.... happy New Year, folks.... personally, I think that this year has been fairly stable with a fair share of the ups and downs......... more ups than downs, sure, but still, there is always Townes........
.... and in this case, Steve Earle's version of one of Townes' songs.......
...... if you have read my blog for more than four of the past six years that it has been alive, then this will mean something to you all..........
..... sweet dreams, and a very happy New Year to you all......
.... I've always thought of my Dad as a quiet, confident, gentle man..... capable of just about any feat, strong, fit, and smiling...... his presence is definitely missed when the family gathers for their annual holidays.... even now - nearly ten years on - the old men of the family still grouse at the lack of freshly brewed coffee at my Mother's house after the meals..... "no coffee?," they grunt, "if Marion were here we'd have fresh COFFEE after dinner!"..... and thus it goes as they sip their sweet tea and fumble with their toothpicks........
.... I think that after he died my Mother stowed away his old coffee maker..... and now her house is as barren of coffee as the Mongolian steppes are of Tennesseans......
.... in any case, over this past Christmas the family gathered at my Mother's house for dinner, and I was given two grainy photographs of my Dad from back in the day......
.... good god, folks..... one of the photos is from just before he left to join the Marine Corps around 1965.... and the other is from theatre near Phu Loc with 1st Shore Party Battalion circa 1966-67......
...... you know, sometimes I think my Father thought he was Elvis....... I mean, just check these out....
He looks so different in that 2nd picture. He's so lean, not that he wasn't in the first, but in the 2nd, he is REALLY lean, his face, all of him.
I don't see you posing as Elvis, but that picture of you with the Smokey Bear hat in Pcola doing the DI type inspection kind of falls in line with your Pop's second picture. Either way... men not to mess with.
Hell raised by Catfish on December 29, 2009 09:02 PM
Great photographs...go ahead and back 'em up as well. A friend of mine spent a lot of time scanning his old photos, didn't save 'em to somewhere other than his HD. HD went belly up...lost 'em all. At least he can start over.
I love your old pictures and how you describe the story that they tell. I hope you and your family are having holidays that also will be remembered in the future. Happy Holidays from our family to yours.
Hell raised by Lemon Stand on December 30, 2009 08:22 PM
That first photograph is great - I'd love to have the balls to wear a shirt like that in public!
He was a fine-looking man...and that bottom photo, my goodness...that is the stuff of good old fashioned American heartthrobbery, right there. Those are the kinds of posters young ladies should have hanging on their walls...not feigele dooshbags like Adam Lambert.
Hell raised by Erica on December 31, 2009 08:37 AM
Your Dad was a heartstoppingly handsome man, Eric! And you do look a LOT like him. :) Thanks for sharing the pics - what a treasure!
Hell raised by Richmond on December 31, 2009 03:23 PM
Ohhhh, instant emotion!!! Especially the picture of your Dad with the gun. I have the exact same picture of my own Dad... ok, wait, your Dad is not my Dad, but what I meant is / was, er, My Dad posed the very same way. Yeahhh there it is! LOL WOW - I'm extremely sentimental about the vietnam vets as Daddy shared an awful lot with me... I learned how to use a P38 two winters ago all because of Dad and his stories. You have the best blog ever!!!
Another thought: My husband has photos of his dad when he joined the Navy at 17 in about 1944. When I look at his photos I think, "Wow, did he think he was Dean Martin?" Are all young soldiers so cocky?
I watched it as well...classic movie, and I love the final "truce" scene.
I told the Juju woman we need a couple of horses, a couple of pack mules, some warm clothes, some guns, and a shitload of bullets. She said she was game, and added she needed a lot of warm clothes.
The movie was nothing next to the real man it was based on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver-Eating_Johnson
Read the book Crow Killer - I know you'll like it.
Hell raised by chris on December 28, 2009 03:09 PM
A fine song well sung. Though I think it could have been improved upon some if Merle Haggard had cut it. But that's personal...I mean....Merle's the Man...
Hell raised by Tbird on December 28, 2009 10:03 PM
A few years after this movie came out, we named our son, Jeremiah. ; )
..... well, I've spent the better part of the evening being schooled on the nuances of Basil Rathbone's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes courtesy of TCM..... and I swear, Conan Doyle must have been the greatest bore to have gone to dinner with......I mean, can you imagine?.....
.... "I see that you ordered the broiled scrod this evening, Mr. SWG"...
... "why, yes, I've always found it quite tasty!"....
.... "Watson, THIS is our man... alert Scotland Yard immediately...... he obviously walks with a heavy limp after 10pm most evenings, and his short, manicured red hair indicates a heavy diet of coppery root vegetables, AND his lack of melanin means that he definitely comes from a suspect gene pool from which most arch criminals have sprung.. and besides, freckles are always insidious by nature..."
.... " bugger me, I just wanted some fish for dinner...."....
..."Ah Ha!.... a cunning plan, I am sure, but your shifty dining habits have undone you, sir!"..
.... "ummm, Watson, what was I supposed to have done?"....
...."the stealing of the Crown Jewels, of course!"
... "no, I mean, what was I supposed to have ordered?"....
.... "try the veal once you get out of jail, sir...... bad guys NEVER eat veal..."......
...... "thanks, Watson...... I'll try to remember that the next time I am wrongfully accused by some egomaniac who can solve a crime while I'm still in the process of ordering dinner at Chez Hole-in-the-Wall..."....
