CS - Sunday, December 26, 1982 - North Shore News

it to do when you gamble and lose

RENO can be. anything
but: “Fun City’ when
you're losing regularly.
Everywhere you go,
even to the laundro-
mat, you'll find slot
machines. ~

As gambling is Reno’s
main industry, opportunities
to lose your money are
always present. Since we last
flew to Reno the airport has
been enlarged. Partly to
accommodate hundreds of
new slot machines! *.

’ I know bloody well that
when I start to lose, I'll lose a
lot in a short-time. The
knack is to recognize a
losing streak and do
something else before I'm
facing a big deficit. Here are
some of my crutches to get
me away from the tables:

- Retire to a bar and play
Keno. By betting $! tickets
and using free drink coupons
I'm spending only a buck
every 15 minutes. Since
counting isn’t necessary, a
few drinks don't hurt. Bar-
tenders are goldmines of
information and funny
stories. The Cal-Neva Club
has double Keno games so
one trip to the wicket counts
you in for both the Red and
Green games. Chatty bar-

and another lot of kitchen
rangers is loosed on a ready
world. All have survived, no
one lost to ptomaine, and
those who could practise
have actual skills. Paul's wife
lost to the ‘flu’, but the
kitchen prospered; Douglas
gave dinner to a group of

peers and “knocked their
socks off"; ‘Mason's anti-fish .

kids asked- for seconds of his
red snapper dish; and Tom
gave up squishing pastry and
landed the household soup
contract.

“Graduation” has always
meant ‘the preparation
together of a full dinner, not

just the parts thereof. The ©

menu incorporates some of
the learned processes, but a
lot hinges on how many can
come early, so this year we
changed the hors d'oeuvres
from vegetables-and-dip,
requiring much preparation,
to “sardine crispies,” which
are meant to be golluped up
hot, and were.

To make these, buy the
cheapest sardines.the ones
in soya oil, because they're
big, and so easier to handle.
Drain them, then dip cach
one into egg lightly beaten
with a fork in a shallow dish
(to make it casier to fish
them out, dummy) and then
into fine dry crumbs. Heat 2
Tbspns. margarine (30 mL)
and 1 of oil to frothy, and fry
the finny tidbits to crispy,
both sides. They're great
dipped in chili sauce or
mayonnaise with capers.

We do “coq au vin" for the
main dish, and with it green
oven rico, simply prepared
by mixing 1 part of long
white rice with 2 parts of

tenders.

- Go to the basement of
the old Nevada Club and
play nickle slot machines.
Dismal atmosphere but
they've got high stools that
you can sit on while you play
and elderly slot machines
that fuddle out regular pay-
offs. Boring, but it will
probably take you an hour to
lose five bucks.

- Take a walk around the
casinos, cashing in all your
free tokens. You'll get tiny
bundles of nickels,
souvenirs, lucky bucks and
chances on winning draws
for cars, trips and assorted
prizes.

- Buy a good paperback
and return to your hotel. Or,
if you're a T.V. addict, some
hotels have “H.B.O.” -
Home Box Office channels
that have no commercials
and good movies.

Must tell you about one
we watched - “Oh Heavenly
Dog.” If it comes to T.V.
here, watch it. Chevy Chase,
Omar Shariff, Jane Seymore
and Benjy, the dog. Laughed
until we ached. Let your kids
watch if they can cope with a
bit of profanity. No
Academy Awards expected
for this but it sure took my
mind off the day’s loss.

- Take a tour. You can

GRADUATION NIGHT, een

“the.

kitchen
ranger

b y Eleanor
Godley

boiling chicken stock or
water, then covered and
baked at 375F (190C) for the
best part of an hour. Five or
ten minutes before serving
time, we add chopped green

onion, chopped parsicy
(fresh, preferably) and
thawed uncooked = green
peas.

