Just a quick link to an old .pdf I made about a better way to do Turkey for Thanksgiving. By removing the thighs and stuffing them, you can cook a turkey that will taste great and not be dry as hell. I did this project in St. Andrew's Cafe under Chef Garnero. Really, it wasn't my project but I was trying to help Ben not fail the class. He had to miss two classes (which would have been an instant fail) but he talked the Chef into letting him do...
04.10.08: Dear Storm: I Was AsleepCrazy storm last night; but this picture makes me laugh. This stupid tree almost fell through my bedroom (directly behind the fallen tree) window, but instead, fell on this car. I like to think that it's karmic-punishment for parking in a handicapped spot illegally. Anyway, it was a freaky storm, but the Fleeg survives....
04.03.08: two months? what?I can't believe this was taken two months ago....
02.24.08: Service a la Michelin 02.22.08: Trey and His $15 Special 02.22.08: My Flickr is Alive Again; Lady Liberty 02.07.08: Blue Hill at Stone Barns; Le BernardinThis past weekend, as celebration of the pending graduation, I was fortunate enough to go out to two amazing restaurants with good friends. Initially, we were trying to go to Le Bernardin, a Michelin Three Star, NY Times Four Star, restaurant in the heart of Manhattan. Le Bernardin, to put it bluntly, is one of the best restaurants in America; arguably one of the best seafood restaurants in the entire world. We booked Blue Hill as a back-up but quickly came to the consensus that we should just do both,...
01.13.08: nytimes mag: the moral instinctWhich of the following people would you say is the most admirable: Mother Teresa, Bill Gates or Norman Borlaug?...
01.07.08: Why Do We Do It, Really?NY Times: Most of the people I met in Bali and Ladakh could not have dreamed of getting on a plane (though that is changing fast); most of them, in fact, would go through ten times as much hardship if it could allow them to see L.A. or New York. In at least one spot in India, impoverished villagers pay $5 — a fortune to them — just to sit in a stationary plane and experience the wonders savored by those of us who sometimes fret over being separated for...
01.06.08: Mille Feuilles de Saint-Jacques, Pommes deTerre, Truffe et Beurre de VanilleIt's hard to believe that I'm in my last kitchen class of my culinary school career. It seems like just months ago that I started, but it's coming up on two years. There's only roughly one month left in New York and I'm very much going to miss it. It's an absolutely beautiful area; free of the corruption that corporations breed. It's refreshing to be in areas that can easily be described as quaint. It's been very roughly, about two years since I left my former life for the new...
12.13.07: The Turkey Will Thank MeA few weeks ago, I helped out a friend with a project for class. It's a better (i think) method of cooking a turkey than what has been told to us for years and years. To properly cook the Turkey thigh, you have to cook the hell out of the breast, resulting in dry, flavorless meat. We've all had it and no matter how good a cook your mom is, the turkey is never as good as it should be. Chef Garnero taught us this method during my back of...
12.07.07: The Story of My New LifeA love for food and the preparation of it is so pervasive in my life that I'm constantly surprised by the tasks I end up doing and loving. Dicing onions? Love it. Washing dishes? Love it. Table service? Love it. This week has been my first of three weeks of table service in Ristorante Caterina de Medici, a white tablecloth Italian restaurant. For seven class days before this table service class, we were in the kitchen producing the food, now we're serving it. I've only had very little experience in...
11.29.07: Pickup: Three Hen, One Bass, Three ShrimpThis week, I finish out my hardest class here at the Culinary in line for a February graduation. Caterina de Medici is the busiest restaurant on campus with one of the most demanding Chefs. Ultimately, I'll be sad that this class ended so quick and I wish I had more time in the kitchen. I've worked a wood-fired oven for the past 5 days of class and have enjoyed it. There's just something very cerebral about tending an eight-hundred degree fire. Granted, I'm missing some arm hair and I've...
11.23.07: Home For The Holiday.fifteen hours of airports was worth it. enjoying thanksgiving with the family and friends....
11.17.07: our amuse´ tonight; panna cotta with apple marmalade 11.14.07: Iron Chef Michael SimonTonight, Iron Chef Michael Simon was on-campus celebrating his victory on "The Next Iron Chef." If you watched the series, of which most was filmed at the Culinary, you'd love this guy. He's very passionate, aggressive and down to earth. Of course, Chef John Besh and Chef Simon are both Culinary grads. The school has produced basically every winner of TV's best contests, which is really a testament to this being the best culinary school in the world. Anyway, Chef Simon was crowned Iron Chef on Sunday night after besting...
