Recipe: Oven Fried Chicken IV

That's right. IV.

OVEN FRIED CHICKEN IV

Chicken breasts and thighs, or 1 whole chicken, cut up

½ C milk

1 ½ C prepared bread crumbs

1 stick melted butter

Seasonings to taste (black pepper, Creole seasoning, whatever)

Preheat oven to 350^o. Dip chicken pieces in milk, then in bread crumbs. Place pieces on a greased cookie sheet (lined with foil for easier clean-up, if desired). Pour melted butter over each piece. Sprinkle with desired seasonings. Bake 1 hour 30 minutes.

Recipe: Broccoli with Fried Onion Rings

BROCCOLI WITH FRIED ONION RINGS

Serves 4-6

20 oz broccoli, cooked and drained (can use frozen)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can French-fried onion rings

Preheat oven to 350^o. Place drained broccoli in a lightly greased 2 quart casserole, cover with soup, and top with onion rings. Bake covered for 20 minutes.

Recipe: Stuffed Squash I

STUFFED SQUASH I

Serves 6 (generously)

6 squash, cut in half lengthwise

1 medium white onion, chopped fine

3 slices bacon, fried crisp, reserving 3 Tbsp bacon grease

1/8 tsp pepper

¼ tsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Cracker crumbs (Ritz or comparable)

(Optional—Shredded cheese, any variety)

Preheat oven to 350^o. Boil squash in water to cover for 10 minutes. Drain and allow to cool enough to scoop pulp out of half-shells. Mix remaining ingredients (except cracker crumbs) with squash pulp and then stir in enough cracker crumbs to make a stiff mixture. Fill squash shells with mixture and place shells (mixture-sides up) in lightly greased baking dish. (If using shredded cheese, spread over squash.) Bake until brown (and cheese has melted).

"I'm Singin' in the Rain!"

I'm fairly certain the whole entire world (except The Farm) is going to Hell in a hand-basket-- have you watched a pro football game in the last 20 years?? have you been appalled by the calls??-- but that's no reason to not look on the bright side. (Or is it?) In any case, we must keep our spirits up.

Today's word was alliteration. Here's the Dictionary dot com definition, which is the same as my Random House Unabridged Dictionary Second Edition (1993).

1. the commencement of two or more stressed syllables of a word group either with the same consonant sound or sound group (consonantal alliteration)  as in from stem to stern,  or with a vowel sound that may differ from syllable to syllable (vocalic alliteration)  as in each to all.  Compare consonance (  def 4a ) .

2. the commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter, as in apt alliteration's artful aid.

Blah blah blah.

We all Those of us not educated under Common Core know what alliteration means. Good Lord. Repeat some sounds that aren't poetic.

Unnecessary alliteration is almost always the sign of stylistic bankruptsy on the part of the author. Moreover... .

--A. Leland

Missy musta missed the missive on alliteration, but Rocky read it and regularly baRks, "Ruff! Ruff!"

--Marica

Alvin almost was alienated by the allowances allocated in Alicia's alliteration.

--Mr. Big Food

And now, for today's Word of the Day: Can You Use It In A Sentence? sentence winner:

"Simple Caesar sipped his sniffer, seized his knees and sneezed" he said with alliteration.

--Daughter C

And that's what led Daughter C and I to watch a few snippets of the movie, Singing in the Rain, on her phone in the kitchen this evening. The dancing is amazing!

A few final thoughts... .

Recipe: Linguine with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms

Monday is vegan night and Daughter C and Miss M prepared ans served a delicious pasta dish! I wish I had taken photographs but the big pasta bowl was empty before I realized it! 

They found the recipe at The Food Network dot com, and it's attributed to Nigella Lawson. 

Herbs came straight from the herb garden:

"Mom! Do we have any parsley?"

"Yes. ... No! You passed it," I replied. It was nice, sitting outside on the patio with Mr. Big Food and A. Leland as C & M prepared supper. Relaxing, even.

"Mom! Do we have any thyme?"

"Yes. ... No! Not that thyme," I instructed.

 "Keep walking," advised A. Leland.

We have enough thyme to last a life time. I'm hoping that in another year people will be stepping on it as it creeps across the walk. 

