It's That Time Of Year Again

One of the guys on the bbq forum that I belong to posted this pic today ... results of one his morel hunts last spring. I love fresh wild morels, and this pic got my fever up big time ~ it's been a very wet winter, and temps were in the low 80s today ... so a few more warm days like today and the ground temps will warm up & morel season will be in full swing around these parts. I went for a cruise out into the country last week & checked out some of my ol' reliable morel *honey holes* ... but din't see any shrooms popping up yet. Any day now .... any day now.

One of the ways to tell if the morels are popping up is the arrival of robins, which is directly related to increased activity of earthworms, which is directly related to ground temp ~ the old timers claimed the first full moon of spring (full worm moon) signals the start of morel season. The full worm moon was a couple nights ago.

Pork Chops A'la Ed

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that my friend, Ed Albert, had a stroke. He's a sweetheart of a guy, and is now on the long road to recovery. Ed gave me some of his homemade pork rub/spice a while back ... so I used it today to make these delicious pork chops ... topped with a sweet & savory cherry/vidalia onion/dijon sauce. Love ya, Big Ed ~ hang in there, baybee.

Fresh carrots in a lil' butter/brown sugar/thyme glaze.

Full Worm Moon Tonight

March 29, 2010 ... Full Worm Moon

The name comes from increased earthworm activity in the warming soil, as evidenced by tiny, curling piles of dirt or "castings" that worms leave on the surface. As worms help prepare the soil for spring growth, this signals the growing season to come.

In the month of March the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern Indian tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter ... or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. In 2010 this is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed six days later on Sunday, April 4.

More Green Stuff

Sunday breakfast on da bayou ~ just pretend this is a big ol' plate of biscuits & sausage gravy ... aw'rite?

Economic Recovery

It is a slow day in the small Kansas town of Marshall, and streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on credit.

A rich tourist visiting the area drives through town, stops at the motel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night.

As soon as he walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the $100 bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Farmer's Co-op.

The guy at the Farmer's Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit.

The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner.

The hotel proprietor then quickly places the $100 back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything.

At that moment the traveler comes back down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, picks up the $100 bill and leaves town.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything ... however, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States government is conducting business today.

Fear The Beard, Baybee!!

GO WILDCATS

Alas, I Have Lost My Way

Big game today ~ KState Wildcats trying to punch their ticket to the Final Four this afternoon ... and for gameday snackins I've got a fresh crisp ... salad ... Jesus take the wheel, for I have truly lost my way!! I guess I could fry up some bacon & kick up that salad a bit?? LOL But seriously ... I have some concerns about all this *healthy* eating I been doing of late (stir fry yesterday, and salad today ... that's 2 days in a row!!) ... is my body gonna go into some kinda weird anaphylactic soylent green shock or something, from eating all this green stuff?? Inquirin' minds wanna know....(g) Fear The Beard, Baybee!! Go Wildcats!!

Szechuan Beef & Broccoli ~ My Way

Szechuan Beef & Broccoli stir fry (made with filet mignon) ... in a spicy, garlicky oyster sauce ... over a bed of fluffy white rice ~ pretty good eats, considerin' all that green stuff in it.

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Doc Watson ~ Sittin' On Top Of The World

Spitting Prohibited

Filet Mignon En Croute

Beef tenderloin filet mignons ~ blackened rare

Wrapped in scratch pie dough pastry & baked

Kinda like a Beef Wellington, sans mushroom duxelle & bordelaise
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Delaney & Bonnie ~ Never Ending Song Of Love

Happy Birthday, Mom

Barbara J. Eddy ~ 1933-1999

Today is my Mom's birthday ~ she would have been 77 years old today. Her favorite singer was Patti Page, and one of my earliest childhood memories is of Mom singing me this song when I was a lil' peeshwank. I miss you, Mama.

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Patti Page ~ How Much Is That Doggie In The Window

Any Bakers Out There??

OK, so I'm not a baker ... never aspired to be, and don't pretend to be ... but I do attempt to bake something occasionally & it's usually edible, albeit sometimes just marginally. So, with that caveat implied ... here's the deal: I'm gonna haul off and bake a pie tomorrow ... a homemade custard/chess pie ... got my ol' Granny MeMaw's recipe, and it sez to scald the milk. Does anyone scald milk anymore?? I'm assuming that scalding was done back in Granny's day to kill any cooties that might have been in dat milk (since they were prolly using fresh whole milk right out the dang cow) ... right? With pasteurized storebought milk we got today, is scalding necessary?

Crispy Fried Pork Loin Cutlets

Otherwise known around these parts as *pork tenders* ... these are thin boneless pork loin chops, pounded & breaded, then fried till golden brown and crispy ~ makes a dandy sandwich. Whenever whole boneless pork loins go on sale I buy one and cut it down into a couple roasts, some thick chops for grilling, and some thin chops for making cutlets like you see above. Total meat cost of the above pork tenders was about $.50 ~ you cain't buy boloney that cheap!!

The Man Of Steel

What ... you think a 60 yr. old man cain't have a comic book collection? I've been a big Superman fan for over 40 years, bought my first of many Superman comic books at the aforementioned Woods Drugstore in my hometown of Onaga, Kansas in the 60s ... and have collected more than a hundred of them over the years, buying my most recent ones in the early 90s when the *Death Of Superman* trilogy came out. I also collected underground comics back in the 70s ~ mostly R. Crumb comics: Mr. Natural, Fritz The Cat, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Eggs Ackley, Sugarplum, etc. Keep on truckin', baybee!!

