Postcard From Cleveland

Here's what's going on at the folks' house in Cleveland so far:

Mom's gumbo was outstanding. She'd worked on it for several days because I'm worth it. Don't even think about asking for the recipe.

But I will tell you about the roast-beef rollups. Take it easy, Barry.

* Bibb lettuce
* Sliced roast beef from the deli
* Fresh asparagus spears
* Fresh slices, red pepper
* Garlic/herb cream cheese

Spoon the cream cheese into a plastic ziploc bag. Cut a small corner of the bag so you can pipe the cream cheese (rather than spread sloppily) down the center of the lettuce. Roll up a slice of the roast beef and place above the cream cheese. Add an asparagus spear and a red pepper slice. Grab by the ends of the lettuce, almost folding like a taco. Eat three or four of them.

After the late dinner, I helped them figure out their DVD player, which I think I did last year too. They couldn't figure out how to get it to play. After some brainstorming and technical troubleshooting, I showed Mom and Mike where the PLAY button was on the DVD player. It now works. No charge.

Then we watched "Casino Royale." I sure wish I could rock a tux the way Daniel Craig does.

I enjoyed 7.5 hours of deep, comfortable, uninterrupted sleep for the first time since, well, probably last Christmas when I was last in Cleveland. Woke up to find a few bucks on my dresser and Mike eager to take me shopping. Is this the Ritz-Carlton? No, it's Cleveland, but if you haven't been here, you should ask somebody.

In fact, I should come home again next weekend.

Came home from shopping for a late breakfast. Mom's blueberry pancakes were outstanding. All this work; I think I need a nap.