Race cars at the Simeone Museum

My hobby is hi-fi  and each year I volunteer at the desk selling tickets for the Capitol Audiofest near Washington. This year I met another volunteer who invited me to see the race cars at the Simeone Museum which is very close to Philly Airport. I had never heard of the place, but if you like cars, it is a WOW experience.

Probably true.

This is one of the few non-racing cars in the museum, but I suspect it as raced anyhow. It sits right behind the ticket seller at the entrance.

I am not even going to try to describe the cars since this is a long blog and there are well over a hundred cars in the big barn of a building. If you are particularly interested, go to the website and look for the description of the car.

Once a month, the museum members gather to hear a more in-depth explanation about four cars in the collection. Here is a 1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa.

A 1970 Plymouth Superbird.

A 1966 Ford GT-40.

A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe and the only non restored version in the world.

The Museum was started by Fred Simeone, who is a neurosurgeon from Philadelphia. You can read more about how the museum started here. Unfortunately, I held the camera the wrong way. He gave a very interesting talk about each car, indicating why it was special and the history of the car itself.

After the talk, the cars are driven out to the three acre lot behind the building and you can watch them roar up and down. Here the Plymouth is driven off.  

Before the driving demo, we had time to see a few more cars.

All of these five cars won famous races. It's known as the 'Winners Circle'.

 

We then went outside to watch the four cars drive.

Yes, those are leather straps to hold the hood (bonnet) closed.

The engine block is painted red. It's beautiful.

Inside the GT-40. 

Engine in the rear.

I was amused by the labels for the switches.

The Plymouth engine looked just like any other big V8 engine from a standard American car fro the period. The car could do over 200 mph!

Ugly, compared to the Ferrari. But effective.

The Shelby Cobra had its radiator almost horizontal. The car was designed to minimize wind drag.

Inside the Shelby.

The Plymouth appeared to handle like a barge since it was designed to race on a circular track. The other cars looked to handle well. I suspect I would have liked to try the Ferrari. 

There was still another section of cars to see, any of which would be the pride and joy of most car museums.

 

 

It's an incredible museum that I suspect most car lovers don't know about. I urge you to visit.

Birthday dinner

Yesterday was my 71st birthday and I must admit I really enjoy my birthdays. Most people claim that they love to give presents to other people, but I provide balance and much prefer to receive presents.  Some of my favourite memories are lying in bed on my birthday morning with daughter and dog leaping up onto the bed helping me to unwrap the gifts. Bridget the Airedale particularly enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper into small bits. No daughter or dog for this birthday, but I did receive a bottle of Edradour Scotch whiskey as well as my favourite, Lagavulin. Very satisfactory.

Waffles for brekkie with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream and some passion-fruit. If you have never tried ice-cream on your waffle or pancake, you have never truly lived. It is sinfully delicious.

The other feature of the day is the 'Birthday Dinner'. Since we live 11 miles from the nearest restaurant, we rarely eat out and prefer to have a special home cooked meal. I get to pick the menu and Marianne cooks. Over the years it usually rains on my birthday and it was so welcoming to come home from work  and walk into the house from the miserable weather outside to the warmth and smells of a special dinner.

This year's menu:

Terrine

Beef Wellington

Souffle

Yes, a somewhat old fashioned menu, but who cares. Marianne made a loaf of bread from scratch.

And a couple of rat coffins (Wellington Boots) ready to go in the oven. 

The first course of terrine. It was actually more like a pate but I am not complaining as it was delicious. There was enough to feed the Salvation Army if they had turned up.

We only made a slight dent so we have plenty left over.

Beef Wellington with a special sauce off to one side. It's an old family joke about calling mystery puff pastry parcels 'rat coffins'. If there is a sauce off to one side, then the dish is known as 'rat coffin with puss'. As you would expect there were also some vegetables and it was all delicious. We washed it down with a Dry Creek Zinfandel.

The first two courses may change over the years but dessert is always a souffle served with ice-cream. Usually the souffle is flavoured with marmalade or cumquat jam. This year Marianne used cumquat. If you are interested, this recipe never fails and is quite easy.

Souffle with hints for success

Hint 1: Earlier in the day, butter and sugar three souffle dishes and put them in the fridge.

Melt the 3/4 cup of marmalade or jam and add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice.

Hint 2: Let eggs come to room temperature before starting souffles.

Hint 3: Put a cookie tray in the oven when you preheat it to 350 F.

Beat 3 egg whites and 1/8th teaspoon salt until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in 3 Tablespoons Sugar. Beat until whites stand in stiff peaks. Gently fold into marmalade mixture with a rubber spatula.

Hint 4: You don't need to mix in every bit of egg white evenly or they may deflate.

Spoon into the 3 souffle dishes.

Bake about 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Hint 5: Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream.

Hint 6: This is supposed to serve 6 but our dishes are big and the three of

us eat it all. Adjust the recipe for however many people you have. You need

an egg white per person.

Twenty years ago our second Airedale Bridgit had just joined our family. She was still learning the family rules and during the break between main course and dessert, she realized that little cups of ice-cream had been placed within reach on the table and that she could easily put her front paws on the table. She managed to gobble one down before I discovered the miscreant in action. She knew that she had done the wrong thing, but she occasionally enjoyed being naughty. She never got the chance to do it again since I made sure I was always present when the ice-cream appeared.