Saturday, January 31, 2009

Weekend Report...



Well once again...life changes.

They have decided to YET AGAIN change our work schedule for the umpteenth time. Just when I had it worked out where I could do some BBQ competitions...WHAM...

Guess what boys, we are going to screw up your life...yet once again...so bow down, praise us, kiss our feet and all hail the mighty OZ...

I will not put into print here...what is on my mind or on my tongue.



I will however...hold that anger for a later time, when I collect a much convented IOU note I have in my possession and make these clowns bend over and grab their ankles...


Anyway...as I wrote in an earlier post, here are a few recipes for you to look over.



Spicy Sausage Cheese Appetizers

INGREDIENTS
1 pound spicy bulk pork sausage
2 cups biscuit baking mix
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons canned chopped jalapenos, drained
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced garlic (optional)

DIRECTIONS
In a skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and cool completely. In a bowl, combine biscuit mix, spices and cheese. Stir in the sausage, water and jalapenos.

Shape into small balls and place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Refrigerate leftovers. (oven temps vary, so keep an eye on these with your oven)


Pigs in a Blanket

Ingredients
1 package small cocktail wieners
1/2 cup shredded Colby jack cheese
2 packages crescent rolls
favorite barbecue sauce for dipping

Directions
Unroll crescent rolls.
Cut each crescent roll into thirds, making 3 small, long triangle strips.
Sprinkle shredded cheese over triangles.
Starting at one end, roll hot dogs in crescent.
Place on greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve with barbecue sauce or ketchup for dipping.


These are great cooked on the smoker or grill
Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Ingredients
1 package Little Smokies
1 pound bacon
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Apple Cider vinegar

Directions
Cut bacon slices in half.
Wrap one piece of bacon around each smokie and place them seam side down in glass baking dish.
Top with brown sugar and drizzle with vinegar.
Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator and bake in a 350° oven for one hour.
Remove from baking dish and transfer to a small slow cooker to keep them warm while serving.


Chicken Dip

Ingredients
1 package vegetable soup mix
10 ounces chicken - canned
8 ounces sour cream
8 ounces mayonnaise
1 cup Cheddar cheese - finely shredded

Directions
Mix all ingredients together in a medium sized mixing bowl.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Serve with crackers.


Southwest Chicken Nachos

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast - chopped into small piece
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups 3 pepper cheese, or jalapeno cheese
8 ounces sour cream
4 teaspoons pickled jalapeno, finely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
tortilla chips
salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F.
In mixing bowl, combine chicken and lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.
In skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until hot. Saute bell peppers until crisp-tender; approximately 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Heat 1/2 tablespoons oil in the skillet and cook garlic, cumin, oregano; stir approximately 1 minute. Sir in beans and cook until heated through; season with salt and pepper.

Layer tortilla chips on the bottom of the baking dish, then sauteed peppers, beans, chicken, cheese; all in that order. Repeat, starting with a layer of tortilla chips.
Place in the oven and bake until cheese is melted.

While the nachos are baking, mix the sour cream and pickled jalapenos in a small dish. Serve as a sauce for the nachos. Add more jalapenos to reach desired heat.

Grilled Chicken Wings

The Marinade
1 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce
4 lbs chicken wings (about 24)

Combine all ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl and stir thoroughly. Place the chicken wings in a large plastic food storage bag and pour in the marinade. Press out the air and seal the bag tightly. Massage the bag gently to distribute the marinade.

Set and refrigerate for several hours (best overnight) massaging the bag occasionally.

Prepare a Medium fire in your grill. Position an oiled grill rack 4-6 inches above the coals or gas grill. Remove the wings from the marinade, shake off the excess and arrange on grill rack. Return marinade to a sauce pan and bring to a boil for a few mins.

Grill, turning frequently and brushing with the reserved marinade. About 25 to 30 minutes should do it until the skin starts to char.

These finished wings will be superb. You may want to have a couple of bottles of hot sauce available when you serve them. And plenty of ice cold beer.

And speaking of beer...

Best Recipe I have ever seen

1 Cooler
3 Bags Ice (cubes)
1 Case Beer

Remove cans from recycleable cardboard holder.
Place cans in cooler, intermingling with ice cubes.

Chill 45 minutes and serve.



Enjoy your day and tomorrow's big game.

B.D.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Simply Thursday...



