Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for December 14, 2020

That Elvis….such a micromanager!

I don’t miss dining out – “nervous” and “food” have never been a great combination for me – but I miss my favorite pizza place, which seems to have gone out of business since everything went haywire.

My main social contact was eating out at a restaurant once a month with a group of other retired teachers. I miss that.

I don’t think I would go out for tomato soup, but whatever floats your oyster crackers.

I always went out for my birthday in January, but not this year, sigh…

When we lived a Thousand Miles Away. Every Friday my spouse would take me to some restaurant and we would get dinner. Most times it was Clam Chowder. (Sniffle) That is all gone now. Most of the restaurants are out of business or too far away. The best Chowder I can find, locally, is sitting on my pantry shelf. And as cheerful as I have been feeling lately… it may expire before I feel like opening one of them.

“Homestyle”?

Coincidentally, I just read that the iconic Cliff House restaurant in San Francisco is closing permanently after 157 years

Uh-oh, Elvis has become the Manners Police. Everyone’s doomed!

Thank you, Elvis, for attempting to maintain standards.

(I notice they don’t dress for dinner.)

Elvis is keeping the woman on the nice list.

And you had no snooty maître d’s telling you where you shouldn’t put your elbows…

BoCH again! 2 days in a row—way to go, Elvis!

I’m with Elvis. I am thankful my parents brought me up with strict table manners. And I have to say, really good tomato soup, with chunks of ripe tomatoes, is one of life’s great joys.

I miss restaurant food but not going to restaurants. As a single woman who traveled extensively, both for business and pleasure, I have probably eaten in a thousand restaurants around the world. I got so sick of the way women in general and solo women especially are so disrespected and made to feel so unwelcome in restaurants.

My last restaurant trip, right before indoor dining was banned, was the same. The wait staff was rude and dismissive from the start. Then I ordered one of their $15 burgers and said I did not want lettuce or tomato. The waiter started ranting and raving at me about how I would not get lettuce or tomato because, if I had “bothered” to read the menu, I would have seen that lettuce and tomato were not listed for burgers and therefore, I was basically an idiot for saying I don’t want lettuce or tomato because no way were they going to give me lettuce and tomato in the first place, so no, I could not have the lettuce and tomato that I didn’t want.

He then stormed off to put in my burger order. I had to get up and walk to the back to give him my drink order. I should have just walked out the door, but I was really hungry.

The last time I ate at a restaurant was… (quickly checks chart made for exactly this purpose) four and a half years ago, with my high school choir. (McDonald’s double cheeseburger and milk, yum. {Thank the gods Celiac didn’t kick in ’til next year.})

I’ve never actually gone to a restaurant with waitstaff or individual menus.

I miss going out to movies

Question: I have a double sided cat brush.. one side has bristles, the other has pins. My cat likes both but it seems she prefers the bristle side to rub her chin, ears and side of head. I’m semi new to being owned by a cat ;) .. what’s your date’s favorite?

George Michael and Wham!: Last Christmas

Last Christmas I went out to eat

But a year has gone by, no soup or french fries

Next year, I hope it is clear,

There is no more Covid pandemic

…….

Last Christmas I went out to eat

But a year has gone by, no soup or french fries

Next year, I hope it is clear,

There is no more Covid pandemic

…….

All my favorite places shut down

My mask does very little

To hide my big frown,

I do my best to play by the rules,

But somehow I feel this shutdown is cruel!

…….

Last Christmas I went out to eat

But a year has gone by, no soup or french fries

Next year, I hope it is clear,

There is no more Covid pandemic

…….

No crowded rooms, let’s stay apart,

Let’s keep our distance, and all do our part

We take all the precautions as best as we’re able,

Me? I keep my elbows off of the table!

…….

A face with a cover when I’m going outside,

It pains me to do it but the rules I abide,

Ooh-hoo!

I hope after it’s all over we don’t have to do it again!

…….

Last Christmas I went out to eat

But a year has gone by, no soup or french fries

Next year, I hope it is clear,

There is no more Covid pandemic

…….

A face with a cover when I’m going outside,

It pains me to do it but the rules I abide,

Maybe next year, maybe next year,

We’ll go out to someplace special…

My daughter finished her last final exam at midnight on Friday guys, you heard right, FSU had their students who had their 11 AM M W F class to take their on line exam at 10 PM to mid night Friday…..

She is free as a bird now and waits as her friends at UF take their exams on line starting today!

As a Dad I am proud she got through this semester.

Tomato soup and a BLT.

I went out to a restaurant with friends last night. Wore masks, took them off at the table. A rather decent diner. We’d discussed getting takeout pizza instead, but decided on this.

I didn’t get tomato soup, though.