11.13.07: Why My Heart Belongs To New York CityOn Sunday, I went down to the City to meet up with the R&D team from my future employer. We hit a food a show, ate a few places, and had a wonderful time together. It was just a chance for everyone to get together, see some food, and get to know each other better in a city that has so much life. We had some amuse at a dumpling place called Mandoo Bar in the Korean part of town. It was terrific, the kim-chi and other fermented veg...
11.04.07: I'm In The MinorityBut thank goodness the weekend is over....
10.30.07: One Hundred More To GoMy days at the Culinary Institute of America are winding down, suddenly, much faster than I ever would have believed. In 100 calendar days, I'll be bidding adieu to this chapter of my life to start building another. On the one hand, I'm obviously excited to move into the "real world" as 99% of my friends already have. Granted, I took a longer route, but thank God for longer routes. For years I thought I'd work in the grocery store or in human resources, only to find out that...
10.25.07: Nice To Get Paid To Do This... 10.22.07: I'm Really Pushing It With These Autumn Pictures, Aren't I?One of the things I most regret about my first year here is that I stayed in my room too much last Autumn. I've decided that I like the word "autumn" more than "fall". I doubt I'm using it correctly, but I'm sticking with it. Anyway, back to the point. Last year, I noticed the fall colors and I thought they were nice, but I didn't have a reason to be out and really enjoying it. This area, the Hudson Valley, is absolutely gorgeous. It's border-line forest with beautiful...
10.20.07: Autumn: In New York, Leaves Change Colors...
10.12.07: One if by land, Two if by sea!Whitney's ten day visit to New York and Massachusetts has come and gone. We explored Albany, the Hudson River Valley, New York City, and Boston in ten short days. It was quite good, but quite tiring. My feet haven't quite recovered from all the walking. We took, i'd say, around 2000 pictures combined. I pared mine down to 200+ and they're on flickr for your perusal. Autumn in the northeast is something that everyone should experience. The beauty and color are quite impressive....
10.03.07: Expect A Deluge of Pictures Soon... 10.02.07: america, i hardly knew yeThomas Friedman: 9/11 Is Over "I will not vote for any candidate running on 9/11. We don’t need another president of 9/11. We need a president for 9/12. I will only vote for the 9/12 candidate. What does that mean? This: 9/11 has made us stupid. I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again." To be honest, I don't even recognize America's...
09.23.07: Sixth Annual Chili Cookoff: stirring the pot of love 09.22.07: autumn is here. 09.16.07: With a Smile on your FaceI admit, I get drunk on the idea of Food. Ideas and places and experiences cloud my mind as I think about it. Is there any other luxury in the world that can be so changing to the psyche than food? That there's so much to experience and so many things that many of us will never have the privilege of enjoying is so enthralling to me that I find myself consumed by the knowledge that the world is so big and vast. There are people in other countries...
09.13.07: From Burger Hill 09.08.07: Baking and Pastry Skill Development: Best Class Thus Far...Yesterday marked the end of Baking and Pastry Skill Development. For three weeks, I was immersed in a world very much unlike the culinary side of things I'd grown accustomed to. In looking back, I have fond memories and learned more about the science of baking than I thought would be possible. Our instructor, Chef Rudy Spiess, was a real credit to the Institute and really epitomized what a good Chef-Instructor should do. Now it's back to the grind in Cuisines of the Mediterranean, which is going to be...
09.02.07: The Inevitable Falling Down...Today, I went to Burger Hill Park, a site owned by Scenic Hudson, that overlooks the Hudson Valley and off into the Catskills. It was a neat place and really helps compound all of the beauty in the area into a very small area where you can see a little bit of everything. The above-pictured father and son were great; we caught them as we were coming down the hill and they up the hill. Once the little boy saw us, he decided his trip up the hill was...
08.28.07: "The Beauty Is In It's Simplicity.""The beauty is in it's simplicity." After making creme´englace yesterday, which is basically ice cream without the flavor, I had to make up my own mix today. We weren't allowed to use recipes as the idea was to learn that you can make this one base (the creme englace) and then numerous ice creams could come from that. It was neat, but a little overwhelming because I wanted to make something remarkable, but not ordinary. So I saw the Kahlua and the scene from "The Big Lebowski" where The...
