I'm Hungry!

Came home from school hungry as usual. The cold wind the weatherman promised arrived. I need comfort food! NOW!

MMM! Chicken fried steak would hit the spot! I'm craving it but have nary a steak in the house nor enough gumption to head to the store or even to a restaurant.

This plate of culinary delight hails from Chester's in Branson. Chester's is a local Branson dive that actually has good food.
(normally we have to eat at chains in Branson to get good food)

I wonder if the chef is from the south because the beans are so well seasoned. They sure don't taste like Missouri beans. Real potatoes and gravy. But the steak is the star: real steak and perfectly crisp crust!

I've been on a quest for the best chicken fried steak for the last two years: Chester's is the best in the homestyle category so far.

Wish I could teleport to Chester's right now!!

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Workin' off da bad mojo...

Today, my school lunch fortune cookie stated: You will overcome difficult times.... Yep, very apropros.

So far:
1. A week of the kidney stone from hell!

2. Washing machine flooded the floor.... and on one of my more painful days too. Believe me, it is not fun sucking up water with a vac when one has jabbing kidney pains!

3. Blueflash is stuck stock still in the muck... still stuck after two days. Thank goodness for BigRed, he saved the day!


4. This morning, two well fed collared canines strewed our trash everywhere down by the road... so aggravating!

Honking didn't phase them so I got out and performed my 'git outta here' schtick... until those dogs were plumb outta sight. Kinda comical in retrospect. The cow dog hightailed it quickly up the hill back home. Took the poor old basset hound forever to cover the same ground.
Old Bassett ambled about 30 ft then stopped to gaze sadly back... I hollered... he ambled a little farther then gazed sadly and longingly back... I hollered... he ambled then gazed back... I hollered... he ambled and gazed... I hollered... he ambled... over and over... and all the while Talon was shouting from the truck: Don't be mean to the cute dogs!!


Here's hoping all my bad karma has been worked out... and I don't even know what I did!

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Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Cookies

Pretty enough for a tea party!

Yum! These cookies are tasty! Sweet with little zings of cranberry goodness.

Found the recipe in the Oklahoma Farmer and Rancher newspaper. The cookie dough is just a basic shortning type dough with 2 cups of chopped fresh cranberries (frz should work too) mixed in. I used a food processor for a finer chop. I did try with a knife first but it was too difficult. Cranberries went flying everywhere!

After the baked cookies cool, dip them in your favorite melted chocolate and coat with chopped nuts. I added a dab of butter to the chocolate and I pressed the nuts in so they would stick better.

Since this was the experimental first batch, I left half plain. We took the less messy plain ones to eat on a roadtrip; Talon and I couldn't stop eating them.

We (even Talon) actually prefer them plain since too much chocolate overwhelms the delicate taste of the cookies---- but we gobbled the chocolate ones too.

Next time, for speed and convenience, I plan to add finely chopped nuts to the dough and maybe a small amount of mini chocolate chips. I'll save the chocolate dipping business for a special occasion.

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Multipurpose Canoe...

Jim's canoe gets a lot of use even though it hasn't been tagged in 24 years.

What fantastic fishing trips Talon and I (and Gram) have been on in this canoe! Talon catches delicious rainbow fish, red headed fish, catfish, tuna and a few old boots and tires too. We cook and eat the fish right away: Talon insists.

Only a sturdy canoe could survive hurricanes and shark attacks!

During the monsoon summer of 2008, the canoe doubled as a wading pool.

A redneck wading pool, that is.


What a little imp!

And during the artic blast of 2010...
it became a mini ice rink!

We waited till the temp warmed to 22 to go out and frolic but still could only stay out a few minutes at a time. Way Way too cold for humans--- made our skin hurt.

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Sweet Boy...

Talon has been very sweet during my sick week.

On one of my more painful days, anytime I started to do something (like use the pill cutter ect), Talon would say: No, allow me. Then, he did the job. Don't know where he learned that phrase.

Another time, I was sitting all wrapped in a blanket. After getting up to help Talon with something, he said: Now, you can go back to your snugly cocoon!

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