Kil't in the streetz!

So the emergency communications team meeting was canceled this evening, so Mrs. Drang and I decided to go out to eat.

We went to Red Robin, because it's close, fairly cheap, and good. (Unless maybe you ask our doctor, so don't.)

As we sat down I glanced at my new watch (Garmin Forerunner 235, birthday present) and realized it was missing an icon or two. I scrolled through the displays and realized that it was linked with my cell phone...

...which I didn't have on me.

Mrs. Drang admitted hers was still on the charger in the living room.

Amazing that the resulting lack of wider situational awareness didn't result in our not knowing about an Alien Invasion or Sasquatch Uprising something and getting killed on our way home.

At least we're able to maintain eye contact and converse.

Some these days would probably prefer to face an alien invasion in the middle of a Sasquatch uprising...

I did not know that.

SO, reading this article -- MRE Shelf Life and Stockpiling MREs - AllOutdoor.com, I wound up at this page: USDA -- Food Product Dating.

Where I learned that the "pull dates" on food items have nothing to do with food safety or health. (With one exception, see emphasis added below):

Does Federal Law Require Dating?
Except for infant formula, product dating is not required by Federal regulations.

For meat, poultry, and egg products under the jurisdiction of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), dates may be voluntarily applied provided they are labeled in a manner that is truthful and not misleading and in compliance with FSIS regulations. To comply, a calendar date must express both the month and day of the month. In the case of shelf-stable and frozen products, the year must also be displayed. Additionally, immediately adjacent to the date must be a phrase explaining the meaning of that date such as "Best if Used By."

Are Dates for Food Safety or Quality?
Manufacturers provide dating to help consumers and retailers decide when food is of best quality. Except for infant formula, dates are not an indicator of the product’s safety and are not required by Federal law.

What Date-Labeling Phrases are Used? There are no uniform or universally accepted descriptions used on food labels for open dating in the United States. As a result, there are a wide variety of phrases used on labels to describe quality dates.

Examples of commonly used phrases:

• A "Best if Used By/Before" indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
• A "Sell-By" date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. It is not a safety date.
• A "Use-By" date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. It is not a safety date except for when used on infant formula as described below.

Although experience says that the bread mix you found in the back of the pantry from 5 years ago may no longer have fully (or any) active leavening...

So the other evening at the emergency communication team meeting we were talking about "Go Bags" and Bug Out Bags. I took my Go Kit -- which is to say, my bag for CERT or ARES/RACES work, not my "Get Out Of Town" bag.

I also took my car kit in, to show a couple of thing in it. Now, my car kit is mostly a cheap packable rain suit, such as you find at a big box store, hat and gloves, reflective vest... It also has a package of Datrex Lifeboat rations. (Might have been another brand.)

And it was pointed out to me that "These are almost expired."

The packaging is intact, these are safe to eat.

"But they're almost expired!"

s*i*g*h

Oh, By The Way...

...Brigid has made Home On The Range public again!

Go, read some of the most profound writing in the Blogosphere, laugh at doggie stories, steal some recipes...

Out and About

Not sure which surprised me more today:

• Safeway sells "Frozen, Pre-cooked Chitlins."* 
• Safeway sells caviar. 
• Trader Joe's was playing Toby Keith and Alan Jackson as muzak. 

Also, this happened semi-locally: Mango Used As Weapon In Bellevue Assault | Bellevue, WA Patch.  (H/t SayUncle.

Mrs. Drang is still disgusted with me because my first reaction was "Come at me with this banana!"



*Yeah, it's probably "supposed" to be spelled "chitterlings." Guess what? Spell check agrees that "chitlins" is also acceptable.

About my previous post...

...where I say that

In Tennessee, as it turns out, one can enter a restaurant that serves alcohol, but if The Man has authorized you to legally carry the means to defend yourself and your loved ones, you are expected to be on the wagon.

 it also turns out that, as Chance points out, while SayUncle » At the NRA Annual Meeting, many local eateries would -prefer not to be distracted by any money contaminated by icky guns.

He links to two articles on the subject:

• Some restaurants posted near NRA Nashville 2015 - Knoxville gun rights | Examiner.com
• With the NRA convention coming to Nashville in three weeks, what are the restaurants and bars where permit holders are welcome? - Crime Prevention Research Center

The later item says

Posting against carrying a firearm has the force of law in Tennessee, so members should pay attention to the signs on or near the doors of any eating establishment.
If it is visibly posted with verbiage and/or the circle/slash sign, you are prohibited from entering by law with a gun. Goeser noted in the interview with Walters that management in some restaurants told her that, although they had no signs up, they were still posted. Huh?

List of banned properties here: Tennessee Firearms Assoc. Inc. • View forum - Posted Properties - General

Relativity II

Back on Pi Day I wrote Relativity, in which I mused on the differences between various states' rules and procedures for applying and getting approved for a permit to carry a concealed pistol, by whatever name that permission slip may be known.