Here's the recipe. I believe they used baby bellas rather than the called for mushrooms. There's not much call for cremini mushrooms out here.  And I do believe I saw Daughter C heading into the kitchen with some basil. That's one of the many nice features of an herb garden, isn't it? Walk outside, pluck some "gorgeously scented" herbs, and commence to cookin'!

I'll note that this is a quick dish to prepare. (And easy clean-up!)

LINGUINE WITH LEMON, GARLIC, AND THYME MUSHROOMS
4-6 servings
prep time: 10 mins.
cooking time: 15 minutes

8 ounces/ 4cups finely sliced chestnut/cremini mushrooms
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp Maldon/kosher salt or 1 1/2 tsp table salt
small clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
4 sprigs fresh thyme stripped to give 1 tsp leaves
1 lb. linguine
1 buch fresh parsley, chopped, to give 1/2 cup
2-3 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Slice the mushrooms finely, and put them into a large bowl with the oil, salt, minced garlic, lemon juice and zest, and gorgeously scented thyme leaves.

Cook the pasta according to package instructions and drain loosely retaining some water. Quickly put the pasta into the bowl with the mushroom mixture.

Toss everything together well, and then add the parsley, cheese and pepper before tossing again. Eat with joy in your heart.

Conniving Bastards

Today's word was 'connived.'

We make the Rules up as we go along, and one of the earliest rules we made up was that we must use the word in our sentences as it is presented. This is the first time we've been presented with a past tense word. But that's how it goes.

Connived is also the first word whose 1st definition ca. now is decidedly different from its 1st def. in 1892.

In 1892, connive meant 'to wink, to open and close one eye rapidly.'

You can see how this changed.

Here are our sentences:

Oh. We had guests who came out the farm and who will be shooting deer. They joined in.

In an effort to avoid the embarrassment of a sub-par sentence in front of the scholarly crowd, Nick connived the rules of the asking Margaret for advice.

--Nick

Saint's head coach Sean  Peyton was suspended all last season because he and other coaches connived to injure opposing players.

--Chris

Good Lord. A. Leland. If you continue to write run on sentences, ... .

Despite the fact that [Miss M] and [Daugher C] connived to ... . ... . ... .

ARE YOUR KIDDING ME? You want me to type that ROS into my blog?

Moving on.

Margaret told me to leave her out of it-- while I connived to have the best sentence.

--Daughter C

Corporate profiteers and statists politicians together connived a plot to deprive citizens of a once-free Republic of more of their individual liberties.

--Mr. Big Food

With a wink and a nod, they connived to allow his unconstitutional abuse of power.

--Marica

 

What's in Your Oven?

Recipes to follow.

Recipe: India Rice (Vegan)

Add peas!

INDIAN RICE

Serves 5

¼ C onion, sliced very thin

3 Tbsp slivered almonds

2 Tbsp butter

¼ C seedless raisins

2 C hot, cooked long grain rice

Melt butter in small skillet, and cook onions and almonds until golden. Add raisins and heat through until they puff. Stir mixture into rice, mixing lightly. Serve with curry dishes.

Recipe: Barbequed Pork Spare Ribs, India

Saturday Supper

BARBEQUED PORK SPARE RIBS, INDIA

Serves around 20, but easily dividable into thirds

12 lbs spare ribs (3 slabs), back membrane removed, cut into 2 rib portions

2 12 oz cans beer, room temperature

Salt, pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325^o. Place ribs in roasters or baking pans and begin baking. After 45 minutes, pour beer over ribs. One half hour later, salt and pepper ribs and begin basting with Sauce for Spare Ribs, India. Baste all pieces and don’t allow ribs to get too brown or burn (cover with foil if necessary). Cook about 3 hours over all, or until well done. If ribs are not browned, turn up heat a bit during the last 15 minutes of baking time. Serve with sauce from bottom of pan (or thicken sauce with a little corn starch mixed into water to make a gravy).

SAUCE FOR SPARE RIBS, INDIA

1 C honey

1 C apple cider vinegar

1 C prepared mustard (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

1 C apricot preserves (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

1 tsp ground ginger

2 Tbsp curry powder

Yellow onion, chopped fine

Mix all ingredients well and brush on ribs with pastry brush.

Recipe: Beaufort (SC) Shrimp Dinner

There are some things about one must be careful. Beaufort : Beaufort. Greenville : Greenville.

If you're not careful, you may wind up in Greenville when you intended to be in Greenville.

