The Retired Trafficman

2009-12-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

Texas Flour Tortillas (adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)
Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.
While you probably won’t have any leftovers, you can store in the fridge tightly wrapped in foil or plastic for a day or so.
Makes eight tortillas.

2009-11-30T08:33:00.000-08:00

A retired husband is a wife's full time job.

2009-07-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Chaos?

There was a doctor, a civil engineer, and a computer scientist sitting around late one evening, and they got to discussing which was the oldest profession.

The doctor pointed out that according to Biblical tradition, God created Eve from Adam's rib. This obviously required surgery, so therefore that was the oldest profession in the world.

The engineer countered with an earlier passage in the Bible that stated that God created order from the chaos, and that was most certainly the biggest and best civil engineering example ever, and also proved that his profession was the oldest profession.

The computer scientist leaned back in the chair, and with a sly smile responded, "Yes, but who do you think created the chaos?"

2009-07-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

Gospel
Mt 10:24-33
Jesus said to his Apostles: "No disciple is above his teacher,no slave above his master.It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,for the slave that he become like his master.If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,how much more those of his household!
"Therefore do not be afraid of them.Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,nor secret that will not be known.What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;rather, be afraid of the one who can destroyboth soul and body in Gehenna.Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge.Even all the hairs of your head are counted.So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.Everyone who acknowledges me before othersI will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.But whoever denies me before others,I will deny before my heavenly Father."

2009-07-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 91:1-2, 3-4, 14-15ab
R. In you, my God, I place my trust.
You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,Say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,my God, in whom I trust."
R. In you, my God, I place my trust.
For he will rescue you from the snare of the fowler,from the destroying pestilence.With his pinions he will cover you,and under his wings you shall take refuge.
R. In you, my God, I place my trust.
Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;I will be with him in distress.
R. In you, my God, I place my trust.

2009-07-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

2 Cor 12:7-10
Brothers and sisters:That I, Paul, might not become too elated,because of the abundance of the revelations,a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,hardships, persecutions, and constraints,for the sake of Christ;for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Aebleskivers Recipe from Donna

2007-12-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

For breakfast on Christmas morning, brunch really since it was 1030, I made Aebleskivers just like the kid's Aunt Donna makes them. Well, maybe not that good, but very edible anyway. Here is a copy of her delicious recipe to go along with the Danish guy makin' em in the video previous to this post. Yummmy (hint: click on the pic to get a large version)

Christmas

2007-12-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

How was yours?

How to make Danish Aebleskiver

2007-12-15T15:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is that time of the year again to make Aebleskiver.

And then you can be a Lumberjack!

Christmas quote

2007-12-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

The following quote has been going around lately:

"There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say," returned the nephew. "Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"-- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Cough, cough, sneeze wheeze.

2007-12-10T16:02:00.000-08:00

Trafficman became closely acquanted with a box of Kleenex and cough syrup today at home. I went to work briefly, determined that work could get along without me today and came back home to rest. I think I have the same thing that many at work have had over the past three weeks, as well as some of my kids, both at home and at their own homes (you know who you are).

Excuse me, I have to blow my nose and take some more cough syrup.

Another kitty loss

2007-11-30T13:32:00.000-08:00

Only a few weeks ago we had to put Tigre to sleep (she is the one on the right) and now we have lost another one. Botas (on the left) died of complicatons from liver failure. She had been lethargic since Tigre died but got worse. We took her to the vet but she was too far gone for help and we determined it best to put her to sleep. That was on the day before Thanksgiving. She was about 10 years old. This picture is about 5 years old and you can see that both Botas and Tigre looked fat and sassy. We miss our little friends. Now we are down to just one cat, our 18 pound male cat - Oso.

Only in America

2007-11-20T16:44:00.001-08:00

Only in America do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions, while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Genius reading level???

2007-11-18T20:47:00.000-08:00

Hey, MountainPowerLineman! Must be hereditary.

Get a Cash Advance

RVing at Angels Camp - Veteran's Weekend

2007-11-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

Flying the Stars and Stripes

Enjoying the campfire

The owners have a new pet Emu named "Big Bird"

Cooking burgers

Yummy

Yum

Update to Tigre the Cat

2007-11-05T22:54:00.000-08:00

Tigre the cat.

