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So I'm outside, grilling pork chops, sitting in my chair with my feet up in the other chair, savoring a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, reading Lance Armstrong's War, when two Mockingbirds fly by like a pair of fighter jets, one foot away from my feet! So cool...
Boy, those baby eagles are getting big!
Mmmmmmm, pork chops.....
Small Knot won't eat red meat and doesn't want it in the house, either. He's kind of converted me. But pork chops.... or steak.... or pot roast....
sigh.
I wish I didn't like to eat tasty animals, and if I had to kill my own, I'm sure I would not be able to, because, I don't know, I think the whole practice is kind of inhumane, but, I still like meat. That kind of bothers me. But if you're _going to_ eat meat, then red meat is pretty important in terms of iron. Chicken is low fat. Fish have whatever that fatty acid is that you need. Omega 3. I wonder if humans were _meant_ to eat meat, like it's essential, and those who choose not to are not having optimal nutrition, or if we can live just as well without it. I sure love a nice steak though.
But if you ever read "Fast Food Nation," I guarantee you won't eat hamburger for at least six months...
Small Knot figured that one out already: turkey burgers!
I've butchered chickens in my time, and have no problem eating birds or fish or invertebrate critters. Haven't butchered a mammal, and don't know if I could. SKnot says if you couldn't butcher it, you shouldn't eat it. Why make someone else commit the sin you wouldn't?
but.... I liiiiiike pork chops and steak and pot roast!
Especially pot roast. I have a theory that comfort food is often the poor people's food of whatever clan you come from. For me, mac and cheese, meat loaf (meat gound up with bread crumbs) and pot roast (tough cut of meat, cooked for a long time). How lucky am I to come from a place where meat can be part of the "poor people's food", right? While I enjoy steak, I can only eat a little bit of it, usually. Pork chops were a big treat for us, but usually so overcooked that I associate them with dry and tasteless. My mom made great hamburgers on the grill. If it were up to me to slaughter my own meat, it would not happen. Unless I was starving, in which case, it's every species for itself!Quote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
Knotted--how old is small knot? I seem to remember 12, 13ish? Somebody I know said that children are natural vegetarians. Neither my nephew (6) nor niece (2 1/2) will eat meat. My niece, otherwise an omnivore, will search out any meat on her plate, remove it, and give it to whatever adult is closest, saying, "I don' wan' it!" :p L.
Yeah, 13. He started the no-red-meat thing last summer. He's stuck to it, and I go along with it.
He's never been real crazy about red meat.
We have incisors (sharp, pointy teeth for ripping up meat) and we have a miniscule appendix (which is where other vegetarian species ferment the foliage to extract nutrients). In other words, we are designed to be omnivorous including meat in our diet. You can survive without meat, but we are designed to eat it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanci
And it tastes good! Especially grilled pork. Mmmm.....if only I had a garden and a bbq....And I don't think I will have a problem killing my own meat if I had to. Sure the lambs look cute in the field, but they also taste nice cooked...But if I can get meat from happy animals who have been well cared for and have had a good life before ending up on my plate, I will of course prefer it. Happy animals taste much better anyway.
Fast Food nation-a must read for everyone...The gent's second book wasn't as good though...I refuse to go to any fast food outlet...(betty burgers-a local chain- is ok though...)
Off to make a menu for the week....
Ah & i am writing down eveything i eat & am subscribing to Calorie king...
c
I used to have chickens. Well, I started out with one, and let her have three babies. Her name was Jewel. She was a banty chicken I got from the pig farmer across the street when my daughter was over there playing around the pig barn and noticed that Jewel's babies were falling into the pens and being eaten! So we begged to have Jewel. She had a ton of personality. I loved that hen so much...But anyway, she settled into our barn, and began laying eggs. Her eggs were small and brown and perfect. I saved up enough to make scrambled eggs- you need about two or three banty eggs to equal one standard chicken egg. I kind of felt like a murderer at first, eating the potential chicks, but I got over it. Free-range chicken eggs are so much better than store-bought eggs. The birds eat insects and greens and stuff, so the egg yolks are so orange they don't even look real when you are used to pale yellow store-bought eggs. Then, the yolks are round! Not flattened out because they aren't fresh. So anyway, if I had to kill my own food, I could eat eggs and possibly fish...
http://tinyurl.com/r8vr9
Who cares about hurricanes when you can have three fatal alligator attacks in one week???
I didn't even open that tiny url. Nooooo thank you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanci
I read that post first, then the one about Jewel. I was afraid it was going to end with "and then Jewel got eaten by an alligator". So what happened to Jewel? Do you have any other banty chix? Am I correct in reading that the baby banty chicks were being eaten by pigs? Oh, I like my meat wrapped in plastic, yes I do. I could eat the eggs of a chicken I cared for. I figure, I feed her, she feeds me. I mean, they're not going to support groups to help them mourn the loss of their unborn babies or anything...as we learned from our collective eagle experience. I would not eat eagle eggs, though. :rolleyes: drifting....drifting...
OMG - "Small Knot"!! That's great!