-->

I don't know who this McCormick guys is. They use Zataran's in NC and in MS. Green beans substituted for corn. Proportions changed. Consider the recipe a guide. 

Use your turkey cooker & do it outside!
~~

“Warning! Don’t eat your fingers! Serve with green vegetable salad and garlic toast.”

BEAUFORT (SC) SHRIMP DINNER

Serves 12, but “recipe may be cut. Use ½ - ¾ lbs shrimp per person for smaller crowd”

3 quarts water

10 lbs headed medium shrimp

2 lbs cooked smoked sausage, cut into 1 ½ -2 inch chunks (preferably homemade—see recipes in Meats section)

10 ears corn, shucked, silks removed, cut into 1 ½ -2 inch chunks

1 box McCormick’s seafood seasoning

2 12 oz bottles beer

Salt to taste (up to 2 C)

4 lemons, washed and sliced thick

Melted butter, seafood sauce (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basic section), for serving

Use a 32 quart pot or a size suitable for your crowd. Bring water to a boil in covered pot, add salt to taste, seafood seasoning, lemons, and beer, and continue boiling, covered. Add corn to pot, return to boiling, cover, and cook 5 minutes. Add sausage, bring to boiling again, cover, and cook 5 minutes longer. Add shrimp, return to boiling, cover, and cook 3-5 minutes longer, or until shrimp is pink or barely separated from the shell at head end. (Taste and check shrimp so you don’t overcook it.) When ready to eat, spread a picnic table with newspapers. Add containers of melted butter and seafood sauce, drain water from pot, and pour remaining contents in center of table.  

Recipe: St. Louis Beer Beef Stew

A Big Food Favorite!

This one's been around a long time. Here's what Mr. Big Food has to say about this recipe:

I can’t remember where this one came from. No doubt some spiral bound cookbook. The “St. Louis” no doubt refers to the beer in the recipe—Anheiser Busch and all that; although now I guess it should be called Brussels Beer Beef Stew. This makes enough to feed a small army,

For the Slow Cooker version of this, use these ingredients, brown the beef as directed below, and see the instructions in the Stews subsection of the Slow Cookery section in this Manual.

ST. LOUIS BEER BEEF STEW

¼ C flour, plus an additional 1/3 C

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

3 lbs cubed beef stew meat

Vegetable oil

12 oz beer

1 ½ C beef stock (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section; in a pinch, you can use 2 beef bouillon cubes dissolved in 1 ½ C boiling water)

Worcestershire sauce

Chili powder (preferably Pure—see instructions in Basics section)

1 lb carrots, scraped and cubed

1 lb tiny white onions, peeled

1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in half

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 bell pepper, cut in strips then halved

¼ cup water

Put ¼ C flour, salt, and pepper in a freezer bag and mix well. Add meat and shake to cover thoroughly. Brown meat in oil, in batches, in heavy 5 quart kettle or Dutch oven. (Drain off pot liquor as it accumulates.) Add beer, stock, and Worchestershire sauce and chili powder to taste. Cover and simmer slowly about 2 hours (or until meat is tender). Add carrots, onions, green beans, potatoes, and green pepper and simmer until tender, about 1 more hour. To thicken sauce, mix together remaining 1/3 C flour and water to form a paste. Stir paste into stew and cook 5-10 minutes longer.

The Vanishing Professor, Cherdlen, Phonographs, Turpitude, Ribs & The Kitchen Table

I am still cataloging the crappy old books in my library. I haven't even begun to record the Girls' Cherdlen books. That will be a task! I estimate-- based on the number I have cataloged-- there to be 1200-1500 individual books here at the Farm. 

With 1200 books from which to choose, what book does A. Leland choose to pull from the shelf?

He came into the kitchen this morning after coffee and said he'd found the sweetest thing tucked behind the front cover of The Vanishing Professor.

While he and Mr. Big Food were off doing Big Food-related things (whole pigs are relatively inexpensive out here), I retrieved The Vanishing Professor's hidden gem.

By Kat. There shurly was no doubt.

Upon reading, Daughter C and Miss M were thrown into a tizzy of laughter and they spent the next hour Skyping with Kat.

As an aside, and since we're talking about Skyping, Kat referred to Mr.-Low-Man-on-the-Totem-Pole-Who's-Tasked-with-Reading-My-Little-Blog as "Mom's personal NSA agent." I had to remind her that Mr. Low Man is an agent for all of us! 

