The Great Horned Owl

A while ago I received an e-mail from my daughter, Telling me about this wild owl she now has. I knew about the Wolf that she has and the Tortoise, she keeps in the back yard. Tiger and I are on our yearly migration route, So we stopped by to see these marvels of hers.

Wow! To my surprise she has two wolves now and the owl. Traci is a naturalist and she uses these animals as educational tools. Most of these

animals are injured in some way and can’t survive on their own in the wild. So you get licensed (Mucho Bucks) through your state and spend about 4000 hours learning how to take care of them and you can have one. (These are not pets)

This owl is called The Great Horned Owl, because of its  (tufts) or feathers that bear semblance to  horns. This bird is just absolutely beautiful.

Most of us have seen barn owls, and heard the hoot of the owls at night, but until you have seen one alive and up close, it’s hard to imagine how striking these birds really are. Since I’m staying at the VFW #4647 here in North Highlands and we are having a BBQ ribs and chicken at the post this Friday night, We decided to bring the bird with us to promote the educational aspect of the owl. Most of the non-profit organizations ( like VFW, American Legion, Moose Lodges, Elks Lodges, and Eagles) do a lot of work with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other children of need. So to have an educational tool like this available to the post is a great advantage. So I introduced Traci to the Commander (Gary) at the post and to some of the members.   Traci was mobbed for pictures and everyone wanted to pet the bird. (Sorry that’s a no-no)

Some Facts:

The great horned owl is a large, aggressive, and powerful. They hunt both during the day and night. They relish on frogs, insects, mice, rabbits, squirrels, porcupines, skunks and several other smaller birds, as well as cats and dogs. The owls can’t move their eyes like you and I . But they have a 14 neck vertebrae (The same as a giraffe) that can allow their head to move 270 degrees. These great horned owls hoot mostly in early winter, which is more of the pairing or mating time for the birds.

Great horned owls do not prepare their own nests, instead they take over vacant nests left by other birds. They also nest in tree holes, caves or stumps. The female owl lays 2-3 eggs in these nests and sits on them for a month or so. The live for about 50 years.

No matter how cute and adorable you find the owl chicks, think twice before you go near them. The owls are super protective of their young ones and will do anything to defend them. They are known to have attacked people who have tried wandering close to their young ones.

A humans grip is about 60 psi. This owl’s grip is about 500 psi. The beak is used for tearing met from the prey.

The talon’s are the main weapons of the owl.

I haven’t posted pictures of this event at the VFW, mainly for the privacy of the members. However I did list Traci’s website to the links of this blog. If you have questions feel free to e-mail her with any questions.

Till later keep healthy and safe, From Tiger and Stu

Hot Pastrami

I’ve had a real yen for a Hot Pastrami sandwich. But can’t find it here. So Tiger and I went to the internet to find out how to make it from scratch. How many of you knew that pastrami is made of Beef Brisket? (I didn’t). What I’ve found out is you can make your own quite easy. First you have to make the brisket into corn beef, then into pastrami. 

The difference between corned beef and pastrami is slight. In both cases, a beef brisket is 'corned' by curing it in a salt brine for a couple weeks. This comes from the days before the Ice Box, where they used salt and sugar to preserve meat for a long time. The term 'corn' comes from the fact that the salt used to preserve beef was roughly the shape of a corn kernel. (Like rock salt). To turn the corned brisket into a corned beef, you boil the meat. To turn the corned brisket into pastrami, you smoke the meat.

The Brine recipe:

    * 4 quarts water
    * 1 cup kosher salt
    * 12 cloves garlic, crushed
    * 3 tablespoons pickling spices
    * 8 bay leaves 

Yield: Enough brine for 2-3 lbs of beef

There are a lot of recipes on the internet for this brine solution. (I cheated). Since it’s Saint Patrick’s Day Corn beef is in all the stores so why wait for a couple of weeks. I just bought the Corn Beef and soaked it in a tub of water for 24 hrs to get most of the salt out and then I  added my dry rub and let it stand for another couple of hours and then smoked it.

 

 

We bought Mesquite for the smoke and the smoker with some briquettes .

Pastrami Dry Rub:

    * 1/4 cup kosher salt
    * 1/4 cup paprika
    * 3   Tablespoons coriander seeds
    * 3   Tablespoons brown sugar
    * 2   Tablespoons black peppercorns
    * 2   Tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
    * 1   Tablespoon white peppercorns
    * 8   cloves garlic, minced

Now it takes about 8 hours to smoke this meat. That is equivalent to a 30 pack of beer, or 3 liters of wine, or a 5th of scotch. (These amounts are adjustable according to personal preference). If you like watching grass grow this is the fun part.

