Spigot maintenance by Miller Lite!

Little known or understood by the non-beer drinking masses are cleanliness issues of those little spigot's from which bartenders, all across the nation, pour out a refreshing mug of beer!

Like anything else, beer spigots can become gem infested. Think about it, beer is a nutrient rich liquid and were I a microbe, I'd high tail it to the nearest orifice from which that wonderful nectar burst forth! After all, what self respecting microbe doesn't want to imbibe a brewski?

Enter the spigot maintenance personnel whose job it is to make sure the innards of each are pristine. As a frequent customer of a local bar and eatery aka Charlie's Rib Steak and Ale located in Forsyth Missouri, I've noticed only one spigot – the Miller Lite one, to be serviced on a regular basis. Here we see a gentleman named Cody cleaning and servicing the Miller Lite spigot. Those other beer brands? I'm not sure... I've never seen one actually being cleaned.

Random thoughts on food!

Is chili becoming a gourmet dish, cost wise?

Circa early October 2015. Here was the cost breakout for a pot of homemade chili:

Ground beef, 453 g $4.59

Petite tomatoes, 441 g $0.97

Red beans, 411 g $1.25

Williams chili mix $1.49

Total $8.30

Was this kind of expensive for a bowl of red? You betcha. I purchased my ingredients at a Country Mart grocery store located in Forsyth, Mo. I estimated there were about five servings at a per serving cost of $1.66. Ergo, homemade chili is still cheaper than buying it at a restaurant, but the margin is getting more narrow all the time! Note that back in 1970, a bowl of chili purchased at a diner cost only about fifty cents!

Stretching restaurant food!

Case in point: An order of ten chicken wings with fries and a tub of Ranch dressing. Cost $12.

Take home orders offer distinct advantages over eating at the venue. My purchase was also without tip, a savings of 15%! When I got it home, I broke up the order into three servings at a cost per serving of $4.00 with the Ranch dressing serving as a bonus that went on a simple salad I made myself! This was a win win as not only did I enjoy three great meals, but the smaller portions also helped to keep the calories at a manageable level!

FDA to issue rule requiring paper spoons, knives and forks!

After receiving complaints from numerous political action groups; the EPA has determined that some food services will no longer be allowed to use plastic knives, spoons and forks as part of their offerings. Citing both environmental and HLS concerns, the FDA has decreed that plastic utensils do indeed pose a 'clear and present danger' to the public. Additionally, the environmentalists state that plastic utensils are not a 'green' product, while the Homeland Security people feel that plastic can still potentially 'penetrate' a human body under extreme circumstances, and therefore should now be considered contraband by law!

In response, the EPA has now directed that all food services in 2016, who cater to select select mass transportation carriers, be required to serve only paper based utensils! And, while they freely admit that these items will be fragile in nature, they promised to issue pamphlets advising consumers to please 'eat rapidly'.

President Obama was said to have hailed this move as a 'fair, progressive and safe' direction for Americans and discouraged the hoarding of the plastic variety.Your friendly government is everywhere - protecting you from cradle to grave, whether you want them to or not!

Are the End Times coming?

It will be most enlightening if this last Harvest Moon eclipse does bring about the End Times as foretold in Bible in Acts 2:20 and Revelation 6:12....

Shadowrock Park emeges from beneath the waves!

Forsyth MO - According to Forsyth City Supervisor, Chris Robertson, 'efforts were now underway' to clean up debris that were a result of flood conditions that affected two popular parks on the outskirts of the town.

Mr. Robertson went on to state that 'there are no plans to reopen the park for camping until next year'. He also implied that the barricades would remain in place in order to allow the ground under the roadways to thoroughly dry and thus prevent potential damage from vehicular traffic.The author of this post assumes that situation would also apply to Shadowrock's sister park, River Run, which is still mostly inundated as of late September.

At some point in time, during the fall, a public announcement will be made to request volunteers to help with the final cleaning. This will have to wait, according to Supervisor Robertson, until the park is completely dried out and the bathroom facilities can be made available. That could well be sometime after mid October, assuming we do not get any more significant rainfall.