Now, I'm sitting here planning to attend the NRA Annual Meeting in Nashville, and am glad to note that Tennessee recognizes a Washington CPL.  (In fact, TN apparently recognizes every other states' permits, except for Vermont. Oh, wait, Vermont doesn't even issue a permit, thus the original name for "Constitutional Carry", FKA "Vermont Carry.")

Now, here in WA I can carry in a restaurant, and even have a beer or some wine, but I cannot cross the--often invisible--line that separates the dining room proper from the bar. Entering a bar while armed is verboten.

"South of the border", down Oregon way, there is no rule against a lawfully armed citizen from sitting down in a bar and having an adult libation.

Getting drunk, no, having a drink, go for it.

In Tennessee, as it turns out, one can enter a restaurant that serves alcohol, but if The Man has authorized you to legally carry the means to defend yourself and your loved ones, you are expected to be on the wagon.

Now, I understand the reason behind this: "ZOMG, booze and guns don't mix!"And yet...

WA and OR manage to let a person who is deemed responsible enough to carry a gun to have a drink.

I am not aware of any state that says "No drinking and driving AT ALL."

"If you're driving you'd better not go take Communion!"*

Yeah, that'd go over well...

 TN also does not let you carry in a park. (I understand that this is changing very soon, perhaps before the NRAAM.)

Many municipalities in WA try and ban lawfully armed citizens from carrying in public spaces, like parks, but state preemption and all, they regularly get slapped down for it.

Not all states have preemption, and it can get pretty silly, the gyrations you may have to go through, figuring out how the rules may have changed when you're crossing an invisible line.

 Considering that it has been proven over and over again that crime goes down when citizens are armed, that all the panic-driven predictions of "blood in the streets" are untrue, it seems like being allowed to have a beer with friends, many of whom I've never seen, is jot too much to ask.

 ***

*Yeah, I know the "sacramental wine" is often actually grape juice that has not been changed...

Dinner pic

Usually don't bother, but...

...This was pretty good.

As you may be able to tell, this was when I went back for seconds.

"Tomato Kielbasa Shortcakes."  Made with elk meat kielbasa. Basically, you make pico de gallo and add the sliced sausage to it, and put it over the shortcake; recipe called for dressing with sour cream, we added guacamole as well.

The shortcakes are 2 parts AP flour to 1 part cornmeal, with baking powder, baking soda, sour cream for dairy and a touch of sugar. Tasted like corn bread with more body to it, and a slightly crunchy exterior.

Pretty good stuff, will probably avoid telling any babushkas about this use of kielbasa next I'm back in Detroit, though...

Broccoli slaw as a side. Cheated on that, bag of broccoli slaw and jar of cole slaw dressing from the grocery store, threw in a handful each of craisins and sunflower seed kernels.

As an aside, jalapeños seem to be running huge these days. Made a triple batch of guacamole for the Super Bowl Sunday potluck and only needed a single pepper, the average jalapeño these days would have been regarded as an extra large one just a few years ago.

Finally!

Our tomatoes are finally getting ripe.

Not sure we'll have enough for sauce, salsa here we come!

EDIT: No doubt, if I was a bigger frog in the Blogosphere, someone would have piped up by now to point out that "salsa" means sauce.

Schloss Drang has been in quite a pickle...

OR: Garden 2014 progress report.
PREVIOUSLY:

• How does your garden grow?
• #RaisedGardenBedAssemblyForce

That's 8 pints of dills using a prepared mix we had, and 4 pints of grape & horseradish dills.

These are going to be sweet dills. Not sure how many pints. The recipe calls for 9 days of rinsing and soaking...

Until we get a proper pickling crock with lid and weight, a mason jar full of water on a plate will do.

4 more pints of pickled golden beets. There are also pickled carrots and radishes in the fridge.

That last pic also has some of the tomatoes I picked today. After taking these, I picked a handful more and a couple of more cucumbers; when Mrs. Drang got home from work, we went back out to inspect the garden and wound up picking some snap peas.

The pole bean vines look okay, producing so-so. The radishes we planted from seeds had almost a 100% germination rate, and may therefore have been too close together...

Peas. Carrots in front. Possibly same deal as radishes.

Cucumbers.  There's a soaker hose that runs along the raised beds below the plant frames; the green hose you see is capped, or attached to a sprinkler as conditions demand.

This photo shows the golden beet plants we planted from starts.  Hope we didn't plant them too close together.

 Roma tomatoes.  Lots of fruit, all green.  Apparently we've been over-watering.  We'll stop if the weather will...

 Grape tomatoes are doing well.  In fact, against all expectation, the hybrid plant we planted last year has started producing, too.

This was supposed to be broccoli.  Now, I'm not a gardener, but I suspect we'll be making sauerkraut... 

Also, the bell peppers are doing OK, so maybe some homemade salsa. (Which is about the only way I can stand bell peppers.)

Not pictured: The squash plants keep pretending to die and then putting out a blossom. Also, the strawberry plants started top die off, then started flourishing again last week, and have a few berries on them. So maybe my next batch of Strawberry Lemonade will have home-grown strawberries in it.

Source of raised bed kits, frames for pole beans and peas, and cucumber frames: Gardener's Supply Company. They also carry pickling crocks with lids and weights.

