96 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 9-15-16”

  3. Answer to Kevin’s question to end yesterday’s thread.
    ‘Grits are a culinary experience.
    Easy to make, but if you are from north of the Potomac, you can never get it right.

    😆

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Kevin, I said that because my sister married a sailor from Massachusetts. My wife’s sister married a collogue of mine from the Cape. Near the Kennedys. Both considered themselves good cooks. Bro-in-law especially.
    But neither can cook grits.
    Only a couple of years ago, Elvera confessed that she couldn’t make gravy. All these years and I didn’t realize that I was married to a woman who couldn’t make gravy!. I wondered why I never got “grits and gravy”. !!!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I make good gravy–unfortunately. You need some type of oil or grease/pan drippings. Add just enough floor to make a roux-this is where you get your color. From there mix a little flour and a little of whatever liquid you are using in a small cup to make a paste- this helps keep your gravy from lumping. Add liquid to the pan (with the pan drippings and flour already mixed there. THEN add you add your paste/thickening. Use a wire whist to keep from getting lumps.
    Here is the BIG secret. Keep a small bottle of Kitchen Bouquet hidden in the back of your pantry. If your gravy is not the right color add a drop or two of Kitchen Bouquet until you have the color you want. DON’T let anyone see this or know about it because it is considered cheating. Also be stingy with it because if you accidentally add too much you may as well throw the gravy away. Kitchen Bouquet on its own doesn’t taste very good.

    Liked by 3 people

  10. The key to that is to buy the biggest flipper Wal Mart has. They will still turn a little at the edges but you have a better chance of not popping the yolk. Now if you were to put your sunny side up egg in your grits and mix it all together? Yummy.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. The mural, which greets motorists in (always) bumper-to-bumper traffic heading into and through downtown Los Angeles, is called “The Harbor Freeway Overture” and is a tribute to the LA Chamber Orchestra (I mistakenly said Philharmonic in my email to AJ). It was completed in the mid 1990s but feels like it’s been there, well, just about forever to many of us.

    From a 2013 blog post at la curbed:

    Considering that the third and final panel of the mural was completed by artist Kent Twitchell in 1994, there are Charlie-Sheen-in-Wall Street-wannabes working Downtown right now who can’t even remember a time when the mural didn’t loom over one of the busiest stretches of freeway in the region. … The mural, known as the Harbor Freeway Overture, celebrated its twentieth anniversary back in December (2012) and is an 11,000 square foot marketing piece for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. It required 500 gallons of paint and 2,000 hours to complete, and, according to the LACO website, there is a little bit of mural wizardry involved in the work’s faux-fresco appearance: “Although the work appears to be a fresco, painted directly onto the walls of the structures, it is actually painted on a non-woven media, a blend of polyester and cellulous.”

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Good morning. Lots of noises from critters outside today. Maybe some lost their homes yesterday from the trre work and are stressed out.

    I am still not feeling very well. I hope I will be much improved by Monday so I can be at full capacity in helping Art to recuperate from surgery.

    Somewhere along the way I learned one secret to trying eggs is to try them in enough oil so that you can lift up some of the hot oil and drop it onto the yolk to start cooking it from the topside. That will firm it up a bit before you flip it so it will be more likely to stay intact.

    I learned this past week that Art likes the smell of burnt toast. We were at Firehouse Subs and smelled that and when I commented he told me that. People keep learning new things about their spouses all the time. I imagine that Art does not know that I know how to make gravy. I learned to make it after frying chicken for Sunday dinners when I was a teenager. I don’t think I have made it since then.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. It is a sun shiny day here in the forest and my beautiful mums are now being digested by a herd of deer…grrrrr!!!! Overnight the dogs were growling and barking…I knew the deer were moving through…this morning the mums are gone, my vines are gone, the late roses and garden phlox….all gone…there is plenty of vegetation out in the meadow for them to eat, not to mention the neighbor who puts feed in a trough for them…but I suppose my beautiful flowers were more tasty! Perhaps if I sprayed them with something that tasted like grits they would move along and leave it alone!! 😛

    Liked by 2 people

  17. We do a lot of eggs here. Some like the yolk whole, others (like me,) prefer it broken. The key is to move the spatula quickly, like with pancakes. We break our yolks as soon as we get them in the pan. Husband likes his unbroken and crisp on both sides. I probably have an eighty percent success rate on his and one hundred percent success on mine. The children are still learning and sometimes the outcomes are rather amusing but they eat what they make and that is good. But I have told them to make sure the white is cooked.

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  19. Oh good, Linda did not find my sugar on grits comment offensive. Then she won’t mind the sugar on rice comment or the sugar on tomatoes comment?

