Hmmmm, never quite looked at it this way but Betty's sure got a valid point here.
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Aunt Fannie's Venison Stew.
Now Sir, just about every deer hunter has his/her own "special" recipe' fer Venison Stew, and I'm no different. With that being said, it don't hurt every now and agin to try a different recipe just t'see if it might be sumthin a little better or with a new taste, so, here be Aunt Fannies Venison Stew recipe'.
Aunt Fannie used t'live way up in the boonies of the Adirondack Mountains in upstae New York, and was fortunate enuff to have many neighbors who were avid hunters and gatherers. She relished her frequent gifts of game and fish, and shares this bounty with her friends. This one-pot meal is designed to make game meats taste as tender, savory and mild as the supermarket beef most folks are accustomed to.
** A Tip Fer Y'all** If'nya suspect yur meat cuts might be a little on the tough side, marinade the stew beef cuts in Buttermilk for a day before cooking. Now Sir, Cookie absolutely does not like the taste of Buttermilk, but, the great thing is that after you marinade the meat and wipe dry before cook'n, you won't taste the Buttermilk flavor.
Ingredients:
• 1/2 pound bacon, sliced into 1/4 inch bits, cooked and drained
• 1 to 2 pounds venison, moose, elk, antelope or buffalo cut into 1 inch cubes (also good with goat, lamb, ostrich, emu, beef or other lean red meat)
• 4 to 6 potatoes cut in large chunks (or turnips or parsnips)
• 6 carrots cut in large chunks
• 1 onion diced
• 3-4 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup red wine (optional)
In a large bowl or bag, toss venison pieces in a mixture of:
In a large Dutch oven (preferably Cast Iron if'n ya got one), add 3 tablespoons bacon drippings or vegetable oil. Heat oil and add garlic and venison cubes coated with flour mixture. Stir and scrape bottom of pan frequently. Cook until browned on all sides. Add wine (or 1/2 cup water) and stir, scraping bottom of pan. Add bacon bits and enough water to cover meat and simmer on low heat until meat is tender (about 1 to 2 hours).
Add potatoes, carrots and onion. Cook until veggies are good and tender.
My buddy Patrick recently sent me this with the attached comment; "Imagine the HUGE outcry from Al and Jesse if'n FOX News network had made this mistake!!"
Well Sir, Deer hunt'n in New York State with a dog is highly illegal, but if'n it were like in some other states, this dog would be up fer sale real quick!!
Gotta Thank "Patrick" frum over at "PRH...a day in the life" fer that one.
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Origin of Left and Right
I often wondered why it is that Conservatives are called the "right" and Liberals are called the "left".
By chance I stumbled upon this verse in the Bible:
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)
Thus sayeth the Lord. Amen.
Can't get any simpler than that.
I always suspected there musta been a good reason I shoulda been read'n the Bible all these past years.
Spell'n lesson:
The last four letters in American......I can
The last four letters in Republican....I can
The last four letters in Democrats......rats
End of lesson.
Test to follow in November, 2012..
Remember, November is to be set aside as rodent extermination month.
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The "BS" Removal Kit!!
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Subject: Mayo Clinic testSee if you can solve this one. Facial expressions are an important part of the respected Mayo Clinic psychometric test.
In the following pictures you see women with a range of facial expressions.
Study the expressions, and try to imagine what single act each is experiencing.
Then scroll down to see the answer.
They are all about to sneeze!
And by the way......
Gotta Thank "Upstate NIKKI" fer the last two.
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An elderly Irishman is stopped by the police around 2 a.m. and is asked where he is going at this time of night.
The man replies, "I am on me way to a lecture bout alcohol abuse and the effects it has on me body, as well as me smoke'n and stay'n out late."
The officer then asks, "Really? and who might be give'n ya that lecture at this time of the night?"
PTSD. An acronym many of us suffer from, sometimes diagnosed, sometimes not.