08.27.07: He's Looking At The Funnel Cake TentIt's a strange thing, but I bet if you go to a fair in every state, it'd have the same vibe. You're guaranteed to find the "zipper" and as much funnel cake, deep-fried goods, and corn on the cob you could ever want to enjoy. The Dutchess County Fair was no different. Go enjoy more pictures @ Flickr!...
08.24.07: You Know How It Seems, I'm SureIf there's been one thing I've learned from all of my personal disappointments and troubles, it's that life doesn't wait around for you. I was struck today, watching the Lubbock Little Leaguers crash and burn, that for many people, there's not an understanding of how things really are. When I think back on the, literally, hundreds of opportunities I've squandered and bumbled in the last 8-9 years, I'm amazed at how far I've still managed to get, those mistakes aside. I can vividly remember some of the lowest points of...
08.21.07: Streudel is like The Friend You Want Everyone To MeetRight now, I'm in my second block of my second year, here at the CIA. On Monday, I started a class I'd been looking forward to for the entire duration of the time I'm here. It's Baking and Pastry Skills Development for Culinarians; my Baker friends call it the "outing class for cooks" because it's the class where all the cooks realize they should have been bakers. Thus far, I can see the point of their argument; it's been a lot of fun. (pictured is streudel dough stretched paper-thin over...
08.17.07: Walking and Making ChangesThis morning I walked up to FDR’s estate, just about a two-mile walk up the river. I’m not sure if it’s sanctioned, but there’s a trail between the Culinary’s campus and the National Park System’s property where the home of FDR and his National Library are located. It’s an impressive area and you can still see the remnants of its former life as the home to one of our most popular Presidents and First Ladys. I saw quite a few deer, got some pictures of a few and got to...
08.09.07: deluge of shhhhhiiii...I've been buried in mind-numbing homework. Here's an example, a presentation I designed that we gave today about my group members' extern site. It's a little compressed, but you get the idea. iWork '08 is quite grand. It's been out two days and it's already gotten me an A. Thank you Steve Jobs....
07.07.07: a blue dayA few observations with some time to kill in the Chicago airport... Apple hysteria is hitting an all-time high. In the first fifteen minutes of sitting here, I've been dogged by 5 different people about my computer and whether I like it and if I think it's worth it. I try to briefly describe how efficient and wonderfully designed they are and how I'd never go back. But it's always the analogy I offer that gets them. So next time someone is bothering you about your computer, just tell...
06.28.07: original Yawkey seats 06.24.07: not paul revere, paul from revereWatch a SlideShow I was lucky enough to spend this last weekend in Boston with my parents. Initially, I wasn't really thrilled about giving up my first weekend back to keep on the move because I was still pretty tired. But Boston is my kind of town; lots of food and beer and people with attitudes. Besides being a very pretty town with two tons of history, I was impressed with how independent most of the town still is. Sure, there were 1,100 Dunkin' Donuts, but the places with...
06.20.07: new york, new york.Life moves quickly. Started classes today at the Culinary; already back into the grind and so far, it's just been weird. It was strange to become so entrenched in this world, only to leave it and then return again. Honestly, it feels like I was gone for so long; this world seemed so foreign. But the friendships have come back easily as has the jealousy of those who have cars. I'm back in Texas in two weeks for summer vacation (3 weeks) and I can tell you it's zero fun...
02.18.07: youtube; damien riceI was reliving my Damien Rice concert in my head today and I remembered I hadn't really shared how cool a concert it really was. I saw Damien Rice and The Swell Season in December in New York City, on a cold-wet night. It was absolutely perfect atmosphere for his style of music and The Beacon Theatre was an amazing venue. To think that we willingly pay to see artists perform in athletic arenas is stupid after you've seen them in a real theatre. Acoustically, it was amazing; loud,...
01.26.07: come back to Texas...My, how quickly time flies... I'm now a resident of Arlington, TX and working under the guise of a great Chef at a neat company. I'm still not certain on how much I can really talk about the work we do, or who we work with, because it's fairly secretive. But I've gone to work for exactly 4 hours in the first week, waiting on a stupid drug test. Oh well. I'm in Lubbock now, seeing the family and friends. Whitney is as pretty as ever and, thank God, she...
