Ondrej Smeykal Playing a Chad Butler Didgeridoo

What I did for Thanks giving

I'm not totally convinced we should give thanks for our largesse by trying to consume as much food as possible at one sitting.  I believe that abstinence is a better paean to our bounty.  That being said, Thanks giving is in reality the "harvest feast", and as such I devised a nontraditional dessert.  Caveat: I love cooking,,,,,I hate recipes.   They're not really avoidable, but most recipes need to be viewed as "guidelines" not absolute rules,,,,more or less.  The first "Bitchin Kitchen" I watched, Nadia G made a Key Lime Habanero Cheese cake.  Aha,,,no pumpkin pie for me,,,but I didn't have habanero's ...but I did have Bhut Jalokia.  I couldn't find mascapone,,but I did have sour cream.  Couldn't find chocolate cookies at the local Shop and Save.  (wtf?)  But did find a ready made chocolate pie crust.  So game on.
Mixed the ingredients, then into a bain marie, and  voila.  My very first cheesecake. 
It's delicious people, and such a disappointment....the chiles chased me out of the kitchen coughing when I minced them, but they're a no show in the cheesecake.    Bummer
I highly recommend  "Bitchin Kitchen"   it's on the Cooking Channel....
later gators

What the fuck

One of my guilty pleasures is the Mannington Topix web site,,,Some funny stuff there.  But I was just there and one of the questions was along the line of "where should the government trim the budget.  It was a poll and had six or seven options.  I voted for defense department cuts.  There were two comments, the first indicating why the defense budget should be cut, the next comment defending the defense budget.  I googled "defense budget by country" and the wiki answer was...Well this is what I posted on Topix::

"The defense budget of the United States is larger than the combined defense budgets of the next 16.


That's China, United Kingdom, France, Russia, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Italy , India, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Spain, Turkey, Israel. What all those countries spend for defense Combined does not equal what we the United States spends.



That's fucked up"
 
That's what I posted and I got to still say
 
What The Fuck is going on here.
If we spent as much on peace as we do on war
 
and that is a true pipe dream
 
what a better world this would be.

What's new?

I have in my possesion two new books and one on the way. The two new books are both by Michael Ruhlman,,,,Ratio is a treatise about the ratios in cooking, The only ratio I use in cooking is the 5/3 ration of flour to water when baking bread, What I really need is the ratio of Right Wing idiotcy to Left wing sanity that allows me peace of mind without worrying about the next stupid war they're going to get us into.


The other book is an offal book.  

Charcuterie(sp)

Blood Sausage any one

or using all the pig save the oink,,,,and in some sense we just used it.


and for those of you with nothing better to do
Look up Hannie's Voorwerp

But if you actually see Hannie,,,don't tell her I was the one who suggested you look up her,,,,,well you know what.



T he third book is about the French and Indian War....and how Geo. Washington be

Eulogy to the Dog

The following is a  summation oration given by the plaintiff in a civil trial in 1855.  The defendent in the case was a sheepherder who had publically vowed to kill any dog who came around his sheep.  He killed the  plaintiff's dog, the plaintiff sued in court and was represented by Geo. Graham Vest.  I simply cannot read this without tears coming and choking up.



Gentlemen of the jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him
and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care
may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has,
he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man’s reputation may
be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on
their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice
when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that
a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.


Gentlemen of the jury: A man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives
fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer,
he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world.
He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert,
he remains.  When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love
 as the sun in its journey through the heavens.  If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying
him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes,
and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter
if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.

Jimmy Cliff or why we don't get it

I've Tivo'ed Austin City Limits and it's Jimmy Cliff. Jamaica Mannn.
There's not too much variation on the rythum...but there's this constant beating of peace and love.

Tomato Son g

I love the dog da;ys of summer because that's when the tomatoes are in season. I think I will never taste anything more succulent,, more tasty than a fresh picked tomato, eaten just off the vine, with a mere ,, cursory scrub on the pant leg and then a bite into the sweet/acid goodness. Exploding in your mouth.  With every bite a shout...SUMMER........SUMMER.......love SUMMER.  tomatoes.....

