute thing....
I have never been alone with just me and B and wanting this to
go as smoothly as possible I looked into getting a
Temporary "One Week Only" NYC curb side
Handicap Tag...
So if I need to take B on any appointments I won't have to 
worry about getting around with a 5 year old and a
62 year old
 who can barely walk on most good days.....
Not to mention that whole "one armed" thing...
I can just park my car on a side street and be good to go...
You would think I was asking for a 30 oz. Coke or perhaps
Salt on my Fries.....
You see I can use my Georgia Tag but only outside of the
city....In order to park on side streets in Manhattan you need a city pass...
What could possibly be the problem I asked myself....
It is simply a courtesy to an out of town visitor....
How wrong could I be....
These people are brutal...within 30 seconds of getting them
on the phone they managed to insult me three times....
"who do you think you are...your not special....Why should we
accommodate you.....are you trying to bump ahead of one of
our citizens who's been waiting their turn to get a tag".....
HELLO.....
I already have a tag....been there...done that....over 20 years now.
Have documentation that it really exists....
No need to be examined by a NYC doctor....It's real people...
So....I call the Mayor's Office on Disability and I speak to
Mathew....now this might or might not be his name..
When I kept calling his voice mail back it's hard to decipher
his mumblings when he says who your leaving a message for...

He took all sorts of personal info from me....Info that I was
happy to provide if he really was going to help me....
He promised he would do the best he could and he would call me
back....Never heard a word....After leaving three messages I gave up.
I call directly to the "Director of the Mayor's Office on
Disability" and ask for the name of the Director that I got
off their Website....It seems he's been Dead for a year an a
half so I speak to the nice Indian lady "assistant"...again
the last name gets mumbled so I have no idea who she is....
But at least she was pleasant....No insults were thrown about...
I once again explain my situation and I ask if she can't
Take the request to her Boss...."The Director" to which she
never addressed that there actually is a Director....
Maybe with all the Budget Cuts and that whole "Big Drink
Campaign" they can't afford to re-hire.....
She tells me there isn't much she can do but to instruct me to
go online and fill out the "temporary visitor tag request"
 you do not have to see a doctor....But it could take 
from 8 to 10 weeks to process...But.... she added... perhaps I
Can use it "Next Time"
I don't need it Next Time I need it This Time.....
I faxed over to the DOT Disability Office enough
paperwork to back up my request.... if I were an illegal alien
trying to get a drivers license I wouldn't have needed as much documentation.....
Haven't heard a word....Not a peep...Not a further
Insult.....Nothing..

So here sits Mayor Bloomberg signing into law
NYC's Disability policy.....
What are they all laughing about....??
"We shut our Fax machine off over at the office so when
out of towner's need assistance we can just sit and laugh"
"Mrs. A down there in Georgia.....What do you think Your
Special?"
"You can take your disability.......your car and your grandchild
and shove it......We need to keep up our reputation
as being a bunch of miserable and rude people....
That's what NYC stands for....and we're proud of it"

Thank you Mr. Mayor.......

MARGUERITE'S TABLE........

She preferred to be called Marge.....
On Occasion I would hear the Big Boss call her
"Maggie"
she was Irish and growing up in Princeton...
that swanky college town.... she went on to be a
Governess to the wealthy of the town...
Taking care of their children like they were her own
and living in a small apartment on
Library Street....
isn't that a great street name...

She married the home town boy who went on to
do great things and he was the love of her life....
Married only 6 months...he died as he stepped onto
the beach at Normandy on D-Day....
she never talked much about him but you knew
her heart had been broken....
We have tried for years to locate his grave site to no
avail.....just to pay our respects....
to Francis....

She met the Big Boss as far as we know sometime
in the late 40's in Beautician School....
something we didn't know until the Big Boss
passed away....
Two opposite people in every way....

She was neither a cook or a Hostess....
But she liked the finer things in life....
She educated herself by reading....she was always
reading.....Usually with the Cat on her lap....
where the Big Boss was ruff and gruff....and
unsophisticated......she was like an American Version
of Hyacinth from Keeping Up Appearances..
Always in neatly pressed shirt waist dresses with
an ever present "hankie" tucked up under the
sleeve.....

The Dining Room in their little house in New Jersey
could not have been more then 10x10....
The china and silver were a service for 12....
And in all the years I never saw them used once....
They sat neatly inside a little hutch cabinet in the
corner....

I never thought she cared for me very much but I'm sure it
was the same sentiment as most mothers who have an only
child who is a son....
I never realized back then that she was losing
Another man in her life....
Another "love of her life"....
No one seemed good enough for "Her Johnny"
A name she called the Boss until she died...
I used to kid and say "You would think she gave
Birth to Tom Selleck"....

So a few years ago when the Big Boss passed away
and we cleaned out the house I packed up all the
lovely green and white china for 12....
the beautiful silver for 12....
And brought them home to my new house...

where they have sat in the box for well over a year.....