OT. Yen

I’ll have a blue Christmas without soup

I’ll be so blue thinking about soup

Such tomatoes of red in a restaurant, pureed

Won’t mean a thing, see, if not eaten there by me

I’ll have a blue Christmas with no place servin’

Surrounded by strangers, hot soup, mouth burnin’

I’ve been doing all right with my fam’ly day and night

But I miss goin’ out for a bite

So I’ll have a blue blue Christmas

I’ll have a blue Christmas, you know, dear

Until I think of how you all bring me such cheer

And when I say my prayers on this Christmas Eve

I’ll thank Cat that you’re healthy and here with me

And when those blue snowflakes start fallin’

That’s when those blue mem’ries start callin’

I’ll be holdin’ you all tight with all my might

And we’ll have a grateful Christmas

(Billy Hayes / Jay W Johnson – Blue Christmas)

I miss stealing food from… Er.. I mean I miss restaurants too.

Off-Topic Post follows.

You’ll go back if it’s still in business.

All shut down for reasons dubious at best.

Gettig takeout just isn’t the same…

Puck in The Boy’s lap is the sweetest thing.♥

I’m making my own birthday cake and dinner this weekend. I keep asking people what they want me to cook for MY birthday! That and mother’s day are the only two days I really want to go out to eat. (I have food allergies and I’m only brave enough to order a plain uncut baked potato)

I find that I miss restaurants.

Pucky has recovered.

Elvis…like a proper gentleman enforces dinner etiquette LOL

Seems there are too many restaurants these days, dont recall there being so many years ago.

I miss shows. I used to go to a show at least once a week. And be in them sometimes.

My guilty pleasure is to dine out at nice restaurants. I really hope to get back to that late next year.

What was your nicest dinner out? It does not have to be the most expensive restaurant, but one that was a particular nice / good food / meaningful time?

My wife and I had a very special dinner on our honeymoon almost 30 years ago, at a restaurant a French in Chicago called Everest.

I love the manners! Elbows OFF the table, cats ON the table. That’s my kind of rules! #catetiquette

Tomato soup is pretty easy to make. It’s just tomatoes , broth, salt, pepper, spices and fresh basil. Some recipes call for fresh tomatoes, others use canned whole tomatoes. You smush the tomatoes up, either by hand or with a potato masher (you can use a blender or mixer as well) in a pot, then add broth and whatever spices/salt/pepper you want. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until done. Add some fresh basil near the end, then serve in a bowl with some cheese and toast. Yum.

I never understood the whole “keep your elbows off the table” deal anyway. It just feels unnatural to me, and I don’t see how it’s poor manners regardless.

But then again, there’s a few “high-end” social convention rules like that I’ve long been mystified by anyway, so…

Just watched the first person in my state (New York) to get the Corona vaccine! Hopefully this will help to get the people back to restaurants and away from Elvis, the manners police, officer!

Oh this comic is making me feel rather sad. In out town we have several restruants we like. As far as i know none of them have gone out of business, but I do really, really want this pandemic to be over.

A good restaurant on a perfect day in a tourist town off-season with the wind blowing the seagulls across a painted sky

what about subway foot long, I mean it is footlong season haven’t you got the ads?

OT Cat Treats

Looks like Lupin’s not the only one having glitter trouble…

https://www.gocomics.com/dogeatdoug/2020/12/14

Pity the restaurant workers instead. I have two family members in high-end dining. The chef is working part time for take out. The front end manager has been totally out of work since March because no one is at tables.

…unfortunately your favorite little restaurant probably went bankrupt with all the shut downs…

Kind of OT: When the pandemic is well and truly over, what is the first thing you want to do?

Today is:

Anniversary of the death of John Harvey Kellogg: No worries. He left a lot of flakes behind …

Monkey Day: Let’s hear it for our distant cousins. How do I know they are distant … Well, looking out my window I see … hmmm … At least based on experience … uuhh … Let’s check online … oh dear! … That is certainly a very good question! But we shouldn’t monkey with it any further.

National Bouillabaisse Day: I’ve always thought there was something fishy about this soup, originally created so poor fishermen could eat refuse fish they caught but couldn’t sell. I suspect the original was not “boil then simmer” but “cook until the components disintegrate.” In my experience, time has not improved it much, in spite of heroic efforts of generations of French chefs. Perhaps I should stop fishing around trying to find something nice about it.

Roast Chestnuts Day: On this day we roast chestnuts, either old, worn out, stale jokes and phrases (the hoarse kind), or the more edible (horse) kind. While I have pulled others’ chestnuts from the fire, I’ve never eaten, or even seen, an actual chestnut, though I’ve certainly herd a lot of hoarse ones.

We have now gone “from soup to nuts.” You may interpret that last word however you wish …

Alexa has an app called “café sounds”. It’s oddly comforting. Exactly like what the Woman is describing.

And are those grilled cheese sandwiches I see?

We aren’t on hard lockdown. When they’re open I have made a point of going to local restaurants even though I can’t really afford it just now. There’s a Polish restaurant in Tucson that I very much want to keep in business. Unfortunately, I almost never get into the city anymore, but I do what I can in our little town.

I doubt it.

Just hang in there, Woman.

I am not that crazy about eating in restaurants, but have had my favorite cafes and wonder how they are faring. I was about to go check out the local coffee bar when they closed on account of virus, and appear to be closed for good. If they do reopen some day I’ll write a review.

I’ve worked in too many restaurants to feel comfortable actually EATING in one!