Saturday Humor- For You Old Dogs Out There

Old Shepherd

An old German Shepherd starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old German Shepherd thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in trouble now!"

Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the panther is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.

"Whew!," says the panther, "That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes.

The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther.

The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!"

Now, the old German Shepherd sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?," but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says...

"Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!"

Moral of this story...

Don't mess with the old dogs... Age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery!

Cunning and brilliance only come with age and experience.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Just Another Pastrami Sandwich And A Christmas Gift

Two years ago: Philly Style Cheese Steaks

Larry

Twice Baked Potato Twice For Breakfast

I just love twice baked potatoes and we only have them for special holiday meals so I’m always happy to have them leftover to stretch out my pleasure.  I know some of you chuckle at the things I’ll top with an egg, but this one made perfect sense to me since it was potato, bacon, and cheese. 

For meal one I just nuked the potatoes to reheat and topped with a couple of fried eggs.

For meal two, I nuked a potato for 1½ minutes to get it hot enough to start cooking the egg and made a well large enough to hold the egg.  I put it in the toaster oven, preheated to 350*, for 5 minutes, then turned on the broiler and it took about 4 minutes for the egg to set up.

Added some S&P and chopped parsley and dug in.

I’d be hard pressed to say which I liked better, but I wish the potatoes weren’t all gone so I could run a few more tests.  My buddy Joe sent me this in an email and just I had to post it.

A Real Cowboy Has No Fear

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago: Now That’s A Steak & Our Christmas Gift

Two years ago:  Always Helps To Put Things In Perspective

Larry

12/26/11 & 12/28/11

Open Faced Prime Rib Sandwich

Bev found a pan of rolls in the fridge that didn’t get baked for Christmas and we had plenty of meat left, so she requested prime rib au jus.  I don’t know if this was the correct name, but I knew what she wanted – many years together will do that you know.

While the rolls were baking and then cooling just a little, I reheated the left over jus in a 12” skillet and cut and trimmed some thin slices of meat.  When the rolls were about ready to eat I added the meat to the simmering jus for a few minutes just to get it warm.

For mine, I sliced two rolls into three pieces each - ate one piece.

Then added some hot jus, then the meat, and more jus.

Not a great photo, but trust me, it was delicious and required no sides to get in the way, although I later had a slice of pumpkin pie.

I just finished watching my recording of the Orange Bowl and for any who thought my Mountaineers had no business in a BCS bowl game, I'd say the record setting drubbing (70-33) they put on Clemson might suggest otherwise.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago: Hoppin John’s

Two years ago:  Steak For Breakfast & Supper

Larry

12/28/11

Egg McLarry

I had some deli ham and burger buns and I decided on a simple egg sandwich using a ring mold for the egg to fit the bun and nuked the other stuff.  Very good.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago: Manhattan Clam Chowder

Two years ago: Chicken Pot Pie From Leftovers - As Usual

Larry

12/20/11 meal date

Potato Soup Into Seafood Chowders

Bev likes to make potato soup for either Christmas eve or the day before and she made up a big batch this year.  As I’ve posted before, her soup is just potatoes, potato water, and dairy so it can easily be converted into something else.  As it turns out, we had about a dozen raw and two grilled shrimp left from our Christmas day appetizer that needed to be used.

I cleaned and chopped the shrimp and added them to several dippers of the leftover soup, thinking it would likely require a little shrimp stock as well, brought it to a simmer, and turned it off with the lid on.

After an hour, I reheated it a little, added to a bowl, and topped with some chopped bacon and green onion.  I sided it with some leftover cornbread sticks and it was very good - it needed no additional shrimp flavor.

I ate the remainder of it the next day and stirred in the bacon and green onion prior to nuking to reheat and I preferred it the first way.

Since the shrimp worked so well, I decided to try some from the piece of smoked salmon left over from making the salmon spread for Christmas Day.  Since it was already fully cooked, where the shrimp was raw, I expected less flavor from it, so I chopped it pretty small and added it to the soup.  While it was good - it was smoked salmon and potato soup afterall - I preferred the shrimp and I think the salmon is better used otherwise - the salmon cakes Bev wanted for example.

