Blog-Pong & Catholic Casserole

I have become aware that in bloggerville one thing can often lead to another and, in most cases, with a complete lack of continuity which in all cases, save for a case of beer, is the best case scenario; but of course one must always have a case of beer handy, just in case. That is another story.



So the esteemed DCap, http://distributorcapny.blogspot.com/ somehow went from 60's surf music to delightful dogs, I dropped a comment containing carrot cake and he responded with a recipe for Jewish Cheesecake which left me wondering how Jewish Cheesecake would vary, say, from Episcopalian Cheesecake but I would assume that the main difference is in how the batter is blessed or whether the spatula is circumcised or not and should not be pondered overly much as long as the end result is delicious. His post, though, did bring to mind my Mother's fixation with Catholic Casserole; a culinary curiosity she would concoct almost every Friday of my childhood and adolescence comprised of canned tuna, cream of mushroom soup and noodles though I must admit that there were some Fridays when the whole family would marvel at her inspired variation of fish sticks and macaroni and cheese. It was the casserole that I remember best. Mostly I remember spewing it up on the sidelines Friday nights during the third quarter of my Varsity football career. But I digress from my main point, if I have one at all, which is doubtful, but in case I did, it was how we became convinced that my Mother, despite all her fiddling with Rosary beds and such, was really Jewish and not a Catholic at all.



I was raised in West Central Wisconsin in a small town abounding with large Elm trees and populated almost equally with German Catholics and Scandinavian Lutherans whose main difference was mostly that the former ate fish on Fridays and the latter could ingest cheeseburgers, if they so desired. Or so it seemed to me, in my youthful days, that both groups would mingle well when there were bingo games, CYO dances, pancake breakfasts or a need to eradicate diseased Elms. My primary education as a child took place at a rusty brick edifice that most in our town simply called the Nun School and it was there that the kindly Nuns beat religion into me, and then out of me with an assortment of map pointers, rulers and chalk dusty erasers. One was known to throw an occasional world globe as well when sufficiently enraged. Confusion was mostly what was taught. Jesus was Jewish, they told me, but he died on the cross and rose from the dead after three days, didn't see his shadow and all the Jews promptly became Catholic. Or at least that is what I got out of it. So it was with great concern that I learned that our neighbor and family physician, Dr. Harris, was Jewish. I asked my father how that could be.

"It's nothing for you to think about, " he said. " Being Jewish just means you go to a different type of church." My father was a master of complex answers to simple questions. My younger brother and I compared notes and realized that Dr. Harris did not go to church at all! And, my brother informed me, he had seen the good doctor at the A&W, of a Friday recently past, ordering a DOUBLE CHEESEBURGER!!!! Well, shit&whiskers! That sealed the deal. My brother and I immediately conspired to become Jewish, not go to church and never again eat Catholic Casserole! My mother got wind of our conspiracy, though, and squashed it with the information that Jews did not celebrate Christmas. We were given the choice of Santa or Cheeseburgers.

But then a curious thing occured. My older brother and sister were in college. I could hear Mom call them frequently.
"Are you OK? You don't call, you don't write."
"Are you eating well?"
"Are you getting enough sleep?"
"I worry about you."
"Have you met a nice boy yet?" (to my sister...for my brother it was....)
" You're not still seeing that Tramp, are you?"

Now my mother thinks a bagel is a breed of dog and lox is something you put on the door, but it did seem like she was starting to act like a stereo-typical Jewish grandmother. Not that I really know what a Jewish Grandmother would act like.

And then she started with the chicken soup. If you came home with sniffles, you got chicken soup. If you were taking finals, you got chicken soup. If you got a traffice ticket, you got chicken soup. It was getting to be too much. We got together and changed her name to Miriam. It sounded much more Jewish that Mary Ann. She is why I named my daughter Miriam.

