ness

NYC is expensive, dirty, smelly, noisy and the people are generally a-holes. Unless they're trying to sell you something and then you're 'my friend'. I've been a few times on business. Got to go to the dealer desk on the edge of a futures pit many years ago. It was really interesting to see the open outcry trading with hand signals, shouting, bumping, etc. The guy I was with gave me a quick overview of the signals, then pointed out to me who the 'big swinging d***s' were to watch. I went to a conference a few years back and stayed in Times Square. Got to see Naked Cowboy. Yippee. I had hotel food for the most part but did get out for some pizza. They know pizza. I'm picky about where my hot dogs come from. I'd eat one of @Terrierman's before I'd eat one from a NY street vendor Edit: Found some pics. This was 2011 This guy got pissy because I took his pic without giving him money

Like tots too, but lately we’re getting the crowns. Just wolfed down a few with a turkey burger. Not picture worthy

Wow! You Maillarded the heck out of those! I bet you’re a black marshmallow guy too, right? 😀

Here’s a something I invented for cold winter days. I call it “Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup”. Good stuff! I have found the Campbell’s tomato soup to be delicious. For the sandwich, I selected Velveeta cheese and Sara Lee wheat bread. Try it, you’ll like it!

Some really nice stuff being made. Those Smitheys are sure beautiful. Google is onto me because those ads are showing up everywhere for me now. But, I gotta say I like the Lancaster the best. It's got that cool buggy on the back.

Agree. My enameled Dutch oven is my favorite piece of cookware. It's got some cracks and chips, but not a problem yet. When its time comes, I'll get another for sure, but probably won't pay up for a Staub or Le Creuset.

Great report! I bet your daughter will remember that experience forever!!

I need to be careful reading this thread! It’s tempting me to spend some money!!!! I’ve got this one, that is clearly an antique because they stamped the manufacture date on the bottom😀 Surface is okay on the large one, kinda too thick on the small. They’re ok. We use them to fry chicken, do cornbread, sear steaks, cook sausage, etc. I’m tempted to acquire some good stuff and donate this, but don’t want to get screwed. Maybe I should just put the pans away and take a nap. 😀

Went over to my baby girl’s house today. Future son-in-law has an Ooni too, so we did pizza. First a Margherita: Then a fig butter, prosciutto, arugula and balsamic glaze one. Pretty good but we all like the Marg best. I made my daughter’s favorite dessert Tiramisu:

KCMO set an annual murder record at 184 this year. How did StL do?

You’re a 1 percenter! Congrats!😀

No idea

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!