All For Me Grog..........

O.K. by special request, more recipes for strong drink.

Apple Pie-

One gallon Apple cider (it's much better if is is unfiltered)
3 or 4 Cinnamon sticks
1 cup of Everclear (grain alcohol)

Take out one cup of cider, replace it with the Everclear, toss in the Cinnamon sticks and let it sit for a day or so. Be WARNED, this stuff will bite you......

Navy Grog-

1 1/5 bottle of dark rum
4 oz. lemon juice (fresh)
4 oz. lime juice (fresh)
1 cup of dark brown sugar

Mix all of the above ingredients vigorously. Then add water, using the empty rum bottle as a measure, three bottles should be enough. Then taste test. Add additional amounts of the above ingredients to suit your taste.

Bumbo-

Rum, water and sugar with a dusting of Nutmeg. (Again, use fresh, not the stuff in a can or bottle)

This was a favorite of seamen in the Caribbean.

You can also take a small quantity of Rum, mix it with about two cups of lime juice and a handful of slightly crushed Jamaican Allspice berries to baste pork with while roasting it. (reserve some for a dip also)

I just had to toss in a food recipe just so folks don't think I am a juice head. -grin-

Roll On Colombia, Roll on.......

Today in History, (Sounded just a little like Walter Cronkite there didn't I? ) -grin-

In 1805 the Lewis and Clark expedition reached the Pacific Ocean after a journey across the North American continent lasting about 6 months.

And no, even if they were in the Pacific North West, they didn't find a Starbucks and have a double latte when they arrived. They built a fort on the south side of the Colombia river, to winter over until they could head back to the east which they did in March of 1806.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November.............

With all the excitement I almost forgot that today is Guy Fawkes day in England. On November 5th 1605 Fawkes was apprehended while fixing a timer to 1800 pounds of gunpowder placed in the cellars of the British Parliament building. Fawkes was the trigger man in a Catholic plot to assassinate James I and assorted members of the houses of Parliament.

The Holiday is still celebrated in Great Britain and the Commonwealth by fireworks, bonfires and the burning of "the Guy" as well as the chanting of the rhyme:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I can think of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent

To blow up the King and Parli'ment.

Three-score barrels of powder below

To prove old England's overthrow;

By God's providence he was catch'd

With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

And the Leaves That Are Green Turn To Brown, And They Wither With the Wind, And They Crumble in Your Hand

I had been thinking about the content of this post for some time, just mulling various things over in my mind. Every now and then it's fun to think back to the day of youth, the taste, smells and experiences that mold and shape you. Fall seems to bring this out of me most of all. A young lady named Brigid who's blog I follow seems to be thinking much the same thing, she writes one heck of a lot better than I do, so check it out:

http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-to-do-with-your-old-gijoe-action.html

I LOVE fall more than any other season, because it affects my senses so much. There are certain smells (and taste) that you can never replicate any other time than in the fall. The smell of a pile of leaves, just take one up, grind it up between your hands and smell it. The odor of burning leaves, (global warming be damned) the mixture of candle wax and charred pumpkin from the Jack o' lantern on the porch, candy corn and those funky wax lips, fangs and orange whistles that you could get for a nickle at the candy counter only around Halloween. The spices in mulled cider and later when I got older, the spices in a vicious drink called Apple Pie. -Grin- The traditional kettle of Brunswick stew cooked over a open fire in the back yard, (once again, global warming be damned) with hush puppies or a pone of corn bread with plenty of chopped onions in the batter.

The smell and comfort of a old worn sweater first pulled out of the cedar chest when the weather cools off. The sights, sounds and smells you experience while sitting out on the front porch early in the morning with that first cup of coffee. I mean real coffee, not something that should be served up by Don Ho on the big island, or sold at some place by a guy with a nose ring at 5 bucks a cup. With, (dare I say it?) a touch of evaporated milk. (or canned moo, as my grandmother called it)

Fall has a bunch more of things like that to remember, and to cherish. (at least to me) The other seasons don't seem to be as notable, although I don't think that well water has ever tasted quite so sweet as it did on a hot and humid August afternoon here in Carolina, when it was drank out of a beat up rusty tin dipper shared among three very dirty, sweaty, cousins.