B.D. what are you doing for the big game?

I have no idea...



It will probably just be me and Julie, Robyn and Sweetie, and it really depends on the weather. We'll see...

I'll post a few recipes here for you to check out. So...

Stay tuned.



B.D.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Wordless Wednesday...



"You all laugh at me because I'm different, I laugh at you because you're all the same."- John Davis

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Weekend Report...

What a difference a day makes...



Fired up the Holland last night to show her a little love and cooked some steaks & shrimp.



Today will be about 32 degrees with winds out of the North.
(oh my gawd it's a heatwave)



So...what's on the menu for tonight?



One guess...and it starts with a "C" done in the oven, not on the grill.

Whys that B.D. build a fire in the fire pit to stay warm and grill them bad boys up.

Shhhh...Jethro. What the hell is wrong with you? Have you not known me long enough for me to even dignify a reply to that remark?

Build a fire to stay warm...

Do I look like a throwback of the caveman? God gave man fire, that cooked his food and kept him warm. But God also gave man a brain...




Hmmm...fire...warm...toasty...me call indoor oven, go well with indoor TV.

B.D.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Fabulous Friday...



First off, to update you on my epic battle with the nasty little bastards that invaded my Castle and brought me to my knees. It was one hell of a war and the "Fat Lady" almost got to sing a song or two but I'm fine now, feeling much better. At least I made it past Christmas before things went south.

Next time, I'll drink a gallon of orange juice and a truck load of Vodka. If I'm going to be sick and feel like crap it might as well be a "happy snoot full" feeling like crap kind of sick. Nasty little bastards...

Anyway...

Today is going to be a F-a-b-u-l-o-u-s day with temps in the mid 60's

Woo-hoo!!!



Time to do a little chillin' & grillin' this afternoon. Oh yeah babe...

B.D.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Wordless Wednesday...

An Obituary printed in the London Times.......

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense who has
been with us for many years.

No one knows for sure how old he was, since his
birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be
remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as...

Knowing when to come in out of the rain.

Why the early bird gets the worm.

Life isn't always fair.

And maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more
than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place.

Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job
that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent
to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student, but could not inform
parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses and
criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her
lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust. By his
wife Discretion and his daughter Responsibility and his son Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers.

I Know My Rights.

I Want It Now.

Someone Else Is To Blame.

I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone...

Monday, January 19, 2009

This & That...



It's one more for the record books. The party's are over and life returns to semi- normal. Or is that just wishful thinking on my part...


Got a little surprise this morning.



Just a dusting of the "white stuff."

Sweetie said "Let me back in the house!"


After bowling last night, we as a group (meaning a number of friends) became adventurous and headed out to a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant.



While many were stuffing their faces with margaritas, I was holding hands with my ever faithful companion...beer.

I'm not a switch hitter (most of the time, only on a very rare occasion) when it comes to the drinking of a libation. What I start with is usually what I finish with.

I learned this the hard way after many hangovers and headaches years ago. But anyway... back to the story.

I'm not much on Mexican food. Just kind of like everybody else, the occasional taco or burrito or soft taco. The Americanize version of Mexican food I guess you could say. Not the real stuff, but here we were, in a real Mexican hole in the wall.



Now most of the time I have a rule I go by...if I can't pronounce it...I ain't eatin' it. So I had Julie pick something.

I'm not really sure what it was (all I know is it was number 39 on the menu) but it had some righteous heat to it and I don't mean hot off the grill heat I mean some heat - heat. (Which I'm paying for today, thank you very much)

Back in the old days...the old timers would say "Go sit down in the creek for a spell boy."

Maybe that's the reason why I came up with that rule...

B.D.

Dang, what's that smell?

Smells like burnt underwear...

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Weekend Report...

My day has somewhat been planned. Here are a few pictures of better days and better weather.

All is not lost...













Counting the days until Spring...

B.D.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Happy B-Day Robyn...



Today is Robyn's B-day. Our little girl is 7 years old today.

Our little girl is growing up...

Happy Birthday Robyn!!!



Everybody loves you, especially Momma and Big Daddy.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Simply Thursday...



It's colder than a "Well Diggers ass in Alaska." I hate this crap...

Spring can't come soon enough for me. I'm not built for this.

Long johns and thermal underwear are the order of the day...

I was not born to be a Polar bear.

You know...I hate to bitch...but...