"Goodbye Vietnam"
The History of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an emotional illness that develops when a person is exposed to a highly dangerous, very terrifying, possibly life-threatening event. While most people tend to associate PTSD with soldiers, this emotional disorder can develop in other people who have also experienced extremely stressful events that are outside the range of what is considered to be a normal human experience.
While PTSD has likely been around for centuries, only as recently as 1980 has the American Psychiatric Association (APA) officially added PTSD to its Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The criterion that the American Psychiatric Association uses to diagnose PTSD includes:
•A person has been exposed to a catastrophic event involving actual or perceived death or injury. This event must be characterized by intense fear.
•The duration of the PTSD symptoms last at least a month.
•The person experiences significant occupational, social or other distresses as a result of the PTSD.
•The person starts to avoid anything that will cause them to re-experience the event. He also general experiences a numbing effect that interferes with his personal relationships.
•The person tends to be in a state of hyper arousal that results in him being startled very easily and being vigilant to the point of paranoia.
•The traumatic event persists as a dominating psychological experience, typically causing a person to experience flashbacks of the event from other stimuli.
Early History of PTSD
Because people have been experiencing extremely stressful, potentially life-threatening events for centuries, clearly PTSD is a condition that has plagued humans for quite some time before the APA officially recognized it as an emotional disorder.
In fact, throughout our history, PTSD has been called a number of other different names, including:
•battle fatigue or gross stress reaction for soldiers who came down with PTSD after World War II
•combat fatigue or shell shock for soldiers who experienced PTSD symptoms after World War I
•soldier's heart or "Nostalgia" for soldiers who developed the symptoms of PTSD after the Civil War.
Unfortunately, before the medical community recognized PTSD as a viable emotional disorder, most leaders and doctors thought it was simply nothing more than cowardice or personal weakness.
PTSD in Modern Times
Although PTSD was largely disregarded for decades, the Vietnam War brought significant public attention to this emotional disorder when doctors began to diagnose it as post-Vietnam syndrome. The Vietnam veterans who suffered from this disorder pushed the medical and the military community to recognize it as a legitimate disorder.
Today, about 7 percent to 8 percent of the general population will develop PTSD. These numbers go up significantly for veterans and rape victims, among whom PTSD has anywhere from a 10 percent to 30 percent chance of developing.
PTSD and Popular Culture
The general public has learned a lot about PTSD thanks to the movie and film industry. In fact most people have learned about the syndrome by viewing PTSD in film. Films about the Vietnam War, such as Apocalyse Now, The Deer Hunter and Born on the Fourth of July, have all featured Vietnam veterans who end up having to deal with the issues that come with PTSD. These films have been well-received by audiences, which tells us that, as a culture, humans are very interested in how other people deal with traumatic events in their lives.
Not only has the film industry captured the realities of PTSD, books and novels also explore this subject. Phillip Cavuto wrote A Rumor of War, which is considered to be one of the classic works on the subject of PTSD. In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien is another excellent work about a Vietnam vet who struggles with PTSD.
Current Iraq War PTSD Statistics:
•While less than 10 percent of the general population will develop post-traumatic stress syndrome, one in six soldiers returning from Iraq suffer from it.
•Enlisted men are twice as likely than military officers to report PTSD.
•American women serving in Iraq tend to suffer from more severe and debilitating forms of PTSD.
Cookie's Note:
There once was a very simple description of PTSD that was "A Normal Reaction to an Abnormal Event."
As both a proffesional credentialed Counselor and a person with personal experience in this area, I've treated many with this bane of combat. It should be noted that a person does not have to have been in combat to suffer from PTSD. It can be a result of a life truama such as witnessing something catastropic such as the death of a loved one or friend, or having experienced some form of sexual abuse.
Law Enforcement Officers who have been involved in shootings may develope PTSD or Chronic Stress Disorder from repeatedly being exposed to traumatic scenes and experiences.