01.16.07: flickr: plated appetizersI put up some pictures from class on Flickr......
01.09.07: it "practical"ly kicked my assWell, the Second Term Practical will go down in personal history as a moment I care to forget. The first half of my 2 hours was great. I drew Station #1; roasted chicken with pan gravy, glazed beets, potatoes au gratin, and green beans. The soup was beef consomme, a personal nemesis, but of all the stations, it was the easiest. So I had to just got and mess everything up. Nothing like having the easiest menu and getting the worst grade. One point lower and we'd be retaking that...
01.08.07: you can't spell four without F UTuesday afternoon, I've got my second-term cooking practical. I like to make it very gangsta by pretending it's me against the world (!), but it's really not that bad. Basically, I'll enter a testing kitchen, have 150 minutes to knock out a soup, three sides, and a main entree. It's all gotta come out at the exact same time at the end of the testing period and I can't ask questions or receive any help. So it's a little tedious, but I feel some sort of confidence, though I'm...
01.04.07: pajama pants can bring people togetherI'm back in Hyde Park, NY after 12 days in Lubbock. It's kind of weird to be back, as I'd gotten semi-used to being in Lubbock. Part of the weirdness of this whole culinary school experience is how fast the program goes and how quickly time flies by. Honestly, each 3 week class feels like about 3 days, so being gone for 12 days, felt like months. I'm only here for 15 more days, which is strange, before my upcoming move to Arlington, TX until the end of June....
12.23.06: dirty, treeless lubbock15 hours of travel and I'm home. It's nice!...
12.13.06: damien rice / the swell seasonI'm not even going to try to explain the beauty of Damien Rice in concert. There was no better setting than the Beacon Theatre on a cool, misty night in New York City. Opening act was The Swell Season which was worth the price of admission and Damien Rice followed with an awe-inspiring performance. Too good... and we got the angry version of "rootless tree."...
12.06.06: american obesityThe Hoov asked me my opinion on the NYC Health Dept's ban on transfats in bakeries or eateries (which also included a provision that requires all quick eateries to list caloric count.) These are both pretty big moves that will (barring legal challenges) have a ripple effect throughout the country fairly quickly. A decade ago, New York was one of the first to aggressively challenge the social acceptance of smoking in restaurants and bars, so I don't think it's any surprise that they're taking on transfats. Basically, a transfat...
12.04.06: *yawn*It's 1:32 am and I've just showered, gotten dressed, and gotten my stuff together. Can mean only one thing: it's breakfast block! Seven days of pure 2am class bliss! Hooray!...
11.29.06: those lubbock lights...Well, Thanksgiving was great. My 5 days in Texas were a much needed break; alleviating my home-sickness and helping Whitney and I reconnect. Being away is hard, and in a weird way, you end up feeling like you know a different person than you knew before you left. Not that it's a catastrophic problem, but it makes it hard. When I finally got off the plane after leaving at 4:00 am, I was so pleased to see Whitney (i won't mention that she was late picking me up!!). To be...
11.21.06: ho chi "mine"Thus far, in Cuisines of Asia, we've studied China, Korea, Japan, and now Vietnam. Of those, I've got to say, the most impressive has been Vietnam. Granted, the country is poor, dirty, hot as hell, and did I mention, poor? But there's a really nice simplicity to it all and the flavors are pretty solid. Although they've got a strong affinity for the use of fish sauce, which smells like wet ass, I've got to say I've enjoyed it the most. Perhaps it's because I really love cheap Chinese,...
11.18.06: good news for those who love bad newsSo I'm not going to lie; i've had a really hard week. But just when it seems to get to the breaking point, it always picks back up and rewards you for sticking it out. It's funny how life works out like that. It appears, and I don't want to be uber confident, that I got an externship in January at a place in Arlington, TX. I'll hold off on talking too much about it right now, but it's an incredible opportunity and probably one of the best placements I...
11.16.06: "any ass left??"It's been an interesting week. Today, I got such a publicly ripping from Chef Pardus, that my friend Ryan asked me at lunch if "he'd left any of my ass." It probably was the worst anyone has ever given it to me and was tough to make it through without getting totally emotional. On Tuesday, the Asias kitchen I'm in was closed and the whole class taken to New York City for an Asian Food Show, amongst others. It ended up being pretty lame on the Asian side, but...
