Len's Recipe of the Month - May 2026

 

As I follow several YouTube-based chefs, I have learned that you can be adventurous as you finetune your culinary skills.   That's how I came up with the dish above.   It's essentially called Mediterranean Chicken, but that's a big catch-all phrase.   You could call it Chicken Len because I took several recipes and merged them together.   

I started with four boneless and skinless chicken thighs.   That's the part of the fowl that you want to use most of the time because it's got the most flavor.   Oh, and you can never overcook it to sheer dryness.   

So, I cut the thighs up into smaller pieces and tossed them into a bowl with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder.   On top, I sprinkled some flour but not to excess amount.

In a Dutch oven or pan, I melted some butter and mixed it with EVO.   When hot, I added the chicken and browned the pieces.   This took about 8 minutes.   I moved the chicken to a plate.

Back to the cooking apparatus, I caramelized a sliced sweet onion.   Then, I added a half jar of pitted Kalamata olives.   Then some drained capers.   Then a pint of cherry tomatoes.    Lastly, I poured in a half cup of white wine.

I covered the Dutch oven and let it simmer for a half hour.   Some sweet corn on the side.

Done.   And I did it all by myself.

The cooking lesson this month?   Use your skills to make every dish your own.\\

Dinner last night:  Grilled sausage with bacon.

This Date in History - May 20

 

Happy birthday, Cher.   And what better way to celebrate than to spotlight your acting triumph in "Moonstruck."

325:  THE FIRST ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IS HELD IN NICEA.  

Meetings in the morning.  Golf in the afternoon.

526:  AN EARTHQUAKE KILLS ABOUT 250,000 PEOPLE IN WHAT IS NOW SYRIA AND ANTIOCHIA.

Now that's an earthquake.

794: KING ETHELBERHT II OF EAST ANGLIA VISITS THE ROYAL MERCIAN COURT AT SUTTON WALLS, WITH A VIEW TO MARRYING A PRINCESS.  HE IS TAKEN CAPTIVE AND BEHEADED.

I prefer to wait for Queen Ethelmertz I.

1293:  KING SANCHO IV OF CASTILE CREATES THE STUDY OF GENERAL SCHOOLS OF ALCALA.

Sounds like some gut courses to me.

1498:  PORTUGUESE EXPLORER VASCO DA GAMA DISCOVERS THE SEA ROUTE TO INDIA.

For you three who want to go there.

1521:  IGNATIUS LOYOLA IS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN THE BATTLE OF PAMPELUNA.

Didn't this guy Loyola open up a lot of colleges?

1609:  SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS ARE FIRST PUBLISHED IN LONDON.

When do we see the Cliff Notes?

1775:  THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IS SIGNED IN NORTH CAROLINA.

Doesn't Mecklenburg sound like one of those countries in a Marx Brothers movie?

1802:  NAPOLEON BONAPARTE REINSTATES SLAVERY IN THE FRENCH COLONIES, REVOKING ITS ABOLITION IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

I guess that's Shorty's version of an executive action.

1861:  DURING THE CIVIL WAR, THE STATE OF KENTUCKY PROCLAIMS ITS NEUTRALITY, WHICH WILL LAST UNTIL SEPTEMBER 3.   MEANWHILE, THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA SECEDES FROM THE UNION.

Why do I think this kind of stuff will happen again?

1862:  US PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN SIGNS THE HOMESTEAD ACT INTO LAW.

Pitch your tent here.

1873:  LEVI STRAUSS AND JACOB DAVIS RECEIVE A US PATENT FOR BLUE JEANS WITH COPPER RIVETS.

So that's how they got there.

1883:  KRAKATOA BEGINS TO ERUPT.  THE VOLCANO EXPLODES THREE MONTHS LATER.

From the movie title, I know this is "east of Java."  Or was it West?   Who does remember that film anyway?

1891:  THE FIRST PUBLIC DISPLAY OF THOMAS EDISON'S PROTOTYPE KINETOSCOPE.