We used the last of our potato soup for our New Year's Eve supper then proceeded to our elaborate evening's celebration.  We built our first winter fire, put on some old music, ate some cheese fondue, sipped a little champaigne and went to bed around 11pm.  I figure this day has rolled around something over 4 billion times, so I was confident it could happen once again without me as a witness - boy what an ole stick-in-the-mud.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago: New Years Day At Almost Heaven South

Two years ago: Fried Crappie - Last Meal Of The Decade

Larry

12/27/11 & 12/29 meal dates

Steak - It’s What’s For Breakfast

When I trimmed up the rib roasts for Christmas, I cut a thin slice from each end to square them up and to give me a good look at the meat.  I could just grind these pieces into burger, but a couple of them were too good for that and seemed just perfect for a breakfast steak.

I seasoned a couple and tossed them on the grill for about three minutes per side.

While the steaks were resting, I cooked two sunny side up dippy eggs for me and a scrambled one for Bev.  After forgetting to start the toaster oven, then it not toasting when I did – no doubt operator error – I decided warm eggs was more important than toast and just went with bread.

The flavor was good but the meat was tougher than I expected, but I was still ready to face the day.  That evening, an old friend, who we hadn’t seen in several years, came over for supper and we had steak again.  We seasoned them with Montreal Steak Seasoning and cooked them over charcoal.  For sides we had cheesy foil pouch potatoes, and Caesar salad.  Fortunately, the meat was nice and tender this time.

After Christmas, I had a repeat of last year using prime rib and a roll for egg dipping.

I had a little trouble with one egg for the picture, but it was still delicious.

After skipping the first 23 bowl games (remember when there were just four on New Year's Day - now I count 35 over three weeks), there are finally several on today I'll have to watch at least parts of and with the temp in the 30's, I think I'll build my first fire of the year.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Finally - The Last Of The Christmas Leftovers

Two years ago: Quiche And Fatty – Real Men’s Breakfast

Larry

12/21/11 & 12/27/11 meal dates

Tilapia In Lemony Sauce

HAPPY NEW YEAR

As we begin the new year, I want to thank you for tuning in to my ramblings over the last 12 months and we hope you have your new year off to a good start.

While at Ft. Bragg Bev discovered some frozen Tilapia in the freezer and decided to make it for supper.  She found a recipe at All Recipes for Chicken Piccata With Angel Hair Pasta and used the recipe but subbed the fish for the chicken and served it over brown rice.  Based upon reviews, she doubled the sauce amount and her recipe became:

Ingredients

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 pound tilapia
A couple of raw shrimp per serving, cleaned

2 tablespoons olive oil

Garlic powder and squeeze tube garlic (all they had) to taste

1/2 cup butter, divided

2 cup dry white wine

2/3 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons capers

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

8 servings brown minute rice – girls preference

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, black pepper, and paprika in a shallow dish. Dredge the fish pieces in the flour mixture, coating evenly; set aside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; stir in the garlic.

2. Place 2 tablespoons of butter into the skillet with the olive oil. Cook the fish pieces in the oil and butter over medium-high heat until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Remove the fish from the pan and set aside.

3. Pour the wine into the hot skillet and bring to a boil over high heat, scraping the browned pieces from the bottom and sides of the pan. Boil the wine until it is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth, reserved garlic, lemon juice and capers. Cook for 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and parsley. Return the fish pieces to the skillet and continue cooking over medium heat until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.  Toss the shrimp into the pan the last 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, cook the rice per package directions.

5. Remove the fish pieces to a serving dish and drizzle with a few tablespoons of the sauce and capers.

6. Plate the rice, top with some sauce and then a piece of fish and the shrimp.

I thought it could have been very good, but we both thought it was a little too tangy, so next time we’ll initially add half the wine and lemon juice then adjust to taste. 

I'm looking forward to another year with the love of my life and hopeful 2012 will turn out better for the planet and our country than I'm afraid it might be - sorry to be a pessimist or realist.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Pretending To Be Young To End The Year

Two years ago:  Prime Rib For Family Holiday Dinner

Larry

12/14/11  meal date