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The Daily Socotra \u2014 Saturday Edition<\/p>\n
We thought we would start with what is coming out of the Galley for the noon football kickoff.<\/p>\n
It is going to be a Big Ten sort of Saturday, with the Indiana Hoosiers and Ohio State Buckeyes commanding attention, and our resident Michiganders keeping a wary eye on whatever the Spartans and Wolverines are doing.<\/p>\n
There was even a little political seasoning in the mix, courtesy of the Michigan Senate campaign and yesterday’s reference to the partisan-politics-besmirched \u201cEFFING Wolverines.\u201d
\nWe could have opened with oil shipping, the approaching elections, or any of the other large events currently rearranging the planet.<\/p>\n
Instead, we are going to talk about a letter.<\/p>\n
It arrived in the big pile of mail Vic collected when the reunion concluded on Thursday. He deposited the stack on the Conference Room table Friday morning, with the official-looking envelopes on top.<\/p>\n
The first one he opened was from the kind folks at the Lung Navigator Shop over at INOVA Fairfax Hospital.<\/p>\n
We had mentioned some of the medical adventures of the preceding week, most of which had concluded with encouraging news and release from further treatment. The Creative Section had considered this the end of a remarkable summer of clinical thrill rides, one that had featured genuine progress through a seemingly endless procession of medical complications.<\/p>\n
The CRT examination last week had even produced a congratulatory assessment of the plumbing south of where the beltline used to be.<\/p>\n
Thursday afternoon’s reunion had seemed a fitting celebration of the end of the medical campaign.<\/p>\n
Except for the letter.<\/p>\n
It began pleasantly enough, explaining that a recent radiology examination at INOVA Fairfax Hospital had identified a lung nodule.<\/p>\n
Then came the important part:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could be related to cancer, infection, inflammation, or other benign (not cancerous) causes. To ensure these abnormalities are not cancerous, further evaluation may be necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went quiet.<\/p>\n
Vic put the letter down on the Conference Table and regarded it for a moment.<\/p>\n
There was no diagnosis of anything sinister, of course. A nodule is an observation, not a verdict. But it was another invitation to enter the medical system and find out precisely what the observation meant.<\/p>\n
Vic announced that he intended to follow up.<\/p>\n
The coincidence of the drama surrounding the Pope’s health this week gave the moment an almost eerie quality.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Holy Father’s lung problems make this notification assume a certain spiritual aspect previously unconsidered,\u201d Vic observed. He slid his phone over beside the letter. \u201cThis time,\u201d he added with a smile, \u201cthe adventure may feature board-certified pulmonologists.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, there was that.<\/p>\n
And there was also the Whole Foods shopping expedition, which had not been canceled merely because another medical envelope had appeared.<\/p>\n
We still needed blue and yellow tortilla chips, rotisserie chicken, cream cheese, Buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, shredded cheddar, and the other essential materials required to keep a Saturday football watch properly supplied.<\/p>\n
The Buffalo Chicken Nachos would emerge from the oven in bubbling trays, while the slow cooker worked quietly on the Buffalo Chicken Dip.<\/p>\n
The afternoon forecast promised the gray morning would clear into a colder, brighter Northern Virginia autumn afternoon. The kind of day when you can almost hear the cheering from distant stadiums.<\/p>\n
And there was something new waiting on the Patio.<\/p>\n
The Great Cheesesteak Crunch-Off!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/101726-buffalo2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The latest acquisition is a substantial stainless-steel outdoor fire pit with a hanging rack for grilling equipment and suitable cookware.<\/p>\n
Naturally, the Galley staff immediately began discussing what could be deep fried NOT in the Galley on the 4th Floor.<\/p>\n
That brought us to Vic’s Philly Cheesesteak Egg Rolls, an appetizer sufficiently extravagant to qualify as a main course if enough of them disappear.<\/p>\n
Vic had already been experimenting with marinated sirloin from Rocket’s Wyoming bulk purchase.<\/p>\n
Add saut\u00e9ed peppers and onions, mushrooms if desired, a little jalape\u00f1o heat, and generous quantities of shredded provolone and sharp cheddar.<\/p>\n
Roll the mixture tightly into egg roll wrappers, seal with egg wash, and fry until golden and shatteringly crisp.<\/p>\n
Serve with warm queso blanco.<\/p>\n
There is something deeply satisfying about biting through a crackling wrapper into tender beef, peppers, onions, and melted cheese. It is the sort of food that can briefly interrupt even a spirited discussion of the Big Ten standings.<\/p>\n
For the regular Galley shift-change crowd, one batch makes approximately 12\u201314 rolls.<\/p>\n
For Game Day production, we double it: two pounds of steak, 24\u201328 wrappers, four cups of provolone, two cups of cheddar, and double the vegetables and marinade.<\/p>\n
The frying oil stays at 350\u00b0F, with batches taking approximately three to four minutes.<\/p>\n
One small operational note: the new overhead rack is useful for cookware designed for it, but the black Lodge kettle full of hot oil needs a stable, manufacturer-approved deep-frying arrangement. We are not suspending a kettle of boiling oil over an open fire simply because the chains look impressive.<\/p>\n
Don’t ask how we learned that.<\/p>\n
And absolutely no deep-frying in the Fourth Floor Galley.<\/p>\n
Go Blue, Go Green, and Pass the Queso!<\/p>\n
The Conference Room is being squared away. The Galley has Buffalo Chicken Nachos ready for the oven, Buffalo Chicken Dip warming in the slow cooker, and a shuttle system intended to keep the afternoon crowd supplied.<\/p>\n
Outside, Deirdre is waving the green Michigan State flag. Vic has appropriated the maize-and-blue Michigan banner.<\/p>\n
The gray is lifting, the air is turning crisp, and the new Patio equipment is ready for its first proper culinary workout.<\/p>\n
We will have a few Cheesesteak Crunch Rolls, some queso blanco, perhaps a margarita, and a little football. No cigarettes, though.<\/p>\n
There are things we can control and things we cannot.<\/p>\n
Today, we are going to concentrate on the ones we can.<\/p>\n
Vic and Deirdre’s Great Cheesesteak Crunch-Off!<\/p>\n
Go Blue. Go Green. Pass the Queso!<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2026 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Daily Socotra \u2014 Saturday Edition We thought we would start with what is coming out of the Galley for the noon football kickoff. It is going to be a Big Ten sort of Saturday, with the Indiana Hoosiers and Ohio State Buckeyes commanding attention, and our resident Michiganders keeping a wary eye on whatever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34494"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34498,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34494\/revisions\/34498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}