Sometimes, you just have to reward yourself. Last night was one of those times. That large hot fudge sundae with extra hot fudge over hand-packed chocolate chip mint ice cream (hold the whipped cream, cherry, and nuts) at Dairy Inn on MLK last night after a friend’s concert was exactly what I needed.

If that sounds good to you, too, see this Inkwatu review for more info on the Dairy Inn.

My theory, looking forward, is that if I substitute one of those for supper once a week, I won’t gain any weight. Think that’ll work?

Another downtown restaurant, that I wrote about in Tangelo’s Grille, has relocated: this one to Gulfport (see their website). My favorite thing there is their hamburger. I miss the atmosphere and feel of the downtown restaurant, though. Plus, when it comes to Gulfport, I’m more inclined to eat next door at Stella’s Deli & Gelato or O’Maddy’s. But, when I get the hankering for a hand-formed, thick hamburger, I go to Tangelo’s new location.

There’s a new restaurant at the end of that block, just across from the Gulfport Casino, the Neptune Bar and Grille. The Gufport Patch has this excellent review of it. It’s fast becoming one of my favorite haunts. I enjoy sitting at the bar to eat so I can look out at the bay. That’s the way the old, old Hurricane Lounge down in Pass-a-grille Beach used to be in one of its earliest incarnations; you could sit at the bar and look out at the gulf. PS: the Neptune has EXCELLENT Greek food.

I’m extremely happy to report that the Central Coffee Shoppe is doing well. It’s still the same great family-owned-and-operated grille serving up some of the best breakfasts in town. For a while, I was very worried about some of my favorite places, because several did succumb to the recession and go under. But, the Central Coffee Shoppe has, thankfully, survived, and is as good as ever.

Skyway Jack’s opened up a branch up near 4th St. N. and the Gandy, but I haven’t tried it yet. I can’t imagine they managed to duplicate the wonder of the decor at the South 34th Street location, but I’m sure the menu’s the same.

Just this week, I went to the new 2462 Central Avenue location of Nitally’s Thai-Mexican Fusion Cuisine. I went with a friend who’d never been there. He was an instant convert. The food is simply spectacular and I love the fusion concept. My friend had Panang Mole. What a thrilling idea to combine a mole sauce with a panang curry. Thankfully, my friend let me sample some of his dish. I had the more traditional Thai basil stir fry; equally scrumptious!

Long ago, I learned a secret that kept me writing and growing as a composer all my life: with each piece you’re learning something new about how to compose.

I was already doing this as a kid, but didn’t know it. However, as an undergraduate, I was fortunate enough to take one of the courses that a professor at the conservatory, Mr. Stanworth Beckler, offered that was a presentation of his analysis of the complete works of a specific composer–each and every piece that composer ever wrote. Those courses were obviously an effort of love on his part. Why else would someone analyze every piece someone composed?!

One semester he devoted to Igor Stravinsky, one of my very favorite composers since childhood, and I was lucky to have gotten to take that course. What a staggering quantity and variety of output Stravinsky had.

But I remember being struck about halfway through the Beckler’s course with what I imaged Stravinsky must have been thinking after each piece (and before he began the next): “No…maybe not that way. How about if I tried this!”

In other words, it dawned on me that his entire life, with each piece, Stravinsky–the undisputed master composer of the 20th Century–was learning something more about how to compose.

That thought stuck with me and I applied it to my own compositions. Alas, I wasn’t the historic talent Stravinsky was, but it did keep me composing and wanting to compose, right up to the present.

  

  

  

Digital photography has become the hobby I never really had. After a brief slump that I wrote about in I should have known better, I rekindled my enthusiasm for my hobby by applying the secret I learned long ago in the Stravinsky class: I began setting a specific learning goal for each new photography project.

The secret has worked its magic for me. It’s kept my attention directed toward the process, not the product; the intrinsic value, not some external evaluation.

This particular opportunity for learning was in photographing a new collection of jewelry by a friend whose work I’ve presented in earlier Inkwatu posts (see Arts and Crafts and Necklace on Black Velvet).

  

  

  

The primary challenge was increasing the depth of field so that parts of the necklace that were farther away from the camera were as much in focus as parts that were nearer (the necklaces were on black “necks” in front of a black velvet background so not all parts of the necklace were in the same plane).

Secondarily, I wanted to learn how to use a ring flash (a flash that is, literally, a ring around the lens) that avoids distracting shadows. The depth of field thing necessitated longer exposure times which, of course, were affected by the lighting. Plus, the color and reflections of the beads of each individual necklace photographed differently.

I learned a lot…which is to say I made a lot of mistakes. But, I kept correcting myself until I got things the way I wanted. In short, I had a lot of fun learning more about how to do my hobby.

