Breakfast Squirrel for the TNS Lady

I've mentioned Michelle from Thursday Night Smackdown before. She has a cookbook collection from which she makes delicious-y sounding food, which I will probably never cook because my recipe dance card of 12 things is as full as it has always been, but I do love to eat vicariously so I tend to tune in to check on what she's doing.

Her latest post mentions chocolate cookies, her dogs, squirrels, Tyra Banks, and seems to convey the idea that happiness is indeed not a warm gun. She never reads my blog so I'm going to offer her this recipe (she will never see it) which would solve her dogs vs squirrels vs chocolate cookies predicament. I would say anyone who has had squirrel for breakfast would tend to think happiness starts with a warm gun and ends with breakfast served over grits. But what do I know...


This recipe is courtesy of the Vashti Auxiliary in Thomasville Georgia

Breakfast Squirrel

2 Squirrels - you must find someone to skin and clean these if you don't know how
Salt
Pepper
Flour
Cooking Oil
Worcestershire Sauce
Milk or Water

Salt, pepper, and generously flour pieces. Preheat 1/4 inch cooking oil in heavy cast iron skillet on medium high heat. Fry until golden brown or about 10-15 minutes, usually turning once. Remove and drain on paper towels. Brown equal amounts of flour and pan drippings in skillet, stirring constantly to prevent lumping. Add 1 cup water or milk very gradually to each 2 tablespoons of flour used. Cook until thickened. Make enough to cover game. Correct seasonings with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Add game and simmer 1 hour or more, especially for squirrel. Serve over grits.

6 quail, 6 doves, or any combination can be substituted.


I recommend a 20-gauge shotgun with large game (6 shot) shells.

Two Things I Love About Knoxville*

M and M Catering and Bar-B-Que Carryout. Second ONLY to Abe's Barbeque in Clarksdale, Mississippi, my hometown, this is the next best barbeque I have ever put in my mouth. Ribs, chicken, pulled pork, catfish on Fridays, they've got it. Their sides are great: Coleslaw, baked beans, potato salad, even mac and cheese and green beans. 1039 Summerwood Rd, off Middlebrook Pike. 865-692-1003. Do NOT drive through Knoxville without checking this out.


Salon Visage Hair Salon. I would fly from Fiji to get my hair done here. Expensive. Worth it. Pictures to follow when I figure out how to use a flat iron. The hair style I want requires it. I bow to the superior intellect of the Drs. of Style-ology, Steve and Dustin. 865-694-4000.


*My precious niece Sara and her family lives in Knoxville. They of course do not figure into a post starting out with "two things."

Luddites of the World, Unite

This is reportedly one of the best GPS navigator units out there:



It's a Garmin Nuvi and goes for around $539.

Here's my navigation device:



I paid $7 for it and I never accidentally drive into a lake or take a wrong turn at Albuquerque. If only I still had that built in compass in my car, I'd have it made.

Mac and Cheese: Two Ways

Somehow tonight we ended up with bag o'Caesar salad for dinner (not pictured) and



This, which the 9-year-old scarfed up (no salad)

And



This, compliments of Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network.

You can put ham in this if you want, but really, it is quite perfect and totally decadent as an ovo-lacto vegetarian delight.

Here's the recipe. It goes great with any movie on AMC on Friday night. This feeds 4 very generously with plenty of leftovers for Saturday morning breakfast. Come on. You can't always eat cold pizza.

Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

10 min

Cook Time:

25 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

6 servings

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing dish
• 12 ounces wide egg noodles
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups (packed) grated Fontina
• 3/4 cup (packed) finely grated Parmesan
• 3/4 cup (packed) grated mozzarella
• 4 ounces cooked ham, diced, optional
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Butter a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Drain well, but do not rinse.

Whisk the cream, milk, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in large bowl to blend. Stir in 1 cup Fontina, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, ham, if using, and parsley. Add the noodles and toss to coat. Transfer the noodle mixture to the prepared baking dish. Toss the remaining 1 cup Fontina, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup mozzarella in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the noodle mixture. Bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts and begins to brown on top, about 20 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Cars I Have Loved

I realized recently that I didn't really take "full body shots" (to quote Kip from "Napoleon Dynamite") of the cars of my youth. Still, I paid for these with my very own money and were picked out by me (or in the case of the Cougar and Datsun, FOR me by my daddy). I crammed as many as 3 children into the Honda Civic and it was with great regret that I gave it up for a huge monster truck that was great fun but not exactly practical for the 3 children and the honeymoon baby which followed.

Thanks to Google Images for getting my motor running one more time.



1974 Mercury Couger - Bucket seats, Floor shifter, so pretty! Used my life savings for the down payment. $2300



1981 Datsun 210 - baby blue. My daddy picked out a stick shift - what a trip that was. about $6000



1983 Honda Accord Hatchback - the first car to haul children around. This car was approximately the same size as the current 2009 Civic, maybe smaller. $8000 used




1992 Honda Civic - during a period of particular financial embarrassment, I bought this Civic which was the absolute bottom of the line. Who knew you could get a car with no radio? I drove it for over a year that way. I think I paid about $8000 brand new (no radio).

After a long hiatus of driving monster trucks and minivans, I'm back in a Honda, this time a Fit, the new incarnation of the subcompact offering from Honda. This one does have a radio (and cruise control), and according to the advertisements, I can haul a llama around in the back if I configure the seats in a certain way. Most likely, I'll just be coming back from Sam's after stocking up on canned tuna and bottled water for the coming Hard Times.



And here's the llama/alpaca:


I'm pretty sure they spit on your shoulder if you let them take a ride. Ewww.