If you suspect that yourself, a loved one or a friend may be experiencing PTSD, there is help and treatment, and just as importantly, there is HOPE.
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Well Sir, over my 67 years I've seen my share of spoiled children, but I believe this takes the cake! Read on and y'all will find out just what the hell a Bantam rooster has to do with a spoiled child.
Cookie lives in a middle class neighborhood, nuthin special, just a nice place to live. On one side of me there is a summer camp owned by a doctor, and a little further down the road resides a professional couple who have a young son about 8 or 9 years old.
Now Sir, both the parents of this child are professional folks with the mother being either a Psychologist or a Psychiatrist, I've never been sure which. Both parents are pleasant to talk with even though they tend to lean somewhat to the "Left" when it comes to political matters, no surprise there.
Over the years as the child has grown up, their yard (a rather large yard) has been completely just chock full of just about every toy known to mankind (some are very expensive), prompting one neighbor to make the remark that "this child has more toys than all my children and grand children put together." Not one neighbor I've ever spoken to has ever seen this child playing with all those many toys.
A few years back he wanted a dog. They got him a dog. We've never seen him playing or walking with it, and when it gets loose and wanders the neighborhood, its the mother or father that go looking for it.
In their yard the father has built the lad a tree house, or should I say a tree "mansion". This thing is damned large as tree houses go and even has a balcony and glassed in windows. No one in the area has ever seen the child playing in or around it. Recently the father began building another large building in the yard which he stated was a "playhouse" for his son. Geesh...give me a break will ya, the kid don't even play with what he's already got! Several neighbors have begun calling this kid "The Prince of blankety-blank road".
I could continue with much more but I think y'all got the picture by now. Now Sir, about a month ago or so I was sit'n on my porch have'n a "cup a joe" and watch'n the sunrise when I heard a sound I haven't heard in many, many a year. A Rooster was crow'n!!!
As a lad, I worked on a large farm frum about age 10 till I was about 15 or 16, and I know the sound of a "Banty" rooster when I hears it. I looked at my wife who'd also heard it and I said, "That's a Banty Rooster. What the hell is a banty rooster doin in this here residential area?"
My first thought was that it had escaped from some nearby farm, after all, this is an "Agriculturally" zoned County we live in. A while later, my wife took a walk up the street to investigate and when she returned informed that the rooster was penned up at "The Prince's" house with two hens. She had spoken with the childs mother and learned the following.
The mother had stated that "The Prince" didn't want anymore eggs from the local stores and that he wanted "Fresh eggs", so, they got him the Rooster and chickens!!!
Well Sir, I recall when I was younger, many parents were following the advice in a book written by one Dr. Spock which basically stated, "give the child whatever he wants." Over the years, both as a cop and a professional Counselor, I dealt with many "adults" who were raised under this philosophy, and for the most part they didn't turn out well, and many experienced severe coping problems when dealing with real life.
I and my wife managed to raise 4 kids on a cops salary. On birthdays and Christmas we managed to give them something they truly wanted but we weren't opulent. We managed to keep good food on the table and nice vacations to different places, but there came times when we had to say no to them. From what Cookie has observed here, I don't think "the Prince" knows the meaning of that word.
Now Sir, is it just me or do I see a child who at some time in the future is going to experience a very rude awakening in life when the realities of life finally set in and someone finally says NO to this kid. From all we've witnessed over the years it would appear that "The Prince" gets just about everything his little heart desires.
BTW, as near as anyone around here can tell, it ain't "The Prince" that cleans up the chicken shit. Its his folks.
Now Sir, when I was grow'n up we were almost always "in the want" fer sumthin or another. Mom & Dad were very hard wurk'n folks who did their best to raise two sons and give us what they could, but I quickly learned that I couldn't have everything I wanted. I'm still pissed off about the Pony I never got!
What'cha all think, is it just me or is this child head'd fer problems a little further down the road? I'd be interested in yur thoughts???
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