Jewel got eaten by a fox the day before she and I were to move to Florida...I do not remember why she wan't safely locked up at night as was our rule.
Yes, the chicks were eaten by pigs. Pigs are kind of violent and scary. There is this big barn, with small pens, each with a momma pig and babies. When one momma pig lies down to nurse, the rest all immediately follow suit. This is because if they didn't all nurse at one time, the babies, who are small enough to travel from one pen to the next, will go from pen to pen getting more and more meals, with the big ones always winning and the small ones starving.
Two of Jewel's (adult) chicks were eaten by a raccoon. I killed the raccoon, which I trapped with a fragment of one of the dead daughters.
Jewel had another baby, a beautiful rooster named Speckledy Bird. He was a beloved pet for almost a year, but went back to live on the pig farm as a full grown adult because he was chasing people.
We had lots of other banties which Kelly showed in 4H, which were given away before we moved. By that time I had a secure Poultry Palace for them to live in, and the rules were they all had to be in by dark.
Banties love to sit on nests. I thought I was collecting all the eggs, but then I found a huge nest which they had been communally laying in. I decided, since we had no rooster, to let them sit on it. Great, a few weeks later, one of the hens is running around proud as can be with a chick. I named him Jesus. (Not meaning any disrespect!) Hens can apparently store sperm for a couple months... Jesus was eventually eaten by the same fox that got Jewel, at a very young age. (Maybe I was distracted in my henhouse security vigilance by the massive divorce/move/child custody thing that was going on at the time.)
Yeah, that'll put you off chicken duty.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanci
Thank you for another great Nanci story. Sorry so many chickens had to die. I guess I knew that pigs were kind of ... awful. Babe notwithstanding. L.
I guess pigs are omnivores just like us. Or chickens, for that matter. You should see them (hens) go after pinkie mice if you accidentally uncover a nest in a hay pile.
I did not know this about chickens. So it's a pig eat chick eat mouse world, eh? And humans eat all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanci
Minor Quasi-Mechanical Triumph
Got my bike back from the shop. (yay! Hooray! Darn, I missed my bike!)
Bought new grips for it, just 'cuz. Kinda like buying chocolates for your sweetie, just 'cuz. 'Sides, they'll share.
Used my Park Tool Big Blue Book and a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a screwdriver (the tool, not the drink) and switched the grips. Now I've got super cushie Ritcheys with thick-thin-thick-thin-thick sculptural business. Very comfy.
They cut off an inch from each end of the bar, seems quite an improvement. Haven't ridden yet, no time today.
Picked up a Park Tool chain gang so I can clean my cruddy looking chain. I did notice the shop guys removed the two dried up worms that were stuck to the frame. Better them than me... hee hee!
Every single time I ride my bike I think "I must buy some lock-on grips." Every. Single. Time. Why did I have to promise myself I wouldn't shop until at least the end of the month when the bills have all been paid? :rolleyes:
Why is it that when it's 89F outside and windy that the wind doesn't seem to cool you down when riding? I felt like I was cooking today on my ride.
Here's another question that came to mind today. Why do farmers here burn their fields? Does this happen elsewhere? And - why do they burn the fields on the windy days? Seems dangerous to me. It's also a bit late to be burning fields - most are already planted. Hmmmmm. It's not good breathing air, that's for sure.
Which would be better- a little wooden dining table and four chairs and possibly the umbrella at some later point (I already have two metal/mesh chairs and a small plastic table on my 4x12 shadeless-till-evening patio) or a swing and cushion to hang under my oak tree (I envision naps and books), or two of those cool retro-looking metal chairs with a matching table?
fishdr, I don't know why farmers burn fields especially at this season. Where i grew up farmers used to burn not the field but i think they were called smudge pots, to prevent frost on cold mornings. Most now use huge fans instead of the pots.
nanci, my vote is always for a book and nap. :)
I love hammocks and swings, and also those retro metal gliders are nice.
There is also a free-standing hammock. That way I wouldn't be tied down. I think the wooden chairs and table might not be weather-proof. I like stuff that can stay out all the time. Of course, squirrels like to eat hammocks. I would like to be able to host an imaginary barbecue and actually have seating for everyone, though. But when I was out the other night, with the love bugs and the flies- it didn't seem like such a great idea. Our house is just so small inside. Ok for two, but we don't even have a dining room table- I eat in my TV chair, and BF sits on the floor in front of the couch. Well, we _do_ have a table, but it is more like the mail/purse/cell phone charger/ keys/stuff from bike rides/flyers/magazines holder.
This all stems from a catalog with $400 approved credit...
If I had $400 at Lowe's or Home Depot, I'd be building a luxury tortoise pen instead!
I'm such a bad mother I made my daughter sleep on the couch rather than disturb Dill on his bed in the guest bedroom...He's just too fragile and set in his ways and inflexible.
She brought wild rice from Up North. Can't find it down here.
I love weekends when I don't have to be up at the crack of dawn either day.
Except I like to get up really early and drink several cups of Santa's White Christmas and read e-mail.
Time to take the torts out to graze.
