Gross Food

We all have our ideas of food that we refuse to eat. There is just so far we'll go before we'll say "absolutely not, no way no how, I will not eat that." Even the most daring of foodies surely have their drawbacks, though it may be found in another culture or on Survivor. My food no-no's usually are anything I can't recognize or are slimy. I had an incident once where the rice with an entree was black rice, but it resembled a bug on the island I was on, so I just could not eat the rice, though I love rice. I have eaten some things that other people think sound gross. Most people don't think anything bad about. Like Squirrel, rabbit, squid, even tried escargot. They weren't nasty. However I draw the line with parts of animals that are just sickening to look at, much less think about eating, such as brains.

My husband recently bought a recipe book called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. It says it is "the cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats." (Dictocrats being HER word as it doesn't come up in the dictionary anywhere.) As we were flipping through the pages looking at the recipes we noticed that the recipes were mostly old fashioned recipes and basics. They seemed a little complicated to me since I don't like the kind you have to prepare some ingredients overnight and then cook the meal the next day.

Well, in that book I came along a recipe that included, yep, brains. It seriously grossed me out. Plus it even mentioned making it and not telling your kids what was in it! How mean is that! Then Ken has to go and tell me about the Ponshaus (also called Scrapple) he use to eat as a kid. It uses a whole pig head. I just could not fathom why anyone would do that stuff. So, In honor of these nasty foods I decided to copy the recipes down and let you see how they worked. If you think they sound good, by all means feel free to make them.

Original Ponhaws - Pannhas - Ponhaus - Scrapple

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/original-ponhaws-pannhas-ponhaus-scrapple-265164?oc=linkback

1 pig head

5 quarts water

4 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons pepper

1 teaspoon sage

3 cups cornmeal (amount is approximate)

Directions:

1 Separate pig head into halves.

2 Remove eyes and brains.

3 Scrape head and clean thoroughly.

4 Place in a large kettle, cover with water and simmer gently for 2 or 3 hours (or until meat falls off the bone). 

5 Skim grease from the surface; remove meat, chop finely and return to broth.

6 Season with salt, pepper and sage to taste.

7 Sift in corn meal, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened to the consistency of soft mush.

8 Cook very slowly for one hour over low heat.

9 When sufficiently cooked, pour into greased loaf pans and store in a cool place until ready to use.

10 To serve, cut into 1/2" slices and fry until crisp and brown.

Nutritional Value:

Serving Size: 1 (5140 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amount Per Serving% Daily ValueCalories 224.7 Calories from Fat 2096%Total Fat 2.2 g3%Saturated Fat 0.3 g1%Cholesterol 0.0 mg0%Sodium 1588.1 mg66%Total Carbohydrate 47.8 g15%Dietary Fiber 4.8 g19%Sugars 0.4 g1%Protein 5.1 g10%

OFFAL Burritos (takes overnight to make)

Makes about 18 burritos

Recipe from Nourishing Traditions

3lbs brisket of beef or game

2 pounds sweetbreads or brains or combination 

Prepare brains:

Brains must be very fresh. Wash brains, cover with cold filtered water to which you have added a little vinegar and soak for about two hours, changing the water once or twice. This extracts the blood and helps remove any impurities. Remove, rinse and place in saucepan. Cover with water or chicken stock. add 1 tsp salt and juice of 1/2 lemon. Bring to a boil, simmer for about 15 min. Remove and allow to cool. Using sharp knife carefully remove all loose tissue, skin, fat and membranes. Place on plate or platter, cover with parchment paper and place weighted flat plate or cookie sheet on top. Let brains flatten or in refrigerator several hours or overnight.

2 cups beefstock

1 small can tomato paste

2 onions finely chopped

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp cumin

4 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

about 18 sprouted whole wheat tortillas

about 1/2 cup melted butter

about 3 cups melted enchilada sauce

sauerkraut for garnish

sliced avocados for garnish

They’re not awful, they’re good! This is a great way to get organ meats into your children without them knowing it. In this recipe, brains or sweetbreads need no special preparation. Place all ingredients (except garnishes tortillas and butter) into a large pot. Bring to a boil, cover and place in a 300 degree oven overnight or all day until meat is falling apart. Remove top for last hour or so of cooking til sauce thickens. 

Remove brains or sweetbreads and chop finely. Add sauce from the pan to moisten but the mixture should not be runny. Meanwhile heat tortillas briefly in a heavy skillet and brush one side with melted butter. Place about 1/2 cup of the meat mixture in the center of each buttered side. Fold in sides before rolling up and brush outside with butter. May be individually wrapped and frozen. (Remove foil before heating). Heat at 325 degrees in an oiled pyrex dish until steaming. Serve with choice of garnishes. 