I popped in and out of the Skype conversation. Mr. Low Man, if I've missed any of the funny sister stuff, please let me know.

Kat can't remember what prompter her to write this, but we all agree-- it's classic Kat. We're pegging it at about 3rd grade. Before 3rd grade, she'd for shur have had dificulty comllying with the rigors of sophistical grammatical structure.

Daughter C is making herself at home, which is to say she's redecorating. We made a trip to town to find her a surface area that would hide electrical cords. 

Score. $15! And the dude helped put in in the truck.

She cleaned the knobs and when I put them back on, I remembered 16 & 78.

Look at how big that thing is! It still spins, although it may need some work. But how difficult could that be? I bet you a dollar I have a crappy old book that speaks to repairing phonographs. 

Before supper, I made a salad-- the first of the fall season!

We had ribs for Saturday Supper. 

And a vegan rice dish

And then we read our Word of the Day sentences!

Your turpitude is astounding.

--Miss M

In making constant, vile sentences about [Miss M] this week, [A. Leland] has proven his moral turpitude.

--Daughter C

His moral turpitude was understandable in light of the fact that his moral framework had devolved into a series of legal rights.

--A. Leland

That's pretty good. We grant A. Leland absolution for yesterday's lame sentence.

The young Kantian's high-handed verbal ideals were matched only by the moral turpitude exhibited in his behavior.

--Mr. Big Food

Two hundred thirty three years ago today, Benedict Arnold committed treason, an act of turpitude.

--Marica

Normally, we read our sentences, load the dishwasher, and say good night. Thus, I proceeded to let the dogs out and do my normal end-of-evening things. But then I walked into the kitchen and saw that they were all cloistered about the table. 

They were working on some "brain teaser" greeting card problem. I solved Rhinoceros.


So. All in all. Just another Saturday here on the Farm. 

You wish you were here, don't you, Mr. Low Man?

Treason: An Act of Moral Turpitude

On September 21, 1780, General Benedict Arnold betrayed his country when he gave the British information that could allow them to capture the American fort at West Point on the Hudson River in New York. [1]

The short story is that "he hungered for money to support the lifestyle he enjoyed with his young wife, the beautiful Peggy Shippen." [1] 

Peggy Shippen and Daughter (Sir Thomas Lawrence)

Here are the highlights of the life of a man of turpitude.

1741, born;  the great grandson of a three-time governor of Rhode Island

He received a fair education but was not studious, and his youth was marked by the same waywardness which characterized his whole career. [2]

1756 (age 15), runs away from home to join in the French and Indian Wars

1762, parents die; moves to New Haven, opens drug store and bookstore

1767, marries Margaret Mansfield; has three sons

1775, as captain of Connecticut militia, proposes expedition to Crown Point and Ticonderoga, must share command with Ethan Allen from Massachusetts; gets knickers in knot

June 1775, Mrs. Arnold dies

July 1775, "He went home to Connecticut in disgust." [3]

Late 1775, passed over for promotion

1775-1778, promoted, leads wildly successful campaigns, screws up

May 30, 1778, signs new oath of allegiance to fight for independence

? Proposes to Betsy DeBlois

? Meets Peggy Shippen, 18 year old daughter of a Loyalist; breaks engagement with Betsy; introduced to Peggy's friend, Major André

April 1779, marries "the beautiful Peggy Shippen"

May 1779, begins talks with British Commander, Sir Henry Clinton

Fall 1779, asks Clinton for too much money, Clinton refuses; breaks off talks with Clinton

December 1779, court marshaled for various screw ups; all but two charges dropped

January 1780, guilty of using military resources for private gain; rebuked by George Washington

? Asks for command of West Point; granted

September 21, 1780, meets with André-- now an aid to Clinton-- gives him layout and information of vulnerabilities of West Point. 

September 23, 1780, André captured (later hanged); fleas to a British ship

-- 1801, fights against Patriots, lives miserable, unhappy life in England

He gradually sank into melancholia, and died in London June 14, 1801. [2]

References
1 William J. Bennett and John T.E.. Cribb. The American Patriot's Almanac. Thomas Nelson, Nashville. 2008.

2 The Encyclopædia Britannica: A New Survey of Universal Knowledge. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Chicago, London, Toronto. 1955. 