Tigre died Thursday, November 8th. She was 16 years old. We had to put her to "sleep" as they say. She was suffering from kidney failure and was very sick. She had been in the vet hospital earlier in the week and had been a little better for a few days, but then she quit eating or drinking again, becoming dehydrated and very emaciated. She weighed less than 3 pounds. In the picture she is the little cat curled up next to Oso, our 18 pound big cat, who was keeping her warm. She was a sweet little kitty and we miss our little friend.

Mercy Me -- Word of God Speak

2007-11-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

http://musicjesus.com/videos/watch.php?video=OMqJWwO-S8E

2007-11-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

Fall is coming. Wish it looked like this picture in my town.

The Holy Family

2006-12-31T15:12:00.000-08:00

Today is the first Sunday after Christmas, and that makes today the Holy Family Sunday. The Gospel reading is from Luke 2:41-52:

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

A couple of things stand out in this passage from the Bible. One is "... and was obedient to them..." Now what this means to me is that, even though He was God come down in the flesh, He recognized the Commandment to "Honor you Father and Mother." They were the parents, and as such, were responsible for bringing him up as a good Jewish boy. Wow, what a humbleness for God!

The second thing that impressed me is the last line. "And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man." The KJV Bible states it as "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." He was well respected by the Jewish community as he grew up and his earthly parents did well.

It will be well for all of us if we too and emulate Jesus. We are called to be children of God, dwelling in God's house, listening to God's word and growing in understanding, wisdom and love. I hope I am always found to be doing so.

I love cheese balls

2006-10-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

LAZIO GOURMET ALBACORE TUNA CHEESE BALL

2 (6-ounce) cans albacore tuna, in water, separated, undrained
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated onion
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons parsley

Combine albacore tuna (in its juice), cream cheese, lemon juice, onion, horseradish, salt and liquid smoke. Mix thoroughly and chill several hours.
Combine pecans and parsley.
Shape tuna mixture into ball. Roll in chopped nuts and parsley. Chill well, serve with assorted crackers.

Variation: Roll tuna mixture into little bite-size balls, flatten with a knife and roll in nuts and parsley. Serve on a cracker, or supply some toothpicks and watch them disappear.

I love Cheeses

2006-06-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

"Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese. "
- G. K. Chesterton

Dad's 90th Birthday!!

2006-06-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today, June 16, is my Dad's birthday. But, it is not just any birthday, for today Dad is 90 years old and still going strong. The picture above is of me and my Daddy when I was about 2 years old. We were crossing the country from Arkansas to live in California. Dad was about 37 at the time this picture was taken (I'm 55 now!). I love my Daddy and appreciate him and Mom more every day as I grow older. We are getting together tomorrow to celebrate with him. I am looking forward to it.

Once again, Happy Birthday Daddy!

Confused? maybe

2006-06-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here’s a Quote of the Day for Friday, June 2, 2006 that I can identify with very well. I have been in the same situation!

"I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks."
~ Daniel Boone ~
(1734 – 1820, American explorer, frontiersman)

Birthdays on April 20

2006-04-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday (April 20) as well as the birthday of some other people like

Edward IV, King, England (1442)
Hitler, Adolf (1889)
Lloyd, Harold (1893)
Joan Miró (1893)
Hampton, Lionel (1908)
Mother Angelica (1923)
Puente, Tito (1923)
Takei, George (1940)
O'Neal, Ryan (1941)
Vandross, Luther (1951)
Electra, Carmen (1972)

Here is some info on one of those people,
Joan Miró (1893 - 1983),
with a copy of one of his paintings on the right.

Joan Miró - Spanish painter, whose surrealist works, with their subject matter drawn from the realm of memory and imaginative fantasy, are some of the most original of the 20th century.Miró was born April 20, 1893, in Barcelona and studied at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and the Academia Galí. His work before 1920 shows wide-ranging influences, including the bright colors of the Fauves, the broken forms of cubism, and the powerful, flat two-dimensionality of Catalan folk art and Romanesque church frescoes of his native Spain. He moved to Paris in 1920, where, under the influence of surrealist poets and writers, he evolved his mature style. Miró drew on memory, fantasy, and the irrational to create works of art that are visual analogues of surrealist poetry. These dreamlike visions, such as Harlequin's Carnival or Dutch Interior, often have a whimsical or humorous quality, containing images of playfully distorted animal forms, twisted organic shapes, and odd geometric constructions. The forms of his paintings are organized against flat neutral backgrounds and are painted in a limited range of bright colors, especially blue, red, yellow, green, and black. Amorphous amoebic shapes alternate with sharply drawn lines, spots, and curlicues, all positioned on the canvas with seeming nonchalance. Miró later produced highly generalized, ethereal works in which his organic forms and figures are reduced to abstract spots, lines, and bursts of colors.Miró also experimented in a wide array of other media, devoting himself to etchings and lithographs for several years in the 1950s and also working in watercolor, pastel, collage, and paint on copper and masonite. His ceramic sculptures are especially notable, in particular his two large ceramic murals for the UNESCO building in Paris (Wall of the Moon and Wall of the Sun, 1957-59). Miró died in Majorca, Spain, on December 25, 1983.