  

  

  

Back to music and Stravinsky for a bit: a corollary of that principle that each piece was a learning experience, is that each piece is right at the edge of current proficiency. Not too far beyond that edge, or one is simply incompetent. But, not too far within it, either, or one is a hack. Walking that fine line of not quite knowing what you’re doing, taking chances, and learning the whole while, keeps your art–and your interest in it–alive.

If you’d like to see any of the necklaces close up, just click on any of the pictures in this post, or click on the following link to see a slide show of all 20 necklaces. Depending upon the resolution of your monitor, if you click on the closeup of any picture, you may be taken to an even larger closeup. I encourage you to do so; I’m proud of the detail you can see up close.

I want to learn more about taking photos with an incredibly deep depth of field. One of my absolute favorite photography sites–actually, one of my favorite sites of any sort–is Shorpy. I spend a lot of time there. Those old, old photos where everything, no matter how far away, is in perfect, razor sharp focus, just enthrall me. Take a look at this one for instance. I want to learn how to do that!

That’s the challenge for my next few (thousand?) hobby projects.

a bit of Skyway Jacks history

Skyway Jack’s is one of my long-time favorite St. Pete breakfast spots, dating back to its original location by the old Skyway Bridge. But, in addition to the current location described in the Inkwatu post linked to above, there’s also a new, additional location: 11140 4th Street North, Saint Petersburg, FL 33716-2900; 727-576-4100. I haven’t been to it yet, but will eventually. Hope they were able to maintain the menu and ambiance of the old joints.

That’s why I was so happy to learn from the owners of Island Seafood Market & Bistro of Angie’s Front Porch Cafe (495 7th Ave. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33701; 727-320-4540).

Angie’s has a very nice Sunday brunch buffet!

Their website, angiesfrontporchcafe.com/frontporchcafe/, has an old address, the correct one is above. They also have a Facebook page.

Overlooking the historic Round Lake (pictured at the top of this post), Angie’s is in a vintage building (pictured above) that it shares with a laundromat. There’s plenty of parking on the street and in the lot immediately behind the building (the tow signs concerned me, but they assured me it was OK to park there).

Their website gives their lunch menu and breakfast menus. I love the fact that I’ve finally found a place where I can have a choice of plenty of salads, soups, sandwiches and wraps–just the kind of food I like for lunch. I’m not a sweets person, particularly, but if I were, Angie’s would have plenty to satisfy me. I will definitely try their key lime pie, soon.

But, speaking of sweets, they have bananas foster on their Sunday buffet. I’d never had that before. I didn’t even know how to dish it up; I had to ask. There, at least, you serve it over some very good French toast. I loved it. I have no prior experience to compare the quality to, but it sure tasted good to me.

The decor is comfortingly cozy and cluttered with cards, crafts, and tchochkes for sale. The place was packed with, obviously, very happy and friendly neighborhood regulars. It was a pleasant experience to eat there.

The Sunday I was there, there was an extremely good singer/guitarist of the very, very mellow variety. Usually, when I see that there’s “live music” somewhere, I groan and try to avoid going. Not with this fellow. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance and it was appropriate to the intimate setting at Angie’s.

I’ll be back to Angie’s!

Sometimes you see something that is so stunning, you’re actually able to overcome the inertia of living, go home, get the big camera (well…big for me; it’s just a lower end Nikon DSLR, but it’s bigger than my old Canon point-and-shoot which I still love and use a lot), go back out in the heat, drive back to the location, get out in the heat, brave the bugs (I’m a real sissy when it comes to flying, stinging bugs), and take some pictures.

It’s worth it though. I just love this tree. I’ve never seen it quite so glorious as it was today. I’ve blogged about it before here. At the end of that post, you can see the same tree when it’s not flowering.

Searching for that earlier post, I realized that I’ve actually got ten (10…!!!) posts on trees. I guess I really am a tree-hugger.

Here’s the list of those posts in case you’re in a tree-hugging mood yourself.

• It’s not all palm trees
• The kapok tree
• Spring
• More flowering trees
• Orchid, tree, jacaranda, royal poinciana, and tamarind
• Crepe-myrtle
• Yellow & orange fall foliage
• Red fall foliage
• Mount Dora Moss
• Monument

While I was out, today, I snapped this crepe-myrtle, too. These are everywhere down here right now. So easy to not notice how Pandora gorgeous is the place where we live. I remember one of my grand-nephews, who’d spent his entire life in the brown hills of northern California, helping me drive cross country a few years back. We took the southern route (my favorite) along the Gulf states. He’d never seen anything so green and lush in his life. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to see what’s around us through someone else’s eyes.

If you click on a picture, you go to a larger version. And, depending on the size of your monitor, if you click on that larger picture, you may go to an ever larger version!