Decisions, Decisions.....

Comfy Chairs

Recently I've had the need for a new chair. Not just any chair, a reading chair. Looking for such an important chair was a serious thing because I spend a lot of time in my reading chair. This chair was going to have to be comfortable, yet supportive, durable, but cosy, and still somehow fit in with the schematics of my other living room furniture.

My current reading chair is a completely broken down chair that Ken has had for many years, so I didn't choose it and wouldn't have if I'd had my way. So I had to think about what kind of chair I wanted instead of the one I have. What makes a good comfy chair in my opinion? I had to also take into account how I like to sit when I read because I vetoed certain features based on that. Here are a few pictures of chairs that others on the internet posted as "comfy chairs". A few I think may be too.

This one is just cool. Maybe the form is comfy but I bet it's itchy.

This is more than a chair but certainly comfy!

I totally love this one, though I wouldn't choose it for myself.

This one would be great for anyone that reads with their kids or likes to prop their legs up sometimes.  

Mod Comfy?

Comfy with class

Caveman Comfy

 I ended up buying one at a furniture store in Danville. It wasn't my first choice. The first one was out of my budget range. Oh, but it was perfect! However, the one I'm getting is good too. The design is funky, not tame at all, but should still go with the rest of my living room. Since I had to order it I will not get it in for a few weeks! NO instant gratification darn it!

Truly comfy, I believe. The one I chose comes close to this one

Deciding on a chair wasn't easy. There was a limited number of stores in Danville to check out the stock and there was a certain criteria I had in mind. But I found something in a relatively normal amount of time with little stress.

DUVET's

Believe it or not there are numerous websites that sell duvets online. Of course, I want the right one for my bed. I would like to have had one already, before my pretty white down comforter got stains on it, but too late. Now I NEED one and I'm unhappy that I can't seem to choose one out of the hundreds or thousands available online. Oh, I can forget about going to the actual stores to try to get one. I've done that. Apparently the stores don't keep those in stock. At least the ones I went to don't. Those are catalog or online only. OR they are sold out or just plain don't have what I want. 

My choice was from JC Penney. 

My solution? Today I spent some time really checking out the online sites for duvets and narrowed it down to the one that I can live with. I really did. I mean, there comes a time when you just have to go for it and make a commitment. Just like with my chair. I had to just go for it and do it. Otherwise I'd end up with nothing but a broken down chair and stains on my comforter. 

Ramblings

FREE BOOK LISTS

I love to get free books. Rarely do I pay for a book. If I so it's only because it is a sequel to something that I'm reading and the "want to know" about the character outweighs my purse strings. 

So I have a few book lists I get e-mails from. These are: admin@ereadernewstoday.com, freeebooksdailyblog@gmail.com and anthonywessel@digitalbooktoday.com. All of those yield great free books of all genres. They can bee good for anyone that doesn't take the time to go to Amazon and look at the free book list themselves to find what they want. 

Truly, those lists just get their info from the top 100 free book list list at Amazon. If I want to get free books I just go to Amazon and look them up myself. It may take me 30 minutes a day to look at the few genre lists I prefer but assuming I want to get some quality free books that what I have to do. 

There are other websites to get free books. But I don't deal with them. Honestly, I get so much from Amazon I don't have the time or need to go to the other places. Maybe I'm missing out, I don't know. I do have a few authors and author critics I am friends with on Facebook that give me leads to free books so sometimes I get sent to those places for free books and get some quality stuff. It's rare. 

FACEBOOK

The computer, to me, is not the way to live a life. Once upon a time I was addicted to being on it. That was a long time ago. Now I can take it or leave it. I am so sporadic on Facebook I can't tell you how often I miss important stuff in my friends and families lives. Something happens and my husband tells me something, then I'm mad at myself for not paying attention. I get obsessed with reading books in a series, or watching a tv series or just plain doing something else that keeps me away from the computer so I stay away from it for days at a time and I don't even look at my e-mail unless it's important - and it never is. So please, if I seemingly don't notice what's going on with your lives it has nothing to do with you personally. It's because I'm just not around to be looking. I promise I will try to catch up and read backlogs when I get on the computer again after having been off of it for a while though. 

PICKLES

I've recently become totally into eating pickles again. No, I'm not pregnant. At least, I'd better not be. What is it about pickles that just makes a person either want them or not want them? I'll eat them straight from the jar then drink the juice. Hmmmmm...

Is that random enough?