..... sure, they really WERE entertaining flicks....... but after 12 in a row, you began to stow freshly sharpened pencils in nooks and crannies around the house for self-defense just in case an impromptu knock at the door found you face to face with Mr. Rathbone in his Sherlock deerstalker......
.... then again, maybe I'm just getting a little paranoid these days........ which, actually, wouldn't surprise me all that much...
Holmes: Why, I just looked next to the potatoes... and there it was!
Hell raised by Elisson on December 27, 2009 11:19 PM
Now, if you're looking for a REAL Basil Rathbone movie... The Magic Sword.
Hell raised by Harvey on December 27, 2009 11:52 PM
Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't really out to get you.
Now for a measly $5, payable in gold coin of the realm, our fulfillment department will send you the Complete Guide to Determine Who THEY Are. Don't be taken down without it. Makes a perfect New Years gift for those who are constantly looking over their shoulder.
.... just home from a lovely three-generational family dinner hosted by my Sainted Mother...... Aunt Frances started cooking a 20lb ham at 6am this morning and by the time we began eating, it was falling apart, salty, and absolutely out of this world..... deviled eggs, creamed corn, cole slaw, broccoli casserole, baked beans, sausage balls, creamed cheese & ham ball, macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, fudge, Martha Washington candy, oat meal cookies, and a huge coconut cake...... today's meal made Thanksgiving look like an afternoon snack......
... and the ham, good god..... why anyone would choose turkey over a slow-cooked country ham is beyond me.... they must be insane.......
... Christmas was enjoyed by all.... gifts were exchanged and the elders bandied jokes.... and at the end of the evening a little cousin was strolling around giving everyone goodbye hugs...... when he got to me, the four-year old gazed up and shook his head.....
... "no hug for me then?"....
"nope", he shrugged....
..... "am I too scary looking for a hug?"....
"no, just weird looking."
..... so there you have it, rubberneckers....... no Christmas hugs for me, I guess....... I'm evidently much too "weird looking"......
.... cheeky little varmint..... I'm writing a letter to Santa Claus next year, and you can bet on that.....
..... oh, and speaking of letters, one of the gifts that I purchased for The Missus this year was "1,000 Movies You Must See Before You Die"...... she's a bit of a movie fan, and she loved the book..... HOWEVER, "Jeremiah Johnson" came on the other day, and she happily grabbed up her book to see what the author had to say about Sydney Pollack's classic only to find that "Jeremiah Johnson" did NOT MAKE THE CUT.....
.... she was horrified.... and I was incredulous!..... no "Jeremiah Johnson"??..... good god, the book obviously isn't worth the paper that it is printed on!..... hell, I have a framed, original 1972 movie poster of the film hanging proudly in my own damned living room!...
..... after I've digested all of this ham, I'm definitely writing a letter to the "author" of that book to tell him what a huge oversight he is guilty of.........
Sounds like a great time was had. No accounting for 4 year old tastes I suppose.
No Jeremiah Johnson?? Seems like an offense deserving of a little more severe punishment than a letter......perhaps a week in stocks on the courthouse square in your county, where 4 year old's can poke him with sticks and call him weird looking.
Menu sounds marvelous.
I had dinner with friends - country ham and all the fixins', too.
Gotta love that southern cooking!
Hell raised by Vicki in GA on December 26, 2009 04:02 PM
The movie was VERY loosely based on the book, CROW KILLER: THE SAGA OF LIVER EATING JOHNSON.
According to the book, after Johnson's family was wiped out by the Crows he sought his revenge by killing every Crow warrior he encountered. After terminating same, he would cut out the liver of his victim and eat it raw. He fed well on that internal organ for quite a while before he finally made peace with the tribe.
Needless to say such things don't translate well to the big screen in our politically correct age.
I will agree thought that as sanitized as the movie was, it was still a damn good movie, and should deserve greater recognition...
Hell raised by Tbird on December 26, 2009 11:26 PM
What brand name was the ham? I love hams better than any turkey, Cat
Hell raised by Catfish on December 27, 2009 06:30 PM
The ham sounds wonderful. We usually get a smoked ham from a place in Wichita Falls - yours sounds much better.
My brother saw "Jeremiah Johnson" so many times that we started calling him Jeremiah Jesse. I knew several guys who tried being mountain men after seeing the movie. Fun times!
Hi Youngster, at 2 single malts a day you are about 6500 malts from beginning to becoming a grown up.
Besides that, a merry and happy Christmas with lots of other nice things thrown in.
Hell raised by keeskennis on December 25, 2009 03:09 PM
Merry Christmas to you and yours!! :)
Hell raised by Richmond on December 25, 2009 04:54 PM
.... today has been a day of ups and downs....... but it has still been a good day, and I am thankful........
... anyway, I will leave you with a short clip of a Youtuber called "Fretkiller" playing a little ditty regarding my tiny hometown........ it is called "The Etowah Shuffle"...... check it out....
.... embedding is disabled, so you'll have to click here instead.....
...... and with that, children, I'm off to bed......... tomorrow is going to be one helluva day....... two dozen deviled eggs await creation for Friday's dinner......
.... anyone know any secret ingredients I might add to cause un-Santa like effects to my relatives after they've eaten one or two handfuls of deviled eggs?.......
.... not that I actually would, mind you, but I'm just asking for future reference.....
Merry Christmas, Eric. Gotta tend to FB too much any more. Farmville eating up too much CPU for too little corn storage. Also, blogfriends beginning to intersect with Real World projectfriends. This can only mean They Are Killing Independent George.
