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Post by katina2nd on Dec 23, 2014 17:59:06 GMT -6
I was going out with a guy who lived on Randolph, so it's possible our paths may have crossed. Sheesh Gams, maybe you and Stepper dated some time in the dim past, ya never know.
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Post by stepper on Dec 23, 2014 21:22:20 GMT -6
BOLL!! No, I don't think so. Although there was that one fling at the enlisted club.... If you were all googlely eyed then you wouldn't have noticed the static displays of airplanes either, but you almost couldn't enter through the main gate and NOT see the Taj - it's directly ahead and pretty hard to miss. Unless you made a near immediate, really quick right or left turn into base housing, then it's possible. If you came on through the back gate, and drove across the flight line to the dorms, that would explain it too.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 24, 2014 9:39:01 GMT -6
We might have came in the back gate...under cover of darkness, most likely. I was only there a few times; mostly we stayed on Ft. Sam.
Rainy, rainy day. It's supposed to switch over to snow sometime this afternoon.
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Post by stepper on Dec 24, 2014 15:30:47 GMT -6
We have 30s in the morning, and 60s by afternoon. No rain, snow, nothing to mess up the day at all. Except I keep running into people. This world would be a really nice place if it wasn't for some of the people!
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Post by stepper on Dec 25, 2014 23:18:06 GMT -6
Well, Christmas 2014 has come and gone - we had a nice day here. 30s in the morning and 60s in the afternoon. We're expecting a repeat tomorrow except it won't be quite as warm. I guess we had a food theme this year - we got several kinds of foods and snacks and candy. Steppet got a huge Whitman's Sampler from Santa - one that even she will need days and probably weeks to empty out. I got a 2 pound Shrivers' Salt Water Taffy box! Those are always welcome. I view them the same way Phalon and Joxcee view chocolate.
Hopefully everyone got stuff you like, and that doesn't require an exchange.
Watch out, here comes New Years' Day!
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Post by Phalon on Dec 26, 2014 9:43:03 GMT -6
Morning, Stepper!
We had a lovely Christmas - weatherly speaking, it was similar to yours, and all around the day was grand.
Gotta run off now. Hope your day is a good one.
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Post by stepper on Dec 26, 2014 9:47:48 GMT -6
So long Phalon - and have a good day planning for next Christmas! I meant to ask - does LX still cart decorations to and from a tree at college or did that plan fall apart?
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Post by katina2nd on Dec 26, 2014 17:40:08 GMT -6
Glad to hear everyone had a nice Christmas and reasonable weather as well, was one of the coolest Christmas days I can recall down here, so the usual Xmas fare went down a treat, much more pleasant cooking a hot meal without the temp hovering in the nineties, as it often is.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 27, 2014 9:25:18 GMT -6
Planning for next Christmas, Stepper? Me? HA! I'm still trying to get through this one! Had to send Hubs out yesterday for a last minute Christmas gift. A microwave - ours finally bit the dust.
I don't think carting them to and fro was part of the plan, but she never did end up taking them. I remember her wanting to take them and we carefully packed hers separate the Christmas she was a senior in high school, but when it came time for her to leave for college that fall, the ornaments got left behind. I don't remember if it was because she decided against it, or if it was because there was simply no room in the vehicles - because she took everything else she owned. Or at least it seemed like it; both my car and the truck were packed to the brim.
Christmas is the one holiday they don't celebrate or decorate for at college - because no one is there; the semester ends early December, so there's no reason, and her ornaments are still on the tree at home.
Next year might be different - she and a couple of her friends are staying in an apartment off-campus, so maybe they'll have a tree, though I mentioned it while we were decorating ours, and she said most likely not.
I completely agree, Katina..though it's never been close to hot here at Christmas, I think cooking is a chore when it's that hot, even with air-conditioning. Eating a hot meal with temperatures in the 90s can be just as unpleasant. Tell me, what is a typical Australian Christmas dinner?
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Post by katina2nd on Dec 27, 2014 17:29:06 GMT -6
I completely agree, Katina..though it's never been close to hot here at Christmas, I think cooking is a chore when it's that hot, even with air-conditioning. Eating a hot meal with temperatures in the 90s can be just as unpleasant. Tell me, what is a typical Australian Christmas dinner? Probably one that would be more appropriate with weather conditions you have Gams, usually a roast [chicken or turkey] baked potatoes and peas/pumpkin/whatever all smothered in gravy, eaten with your shirt sticking to your back with sweat if you aren't lucky enough to have A/C. Luckily we don't have that problem so it's not bad, we can indulge to our hearts content.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 28, 2014 10:12:35 GMT -6
Gravy! Dang! Yes, stuff smothered in gravy is the best, and the one thing that is missing when Christmas dinner is ham. Glad you got to indulge in relative coolness without your shirt sticking to your back, Katina.