Two on the aisle please.

1899:  THE FIRST TRAFFIC TICKET IN THE US --- NYC CAB DRIVER JACOB GERMAN WAS ARRESTED FOR SPEEDING WHILE DRIVING 12 MILES PER HOUR.

He probably contested it.

1902:  CUBA GAINS INDEPENDENCE FROM THE US.

Babalu.

1908:  ACTOR JAMES STEWART IS BORN.

This will be a wonderful life.

1915:  ISRAELI POLITICIAN MOSHE DAYAN IS BORN.

Are they coming on the left?

1916:  THE SATURDAY EVENING POST PUBLISHES ITS FIRST COVER WITH A NORMAN ROCKWELL PAINTING.

It was a boy with a baby carriage in case you're in a trivia contest.

1919: COMEDIAN GEORGE GOBEL IS BORN.

No longer lonesome.

1927:  CHARLES LINDBERGH TAKES OFF FROM ROOSEVELT FIELD IN LONG ISLAND TO MAKE THE WORLD'S FIRST SOLO NON-STOP FLIGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.  HE LANDS IN PARIS THE NEXT DAY.

After what we learned later on, it's a shame this was a round trip.

1932:  AMELIA EARHART TAKES OFF FROM NEWFOUNDLAND TO BEGIN THE WORLD'S FIRST SOLO NONSTOP FLIGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN BY A FEMALE PILOT.

This one she actually finished.

1940:  THE FIRST PRISONERS ARRIVE AT A NEW CONCENTRATION CAMP AT AUSCHWITZ.

And so it begins.

1944:  SINGER JOE COCKER IS BORN.

He'll get high.  With help from his friends.

1946:  ACTRESS/SINGER CHER IS BORN.

We got you, babe.

1948:  CHIANG KAI-SHEK IS ELECTED AS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF CHINA.

Waiter, Kai-shek, please.

1964:  DISCOVERY OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION BY ROBERT WOODROW WILSON AND ARNO PENZIAS.

Oh, good, now we can heat up lunch.

1966:  ACTRESS MINDY COHN IS BORN.

Saw her once picking up take-out food at Blue Plate Diner in Santa Monica.

1969:  THE BATTLE OF HAMBURGER HILL IN VIETNAM ENDS.

Hold the pickle.  Add the napalm.

1983:  FIRST PUBLICATIONS OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE HIV VIRUS THAT CAUSES AIDS IN THE JOURNAL SCIENCE BY LUC MONTAGNIER.

Uh oh.

1989:  ACTRESS GILDA RADNER DIES.

Marvelous talent.  What a waste.

1990:  THE FIRST POST-COMMUNIST PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ARE HELD IN ROMANIA.

Da, I can vote now.

1996:  THE SUPREME COURT OF THE US RULES AGAINST A LAW THAT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED ANY CITY, TOWN, OR COUNTY IN COLORADO FROM TAKING ANY JUDICIAL ACTION TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF GAYS AND LESBIANS.

And now you can legally smoke weed in the same state.

2012:  SINGER ROBIN GIBB DIES.

How do you mend a broken heart?   You really can't.

2013:  SINGER RAY MANZAREK DIES.

From the Doors....now knocking on Heaven's...well, you get it.

2025:  ACTOR GEORGE WENDT DIES.

Norm!

Dinner last night:   Had a big lunch so just some cheese and crackers.

Go Long on Short

 

As far as I'm concerned, Martin Short can do no wrong.   He is probably one of the smartest and most talented people working in show business today.   

So, naturally, a documentary on him would be intriguing.   And even more so when one of the producers is Ron Howard, who has moved almost exclusively into the world of making documentaries.   And with all that positive stuff, there is no way the new Netflix film couldn't be successful and as interesting as all get out.

Oh, sure, it plays like the typical biographical documentary with a linear look at the life under the microscope.   The good news is that Marty participates with the production.   And, as a result, he provides access to tons and tons of home movie footage which demonstrates how he values the friendships of the likes of Tom Hanks and Steve Martin.