I guess I am lucky since most folks feel the memory is a lot better than the reality. I have been told that things that are never quite as good as they remember them but with a very few exceptions, I don't find that to be true.

Thank goodness.

I'd Like to See How Farming's Done, How Business Is And How it's Run, How Votes Are Cast And Office Won, A Hundred Years From Now..........

Well it's over.

Mr. Obama is now our president elect.

I can't say that I am happy with the results, but the people have spoken, so there it is. I only hope that Conservatives don't cut loose with the amount of whining and bitching that the liberals did when they lost. We just need to "man up" and start working toward 2010 and 2012.

I personally don't see how Obama will deliver on all that he has promised and figure that there will be a heck of a lot of people in his party that will be very upset with him in a very short period of time but that's neither here nor there.

No matter what happens, this nation will continue on. We have survived much, much, worse.

Domo Arigato !!!!!!!!!

This is a short note to be followed later by a longer post, but I just couldn't let this historic date pass without mention.

On this date, in 1954 the movie Godzilla premiered in Tokyo. Which of course started a whole gigantic monster movie franchise which still continues to this day. Add to that today is also celebrated as Culture Day in Japan, well, the Sake is on me! -grin-

Off We Go, Into The Wild Blue Yonder......

The never ending saga of my knees continues.

Yesterday while going to other doctor's appointments my left knee decided that it had enough of this foolishness and sorta "seized" up. I can't remember anything else that EVER hurt quite so much as my knee did at that moment. Once I got my wits back about me, I went home and did the typical ice bags and tens unit for a few hours.

Today, I went to my ortho doc and had them checked out. It was a good news/ bad news kind of thing. He told me that my left knee all in all looked "O.K." but my right knee looked to be bone on bone, so it looks like I might be having replacement surgery. He wants to try a type of "lubricant" on it first. He needs to check and see if my insurance will cover the cost first. According to him, the treatment will be around $1200.

But in the meantime, he figured that we should try to do something for my pain, so he wrote me another prescription and got out the steroids.

For those of you who have never had steroid shots in the knees, what a delight it is! The medico takes a needle that would not be out of place in the ass of a rhino after being put there by Marlin Perkins, fills it with a thick white fluid and plunges it into a area that you would swear that it wouldn't fit. NOT the most fun that I have ever had with my pants off, I must say.

It did reduce the pain from sharp stab to dull ache so I guess it helped.

So there I was, after all these fun and games, sitting in the Wal-mart parking lot waiting for the good wife to do some shopping. Today here in North Carolina it was a gorgeous day, brilliantly blue sky, with the occasional fluffy cotton candy like clouds. I had the windows down in the car to catch the breeze and was listening to my favorite rock station when I heard a sorta "growling roar" up in the sky. Now I had heard that noise before but couldn't place it. I looked up and saw a beautifully restored P-51 Mustang flying over. The noise was the sound of the Mustang's engine which I had heard on multiple documentaries of WWII. I will tell you this, the recordings don't do justice to the real thing. There is no mistaking that sound. The pilot circled around then headed north-west. I can see why they named it the Mustang. It seemed to be moving around effortlessly in the sky, but it also seemed that it was patiently waiting to cut loose, like a guard dog leaning on it's chain hoping a link would break. You could say that it was like a thoroughbred horse. That seeing it, you just knew that it would win the race. Just looking at it, it transported me in my mind up into the cockpit with that lucky pilot, handling the controls, scanning the sky feeling the power that he controlled. The sun glinting off of the polished metal that went into it's construction. It was as the Japanese would say, a poem in motion. I thought "Now, THAT is a nice way to take my mind off my troubles" The P-51 flew off and left me alone with my thoughts.

Later, as we were heading home, that same P-51 flew over the interstate on it's way to making a landing at our local airport. When I got home and skimmed the newspaper, I saw that both the Mustang and a restored B-17 bomber were at the airport for a small show in tribute to the vets of WWII.

Maybe I can head over there tomorrow and check it out.