Critique: Best Choice frozen beef patties!

As many of my readers might have already guessed, frozen beef patties run in a wide range, as to ease of preparation and overall taste. Schwan's fire grilled Angus beef steak burger #444 is one of the best I've ever prepared or eaten! They are fully cooked and are ready from the microwave in a matter of minutes! Other frozen burgers required time to cook, either in a frying pan, broiled or from the grill. This offering from Best Choice is of the latter variety, but, not by much!

While I do not remember what I paid for these burgers, Value Mart sells them online for $18. Each patty is advertised to be a quarter pound or about 113 grams. That comes to about 1.3 cents per gram while Schwan's came in at 2.5 cent a gram! So, if the cost is a valid factor, it's established that perhaps the Best Choice burgers maybe not as high a quality as those offered by Schwan's on a gram for gram basis.

I choose to prepare my burger in a stainless steel frying pan on an induction plate. (I choose this arrangement due to the fact that induction cooking uses way less electricity that a regular stove top would). I also used a bit of Mrs. Dash steak seasoning. The directions were not very clear as they indicated you needed to cook the meat until the temperature had exceeded 165 degrees. If you don't happen to have a handy dandy meat thermometer, then you are forced to guess. I went ahead and guessed.

After cooking for a number of minutes, I allowed the meat to 'rest' on a paper towel for about a minute. I used that time to slice some onion and grab a few leaves of Romaine lettuce. Then, with some mustard and ketchup slathered on and a side of broccoli, I took a bite...

The taste was not all that bad. Mind you, it was not as good as the meat from Schwan's (could have been the seasoning), but definitely very edible. I gave it a 7 on a scale of 10. And after the package is used up, I'll have a decision to make, won't I.

My stir fry attempt number 812!

'Making a great beef stir fry is not a piece of cake. I get that! This is especially true, if you are going for a truly winning recipe!' DanO Demento circa 2015

OK, so this was going to be my stir fry attempt number 812. (Please dear reader, just don't fault me for trying). At the ripe old age of 65, I was still bravely carrying forth a culinary effort originally begun at the tender age of 15. And yes, while my peers were moving on to Junior High, and then to High School and even college; I was existing in a damp basement with only a Janis Ian record, a dented wok and an old propane grill for company! At night, I'd scrounge around in back alley dumpsters for bits of green pepper and other edible odds and ends. Most days, my stir fry efforts were an abysmal failure. I remember once on the 70's, while in a drug induced stupor and listening to Jimi Hendrix, I'd assembled a truly nightmarish mix! It contained only some chunks of meat, Worcestershire sauce and chopped cantaloupe... seriously? Hey, I was surviving back in those days, just not eating very well...

2013 AD- Man, the decades came and went by so darn quickly... (Alas, opportunities to make something of myself also came and went even more quickly). Sadly, all those years I spent in a basement attempting recipe after recipe, were not very kind to me physically. Yet over that time, I did became a man, (abet a person who was sullied and intellectually shallow), as I had foregone any formal education while engaged in my search for the Holy Stir-fry Grail!

Looking back. I realized I was abnormally obsessed with that effort, even to the point of self destruction! (I'd even had a tattoo placed on my forehead that read 'HSG' for crying out loud)! A mark that I'm sure chased many a promising young woman away. And still, time moved ever forward...

2015 AD – At last! Now, an aging and decidedly ugly old gnome, I'd finally stumbled across a recipe that I thought just might vindicate myself lo these many years! Please, let me share.... In the background Janis sang 'At Seventeen'.....

Ingredients:

1/4 cup beef, cubed

1 banana pepper, sliced

1/4 bell pepper, sliced

1/4 onion,sliced

4 mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Rosemary, just a twig

Oregano, a dash

olive oil, ½ tsp

Heat all the above in a frying pan over medium heat until done! See! That's pretty darn easy and awesome. Refrain: 

'I've learned the truth at 65, on stir fry beef you can survive. While others strive to be supreme, I've been living a hot pepper dream....Yes, small town eyes will gaze at you when exceptional food exceeds accounts received!' 

Anyway, enjoy!