    Grandfather was from Louisiana, he liked grits from the box, instant. And he put canned milk on his cereal. And honey on his toast. And loved crawdads.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. I pulled on a sweatshirt this morning, we’ve had a few cool nights which has been wonderful. I feel sorry for Tess with no fur 😦 But maybe we’re getting an early fall. We’re all just hoping for a “normal” rainfall year, so maybe this years-long string of draught seasons can at last be broken.

    (And for the record, my earlier post had the years wrong, blog was from 2012 and the 20th anniversary of the mural would have been in 2011.)

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  21. Daughter-in-law puts sugar on rice. I’d never heard of that before.
    I don’t like fried eggs either; or any way except hard-boiled.

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  23. So I thought about it all day yesterday and planned to have it for breakfast. You people are causing me to be bad.
    Brunch today is grits, egg, cheese, and deli ham. Shhhh. Don’t tell anybody but I made the quick grits that you can cook in the microwave (really have you ever tried to clean up a pot that was used to cook grits?) I made a MAJOR mistake. I forgot to add salt before I cooked them. After it is almost impossible to get enough salt in them. I had to cover up the lack of salt with hot sauce.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Shaved dogs: we had our wheaten terrier shaved when we got back from Okinawa. We had picked her up as a stray over there and never did get the knots out. So I took her in and told them to shave her. I did not recognize her when they brought her out. I was surprised at the change. You have to watch for sunburn but it grows back very quickly and is just as beautiful.

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  28. My sister owns a grooming shop (in D.C.) and she grumbles about folks who don’t have their dogs groomed regularly and then expect her to perform miracles. I know she wouldn’t shave a dog without the owner’s permission, though.

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  34. All right, all right, I dug out my box of grits. My husband won’t try them, so I don’t often think to make them, though our younger daughter (who had one year of college in the South) likes them. But her schedule is much different from mine, and it’s unusual for her to be around, awake, and interested in breakfast at the same time I am . . .

    Liked by 1 person

  36. Kim, I don’t like eggs either. I like them boiled, or fried with hash for supper, but breakfast eggs are something I usually won’t touch. The ham sounds good, though.

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  39. I’ll eat eggs any way you want to make them…..

    As long as there’s no slime. I don’t eat slimy eggs. If eating out, I usually get eggs over medium, well cooked, except the yolk which should be about half cooked. I make it quite clear to the wait staff that if they eggs are slimy I will send them back. It’s not hard to do, yet about a 1/3 of the time, they ain’t right and I send ’em back.

    And grits are nasty. There. I said it. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  40. Speaking of eggs: First child started as she was done with her chores outside. I listened. Frying pan, check. Cracking eggs, check. Sound of butter in hot pan, check. Sound of eggs going into hot pan, check. Oh No, I forgot the cheese! check. Oh No, I forgot my toast. check. She got them done, turned off the pan and went about her business.
    Second child, the nine year old. I listened. The crack of eggs into bowl, check. Mom, will you please turn on the stove for me? check. Toast going in toaster, check. Margarine going on toast, check. Eggs turning, check. Cheese going on eggs, check. Food on plate, check. Burner turned off, check. Off to the table to eat.
    Third child, ten year old, who has been banned for a while after using a metal spatula on the nonstick pan. I listened. Egg squished, check. Hands washed, check. Another egg squished but not as much, check. Hands washed, check. Another egg cracked into bowl, check. Poured into pan, check. Waiting. Finally, I go into the kitchen and ask him if he is doing solar cooking today. He looks at the light over stove. I point out that he did not turn the stove on and did not have the pan on a burner. He comments that he forgot to put butter in the pan. He turns on stove and puts pan on burner, I exit. And wait. And wait. And wait. Eventually, I hear him comment that he thinks it might be time to turn the eggs, check. I suggest he do so. He puts on the cheese, check. I ask him if he is planning on toast, OH! I forgot! Bread goes into toaster. Eventually he goes off with a nice plate of eggs and toast. Whew, another breakfast done.

    Liked by 4 people

  42. Grits? Yummy! With butter and honey, or butter, salt and pepper, or brown sugar. With eggs and bacon, or eggs and sausage, or with ham. Anyway you serve them is fine by this Northerner.

    Liked by 2 people

  43. AJ- A question and a request. Did you get the pigskin pics I sent you last night? I’m going to a fellowship conference in a remote area of the Ozarks, and will be away from computers for a few days starting tonight through Sunday. So could you put up the list so I can get my picks on it, so no one thinks I am cheating when I say I won it all this week?

    Thanks.

