History in the Making

It is put up or shut up time for team owners and general managers, the NFL Draft 2014 starts tomorrow and continues through Saturday.  NFL owners, coaches, players and fans are on the brink of history in the making as SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Sam, DE from the University of Missouri enters the draft as a middle round prospect.  The drafting of Michael Sam would make him the first openly Gay player to be drafted by any of the four major sports.  Once he signs with a team, Sam will become the first openly Gay player in the NFL.  His first down of play in a regular season game will also be historic.  This will pave the way and provide an example for other athletes in whatever sport, amateur or professional, showing that they too can be true to themselves as LGBT's and still be successful in their sport.  One cannot understate the significance of this time in LGBT history as we continue to break barriers and progress towards Equality for all.  I will be watching the progress of the draft, wondering which owner and team will step up to the plate to draft Michael Sam for his playing ability rather than his orientation.  I will of course relay the good news to you all when it happens, and it will happen.  The chances of Michael Sam not being drafted, while a remote possibility, are practically nil.  I just hope he does not go to one of the Cowboys' division rivals.  It would be hard to root for him if he was a member of an Eagles, Giants or Redskins team.  Sam is expected to go in the middle rounds, so the real watch for his drafting starts on Friday with round 3.  I wish Michael all the luck in the world and I am poised to congratulate both him and his team on this historic occasion. 

You Midweek Musical Moment features the Music of Robert Schumann with his Fantasie in C Major, Opus 17.  The performance by Jorge Bolet is from a German Broadcast recorded in 1960.  You may also hear Schumann's Cello Concerto in A Minor, Opus 129 featuring Jacqueline du Pre as the Soloist over on my tumblr.

On display below the video is a comely collection of man art as they splash about the pools, beaches and baths of the world in this week's edition of Wet Wednesday.  Be sure to check out the Wet Wednesday Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for sharing part of your day with me, see you tomorrow.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

 

The Great Tamale Hunt

When last we spoke, I was running out the door to do my payday chores and errands and I said I had miles to go before I sleep.  It turned out to be a few more miles than what I had anticipated.  I have a fairly routine process to plan out these chores and errands.  First I make the weekly menu, then I make the shopping lists by bouncing the menu against my kitchen, cleaning supply and bathroom inventories.  I end up with two shopping lists, the first is for Supplies, Medications and Staple Grocery items that I purchase at the Family Dollar close by the apartments.  the second is the Grocery list that I purchase at Kroger.  Now I have shopped at Kroger stores for years now.  I am comfortably confident that their store brands are every bit as good as the name brands but a better value and with my Kroger card I get savings on Kroger brand items as well as weekly specials.  In addition, my Kroger card has now been appended with a Senior Citizens discount for an additional 10 percent savings on Kroger brand items and specials.  Overall I save about 20 percent off of normal retail by shopping faithfully at Kroger.  I have tried shopping at Wally World (Walmart), but I do not trust the Great Value brands like I do the Kroger brands and I really don't like some of the product selections available nor most of their Grocery section layouts.  So I shop at Kroger.  They closed the one across from the Family Dollar store here in the neighborhood, so now I must travel about 7 miles to the Kroger on Highway 377 in Haltom City.

