We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
It's basically a slaw. We had that at a restaurant this weekend as a salad sort of molded from a cup on top of a potato fritter. Damn good. I told Mrs. BD that dog kibbles with black truffle oil and parmesan would be delicious. Actually, I have always liked B. Sprouts anyway, especially sauteed with bacon.
(Speaking of bacon, my brother served an hors d'oevres Sunday afternoon - dates wrapped in bacon, broiled. Amazing.)
Culinary tip: Brussel Sprouts do not hit their peak of flavor and sweetness until hit by at least a frost or two. The ones from the stores have not been. Put a stalk of them outdoors on a frigid day for a few hours, and let them freeze. Much better. Serious gardeners leave them standing in the garden all winter, and just go out and cut some off from the stalks. I guess you could try the freezer, too. When we buy them in bags, we leave them out in the snow until we use them.
It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.
CS Lewis on the topic of a human becoming a Christian
Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
Army Deletes Tweet About ‘Chinks In Armor’ After People Cry Racism - Apparently, being “offended” is a force so powerful that not even the U.S. Army can stand up to it.
Ben Kingsley on the holocaust: Pointing to a painfully ironic experience he had on the set of a Holocaust-related film staged in Budapest, he recalled an elderly passerby who told him, “It never happened, and if you don’t shut up it will happen again!”
It's not the snow (why do they call them snow "storms" when it's just snow and a little blow?), it's not the invigorating cold, but it's the ice that's the challenge this morning. Comment: "Snowy weather, and stores are sold out of eggs, milk, and bread. Does that mean everybody is living on French Toast?"
Catch up on our weekend posts - good stuff. Hey, we predicted the score pretty well, did we not? Good game, unlike most Super Bowls. We went to a happily guacamole-free party. They had veggie dip, chili, cornbread, salad, baked brie, and brownies, two cozy blazing fireplaces, and no giant TV. Perfect.
5 AM today at the Maggie's HQ, waiting for my plow and sand team to show up. I love it all:
We had to catch the last day of the show. Just one room filled with iconic El Grecos. He was barely Greek - raised in Crete (which was Venetian at the time) and never went to Greece. Here's a fine, brief bio
I'll call my photo A View of People Studying A View of Toledo
Henry Beston's Outermost House is required reading in the Bird Dog household. To be a confirmed member of the tribe, I guess you need to "get" Cape Cod and its history and traditions.
Photo below of Beston's cottage (before it got washed away in a storm caused by global warming) via TDP. I saw it one time, on a beach hike with dogs when I was young.
The sweetest meat is near the bone. Cook the heck out of it until fork-tender. You can bake or slow-cooker it. Some people like to brown the marinated meat before cooking.
Generally one whole shank per person is plenty. Serve one whole shank, bone in, with a pile of sauce over polenta or white rice.
I have not made it with venison shank yet, but I should. Maybe soon. A saw would save the trouble of cutting the meat off the shank bone. Yes, I do know how to butcher a deer.
The Hack That Warmed the World -Europe’s carbon-trading market was supposed to be capitalism’s solution to global warming. Instead, it became a playground for gangsters, international crime syndicates, and even two-bit crooks -- who stole hundreds of millions of dollars in pollution credits.
The Ingalls family were in many ways bourgeoisie: educated by the standards of the day, active in community leadership, landowners. And they had nothing.
There's a scene in one of the books where Laura is excited to get her own tin cup for Christmas, because she previously had to share with her sister. Think about that. No, go into your kitchen and look at your dishes. Then imagine if you had three kids, four plates and three cups, because buying another cup was simply beyond your household budget -- because a single cup for your kid to drink out of represented not a few hours of work, but a substantial fraction of your annual earnings, the kind of money you really had to think hard before spending.
The Snow Man
Simple and easy: 
The Art of Punctuality
One of my favorites: 
