ness

Leftover fondue

--------if that gets stuck in my head ima be pissed!

I get you guys saying opting out and transfer protocol is their right. But I guess I’m kinda impressed by guys that have something bigger in mind. I like K-State’s Cooper Bebee. Good kid, team player, cares about the right things, smart. https://www.cjonline.com/story/sports/college/cat-zone/2023/11/29/kansas-state-football-lineman-cooper-beebe-adds-another-big-12-honor/71746867007/

Actually wish I’d have put the port sauce on the side because I liked the horseradish cream sauce better. But they were both good.

So, I looked up Iowegian. I guess that is the correct spelling as it’s all over the place. There even used to be a newspaper called the Daily Iowegian. I do a lot of bidness with folks from Iowa and I’ve tossed the term around a bit without seeming to offend anyone. Also called my future wife that years back and that turned out well. But, look at these definitions from the kinda silly, anyone can post, urban dictionary. Be sure to read down to number 3 or 4. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=iowegian

Is it because you don’t like the taste? Does it you a headache? Or does it make you do things you later regret???

Well, I’ll explain it the way I understand it, which might not be right. Since there are a lot of folks with Scandinavian heritage in the upper Midwest there have been some nicknames come about. One you hear is Scandahoovians. Another is Iowegians, which applies to folks from Iowa in general. It’s just a fun nickname, certainly not derogatory. Is the spelling I used correct? I dunno. I’ve never seen it written. I just tried to spell it like a combination of Iowans and Norwegians. But it’s pronounced like Marty spelled it - Iweegens. My resident Iowegian doesn’t know how to spell it. She just said ask Google.

Feels like we’re splitting herls here.

The opting out and transfer protocol are messing things up. I’m not a fan of that crap. I did watch K-State in the Pop Tarts Bowl last night. Doubly entertaining. A K-State win with their outstanding freshman QB Avery Johnson. And the announcers constantly talking about Pop Tarts and then the Pop Tart mascot on the sideline and all the other Pop Tart references. I’d bet sales are up. I kinda want one myself🙂 He had the ref cracking up during one of the breaks. Anyhoo, I know this is about the Tigers, so I’ll get this back on topic: Still hate those guys.

Hyperbole. But the point about the difficulty of fishing moving water is a good one. I have a friend that's been wanting to learn fly fishing for a long time. We finally got some plans together this year and booked two dates. The first was on a small lake and the second was at Roaring River, where he's been fishing for many years. He did really well with basic casting at the lake and we were both pretty encouraged. But the Roaring River trip didn't go well, for a few reasons. First off, he's not in great physical shape and even short walks left him winded which meant we were limited in where we could go. Second, he seemed to reach saturation point pretty quickly and just quit listening. After that, I mostly just shut up and figured he'd either get in the groove or not. He did not. Third, he had fished there many times, knew how to catch fish and just wasn't happy when it didn't come together quickly. After a short while he just quit and sat down. I did catch a few, so maybe that sunk in. But it doesn't seem likely he'll fly fish much going forward. Probably the best thing that came out of it was our discussion about health and how he'd become so easily winded a few times that I was actually scared for him. That was back in May and the last time we spoke he was down 30 pounds. So, maybe I'm better at weight loss advice than guiding.

Yes, I'm sure you could have. Now, go get some rest.

I agree! A work of art!

A few of the highlights of the last few days. The mother in law is in town for a week or so. Before you think 'poor ness', she is a great house guest. Fun to be with, never asks for a thing, goes with the flow. She's a full-blooded Iowegian and up there oyster stew is very common for the holidays. Each year she makes a batch for us. Butter, milk, oysters and juice, salt and pepper. Included in this picture is my new Martyware® wine stopper! Christmas Eve is our big get-together each year. We broke out the ol' fondue pot for the first time in a long time. We did cheese fondue with Emmentaler, Gruyere, white wine, nutmeg, garlic, etc. Very tasty! My tiny little baby brother came through with prime rib again this year, and it was excellent as usual. That guy just flat knows how to cook, and he seasons stuff perfectly. Served it with a port reduction and a horseradish cream sauce. Of course, there are all the treats. This is actually a pic from last year. At 11:00 is my grandmother's Date Nut Pudding. Dates, nuts, sugar, flour, egg. It's like a cake but very moist. The sauce in the middle -- butter, sugar, cream -- goes over the top. We know my grandmother was making it well before 1956. She made it for many years, them my mom carried the torch, and I've been making it since 1988 when she passed. At 2:00 is Robel Family Rum Cake. My wife taught the Robels kids way back when. There was a special bond with that family and they gave her this cake every year until she retired last year. We went to the daughter's graduation a couple years back and I finagled the recipe from them. That's a tradition that we'll keep going. At 4:00 is shortbread. My dad loved it and I've made it every year for a very long time. Many years before he passed in 2004. At 8:00 is fruitcake, which I didn't make this year. The other stuff just seems to be enough! Anybody still reading? We all love biscuits and gravy here, but we don't eat that way much anymore. But, heck, it's the holidays and, I know my MIL loves it. Christmas morning: I've got two aunts and uncles that are basically homebound, and I take the Date Nut Pudding and shortbread to them each year the day after Christmas. They're up in years and who knows what the next year will bring. And finally: Today we had some very dear friends over. They were the third set of grandparents for our kids, and since the blood-relative grandparents are all gone now I'll go ahead and say it: these were the *best* of the grandparents. Just amazing people. I made a soup called Hawkeye Chowder that I got out of a magazine years ago. Onion, celery, butter, flour, vegetable broth, parsley, thyme, cayenne, potatoes (hand peeled and sliced!), zucchini and cream. Delicious! Anyhoo -- I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

