Friday, March 06, 2009

SOMETHING IS FISHY...

...on any given morning at the Local Bagel and Smoked Fish Emporium. And that’s a good thing.

It’s a tradition among us Minyan Boyz that a person celebrating a birthday or observing a yahrzeit (the anniversary of the death of a loved one) buys breakfast for the group. In the first instance, it’s to share the joy at having survived another Trip Around the Sun; in the second instance, it’s a way to thank the group for providing the necessary quorum so that the Mourner’s Kaddish may be recited.

Last Friday, it was Irwin’s turn. Both he and Warren (another of the Regulars) had yahrzeits, and so they split the Breakfast Bill between them. And, given that it was Friday - a day on which our morning services are often heavily attended - it was a good thing... for seventeen guys showed up for breakfast. Yipe!

And here’s part of what we ate. The Fishy Part, anyway.

Smoked Fish
A prime assortment of Smoked Fishy Goodness.

On the left you have a massive chunk of baked salmon, surrounded by smoked Nova Scotia salmon. Center stage, there’s sliced smoked sable, tuna salad, and whitefish salad. On the right, a slab of smoked whitefish, with belly lox above and more Nova Scotia salmon below.

Not shown are the platters of sliced tomato and raw onion, the assortment of cream cheeses, and the variety of bagels upon which to mount all of this fish. A veritabobble Groaning Board, this was.

Between all this fish and the Lovaza capsules I take every morning (prescription!), I’m a walking vat of omega-3 fatty acids. No wonder cats follow me around.

Today, no yahrzeits or birthdays... a smaller crowd... and so breakfast resumed its normal proportions. But I was treated to a nice piece of baked salmon by Houston Steve, who generously purchased breakfast for Bartimus (the Magnificent) and me. It was a generosity fueled in part by Houston Steve’s poker winnings from Wednesday night, and so, in a sense, it was Bart and I who were really buying breakfast... but still, it was a gracious gesture. And a tasty repast.

And a celebration, of sorts. For, despite its still being, technically, winter, the outdoor temperature was practically Spring-like, heading to a high in the 70’s this afternoon. Time to break out the Hawai’ian shirts, says Mr. Debonair:

Springtime El
Springtime is just around the corner!

[Those of you who live in Cold Climates, please feel free to eat your hearts out with bitter envy.]

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