I'm Hungry!

 Well, Folks, things are getting a bit busy over here in juvat land.  The house is sold, we close on the 18th of December.  We're leaving the Burg on the 18th also.  The movers are coming on the 15th.  The horses are leaving on the 13th, they'll be boarded in College Station until we get settled in the new home.  Nice place, plenty of grass, other horses around to associate with.  Should be ok.

We're still trying to figure out vehicle moving.  Since I am prohibited from driving, that complicates matters.  We have our one remaining vehicle as well as our son's Tahoe.  That exercise is further complicated by the moving of 3 dogs and a cat.  The cat is very vocal about moving, which should enhance the enjoyment of the trip.

Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how's the play?

But! We are definitely looking forward to being close to our Daughter and Family.  We are looking forward to our new house being completed and getting settled in it.  

So. juvat, what have you got for us in this posting?

Well, Beans, I cooked a pretty darn good dinner a while ago,   Mrs J and I had leftovers last night, they were even better than the first round.   

The recipe follows, y'all should try it,  just a word of caution, adjust the amount of peppers to suit your taste.  I added extra!  Just sayin' I like it spicy! 

https://www.thelunacafe.com/world-famous-green-chile-mac-cheese/

1. 1. Coat an 8- to 10-cup capacity, ovenproof casserole with vegetable spray or a dab of butter; or coat six 1½-cup capacity stoneware ramekins or iron skillets. Reserve.
   2. To prepare the pasta, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil, add 2 teaspoons of salt, return to a boil, and add the pasta. Cook until still VERY al dente. Do not cook until fully tender.
   3. Remove the pasta pot from the stove and carefully pour the water and pasta into a large colander to drain. Run cold water over the pasta to cool it to room temperature. Add pasta to a large mixing bowl.
   4. Toss the pasta in the bowl with all of the cheeses and reserve.
   5. To make the breadcrumb topping, in a small mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, bread crumbs, and garlic. Season to taste with sea salt. Reserve.
   6. To make the cream sauce, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter, add the onions, and slowly cook until onions are just beginning to soften.
   7. Add the peppers and corn, and stir to coat with butter.
   8. Stir in the flour and cook without browning for two minutes.
   9. Slowly pour in the Green Chile Crema and whisk constantly while bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer, whisking continuously, for 2 minutes.
   10. Season to taste with sea salt.
   11. To finish the dish, pour the sauce over the pasta and cheeses in the bowl. With a large spatula, fold to combine.
   12. Spoon into the prepared casserole, mounding slightly at the center.
   13. Sprinkle on the breadcrumb topping.
   14. Bake at 350º for 30-40 minutes for the single casserole or 10-15 minutes for individual ramekins, until heated through and just bubbling. (High heat or excessively long cooking time may curdle the cheeses.)
   15. Broil for a minute or two to finish browning the top.

Serves 6-8.

Copyright 2009-2017 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.

 For the leftovers, I added about a cup of Chicken Broth to loosen things up.  Both the first round and the second were excellent.

Highly Recommended.

Y'all never thought Sarge's blog would become a source of gustation masterpieces didja?

Well...When you run out of material to post on, desperation takes over and there are a lot of good recipes out there. 

Peace out y'all! 

Potpourri

 So...There I was...*  Flat out of Airspeed, Altitude and Ideas. (Yes, Beans, been there before, never liked it, nor the usual outcome).  Fortunately, in a comment on Sarge's post from yesterday where he had revealed his inner U-Boat driver wish, Scott the Badger had mentioned "Norwegian Forest Rescue Cats".

My first thought was "We have two of those!" But the "Forest" part threw me for a loop.  I didn't think that had been part of their breed's name.  So, I went to the source of all possible knowledge about any possible subject both in the known Universe and the unknown Universe.

Why, Beans, that would be my Wife, of course, not Google!  What a silly question to ask.

I will edit out portions of her response, because Sarge wants this to be a Family Friendly Blog.

"juvat, you **** ***** ****,  They're not Norwegian anything Cats!  They're Korats!"

Me being me, and ever curious where my brain has wandered off to, decided to confirm her answer.

Yes, Beans, after we had returned from Breakfast and I was alone in my office.

