Older Folks and Vaping Back Porch - Part Five

[DancingHeretik]

Many years ago, I tried a couple of things like WordPress. I figured I could focus more on content that way.

I hated it! I felt so confined and irritated. I want to be in control and to do whatever I want to do, not what they think I want to do.

My websites are all designed to be able to run on my computer. So, it's all there in my possession and under my control. I'm much more at peace that way.

 

[Rotowoman]

Not going good around here ... I've still got the sickness and now Janet went to bed before supper w/ 102F fever.

OH Dayum!! I do hope the both of you feel better soon!!

I am sad to report Geordi ad I didn't do so well.

There is no doubt in my mind that his time will come. He is such a beautiful baby!!

mmmmmmmm... GUMBO....

OK!

Y'all got me wantin' some gumbo really bad (really).

We have the beginnings of some 'chicken' stock in the freezer (from a turkey we cooked last weekend), we have DIY canned tomatoes and other veggies (if needed) and whole frozen okra put up from last summer. I got out my Justin Wilson's "Homegrown Louisiana Cookin'" cookbook and will soon be perusing his recipes.

Anyone have any suggestions or 'secret' ingredients I need to use?

Congratulations on the 1000 days!! What a milestone!
Secret ingredients for gumbo? Is that what you're asking?

No secret ingredients really. Different folks make it different ways. You can put just about anything in it. Many Cajun folks swear by the Holy Trinity, onions, bell pepper, and celery. I don't use celery in mine, and it's just as good. I do use garlic. I think the secret is in the roux.

The basic is a good old fashioned chicken and sausage. Some folks use a hen. Some folks put in okra. The possibilities are endless. Some folks even drop in eggs toward the end of the cooking.

I was told that the last one I made was of restaurant quality. I don't know about all of that, but it was good!

Last night I made a huge pot of vegetable soup. I'm set for days..........gumbo and soup.

good night Porch.....I'm off to dream....

​

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that song!!

 

[umanbean]

Sorry!! uman, I thought there was only one guy here who wore a skirt. LOL good one on me! Now a major job of cognitive restructuring.

Normally, I'm in a kilt but I was feeling particularly frilly today yesterday. (forgot to hit the 'submit' button last night).




mmmmmmmm... GUMBO!....

Cubed turkey, smoked sausage, onions, celery, okra... mmmmmm... gonna be some good stuff!

 

[Debadoo]

That sore throat lingers on. I tell you, the flow of gunk from my sinuses was full of reminders of harsh vapes. I made a crock-pot full of spiced cider yesterday, and re-bottled it for nuking a cup at a time. Was very soothing, especially alternating with my mint and koolada vape.

Sorry you're still dealing with that. Hope your remedies work!

Have a good friend with no imagination. Names his D.O.G. pronounced Deogee.

hehehe jup, not very imaginative, but I've always thought that was such a cute name!

I am sad to report Geordi ad I didn't do so well. Only 2 boys, but with the wind blowing, tents flapping, a judge who is very rough on puppies, we got 2nd place. His brother got 1st and the point. Oh well, our time will come.

I got a feelin that Mr Geordi is just a bit of a later bloomer than his siblings. Lots of geniuses were late bloomers. Got a feeling he may take the dog world by storm later on!

Have a big pot of soup on the stove, and the crock pot goin.......we had a low of 30o this morning, and that is cold for we Floridians.

yummmmm jup was 27 here yesterday am.........is 36 now..... way too cold for Texas!!! So I feel yur pain hun!!

Anyone have any suggestions or 'secret' ingredients I need to use?

well I see ya got it made. Looked good. As Roto said, the secret is in the roux! Takes 30-45 minutes constant whisking, to get to a dark chocolate/black coffee color. Just before it's burnt. lol Okra is ok in it, but I personally prefer file. (fee lay for those not familiar) The best gumbo has crab shells cooked in it, then removed. We'd save the too small to eat crabs from the crab boil, put em in the freezer, then cook em again in the gumbo. Man what flavor.

I do all his ads and flyers, keep all his customer info updated, run background checks, answer simple emails for him, and any other various computer/secretarial type of job he needs done.

It's so much fun to learn new things! And, to get a chance to actually use some of the stuff I already know.

that's so great to have a job that you really enjoy!! So happy for ya!!

 

[Janet H]

I did feel something coming on, and didn't want to chance it so have been taking megadoses of Vit. C (8k or more) and zinc tablets and that combo arrested it. Vit. C is water soluble, so no problems, but zinc I don't take more than 50mg per day

I wasn't sure the zinc actually worked or if it was a coincidence. This time Mike and I both had the same illness and I sucked on the Coldeez and Mike hardly did at all. I don't seem to be a bad as Mike is so it's proved to me that it definitely does work. I've always been a big believer in Vit C.

 

[Janet H]

Thanks to all for the kudos, and YES it does feel good!