Bacon!

In comments to a previous post Eric -- who lives pretty close by to be someone I only know electronically -- asked if we'd ever shopped at a local store called Proper British Bacon.

I told him that we had, that we like their sausage very much, and that I've made "pig candy" (candied bacon) using their wares. They now have a second location, and ship.

I don't think they had haggis before.

They do now.

Be warned.

(Edited because formatting.)

Good people, good cause

I'll be working next Sunday, but 16 Seattle-area martial arts studios are getting together to raise money for Typhoon Haiyan relief.

Click the link above for a bigger version, and more info.

Filipino food. Mmmmm, lumpia...

(Please keep the speculation about that other item, IYKWIMAITYD, to yourselves...)

A Nifty Idea for Canning

Seen on Bill Quick's Emergency Preps board: JarBOX.com - Easily Transport and Protect Your Canning Jars

Every time I stack cases of mason jars in the garage I ponder how to secure them against our when-not-if Big One.

what a mess

A tasty, tasty, mess.

While on vacation, Mrs. Drang asked my mother for a couple of her recipes.  I was so busy enjoying the scenery I failed to chime in with a request for one for my favorites: Mom's Corn Fritters. They were actually corn pancakes, since she cooked them on the griddle instead of deep frying them, but with a side of bacon and covered in maple syrup they were heaven on a plate.

And I woke up on my day off with a hankering.

If only there were some vast, interconnected network, a web if you will, of information...

Oh, wait!

So, after wading through two or three pages of search results, all making pancakes instead of corn muffins or corn bread, I found some that had actual corn in the pancakes, which is what made Mom's so special.

OK, the easy way is a box corn muffin mix, with a can of creamed corn added.

Yummy!  Eventually.  No pics.  To tasty to run get camera.

Mistakes: 

• If adding creamed corn, reduce milk.  I wound up with a far too soupy batter, and adding Bisquik to thicken.  I suppose you could use whole kernel corn, drained if canned, and not have that problem.
• Like someone whose kitchen experience is strictly watching Mom cook, I had the griddle turned up to high, and then turning it down when it was hot enough to cook pancakes.  And then not waiting until it had cooled off enough to cook safely.  Threw half the results out.
• Didn't have all my stuff ready before getting started. The "mess" mostly involved tossing stuff in the sink to deal with later, and in at least one case grabbing the wrong tool.  (Yeah, I know there's a fancy cook's term for this, whatever.)
• Posting to the blog before telling Mrs. Drang -- that sound you just heard is her reading this and wondering what state I left her kitchen in.

Possibly because my participation has been minimal...

...Mrs. Drang's vegetable garden is doing well.

(I helped fill the containers, watered, and made holes for plants to fill.)

Somehow, I see a lot of salads in the near future...

And strawberries, eventually.

Somebody contact Guinness, I think we have a new record for spinach...

Oh by the way...

and, also oh by the way

Now, honestly, I think a lot of the "sound and the fury" over genetically modified food is greatly exaggerated.  We've been hybridizing critters and plants to make them easier to raise, tastier, and easier to prepare for millenia.  Which doesn't mean that there might not be safety and health concerns.

And while I am all for free enterprise, the concept really doesn't include preferred treatment of protection.  Which democrats are always railing against, but then practicing when they're in office.

Like I just said on Facebook in this specific context, I place no faith in what politicians say, bit that doesn't mean we shouldn't just accept that they're lying hypocritical dirtbags.

UPDATE:  In case you missed it -- and part of the issue is that it was allegedly snuck into the latest in a series of continuing resolutions without the knowledge of most legiscritters -- here is Snopes' write-up of the so-called Monsanto Protection Act.

Looky what I made!

Go ahead and share it on your Facespace, your blog, your Twitter, etc. Attribution would be nice.

He's like Fred Rogers' Evil Twin. Maybe we can get a restraining order to keep him inside New York City limits. He wants your guns, you sugary drinks, your extra large drinks, your salt, your loud music...

BACON! ON SALE NOW!

At W00t! Bacon: Arise From Your Grave Sale ends September 21, or when all supplies are gone.

Still haven't gotten the nerve...

...but here's Howard Taylor's Chupaqueso recipe.   Mmmm, cheese. 

Bacon optional. 

Or, not.

Dinner, 05/25/2012

Bangers and mash, and mushy peas w/mint.

Deschuttes Brewing Inversion IPA.

Yes, I'm drinking the Deschuttes from a Samuel Adams beer glass.

The sausages are Johnsonville Beer Brats.

Mushy peas:  Cook the peas until they're done, add "a handful of mint", and smoosh. Rumor has it you could use a blender or food processor...

Mrs. Drang added a bit of onion, too.

She says next time she may try with fresh peas, I think I'll be working overtime that day...

QOTD, 05/16/2012

In response to a suggestion that steak be sliced and added to a salad:

I have to admit, I kind of like serving some animals up dead on beds of the stuff they usually eat.

My favorite? Lion steaks on tri-tip of antelope.

Howard "Schlock Mercenary" Taylor, on Facebook.