    Liked by 2 people

  46. Eggs: Hard boiled or hard scrambled. With salt (optional), pepper.

    Maybe a little cheese, plus onion/green peppers are good if I have them available. But mostly just pepper

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  49. Soon as I saw the picture, I thought, “I bet it’s from Donna. It looks like L.A.”

    On eggs, I’m too nervous to try to cook with them yet. One of the young children in the family I rent from is anaphylactic to dairy products, including eggs. I’ve cautiously been starting to eat yogurt and cheese, because I can easily keep them separate from the family’s food, but I really don’t want to be the one responsible for sending the child to the E.R.

    Still alive, though my asthma has been flaring up in the style it does when I get too stressed out. Only three main classes (meaning three lectures, with one tutorial), with the one elective, and yet my nerves already are frayed. There is a tremendous amount of self study involved in this program, and it started the minute they put the course material up in the online forum and will not abate until the courses end. I’m not the only one who feels overwhelmed, every other student obviously does, and many of them have more years of nursing experience than I do. Today, there are no classes, so I slept in. It is no longer so hot that the heat in my attic room drives me to take refuge in the school library, so I can stay home and study with periods of rest in between. Last week was brutal with the heat, which is probably why my body is complaining so much now.

    Liked by 5 people

  50. Hope there is no mold etc. in that attic, Roscuro. Hope you feel less stress and have better breathing soon.

    I have never had the tomato jam. I know many add peppers to many of the fruit jams. We were given raspberry/pepper for example. Most people like it on crackers with cream cheese. I am not a fan, although I do like barbecue chipotle sauce with raspberries mixed into it.

    What wonderful times or places we live in to be able to sample such a variety of foods.

    I have a relative who raises goats. She had a couple show up unexpectedly. The woman was in a hijab or burka. They wanted a male goat to sacrifice. Then they wanted to sacrifice it there right away. She held it for them on the edge of her property. Her post on fb is quite interesting, but I could not help wondering why, as a Christian, she would take part in this. It happens too often, that I hear of Christians involved in such things. Would this couple help an elderly Christian to the communion table or some such? Thoughts, anyone?

    Liked by 1 person

  51. Many Muslims I have met would help an elderly Christian to the communion table. They have great respect for the elderly.

    I would be very interested in seeing how the butchering of animals is done by many cultures so minimum stress is put on the animal. I am not certain that a bullet to the head is the quickest and the best way. But I don’t think I would help in the sacrifice of the animal if prayers were being said to a false god.

    Liked by 2 people

  53. I have a thought, K. I was present, for not one, but two festivals of the Eidh, called Tobuski in that region. I shared the celebratory meal with one of our friend’s families. Nearly every team member did with their village friends, and the MKs, with childlike fascination would sometimes go and watch the animals being killed. Do you know what Eid is based on? Although the Arabic title means Festival of the Sacrifice, the killing of the animals, generally rams, is not a sacrifice. Rather, it is a commemoration of a sacrifice, that of the ram which God gave to Abraham in substitution for the sacrifice of his son. It is an opportunity to tell the rest of the story. After all, Jews also observe another commemoration of a Biblical sacrifice, and Christians have no qualms about sharing that celebration.

    Liked by 2 people

  54. Eeeek. (re the goat)

    Roscuro, remind me again about the schooling — this is for a bachelor’s in nursing or ?

    Got another bag of books added to the Salvation Army donation pile. I’ll have to move all these bags out to the front porch this weekend (couldn’t get a pickup scheduled until Tuesday) as it’s becoming pretty crowded in the entry way!

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  56. Oh, one nice note amidst all this stress – well maybe two or three: As, I indicated, I did indeed get into the orchestra. I’m in the second violin section, which, as I said before, I would be very content with. Just as a bonus, we will be rehearsing in the best place on campus – those on FB may have seen what I’m talking about.
    Also, the church that I formerly attended when I was last here has welcomed me with open arms (literally). The pastor came up to say, “Welcome home” last week. I will be singing in the choir as I’m able and perhaps doing some volunteer work in one of their outreaches.

    Liked by 5 people

  61. Interesting topics today.

    Eggs are good cooked by most methods as long as they are past the slimy stage like AJ said. No one mentioned omelettes. Those are good with spinach, cheese and mushrooms.

    This phone keeps changing words and I go back and fix them and then it changes them again.

    Glad to hear from Roscuro. I was thinking of asking about you and then I saw your post.

    I am still trying to figure what to do on this tree fiasco. They have not come back, and I have not paid. Maybe I will see if they can take the rest of the tree down and then pay the bigger amount. But I don’t want to mess around with the situation and give more opportunity for who knows what. But I need that tree down. I got Art to look at it this a.m., but he was not much help since I am the one dealing with the folks.