No  I don’t have a slicer, so I take it to the VFW and use theirs. This slicer isn’t the best I’ve ever used but it did work. I take a couple of pieces and make a sandwich and it just isn’t like what I use to get in Sacramento. Don’t get me wrong it was great tasting and it was real pastrami. But something missing, from the taste I had in my mind. I remember it was boiling because of the smell of the water (so into a pot of boiling water it goes), I boil it just long enough to get the seasoning into the center of the meat.Drain, put on bun and add the mustard with horseradish and the little yellow peppers, chips and dill pickle.  So back to the store for the good stuff and let me tell you I just created an exact duplicate of what that pastrami taste like.  Or at least like the Pastrami I got at Auburn Blvd. and Hwy. 50. ( The place is closed now but I think the name was the Hot Pastrami).

  The meat comes out so tender and juicy…Hummmm!!!!!!Good..

Till later stay healthy and safe from Tiger and Stu

Broom Pool Nine Ball

Here we are again. It is slow at the VFW, American Legion, and the Moose as well as the Elks. Most of the snow birds that normally come down for the winter, stayed in Arizona because of the cold winter we had here. (Can’t blame them). So what can we do when you have nothing going on in the great city of Deming? You create something to do . So we got together and decided it had been 2 yrs since our last Broom Pool Tournament. With Betty’s, Chuck’s, and Wanda’s help we advertised it and made it happen. (Love it when a plan comes together. 

Barb got to play against her husband Jim, her first round.

 

         Never trust a woman with a broom.

                                                                                                                                           And Barb won that one.

  With Wanda, Patsy, and Robert looking on.  Chuck is up and ready to let it go.

This is how you stare down a ball that isn’t going where you want it to.

                                                                     Do you notice the chalk on the broom stick. We take this serious..

Go Leah. It’s okay Mike, you’ll get a shot.

                                                                                                                                                  Wanda has a shot.

Fred has a great shot, But missed it…

As you can see we all had a good time and everything went well. The winners had fun and the losers just wanted revenge.

The VFW made a little money to support our troupes and we got to do something we haven’t done in a long time. (I sure have a craving for a Hot Pastrami sandwich)!

 

Till next time keep healthy and safe. From Tiger and Stu

Super Bowl and Recipe’s

This blog update is two fold. One I forgot to put in the pictures of the Super Bowl. I have a friend that is a avid Green Bay Packers fan. She is the one that took the pictures and wanted to post them to the web. Of course I promised I would do that in my next blog. However you might have noticed I forgot to that on my last update.

Betty is one that loves Green Bay, even after Bret Farve. Her better half likes the Raiders. Poor Hector….

We all had a good time at the VFW and some even won money for a square..

If you notice the green and gold balloons, The black and gold are on the other side of the room. If you sat at the wrong table you could be in deep trouble…LOL 

We have to thank Chuck for getting us the 73” TV. Really made the night. Also we all made pot luck for the guest that wanted to eat. If you remember for my birthday last August my sister and I made a Black Forrest Cake. It turn out great. So I found a recipe for Black Forrest Cheese Cake. I made it for desert and jalapeno corn bread with three bean chili. I guess all like it cause I didn’t bring any home. It was gone.

 

Black Forest Cheesecake Recipe

* Prep: 20 min. + chilling

Ingredients

    * 1   package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
    * 1/3 cup sugar
    * 1   cup (8 ounces) sour cream
    * 2   teaspoons vanilla extract
    * 1   carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
    * 1   chocolate crumb crust (8 inches)
    * 1/4 cup HERSHEY®’S Cocoa
    * 1   tablespoon confectioners' sugar
    * 1   can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling

Directions

    * In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Fold in whipped topping. Spread half of the      mixture evenly into crust. Fold cocoa and  confectioners' sugar into remaining whipped topping mixture; carefully spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
    * Cut into slices; top each slice with cherry pie filling. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

This recipe is for you “sis” in case you don’t have it. 

And now the second part of this tale. I’ve never made bread before. So I decided to do just that. Well I don’t have a bread machine and I remember my Grandmother making bread. So I decided I would make it from scratch and with just my oven. I used all purpose flour and not bread flour. I don’t have a dough hook so all is done by hand. (This I do not recommend for anyone sane.) 

Even Tiger was looking at me like I was nuts… So this morning I started to work at making bread…When I threw that one away, This after noon I started again, (I hate to give up)..

My first loaf turned out to be wooden bowls. I mean the center was nice and chewy and the out side was like a log drilled out in the center. I could have sold these as indestructible bowls. You know once you take out the center bread you could fill the shell up with soup and left it their for a year and it would not have leaked.

If their is anyone out there that wondered where their mother got all those mussels for slapping, gouging, and pulling your ears out of your head. Believe me I’ve found her secret. Just try kneading bread. ( I have respect for those mothers). I figure a month of kneading and I could lift a tank. But I did learn from the first one and the second one came out great. (Or maybe I just wanted it to.)