It got quite a bit more wintry here yesterday - enough so that we had to put on winter jackets again; we haven't needed them at all this past week. It wasn't so much that the temperature was that much colder, but it was windy as heck and spitting rain most of the day. Back down into the thirties today, but much (yay!) much calmer. Good day to take down the outside Christmas lights, though it feels a bit early. We usually leave them, and the tree up until New Year's Day. It's supposed to get quite cold and icky this week though, so I dunno...
...feeling kinda lazy right now. (Even without any gravy, been indulging in too much left-over Christmas dinner lately, I'm thinking.)
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 29, 2014 0:06:10 GMT -6
There's 'Red Eye' Gravy, which goes with Country Ham. I've never had any, but my Dad had his Aunt make some whenever she was over.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 29, 2014 8:23:57 GMT -6
I've heard of Red Eye gravy, but have never had it either. Hubs has mentioned it before as something he had growing up - I'm guessing maybe it's a Southern cuisine; I never heard about it from anyone but him, or seen it offered in a restaurant up here.
It's time to get moving. Sheesh, it's felt like weeks since I've done anything that can remotely be considered exercise. No. That's not exactly accurate - it doesn't just feel like it's been weeks, it actually has been weeks. My yearly exam is coming up soon, and <gulp> I have to get weighed. We don't have a scale at home, but I don't need one to tell me that I've been enjoying the holiday foods entirely too much!
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Post by stepper on Dec 29, 2014 16:42:59 GMT -6
You might like it Phalon – it’s sausage or bacon or ham (some kind of pork) drippings, and black coffee. And yes, it’s considered southern style.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 29, 2014 20:45:26 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Dec 30, 2014 8:05:37 GMT -6
Hhmm...caffeinated ham. Sounds intriguing. I wonder if it's brewed in a porkolator?
One of my friends slow cooks her pot roast in coffee, claiming it makes it very tender. She had us over for dinner, and although the roast was fall-apart tender, I have to say it was quite dry....which was probably just because we were yakking, and lost track of time.
I seemed to have lost the ability to cook a tender roast. For years Hubs and the kids loved my roast beef, which was very tender and juicy. For the last couple of years though, whatever I do, however I cook it, it seems to come out on the tough side, although the flavor is still there. I thought at first it was because my ceramic crock broke, and Hubs bought a different sort of replacement slow-cooker, so I found a replacement to the replacement which was exactly the same as my old one. No luck - still tough. I've tried slow-cooking it in the oven, searing it first, with the same results. Different recipes make no difference. Different cook (Hubs) make no difference either. I wonder if it's the meat - leaner cuts make for a drier roast?
Woke up this morning to a temperature of 21 degrees, and a light dusting of snow. It just started lightly snowing again...very pretty and calm. Think I'll go take a walk to the beach before the wind kicks in.
Later Taters.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 30, 2014 18:17:54 GMT -6
I shake/squirt/pour in some Worcestershire Sauce when I cook most any kind of meat. I just eyeball it. When I cook a roast or stew meat, I add some Beef Broth as well.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 31, 2014 9:15:23 GMT -6
I use Worcestershire too. Last roast I cooked looked perfect when I tested it - nice and pink in the center, but when it was served, it was on the tough side - I don't mean horribly unchewable tough, but just not fall-apart tender. I try to buy lean cuts of meat, so maybe there's not enough fat? I dunno. The problem seems to be, the roasts (it's the same with a pork roast, which I used to be able to cook very tender) still continues to cook in the crock or slow-cooker after it's done, I think. It's been a while; maybe next time taking the roast out of the crock just before it looks done, and letting it rest, will help.
I don't know WTF I was thinking yesterday when I walked down to the beach! Twenty-degrees, and I was wearing jeans. I was out for about an hour, and by the time I got back, my legs were so numb, I swear I couldn't feel them for nearly an hour, except for the millions of pins and needles stabbing them until they thawed. Long johns - I must remember to start wearing them. It's been such a mild winter, I guess I forgot how cold actually feels...and how windy it gets at the beach; even though it was calm in town, the winter wind always blows off the lake.
