rps

Pico de gallo stuffed avocado and chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy.

Yes. I teach at the middle school, Nancy teaches at the high school, and we live out at Holiday Island. Moved over here for the 2002-2003 school year.

Change of subject - today's project started with a trip to the farmers market in Eureka. I bought many many beautiful green beans. Then I brought them home and did this to them. Now I must wait two weeks for the flavors to marry.

Food stylist. Now that's an occupation. While I was in cooking school, the chefs worked very hard with me to improve my plating. I was NOT a natural. On the other hand a Thai lady in the class, Noriam, used her chop sticks and everything was gorgeous. Her food was bland and dull, but gorgeous. Finally the head chef reassigned me to cook beside her. My role was to do the butchering and to show her how to make sure the flavor was there. Her role was to show me the touches that make a difference at service.

You should be proud of yourself. Was it a black box competition or a set of required items? Did it include butchery or did they supply portioned ingredients. In other words I am curious about the details.

Green tomatoes a problem? Never! 1. Fry them. 2. Pickle them. 3. Use them in chow chow and other relishes.

I may have posted (I just looked it up and I did back in April) on this food before, but this is so good and so great looking, please forgive me for repeating. Spanakopita my wife made today for our dinner tonight. By the way she uses the Cooks Illustrated recipe and it is flat wonderful.

Welcome to the best forum you will find. You are two and a half hours East of me, but I too fish the White River on the upper end of Tablerock.

There are quite a few homes and condos for rent on a weekly basis here at Holiday Island in Arkansas. The marina rents pontoons and has one boat to rent as well. Although we have some wake boat and such traffic, we do not have nearly the numbers you see below Campbell point.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trolling

That is the method I was taught in school. Works well for beef, lamb, and pork steaks and chops. I use my instant read for birds, roasts and meat loafs.

Pork loin is one of the most difficult things to cook in the world. That is one of the reasons you rarely see it in restaurants. Way too easy for the sous chef in charge of the grill to ruin. Especially if the wait staff is slow to deliver. If I am cooking for guests, I tend to slightly undercook it - if you sliced it right away there would be a faint hint of pink - and let the wait time finish it.

This afternoon, I made hummus for my beautiful wife, Nancy, and her friend as they sewed. It occurred to me most of you were not raised as I was, in constant exposure to all things Lebanese. Hummus tahini is one of the gifts from the gods. Try this recipe: Hummus Tahini Real hummus tahini, the kind I remember from countless meals at Lebanese steak houses and Lebanese catered lawyer functions and meals served at the Gawey's, the Beshara's, and McSoud's, real hummus tahini has flavors and a strong garlic kick. Most of the recipes out there, and all of the store bought varieties, are insipid and inoffensive. The question becomes, when hummus is so easy to make, why do people ever buy it? Try this instead. Ingredients Two 15.5 ounce cans chickpeas, drained and liquid reserved 6 Cloves peeled garlic (If the cloves are small, use more!) 3 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 Tbs. Cumin 1 tps. Kosher Salt 2 Tbs. Tahini paste plus 1 Tbs. oil Juice of 1 to 2 lemons Method Put the garlic and olive oil in the food processor and process until the garlic is chopped fine. Add the chickpeas and process until the mixture begins to clog. Add the cumin, salt, juice from one lemon, the tahini and oil, and half of the reserved liquid from the peas. Process until the mixture is smooth (may take several minutes). Taste and decide if it needs the juice from the next lemon. Now, isn't that better than anything you've ever had called hummus?

If you go out tomorrow, go early. I fished near the marina.

I am a grown man and take full responsibility for what I did. I went out about 10:00 AM today and stayed out among the crowds until nearly 4:00. I guess I deserve what I experienced On a positive note, I did catch a nice walleye. It came from the very edge of a flat that fell from about 22' deep into a 40' channel. Night crawler harness in gaudy chartreuse and black. 25 inches and just under 5 pounds.

I had to work on this one. What you see is an old cemetery actually on Holiday Island. Early in the summer mornings, the buzzards congregate there on the fence and on the stones. I've always wondered what they thought.

From Eagle Rock to Holiday Island is almost 6 miles by water. The Beaver Bridge is another 2 or 2 and a half. From KC, that is a serious run.

For the benefit of any of you that come upon the bridge, allow me to describe the method and the etiquette. At both ends of the bridge, you will see a stop sign. Stop there, not in front of it. You can see the other end from that point. Wait long enough to allow anyone who is on the backside of the bridge that you cannot see to reach the crest. Then you can proceed. Polite people alternate turns at this bridge and the other one on the way into Eureka from Holiday Island on 187. If in doubt, turn your headlights on and off to indicate you want the other person to go first. However, do not assume the other person knows or respects the drill. I do love living here.

Sadly, Deliverance scenes are possible at night in rural Mo. and Ar. Oh. Wait. You said you were a minor. You probably don't know the reference to Deliverance. The link below will explain part of it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deliverance That movie is the source of the bumper stickers you see among canoe types, "Paddle Faster. I hear banjos."

While the bridge is marked no trucks, US Mail, UPS, and any number of deliveries out of Rogers and Bentonville use it regularly. When the bridge flooded several years ago, residents parked on the HI side and waded across on the bridge to avoid the roundabout on the worst part of 62.

30 or 35 river miles.

Because I could, I went up river this morning. Farther up river than normal. I took a few pictures and thought I would share them with those of you who never make it into Arkansas. The first is the old railroad bridge that the train into Eureka Springs used. It traveled along a spur from Seligman, Mo. and transported granite from the quarry they started at Beaver to build the Crescent Hotel. On the bluff above is Rogue's Castle, built as a bed and breakfast for the well heeled. The next is the world's longest wooden suspension bridge at Beaver on Highway 187. This bridge has been featured in several movies. The picture below shows an outside bend in the river with a few "modest" river homes peeking through the trees. These pillars are all that remains of the old 62 bridge, just upstream from the current 62 bridge. This one is looking up at the current 62 bridge with a car crossing. Finally, a pretty little rainbow I caught accidentally while trying to find walleye. By the way, I do buy the trout stamp every year, for exactly this reason. However I only keep them when they are injured and will not survive.

I went up as far as old 62 bridge pilings today. Surface temp was 75 there and at Houseman. The Corps is not having their best year with White River generators, are they?

Not very pretty, but down right tasty.

Hello? Is there anybody out there? Today I decided to do a goulash. Don't ask me why, but there it is. Ground beef, sweet red pepper, leeks, pearl onions, carrot, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, beef base, paprika, chili powder, caraway seed, and just before serving, elbow macaroni. Several hours in a dutch oven at 225. Pictures will follow.