ness

In the next episode of What's Cooking, ness attempts to revive an old family recipe with a new assistant. Will old family traditions prevail...or will the lure of easily-prepared microwave fare and the efficient, time-saving tendencies of the assistant doom the tradition to the ash heap of time? Don't miss this exciting episode of What's Cooking! Wednesday night on OATV. ?

Gol darnit, that sounds good.

Makes me want to go to the store and buy 12 heads of lettuce and stage a one-up picture on my ratty old deck, but I don't know if it could handle the weight ?

Been bringing in asparagus pretty regularly, but I've got some gaps in the bed. More crowns on order to fix that. Planted another gooseberry and my first currant last year, and they're going to be back this year. In the past, I have had trouble with them making it their first year, so that's good news. Got things cleaned up and ready to go last weekend. Took off the plastic I had over the beds for some solarization disease help. Don't know if it was enough heat to help, but it didn't hurt. The maters are re-potted, and they're out with the lettuce hardening off these last couple days. I know Marty is thinking I should have already eaten that lettuce ? Had a frost warning last night but the coast looks clear for the next 10 days. Even a little rain in the forecast later on this week and next.

I would stick with it. You always hear a lot at the beginning of the season. It's human nature to want to get out and be first, but the season goes on for weeks. It's just harder to see then when the grass grows up and leaves fill in.

And that post was before I read the reveal ? I think Duel was one of Spielberg's first movies. Kinda weird but good. Love the scene in the diner ...and, I haven't seen the other movie mentioned, but best car chase so far for me is Bullit. The Blues Brothers is right up there too.

I'm thinking The Right Stuff too.

Been eating out too much lately, but did manage a home cooked meal tonight. Nothing fancy, but it tasted darn good. Hamburger done over charcoal on a nice bun, roasted asparagus from the back yard, cole slaw, fruit salad and some baked beans from one of the local BBQ joints. Had a Boulevard Kolsch with it. Wanted to work some morels into the meal somehow, as there were some kids ther that hadn't had them. Searched a good spot from last year this afternoon and found just one. Hope my tick-to-mushroom ratio is less than 1-1. That mushroom will go in some eggs tomorrow. Couldn't see dividing it 6 ways. No pics--iPhone not sharing pics well the last few days. Trust me, it looked great too ??

Don't know how much attention it's getting outside the KC area, but a mushroom hunter found human remains in Cass county the other day. Kinda freaky. Authorities went out and found two human skulls. Lotsa speculation as to who they may be. Article here.

Alright, alright -- there was an inadvertent, accidental typo in the post about her mother's age. Should add 30 years to that birthday, and re-cipher everything based on that. Remember, not only students get spring breaks.

Did I mention it was her spring break last week?

Nothing to see here. ? Mom's cool and didn't say she hates me. Also had dinner with aunt and uncle, who I had met at her mom's 45th birthday party last summer. Uncle is an Olympic-caliber BSer and a lot of fun to talk to.

Been on a stir fry bender lately.

It'd probably be more interesting if you make it up. ? I've met the relatives before -- just went up to see her mom since we didn't see her at Christmas.

Not to change the subject or anything , but they're very proud of their Norwegian heritage up there:

I'll try an ice cream diversion then. Apparently, when the Whippy Dip opens for the season, it's quite the event. We stood in line for about 30 minutes, in 38 degree cold, with about a hundred people, for a couple ice-cold malts. I think the picture is blurry because my phone iced up. Had a teenage girl in front of us trying to get orders for her friends at the end of the line by texting them. I told her 'That's not how we Whippy Dip' and she knocked it off.

Not to change the subject or anything, but there's an excellent brewery in Decorah: Their new world lager, "Dorothy's", was really tasty:

Had to laugh -- I've driven hours and hours and walked miles and miles without seeing a pheasant. Up there this weekend I saw a rooster walking through a farmer's yard!

You guys sound like a bunch of bored housewives! Not to change the subject or anything, but did you know they dam the Mississippi in 29 places? You St. Louisans probably did, but I did not. Went to the dam and lock at Bellevue, IA. The lock is at the far left (west) end. These guys were cool -- as they waited in the lock, we chatted about stuff. 2 barges wide, 2 barges long -- that's 108 by 600 feet, without the boat. They started at New Orleans on their way to St. Paul to pick up a load of fuel oil. Took two weeks to get to Bellevue, and would take another week to get to St. Paul. They work 4 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Glass-calm Mississippi River at dusk: Saw tons and tons and tons and tons of this: Maybe I'm an heir to this northeast Iowa dynasty! I didn't pick it... Grocery store/hardware store/tackle shop/outfitter/campground office and post office at Highlandville. Here's the post office:

I went up to Iowa to see the gf's mom this last weekend. Headed up a couple days early to go to Decorah, IA, mostly to hang out around town, but I threw my gear in the car too. We hiked up a short path to see a waterfall on the north edge of town. As we walked, I thought -- I'm gonna get rigged up and give this tiny creek a try. It was only a couple hundred yards long, and the number of likely spots were very few. I tied on a #20-something pheasant tail and the second little pocket gave up this beauty: Click to choose files I don't know if it was native or not, but I doubt they'd go to the trouble of stocking in this tiny stretch of this tiny creek. Maybe upstream, but it would have been a heck of a ride over the waterfall, or downstream in the Upper Iowa. Anyhoo -- my first Iowa brookie. About 10 inches. Got in about an hour more fishing later in the day at one of the little creeks north of town. I got to see a classic mayfly hatch and tons of risers, but they were really keyed in and wouldn't take my flies. It turned on and off several times, and revealed that this little stream was packed with fish. Tied on a GRHE and ran it through a few times with nothing. Then, lengthened the tippet to drift it through a deeper spot and took a long skinny brown -- about 12 inches: Later, stopped by the Decorah Fish Hatchery, where there's a bald eagle nest and an eagle cam. Saw the eagle, and later learned an egg hatched the day we were there. Kinda cewl. So, I got in a little fishing, snagged a brookie, saw an eagle, ate way too much good food. And that's all I've got.

Yeah, it's good. Kind of a spicy gravy, not runny. BTW, I now always use poblano peppers in Cajun stuff. Love the flavor and gentle heat. Green peppers don't agree with me.

Does your cashew chicken have a sweet/sour/spicy sauce or more the savory? I know I like it but haven't had it in a long time. I wish I could reverse-engineer the Szechuan chicken recipe at Pine and Bamboo garden near my house. Dang. Savory with some chili kick.

Oh man, I'm gonna be in Iowa -- leaving tomorrow morning. I'll catch you next time, but I'll still pass on the snoot. ?

Seems like I saw the new police recruits all go down there as an initiation thing. Based on your review, and my aversion to eating most things that are called a body part, I'm gonna pass

So, I stir fried and used the sauce rps suggested. I think that's it!