Short appreciates comedy and the ability to make people laugh.  Hey, I once got a giggle and a like from him when he was active on Facebook.   But, moreover, the laughter is the fuel that propels him through life despite an awful lot of loss.  When he was a kid, he lost his big brother, his mother, and his father over a two year period.  Later on, his beloved wife Nancy passes away after a battle with cancer.   More recently, he lost good friend Catherine O'Hara and his own daughter commits suicide.

But Marty perseveres almost magically.   And that is the true story behind this film.   Short presses on and on and on.   And remains the steady and positive influence for his treasure chest of friends who populate his home movies.

This is a must see.   I must say.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Leftover chicken.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - May 18, 2026

May continues with more animal tomfoolery with Johnny Carson.   That koala bear is so cute.

Dinner last night:  Mediterranean Chicken.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - I Once Was Thin

 

I am still sifting through more of the photos I dug out of my New York apartment.  Most of them I can easily remember the specifics.  The time, the place, the occasion.  The one atop today's post?

No clue.  

Okay, it's a batting cage.  I don't recall ever going to one on the East Coast, so this must have been taken during one of my California trips.  The longish hair.  The moustache.  The timing seems right.  And, good news, the ball is nowhere to be found.  I've obviously made contact. Len's 1 for 1.

Meanwhile, as I stare at this snapshot, there is one thing that grabs me.

Damn, I was skinny on this day.

Seriously, there is no stomach.  The legs don't look that chunky.  Are those designer jeans that I have wormed my way into?  I'd like to lose the two tone belt that just screams "J. Crew."  But, overall, this looks like one fit individual.

Really?  When was this?  And how come I couldn't make this last more than three days?

Weight has always been an issue with me.  Want to see?

I'm probably four in this picture and already I see evidence of love handles.  One Animal Cracker box too many.  And dig those chunky thighs.  Frankly, I think some folks just happen to be blessed.  There are those who have svelte in their DNA make-up and others that don't.

I'm somewhere in the middle.  As you can see, I could be bi-polar with regard to fitness.  But, for me to achieve the thinner side, it takes a lot of work.

The only problem is that I didn't start that work until I was in high school.

For about sixteen years, I was totally passive.  Except when it came to eating.  We dined healthy, but there was candy and dessert and always chocolate chip cookies in Grandma's pantry jar.  Fruit and vegetables, yes. Tootsie Rolls in Grandma's living room candy dish, definitely yes.  And, after school, there was always the walk around the corner to Charlie's Delicatessen for an after school snack.  A carrot stick?  Hell, no.  Make that a Drake's Ring Ding.

Exercise in my first decade and a half?    Well, there wasn't as much as there should have been.  I played in the neighborhood, but was always the slowest and clumsiest one on the team.  Sports didn't come to me easily.  Maybe it was the extra pounds.  Maybe it was a lack of practice.  I was always the last one to be picked when sides were chosen.

Things weren't much better in school when there was gym class always taught by some jerk who thought he was coaching the Green Bay Packers.  The most strenuous activity for me was just to figure out how to get a medical excuse for whenever they would turn to gymnastics and tumbling.  

And, of course, we had that great annual humbler.  The President's Fitness Test.  Some bureaucratic nonsense concocted to make kids feel horrible about themselves.  You had to run six laps around the playground.  Or scoot around picking up erasers.  Your times were compared to everybody else in the class.  It was a horrible feeling each and every Spring.   While other classmates had moved on to the locker room, I was still in Lap 5.

This kind of misery became quite second nature to me.  It was me and I started to accept it.  I was aided and abetted by parents who discounted the whole concept of weight and fitness.

"Some people are just big-boned."

Oh.

But, as I moved into the teen years, I started to kick back on this flimsy excuse.  I looked around at some friends.  There were others who were equally "big-boned."  My best neighborhood buddy Leo was one of them.  But, when it came to playing games on the block, he had a dose of athleticism that I envied.  Why was that?