Hell raised by Cappy on December 23, 2009 08:38 PM
I loved that...it would have been even more Etowah-ish if he did that cool pinky fretboard slapping thing you do that I love. Is there a name for it? I've never seen anyone do it except for you.
Hell raised by Erica on December 23, 2009 09:59 PM
.... good on ye, Cappy.... good luck....
.... and Erica, as far as I know, I am the only person that does it...... but hey, I am glad that you like it!......
.... this evening The Missus cackled with glee when she - whilst flicking through the television channels as I whipped up a batch of tacos - found that "My Fair Lady" was coming on in half an hour...... and as I sit here now, Mr. Doolittle has just ended his meeting with The Professor and Ms. Doolittle is ripping heartily into "Just You Wait, 'Enry 'Iggins" while wildly out of tune.....
... .good god, what is it that women see in that storyline?...... a poor flowergirl with a dreadful Cockney accent being sold off by her own Father, mistreated & demeaned by a stuck-up snob who is waaaay too old for her, and then she falls in love with the guy??...... Jesus Christ...... I just don't get it.......
.... the only redeeming tidbit in the whole damned film is watching Audrey suffer through attempting to talk while trying not to swallow a mouthful of marbles....and hell, THAT is only funny for the most base and sadistic of reasons.....
... as I live and breathe, I will never understand the appeal of that movie..... to me, it'd make a lot more sense if Eliza had reached her humiliation breaking point and smashed Henry Higgins' knees with his chamber pot while he slept.... and then forced him to eat that whole jar of marbles while reciting Poe's "The Raven" in the thickest Cockney he could muster......
... this, sadly, is probably why I haven't written a Broadway play yet....... but wow, I just don't get it.......
Could you imagine a film that combined Eliza Doolittle with Bert the Chimney Sweep from "Mary Poppins?"
My ears would gush brain sludge.
Hell raised by Erica on December 22, 2009 10:37 PM
As SWMBO's brother points out, perhaps it is a case of Stockholm Syndrome...
Hell raised by Elisson on December 23, 2009 12:48 AM
It has to be Audrey who is the pull for that movie. But why did they match her up with old men? She plays opposite Fred Astaire in "Funny Face" - yuck. I like Gary Cooper, but he was old enough to be her grandpa in "Love in the Afternoon."
I said, essentially, the very same thing last night when the Zigster asked me if I wanted to see it. It's like my least-favorite musical... 'enry 'iggins is a misogynistic bastard.
Hell raised by Pammy on December 23, 2009 10:58 AM
Because it's a fantasy of lots of girls -well, super girly-girls mostly, I guess- to be benefactored so elaborately and then turn the tables on their benefactor and then rule him with the vajayjay. It's the way girls are shamefully socialized.
Check it:
Princess/Handsome Prince
Barbie/Ken
Maria Carey/Tommy Matola
Jay Lo/Half of Brooklyn
Ever read MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden. Oddy enough and broadly speaking it has a similar storyline.
Hell raised by Tbird on December 23, 2009 07:08 PM
... indeed, Erica.... that would be a horrible duet.....
... and yeah, Elisson.... you may be correct about that.... especially in the final scene where she comes back to him and he asks her where his slippers are?.... she should have bashed them over his noggin....
... Audrey had a screen presence, Lou, that's for sure..... but she still needed a sandwich or two..... and why they paired her with old men, I have no idea....
... Andy, I certainly don't know any of those types of women..... besides, it wasnt that she was ruling him, after all, it was just the opposite...
... interesting analogy, Tbird... I havent read the book, but I've seen the film....... but I still think "My Fair Lady" is worse....
...I'd like to thank Elisson and his lovely bride for inviting us down this past weekend... folks, the man and his friends know how to cook, drink, entertain, and make a Tennessean feel welcome.... goose, roasted beef, beautiful desserts, fattened duck liver, barrels of wine..... good grief..... and stories, and laughter to boot..... Captain Aubrey would have been most proud.... hell, we even had a few broken glasses to add to the effect!.... it was also wonderful to see Denny the GOC again as well....... man, those fellows certainly know their wines......
.... it was a wonderful and welcome weekend of good company and festive excess..... which, I do believe, was exactly what they were aiming for...... Elisson, sir, you hit another home run......
.... in other news, I was just channe lsurfing looking for one of those creepy ghost shows that seem to be on everywhere these days and I ran across 24 midgets strapped to a DC-10 trying to out-pull an Indian elephant that was strapped to its own DC-10 airplane.... I was shocked, appalled, and weirdly fascinated by the whole scene, so I just had to watch it...... and yes, the elephant won....... but NOT before the well-coifed announcer screamed, "WOW!!!... just watch those LITTLE PEOPLE PULL!!"...... I nearly snorted a mouthful of tea out my nose.....
.... so yeah, anyway.... that "Man Vs Beast" show is just wrong...... I wonder where they found so many midgets who were that excited about pulling a 203,000lb airplane...... nevermind..... if you know the answer, don't tell me.... I just don't want to know....
Some years ago I stopped by to see a logger I had worked with about a tract he was going to work for us in the near future. At that time, he was working on Federal property which meant he had a USFS nanny who stayed with the crew to make sure they stayed within contract. I met the logger and as we were talking he asked " Have you met our FS nanny yet? He's a midget." Unbeknownst to us, he was walking up as we conversed and announced rather loudly, "I'm NOT a midget, I'm a dwarf!" As we shook hands and I looked him over I realized he was in fact, a dwarf. There is a difference and as I discovered, to mistake one for the other, really pisses them off.