B.D.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Wordless Wednesday...



It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.- Buddha

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Simply Tuesday...



What a crazy weekend of football. Who will go to the Super Bowl?

I guess we'll find out soon enough...

B.D. are you having a Super Bowl Throw Down?

Don't know Jethro, I ain't thought that far ahead yet. Right now...I'm good for thinking maybe about 4 hours ahead, 6 if I'm lucky...

I hardly ever make plans anymore because of the well known "I've already made plans gremlin" will jump in there and throw a monkey wrench into my well thought out intentions or proposals.

So no...I haven't made any plans yet, and this is not me opening the door of opportunity to anyone to make plans for me neither.

I just haven't gotten that far yet.

I've been a little busy...



B.D.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Weekend Report...



By now, you are probably tired of hearing about me being sick.

Well guess what...I'm tired of talking about it too! Nasty little bastards...

So...on to other things like wet, rainy, cold, miserable weather. Oh boy, my favorite time of year!

NOT...

We start bowling with my girls tomorrow...



...so I need to shake this crap out of my system pronto and get back up on my horse and be ready to ride.



Enjoy your day!!!
B.D.

Friday, January 09, 2009

This & That...



I'm still alive...just barely.

I have never been this sick before...this totally sucks wind.

B.D.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Simply Tuesday...



These are the germs from Hell!!!

Linda Blair ain't got nothing on these bad boys...

I haven't given up the fight just yet, but these germs have left a wasteland of destruction and battle scars behind that will take a good while to heal.



"Ah sweet revenge...thy name is Big Daddy."

Sunday, January 04, 2009

This & That...



Good as new...

That might take awhile. Whatever germ jumped my bones did not leave a smile on my face. It damn near put me in the hospital and still could...before it is all said and done.

I've been sick before.

I've been brought down to my knees once or twice before by germs that thought they were smarter than I was, only to have me annihilate their nasty pathetic souls with only a "pop of the top."

But these little fiends that cold cocked me this time...they are different.

They made my body work against me. Smart little bastards...

If my first, second and third line of defense fails and I'm fighting germs, and my body at the same time, it zaps your energy reserves and plays hell with your entire equilibrium and sends your body into shock and starts shutting systems down faster than you can restart them, letting the germs have "free run of the playground."

Smart and cunning little bastards...

It's going to take me awhile to get over this. I'm suffering right now, but I'm also preparing to rebuild my castle to be much, much stronger against the next assault.

I may be a prisoner, in this round of germ warfare but the "Fat Lady" ain't sang yet brother...



Julie is starting to feel the "after effects" of this epic battle that has raged on as some of these lowlifes have broken off their assault on me and started to cross her moat and invade her castle.

"That's alright honey, I took some fight out of 'em."



They ain't as tough as this old bear...

B.D.

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Weekend Report...



When life hands you onions, make onion rings. From the book -
Chronicles of life and other fancy sayings by Big Daddy



What can you do?

Just ride it out and deal with it...

I feel better. Nowhere near 100%...more like 30%...but that's better than a few days ago when I was in negative territory and taking on water faster than I could bail it out. But...the boat is patched and limping its way back to shore for repairs.

Maybe a complete overhaul...

I don't make New Years Resolutions...I make decisions.

I don't make promises I can't keep. I'm a Pessimist, an Optimist, a Realist and a Libra all at the same time. That's a tough one...

I have...come to realize...that running against the wind all of these years has had adverse effects on my body as a whole and I've been kidding myself about that.

Being sick this go around...changed my mind. Things have to change...

So no resolutions...only decisions of lifestyle changes plain and simple.



Time to get my ying and yang back in balance...

B.D.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Welcome 2009...



Why start a new year with a hangover...when you can start it with a cold. The only bottle I've been partying with this week is a bottle of Tylenol.

At least I made it past Christmas, before the floor dropped out from under me. It's been a rough few days...

I feel better today. Julie worries about me because I've been struggling with breathing, sometimes with great difficulty and I have to focus on that and make my body calm down.

But, I have sneezed I don't know how many times, coughed up a lung more than once and felt like I had a 300 pound crazy nymphomaniac doing a lap dance on my chest. My lungs hurt, my ribs hurt, my neck and my brain hurts...

The only good thing about this is I haven't had a brew or a smoke in almost a week.

That's the best time to hang them up for good...

B.D.