Ultimately, I found my own niche.  It came on those summer teenage nights when my gang would troop en masse down to the local vacant lot after dinner.  We'd play softball or baseball until it was either too dark or the ball had been lost in the weeds.  And, as I did this night after humid night, I found there was some truth to the old adage.

Practice does make perfect.

Well, maybe not perfect.  More like passable.  

Suddenly, I could pitch at softball.  I found a hitting stroke and could pound the ball with a little power.  And, given my height, I came in handy playing first base.  You always wanted to put the tall guy there because the highest weeds were right behind that base.  You never wanted to overthrow because that would easily get that night's game cancelled due to shrubbery.  

I was tall and was now able to catch.  I was ideal at first base and relished the notion.  Leo would play third and field like a young Ron Santo.  Snag a grounder and fire it to me for the out.  What a defensive combination.

I now belonged someplace on a playing field.

The weight, or non-lack of it, still plagued me.  It became really chronic in my senior year.  During the very first gym class of the year, a deep knee thrust popped out the whole joint and that would be the beginning of the long end for my right knee.  Touch football games after school were discarded in favor of TV reruns and lots of Hostess Twinkies.  

By Christmas, I was no longer "big-boned."  I was fat.

I hated the way I looked and vowed to make changes.   There was a diet being hawked on TV talk shows that required you to drink eight glasses of water a day.  A problem when you're taking six classes a day in a high school where going to the bathroom was a death wish.  But I did it.  Plus I monitored my calorie intake.   Dad did the super market shopping.  I gave him my list.

"Low calorie Wishbone dressing?" 

"Non-fat yogurt?"

"Tab?"

Yes, that Tab.  

By spring, I was looking for a new wardrobe.

And, folks, it's been a battle ever since.  I went to college and almost ballooned to Jabba the Hut proportions again.  Late night hero sandwiches from the Fordham student deli will expand your waist measurement.  As soon as I graduated, I went back to dieting.

Weight off, weight on.  Muscle tone good, muscle tone bad.  I never stayed the same the rest of my life.

There are some photos over time that I want to burn.  Since when did I look like Ralph Kramden?  There are other snapshots that make me squint to see the label on the jeans.  Calvin Klein?  Hmmm, I'm impressed.

There's the photo at the top and I like what I see.  How many days did that flat stomach last?  I'm curious.

Over the years of my life, there was always some form of cardio.  I've been through not one, not two, but three stationary bikes.  There was a Yonkers gym membership in the 90s and I actually went four times a week.  I became addicted to a Nordic Track machine.  

And then, for a whole,  rotten joints that connect the two parts of my leg started to prevent a rigorous exercise regiment.

Today, there is a personal trainer that works with me twice a week.  I go to PT once a week.  The struggle continues.  The weight doesn't leave.  Actually it seems to pile up faster.   Now the only way I can have abs is by taking an old picture and running it through AI.

Still, it's a part of my life that I can't ignore.  And don't.  

I may never look like the photo at the top.  But, at the same time, I never want to be the one in the middle either.

And, my friends, isn't that what it's all about?

The middle.

Dinner last night:   Pizza at Viva La Mamma.

Classic TV Theme Song of the Month - May 2026

 One of those shows I never watched except for the opening theme.

Dinner last night:  Beef and broccoli.

It's Prom Season....AGAIN.

 It's that time of year.  Everybody, smile!

It's either the senior prom or open call for "The Lion King."

It's a courteous boyfriend who's always willing to coordinate his dress with his date's.

Explosion at the paint factory!

Hello, 1983.

Hello, Bellevue Hospital.

The junior prom at the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory.

Love is Blue.

There's a problem when your boyfriend's hair makes him look like Lucille Ball.

Pat and Lois, sans toolbelts, at the prom.

"Oh, what proudly we hail....."

Dinner last night:  Bacon wrapped hot dog at Dodger Stadium.