Making Bobby Flay's Spicy Pickles

From his recipe on the Food Network website. 

My sister-in-law had made a batch of spicy hot pickle chips a few months ago and gave us a jar. I really enjoyed them and wanted more. I came across Bobby Flay's recipe online and finished gathering the fresh ingredients today. It was an excuse to take "The Beast" out for a spin to the grocery store.

The vinegar based pickling brew cooling to room temperature before adding dill and cilantro

Chopping up the dill. Recipe calls for 3 tablespoons. The cilantro waits in the background

Sliced mini cucumber chips in a brand new 1 quart Mason Jar. I sliced them thinner than called for

The finished product ready for four days in the fridge. Ready to eat on Saturday

Since it was a nice warm afternoon I had the house windows open. While I was finishing up I heard gunfire from up in the woods, most likely coming from my good neighbor's range. Funny thing is it is over the hill behind Bitchy McBitchy Bitchface's house, but definitely close enough to hear well and she can't do a fuckin' thing about it. She was home too, and I'll bet seething with anger. I sent a text to see if it was him. The exchange went like this:

Me: "I hear the sounds of FREEDOM!"

Me: "I hope it is pissing off and freaking out my gun hatin' neighbor

Him: "Ha. How do Pal?"

Me: "Good. Thinking about going to the range later this week. Just gonna shoot .22 pistols. Got a few thousand rounds, so plenty."

Him: "Nice. Availability is getting better. Prices still high. Enjoy"

I'm not exactly sure what day I'll go. Supposed to be possibly severe stormy weather tomorrow afternoon and I have a couple of things I want to do beforehand. It's also going to be a scorcher and I don't find shooting pleasant with sweat dripping in my eyes. Thursday or Friday looks more promising and while at the club I need to sign up for working at the annual clambake in July.

Another Post In My "Old School" Series

 I'll start with the photo.

Western Electric Model 500W Black

This is all we originally had in my childhood home for most of the first decade we lived there. It had the standard 3 foot cord and was mounted on the wall in our kitchen. These older phones were hard wired, not the newer modular versions where the phone and the cords were easily unplugged and replaced. They were owned by the phone company and charged for as part of the monthly phone bill. If it needed repair, you had to call the phone company. DIY repairs or mods were VERBOTTEN and parts were next to impossible to get. But I remember my Dad putting a longer cord on the phone. My grandfather was a plant electrician at Monsanto in Springfield, MA and got a longer black cord from one of the Monsanto in-house New England Telephone technicians. He was told to replace the cord wires exactly as they were and how to open the phone unit. My Dad did the replacement successfully, and us kids were instructed to keep quiet about it. He didn't want us to say something to a school chum and end up having the parent working for the phone company. The phone company might check the records and find we weren't paying for a long cord... THE HORROR! No wonder AT&T had to get broken up back in 1984, the freakin' fear they instilled in people!

Anyway, we had an extension phone added in my parent's bedroom after an incident in the middle of the night. My parents were both members of the town volunteer ambulance corps. Mom was on duty during the day when we were in school, and Dad at night once a week or so. Dispatch was done by telephone. One late night, the phone rang, and Dad did a face plant into the living room while running down the hall to get the single phone in the kitchen. On a rotating basis, the ambulance was parked in our driveway, and I remember riding in it after my Mom picked it up for my Dad in the afternoon after she picked us up from school. The photo below is of a privately owned same era ambulance at a car show.

1964 Cadillac Ambulance

 

Anyway, back to the phone. Dialing a rotary phone actually takes some skill and manual dexterity in order to dial accurately. The dial is a spring wound mechanism that operates a make/break set of contacts timed to operate at 10 pulses per second. So a dialed "4" is four open/close cycles of the contacts, an "8" is eight open/close cycles, etc. A "0" was the full 10 cycles. As an aside, a rotary phone would work on a touch-tone enabled line, but a touch-tone phone wouldn't work on a rotary only line. This was back when all anyone had was a landline, and a rotary only line was cheaper and most likely what grandma and grandpa had. I was a landline holdout, but finally got rid of it 3 or 4 years ago. I had the ringers turned off and no answering machine or voicemail, and only used it for calling 911 or for pizza.