I loved her Royal Doulton figures....
They sit behind a glass case...

I especially care for the Cat Women.....

The china is so delicate with it's green pattern....
The little green glass salad bowls came home with me
too....

The glasses and the cabbage bowls were already
mine.....but everything seemed to go so well
together....
The Tea Cart in the background was Marge's..
It fits nicely in my over sized dining room....

I never had my own silver service so this was a treat
When I got a whole beautiful set.....With our Initial
on each piece!

The pitchers are mine....The little one
was sent to me by Sally of Salmugundi.....It matched
the big one....only hers is old and mine is new...
Don't you love when Blog friends send you
special treasures....

I found this in the silver box.....
the initials are...
"MPC"
Marguerite Phillips Clark.....

And here is a picture of Marguerite.....
probably during her working years in Princeton
Perhaps before she married Frances....
Maybe after....

She re-married in the late 1940's and they
were married for a little over 25 years before she passed
away......at an early age....
The Big Boss never re-married.... 

Here they are in their 25th Anniversary picture....
So private....that we never knew when they were married...
the anniversary came and went and this photo
was found when the house was being sold....

I hope I have made Marge proud by being the keeper of the
china and the silver and ofcourse the Boss....
It's been 45 years since I first met her....
I think she would enjoy seeing her lovely things
being used and enjoyed and to have them
at home in such a beautiful setting....

This post is for the "Boss".......

I am linking up with Cuisine Kathleen's 
Blog Crawl for St. Patrick's Day....
Lot's of beautiful tablescapes to view...

HAM AND ASIAGO POPOVERS........simple and delicious!

If your not a baker the word "simple" when referring to
 Popovers
or Cream Puffs do not come to mind....
But they are and everyone who cooks or bakes...even a
beginner..... should add
these to your repertoire....
Start with a popover pan.....that is of course if your making
popovers.....Cream puffs get baked on a regular cookie sheet.
I purchased the one above at Ikea for a mere $9.99.....
I love it because it's narrow and tall....
the popovers come perfect!!
If this recipe looks familiar to you I did a post on
the pan I use last March....But I have had so
many people ask me for this recipe I thought I would
do another post about how easy they are to make...

Ikea also sells the cupcake papers to fit this pan....
Someone asked me if the cupcakes fall over
since the pan is so tall and the answer is no....
they look adorable and are a perfect size....
If you aren't lucky enough to live near an Ikea
you can use any popover pan to make the recipe below...
If you are lucky....... you "Don't" live near Ikea and have
never eaten their infamous "meatballs".....after hearing that
 the ones selling in Ikea Europe are
made from horse meat.....
but let's not ruin our appetite.....

prep time is only about 5 minutes with a short baking time
of 20 minutes....so very quick and easy to make
for a luncheon or brunch.....
or as an appetiser at a wine and cheese party....
they are best served right out of the oven....

see how tall they stand.....
the secret is in the baking time and not
rushing them out of the oven....
they will not collapse if you follow the
instructions....

so if you want to impress your neighbors and friends....
Or if you just love a good cheese puff....
Give these a try....
Here is the recipe.....hope you enjoy them!!

1 cup of water
1 stick of butter
1 cup of flour
4 eggs
a pinch of salt
1/3 pound of grated Asiago Cheese
1/3 pound of good sliced deli ham.....any type you like
dice into small pieces...
1/3 to 1/2 cup of good grated Parmesan cheese....

pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.....
in a hurry use my trick of turning on the broiler to
heat the oven faster....turn off after 5 minutes then
change to the bake function set at 400....

in a saucepan heat the water with the butter until
the butter melts....
add the pinch of salt...
remove from heat and all at once add the cup of flour....
Using a wooden spoon stir until it forms a ball....
Add the dough to your mixer....this can also be done by hand
but is a lot easier in a Kitchen Aid....
One at a time add your eggs .....
mixing until each egg gets incorporated into the dough....
Add the grated cheeses and the ham
 stir well...
prepare your pan by spraying it with cooking spray...

using a teaspoon.....divide the dough evenly among the
12 cups....Then go back and mound each cup so the dough
raises above the top of the pan....dough will be stiff so this
works well...

bake for 20-22 minutes or until a nice golden brown....
shut off the oven temp and open the oven door halfway....
Leaving the popovers in the oven.....
This let's them get used to the outside air temp and
will prevent them from collapsing....
after about 3-4 minutes remove from oven onto a cooling rack...
Gently use the tip of a knife to release any that have stuck to the
edge of the pan....and lift them out of the pan and place them on
their sides to cool....do this before moving them to a plate...
Leave them to cool for a few minutes before moving them...
The least handled the less likely chance of them
falling.....
Serve warm.....but they can be eaten at room temp also...
they go great with salads and soups....or all by themselves...
You can also vary the filling just like you would a Quiche...
such as bacon....spinach and parmesan....
Bon Apetit!!