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Fats Domino ~ Blueberry Hill

Woods Drugstore Soda Fountain

This is an actual pic of the soda fountain in Woods Drugstore - circa mid-60s ... I drank many a sody pop & malted milkshake while sitting at this counter. My favorite stool was the one on the far end, because it was closest to the comic book rack. There were also several booths in the drugstore, and the booths had very high backs so we could git our sodas at the counter, then go sit in a booth and *hide* from old Joe Woods so we could read his comic books without having to buy them.

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Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs ~ Sugar Shack

Cherry Phosphate

OK, so I was reminiscing yesterday about the soda fountain in the old drugstore in my hometown (Wood's Drugstore) ... and in particular, the Cherry Phosphate sody pop that was made there. Y'all have had a cherry phosphate, right ... made with sweet thick concentrated cherry syrup and sody water. I recall going to the drugstore on Saturdays with a quarter (my entire weekly allowance) enough for a cherry phosphate which was a dime, a new Superman comic book which was also a dime ... and 5 pieces of penny candy to take home.

Mama Don't Allow No Pizza Hut Around Here

Scratch dough with homemade roasted garlic pizza sauce

Mixed sweet peppers, 4 cheeses and lotsa spicy pepperoni

Topped with birdeye chiles and shredded asiago

Main Street ~ Onaga, Kansas

Well, I was looking thru some old pics last night and found this old pic of my hometown ~ lookin' north up Main street at the crest of the hill of the main intersection downtown. The building on the far right is Tessendorf's Mortuary/Furniture Store, and the building on the corner across the street (with the *Drugs* advertisement on the wall) is Joe Wood's Drug Store. The bank and the post office are on the two corners across the street (not visible in this pic) ~ I'm not sure of the date when this pic was taken, but note that the streets are not yet paved. I'm going to do some research today & try to determine the approximate date. I used to buy my Superman comic books at that drugstore (still have some of them) ... and I took my first date there for a fountain sody pop we called cherry phosphates. Oh let not time deceive you ... you cannot conquer time.

(research has dated this pic to be circa early 1920's)

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Etta James ~ A Sunday Kind Of Love

Now THAT'S A Taco

Fresh homemade Indian fry bread

Loaded....

Snow In The Forecast Tonight

R.I.P. ~ Fess Parker

Pickapeppa Meatloaf

Just made a lil' meatloaf for sandwich fixins ~ nuthin' I like better than a cold meatloaf sandwich, no. Hadda run a lil' QC check on it hot out the oven - openfaced meatloaf sand atop toasted cheesy/pepperoni beer bread. It didn't suck. Glaze made with 1:1 catsup & Pickapeppa wit a lil' brown sugar ~ sweet & spicy. Rock Chalk Jayhawks!!

Which Way Is Authentic?

OK OK ... so is the authentic way to prepare/serve red beans & rice THIS way (above) ... with the rice & beans all mixed together? ... OR ... is the traditional way to serve the red beans over/alongside the fluffy white rice? Discuss amoungst yerselves, and lemme know if you reach a consensus. LOL Good Luck wit dat. Me, I like the beans on top the rice, not mixed together ... but having said that, dat red & white above din't taste too bad....

Cooking With Minnie

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Reuben sandwich made with homemade corned beef, bavarian kraut, ementhaller, on grilled rye with some homemade mustard.

"May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live." ~ Old Irish Blessing

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Eric Clapton ~ Oh Danny Boy

Cheesy Pepperoni Beer Bread

Baked a loaf of quick bread tonight ~ cheddar/pepperoni beer bread ... it was great with the red beans & rice.

Washday Red Beans & Rice

It never ceases to amaze me how something so frugal as beans and rice can taste so damn good!!

"Red Beans & Ricely Yours" ~ Satchmo

Not Your Father's French Toast

Good Italian bread, Monte Cristo ... stuffed with a couple fried eggs and honey ham ~ topped wit a lil' butter and some dat good Steens cane syrup.

Sunday Morning Gospel Hour

Gillian Welch ~ How Great Thou Art

Barbecue In 1951

Front Cover

Back Cover

Inside Advertisements

A friend sent me this old magazine from 1951 ~ he found it at a garage sale. It's got some really cool, retro barbecue stuff in it and I'll be scanning & posting some of it in the days to come.

Just A Little Off The Top....

Mais ... with spring just around the corner, I figured it was time today for my annual haircut & shave ... no, no, no, not at one them fancy hair salons either. I do it myself ~ ain't been to a barber shop since I retired 10 years ago ... figure I've saved over $2,500 in the last 10 years by cuttin' my own hair. Yeh, sometimes I don't cut it real straight ... but when dat happens I just put my hat on crooked and nobody's the wiser. Soon as the weather warms up a lil' more, I'll go down to the creek for my bath. Whooooooboy .... I feel pretty, oh so pretty ~ lol

It's That Time Of Year Again

I went to a severe weather/stormspotters class a couple days ago ~ gonna do a lil' storm chasing this spring. This time of year brings some wacky wacky weather to these parts of the country known as Tornado Alley where 70* sunshine days can turn into snowstorms, hail, thunderstorms, and tornados ... all in the blink of an eye. Strap yerself in, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Pasta Salad ~ My Way

Love me a good savory pasta salad ... even though it does have some that healthy *green stuff* in it!
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Tut Taylor & Brother Oswald ~ McKinley's Blues

Bacon Cheeseburger Mac & Cheese

Well, the cupboard gettin' pretty bare ... hadda dig pretty deep to come up with something for supper last night ~ ended up making this casserole. Bacon cheeseburger (steakburger, actually) mac & cheese.

I found a small 6 oz. top sirloin steak in the freezer, so I ground it up to make the *burger* for this dish

Macaroni, light bechamel/mornay wit 4 cheeses (Tillamook cheddar, provolone, pepper jack & asiago), caramelized onions & topped wit dat good Burgers smokehouse bacon.