I know this will sound dumb to have to explain, but bear with me. To dial a number; you place your dominant index finger in the hole next to the desired digit, spin the dial clockwise all the way to the metal finger stop, and pull your finger straight out and all the way out of the hole allowing the dial to rotate counter-clockwise unimpeded. Repeat the process until the entire phone number is dialed. Not going all the way to the finger stop or allowing your "finger to linger" in the hole on the dial will result in misdialed or wrong numbers. Prior to the country running out of phone numbers in the early 1990's, you did not have to dial the area code for numbers that were local or in the same area code. Farther back than that, 5 digit dialing was allowed within the same exchange office. I remember calling my neighbor up the road about him taking me fishing and just dialing 5-2812, dropping the leading "87". All that convenience went away when Kommiecticut went to statewide 911 and the central offices all got upgraded to digital. Prior to the 911 system, every police/fire/ambulance service had an individual local number listed in the blue pages of the yearly phone book. Most people had the numbers for their emergency services on a hand written note on the refrigerator or near the phone. Some local fire departments would do a printed refrigerator magnet with the numbers on it for their area as a freebie or fundraiser.

I am going to pay closer attention to what people say. Old farts like me will still say "dial the number" when referring to making a phone call, and I believe the younger crowd just says "make a call."

Another Old School Low-Tech Device

What happens when your cell battery dies? How about if the government decides it is too dangerous for the public to have access to the same GPS that they use, and they shut it off? How will you know how to get around?

 In my time as a Zombie, I excelled at orienteering using one of these...

My Cammenga lensatic compass

This is my compass, there are many like it, but this one is mine...

 

...and one of these.

A topographical map of one of my favorite areas to hike, The Cat Rocks in Bigelow Hollow State Park

 

Click on the map photo to enlarge and check out those contour lines just to the left of Breakneck Pond. During the ancient seismic upheavals, many places in Kommiecticut  that had horizontal layers of strata were moved and turned vertically. It is a "knifes edge" cliff with lots of "caves" that are actually voids between layers of rock that broke off and fell, stacking up like a child's blocks. Some are the size of a small house and the voids are large and easy to get in and out of. Just be sure to have a flashlight to look inside first in case the void is occupied by a bruin or large cat. A map and compass aren't needed to get there because the trails are well marked and mapped by the state.

My unit did orienteering annually as a refresher and my team always came in first place and got the prize (usually a case of beer). The team relied on my abilities to navigate, find landmarks, and properly estimate and pace off distances. Before we headed to the next waypoint, I made sure everyone understood and agreed to go the next direction and distance required before proceeding.

While this is more advanced terrain navigating, how many people know how to read (or even possess) a paper roadmap? I keep a AAA version for CT, MA, & RI and a separate one for NY in my bike's trunk. When we are in the parking lot after breakfast trying to figure out a loop ride to take, it is so much easier to visualize a route on a spread out paper map and not on a little cell phone screen.

Blessing of The Bikes New London, Kommiecticut

Yesterday was the Blessing of The Bikes event held at the waterfront in New London, Kommiecticut sponsored by the New London M/C. It was a scorcher but relief came in the form of a stiff sea breeze off the cool waters of Long Island Sound. Because the Patriot Guard had a booth with a tent, we spent a good amount of time there, and I did my normal "aggressive" recruiting tactics. More on that later. It ran from 11-3 and we got down there a little before 11. Parking the bikes was a bit of a cluster but patience won out and everyone got parked so no one got locked in and could easily leave at any time.

Looking down the main drag of the piers where we were parked. There were lots more parked all over

None of my riding associates belong to any clubs, but there were lots of clubs represented there and everybody was polite to each other. Including the supposedly baddest of the bad The Hell's Angels. I have been at several events where they attend, and they ALWAYS behave themselves. But then, who in their right mind is going to go fuck with them? I am sure there was a proliferation of carried weapons, yours truly included, but amazingly as usual at these events there were no incidents of any kind. Armed polite society as the saying goes, unlike the shootings and other assorted violent crimes that occurred in the urban jungles around the state this past weekend. To prove the violence is more cultural or geographical and not a racial issue, there were plenty of black and brown people at this event, including clubs that were predominantly minority members. When everyone shares a passion like motorcycles, there is no reason for animosity and blatant racism is not present.

There were plenty of bike related vendors and food trucks. The New London MC was expecting 2000 bikes and I'll bet the number was higher. Getting food was pretty easy as the lines moved fast. We ate at Bear's BBQ which always has great food. A little expensive, but a huge portion. I got their brisket burnt ends served up in what they called a "Mac Attack." A layer of cornbread, a layer of their delicious Mac-n-Cheese, and then the meat. I slathered it in their sweet Kansas City sauce and washed it down with a bottle of water.

The view from where we sat and ate. It's the line for Supreme Hotdog. The Army patch is on my bud's back.