11.04.06: van steenberge beer tasting 10.21.06: new lesson learned.I've learned that if you whine enough publicly, things might happen. All joking aside, I'm very excited to be able to go home for Thanksgiving, courtesy of Whitney and my parents buying a plane ticket this late in the game. For one, it's eased the stress of the long-distance that Whitney and I've been struggling with and it's given me some stuff to look forward to. I'd made tentative plans to go down to the city for the Macy's parade and eat with some friends here, but going home...
10.19.06: surround yourself with people you love...Here comes a whiney drivel... This week has been one of the worst, scratch that, the WORST i've had since being up here. It all stems from the class I'm in right now, Skills Development III, and the group from hell I've been stuck in. I'll save all the personal bitterness I'm developing for these people and just point out that tomorrow is my last with them for the near future. For one, it's hard to work with people who don't have the same passion and drive that you do,...
10.05.06: ruhlman and bourdainGoing back to the foie gras post from a week or two ago, Michael Ruhlman and Anthony Bourdain have a great little back and forth about the issue over at Salon.com. It's a great read, because it's actually very informative about what consumers need to know and it also shows the insanity of Chef Bourdain. On a Fox News show last spring, in a debate pitting Assemblyman Panter against Ann Coulter (following her disparaging remarks about New Jersey 9/11 widows), Panter defended his colleagues' calls to have retailers pull her...
09.27.06: noble protectors??Michael Ruhlman, a writer and Culinary graduate, wrote a guest post at megnut.com about a proposed NJ ban on the sale (or production, it's not clear) of fois gras. Ruhlman nails it when he calls them out for trying to get publicity by attacking a small segment of animal producers. It's funny, from everything I've read and seen about the production of fois, it's always been seemingly incredibly more humane than how we produce the rest of our food... But if the rumor is true, the foie brouhaha has reached...
09.26.06: ughThe past week or so hasn't been the greatest. I guess it's the fall doldrums that I've run into, but it hasn't been as easy as it had been. Don't get me wrong, class and school in general are going great. My grades are excellent and my skills are really coming along. I've started being able to produce things that are actually pretty outstanding. It's nice to be able to do things that impress yourself, and it's nice to see the progression thus far. Perhaps, I'm finally missing home; but...
09.20.06: spinachA view on the E. coli spinach outbreak from the original owner of Riverside Farms, one of the farms at the center of the controversy. Spinach!? by Andy Griffin Deborah Schot, a reporter from the L.A. Times, called me to ask for an opinion about the e coli outbreak in prepackaged fresh spinach that has killed one person and sickened hundreds more. And yes, I have an opinion. I think the F.D.A. employee that I heard on the radio yesterday urging people to play it safe and not eat fresh...
09.16.06: go back to high schoolThis past week was a short one, and pretty easy all around. My procrastinating ways led me to wait three months before attempting to write my 23 pages I needed for Wednesday's writing class. I spent all day Tuesday writing; hardly even moving from my desk for the entire day. Our assignment was to write a one-page journal entry every class meeting and turn them in at the end of the term. So, of course, I waited until the day before. After writing my 23 pages, I wrote a...
09.12.06: september has come and goneI never knew 10 days could be so short, but Whitney's seemingly long visit is already over. We did have a great 10 days with lots of good food (surprise!) and several trips down into Manhattan. I've always enjoyed it up here, but having Whitney around made it all the better. I'm sad to say my zeal for NY is a little less after seeing how good it could be....
09.08.06: Yankee StadiumObviously, the posting has been a little light. Whitney is here visiting and we've been really busy....
08.19.06: here fishy fishyYesterday was the last of seven long, smelly days in Seafood ID and Fabrication. Chef Clark, for the first few days, was a lunatic. Granted, I learned a whole hell of a lot over those seven days, but Chef Clark was something else. Born poor in Missisippi, Chef Clark brought a whole nother attitude to learning that I'd not seen before. I always like to joke with people that the Culinary is the only place where you can have a professor without a Bachelor's degree. Chef Clark quit high school....
