Those Crazy Raccoons!

It was September 28, 1998. We were living in Long Beach, Mississippi - a few miles west of Biloxi - about 100 yards off the beach itself. Hurricane Georges was nearly upon us and we had brought the motorcycles into the living room, filled up the bathtub with fresh water, and battened down the hatches.

My husband and I were playing Scrabble by candlelight, listening to the fury of the storm when I heard the strangest sound. It was a kind of "chittering" noise and it worried me because I couldn't identify it.

 I looked out the front window and saw the funniest thing EVER. We had a persimmon tree in the yard. The wind was whipping that 10-foot-tall tree so hard it was touching the ground before it sprang back up and blew over to touch the ground on the other side. Clinging tightly to the branches were not one, not two, but THREE adult raccoons - and they were squabbling over the persimmons as well as enjoying the wildest ride of their lives! We watched them for at least ten minutes before they tired of the game (or had eaten enough of our persimmons).

We were lucky. The storm surge didn't hit us, and the Category 2 storm didn't do much damage.  And we will never forget those nutty raccoons!

My Favorites: Seriously The Best Brownies I've Ever Had

Brownies. Mmmmmm. I've always been a chocoholic, so brownies were one of the first things I learned to make as a kid. Early on every batch of brownies had a bit of my knuckle skin in it from grating the chocolate by hand, but nobody noticed. These are fudgy, moist, and oh-so-bad-for-you. The recipe comes from Amy Vanderbilt's cookbook although I added the chocolate chips. You can frost them if you want to be obscenely decadent.

2/3 c shortening
4-1 oz squares unsweetened chocolate, grated
1 c packed brown sugar
1 c granulated sugar
4 eggs
1-1/3 c sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 c chopped nuts
2 t vanilla
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips (if desired)

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease 9x13 pan.
Combine 1st 4 ingredients in saucepan. Place over low heat; stir occasionally until shortening and chocolate melt. Remove from heat, add eggs, and beat until well blended. Sift dry ingredients together. Beat into egg mixture. Stir in nuts and vanilla until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake about 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center has crumbs on it. Set pan on rack to cool. Cut into squares or bars.

The Difference Between Scottish Cooking and Food (Guest Post)

Today's post is lifted in its entirety from W. Bruce Cameron's column.  I subscribe to him via www.arcamax.com.  The guy is hilarious!  Here's today's offering:

W. Bruce Cameron
Monday August 24, 2009 
The Difference between Scottish Cooking and Food 

Take the very worst of Scottish cooking, and what do you have? 

English cooking. 

That is the conclusion of a food historian named Cathryn Brown, whose research indicates that the Scottish dish haggis isn't Scottish at all, but was invented by the English, who apparently hate people. 

To define terms: "Haggis" refers to what happens when you take inedible animal parts, mix them with horse feed and cook it in a sheep's stomach. Nobody likes it, especially the sheep. "Scotland" is a country where it rains a lot. "England," same thing. A "food historian" is a person who talks about meals of the past, whereas a person who dwells on meals of the future is "my father." A Scotsman himself, my father will view tonight's dinner and, without taking a bite, ask, "What's for dinner tomorrow?" 

Why a person who studies food would be interested in haggis is anyone's guess. 

Food historians will tell you that before the invention of food, people were remarkably hungry. What Cathryn Brown will tell you is that the first recorded mention of haggis is in a 1615 English cookbook, describing the dish as "very popular throughout England," so it must have been eaten in that-time-before-food that we were just talking out. 

The first mention of Scottish haggis doesn't appear until 1747, though in my opinion this proves nothing -- maybe it just took that long for the Scots to get up the nerve to eat it. 

The Scots are very proud of haggis, which was written about by Robert Burns, the Scottish national hero, "renegade poet" and creator of the song "Auld Lang Syne," whose lyrics go like this: 

"Should old acquaintance be forgot, 

"And la la, la la, la la, 

"Should old, um ... hmm hmm hmmm 

"La la la, in old lang syne!" 

A Scottish friend of mine gave me a tin of haggis as a gift, which I accidentally left sitting out on a table at a restaurant when I left. When I realized my mistake, I rushed back to the restaurant, but I was too late: Someone had already been to the table and left two more tins of haggis. 

At any rate, Brown's research has stirred up the Scots, who have rallied their numbers by chanting the stanzas from Robert Burns' "Address to a Haggis": 

"Trenching your gushing entrails bright 

"Like onie ditch; 

"And then, O what a glorious sight. ..." 

It goes on from there. I think the last line is "La la la, in old lang syne." 

Picture going to a restaurant and saying, "I want the thing described as gushing in a ditch." 

"Good idea," my dad would say. "What's for dinner tomorrow?" 

Scottish cooks will advise you that the best way to enjoy haggis is to picture your mother-in-law eating it. Otherwise, you're advised to have a bottle of good Scottish whiskey nearby. Take a forkful of haggis with one hand, grab the bottle of whiskey with the other, raise the haggis toward your mouth, and then quickly lift the bottle of whiskey and hit yourself in the head with it. 

"Good job," my dad would say. "What are you going to hit yourself with tomorrow?" 

A slab of haggis on a plate is very attractive if you've never before seen food. Otherwise, you get an urgent message from your stomach saying something like, "You are NOT swallowing that!" followed by strong agreement from your throat and mouth, who advise you that if you ignore their warnings you're probably going to spend an hour or so gushing onie ditch. 

So some claim the Scottish deserve the credit for inventing haggis, while others disagree, saying the Scottish deserve the blame. Meanwhile, in England, people are quoted as saying: "Wait, you're going to do what to a sheep? And then eat it? Why can't we just have a traditional English dinner at McDonald's?" 

A lot of people who are descended from Scots will find this whole column offensive and will vigorously defend haggis because they've never tasted it. Yet my father, though proud of his Scottish heritage, won't care if you take his haggis away. 

He can always have it for dinner tomorrow. 

To write Bruce Cameron, visit his Website at www.wbrucecameron.com. To find out more about Bruce Cameron and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. 

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Copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.

Read more about W. Bruce Cameron at ArcaMax.com.

My Favorites: Shrimp & Peppers Fettucine

Although I'm disabled I still fill up my days with important things. I even get so busy that I forget to take something out of the freezer for dinner pretty often, too. 

Which reminds me - BRB...OK, got some pork chops out.  

On really busy days I'll turn to my personal collection of "Quick & Excellent" recipes. This one results in a gourmet-style meal of shrimp and pasta. All you really need to serve with it are some rolls with herbed butter.

I recommend you not substitute dried pasta for the fresh fettuccine unless you're really in a pinch. Fresh pasta always tastes so much better than dried! And we choose not to use green bells in this recipe; we feel they overpower the subtle flavors of the poblano and garlic. And finally, this one's great because if I forget to get the frozen shrimp out in the morning, all I have to do is cut open the package, shake out as much ice as possible and fill the bag with cold water - the shrimp thaws in a jiffy.

Here it is. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Shrimp & Peppers Fettucine
4 servings

Ingredients

1 9-oz. pkg. refrigerated spinach fettuccine
4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 small red, green, yellow, or orange sweet peppers, (or 2 lg.) seeded and cut in strips
1 small or medium poblano pepper, seeded & cut in strips
2 medium onions, cut in thin wedges
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 lb. peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. dried basil, crushed

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and return to pan. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, in skillet heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in peppers, onions, and garlic; stir-fry 4 to 6 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add shrimp, cayenne pepper and basil. Cook 2 to 3 minutes more or until shrimp are opaque, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta.