Nothing like an old rusty gate…and a little college football… September 20, 2010

Look out South Carolina....

Ok, the weekend was fab…the Auburn tigers pulled it out(it being the game) in the last half against a very tough Clemson tigers….all’s well that ends well, as the saying goes. Oh, and the bison burgers were also fab…with Roquefort topping for  blue cheese lovers, and pimento cheese topping for the pimento cheese lovers(and who doesn’t love homemade pimento cheese, y’all). And there are, let me tell you, quite a few South Carolina Gamecock fans in the newsroom, and as Auburn hosts them this weekend, how do they say…oh yeah….”Jimmy, it’s oooooonnnnn!!! “

I love the heart shapes on it.....so sweet...

The project of the weekend was putting up an antique metal gate I found at C-MArt( which I missed so badly while they were gone). There was a little green picket gate here before, which was falling apart, and I’ve always wanted an iron gate. The trouble with this one(and probably any old gate) is that it wasn’t really straight, and there was no easy way to connect the gate to the wall, since it came with absolutely no parts or hardware… just here’s you gate Ma’am,…good luck.

painting still to be done of the brick and the wood....

So we ordered old rusty hinges from the “ye olde rusty hinge catalogue“, and someone who’s way better than me at stuff like that attached it to another piece of wood and then  attached that piece of wood to the wall. It’s not finished yet, as you can see.  But overall, I like the look of it, and it functions well. Now just some painting to be done of the wood strip, and the brick where the wood that used to hold the wooden gate was. That’s probably my department….and next weekend’s project.

OVERHEARD IN THE NEWSROOM: “When Alabama plays Arkansas this weekend, if they win by one or they win by one-hundred, they’re the number one team in the country, and anyone who says differently is freakin’ wrong.”

Rescue from a nightmare “rescue farm”…and it’s Friday people! September 17, 2010

This horse weighed 900 pounds in July, now down to 700..

Ok, this is a story you must see tonight on 11 News at Five….about horses that were given to a “horse rescue”  place in West Virginia….because the owners couldn’t care for them anymore, but here’s the catch. The woman who runs the “rescue” place….puts these horses out to pasture with no feed and no water. They were slowly dying from hunger and dehydration. What a terrible cruelty…and worse because the place accepted healthy animals and starved them. Who would do such a thing? Collect money to care for animals and then deny them any sustenance? 

This vet said, "He's just bones covered by skin."

Luckily an investigation led to their true rescue…those in worst shape were taken to Day’s End Farm (here’s a link)in Howard County…where the horses are being rehydrated and fed, and hopefully, brought back to health.  As the vet in the story said about these horses…”They’re just bones covered by skin“.  Even these people at Days End who are used to seeing malnourished and abused animals, were shocked. 

Worker at Day's End Farm....

Honestly, it just makes me very very sad…and then very very mad. There’s just no excuse at all…I hope you’ll watch Rob Roblin’s story at five. Rob asked me  if we should warn viewers that the video might be disturbing….I told him people should be disturbed. That if you can see something like that and NOT be disturbed something is wrong with you.  So if you’re disturbed tonight, you can blame me.  Here’s a link for more details about Rob’s story…

OK, enough about that,,,happy thoughts, happy thoughts…it’s Friday people!! Friday after a somewhat stressful week. I’m gonna have dinner with my sweet daughter tonight(135% Wine Bar in Hampden), and Auburn plays Clemson Saturday night…hollah!! We’re doing bison burgers with a choice of toppings(tba toppings)…sweet potato fries and a black bean salad. And, something for dessert(hello, Sugarbakers?)…so all is well. Hope all of you have a great weekend…play nice, don’t throw rocks, and come home safe(that all takes on special significance to me after this week)…’cause we miss you.

Bison Burgers, coming up…. June 7, 2010

All grass fed...all natural...and all delicious.

I was at the increasingly well attended(some would say crowded) Sunday morning Baltimore City  farmer’s market under the JFX this weekend, and this time(unlike last week)I arrived early enough to get some ground bison….buffalo meat, ok?…. at Gunpowder Bison and Trading Company…here’s a link. Why, you may ask, would one eat bison? Oh dear reader…the benefits are many. Less fat than beef, grass fed, and raised without antibiotics, growth additives and hormones, and the flavor is just amazing.

Gonna be some bison burgers tonight.....get the grill ready

Really, I have grown excessively fond of bison burgers. And while you can  just slap patties on the grill, but I like to add some sautéed onion, a little Worcestershire sauce, and even some cooked quinoa(ok another new food for some of you…pronounced “keen-wa”…a wonderful grain very high in amino acids and other good stuff, gluten free)…cause when you add the grain, the bison meat goes much further, and it makes the burger even more moist and healthy….added benefit, quinoa cooks in about 12-15 minutes.  Gunpowder Bison is right up I-83 on Monkton Road, and they welcome visitors….I’ve never been, but they tell me you can see the bison grazing right outside the store where they sell all their products.

Two of the main ingredients: good quality vinegar and ice cream

I also made some gourmet strawberry/basamic vinegar  ice cream, the easy way, natch….in an effort to use up some local strawberries that were…umm… racing decay. And I think you’ll love it. I read this recipe a couple of years ago and adapted it. You may understandably wonder…balsamic vinegar in ice cream???…. but like salt and chocolate, it’s an unexpected but  magical combination. You should use a premium vanilla  ice cream, and the best balsamic vinegar you can reasonably afford. You don’t need much and I can assure you a good quality bottle of vinegar(mine is aged 25 years and cost around $30, though you can spend much, much more…painfully more), lasts a long time, and is just fabulous on many things, including salads. The better the vinegar, the sweeter and less sharp it is…no comparison.

Chop the fresh strawberries....

In hindsight I wish I had chopped the strawberries finer or perhaps pureed them, as they do end up frozen and they made it a little hard to dip the ice cream, but ….whatever.

just mix it all up...the vinegar adds a great contrast to the sweet..

Put the berries and 4 or 5 tablespoons of the vinegar into the softened