ANYHOW, and as usual, she was right.

You decide

Norwegian Forest Feline	Korat Feline
MoushKa	MooshKa
Guarding Mrs. J's Desk	This Guard Cat Thing is HARD work

So, juvat, what new and important information did you find out about Korat Cats? Well, Sarge, interestingly this site had some pretty good info about them.  Much of that, I had already learned from the cats themselves.  They are quite affectionate, vocal, playful and very friendly.  First written about in 1350 BCE, until the '60s, they were only given away as gifts as a sign of respect and affection.  There was one other statistic in the article that caught my eye.

Korat's cost between $400 and $2000.  We have two.

So,  juvat, how did you afford that much for a couple of cats?

Well, Sarge, apparently their former owners are either extraordinarily generous in "giving" them to us or they are dumber than a box of rocks. My vote is on the latter.

You see, there appears to be a program in place where city folk who have grown tired of their pets, drive out into the country and drop them off in the middle of nowhere.  The Animal Good Fairy then directs them to a suitable domicile where they will be welcomed with open arms.

Or, they starve to death, get killed by a predator, run over by a car or otherwise meet their demise.

Moushka and Mooshka showed up at our doorstep early one morning.  They were pretty dirty, very thirsty and incredibly hungry.  A bit of water, a small helping of kitty food, a wipe down with a damp rag and a successful introduction to the other adoptees all obtained from a similar situation (grand total for the family is now 7 Cats and 1 Dog, plus 2 pound puppies and 2 pasture ponies, 3 cats, 3 dogs and 2 horses are still with us).

From Front to Back: Oskar (pound puppy), Cooper (pound puppy), Annie (wandered onto the property)

 

Schmedley wandered onto the property. Based on injuries she had, the Vet believed she'd been thrown from a moving car.

Suffice it to say, if I EVER catch someone doing that dump and run crap...well, I hope the jury is composed of animal lovers.

This was done right. Breeding farm was going under.  Turned the horses over to a Vet, who advertised them.  Cabernet and Merlot (L to R) now reside on Rancho juvat

 

Oh, well, on to a happier subject.  MBD and The Rev have signed the contract for their house.  Our plan is to visit next Saturday and give it a look see.  It was a bit pricey, but doable.  Our objective is to see what Mrs. J and I can do to help and lower fixing/moving costs a bit.  Back in my caveman days, I painted my way through college, so I should be able to help there.  We'll see.  I may have to negotiate with my blogger boss as painting on the weekends with a 3 hour drive each way, may impart a slight impedance to blogging on Monday, we'll see.

Had a good time Saturday nite at our Wine Maker Friend's Winery.  They host a quarterly dinner for their wine club members.  This one's theme was Poor Man's Dinner.  It's generally held around April 15th and features Beans and Corn Bread as the menu, hence the name. It did include Wine (of course).  Surprisingly, the meal was quite tasty.  Many of the participants had gone on the Wine Cruise in March, so Mrs. J and I knew most folks there.  Mrs. J's heavily into planning another Wine Cruise from Nuremburg to Luxembourg on the Rhine,Moselle and Main Rivers in November '24.  Our Friends wanted her to give a short spiel about the trip to start generating interest.  The March Cruise was a blast, this one should be no different.

While we were sitting at the table eating, we got introduced to the Brother of one of the ladies that went on the cruise.  He'd obviously been briefed as the first thing he asked was what had I flown.  I told him and he told me that he'd been a C-130 and C-5 pilot.  He was about a year ahead of me going through pilot training, so we had a blast telling "war" stories.  All in all, it was a good time.

Finally, MBD and Little J had asked me to put together a notebook of my favorite recipes that I cook.  It's one of those on again/off again projects.  While I've typed up a lot of my recipes, I haven't had much enthusiasm about the project.  Until now.

 

This week, I happened to have been going through the closet in my office (sometimes referred to as "The Dump") when I saw a plastic box I had forgotten about quite a while ago.  It was full of my Mom's favorite (and therefore my favorite) recipes.

Well, retyping them into the computer should keep me off the streets at night for a while.  All were hand written.  Yeah, my eyes leaked a bit. Only fair...She is my Mom!

Peace out y'all!