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  62. So, once again I am seeing a therapist to get a tune up on my personality I paid for. I told Guy that I was leaving my house and would not be available for the next hour. When I got back in my truck I had 3 text message and 2 missed calls. I called him back and told him the next therapist appointment I made was going to be for the two of us because he didn’t listen to me. I already resent that 15 minutes of my therapist time was spent discussing him and the way he treats me.
    I then asked him what he needed. He said he forgot it was an hour ago and that I needed to put it on my voice mail when I wouldn’t be able to answer the phone.

    We had already discussed whether or not I got a lunch hour because I had left my house Tuesday for about 45 minutes to do something with BG and he needed something. I had sent a text message to him that time telling him I had an errand to run.

    🙂
    😉
    😦

    Liked by 1 person

  63. This Navy ship photo is for Kim.

    Taken during LA Fleet week, the day everyone welcomed in the 3 visiting ships. We were standing on the Iowa as they went by in the harbor, hand waving was that of a long-time source, aide to LA mayor before he returned to work in the port admin

    Quite a sight to see all the sailors in their whites lined up on the decks.

    Liked by 1 person

  65. Since DJ has shared Fleet Week I will share this from a friend. He has a terrific story of rescuing a Cuban in the Atlantic. The young man on watch was afraid to wake him to tell him he thought he saw something. They ended up saving a life.

    My First Week on a Navy War Ship

    It was summer of 1991 in (Some Navy Town), Florida which meant that it was blazing hot and humid that Monday morning. By the time I walked up to the brow to report to my very first ship, I was sweating heavily in my summer whites. The quarterdeck watch was expecting me and escorted me to the wardroom. I had never been on an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate before so I didn’t know where anything was. After a few minutes to catch my breath, a Sailor said that the Captain was ready to meet me. I nervously knocked three times on his cabin door and he welcomed me in. He seemed genuinely happy to see me. I had already sent him the obligatory letter telling a little about myself and my family and how excited I was to be assigned to his ship. The last part was a lie. I had heard rumors about serving on surface ships in the Navy and they were all bad. I felt like I was reporting to prison.
    After chatting about his background and my family and reviewing my history, he asked me if I knew the ship’s schedule. I did not. He got this twinkle in his eye and said that the ship was getting underway on Friday for a family day cruise. We would leave in the morning with the family and friends of the crew on board. We would leave Navy Town, show off some of things that the ship does, and return that afternoon. He then paused and finished by saying he wanted me to conn the ship on the way out. He already knew that I had never been on a frigate before, which is significant, because driving frigates next to the pier was unlike any other ship in the Navy. Frigates were over a football field long, had only one screw and one rudder, but were blessed with two independently trainable bow thrusters known as APU’s (Auxiliary Propulsion Units). He noticed the surprise on my face and calmly said that one of the department heads would train me and then I would go over my plan with him before the big day – only four days away. I spent the next two days with the department head and I felt I knew everything I needed. I then met with the Captain on the bridge and rehearsed what I intended to do to get the ship underway. He gave me pointers a few times, asked a few questions, but finally said, “you are ready – you’ll do great!” The next day I briefed the wardroom on my plan to take the ship to sea.

    Friday arrived and over a hundred family and friends of the crew streamed up the brow. The sea and anchor detail was set and I announced on the bridge that I had the con. Most of the Sailors on the ship were staring intently at the FNG (Freakin’ New Guy) and wondered if I would screw up. The guests probably had no idea that like many of them, I had never been underway on a Navy surface warship before (Yard Patrol craft at the Naval Academy don’t count). The Captain stationed himself on the outboard bridge wing with his wife – on the other side of the ship from me. The Department Head who had trained me that week was by my side but said almost nothing the entire time. Soon were were headed out to sea and I was relieved – figuratively and literally. Everything went smoothly. I learned later that although the Captain pretended to laugh and chat with his wife the entire time, he was intently listening to every command I gave, ready to step in if needed.
    I was on top of the world. It was like I had hit the winning home run in the final game of the World Series. More than any other single event, that first week on board convinced me that service in the Surface Navy wasn’t a prison sentence – it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

    Liked by 2 people

  66. I am going to throw up. Lying Hillary is giving a speech spinning her illness to focus on people who are one pay check away from losing everything and can’t afford an illness. Everything that comes out of that woman’s mouth makes me cringe.

    Liked by 2 people

  69. “Show me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are”. For almost 50 years she has been involved in politics therefore she is a liar, a cheater and of disreputable character.
    You know how to tell a politician is lying? Lips are moving.

