Offal Isn't Awful...

Remember the half-a-happy-cow we bought?  Well, we also asked for all the other parts and pieces too.  Things like the tongue, liver and kidneys.  Principles-Poppy and I figure we would be showing respect to our happy cow if we eat most all of him.  So guess what I did on Saturday?  Yep...

Open wide and say "aaaahhhhh":

 

Figured we'd have some lengua tacos.  So I boiled that lengua in water, bay leaf, peppercorns, onions and garlic for about 3 hours...

 

Meanwhile, I wanted to make some tomatillo salsa verde so I roasted the tomatillos, garlic and a jalapeno...

 

Stuck that in a food processor with some lime and onions...

Taaaa Duhhh!  Really, really NOM!

Don't-Make-Me-Eat-Liver-Poppy isn't a fan of the liver.  Bless her heart though cause whenever I order it, she'll give it a try, but it just doesn't agree with her.  It agrees with me just fine so here's how it went down...

First, you soak it in milk for a few hours:

That's supposed to take the bitter taste out of it.  Jax-The-Sewer had a little milky/liver cocktail when it was done soaking.  Near as I could tell, she didn't find it bitter at all.

Then I fried it up with some onions, mushrooms and bell peppers.  Damn tasty!

Next on the offal parade will be the kidneys, but I'm not entirely sure I can or want to eat that.  I'll need to search my Internets for some fabulous recipes.

See ya!

Ever been to Florida?

I hadn't until this past weekend.  Went to visit my BFF, Crin in Hobe Sound.  I thought Florida was hot and humid.  It was cold and windy.

Here's a beach:

Oh, if you're going to wear flip-flops for the first time since last summer, best to let your feet get used to them.

And per usual, the monkeys continue to stalk me.  I was putting my shoes on after getting through security, stood up and saw this:

Who would wear that?

Then my other BFF had to send me this from her store:

I bet you there's baby gorilla pooh in there too.

While window shopping:

So wrong...

This one is my favorite and has nothing to do with the monkey:

Check this out:

About peed my pants waiting for the plastic to rotate!

So that's my two days in Florida.  I was hoping to see the illusive alligator and armadillo, but no luck.  I saw a bunch of birds, two deer and two man-eating turtles.

Later.

Happy Feast of St. Valentine!

Yep, it's Valentine's Day.  There's all kinds of red-foiled, heart shaped chocolate, baked goods and long stem roses floating around the office.  Got me to thinking about the history behind this day...yep, checked out my Internets:

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly known as Valentine's Day, or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them.

St. Valentine's Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. The most popular martyrology associated with Saint Valentine was that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire; during his imprisonment, he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer Asterius. Legend states that before his execution he wrote her a letter "from your Valentine" as a farewell.  Today, Saint Valentine's Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion, as well as in the Lutheran Church.

 

Well, isn't that interesting?  Sounds to me like an excuse to eat whatever you want...so I think that's what I'll do.

 

 

 

More importantly though, it's a time to think about my Valentine, Hearts-O-Far-Poppy!  She still has the ability to make my heart go pitter-patter...in a good way, not like a heart murmur or anything.  We're heading into our 10th year together and it's just as fun as it was ten years ago, only better.  Well, except for all that aging body junk.

 

Anyway, to my Poppy...You will always be the moon of my sun!

 

I

 

 

YOU!

 

 

Wordless Wednesday...

Did you know...

That you can get leprosy from an armadillo?  I had no idea!  Seems, if you eat it, let it spit or sneeze on you, you've got a pretty good chance of getting infected.  Not to worry though, two or three years of a course of antibiotics will cure you.

Now, why did this subject come up?  Well, I'm going to Florida next week to visit my PPCC.  She told me that they not only alligators there but armadillos and a bunch of other beasties.  We I loves me some armadilla so I can't wait to see one...from a distance.

Here's what was hanging out in her hood this morning:

One of the things on my bucket list is to wrassle and alligator.  I'm thinking I'll get to check this off the list by next week.

Have a nice weekend!

Our Grand Day Out!

It's so rare that Urban-Adventurer-Poppy and I have time to go play in town.  Saturday, we found ourselves on a grand day out.  We dropped our scooters off for service and then head out on foot.  We saw a lot of cool stuff...check it out:

Senior-Graphic-Designer-Poppy enjoying her favorite past-time...tagging!

Isn't she talented?

 

 

Holy Cow!

 

Kind of puts a new twist on nipple ring, eh?

Oh, I needed a new light bulb for our microwave.  Prankster-Poppy made me sit in this chair...

She said I need to start embracing the Minkey.  It's really hard when you see stuff like this:

That mural gave me the heebie-jeebies!

No, I don't know what's coming out of the Gorilla's butt!

A restaurant called Another Monkey?  WTF??  I'll never eat there.  Wonder what they have on the menu?

Time for lunch!

 

 

I do not recall the name of the restaurant but it was traditional Mayan food.  Very, very NOM!

 

Then we went to the thrift store and Shoppy-Poppy made me buy this t-shirt in the hopes I would embrace...

 

Nope, not gonna happen!  What's that red thing on the back of the bike?

Before our grand day out, I had to take the little dog back to the vet to get her shots.  Such a sad little thing...with glowing alien eyeballs!



 



Let's talk about Pho!

Brothy-Poppy and I were watching an episode of The Layover the other night. One of the stops included a place where you could get a steaming bowl of Pho. Man, did that look good...so I thought I'd make it for dinner.  I consulted my Internets and found a recipe called Faux Pho.  Of course, I had to spruce it up a bit so here it is...

Kecky-Phaux-Pho

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, peeled and cut in half

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 3” piece of ginger, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise

6 cups beef broth

2 cups water

2 whole star anise

1 large cinnamon stick

8oz (4 cups) mixed mushrooms (such as oyster or stemmed shiitake), thinly sliced or torn

2 scallions, thinly sliced

2 packages Shirataki noodles (rinsed very well and parboiled for 1 minute)

2lb beef eye round, sliced crosswise 1/8" thick

Bean sprouts, basil leaves, and thinly sliced Serrano chilies

Preparation

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion, cut side down, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is golden, about 5 minutes.

Add broth and water, star anise, and cinnamon; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until flavors meld, about 15 minutes.

Once flavors have melded, fish out all the stuff. Add mushrooms and simmer for about 5 minutes and then the scallions and for about 2 minutes.

Add noodles to bowls and the beef on top of that.  Ladle broth into bowls. Garnish with bean sprouts, basil, and sliced chilies.

Wait for it...wait for it...

So NOM!

GO NINERS!