08.11.06: my loveIt's weird to say that you've loved someone from the first time you met them. It's cliche and often it's untrue, but it certainly applies to how I feel about my girl, Whitney. It's funny, but when people ask us how we met, neither of us really know how to answer. We didn't "know" each other before we met, but we knew each other by a good case of recreational stalking and the following of the others' weblog. Which is funny, because it normally seems creepy and weird, but for...
08.10.06: Chef ClarkOne of the first things I noticed about life here at the Culinary is that there is a certain level of underlying grumpiness by much of the student body. I never could finger whether or not it was just the money issue or the dorms or whatever, but there always seemed to be just a little nick of unhappiness in most everyone. I now know why. It's because in the kitchens and in the classrooms, they work you to death. Today, we started Seafood ID & Fabrication after 7 days...
08.02.06: hot times tenI got back up to New York on Monday. It was an all day affair and definitely something that only a crazy would enjoy. Three flights, a cab ride, and a train ride consumed 15 hours of my life. I used to watch a show on a&e called "airline." It's a weekly documentary of the actions of people who work for Southwest airlines and usually shows some of the crazier passengers and the strange situations. Every once in a while, you'd get to watch as a terminal manager had to...
07.05.06:this is a placeholder for a post about passions and my thoughts about being in new york. when i was about to post, i accidentally closed the window and lost everything. hopefully, i'll stop being frustrated and be able to articulate my thoughts again. grrrrr....
06.28.06: How disconnected can we be?Great article in the NY Times about Americans' new found conscientiousness about what they're eating, but also about what a fledgling feeling it's been thus far. I've got two of Pollan's books on order, so I was pleasantly surprised to run into this article. I've also added a new blog into the links, megnut is a great food blog. "Foie gras and lobster are not at the heart of the real tough issues of animal welfare, which are feed lots and pigs and cattle and chickens and how billions of...
06.24.06: an aesthetic experienceLast night, I got a group of people together to go out for a nice dinner. Initially, I was just trying to get three or four other people who wanted to go out and enjoy a nice dinner. We ended up with ten and it was a really good time. We've been studying the styles of cuisine in traditional French cooking. We've been giving presentations in small groups over particular chef's such as: Paul Bocuse, Julia Child, Fernand Point, and Caterina de Medici, etc.. While studying them, we'd examine their...
06.18.06: update of sortsA quick update: Things have started settling down in New York. Classes are absolutely flying by and everything just seems to be moving so fast. I've made a few good friends up here, but it's been weird because it's really hard to find anyone who can carry a conversation. Living in the dorms has been quite a shock to my old guy complex I've developed. You just kinda forget how stupid 18 year old guys are... In three weeks, I'll be back in Lubbock for three weeks. I'm pretty excited...
06.09.06: chop, chopIn all of the literature from the Culinary, they talk about how they recommend you not having a job during B Block, which lasts 6 weeks. I thought that was a bit conservative, because really, how hard could it be to go to class for four hours each day? Pretty damn hard, actually. The Culinary operates on a schedule called a Progressive Learning Year. It's basically a block system that you must comprehend and pass to move on to the next block. Most classes are only 3 weeks long and...
06.06.06: Vanderbilt Mansionclick for more...
06.05.06: "i feel fatter and it makes me happy"quick update: it's probably wise to only bring a bicycle to the CIA. if you don't gain 25lbs in the first year, you've got to be seriously trying not to. with meals like roasted duck, infused pork tenderloin, and ribeye for LUNCH!?!, it's possibly pretty easy to put on some heft. but it's amazing food and you don't care that you're eating three-courses for lunch. First Week Awards: Best Appetizer: Vol a Vert - sauteed mushrooms sitting atop a fresh pastry (sort of like a biscuit/criossant cross). A lovely red...
05.29.06: I love NYI made it. Yay. Flying yesterday was pretty uneventful. I met some nice people in the Baltimore airport while eating some very sub-par crab cakes. On my flight into Albany, I met a kid attending the Insitute who let me pick his brain for an hour. His name was Brian and he's a third-year Baking student. Instead of riding the train, I caught a ride with him down to the Insititute. The NY countryside is breathtakingly beautiful. We headed down Route 9 from Albany and things were pretty. Lots...
05.23.06: so as to avoid any more confusionWhen I tell people I'm moving to New York for school, they automatically assume New York City. Wrong. To set the record straight, I'll be in Hyde Park, NY on the banks of the Hudon River, 90 minutes north of New York City....