Nuts …..

By Uncle Hans

I have blogged before about the long winter in Wisconsin and the strange things we do to combat winter fatigue.  Yesterday we went to three events.  One was a fishing contest at the neighborhood bar.  Pretty common.  Then we went to an event combining airplanes on skis' and antique snowmobiles.  Interesting, but small.  It is in it's first year.  The last festival was the ultimate excuse to get out of the house and fight cabin fever...........

....Yes.   You are reading the sign correctly.  A friend of ours has a large "ranch" on which he raises, of all things, long-horned cattle. He has to "convert" all the bulls born each year to steers.  Bluntly put, this involves castration (which will NOT be shown on this blog, but maybe later).  This results in a large number of testicles.

      Naturally, combining a very bored and frozen populace, with a large number of testicles, and one deep fat fryer, and, PRESTO, you have a festival.

     Like all, festivals here, it all starts with beer, preferable a keg.................

....................the testicles are sliced and battered in preparation..............

...then they go into the fryer.....

.........this shows the fried vs the raw testicles...............

.......they are not bad, kinda like a tasteless chicken nugget.............

...............a little sauce helps the flavor along.............

............the event is in a garage, complete with tools and a refrigerator like all garages...........

.....eventually, with beer pressure and peer pressure, I got Renee to try one.............

.....She made a funny face, looked around, quietly spit it back into the napkin, and headed for the door.

     Thus ends my blog on the Testicle Festival.............

By Uncle Hans

BEIGNET PIZZA

THE BEIGNET RECIPIE FROM THE OTHER DAY MADE A WHOLE BOWL FULL OF DOUGH.  WHAT TO DO WITH THE LEFT OVER DOUGH? BEIGNET PIZZA OF COURSE.

CHICAGO DEEP DISH PIZZA BETTER LOOK OUT FOR THIS NEW IDEA.  WE SPREAD THE DOUGH OUT IN THE PAN, ABOUT A HALF AN INCH THICK.



…. AND COVERED IT WITH ALFREDO SAUCE, SAUSAGE, ONION, MUSHROOM, AND CHEESE.





WE BAKED IT OFF UNTIL THE CRUST WAS A GOLDEN BROWN.





WE LIKED IT AS WELL AS THE MORNING DOUGHNUTS…….




COMING SOON TO A PIZZA JOINT NEAR YOU, BEIGNET PIZZA……

FRIED FRIDAY

FOR SOME REASON WE ENDED UP WITH A FRIDAY “OFF” WORK.  MARY SAID RIGHT AWAY, “OH GOOD, LET’S HAVE AN OLE FASHION WISCONSIN FISH FRY!”

WE GOT ORGANIZED WITH THE NEIGHBORS, AND PLANNED TO DRINK ICE COLD BEER AND EAT FRIED FOOD ALL AFTERNOON.  WE WOKE UP FRIDAY MORNING TO THE DESERT WINDS AND CANCELLED ALL OUR PLANS.

MARY AND I ARE PROBABLY THE ONLY PEOPLE ON THE PLANET THAT HAVE VISITED THE FRENCH QUARTER IN NEW ORLEANS AND NOT EATEN BEIGNETS.  I’M NOT SURE WHY? I CAN REMEMBER TALKING ABOUT IT, AND THEN ORDERING A BEER AND HIKING OFF TO JACKSON SQUARE INSTEAD.

A BEIGNET IS A POPULAR FRIED DOUGNUT LIKE PASTRY, SERVED HOT AND COVERED WITH POWDERED SUGAR.  IN PREPARATION FOR OUR “FRIED FRIDAY”, WE MIXED UP A BATCH OF DOUGH IN THE BREAD MACHINE THE DAY BEFORE.




WE ROLLED OUT THE DOUGH AND FRIED UP THE BEIGNETS.






WE THOUGHT THEY WERE GOOD AND DIPPED THEM INTO APPLESAUCE FOR BREAKFAST.




THE REST OF THE “FRIED FRIDAY” MENU, TWICE FRIED FRENCH FRIES, LIVINGOOD’S FRIED FISH, AND BEER BATTERED ONION RINGS WILL BE FOR ANOTHER DAY.

“SUNNY & 80”


(OPPS, FORGOT TO CHANGE THE WATERMARK ON MY PHOTOS. NO, UNCLE HANS WASN’T HERE THIS WEEK TO TAKE THE PICTURES.)

The Roadie

By Susie-Q

Mary jumped and squealed a bit when she went to the open door the other morning.  I immediately jumped down from my Cat Tree to investigate.

OMG, it was my ole nemesis, the Roadie.

 

The Son – Of – A – Bitch was right on the top step looking in. We had a long tail twitching stare down.

 

I made some moves, but the screen door was in the way, and the Roadie knew it!

 

The stare down went on for about 45 minutes, with the Roadie clicking at me and laughing.

 

Mary’s the smart one and opened the backdoor to come and go, in and out of the camper, but Rex finally moved to go outside and opened the screen.  I had my long awaited chance and with fur flying darted outside after the Roadie!

I chased it about 10 yards before I realized I was outside.  It startled me, and I threw on the brakes screeching to a halt in the middle of the road.  The Roadie saw his chance and my apprehension, turned and literally chased my Ass back into the camper.

 

Laughing all the way !!!

By Susie-Q

(Your totally humiliated Cat Correspondent)

How To Become An Arsonist!

By Uncle Hans

When Renee and I moved in to the house in July 2009, we started a big pile of branches and burnable junk as we cleaned up the house and property.  It represented a lot of work.  Today is the day we put a match to it.  Here is the arsonist.  With her are combustion aids and accelerants.  (cardboard and diesel fuel)

...........Diesel is the perfect accelerant for a fire.  it is not very volatile.  In other words, it does not evaporate into the air very quickly.  In a fire, it is the evaporated fumes which catch on fire quickly.  Like explosively quickly.  Like gasoline.  It is nearly impossible to start a fire with gasoline safely.  Once you put it on, it evaporates so quickly the by the time you get the match lit and near it, the fumes explode.  Diesel is not like that.  It is very safe.  You can pour it directly on an open flame and not have an explosion.  Here I am preparing the cardboard  "starter box"............

.......We took off some branches, placed the box as deep inside the pile as we could, and replaced the branches.  Here I am adding some diesel around the box...........

.........here the box has just been lit................

.....here a few moments later.........

.....here a while later...............

...............and here an hour later as we pull the edges into the flames in the middle.  It is best, of course, to burn in the winter when there is snow cover to prevent spread.  We start a new pile in the spring.

       So, you see, with some consideration for safety, ANYONE can become an arsonist!

By Uncle Hans