I wonder what the neighbors think- there I am, sitting in the middle of five acres, drinking a glass of wine. The torts are too small to see. I do this every night.
Who cares.
I'm glad I live in the country.
I think I will go on a nice long ride from my house tomorrow while it is still cool.
I've launched another shorts investigation. I bought three pairs from Performance- Century Gel, Century Gel Lite, and Elite. The first two were half off, the third was $10 or $15 off. All for $100. Will report.
There are several pairs over $100 I want to try eventually. It's just not in the budget at the moment.
I wore my Primals today instead of the usual Trashy Cats. They are much longer. Covered up my horrible burn from last Saturday.
This was the first day since I got it months ago that Bolero didn't get to go on my ride...
Still loving the 2005 Shimano sandals. Another lady in my group was wearing them today. I see no reason to wear shoes ever again! :-)
Nanci - I vote for the swing. I have one and LOVE it! It should last longer than the hammock and is more usable for the imaginary BBQs.
Trek - I'm pretty sure this is not for frost. It's mind boggling to watch these farmers and what they do to their fields. They spray roundup, they burn, they spray who-knows what else. There's a lot of cotton grown around here. Fall is a nightmare. I pretty much can't ride for the month of September. That's when they defoliate the cotton. "They" say it's safe, but it smells like erasers. Yes, erasers. It must be petroleum based. All I know is that everyone starts coughing and having sinus issues. Major issues. My flight response kicks in big time in September. We're going to take a couple of weekend trips this year to escape some of the fumes.
Buttercup and Koko enjoy wild blackberries. My daughter says they look like they have been "murdering."
I thought they were wearing lipstick!Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanci
I have to watch Brokebike Mountain again...
Those are some seriously prehistoric looking creatures. With lipstick. Great picture! L.
Aaaccckkkkk! The carnage! Those poor innocent blackberries!;) :D
Tortoises in drag...
I have to go feed their three siblings that a friend of mine has. She can't make it home as planned because her BF, one of my best friends of all time, is in the decompression chamber after a diving accident yesterday...I have barely any details, I am very worried. He's in a city about two hours away. I'm under instructions to not even tell _my_ BF, which is stressing me out.
Oh, man, I am so sorry to hear that. Do keep us posted on his well-being. Sending healing thoughts his way. L.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanci
Diving accidents are scarey. Even near misses are scarey, which is why I chickened out and don't dive anymore.
Thinking good thoughts for him.
Musical Intervention Needed.
I have listened to "Possession" by Sarah McLachlan way too many times this evening.
Tried "Pump It" by Black Eyed Peas as an antidote. Not so much. "Where's Your Head At" by Basement Jaxx. Well, we know where my head's at...
And let us not pour gasoline on the fire with "Lay my Love" by Brian Eno, "Need You Tonight" INXS, "Sweet Surrender" by SMcL, "Bad Things" Jace Everett, "Oh Yeah" Yello, "Honkytonk Badonkadonk" by Trace Atkins, or ANYTHING AT ALL by Melissa Etheridge. (k.d. is right out)
Not even Garbage can help me now!
Help!
Take 3 Billy Idols, maybe mix in some 4 Ramones.........Quote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
KNotted yet...musique help has possibly arrived or mabye not...If i'm ever bored i listen to the gazillion hours of music we've downloaded...
Why not try
:some early Tragically hip...(new orleans is sinking(written many many years ago...), 100th meridian, little bones..),
Bryan Adams -remember, this time, cuts like a knife, kids wanna rock
AC/DC (back in black), Metallica (one), Kiss (i was made for lovin you), Cold chisel (khe sahn), jimmy barnes (working class man), midnight oil (generals), aerosmith-dream on, springsteen-born in the usa, Che fu-fade away, bowie-any of his early stuff..., led zep-ramble on,kate bush-babushka & weuthering heights
And last but not least...Every song by queen-eg-..Tenement Funster, I'm in love with my car, 39, teo teorriate, princes of the universe, fight from the inside,loser in the end, i want it all....
c
The music video for "Where's Your Head At?" is my ALL time favorite!!!
Friend is in ICU for the night. Possibly getting discharged today. I told BF last night because he was saying we should call him up for dinner, so I had to, right?? :-)
Another friend called last night, that lives in Medory (sp?). He had to sell his house after Katrina, because A. it was ruined and B. to rebuild it, they would have to raise it six feet. So they have been renting, and he wants to leave New Orleans and Louisianna all together, but his wife has rellies and won't go...That whole thing, all those people, it is NEVER going to be ok again.
glad to hear your friend will be discharged soon. I love to dive, but the risk of accidents does scare me, especially now that I have kids. In a way, it is almost better that dh does not dive anymore - no risk of both of us getting into an accident.
Glad to hear your friend is recovering. I hope he gets discharged today - that would be great!Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanci
And - it's Metarie, LA.
I just found out about a job opportunity in Baton Rouge, that I might apply for. It's essentially my job now, but on bees instead of catfish. My hubby really wants to get back to Louisiana. I miss it, too. We'd only be about 45 minutes from his parents. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. There are positives and negatives. Ugh!