Janet H, what are you doing out of bed lady?... You should be under the covers with MikeE3 waiting on you! (He is on the upswing side of his illness by now isn't he?... hope so)

Y'all stay warm and dry, make lotsa comfort food, and as the young'uns say "vape On Dude" (and Dudettes )

Nah, Mike is still pretty sick too. Both of us can barely speak which sometimes is a good thing! Neither of us has any appetite so if we eat anything it isn't much and only because we think we should eat something. Actually it took Miles a week to get his appetite back too. He's finally over it so I guess we're going to be stuck with this for a solid week.

 

[Myrany]

I wasn't sure the zinc actually worked or if it was a coincidence. This time Mike and I both had the same illness and I sucked on the Coldeez and Mike hardly did at all. I don't seem to be a bad as Mike is so it's proved to me that it definitely does work. I've always been a big believer in Vit C.

The trick with Coldeez is that you have to catch it at the first sign of the cold. If you wait even an extra day it really doesn't do much. I swear by the stuff.

 

[Debadoo]

Actually it took Miles a week to get his appetite back too. He's finally over it so I guess we're going to be stuck with this for a solid week.

Glad Miles is over it now! Well, starve a fever, so good thing ya don't have much of an appetite. Hope y'all get a couple days off your week sentence for good behavior!

Mornin all!

 

[Debadoo]

@Semiretired I know you're probably super busy gettin stuff done......but ya gotta come talk to us some before y'all leave!!

 

[umanbean]

aaaah eeee! Mes chers amis!

nigh dat gumbo sum kina très bon - I gar-on-tee!

 

[Debadoo]

aaaah eeee! Mes chers amis!

nigh dat gumbo sum kina très bon - I gar-on-tee!

channeling your inner justin wilson huh!

 

[Janet H]

sigh.... by (un)popular demand...

after i woke up in a stupor and discovered i actually did marry my (now) first ex, it took a few more months to even consider a honeymoon. she was a petite super-model type used to 'fineries' and i was a grizzled outdoors hippie type back then. somehow, it was decided (well, by me, i guess) we'd drive my old VW bus up north to Canada, then straight across canada til we met the east coast, then drop back down to the states and leisurely head back home, seeing all the great east coast landmarks that we are taught to love in grade school.

we head out, but i notice a tiny patch of oil on the driveway as we pull out.

what could possibly go wrong???

so, we drive north to vancouver. such a lovely area. started driving east along the main highway, but made sure to see Baanf and Lake Louise, which are some of the most beautiful places i've ever drawn breath at. (Actually, i could barely draw breath there-- it was the coldest i've ever been after taking the tram to the top of the mountain)

Keep heading east on the quest to the east coast. somewhere in Saskatchewan (or some other godawful place) i start to notice the VW van is running out of oil a tad frequently. then a tad more, and so on.

we arrive north of the dakotas, and i decide to tuck my east-coast-dream-tail in and drop down back to the states. by that time i was buying a quart of oil for roughly a gallon of gas. and i end up in...

i can barely say it...

i end up in...

Minot, North Dakota

arrive there i think late on a friday or saturday and take my van into the dealer. nobody works sunday, so it'll be monday at best. oh, just great.

it was hotter than hell and minot apparently had not yet discovered air conditioning, except for one place in town that we could walk to. the movie theater. cool, i thought...

but it was a single screen and all they were playing was 'mary poppins'' . i watched that damn movie a dozen times just to escape the heat that friggin weekend.

Chim, chim- yo Mama!!!

soo.... minot sorta/kinda fixed the oil leak and we continue the limp back west to home in san jose. we were pretty much out of cash and were getting by on a chevron cc that they used to give out to pretty much anyone (human or otherwise) back in those days. we rolled into Yellowstone shortly before midnight and found a totally isolated campsite. the ex finds a purse on the table. it has 20-50 in it. yay. we get to eat today.

we make it to Reno with maybe 5-10 left from the purse. the ex hits $100 on a slot machine. we make it home to San Jose.

days later, i finally look inside the purloined purse to determine who to send it back to, along with the "borrowed" money.

it belonged to a woman in san jose, who lived maybe 1/2 mile from us.

sorry this was so long. i warned you i was boring

Looks a bit like our trip only in reverse. Back in '72 Mike and I fixed up our VW van and left PA heading to Canada via Maine. Followed the trans-Canadian highway west to Vancouver Island. Finally crossed back into the U.S. in Washington state. Had our muffler fixed and got tires in Eugene Oregon as we followed the coastal highway down the west coast. One fri morning, parked just this side of the Golden Gate bridge, we left the overlook to go to a bank in San Francisco to have some money wired and yep, there was a BIG oil spot under the van. We'd blown an engine gasket. You're not allowed to work on a vehicle on the street so we had to find a garage to do the work. At the end of the day we went back to the bank where they told us they wouldn't give us money till they physically had it - see ya, we're closing for the weekend! Back to the garage where the van was now fixed and after hearing our story, they only charged us $25 so we'd have $20 for food. Fortunately a fellow traveler was driving us around and took us to a friend's house in Santa Barbara for the night. Amazing how nice people on the road can be.

