Hell---Was, Is and Always-----War, that is

February 1, 1968..........44 years
South Viet Nam
Tet Offensive begins
Viet Cong, North Vietnamese, Chinese and who knows, lay siege to many USA camps

It was the beginning to the end of the war wherein our soldiers were spat upon. All men and women who gave as volunteers or via the draft.
It could also be looked upon as a time when those, some admittedly, realized that war for profit was at the ebb side of the bell curve.
Enter PTSD...nothing like it since the mental torture of the Korean "Conflict"

Are we again doing this?

As a planet with so much available education, there never should be war.

The above is neither complaint nor tirade...merely an observation.

Have a nice day, while people continue dying for your privilege to "Do Unto Others."

Food for Thought...Venting and Just Sayin'

Oh, the wandering mind! We see so much.

Oh yeah! moment...Separated at birth: David Caruso and Conan O'Brien

Teevee 1: If you watch closely, Nothing is missing from the burger when Ray Ray on the Mickey D commercial, says, "Sorry, double dribble."
Teevee 2: First episode of "Unforgettable," Poppy is seen walking toward her bed while removing her shirt and placing a tank top over her bare back. When we see her reliving a scene in the alley, you can see a bra strap...Just sayin'
Teevee 3: How long before we see the toilet paper bear sitting on the commode? And, do you really buy insurance because a cave man wears a cheerleader dress? Does it cause you to wonder about the IQ of the person who okays the commercials? Does it make you wonder what he actually thinks about YOU?
Teevee 4: I won't EVEN talk about pitches for you to ask about drugs with more side effects than benefits OR ads that portray husbands and fathers as mental midgets.

"No Kidding/DUH Award" radio commercial: "When they're gone, they're gone!"

From Page 279 of, "The Shack"

"Most of us have our own grief, broken dreams, and damaged hearts, each of us our unique losses, our own "shack." I pray you find the same grace there that I did, and that the abiding presence of Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu will fill up your inside emptiness with joy unspeakable and full of glory." (The author's words)

***************************************

You needn't be of a particular religion or of any at all to be taken into the experience of one Mackenzie Allen Phillips. You needn't have experienced any trauma at all to be taken on such an emotional trek. You needn't believe in any "supreme being" or "higher power" to be impacted by the tale. Allow yourself a mind-clearing breath or two, prior to stepping aboard. DO read the foreward! It will prepare you for the style, humor and interpretation of the author, Wm. Paul Young.

***************************************

Not reading anywhere NEAR as I did previously, this was not easy to put aside. Being that I began after dark, I did finish the following day..........Compelling, to say the least!

What's In A Pan?

2 days ago, I was asked by a friend for a recipe that I make each time I visit Lotts Creek School, in Hazard, Kentucky. After sending it to him, I decided to share it with you readers and it's posted in the preceding entry. It's important to know the history of the dish. After all, each of us has asked about the origin of so many things.
Since childhood, my Mom has always made what she called, "City Chicken." (I never DID learn whence the title). They kind of resemble a chcken leg...maybe.
In our old neighborhood butcher shop, you could get 4-5 inch wood skewers that were pointed at one end. The butcher would sell chunks of pork and veal that measured approximately 1-1/2" cubed and package them all together. Mom would alternately attach the pork and veal onto the skewers, bread them, lightly brown in a black, cast iron frying pan and then bake until tender. She'd normally serve them with mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and corn. I nearly forgot to mention the homemade bread! If you could walk away from the table, you obviously didn't eat enough.
Nowadays, it's rare to find cubed veal, and sometimes, ANY veal. Some butchers continue to offer cubed pork with skewers, but you won't find that everywhere. That being the case, I've adapted to what's available.
When skewers aren't available, I utilize clean, plastic grocery bags, as explained in the actual recipe. When I'm REELEE pressed for time or just lazy, I buy whole, boneless country/western style pork ribs.
Please try the recipe...you just might like that other white meat.
After all that, we're back to, "How did City Chicken get that name?"
Well, Virginia, I must admit, that I shall go to bed tonight, still not having a clue.

Boneless Country/Western Style Pork Ribs

A friend asked for the recipe, so I thought I'd share...