Hell raised by Tbird on December 21, 2009 08:00 PM
... well, boys & girls..... we're off to spend the weekend in Atlanta and enjoy some time with Mr. Elisson & Company...... y'all have a great weekend!.....
..... whipped up a marvelous steak pie for dinner this evening... thick, salty, garlicy gravy, and meat so tender that it burst into terrified strands at the mere mention of a fork.... (I suppose that's what cooking steak tips for five hours will get you, eh?).....
..... all in all, a quiet night though...... the tree and decorations go up tomorrow..... 3/4 of the Christmas cards have been mailed...... and today was so warm that I retrieved the bin from the mailbox in just my short-sleeves and wasn't the slightest bit cold......
.... 68 degrees on December the 16th, 2009..... 68 degrees?...... we're supposed to be sitting around singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas", no?.... and bundling ourselves up head to foot and wandering off before daybreak in search of tasty forest bucks to blast with our frosted-over rifles?.....
.... good god, I swear......... and I bet February is going to be one bitch of a month weather-wise..... that seems to be the norm around here anyway..... October is frigid, November is wet, December is 1/2 cold, and 1/2 mild...... and February freezes our asses off........
... but hey, this morning was amazing........ let us hope that tomorrow will be just as grand.....
February is Darwin's month in these parts. For critters anyway. They can make it pretty well up till then. By February, food's gettin' short and then you get all the rat-sh*t weather which really puts on the stress. Meaning only the strongest make it into March. Natural selection.
Hell raised by Tbird on December 17, 2009 08:12 PM
You're beating the heck out of my weather currently here in foggy Central California. Enjoy it. Garlicy gravy sounds great!
Hell raised by JihadGene on December 18, 2009 01:16 PM
... I sorely hate to post tonight - especially since I am still majorly digging on that Haydn concerto that I posted a few days ago - but hey....... perhaps it is time for the musical pendulum to swing a different way......
.... behold, gentle rubberneckers, and sit listen in awe.....
.... "Time", folks....... much like Haydn's notes, I am still trying to untangle Waits' lyrics....... but that is the way that it goes with poets....... what it means to them, and what it means to us, well, they are most likely two completely different things......
... still, though...... I do love both songs........ even though I don't really understand either one of them........ but they are still beautiful........
.... when I die, I want someone to pull some strings and arrange for this to be played at my wake before all the Christians, Bloggers, and Relatives take over the ceremony and end up playing something by Lynyrd Skynyrd or Grandma Carter instead, ok?..... promise me?......
... besides, if God ever played an instrument, it would have been a cello........ or a kazoo, maybe....... I suspect that God may play a kazoo when he is by himself and not attending to our mortal needs........
....... anyhoo, I hope you enjoy the song!...... it is my absolute favorite.........
I have it on good authority that God plays a resonator guitar.
Hell raised by Erica on December 12, 2009 11:28 PM
So, Denny is a "God" as he plays Rocky Raccoon? What does that make you as you put the kazoo in his mouth?
Just Damn!
Hell raised by Dax Montana on December 13, 2009 07:38 AM
I'm sure I can find someone to play Free Bird on a cello. Best of both worlds, and all...
Hell raised by Velociman on December 13, 2009 09:41 AM
Taht's a keeper for sure!! :)
Hell raised by Richmond on December 13, 2009 06:18 PM
if you like this, be sure to you tube
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britian
and listen to smells like teen spirit
or orange blossom special...just amazing
Hell raised by peggy on December 13, 2009 08:43 PM
See that guy in the back with the big double bass? I'm still trying to picture my son in this sort of setting. I'm banking on it not ever happening. He still spends his free time plucking out Avenged Sevenfold or The Used on it. I'm not seeing anything classical or baroque in his future.
.... off to Knoxville for some Christmas shopping and a "Broadway" show this evening.... the Tennessee Theatre is hosting "The Wizard of Oz" tonight at 8pm, and we've acquired balcony tickets..... it should be quite interesting.....
... in other news, I woke up damn near frozen to death this morning.... the central heating was running wide open but the thermometer on the thermostat read 62 degrees!..... Jeebus!... something is definitely amiss, methinks..... if this little cold snap holds up, I'm thinking that some sort of extra blanketage is in order....
.... truth be told, having central heating has fairly well spoiled me.... all those years that I lived in Scotland will be reenacted tonight, I reckon.... overseas my bed was piled high with three or four blankets, and the sheer weight of so much fabric above you would press you down into the mattress..... in Tennessee a sheet and a bed spread normally does the trick all year round.....
.... but you know, I kinda miss waking up and feeling the warm weight of all those blankets... although, I can't say that I miss the shock of moving an inch or so right or left and feeling the icy sheets just outside "the warm spot".....
... so, what do you think?..... should I pile on the blankets tonight?..... or just find myself a central heating repairman?......
Well, putting aside for the moment the need for an HVAC repairman, there's nothing quite like sleeping in a cold bedroom under a pile of warm blankets. It's hell to leave the bed for any reason... late-night micturition, waking up in the morning... but being under those covers is heaven.