Wondrous White Elixer

2006-04-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

Got Milk?

Milk goes good with those tasty Bierocks or Swedish Thin Pancakes. Check out this link for some Got Milk? commercials about aliens and cows.

http://www.gotmilk.com/fun/aliens.html

I think you will find it amusing.

Ciao Bello, sldubya

Bierocks or Beerocks - either way they taste good!

2006-03-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

An incredible edible pocket sandwich of German origin. I wish mine looked as good as this picture, but they always taste great!

BIEROCKS

2 lbs. hamburger
1 c. onion, chopped
4 c. cabbage, chopped
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Cook hamburger, onion, cabbage, salt and pepper until browned. Roll out dough and cut into large circles. Put 1/4 cup meat mixture in center of dough. Pinch closed. Bake until browned, approximately 20 minutes, at 375 degrees.

DOUGH FOR BIEROCKS:
2 pkgs. yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 c. warm milk
4 c. flour
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. warm water
1/4 c. butter, softened

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Set in warm place. Add warm milk, butter and salt; let stand for 10 minutes with yeast mixture in it. Add flour and sugar. Let double for 50 minutes.

Continue the theme: Swedish Thin Pancakes

2006-03-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

( Found this recipe on the net. Not sure if it is a good as Grandma Nadine makes. -sldubya)

As you might have guessed from the name, this very thin pancake hails from Sweden. Swedish Pancakes can be served for breakfast, but Swedes prepare them for supper accompanied with a bowl of hearty pea soup.Unlike the thicker American "flap jack", the Swedish pancake is more like the French crepe. Rather than syrup, the pancakes are usually garnished with lingonberries, a tart, or red berry and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Ingredients and Preparation:
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, optional
In a blender, combine all the ingredients above until smooth.
Heat a 10 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until very hot.
Lightly butter the skillet and pour 1/2 cup of the batter into it.
Swirl the pan with batter to expand to a thin layer.
Cook until bubbles form and the pancake is golden brown on the bottom, about 1-1/2 minutes. Flip turn and continue to cook for about one more minute.
Remove from the fry pan. It should not be necessary to add more butter to the pan for more pancakes.
When finished, fold each pancake into quarters. Top with the traditional dollop of lingonberries or other fruit of your choice and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Ya, Kottbullar

2006-03-15T15:57:00.000-08:00

Swedish Meatballs

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 cup minced onion
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon minced parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups water
3/4 cups sour cream

Mix first 10 ingredients. Refrigerate 2 hours. Take rounded tablespoons of mixture and form into balls. Place the oil in large skillet add meatballs and brown. Remove meatballs; keep warm.

To the skillet add the flour, paprika, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth (we used a wire whisk) and bubbly. Remove from heat; stir in water. Return skillet and heat to boiling, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Reduce heat and gradually stir in sour cream; mix until smooth. Add meatballs; heat through.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Hail, Hail, the rains all here!

2006-03-14T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hail fell for a short while at home on Saturday. This photo was early into the storm so it does not show as much "white stuff" as fell a few minutes later. It was about small marble size down to pea size and kind of mushy so it did not do any damage that I could tell. The dog walked in it and was all excited, as were the family! This is unusual for central California. At the same time this was happening, there were tornados in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. Much damage and some deaths. Some in Springfield, MO where my cousin's daughter lives. I called back to Missouri on Sunday and talked with them. All was well and not much damage for them. A tree or two fell down, electricity was out for a while and their driveway was washed out, but easily repaired with some more gravel and a tractor, which they have.

2006-03-10T10:37:00.000-08:00