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Thursday, October 1, 2020

THE BEST NETFLIX COOKING SERIES

MY WORLD IS CHANGING.  THE SHIFT TO A NEW SYSTEM BY GOOGLE IS LIMITING THIS BLOG SITE.  I WILL CONTINUE A WHILE IN THE PRESENT FORM, BUT THIS LOCATION WILL SHORTLY BECOME THE SITE OF MY FUTURE BOOK DRAFTS FOR YOUR COMMENT.  MOSTLY, THOUGH, I WILL JUST TOSS IN INTERESTING STUFF.  THIS WILL CONTINUE AT LEAST UNTIL I REACH #1 OF MY FAVORITE SONGS AROUND THE EVE OF  THE NEW YEAR.

YOU ARE INVITED TO MY NEW BLOG SITE IF YOU WISH TO CONTINUE READING WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING FOR MORE THAN A DOZEN YEARS:

     WHY ARE WE HERE?  WHERE WILL WE GO?

From Worldometer:

           DAY USA   WORLD   Brazil      India   South Africa
June      9    1093    4732        1185       246          82
July     19      412    4606          715       675          85
           22     1205    7128       1293     1120        572
Aug      1    1462     6429       1191       765        193
          10       534     4813         593     1013        198
          12     1504     6556       1242       835        130
          30       369     4182         398       960          47
Sept     3     1094     5886          830    1083        174
            6       432     4129          456    1008        110
            9     1208     6222        1136    1168          82
           13      392     3905          389    1140          20
           14      480     4374          454    1054          52
           15    1197     6001        1090    1283        142
           16    1012     6085          967    1139          64
           17      879     5568          857    1174          67
           18      958     5464          826    1221          85
           19      657     5141          708    1149          83
           20      294     3891          330    1135          13  
           21      384     4129          455    1056          39
           22      979     5725          809    1056        126
           23    1112     6328          906    1152          88
           24      942     5872          818    1144          77
           25      895     5819          826    1093          29
           26      737     5306          732    1123          64
           27      276     3933          335    1040          22
           28      355     3837          385      777        188
           29      977     5846          849    1178           81
           30      955     6203          952    1179           67

Summary:  Another bad day for humanity.


My day now is simple:  I eat three meals with no snacks in between, take a nap, do some exercising, watch TV and go to sleep.  I do go out once/week to shop for essential cuisine enhancement items and now and then try to walk 18 holes on a golf course.

Sports programs have returned with the MBL playoffs, the NBA has their final and college sports have returned,  meaning my Netflix time will be reduced.  As it is, I"m watching so many series that I can't remember where I left off.  So today, to guide me in the future when I return to any program, I will identify what episode in which season is next for me.  Today I focus on cooking programs with Rotten Tomatoes ratings at 100%, or close.

I consider the first one to be the most enjoyable, and sixth the least, in that order:

  • Ugly Delicious    :  two seasons, both 100%.  Chef David Chang travels the USA to enjoy foods like tacos, pizza, etc.  Lot of swearing.  Chang is a James Beard awardee and director Morgan Neville has won an Oscar.  At episode 3 of season 1.
  • The Chef Show:  three seasons, with S1 at 100%/96%.   Involving filmmaker and actor Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi, with interesting guests like Gwyneth Paltrow, Seth Rogen (if you clicked on this series, you will see the full 30 minute episode featuring him) and...David Chang.  A spinoff of the movie The Chef.
  • The Great British Baking Show:  eleven seasons, with S1, S2 and S11 gaining 100% scores.    You've seen this program on PBS since 2010, for 95 episodes have been filmed.  Must have worked because it's lasted that long, and significantly increased sales of baking ingredients and accessories in the UK.  I never bothered to watch even one show until my first on Netflix. There have been some scandals.  For me, next, season 1, episode 2.  If I have absolutely nothing else to do, I might someday return..
  • Kantaro:  The Sweet Tooth Salary Man:  first season rated at 100%.  Good show if you like desserts.  I now avoid them, so might not return until the pandemic is over.  Next, S1, 3rd episode.
I'm now down to #90, and these songs occurred at a time of transition when I graduated from Stanford and found myself in Naalehu, Hawaii, the southernmost city in the USA.  The Florida Keys only go down to around 24.5 north latitude.  Naalehu is at 19NL.  If Puerto Rico becomes a state, it is at 18NL.
Having just left the Bay Area, San Francisco is today my second favorite spot on this planet, after also working at the NASA Ames Research Center, and spending two summers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  I probably have landed at the SFO Airport at least a hundred times if not 250.

Kyu Sakamoto I particularly remember because I have a close friend in Japan who told an incredible story that saved his life.  He (my friend) was just late for a flight from Haneda to Osaka, but the door was still open when he was denied boarding.  He was so upset that he sat down and wrote a note complaining of his treatment.  He placed it in his pocket and stormed away.  This was Japan Airlines 123, which crashed, killing all crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers.  It still is the deadliest single-aircraft accident in airline history.  Sakamoto was one of the casualties.  My friend showed me his crumpled note.

The first two actually did not become popular until after 1962, so Johnny Get Angry is #90.  Why I remember this song is that I had just met Pearl, and lived in a cottage with a trainee from Sudan.  His name was Johnny.  One night I cooked, the next him and third to a restaurant.  The problem is that he tended to prepare brains, kidneys and other organs.  Ever been in a kitchen with kidney being boiled?  The whole place smells of urine.  But my memory of Johnny is otherwise all good.  I expected him to become president of his country when he returned.  I recall driving from Naalehu to Kona with Pearl and Johnny, Johnny Get Angry came on as we were reaching our destination (during the daytime, Naalehu was too far from Hilo and Honolulu signals were blocked off by Mauna Loa, so radio reception only came on near Kona).  He was the happiest person on Planet Earth when that song played.

This was Joanie Sommers' only hit.  Other one-hit songs during this period included:
That was 58 years ago.

As this is a foodie posting, two of my meals, the celebratory one being Dungeness Crab because I weighed myself and saw 155.8 pounds, the lowest I've been in a quarter century, and probably more, for during my professional career I wavered between 160 and 165, with an occasional foray up to 167 after trips.  As some of you know, I am allergic to crustaceans, except when prepared alive.  Something to do with histamines forming in them after death, and my body overreacting to them.  Of course, I feel terrible hearing the discomfort as the heat is applied.  But I also consume veal and beef and carrots, and all of them were once living.


That wine deserves mention because of all those years I have subscribed to Stanford wines, this is the best Chardonnay ever offered:


I also had one of my favorites:  artichoke, foie gras pate', prosciutto and croissant, with a large salad, beer and that Goldschmidt:


As I complete this posting, here is what I see right in front of me:


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