The other vegetable is
“Broccoli Cheese Bake,"

which has been known to
convert indifferent broccoli
consumers to raving ¢n-
thusiasts. Cook a substantial
bunch of broccoli, cleaned,
the stems peeled = and
chunked, to the = nearly-
tender stage, then drain it
and lay it in a wide oven
dish. Meanwhile you've
mixed a sauce this way: a
tiny jar of chopped pimiento

trayel-

book several of these from
your hotel. One offered,
“Behind-The-Scenes Gami-
ng Tour, costs $4.50 with a
discount coupon and gives
you a teaching session on
various games, a behind the
scenes look at the tables
from the security catwalks in
the Cal-Neva Club and a
couple of free drinks. Leaves

—_

is stirred into one can of .

mushroom soup, with % cup
(125 mL) each of sour cream
and grated strong cheese.
Four stalks of celery,
chopped fine, are added,
and the mixture poured over
the broccoli. A sprinkle of
fine dry crumbs, some dots
of margarine, into a 375F
(190C) oven for half an hour.

Fruit and cheese make the
simple dessert, and allow us
some clbow-on-the-table
talk. The guy I thought must
be a lumber-jack turns out to
be the Richmond
prosecutor, the software
genius I had pegged as an
accountant. But all are
cooks, in one degree or
another, and life has new
‘dimensions of freedom,
independénco, creativity

and plain ee And
all this from lea
poach an egg!

Amazing.

how to

WAIKIKI $329

Alr Only

WAIKIKI *509

14 Days, 13 Nights, Air & Hotel

“LAS VEGAS $265

5 Days, 4 Nights, Air & Hotel

RENO *185

6 Days, 4 Nights, Air & Hotel

TORONTO $949
Als Only

MAPLE LEAF
TRAVEL

736-3555

every day (Monday-Friday)
at 2:00 p.m. from the Reno/
Tahoe Visitors Centre, 135
Sierra St. Lasts two hours.

For $37, you can take a
full day tour to Virginia City,
Carson City, Lake Tahoe
and Squaw Valley. Includes
lunch. Reservations required
i2 hours in advance.

Another alternative is to
rent a car and drive to any of
the locations in the above
tour. During the summer,
we've often driven to
Virginia City, a re-furbished
mining town in the hills
south of Reno. As I write
this, our elderly black
Tomcat, appropriately
named. “Keno” is beside me,
Suggesting that I need him 4
on my. lap. After all, I'm
writing’ about his home
town!

Over nine years ago, we

.drove down the coast to Los

Angeles, returning home via
Reno. With a carload of
kids, we didn’t spend too
much time in the casinos but
did a number of day trips
around the area. One
memorable one was to
Virginia City. The “Bucket-
of-Biood” saloon, on the
main street has a banjo band
where kids are welcome.

As we Sat there, a shabby
little black kitten wandered

in the front door and started
mooching at the bar. We
picked him up and ordered a
carton of milk and a saucer.
“Does he belong here?” we
asked.
“He's

been hanging

around for the last few days

and it's a wonder the dogs
haven't got him by now.
Nobody owns him.”

“Let’s take him home!”
demanded oldest dauy
and Brian replied negatively
But, a few more buckets of
beer convinced Dad that he
needed another cat so Keno
became a Canadian by
adoption. All the way home
from Nevada, Keno sat on
Brian’s shoulder, studying
‘the road. “Just making sure
“he knows the way back, in
case he doesn't like it at our
house!”

He’s obviously enjoyed .
being a McCreadie cat, .

judging from his ample
proportions. Hasn’t missed
too many meals. He's got a

Siamese howl, a propensity .

for getting into fights and
Scars to prove it. We call him
all sorts of names - starting
with “Ugly American” and
ending with “Lovey.” Our
veterinary bills, for this cat,
alone, are nearing the $1,000
mark, including eye surgery,
eventual eye removal, two

breaks to his tail (cause
unknown), multi battie scars
and normal stuff such as
regular shots and neutering.
Who says you'll lose all your
money gambling in Reno?
Try picking up a stray cat.

Y Careers in Travel: ¥
We can. open the door to the.
; +
YOU! ;
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