ness

Oh, and I made a good breakfast. Our beloved Grandma Viola’s buttermilk pancakes and some bacon. Grade B real maple syrup on top. Definitely worth the money. Dang goes to Grandma Vi!

Good call on the bacon 😄 Scrapple seems like one of those things I’d rather have somebody else prepare for me 😄

I’ve never seen that. I’d be all over it if I did!

So, more ham and beans in the new Instant Pot. Previous one was with a bean/spice packet. These appliances have become such a big deal that the internet is polluted with recipes from obviously bad cooks. For simple ham and beans I saw pressure-cook times ranging from 25 to 75 minutes. There’s another variable which is how long you let it depressurize, since it still cooks during that time. All over the board on that too. I like lots of veggies, and I didn’t want to overcook them, but I couldn’t find a two-step recipe so I figured it out on my own. Beans, unsalted chicken broth, grated onion, carrot and celery, bay leaves and ham bone for 30 minutes followed by a 20-minute pressure release. Added chopped onion, carrot, celery and diced ham then pressure-cooked for 10 minutes with a 15-minute pressure release. Delicious, but the carrots were a little soft. Next time I’ll do the veggies with a quick release right after the 10 minute pressure cook. Not sold on this thing yet, especially for this type recipe. Lots of time in pressurizing and depressurizing. Still learning. Will probably be better to learn pressure cooking without all the Instant Pot noise that’s out there. Bottom line is it was great tasting soup. Didn't have milk so I used buttermilk in the Jiffy mix. Where has that combo been all my life?? Delicious in my small cast-iron skillet.

Ohhhh, someday maybe. Have been trying to downsize, but the Instant Pot reversed that trend. It's the 8 quart version and it's pretty big -- can't fit it under the counter.

Got an Instant Pot for Christmas, which was a surprise. Learning how to use it as it’s my first time with pressure cooking. Did some dried beans and a ham bone the other night. Cook time around 30 minutes, but with pressurization and pressure release was close to an hour, which is pretty impressive to me. I think I’m gonna like it. Gotta learn to use this bad boy.

I like that right there.

Well, if you'd stick with it through 95 unhelpful tips you've got a better attention span than me

I'm no Taney expert, but I read. In my opinion, 100 tips is about 85 to 90 too many. No offense intended -- just trying to help.

I have no idea if the $40 million in revenue is a reliable number, but... keep in mind the difference between revenue and net income. Revenue is how much you sold. That's before expenses and taxes. Don't really care one way or the other, but it's a pet peeve of mine when people quote the revenue number and act like it's all going into their pockets. It's not.

Well, ours was more than just eating cheese given the ingredients and dippers. But I get your point.

Well, thanks — but it was a team effort all the way.

We’ve been thinking about fondue for a while, and decided to do it for NYE dinner. Did a gruyere, emmenthaler and white wine cheese fondue with a variety of bread cubes and fruit for dipping. Then vegetable stock, red wine, garlic, onion and mushroom broth for beef tenderloin, pork loin and mushrooms. Had a variety of sauces for the meats. Pretty good but a lot of work and clean up. More about the fun of it all really. Cheese won hands down. We decided next time we’ll probably just do cheese as an appetizer. Lots of fun with good company. Happy New Years everybody.

Might be because of sh*t like that...

Yeah, our national symbol is a nasty old scavenger some of the time. Still better that a scrotum-headed turkey though.

Party tonight with my brother and some friends. I didn’t cook any of it, which was nice for a change. 28-day dry-aged strip loin with Bernaise sauce on half and Marshall Divan (sp?) sauce on half, big prawns with blacken seasoning, Dutchess potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts and rolls. This earns a double dang.

People seem to love it or hate it. The cake part is really good -- very moist and nutty -- but the sauce puts it over the top. It is pretty sweet. Talked to my sister on Christmas and one of her daughters loves it and was grumbling that there wasn't any this year, so it's back on their menu.

I thought it meant they were there all year, except they went somewhere romantic to breed. 😄

We just got liquor-by-the-drink, so I don't see it coming soon.

...and now I see Golden Eagles everywhere! Thanks Bill!

Ahhhh, the Cafe. It could be pretty wild there. But I met some good folks there that I still fish with on occasion. Here's a snapshot from the wayback machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20040824081133/http://www.conservationcafe.com:80/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=9

Will do.

Here, let me answer that for you, John. You obviously didn't do a lick of research before you posted: "Golden Eagle: Aquila chrysaetos Length – 37 Inches Wingspan – 86 Inches Golden eagles are only found during the winter in small numbers. They are easily recognizable due to their immense wingspan, brown body and golden sheen on their feathers throughout the body and head. Golden eagles fly similarly to turkey vultures, with their wings slightly raised. They feed on a variety of prey, small mammals and birds in open grasslands. " Next time how about you do a little homework first?

Ok, this is very interesting to me. I’m a guy who grew up with Bald Eagles and other raptors on the brink of extinction. I’ve always thought they were very cool. I banded kestrels in college and when I graduated and finally had an income I donated a small portion to a project in MN that rehabilitated injured raptors. I love that they’ve made this remarkable comeback. It’s not unusual seeing Bald Eagles around here, but I have not seen or heard of Golden Eagles this far east. Are we sure they’re Golden Eagles?

Man, re-reading that recipe I sure see flaws. I’ve made it for so long I don’t notice errors because I know what to do. So, here’s a corrected version that clarifies step 5, which is the sauce. Grandmother Mildred’s Date Nut Pudding Ingredients Pudding 1 cup chopped dates 1 cup boiling water 1/3 cup butter (6 tablespoons) 1 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon soda 1 cup chopped pecans 1 cup flour Sauce 2 cups sugar ¼ pound butter 1 pint light cream Directions 1. Take your cup of chopped dates and pour your cup of boiling water over. Add soda mash to a pulp. 2. Take sugar and butter and cream together. Add the egg and nuts. 3. Combine the two mixtures and add flour. 4. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour at 325 degrees. 5. Add ingredients for sauce to a double boiler. Cook over low heat for 3 hours. Stir occasionally.