Time went on. She stopped making the soup. The phone calls, though, have not abated much.
Max is graduating this spring from UW-Oshkosh and co-incidently so is my brother's daughter. Two grand children graduating from college..... the same college.... the same day??!! She call's daily to query how the celebration plans are going. I sometimes miss the Catholic Casserole....
two cans of cream of mushroom soup
two cans of tuna
some elbow macaroni
crushed potatoe chips for topping
dash of pepper

whip together, bake and serve with applesause

*do not play football for at least 5 hours after eating

** I think it is Spartz's turn to post a recipe

Dunking Doughnuts&Oktoberfest&Joe

Joe FranklinCenter Forward Wisconsin Men’s Basketball 1964-1968,

A dominating rebounder Joe Franklin was a unanimous first team 1968 Big 10 All American when he set a then team scoring season record with 544 points, and in average per game with 22.7. In career had 7 games of at least 30 points scored. A team leader Joe Franklin was elected team captain during his senior year, 1968.
Joe Franklin set a Wisconsin record with a robust 27 rebounds against Purdue in 1968.
Joe Franklin is a Member of the Wisconsin U Athletic Hall of Fame. Drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks NBA in 5th round in 1968

*And he can still grip a pint of Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest very well.*

He was lately inducted into another Hall of Fame

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/column/309690

There have only been four jersey's retired at U-Wisconsin. One is Joe's. He is still tenth on the Badger's all time scoring list, despite playing in an era when freshman were not eligible and there were no three-point shots. But the real deal is he is one great dude and is extremely witty, intelligent, and not a bad golfer. He is also modest. It took awhile for me to realize that he played professional basketball in Italy for years and was the last person cut on the 1968 Olympic Basketball team. He roomed with Pete Maravich during tryouts.

Team captain as a senior
Established Wisconsin career scoring (1,215 points) and rebounding (858) marks in just three seasons of play
I met him a few years ago when he was helping another friend edit his business magazine. I discovered that, amongst his other talents, he had an acute taste for good beer and good barbecue. But it his sense of humor that really grabs you. He can grab an insult thrown his way, just as a rebound, and whip it back with lighting speed. It is a fun game and it is easier on the knees than basketball.

So Saturday past I stroll into Oblio's and have a few beer with Joe. We were only going to have a couple but then Billy Lang calls and says he will join us.

http://airaffairphoto.com/

And by the time Billy shows up Joe was zinging me from the top of the lane and I am ducking and dodging for all I'm worth and still managing to make a lay-up or two. And now the whole scene is a verbal pick-up game at the local hoop on the corner. But the local playground does not have tequila.

It was getting really funny. The insults and barbs were flying. The bartender is breaking up. The folks at the other end of the bar are breaking up. I'm breaking up. Billy laughs like Mr. Ed and when Joe flags for another beer you have to duck before he impales you on fingers longer than Lake Michigan or knocks you out with an elbow.

Saturday we played into overtime. I needed a whole day to recover.

I love the Dude, and he always shows me a little love, too.

We have another game scheduled for St. Patrick's Day.

Sometimes it is not how you play the game, or whether you win or lose..... but who you get to play with.

OK.... I had a thought

Is it really a question of whether or not you can teach an old dog new tricks.....

or....

is it rather that it may be possible to teach puppies old tricks?

I think it is possible.

That's why most folks at the office, under 35, call me "Mr."..........

&Why I usually come home each night with new bisquits to chew on.

..and lemmee tell you! takes a lotta beer to wash them bisquits down!

What I did of a Sunday past

1.) woke up

2.) had a cup of tea

3.) decided to make me up some a dem lists

... and there is the rub... as shouldn't one have a subject of what a list is to be comprised of before one makes a list?

1.) possibly

2.) sorta

3.) I guess

Whew! Such a relief to know the rules!!

Best Music Purchased in 2008 based solely on reviews read in the New Yorker or the NY Times

1.) Wooden Wand James and the Quiet

Lyrics best described as written by a methadone addict after having a root canal melodically wrapped in arrangements pondered by Bob Dylan while he contemplates a raspberry torte.

1a) Check it out Randal Graves. Seriously.