If you’re in the mood for authentic Cantonese on the St. Pete side of the bay there’s really only two places: ABC Seafood, reviewed earlier in Inkwatu, and the Lucky Star Hong Kong Style Chinese Restaurant (4175 66th Street North, St Petersburg, FL 33709-4915; 727-381-8888‎; map).

On the Tampa side of the bay, my favorite is China Yuan, but over here in St. Pete, I’m partial to Lucky Star, not only because of its food, which is so flavorful you never even think of reaching for soy sauce, but also because Lucky Star, in its earlier incarnation on 34th Street before their fire and relocation, was my introduction to authentic Cantonese food in St. Pete. The earlier restaurant was one of the many little experiences that accumulated to inspire me to move to St. Pete.

I was introduced to it by a friend whose father had had a similar restaurant while my friend was growing up. He showed me the dishes that the Lucky Star had that made it a special place and helped me to feel comfortable there. Sadly, by the time I moved to St. Pete my friend had, himself, moved to a different city and the Lucky Star had closed because of a kitchen fire. Then, the owners finally reopened up on 66th Street, north of Tyrone Mall. It’s been a favorite of mine ever since and I’m remiss in not having reviewed it earlier.

It’s open 7 days a week, but only in the late afternoon and evenings (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 3pm to 1am; Tuesday 3pm-11pm; Saturday and Sunday 1pm-1pm). Notice that it’s open into the wee hours for late-late dining. That truly makes it a special place.

But, it’s the food that really makes it special. Here are just a few of the dishes, from their large menu, that you won’t find on less authentic restaurants around town:

• Shark Fin Soup
• Jelly Fish
• Spicy Duck Feet
• Fried Chitterling
• Spicy Chicken Feet
• Preserved Duck Wing
• Blue Crab
• Pepper Corn Squid
• Sautéed Conch
• Bird’s Nest Seafood
• Razor Clam
• Braised Sea Cucumber
• Snail w/Black Bean
• Frog with Chinese Chive
• Steam Salted Fish with Minced Pork

Lest you think the Lucky Star’s appeal rests only upon these more exotic dishes, let me stress that it’s the taste that keep me coming back there. And, the dishes that I, myself, order are the ones that are a little less adventuresome: the casseroles, vegetables, and sizzling plates.

A friend and I, who have, several times, gone there for their whole roast duck, which is spectacularly crunchy, were there again recently and were blown away by two of their sizzling plates: Sa Cha Eggplant and Garlic Shrimp. There wasn’t anything left by the time we were finished eating. We were dickering over who got to lick the plates.

They also have a number of fried rice and noodle dishes. I’m a fan of both those, especially noodles, so I’m slowly working my way through them. Next time I go, I’m going to try the Cantonese Pan Fried Noodles.

They seem to have two menus, one that’s more authentic foods and one that caters to the typical American-”Chinese” fast food tastes. It’s fun looking at that second one, too. That one actually has five chop suey dishes!

The origins of the dish, “chop suey,” are not clear. I make that plural because, as the Wikipedia entry (Chop suey) points out, some think it originated in San Francisco during its early days and some say it came from Taishan, in Guangdong Province. Adding to the confusion is that some early Chinese restaurateurs in the US served a dish of mixed entrails, calling it “chop suey.” This, the Chinese, themselves, did not eat. So, there’s a lot of confusion around the term.

I assume that chop suey is really kind of a late-19th century/early 20th century American-Chinese food, much lacking in authenticity…about as authentic as the game mah jong, which is to say, Not much! But, for me, there’s considerable nostalgia in the dish. When I was a little kid, when our parents would take us into the city (St. Louis) to eat, chances were we’d eat at a huge, Art Deco style cafeteria. My favorite dishes there were egg fu young and chop suey. I’m not sure why. I think it was the sound of the words and a taste for the exotic even at age 5.

Now, that version was definitely of the non-authentic (but not entrails!) type, typified by this Woolworth’s recipe. I love the opening ingredient in that recipe: “1 tablespoon lard or Crisco shortening.” This was in the days of a St. Louis that still had electric buses that click-click-clicked around town. I tried to identify the name of that old Art Deco cafeteria (it wouldn’t exist now, of course), but couldn’t. However, my searching did turn up a neat page–a list of defunct restaurant chains (see Defunct restaurant chains of the United States).

I was also pleased to discover, during my couple years residence recently in Hawaii, that Honolulu sports a number of restaurants exclusively devoted to chop suey (see this Google search). So, if you get a hankering for chop suey, check out what they have at the Lucky Star.

However, I recommend you try one of their more authentic dishes. Everything there is good. You simply can’t go wrong. I very, very highly recommend the Sa Cha Eggplant sizzling plate.