Hell raised by Elisson on December 11, 2009 01:11 PM
Being a child of a National Park Service ranger and, as a result, having spent my formative years in less-than-airtight govt. provided housing in some of America's more frostier zones, I firmly agree that being pinned under the weight of kinfolk quilts and the old itch and scratch wool -once you get the whole pile up to temp- is one of life's simpler pleasures.
I vote for both.... You surely want the HVAC ready if some major cold front comes through, but the 62 degree temp is PERFECT for sleeping... Nothing beats a big pile o' blankets... But it can also be nice to throw a dog or two on the bed for their warming capacity...
I like them cold nights and deep blankets or them cold outdoor nights and a good sleeping bag. Tell you, that'll do wonders for your bladder retention. You can put it off forever if it means facing a cold room and even colder hardwood floor. When morning comes and you gotta get up, you hit the head and it's like the Jamestown flood all over again...
Hell raised by Tbird on December 11, 2009 07:01 PM
When I lived in Oregon, I lived in an old creamery building. It was built in 1910 to make butter and ice cream and the like. So it was designed to be cold.
I converted it into a living space, but the only heat was a couple of wood stoves. Those didn't do much in a place that's 5,000 sq ft. Most winters, the average temperature at night was about 42 degrees, but there were a few nights here and there that it actually got down to 22 degrees. Ouch!
So my bed there consisted of two down comforters, an electric blanket, three regular blankets, a sheet, a wool cap for my head and an insulated sleep mask. It was pure torture to have to get up in the night, as the bathroom was at the other end of the building. It was a trek down a long flight of stairs, across cement floors, and dodging puddles from the roof leaks. Fun times!
I'm soooo glad I live in Los Angeles these days! But it has been unseasonably cold this week. I have to laugh at myself because I actually went out and bought a space heater....and it's 62 degrees in here! I've become such a wuss!
Hell raised by DogsDontPurr on December 11, 2009 10:40 PM
Oh, in case I wasn't clear, when I said the temp in Oregon got down to 42 and sometimes 22...that was INSIDE the building. Brrrrrr!
Hell raised by DogsDontPurr on December 11, 2009 10:43 PM
Living in New England again reminded me of the need for warm quilts! Every member of my family has a quilt I made them with a wool batting center. Of course the flannel sheets, electric blankets and a couple of wool blankets really add to the experience. Our thermostat at night is always on the 60 degree mark, even in winter. I have it programed to hit about 70 degrees before we have to get up in the morning and then it goes back down to 60 degrees until just before everyone else gets home. I wear sweaters, sweatshirts, long johns and smart wool socks with my bunny slippers throughout the day. Yes, I'm very aware that my attire will never win me the Miss America Pageant, but the cold really forces me to keep moving and keep busy!
Hell raised by Lemon Stand on December 12, 2009 08:45 PM
I'm all about the quilts and warm clothes. Last winter I had this inner competition "How low can she go?" with my power company. The goal? To get the power bill as low as possible. That meant I refused to turn on the heat, which is not a problem in most people's eyes as I live in S. FL... except we had a cold snap. My family kept complaining it was cold. I told them to suck it up.
The final straw was when my son was growing meal worms for science and they were on the window sill and actually froze. There was a minor coup in the house, the four of them (wimps) against me. They said 54 deg at the morning in the house was unacceptable. I was forced to turn on the heat the next day...
I kept waking up this week with the same prob, thermostat magically on 60 degrees. Turns out it is one of those programmable ones for every day of the week, vacations, any time of day, etc...supposed to save you money. keep the house colder while you're gone to work, program to come on an hour before you get home for work...all that...well, 60 degrees is the default on this one...and if you dont reset it, that's what you get at like 6 a.m. I looked up the manual online, (as I'm so old I can't read the fine print on the thermostat, barely could read the model number) and fixed the problem. Hope that's all that's wrong with yours. Someone else may have mentioned it, I didn't read all ur comments.
Hell raised by Cindy on December 15, 2009 09:20 PM
.... yesterday afternoon before The Missus left for work I must have had a jaunty look about me because when I had the audacity to ask her what she would like prepared for dinner this evening, she coolly replied "Chicken Maryland"... and having never been to Maryland, I was at a bit of a loss.......
.... but as we all know, The Internet Is Your Friend in such matters....... so, since I am about as "wired" as anyone on the planet, all went well tonight..... and I am here to say that my "Chicken Maryland" cherry is now thoroughly busted........
... in retrospect, I have seen that I am more than a little indebted to the butcher that I chose for the purchase of the chicken..... his chicken breasts were sliced so thin that they cooked perfectly....... and had I chosen to buy a full-sized breast from my usual supermarket, the result would not have been nearly as succulent......
.... sure, I suppose that I could have bought a normal chicken breast, beaten it flat, and then cut it into 1/3 sized filets, but hey, who wants to spend all night pounding a hunk of dead chicken?........ not I, fellow campers..... not I....... so, instead I ended up buying a packed breast that had already been sliced into three beautifully proportioned, well, portions........ and it worked out just swimmingly......
... anyway, here's the recipe in case you guys feel like whipping up a Maryland Chicken......
.... I put 2 cups of flour, 1tbsp of ground black pepper, 1/2 tbsp of paprika, 1/2 tbsp of oregano, 1 tbsp of sea salt, and 1/2 tbsp of thyme in a bowl and mixed it all up..... I then began marinating my chicken breasts in a bowl of milk in the fridge for a few hours....... when dinnertime arrived, I heated a frying-skillet (the kind with those groovy little raised bars all across its' base) with two tbsp of unsalted butter and got that sucker up to nuclear meltdown hot........
