The Los Feliz Eatery

A restaurant feature, at the Los Angeles Times, "Counter Intelligence: Storefront Deli in Los Feliz":

Have you ever had the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich at the new Storefront Deli in Los Feliz? Because that sandwich, less made from scratch than reverse-engineered from a meat lover's fondest late-summer daydreams, is at the heart of one of the strongest culinary movements in the country at the moment: the radical reinvention of everyday dishes by deconstructing them and rebuilding them to the tiniest detail.

Stop. My mouth is watering already. Sheesh.

I could go for a corned beef on rye right now, come to think of it. Yum!

No Room for Seconds

Everything turned out just perfect, via Twitter.

I think we have some pumpkin pie in the fridge, but that's going to wait until later tonight, way later.

Shopping for Christmas Dinner

Last night, at Costco Tustin:

We picked up a bottle of wine* and some of those lobsters pictured, plus some beef tri-tip roast. Mmm, it's going to be tasty!

* Louis M. Martini, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County 2010 (about $11.00 at Costco, a little more at Amazon).

Krazy Jim's

See this great post from Althouse, "'The passage of right-to-work legislation in the state House and Senate may have Lansing in turmoil...'":

"... but residents of Ann Arbor learned yesterday of a more immediate concern."

It's Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger in Ann Arbor, closing in Summer 2013. But read it all at the link.

Patriotic Thanksgiving Wreath

I came home from work on Wednesday and my wife had mounted this wreath on the front door.

Stuff like this makes up for some of that "dwindling optimism" I mentioned earlier:

Video Allegedly Shows Workers Abusing Turkeys at Butterball Plant

My wife bought a Butterball and it was delicious. The birds should be treated humanely, however.

At NBC Los Angeles, "'Shocking Abuse': Butterball Accused of Kicking, Stomping Turkeys at World's Largest Turkey Plant."

And here's the secret camera report: "Hidden Camera Video: Shocking Truth Behind Butterball Thanksgiving Turkey."

The abuse is awful, but the radical left's animal rights groups have freakin' jumped the shark. See Dustin Stockton, "PETA: The Plight of Turkeys is Like That of Blacks, Women and Gays."

Dwindling Optimism This Thanksgiving

I'll be enjoying some tasty leftovers today, grading papers and watching football. I'll also be blogging the holiday. I noted last night that I'm thankful that we have our wonderful U.S. Constitution to safeguard against tyranny, and right now boy do we need all the protection we can get. But notice how I argued that the current progressive ascendancy is "brief." Sure, we'll always have the idiot big government types who think their ideology has an answer for every public problem through more statism, but ideological trends run in cycles, and when things get bad enough there'll be a shift back to markets and federalism to invigorate our economy and polity. We may have a long way to fall before that happens, and literally millions of American lives could be harmed, if not destroyed by leftist failures, but in time the economy simply won't be able sustain all that the left imposes on it. California is America's Greece. Prop. 30 is just a breather to a fiscal reckoning that won't be long in coming. The national government's going to have its own reckoning, but alas it won't be during the second half of the Obama interregnum. We'll have to wait for a resurgence of pro-American values in our national political leadership. It will come. The hardships will be in enduring the interim.

In any case, I was inclined to riff further on this by Alan Caruba and his essay, "Memories of Thanksgiving's Past":

I have always been an optimistic person, but that optimism has been drained by four years of Obama’s regime and the prospect of four more. It is compounded by a Congress that has steadily marched toward turning America into a European socialist economy now on the brink of financial collapse and, worse, by a nation that has abandoned many of the values and shared beliefs that made it great; a beacon of freedom for those who chose to come here, a superpower following World War II, a compassionate and largely tolerant nation.

Continue reading.

I'll have more throughout the day.

Thanksgiving Dinner 2012

My wife's working Thanksgiving, in the afternoon, so we thought it'd be easier to have a full dinner tonight and then the family can have leftovers tomorrow. I tweeted out a message as well.

I am first and foremost thankful for my family. But I feel this year more thankful than ever for my --- and our nation's --- liberty. I see huge chunks of that eroding as government becomes more expansive and progressive ideology enjoys its brief ascendance. But thank goodness especially for the U.S. Constitution, for in that document is enshrined the principles of limited government and the protection of private property. If Americans preserve and protect that document, even amid dramatic social change, I'm confident that our historic emphasis on personal independence and self-sufficiency will continue to keep the greedy clutches of the Democrat Party away.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my loyal readers as well.

I'll continue plugging away. And I hope you'll join me for the ride.

Amid Falling Profit, McDonald's to Revisit 'Dollar Menu'

At the Wall Street Journal:

McDonald's Corp. reported a 3.5% decline in third-quarter earnings as sales slowed more dramatically than expected because of a sluggish economy and a disappointing marketing campaign.

McDonald's predicted its sales and earnings growth will "remain pressured" over the next few quarters by the weak economy, and conceded that it needs to be more aggressive in advertising low prices.

As the world's largest fast-food chain, McDonald's has touted its global scale and mix of both value-oriented and higher-priced menu items as key to enduring tough economic times. But the once-resilient restaurant operator isn't weathering the current market turbulence as well as it did the crisis of 2009 because the downturn is more widespread and competition is closing the gap.

"We face softening demand, heightened competition and rising costs in many of our markets," Chief Financial Officer Pete Bensen said. In a weaker economy, customers tend to stop getting extras like drinks and desserts and premium items like Angus burgers, which all offer higher profits to McDonald's. Plus, they may not go out to eat as frequently.

McDonald's shares were down 4.5% to $88.72 in 4 p.m. composite trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, as Wall Street analysts were expecting an increase in per-share profit for the quarter, not a decline.


Chief Executive Don Thompson said McDonald's move earlier this year to shift its marketing focus in the U.S. to the higher-priced and more profitable "Extra Value Menu" from the successful "Dollar Menu" didn't "resonate as strongly" with consumers.

"We're going back to talk of the Dollar Menu," Mr. Thompson said.

Rosie Jones Filming BigD Peanuts 2013 Calendar (VIDEO)

Lovely.

And there's more from yesterday at the Sun's Page 3, "2013 looks Rosie!"