I found a few really cool pieces of driftwood though. And didn't even get wet retrieving them.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 31, 2014 17:01:13 GMT -6
I don't like my meat too juicy, melt-in-your-mouth. I like it better on the dry side. (I like chewing on it.) I figure it was because Mom was not allowed in the kitchen when her Mother was cooking. Mom learned to cook when she got married and had a kitchen of her own. Granny hated kids in the kitchen when she was at the stove. I guess that's why I always liked my Grandmother best. She'd pull a chair up next to the stove and let me help her.
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Post by stepper on Dec 31, 2014 18:25:49 GMT -6
I bet you like Pearls Before Swine comics.
I don’t use Worcestershire Sauce at all. I’ve used garlic & onion salts on certain cuts – especially when cooking skirt steak (for beef taco’s), but I tend to cook everything like I’m using the grill. (I know people who use Italian Salad Dressing as the marinade for both beef and chicken for tacos – the chicken is especially good that way.) My main exception is beef and noodles. I’ll use dry French onion soup mix on top and a couple cans of Cream of Mushroom soup and let them cook with/into the meat. Add the noodles only when the meat is cooked – and I always let meat rest a while before serving.
It’s very possible the leaner cuts are part of the problem Phalon – especially since that’s the only change you mentioned in the cooking process. (Changing pots would also be suspect but you said you replaced the old one so that’s out.) Unless you changed temperatures to make the meat cook a bit more quickly or changed the brand of stock you are including in the pot, the only thing that makes sense is that you are using a cut that is too lean. If you are using select cuts, switch back to choice (the in-between), and if you are already using choice, switch to prime – those will have the best marbling. And the non-experimenting chef steps down from the soap box before sounding like an idiot.
I didn't know that was legal! I like mine tender - and rare enough that it might go 'Moo' on the way down.
Hey sister Q - we're talking food - where are you?
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 31, 2014 20:27:32 GMT -6
Like I said, it's probably because of Mom. I really love meat the next day after being microwaved into the perfect dryness. It's even better after a couple of days. I really hate it when the meat is so soft it melts in your mouth like butter. Yuck!
Everyone prefers a deep-fried turkey for Thanksgiving because it's so moist/juicy. I hate it. So they usually do two turkeys. I want a dry roasted one. They sometimes add a smoked turkey. I hate those too. It's too much like ham, and I'd rather have pork.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 1, 2015 9:57:29 GMT -6
It's just so weird to both Hubs and I as to why for 25 years, I made the "best" (according to the family eating it) roasts (both pork and beef), and then for the past couple they just aren't. I know my oven runs hot; we have to set the dial 25-50 degrees lower than any recipe recommends for anything we cook in it. The slow-cookers - the two that replaced that one that broke? I once cooked a roast in one of them - an entire roast! - on low and it was done in an hour and a half! That should be impossible!!! (I've even tried using a different outlet in the kitchen out of I've-tried-everything-else-why-not desperation, thinking maybe the outlet I normally use ran hot too <shrugs> - it was worth a shot. I haven't changed the cuts of meat I buy, but wonder if the grocery is just cutting them leaner - that's the only thing I can come up with.
You sound like my parents, Joxie. Us kids always joked with Mom that it wasn't until after we moved out, and started cooking on our own that we learned that hamburgers don't have to be hockey pucks and pork chops aren't shoe-leather (and broccoli is not greyish-green and mushy). Meat, growing up, was always well-done. Though I don't like it rare like Stepper, I like beef to still have pink in the center, and maybe a little blood running from it when it's cut. Hamburgers are different - it's a texture thing with me; they have to cooked through, but still pink in the center. When I order them out, I order them medium-well.
I'm guessing Granny and Grandmother are your two different grandmas? I think it's so cool your Grandmother let you help; I missed out on all that because both my grandmas died before I was born, and from what is told, both were excellent cooks. Mom, despite cooking meat to the consistency of leather and vegetables to the consistency of mush, was a good cook - a better baker. She let us help whenever we wanted, and some of my most vivid and favorite kid memories are of us sitting at the kitchen table or standing on a chair next to her at the counter, helping her mix this or that. I learned a lot of the basics, but didn't pay a whole lot of attention to recipes, which I regret. Like your Mom, really learned to cook when I got my own kitchen.