..... and after dousing each breast in the flour mixture, I tossed them into the frying pan to sear hard on each side until golden brown........ then I downed the heat and covered the frying pan to allow the thinly-sliced breasts to steam themselves until done through and through.......
... meanwhile I had four crushed cloves of garlic, a smatter of butter, and a whole diced onion sweating down in a separate pot....... once the chicken began its' steaming stage, I added a cup of double cream and stirred that stuff until it bubbled into a nice oniony, garlicky white gravy...... this, of course, was spooned gently onto the resting breasts once they were transported to plate for eating........
...... basically?...... "Chicken Maryland" is nothing but a southern fried chicken with white gravy that is pan-fried instead of deep-fried........ and with a slightly lighter gravy.......... all in all, it was very, very good......... but I am not sure if I will make it again...... thyme is an odd tasting thing, isn't it?......
...... the really weird thing is that I had never heard of it until today...... and I had absolutely ZERO idea of what it was going to taste like prior to taking my first bite once it was finished......
....... but cooking should be like most things in life, I guess........ mix, switch, stir, add heat....... think about it for while..... adjust, stir again........ give it a good smell....... coddle it, pet it, watch it....... and then, if you played your cards right?..... enjoy the hell out of eating it.......
....... Chicken Maryland, folks...... it just goes to prove that you should never be afraid of something until you have spent all day preparing it to be eaten........
Chicken Maryland, AKA Maryland Fried Chicken, is exactly as you describe it: a pan-fried version of Southern Fried, served with thyme-laced gravy. Yummy.
Thyme is not everyone's favorite herb. SWMBO cannot stand it (along with rosemary and sage and most other herby-tasting herbs)... but I love it... especially fresh. I like sprinkling a little ground thyme on a steak before grilling it... you should try it.
Hell raised by Elisson on December 9, 2009 11:40 PM
Try cooking it in a pressure cooker.
Hell raised by catfish on December 9, 2009 11:50 PM
What would The Colonel do?
Hell raised by Cappy on December 10, 2009 09:13 PM
Have had a similar recipe(with some minor variations in prep) using pheasant rather than chicken. I don't think it was called Pheasant Maryland but it was....GOOD EATS.
Apologies to Alton Brown.
Hell raised by Tbird on December 10, 2009 09:38 PM
Thyme is not my thing. Neither is the Navy football team! GO ARMY!!! BEAT NAVY!!! KICK THEIR SQUID-LOVIN' ARSES!!!
(*and have a nice day)
Hell raised by JihadGene on December 11, 2009 11:49 AM
.... The Missus and I drove into town for lunch & a bit of shopping today.....the roads to town were clear of the snow that had arrived yesterday, and only a few slowly dwindling snowmen were all that was left of yesterday's 2-inch morning deluge...... snowmen last the longest, of course...... the high today was 37, but that was hardly enough to melt the wadded, strapping snowmen out of existence...... besides, since we get snow so seldom around here, it's always nice to see The Snow hang around as long as possible....... even in the form of a crumbling, lopsided snowman......
.... anyway, during the drowsy drive home alone the back roads near the McMinn County airport there was silence in the car...... the radio was off, and there was nothing but the whirring of the tires on the dampened road....
.... I pointed over to a stand of trees to the left of the road and said, "see that up there?...... that's mistletoe!..... you can only see it once all of the leaves have fallen.."
"is the mistletoe in Tennessee the same as the mistletoe in Europe?"
.... "..... I guess so..... but hell, I'm not sure...... here it is the first week in December, and all the leaves are down....... "
"yeah.... and the snow only lasted less than a day!"
.... "you know, I remember back when I was little..... it always seemed to snow on the weekends and we NEVER got a snow day from school........ but every time that it snowed on the weekends, that meant that my Dad was home to enjoy it with us boys....... we'd wake up on a Saturday with snow on the ground and he'd be itching to get us out of bed, bundled up, armed, and out into the woods....... he never was much of a hunter, but he loved being in the woods once it had snowed...... and you know, he'd pretend that he was the Great White Hunter, even if he wasn't........ I can remember us creeping through the woods towards the railroad track - him pointing out 'rabbit tracks' the entire way - and telling us that if we were patient and quiet, we'd catch a rabbit 'sitting'...... good lord, he was so like a child sometimes when it snowed....... we'd end up following 'rabbit tracks' (which were probably marks made by snow falling off of tree limbs) for hours....... and then, wet, cold, and with soggy socks he'd finally clear a spot and build a fire under some cedar tree...... I cannot begin to tell you how many times I sat on a log in my bare feet roasting my wet socks over a crackling fire while he talked to my brother and I in hushed tones about the rabbit that we were miraculously going to find on the trek back home........ but still, I loved going "rabbit hunting" when the snow fell on a weekend......
"did you ever get a rabbit?"....
..... "every so often, yes....... but it was always more luck than skill, I assure you...... oh, and the OTHER winter ritual?....... he's come home one Friday night in mid-December and say that we needed to go hunting mistletoe..... he'd be downright adamant about it, too....... and so we'd wander off one Sunday morning with a .22 rifle looking for mistletoe....... sometimes we'd hit the woods behind the house, and other times we'd drive out to the farmland where he was raised...... we'd park and walk for hours....... then he'd point to an ancient oak and proclaim that 'this is it!'....... and he'd shoot a poor clump of innocent mistletoe out of the top of a tree...."...