We continued down the west coast into Mexico and back to PA via the center of the U.S. Whole trip took 3-1/2 months and was fantastic.

Oh boy! As Gracie would advise you...zinc lozenges and Vitamin C and chicken noodle soup ( that one was from me)

And no kissin n carry on for the time being!

No worries. Couldn't even if we wanted to!

good thing you have a "slow cooker'!

Fresh is always better! And cheaper in the end!

I am sad to report Geordi ad I didn't do so well. Only 2 boys, but with the wind blowing, tents flapping, a judge who is very rough on puppies, we got 2nd place. His brother got 1st and the point. Oh well, our time will come.

Aww, 2nd place isn't so bad, he's just a pup. He'll get more serious a little later and do just fine.

Normally, I'm in a kilt but I was feeling particularly frilly today yesterday. (forgot to hit the 'submit' button last night).

mmmmmmmm... GUMBO!....

Cubed turkey, smoked sausage, onions, celery, okra... mmmmmm... gonna be some good stuff!

Is it the okra that makes it gumbo or the roux?

 

[Flowersoul]

I am sad to report Geordi ad I didn't do so well. Only 2 boys, but with the wind blowing, tents flapping, a judge who is very rough on puppies, we got 2nd place. His brother got 1st and the point. Oh well, our time will come.

My goodness, with all that wind and tents flapping, and a strict judge, I think Geordi did quite quite well coming in 2nd place.....just think when the time comes, how he will shine!

Poor baby! We are basking in 34o!!

Yep, and it's again 30o here in Florida......this is NOT what I signed up for......but, then again, it's reminiscent of home.....WITHOUT the snow.......

LOL....you should see what we have going on here. I find it most amusing to look out my back window at the cars parked there. Yesterday they pulled the wipers out away from the windows so they stood out like antennas, to keep them from freezing to the windows. I hope they don't break them off in their attempts to clean off their cars later, as now.....you can't even see there is anything buried there under the snow.

Got a chuckle visualizing the wipers as antennas.

Kind of pretty here, as long as I don't have to go anywhere and the power stays on.
View attachment 524679 View attachment 524680 View attachment 524681 View attachment 524682

Pretty and camera worthy!

thanks for the reminder.

gotta shave my beard AND my legs before the bikini picture...

Well, I think I'll forego looking at that picture.

Normally, I'm in a kilt but I was feeling particularly frilly today yesterday. (forgot to hit the 'submit' button last night).




mmmmmmmm... GUMBO!....

Cubed turkey, smoked sausage, onions, celery, okra... mmmmmm... gonna be some good stuff!

Oh my, that does look so good.

I wasn't sure the zinc actually worked or if it was a coincidence. This time Mike and I both had the same illness and I sucked on the Coldeez and Mike hardly did at all. I don't seem to be a bad as Mike is so it's proved to me that it definitely does work. I've always been a big believer in Vit C.

I also use the zinc throat lozenges, but am out of them now, so after Mass this morning, will stop and get some more.....jeez, do I really have to go out in this cold??!!! So glad I didn't get rid of my winter garb.

@Semiretired I know you're probably super busy gettin stuff done......but ya gotta come talk to us some before y'all leave!!

Hope to see you also Phil before you leave!

 

[therussellv]

Normally, I'm in a kilt but I was feeling particularly frilly today yesterday. (forgot to hit the 'submit' button last night).




mmmmmmmm... GUMBO!....

Cubed turkey, smoked sausage, onions, celery, okra... mmmmmm... gonna be some good stuff!

Why would you ruin a good soup by putting okra (aka demon poop) in it.

Last stinkie 10/15/2013

 

[umanbean]

channeling your inner justin wilson huh!

Oh, you mean ol' zhyoo-staah? yea, dat heem.

Is it the okra that makes it gumbo or the roux?

No expert here Miss Janet, but I *think* it's the roux. I've had gumbo in restaurants with and without okra, but to me homemade gumbo needs okra.

 

[umanbean]

Why would you ruin a good soup by putting okra (aka demon poop) in it.

Last stinkie 10/15/2013

Okra some gud stuff!... soul food mang.

I couldn't find the frozen whole okra baggies quickly enough - in the bottom of the deep freezer on an unheated porch ~20o outside... so I settled for a pack of cut okra.

 

[Debadoo]

Why would you ruin a good soup by putting okra (aka demon poop) in it.

Last stinkie 10/15/2013

Love me some fried okra.....and it's fine in gumbo, but I prefer file added after it's done. Most folks don't use both

 

[DavidOck]

We have a logo!!

 

[Debadoo]

Dave, forgot to say, those were really pretty pictures, but glad that's up there and not down here!!

 

[Rotowoman]

Is it the okra that makes it gumbo or the roux?

It's the roux!! Okra is just an add on. It's DA ROUX!!