17.) Bon Iver "For Emma, forever ago"

17a.) Skinny Love lyrics

Come on skinny love just last the year

Pour a little salt we were never here

My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my

Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer

I tell my love to wreck it all

Cut out all the ropes and let me fall

My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my

Right in the moment this order's tall

I told you told you to be patient

I told you to be fine

I told you to be balanced

I told you to be kind

In the morning I'll be with you

But it will be a different "kind"

I'll be holding all the tickets

And you'll be owning all the fines

7b.) still grokking on this album

jimm's Best OK Recipes for 2009

5.) Peanut Butter &stuff sandwich

5a) two slices of whole wheat bread

5a-1) Eat Healthy

5b) Skippy Peanut Butter

5b-1) Have some brand loyalty, dammitz

5c)take the two slices of whole wheat and smear with copious amounts of Skippy (see 5b). just one side, each, ok? On one slice add whatever jelly, jam is in the fridge. ( orange marmalade not a good choice ) on the other slice dollop a buncha marshmallow creme and some big slices of unfondled bananas..... then squish both pieces together and consume with lavish amounts of really, really cold whole milk.

** best appreciated after 11pm of an evening spent smoking Bangladesh Purple-Red-Bud grown in former rice paddies fertilized with pygmy water buffalo dung. Just informing, is all!

3) Red Beans&Such With Rice

Soak beans overnight. That's the time between sunset and sunrise and that varies, see, so pay attention! Rinse beans and say brief prayer to the God of Legumes. It can't hurt. Put them there beans in a big slow cooker and add 1 can of chicken broth, a bottle of beer and about five cups of water. Add two bay leaves, one tablespoon coarse ground pepper, teaspoon kosher salt, dash of Worcester, and a half teaspoon each of red pepper and white pepper. OK. Now, if you just happen to have a smoked pork hock handy, throw that in too. Turn the crockpot on high and leave it for a couple of hours while you have a beer. Then.
Chop a ham steak into itzy-bitzy sorta pieces and brown in separate fry pan with a fairly decent size onion and a couple of tablespoons of minced garlic. Add that stuff to the pot with a green pepper properly pieced in eighths and proffer to the pot. Slice up and add about three carrots, just because you can.

Then. Drink about four more beers, see, you bought a six pack, one is in the pot and you already drank one, so you have four left. Do the math. Smoke a bunch of the Bangladesh Purple-Red-Bud shit. By the time you remember to check the beans, they should be done. Serve with nice rice.

Books I wanna re-read in 2009

11.) Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole

11a) still one of the funniest books I have ever read

4.) Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen

4a)Just a nice, nice read.

2.) Confederate General from Big Sur Richard Brautigan

2a) reminds me of an old girlfriend. She taught me to be a hippie, &other stuff.

8.) Moby Dick, Melville
8a) I get a 'harpoon-on' reading about white whales. Makes me think of the Ex.

What I will do on a Sunday future

5. Determine if the continent of Atlantis is truly lost or merely misplaced

6. Play mind games with Tony the Bum at Monument Square

7. Buy a pygmy water buffalo

8. Figure out what really is in an eggroll. Seems as if could be anything.

Name THAT Book!!!

OKee DoKEE! Spartz of http://mysaturdayeveningpost.blogspot.com/ tagged me (caused I tagged him) with this Book Thingee.......

You need to go the nearest book you find. Next, open it to page 46 and write out the fifth sentence on that page, and the next two to five after that. Once, you've done that, pass the meme onto five other bloggers you know.

OK.... now I gotz books all over the place, mostly with pictures of naked people doing what naked people do when naked and even some books with pictures of naked people drinking beer and eating doughnuts....... AND some books that are comprised entirely with WORDS!!! So I followed the instructions and , wowsers!, this is what I GOT......

For most, there was no escape. The Streltsy hammered down locked doors, looked under beds and behind altars, thrusting their pikes into every dark space where a human might be hiding. Those who were caught were dragged to the Red Staircase and thrown over the balustrade. Their bodies were dragged from the Kremlin through the Spassky Gate and into Red Square, where they were tossed onto a growing pyramid of dismembered. With sharp blades at their throats, the court dwarfs were forced to find the Naryshikins.

Boy! Sounds like some gruesome Stuff!!

So..... if anyone can guess what I am reading..... they win a free doughnut!!!

Good Luck!!

PS. &STUFF.... I would tag other bloggers, but I am really behind at work and must get back to pretending that I am working and that I know what I am doing, which is really hard work.

Holy Mother of Pearl!!

March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009

I hate it when a hero turns human.

RIP & thanks for all the writes.

Opinion or fact?

Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted.

Kafka

Never drop a full beer. It makes a mess and is a terrible waste of beer.

I wish I was permitted more beer, but that's just my opinion.

okjimm