Ahhh!!! At last.  Ummmm good.  They call me the little ole bread maker…LOL

Till next time keep healthy and safe..From Tiger and Stu

A Little Catch Up

It seems since I retired, I’m working more now than ever. I haven’t posted to the blog in a while and it seems some of you are missing what Tiger and I are doing.  Or so I’ve heard from some of my fan base (lol), telling me to up date the blog.  The best place to start is where I left off and fill you in on what’s happening. Christmas was Tiger’s birthday and since we aren’t around family here we just spent it with each other and I got him some new stuff to play with.

Like a new pillow to sleep on. He did get some toy’s that didn’t last the afternoon…

    When you get a new toy, you must be able to leap on it like a real Tiger or it isn’t any good. Once you’ve totally destroyed you new toy it’s time for a nap. Dad can clean up the mess..

Hey! What’s this a special dinner just for me…..?  Yep it’s a 1-1/2 inch thick Porterhouse. Yum, Yum.

Happy Birthday Tiger…

 

 

 

 

After a great Birthday we brought in the New Year. Since we don’t normally go out on New Years we just stayed home and a nice quiet cocktail.

Got plenty of sleep and started the New Year off with a clear head.   ( Yea, right!)

Yesterday the 5th of Mar. was our last day of the Pool Tournament, between the Elk’s, Legion, Moose and the VFW. We all had a good time for the last 6 months. The last game was held at the Moose Lodge and the winner of the trophy was the Elk’s Lodge. And the VFW came in 2nd with the Legion coming in 3rd, and the Moose bring up the rear.Individually, Bob B. was the winner in the total games won. I was 2nd, and Lew M. was 3rd, with Jimmy L.  coming in 4th. place. After the final game we had a great steak dinner with all the fixing's . This was prepared by Jerry and Sal from the Moose. We thank both of you for a great meal. 

Lets play Pool…. Go Bobbie..

Nice game Chuck…  Now I have lots of pic’s for the games but you see we all had fun. I’m reluctant to post all the pictures to the blog at this time you just never know who’s wanted….LOL

Till the next time stay safe and healthy..From Tiger and Stu

History of Christmas

The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.

In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home logs, they set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.

In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, they believed he made flights through the sky to observe his people, then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of this, many people chose to stay inside.

In Rome, where winters were not as harsh as those in the far north, Saturnalia—a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture—was celebrated. Beginning in the week leading up to the winter solstice and continuing for a full month, Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal Roman social order was turned upside down. For a month, slaves would become masters. Peasants were in command of the city. Business and schools were closed so that everyone could join in the fun.

Around the time of the winter solstice, Romans observed Juvenalia, a feast honoring the children of Rome. In addition, members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25. It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was born. For some Romans, Mithra's birthday was the most sacred day of the year.

In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. In the fourth century, church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention date for his birth.  Although some evidence suggests that his birth may have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century. By the end of the eighth century, the celebration of Christmas had spread all the way to Scandinavia. 

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

 

 

                                                          Till next time keep safe and healthy; from Tiger and Stu 

Mule Deer Hunt

Here it is Nov. 5th 2010 and Roberts hunting license begins on the 6th. I open the VFW, this day so Bob took off to set up camp and I will join him after work.

Of course Tiger has to go as well. 

                     Since we have the ATV’s and Bob took the RV up already we will leave about 4:30 pm for our hunt site.

Our hunting area is the same as last year, except we will be on top of Pino Alto’s and the lower side of Lake Roberts.

 

Bob has the RV set up and a good fire going by the time Tiger

and I get there.

                           Unload the ATV’s and we are ready to go. Tiger is already out hunting. Just can’t slow that puppy down.

                                                                                                  

We have plenty of fuel, plenty of water, plenty of food,

And plenty of Tiger.

Of course he has to check out Bob’s RV. No hunting trip is complete without an inspection.

Sure hope it passes inspection from Tiger. He is really picky…LOL

Tiger will have to stay and watch the RV. He can’t go hunting with us. The law you know.

Day one up at 4am and get fire going and cook breakfast before starting off.  

 

Darn it’s cold out here. And Tiger thinks were nuts.

Yep! that’s him just standing in the door way saying your Nuts. I’m not going out there. There’s cougar and bear out there.

He’s real brave.

 

Ah! Day light.

  Day two up at 5am. Day three up at 6am. Darn if we stay a week, we’ll be sleeping till noon. Needless to say we didn’t get a deer. However we did see alot of Doe’s.  These pic’s will show our trek for each day.

The red is our track with the ATV’s and the hiking.

Our camp sites.Bob made a mean stew, and Tiger likes the bones.

A friend of ours stopped by to say hi and to show us some of his favorite hunting spots. Thanks Louie for helping out.

Till the next time stay safe and healthy. From Tiger and Stu.