"what was the big deal with the mistletoe?.... I thought that was mostly a European tradition?"
..... "you know, that is a very good question....... I don't know what the deal was, really...... but once we arrived back home, he'd have that little green thing thumbtacked to the doorjamb between the living room and kitchen before anyone knew what was happening....... Mom would literally hear the door latch open, start walking up the hallway, and get kissed under the mistletoe before she made it to the front door...... I suspect that he hung the mistletoe just so that he could have an extra excuse to snog my Mom every time she went from the kitchen to the living room and back...."....
"baby, they had a swimming pool in the back yard and a BELL in the front with a SIGN that told visitors to ring the bell before they wandered into the back yard looking for them..... I don't think your Dad needed any mistletoe.."
.... ".... well, that's true...... you're right...... maybe he just wanted to make sure that his stolen kisses were "legal" at Christmastime?....... and a little clump of mistletoe gave him the 'out'?..... who knows... but either way, he made us go hunting for mistletoe every December....... I look back on it now and it makes me want to go rabbit hunting....hey, Christmas is going to be at Mom's this year..... you think I should go shoot down some mistletoe?"......
"I think that would be a wonderful idea."
..... so, I guess I'm heading out to the woods on Christmas Eve with my .22 magnum......... good god, at least I have a scope.......
What a great memory. I don't think I could even recognize mistletoe if it came up and kissed me. :) Guess it's time to Google.
Hell raised by Lemon Stand on December 7, 2009 02:47 PM
Well I'm glad the double deuce will come in handy. I remember mistleto handing in grandmama's house at Christmas time, but I don't know who got, or from where they did.
Hell raised by RedNeck on December 7, 2009 08:05 PM
No better way to keep warm on a chilly wintery night! I may have to score some mistletoe myself! :)
Hell raised by Richmond on December 7, 2009 09:42 PM
I do think your father was quite the romantic! Perhaps you got your poet heart from your father.
Freezing your ass off out in the field snipe hunting can make for some pretty great stories/memoirs later in life. Makes me wanna be a better dad. Thanks E.
To my blogmom: i like the way you thank, i'm a mistletoe hunter this year!
Hell raised by The Piper on December 7, 2009 10:23 PM
Jest cuz I've decided I like ya...the sekrit recipe......In case yer Marine Corps training still keeps you a good shot......
Rabbit Stew
Ingredients:
* 1 rabbit, about 3 pounds, cut up
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 1 cup chopped celery
* 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
* 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
* 1 teaspoon salt
* dash pepper
* 1 bay leaf
* 4 cups water
* 4 cups dry red wine
* 2 cups diced carrots
* 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
* 4 ounces sliced mushrooms, sauteed
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup water
Preparation:
Dredge rabbit pieces with 1/2 cup flour. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; brown rabbit pieces on all sides. Add celery, onion, salt, pepper, bay leaf, 4 cups water, and wine; bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer rabbit stew for 2 hours. Add carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms; cook for about 25 to 30 minutes longer, or until vegetables are tender. Combine 1/4 cup flour and 1/3 cup water; stir until well blended and smooth. Stir flour mixture into the broth; cook and stir until thickened.
...Or just throw it all in a big Crockpot and cook overnite.
Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that lives off it's host tree. Kinda like orchids. Maybe folks that lip clamp underneath a sprig of same are supposed to be trying to suck the lifeforce outta one another.....like in the movie of the same name...Lifeforce that is.
Wollf's recipe works fine with tree rats too.
Three to five squirrels(depending on size) instead of rabbit. Toss in the heads and you got a fine squirrel-head stew.
When I lived in South Carolina we used to shoot Mistletoe out of the trees with a shotgun. I was in college at the time and we also did the belt buckle trick. Only worked after the swamp juice kicked in.
...... I visited a bookshop today during the course of my ramblings around Chattanooga...... I was searching for Christmas presents to send overseas, and I ended up quite successful in the end......
..... however, upon reaching the checkout counter I was greeted by a tiny children's book perched there for "charity" purchase....... the title of the book was "Is Your Mama a Llama?"
...... I handed my three purchases to the bespectacled 17 year old brunette behind the counter and said audibly, "huh?".....
..... she scanned my copy of "1001 Movies To See Before You Die", popped her bubblegum, and glanced at me..... "huh?", she replied.....
...... I pointed at the book and said, "Is Your Mama a Llama?".....
..... "Oh! Yes!", she chirped..... "it's a book we're selling for charity!".......
..... she adjusted her glasses and scanned my copy of "The Collectible Depression-Era Glass Pocket Guide"
.... "What an unusual title for a book", I said.......
.... she smiled broadly and said, "ooooh, yeah"........
..... her machine beeped again as she scanned my copy of "The Onion's World Atlas".....
...... "Do you know the llama poem by Ogden Nash?".....
.... "ummm, no, I don't..... who is Ogden Nash?"......
.... "oh, a poet, I guess.... that book title just reminded me of one of his poems..... it goes like this.." .... and so, I began.....
The one-l lama,
He's a priest;
The two-l llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama
.... and then added, "of course, he later recounts the lack of a three-l lllama when his wife asks him about a 'three alarm fire' and calls it a 'three alamah'".......
*crickets chirping*
....... people, you have never seen a more slack-jawed Chattanoogan in your lives...... hell, when I finished talking, signed my receipt, and headed for the door, I felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me from head to foot.........