    Liked by 2 people

  71. Good ideas michelle.

    So, very productive day, decided on more of the detail materials for the bathroom (light and fixture styles) — and have been rummaging around more in the spare room where I found a box of family mementoes — my grandmother’s obituary, several pesos (?), some handwritten things from my mom (an address that’s oddly very close to where Carol stays now), the final paperwork for my grandfather’s estate, my dad’s social security card & last driver’s license ( 😦 ) – and some other things that I think must have been from his wallet at the time of his death, including some school pics of me 🙂 …

    My Girl Scout barrettes and pin …

    And several old U.S. coins that may be worth something. I put them all in a ziplock bag to check on later, there’s one silver dollar from 1912. Who knows. Maybe I can remodel another room!! Oy.

    And Tess’ new ‘do is growing on me — she probably feels somewhat better, to be honest, now that her skin can breathe without the mats on her haunches. They actually left her whole tale full, so she looks like she’s wearing a long black and white skirt in back.

    Liked by 5 people

  73. I had an attitude adjustment today about the tree situation. Part of my frustration was in making sure what is left on the tree is considered safe from falling in neighbor’s yard since they have a young child. So I called the neighbor and explained how I am taking care of the tree work in phases. I also asked if I could reimburse on the fence damage, and he said it was under $20.00 to repair so they would cover that. I told him about Art’ s surgery Monday and said it would be a few weeks before I could do the rest of the work. Then I spoke with the tree guy who I will see tomorrow to verify that the tree is not an immediate threat as it was before trimming. My change in attitude came when I spoke with my brother, and I walked outside and saw that the crew had cleaned up all the piles, front yard and back, which my brother had left for me to do in cleanup from the original broken off main branch. The crew did really nice work and including their second reworking, I feel it is worth $1,000 for what they did. It is good to feel resolution. I needed that.

    Liked by 4 people

  74. very heavy rain when I went to our open air market this morning. So grateful for my waterproof jacket as it is difficult to buy produce while wrangling an umbrella. My heavy khaki skirt was soaked through. Glad for a dry home to come back to. All the vegetables are now soaked and are drying. Whoops I meant soaked in bleach water not rain.

    Liked by 2 people

  78. She looks sinister in that photo, peering at me over the top of my laptop computer … Don’t want to know what was she thinking (actually I think I was drinking some milk which always sets her into stalking mode)

    Liked by 3 people

  80. I prefer my eggs scrambled for breakfast, but I also like hard-boiled eggs, & egg salad for lunch. (Not both at the same time.) Fried egg sandwiches make a yummy dinner.

    I add creamy salad dressing into them before cooking. Thousand Island is really good for that. Funny thing is that I find Thousand Island too tart for salad, preferring Ranch for my salad, but I find Ranch tastes funny when used in eggs.

    Another way of making scrambled eggs is to cook them in the microwave. Spray a bowl with cooking spray, scramble up two eggs in the bowl (along with a tablespoon or so of salad dressing or half-n-half), then nuke (covered) for 45 seconds. Flip eggs over, then nuke for another 30 – 40 seconds, depending on how your microwave works.

    The texture is quite different from scrambled eggs cooked in a pan on the stove, & even the flavor seems somewhat different, too.

    Something else eggy that’s good, but we don’t do it very often, is to put a fried egg (with cooked yolk) on top of a hamburger.

    What an eggsellent conversation we’re having. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  87. HAPPY, HAPPY,HAPPY
    (ALMOST BELATED)
    BIRTHDAY WISHES
    TO KEVIN!!!

    Vanilla Ice Cream
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Hot Fudge Sauce
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Double Choco Brownie
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    HERSHEY KISSES BORDER

    Liked by 2 people

  90. Hurry up and take the first piece of your cake Kevin….it looks too delicious to wait much longer…I’m going to have to jump in and take a slice…I’m mean double chocolate brownie…vanilla ice cream…yummy!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂 And kudos to the wonderful cook Janice!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  91. Happy Birthday Kevin!

    I’ve never heard of using salad dressing in eggs, will have to give that a try.

    Tess’ new haircut was actually a hit among some at the dog park who liked it. Of course, now that the weather is becoming so horribly cold out there, people are beginning to bring sweatshirts …

    Liked by 3 people

  92. Earlier discussion about tomato jam…
    I used to get some hot pepper jelly at the grocery. We would have it with cream cheese on saltine crackers. I liked it. It was really green.

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  95. hmmm…. Donna’s comment is going to have me puzzling for a while.
    Off to make some meatballs to put in the freezer for various meals.
    I think the recipe makes about 155 small meatballs, then you bake them.

    Liked by 1 person

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