Instructions are for 1 pack (8 Pieces) of country ribs
Don't trim the fat because you can make gravy from the juice or use it as I explain below
Use tongs for handling meat

Pre-heat the oven to 350

Break 3 eggs in a bowl---shells go to compost
Add 4 tablespoons of milk or cream to the eggs and stir with fork until well blended

You can use separate bowls, 1 for all-purpose flour and 1 for Italian bread crumbs
Use 1-1/2 cups of each
To save time, I like to re-use clean plastic grocery bags

From left to right, bag of flour---bowl of eggs---bag of bread crumbs

Rinse the ribs very well. No need to dry
Place into flour and shake until all are well covered
Remove 1 at a time, with tongs and dip into the egg mix until totally covered
Place into bread crumbs and shake until all are well covered

I like to use a large, black iron frying pan, preheated with good oil (I like virgin olive oil)
I use tongs to prevent loss of the bread crumb coating
Fry in oil until bread crumbs are light brown and flip so both sides are the same

Place ribs into a roaster or Pyrex bowl and make certain ribs don't contact each other
If they touch, the breading will come apart
Cover the roaster or bowl with foil or lid and place into 350 pre-heated oven
Bake at 350 for 1 hour
Lower oven temp to 160 and let it bake 'til the goats come home (minimum 4 hours)

When done, carefully remove with tongs or egg flipper, as meat will be soft
And there ya have it!
***************************************************

Most times, there will be left-over fixin's, so I combine all and stir with a fork or whipper until well mixed. You might need to add a few drops of milk at a time until the mixture is creamy enough to pour, like pancake batter. Add a soft banana or 2 and mix. Fry like pancakes.
You can use the frying juice for these or do it separately.

YUM!!!

Christmas for Whom? (Short List)

Shoppers everywhere

We still have the homeless

Reservations only at the fine restaurants

We still have the hungry

Mega holiday bonuses

We still have less than minimum wage

Palatial homes being built

We still have the foreclosures

Millions of acres with no crops

We still genetically alter corn

We outsource billions

We still have the jobless

We build nuclear plants

We still have very few windmills

We have pork barrels galore

We still have tax inequity

We began our country with God in mind

We still try to remove Him from everything

Somewhere, "Merry" took a wrong turn

We need to get "her" back on track

To all and to those who would remove tidings from this time of year,

Merry Christmas!

Things I Think About When I'm Not Thinking...

Imagine a conversation between Ducky, the Medical Examiner on "NCIS" and Cliffie, the Mailman from "Cheers."

He said WHAT?!? On yesterday's news, (11-30-11), Congressman Trakas from Ohio said he was not going to back Mr. Cain's run for president. Reason? He opined, "If Cain lied about an affair, who knows what else he might have lied about?" Now, ain't THAT a hoot!

Ever so slowly, our communication skills are becoming extinct. There's talk of eliminating longhand penmanship lessons from schools. I always marvel at some styles of handwriting that unintentionally resemble calligraphy. Gone will be that beauty. Texting, Twitter, Tweet and God knows what else has abridged most words...no wt ahm sayn? We're losing words because humans are more lazy. Example: classified ads and craigslist say, "Needs moved." I think they mean, "Needs to be moved." Needs fixed, needs cleaned, ad nauseum. As short as it is, et cetera is now being typed "ect."

While I'm on that rant, "And also" is effing redundant! Seems as if there's a new "tag" with each season. The current cutie is to end many sentences with, "as well." Did the schools move English and Composition to the tailgate parties?

Remember when you'd be on a date or a family trip and get lost? Remember dad's refusal to ask for directions? Remember the ensuing arguments? Remember how they became table topics of laughter after filling up on the Sunday supper? As Bobbie in Sebastopol says, "You're making memories." Well, you can kiss THOSE memories good-bye in a generation or two...GPS has pulled the trump card. Robotics eliminate emotion, people!

Whose 3 watt idea was it to build white collar prisons? When I get to be king, right after outlawing stairs, amongst other things that rile most people with common sense, we'll cancel the IRS; every lobbyist will be drafted to manually dredge the Panama Canal; limit political commercials to 15 seconds that may be aired no sooner that 30 days prior to the election; all elected officials and appointees with terms of 2 years or more MUST undergo an annual performance review. I could go on and on...couldn't I? Seems we've allowed the dumbocrats and repulsivecans too much leeway.

I like to read the comics section in the morning. Odds are something will strike the giggle bone and get your socks on the right feet for whatever slams you during the day. Some comics aren't funny. It's just that they're on the same page and that's not a bad thing. They're a lot like Aesop, fast forwarded. One question though...is there anyone more nosy than Mary Worth? She just can't leave anyone or anything alone!

Can anyone exhale more profoundly than Tom Selleck? God, he does that so well!

By the way, all these entries and photos on all my blogs and emails are copyrighted, so, you may not use them without my explicit, written authorization and approval.

Gotta run...people to see and things to do...."as well." (SHEESH!)