...... who knew that a knowledge of Nash could cause such awkwardness?........... perhaps I should have kept my poetry to myself and just forked over the cash for the children's book......
..... then again, you'd think that someone who works in a BOOK STORE would have read a few, right?.......
Man, what I would give to just sit for 45 minutes with you... listening to share some story (as you do in your blogs).
I've said it before, I love your blogs.
My daughter is nine and my husband will no doubt know exactly who Nash is... I think this little house up on rolling hill might need to pay Mr. Nash a visit.
As for the girl behind the counter... she must have been a little slow because I got the joke and I'm not the brightest bulb in the fridge... LOL
Ogden Nash was a staple in my household and my daughter does quote him. Here is an example from her blog http://skybag.blogspot.com/2008/03/ogden-nash.html Of course, her odd sense of humor could be another reason she is not married. We also quote Shel Silverstein.
Don't feel embarrassed, our 17 year old daughter, Danielle, also reads and quotes Ogden Nash. Our other daughters have other reading interests but they ALL love to read prolifically. Guess the poor girl has never been properly introduced into the world of literature DESPITE working in a book store!
Hell raised by Lemon Stand on December 4, 2009 01:11 PM
She's probably just waiting for the movie to come out. The part of the Mama to be played by Shirley Maclaine
I got the same reaction from the Brit-wife just now.
Of course she had her bad sci-fi on, too..........
"Ogden Nash?????"
Hell raised by Kurt P on December 4, 2009 11:28 PM
Well, I suppose it's about the same as the girl working at the Barns and Noble in NYC. My sister went in to look for a particular book. She stopped a girl who worked there and asked about it. The girl's response...
Who's the arther?
As for me, I can never remember enough to quote more than a line or maybe two of anything. But I must find a Nash and read it again - you remind me it's been too long.
Hell raised by Teresa on December 4, 2009 11:48 PM
I must admit, I don't know much Nash... Had you not included the Ogden portion of his name, I'd have thunk you were speaking of the basketball point guard, Steve Nash, and I would've been suprised that he wrote poetry. Call me an asshole... you won't be the first, or last. You're a well read man, brought up before the likes of teenage mutant ninga turtles, barney, and atari. Shit dog, I grew up on Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Greenjeans(I don't know what made 'em green), and Lucy. Ok, maybe I lied about the atari a little bit 'cause you might not be that old. But hell, I'd have at least kept the gum in my mouth and offered to buy you a beer.
Hell raised by RedNeck on December 5, 2009 01:38 AM
My Grandma brought me a couple of his books when I was sick when I was as a kid. Great entertainment!
Hell raised by Cowboy Blob on December 6, 2009 01:09 AM
A small confession, I must make
For my profession, I do rake
A salary from a tabloid
Of which I do not read a woid.
..... today was an interesting day.... it dawned cold and windy with a hint of rain, and tailed off more gently until around dusk..... at dusk we were hit with a huge dose of wind and driving rain that knocked limbs off of many of the trees and showered them all around in broken, soggy chunks.....
... I had errands to run in town, but the drive wasn't so bad......... as I said, it was one of those strange days where the cloud cover held itself at 2000 feet or so, and the mountains spewed their steam up from their slopes..... creating a weird sort of envelopment, I guess....... the low clouds boxed everything in from above..... and with the steam rising up?..... you were left with a sandwiched scene of cloud, mountain top, and misty valley everywhere you looked........ in between rainstorms, it was truly striking to watch it all unfold.... and to enjoy the feeling that the whole scene evoked...........
..... claustrophobic for some, I am sure..... but for others - like me - ensconced in their warm cars and viewing it from afar, it wasn't scary at all..... it was more evocative of being "held" by the earth instead..... embraced, perhaps......... like being pressed into a box of comfort....... great, bulbous, fluffy clouds above were your blanket..... and the fine smokiness rising up was your soft, flannel sheet......
...... but knowing that the sky was above you - and close - and that the ground below you was there as well?........ as if The World were closing in on you and it was a Good Thing...... good to be held in the arms of your world..... comforted between the valley and the mountains.......
....... but that was only the time between the rains....... for once the rain began to fall again, everything became muddled and mixed....... the sky and mist mingled....... and then, of course, it was all gone........ there was no more box...... no more holding...... no more closeness...... no more comfort..... it was all gone.......
...... rain blended the top AND bottom to create only grey.......
I see that kind of thing most mornings here in the berkshires but we're expecting a nor'easter soon and the ground will start to turn white. I doooooo hooooppppeeee for a white Christmas.
Hell raised by Lemon Stand on December 2, 2009 09:13 PM
Good lordy that was a fine, evocative read. As a flatlander, this is not a scene I often encounter, but I felt I was there... And I too want to tug my blanket up.
How I wish I had been there with my camera. Unfortunately I'm not sure I could do it justice, but oh do I see a picture of it in my mind's eye.
Hell raised by Teresa on December 4, 2009 11:50 PM
That is a nicely phrased and described post of your trip. You do have a way with words. If I'm ever divorced enough again to need a wingman, can I count on you? The post jogged a memory with words so much so, I downloaded Zepplin's Misty Mountain Hop, 'cause you made that happen... Now I'm probably gonna download Black Dog cause it was the hit, and Misty Mountain Hop was the flip side... back when they played records... on the Close&Play
Hell raised by RedNeck on December 5, 2009 01:52 AM
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