Here in Texas we have a great tradition of excellent Mexican food and Tex-Mex which is Mexican food with a Texas flair.  Everything from the simple Taco to the fancy Enchiladas, Gorditos, Tortas, Burritos, Chimichangas and you must not forget the Nachos.  By far, however, my favorite Mexican food is the traditional Tamale Puerco Rojo con Chile con Carne y Queso, basically Red Pork Tamales with Chili and Cheese served with a side of Refitos (Refried Beans) and Arroz Mexicana (Mexican Rice).  Now you would think that with this grand tradition, a good Tamale would be easy to find at your local Kroger.  You would be wrong in that assumption.  Kroger does carry Tamales, I can get a dozen finger size Tamales for $5.95, sometimes.  I have been needing a Tamale fix for about 3 weeks now, and they have not had any at the Kroger where I shop.  They had some California Gourmet Tamales, but I am unfamiliar with the brand name and did not like the price of $6.95 for 5 Tamales.  So when I went to Kroger yesterday, I bought the Wolf brand Hot Chili (absolutely the best Chili in Texas), the Refritos and the Arroz, anticipating that I would then travel on down Highway 377 towards work to the corner of 377 and Beach Street to the Super Mercado (Super Market in Espanol) thinking, it being an Hispanic Grocery Store, surely they would have Tamales.  I looked all over the store and could not find a sign of Tamales anywhere.  So I stopped one of the mujeres in the carniceria (lady in the meat department) and asked "Donde esta Tamales?" (where are the Tamales?) and she answered "en la Cocinar"  (in the kitchen), the hot deli in the back of the store. So I said Gracias and headed back to the Cocinar and asked the lady there about the Tamales.  Unbelievably she said they only stock them in the November-December holiday season.  So I struck out at the Super Mercado, also.  Two blocks from the Super Mercado is a Super Walmart.  Walmart carries frozen Mexican foods under the DeliMex brand that are pretty good.  The neighborhood Walmart over on Meadowbrook carries big Beef Tamales at 6 for $5.50, well the Super Walmart at Beach and Highway 121 carries every DeliMex product except for Tamales, so there I was at strike three.

I decided then that I would go to the neighborhood Walmart, but having to pass the apartment to do so, I would stop and put up what I had already bought before traveling on to Wally World.  When I put up all the Groceries and Supplies, I noticed that I was missing two pounds of ground beef that were on the receipt.  So instead of going on to Wally World, I had to travel back to the Kroger on 377 to get my ground beef that somehow did not make it into my bags.  I knew something would be off because as I stood in line for my favorite cashier at Kroger the first time, they opened another cashier up in the next aisle and pulled me over there.  I should have waited for my favorite.  Anyway, they had found my two pounds of ground beef and restocked them, but let me go get them.  On the way over to the Kroger the second time, I was stopped at a light on Highway 10 and noticed a mom and pop Taqueria next to the resale shop which had a giant Tamales banner flying on the corner.  So on the way back from Kroger I stopped in to check it out.  I was sure glad I did as they had homemade traditional red pork Tamales hand made by the Madre or Abuela (Mother or  Grandmother) of the guy running the place at $10 a dozen or $5 for a half dozen.  These were the big traditional Tamales in the corn husks, so I bought a half dozen to bring home and try them out.  I am going to steam some this morning and fix me the tradition Mexican dinner of Tamales, Beans and Rice and I will let you know if this little mom and pop Taqueria has good Tamales or not.

By the time I got home yesterday and finally got to take my shoes off, it was already 12:30 and I had driven out a quarter tank of gas in pursuit of the Great Tamale Hunt.  I will know if it was worthwhile here in just a little while.  Now that you have heard my tale, let's head into the entertainment phase of this post and see what we find.  Your Friday Musical Moment features a 1987 recital performance by Nicolai Petrov playing Fantasies by 5 different composers.  The play list is own below:

 0:00 : 01. C.P.E.Bach - Fantasie For Keyboard In Eb Major, Wq 58/6, H.277

 5:43 : 02. C.P.E.Bach - Fantasie For Keyboard In C Major, Wq 59/6, H.284

13:01: 03. Mozart - Fantasie In C Minor K.475

25:32: 04. Brahms - Fantasie, Op.116

46:27: 05. Mendelssohn - Fantasie In F Minor, Op.28

58:56: 06. Schumann - Fantasiestucke, Op.12/1 'Des Abends'

Then as is traditional on Fridays here at Nichevo, I have a sizzling edition of Naked or Nearly So to provide you with your man candy fix for today and get you into that weekend state of mind.  Thanks for spending part of your Friday here at Nichevo, check in over the weekend for this week's review of the Best of the Web This Week.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!