Makes Sense

If the top 2% of the population of America were to tithe 10%, as their contribution to this country that allows them to exist....How much money would that be?

Here's to West Virginia

The only state which successfully seceded.

Right now the heat is astoundingly heavy. But water is nearby, Like Florida in the Summer really,,,,Can't imagine what Florida is like now. But grandpas shouldn't complain.

anyone who isn't at Arden this weekend is foollish

The Fourth

It was truly a fireworks extravaganza, even by Camp Massawomee standards. Best dang City of Mannington Fireworks in recent memory, and some of the mortars shells that we set off were stupendous. Even the neighbors could be heard to ooh and aah.  The cat cowered in a far corner, the children next door were certainly warned not to come near the drunken debauchery.  To all who missed the party,  we missed you,,,and thank you to all that made it the barbecue feast it was.  Oh and the Beaty's Best Bitter, while a little sour and yeasty was savored by all of those who partook of the libation.  Just wish my friend Jenifer had returned my Mom's flag.  The fence looked bare without Old Glory flying.

How about a twofer

First,,I would like to thank all those responsible for the favorable weather,  abundant sunshine,  lack of any meaningful late frosts,  the seed company along with Freed's Greenhouse,  Bob Masters whose hay bales nutured the Black Cherry Tomato that I picked and devoured yesterday.  Yes my friends,  we have ripe tomatoes. One of the Morgage Lifters was ripe but a slug got to it first and it got tossed over the garden fence.  


Second:  I couldn't sleep last night,,,too damn hot.  I don't know what you all do when you can't sleep,  me.....I bottle beer.  Yes Camp Massawomee fans,  Beaty's Best Bitters is bottled and hopefully 12 days of bottle fermentation will be long enough.


Now if I could only get the alga out of the pool....

Beer

Beaty's  Best Bitter is brewing.  Yesterday, June 10, 2010, a day which will live in infamy,  the forces of Camp Massawomee  gathered in it's kitchen and on the porch to begin anew a new batch of brew.  The yeast was thrown at around 3 o'clock p.m..  As of   8 o'clock this morning there was only a slight amount of gas formation, but that is within nominal time frame.  With only  24 days til the Fourth we will need all your best wishes for success.  It will be beer by then,  but not sure it will be carbonated.

I'm off in an hour to pick Jack Bailey up at the Pittsburgh airport and fully expect increased gas production along with the concomitant alcohol content increase.  It looks good, and if it's half as tasty as the wort it will be a crowd pleaser.

My growing garden

Party

Anytime friends come calling is a good time. On Sunday it was ten friends come calling and it was Xmas in May. Santa Fred and Bob stopped by and brought goodies of the best kind, that is to say plants of the herbal kind. Black Tomatoes, Thyme, and their left over seeds. So now I'm growing Kale and Dill, and French Tarragon among others. Oh happy day. So now all we need are a couple of green tomatoes and a couple of Hungarian Wax peppers and we'll be set for the season.

Beaty Bread

This is soooo cool. Pictures on my blog. and the first picture is of Beaty Bread. I gave the recipe in the earlier kaput blog, but it's real easy 5/3/1/1 a five to three ratio of flour to water( which translates to 20 oz. of flour and 12 oz H2O ) a tsp of salt and a tsp of active dry yeast. And Voila

Tomatos

If I were a poet, and I'm most assuredly not, my first, best, and last poem would not be to maiden fair nor fish or fowl, but to the delectable tomato...The names Big Boy, Black Crim, Mortgage Lifter,
Box Car Willy, whimsical maybe, but after having tasted these varietals their names provoke a taste memory. I remember being eight or nine, with a salt shaker from our kitchen and going next door to the neighbor's garden, eating so many tomatoes that I was sick, both parents irate and the neighbors just shaking their collective heads.That's why my tomato garden is behind a six foot tall fence. It's not the pool the fence guards, but the precious love apples.

We're Back

New day,,,,new blog....and so it goes

My old blog at Baywords is kaput,,,or Baywords is kaput...hopefully this group of blags will stay around long enough to get something done.