3 The Encyclopedia Americana: Complete in Thirty Volumes. American Corporation, New York, Chicago. 1952.  

We're Such Geeks!

I happened to walk into a room in which a conversation was taking place.

I said, "What are you talking about?"

Mr. Big Food said, "Pro-biotics."

I said, "As opposed to anti-biotics?"

Miss M laughed and asked, "Is there a geekier family on the planet?"

I have no answer to that question.

~~

Today's word was consanguinity: related by blood; sharing a common ancestor; kinship.

As it turns out, consanguinity is important in legal affairs (who inherits what when there's no will), in affairs of the heart (can you marry your kissin' cousin?), evolutionary biology (pshaw), and world history (recall the bleeding Romanovs).

Here are our sentences, with my commentary.

The consanguinity between them ran much deeper than friendship as evidenced by the scars her passing had left on him.

-- A Leland.

Hum.

Missy & Rocky have no consanguinity since they were adopted.

-- Daughter C

In fact, in legal affairs, you don't actually have to share blood. Adopted children are presumed to have the same status as blood relations. I await Mr. Big Food's Dad's comments on this.

[A. Leland] and I have no consanguinity, thank God.

-- Miss M

The couple, separated by only two degrees of consanguinity, raised their dim-witted offspring with love and kindness.

--Marica

 Consanguinity is thicker than water.

--Mr. Big Food

We're Geeks & we're Proud of it.

Hey. We need a television show.

Seriously.

GEEK DYNASTY!

Even better

REDNECK GEEK DYNASTY.

Coming Right Up!

St. Louis Beer Beef Stew

A shrimp boil with green beans instead of corn

Recipes coming right up!

A Little Something for Everyone

Is there a type of cloud that's not in this sky?

Today's word is consanguinity. Hummm... .

If You're Scrupulous, Flaunt It

Yesterday's word was scrupulous; today's was flaunt.

In addition to our Word of the Day: Can You Use That in a Sentence? game, there's a lot going on here on the Farm this time of year. So much so that I've had little chance to keep the blog up to the minute.

In an effort to catch you, Dear Reader, up on what we're talking about here on the Farm, I offer these sentences:

SCRUPULOUS: 

[Miss M] was scrupulous in her attempts to out maneuver me in the game, yet, moving like a butterfly, stinging like a bee, I left her befuddled, mired in an epistemological bog.

It occurs to me that there's a role for you, Dear Readers, in the game. I post sentences, you try to match them with writers. Your choices are, Mr. Big Food, Daughter C, Miss M, A. Leland, and me.

One must be scrupulous in editing papers to be of any help to the writer.

[Miss M's] paper is very well written, but needs a scrupulous editor to hepl her fine tune it.

The scrupulous young neuroscientist read with enthusiasm Engienering the Next Revolution in Neuroscience.

Shameless.

It is a mistake to assume Supreme Court Justices are scrupulous when rendering their opinions; c.f., Chief Justice John Marshall's Marbury v. Madison (1803).

And then there's this:

Scrupulous. Dogs. Fire Hydrants. There was a full moon.

Moving on to flaunt

Please don't flaunt your perfect scores.

I wonder if this was directed at Mr. Big Food, who back in the day when we thought these things mattered, scored perfectly.

If you are playing along, this is classic A. Leland:

As she sat befuddled [Miss M] realized that his intellect was clear evidence of God's willingness to flaunt his own perfection.

Life on the Farm:

I will not grant you any absolution if you continue to flaunt your scrupulously written sentences after dinner.

 To sum up:

:-)

Old Friends

under a full moon

'A Bug In Your Ear'

Idiom: Put a bug in your ear

Idiom Definitions for 'Put a bug in your ear'

---

If you put a bug in someone's ear, you give him or her a reminder or suggestion relating to a future event.

~~

Let me tell you that having a bug in your ear reminds you that you have a bug in your ear. If you have to have a bug in your ear, a winged bug is the way to go. Periodicity.

Winged bugs bat their wings periodically.

Alas. I had a winged bug in my ear. 

Ah. In retrospect, I remember knowing about sound-- why the beating of the wings sounded like it was inside my head. It's because of the way the alimentary canal is structured.

Thank the Good Lord Almightly that I have taught my child'en well. They flushed my ear with cold water and LOOK! There it went.

This was one one the most bizarre sensory experiences I've ever had-- and I grew up in the 70s.