After lunch, we walked around and scoped out the vendors. The only thing we bought were event t-shirts being sold by the New London M/C. We brought them back to our bikes and moved the bikes up closer where lots of parking had been vacated. It got us 1/4 mile closer. We then ducked under the PGR tent for shade. About my recruiting tactics... most of the time when a PGR table is set up, those manning the table just sit and wait to be approached. Not me. I grab a handful of brochures and head out to the main walkway and hand them out. I explain to people how easy membership is and what the minimum requirements are... respect for the flag, the fallen, and their families, THAT'S IT! People are surprised that there is no meetings, dues, initiation, veteran or motorcycle requirement. Sign up with your email address, receive the mission alerts, and show up if you can. No one will ever bust your balls if you can't show up all the time or end up having to drop out. Every mission has a briefing so everyone knows where to go and what to do. Experienced members will help you with the military honor and parade commands if you didn't serve and don't know them. I hope my efforts pay off.

Looking towards the vendor area and the band stage. The large brick building is the New London train station.

I am sure any Branch Covidians will think this was one of those dreaded "super-spreader" events, because OMG... there were a couple thousand unmasked people breathing free and not caring whether you got the jab or not. There was also no social distancing, as people greeted each other with handshakes and hugs. But then, this Chink Bug was a "PLANDEMIC" not a pandemic, and the tyrants with their lockdowns had to give up the emergency power before it was "taken" from them by force.

The Birds

No, not the Alfred Hitchcock horror movie, the only hummingbirds here in the northeast, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. And we have lots of them this year. 

My former neighbor fed them like crazy, and had multiple feeders around his house with lots of customers. When they moved away the replacements can't be bothered with feeding (readers of my former blog will recall fellow blogger Mr. Garabaldi named the wife "Bitchy McBitchy Bitchface" and for good reason). Bonus for me, because the little devils have all moved down to my house. 

Ruby Throated Hummingbird pair. Male on the left, female on the right. No gender mental illness here.

 

They are bold and fearless for such tiny creatures. We sit on our front porch where the feeders are, and they fly all around us as though we aren't there. The first time we experienced this was in 2002 on a trip out west and we stopped in Kanab, Utah at the Best Friends Animal Society sanctuary. The main building was a ranch style that had a front porch down the entire length. Every 6 feet or so was a hummingbird feeder and there were swarms of them buzzing and dive bombing the patrons. It takes a little getting used to, but it is really cool. The other day, I was just standing outside my basement door nowhere near the feeders, and a curious male flew right up and hovered less than 3 feet from my face for several seconds checking me out before he flew away. Several times a season they end up trapped in my garage because they think they can take the shortcut to the feeders by coming in the roll up door and going out the window, which unfortunately is closed. Then they can't figure out to go out the big giant open door. Its worse if the fluorescent lights are on because it messes up their vision. I'll shut the lights off and wait a while, and sometimes they'll get out on their own. Other times they need assistance. I learned very early on there is only one way to capture and release them, and that is by hand. Of course, they tend to go up high and hover in between the joist, so I have to get up on a ladder to perform the rescue. They will totally avoid any kind of net, but if you slowly approach them from behind with your bare hand while they are in flight, you can encircle them with your fingers, gently hold onto them and let them go outside. They weigh almost nothing.

As the weather has warmed they are very active from just after sunrise until dark. The feeders we have hold a good amount of sugar water and are made so that the proportion of  sugar to water is foolproof to mix. Fill the compartment with sugar, and the reservoir to the line with boiling water and swish it around. The feeders are clear poly-carbonate so they are easily cleaned and dishwasher safe, but they normally just need a rinsing. I have them suspended on monofilament fishing line to keep the ants out. Ants can't navigate fishing line, and the holes for the hummingbird beaks are too small for bees to get in. From now until the end of summer when they migrate south, I will be refilling the feeders every couple of days.

This morning they were going bonkers. I grabbed my Nikon D5600 with my 70-300mm telephoto and started shooting. Below are what I feel are my best shots.

A female perched in my budding Rose O'Sharon

A solitary female at the red feeder

A pair of females at the blue feeder

Most of the feeding birds seem to be females, and they aggressively enforce who gets to feed and when. The photo above is unusual for me to have two girls at once sharing a feeder, but I believe until the flowers really start blooming and there is more food available elsewhere, it will be tolerated. My wife put some flowers out back in pots and the window box on our deck, the Bleeding Heart still has blooms on it, and the Azalea just finished. That is where I had seen the males mostly feeding although they will come to the feeders as well.