In Wisconsin they have four versions of an Old Fashioned. Two use brandy and two use whiskey, usually cheap Canadian like LTD or Canadian Club. Then there are two schools of thought on garnishes. One can use maraschino cherries and pineapple or pickled veggies like brussels sprouts or mushrooms. The soda is something like Sprite, Squirt or 7-Up. Also a sugar cube and a couple of dashes of bitters.
Tonight dinner is up in the air. My 26 year old son is going to a bar where a party with everyone bringing something is happening, so he might not have dinner with us but we don't know that for sure. BTW he gave me my Christmas present today. He got his Moderna booster jab. Two dinners friendly to my son are jambalaya (with ground turkey and sausage) or conventional tacos. I say "conventional" for the tacos to mean Tex-Mex hard taco shells with ground meat and El Paso seasoning and not the others ones I make with carnitas, barbacoa, chili pulled pork and other traditional Mexican fillings with two soft tortillas. BTW, my son is fine with the other kind of tacos I make and actually prefers them for good reason. The other dinner option is Chinese egg noodles with Thai basil, sesame oil, chopped peanuts, scallions, chili oil, ginger and the usual other ingredients. The recipe I found on-line did not use fish sauce, but I add that when serving a non-vegetarian crowd.
Tonight I’ll be grilling chicken wings with a cold tray for our side. Raw cold and overcast weather the past two days here. 45* this morning “feels like” 39*/mist rain off and on. The back porch is ready for company with choices of our favorite adult libations. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Making sesame noodles with chili oil, peanuts, and Thai basil amongst other ingredients. There is a particular brand of Vietnamese egg noodles that is perfect for this dish.
Crab cakes last night and just now fish sticks for lunch. On the hunt later today for Crab bisque. On a seafood kick! Another great Gunsmoke quote today. "Go crawl back under your rock!" LOL.... They've been showing the early 1/2 hour black and white episodes for the last couple weeks. I think they are the best. As a bonus - a young Miss Kitty with her amazing natural beauty always wore those sexy outfits....wowza!
Good news! My new range is scheduled for delivery tomorrow between 3 and 7. Since it is currently in Pompano Beach and I live in Gainesville I am expecting closer to 7 than 3. But now I can't go to see the Gators in person to kick the snot out of Stonybrook in hoops. Today I made jambalaya with ground turkey and smoked sausage, mostly for my son. My wife will make risotto when she gets home
Dickens said it best: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Every time I think of fish sticks I think of a South Park episode. LOL.
Now they are saying between 2:30 and 6:30 so maybe I am the first drop off and then they work their way down state. Or its constantly changing times and asking me to confirm and if I don't do it fast enough they will reschedule and charge me an extra fee.
Well I do and don't have my new range. It is in the garage because I have the old style gas shut off valve and I need to replace that before the new one can be installed.
Yeah. My old shut off is 1/2" and my new range is 5/8". Two ways to go here. Since I only have four burners and none of them crazy high BTU output keeping the existing 1/2" shut off valve and using an adapter to 5/8" is OK and should work fine. It won't ever be starved for natural gas, but that will be a negative in the future when the next owner of the house wants to upgrade. If I was getting a 36" six burner high output unit or a bigger 48" unit I would change the valve out to 5/8" which is the new standard size. Even though I know how to do this kind of thing and have done it before (not the valve replacement, but the other stuff) I will have to pay a pro to do it so that I don't void my warranty. A local guy is trying to squeeze me in today if he can. Otherwise next week some time. BTW when I told him it was a Blue Star he said "Congrats. They are the best of the best."
In the "why am I always the last one to know" department....ME-TV moved the Gunsmoke slot up a couple hours! No biggie because I've pretty much seen them all by now so it's just watching re-runs at this point. I serviced one of my monthly accounts this morning and then hit Publix on the way home to get celery and dinner rolls for our Christmas dinner tomorrow. Figured I'd check out what they had for crab while there. Picked up a Publix brand crab and corn chowder, Public brand Seafood Gumbo, jar of crab claw meat, and some crab dip. Came outside and now the passenger door on my '02 Silverado doesn't latch shut. I bungee corded it so I could get back home and will look at it tomorrow or over the weekend. It's been giving me problems anyway not staying unlocked so probably time to replace something inside. It's always something - check......
Well we are back up in Jasper, Ga., for rest of the holidays with our family. We’ll celebrate Christmas, Ms. Jan’s birthday, New Year’s, Alan’s and Abbey’s birthdays! Tonight they’ve requested Jan’s homemade chicken’n’dumplings-we will have fried cornbread to go with it. The choices this evening are ice cold longnecks, chilled wine, top shelf bourbon drinks, and your choice of vodka drinks. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Just got back from servicing my 2 accounts in the south part of the island. Picked up fresh flowers at Dollar General on the way back. Fellow walking out the same time as me had on a UCF tee. I offered my congratulations on the win. Turns out he was the sports editor at the main Sanford paper for quite a few years so we had a good chat. Despite the ignorance on display on social media, there really are a lot of knowledgeable and mature fans of sports out there. Walked in the door and was met by the glorious aroma of my turkey which I popped in the oven before leaving earlier. I'm making dinner and taking it to Mom later today. Lot to be thankful for right there. Merry Christmas Eve everyone!
Had a late addition to the guest list so had to drive across town this morning to get some more grouper. Kids will have NY strip steak. I have the KJ ready to light. Yellow rice pilaf is in the oven.
We all ate too much-but dang it was soooo good! Smoked Ham and Smoked Turkey, Ms. Jan’s cornbread dressing with giblet gravy, cream 40’s & butter beans, fresh turnips, sweet potato dumplings, and deviled eggs…..Yep, we all ate too much. Merry Christmas to everyone! Life is good in Gator Nation!
Today is Ms. Jan’s birthday-her supper request is grilled filet mignons, pasta primavera, homemade Caesar salad, and homemade yeast rolls. The girls are making her pitchers of Sparkling Red Sangria for the festivities. Ice cold longnecks and top shelf bourbon drinks are also available for your choice. I have also treated the three girls to pedicures/manicures for Ms. Jan’s birthday. Life is good in Gator Nation!