This cookie was the prettiest cookie of all the cookies!

Acclimating Rusty to loud noises:

Nice! I’ve never done it with venison, but Guinness beef stew is a favorite around here.

Back when my boys were playing football, one of the dads told us he had a bunch of geese out in his front yard plucking up the grass. So he picked up a BB gun and shot out into the group to scare them away. He ended up hitting one in the head and it started flopping around. So he grabbed it, wrung its neck and disposed of it. The neighbor lady saw it, freaked out and called it in. His fine was supposedly $10,000

The cider had aged for a couple weeks and we decided to pop one of each and test. The missus and I both kinda wanted to like the middle one because it just has a nicer color to it. But after doing a blind test we both ruled it out. Not bad, just the other two were better. The remaining two, Cote des Blancs and Safale S-04, were very close. My wife had a clear preference for S04. I kinda waffled back and forth between the two but in the end I picked CdB on the left. CdB has got a definite haze to it that the other two didn't, and it's the palest of the three. I don't think it's suspended yeast because I killed them dead through pasteurization. It may be a pectin haze, but I added pectic enzyme to all three so that shouldn't have happened. Unless I goofed. In the end it has been an interesting experiment. The flavor differences were not drastic. The color difference surprised me. All three are pretty tasty and will only improve with age. Number 10 has really slowed down but it's probably not finished. It's been stuck on 1.005 for a few days but should go to 1.000 or below. I'll check again in a day or two and decide whether to bottle now and hopefully carbonate, or go longer and do a dryer still cider. I'm hoping to give a few 4-packs away on Christmas Eve.

Once I learned I was 1% Jewish, I thought I should explore my culinary heritage. So, I schlepped a box of Manischewitz matzo ball & shoop mix home to try. I was sure an ancient ancestor was looking down from above crying, ‘Oy Vey, he’s meshuggenah!’, but I soldiered on. I followed the directions on the box to the letter, but found it nish keet. I knew I wanted something better to nosh on. Tiring of going back and forth to the website ‘32 Yiddish Words You Should Know’, I decided to just post a picture of my shooped up shoop: So, mazeltof!

Since we’re telling - We’re in too. We’re pretty fortunate and we know it. We try to help where we can. The missus taught many years in a lower-income school district and has seen first hand kids that depend on school for food. One that she told me about, that I’ll always remember, was a kid she ran in to outside school. Asked if she was looking forward to summer the kid said no-it just means I’ll be hungry. The approach this organization is taking is just right. Engage with folks, figure out what the need is and act. Show some love and don’t be judgmental. That’s so much more impactful than free money raining down from above from an anonymous benefactor. So, pony up!

Annual get-together with friends tonight. Baby brother did a pork rib roast with a port and mushroom sauce. Friend did homemade gnocchi with mushroom and spinach. I did bourbon and maple glazed carrots. Didn’t get photos of appetizers and dessert but it was cheese crisps before and chocolate poke cake after. My brother cut those huge chops. I couldn’t finish mine. Then it was out to the garage where the other dudes fired up their stogies. They’re always considerate of the non-smokers. 😀

I appreciate this forum and the lack of obnoxious ads. Thank you Phil! From a book I’m reading (with a slight modification): “At this festive season of the year, you blowhards," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time.”

It's a great story and movie, and not because it's about fishing. It's always been interesting to me to learn about how they put movies together. Back in the day, ness 2.2 and I loved to watch movies on DVD/BluRay and then the special features explaining the process, background, whatever. He's now working in the film department at KU.

More than likely she’s doing a strategic delay, waiting for just the right moment to pounce. Keep your head on a swivel!

I've got all my fly tying material in a medium-sized Rubbermaid container. This being a fly tying thread, I don't feel the need to disclose my other clutter.