My kids are vastly different - LX cares nothing about cooking; she can make pancakes from a mix, macaroni and cheese from a box, and heat up chicken nuggets in the microwave. BP, on the other hand, loves to cook and try new things. She's always helping in the kitchen, and even has her own specialties that only she makes - whenever deviled eggs are called for, for example - she makes them; fresh spinach chopped in the food processor, chopped bacon, a bit of lemon juice, Hellman's mayo (with her it can't be Miracle Whip, which is my preference), and who knows what else. I don't. But they are delicious; she made up a batch for Thanksgiving and again for Christmas dinner.
All this talk of food, reminds me I need to get out and walk. I'm determined to lose those Thanksgiving and Christmas pounds(?) before my yearly exam in a few weeks. Yesterday's walk was in 18 degree weather (I remembered my long johns!); today it's back in the twenties, but much windier - definitely not beach weather! I haven't been spending an inordinate amount of time in the cemetery lately, and maybe it's time walk amongst the dead again.
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Post by stepper on Jan 1, 2015 19:52:15 GMT -6
Or perhaps the stores you frequent have changed suppliers? They may have switched sources and the new one has a different type of beef? Or they haven't been corn fed for at least six months before being sent for processing. The only suggestion I have is the use a marinade. A friend intended to surprise me with a New Year's brisket but when he saw the current prices he changed his mind. Meat is getting expensive even here. He's a friend - but not that much of a friend.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 3, 2015 10:24:48 GMT -6
Could be they switched suppliers - I should ask the meat market guys. I'm sure they'd have suggestions on which cuts would make a more tender roast too.
We got our first snow of the new year last night...more than just a dusting, but not by much. We set a snow record for December: for the first time in more than 100 years, we didn't have any measurable snow fall.
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Post by stepper on Jan 3, 2015 15:23:47 GMT -6
Or send an e-mail to Q - I'm sure she'd have a suggestion.
Been there, done that. This is because you had such a bad winter last year - or it's gonna make up for in a big way before the season is over this year. Take your pick.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 5, 2015 9:33:05 GMT -6
You know, unfortunately, I don't have Q's e-mail...or her address, or phone number (except old ones), or even the web address for her message board. I lost all that stuff when my computer crashed last time around.
It was like November and December just traded places; November was way more snowy than is typical. January is normally our most snowy month, and it seems as if this year is right on track. It snowed all day yesterday, and it's still snowing. It doesn't look like there's been a whole lot of accumulation, but it's extremely windy so I'm guessing there's a lot of drifting that I can't see from my little viewing area. It's bad enough that school has been cancelled the first day back after Christmas vacation (for BP; LX still has another week). And it's only 9-flippin-degrees out there actual temperature; who knows how low it is with the wind factor. It's supposed to be the same all week. Reminds me of a couple of years ago, when they had another week off school after winter break, because winter kicked into high gear when they were supposed to be back in school.
I don't remember how many days school was cancelled then, but I remember it was enough that I was near insanity by the time they went back.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jan 5, 2015 18:20:29 GMT -6
If you send her a PM here, she may have it set up to email her an alert. She's mostly on Facebook now.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 6, 2015 7:54:07 GMT -6
Good idea, Joxie. I should give it a try.
More snow, still no school.
Seems like the perfect kind of snow for some x-country skiing - nice and fluffy, and not wet and sticky. But dang, it's bitter cold out there! Probably get my exercise instead by shoveling which is not nearly as fun.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jan 6, 2015 22:41:29 GMT -6
If you haven't deleted your PMs, there should be one in there where I sent you a link to Q's forum the last time you lost everything. Or you can take 'whooshorg' out of this forum's link and add 'ilb1' . . . that's pretty much all you need to remember to find it again.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 7, 2015 7:23:31 GMT -6
Is her board still active, Joxie? Last time I checked in (which was forever ago), it didn't seem like anyone had been there in ages. I'll have to check my pms - I have a bad habit of never cleaning them out; it's almost as bad as my habit of not backing up my files. That was a long time ago though, so I doubt I'd have anything that old.
More snow, more wind, more cold...and still no school. Today is supposed to be the worst of it, though. Hubs is home, teleworking - he teleworks one day a week, and lucky for him, Wednesday is his day. Unlucky for me, I have to drive about 20 miles south for an appointment I cannot reschedule.
It's brrr-damn-cold out there, people!
Later Taters. Enjoy your day.
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