Memorial Day

 

The flags are out in force in this small country town as people get ready to have fun with family and friends around the grill. Quite right too, and I'll be firing up the Compound's Weber in short order, but as we behold delicious burgers, toothsome brisket and juicy steaks (what, you can afford that?!? Ed.) remember those who gave and give their lives for our freedom and country.

Via Zerohedge:

But today is Memorial Day, 2022, when we mourn the fallen of the United States Armed Forces who died for our liberty.

And because it is Memorial Day, not burger and beer day, not sports day, not play video games day, not chips and dip day, there is one tradition I hope we try our best to keep.

It involves us taking time out to think hard and long about a soldier’s poem and the poppies, row on row.

“In Flanders Fields” is that soldier’s poem, written in World War I by Col. John McCrae, a man who’d seen the devastation of war, and hopelessness. Yet with clear eyes and a clean heart he wrote of poppy blossoms as rebirth of hope, those bright orange/red papery thin blossoms, as delicate as dreams, waving in the breeze over the freshly dug graves of the dead.

Lest we forget,

LSP 

Just Out And About

 

Just strolling

And grilling

Right here in the metrosprawl, where everyone's a citizen of Ukraine, according to the flags. Das Reich AZOV anyone, or is that too Der Bunker?

Cheers,

LSP

Cooking With LSP

Typical Cooking Kukri

Ah yes, cooking with LSP, that tired old trope. Tired! No, this is a recipe that's ever old and ever new, equally at home in the wintry wastes of Northern England and the oven intense heat of a Texan summer. (Stop it, I'm warning you. Ed.). OK, here it is, Cottage Pie, and it starts at the grill.

A Grill

You know how it goes. Grill up some 80/20 burgers, yes they're delicious, eat half, freeze the rest, repeat. A week or so later open the freezer and behold the frozen medium rare, seared patties. Defrost the icy offerings and chop up an onion, celery, and a carrot. Saute the veg for a few minutes until it smells and looks right. You'll know, then add a clove or more of minced garlic. I prefer more, you may not, no rule.

Add  Some Flour, It's Not Hard

Next add the meat, stir it 'round, break it up, and simmer on medium high 'til it looks right, as in browned. Perhaps you think that's a sly, racist, reference to POCs. It's not, we're just talking cooking. Meat and veg together as one, add 1/4 cup of flour. 

Chuck it in, don't be afraid, then mix in 4 tbs of tomato paste, 1/2 cup of cheap as you like red wine, 2 cups of beef broth, 1 tsp Thyme, 2 dried Bay Leaves, 2 tbs Worcestershire Sauce, salt, pepper and chili powder to taste. Alright, the chili's not trad, but I like it, and I'm willing to bet that dry English mustard wouldn't go amiss either. Anyway...

Simmer Down!

Simmer this beast until the sauce reaches desired consistency. I let it run on medium high, stirring occasionally, until the oil and sauce start to separate, as in Bolognese or curry. Your call, just don't leave off in a fit of weakness and find yourself with a watery sauce. That's an error.

Just Enough Potatoes

Sauce/gravy achieved, take it off the heat and let it cool down. This will, maybe, prevent the filling of the pie from seeping into its mashed potato top. Not a disaster if it does, but better if it doesn't; preserve the integrity of the pie, as we should the electoral process itself.

Most Awesome

Potatoes mashed, cover the sauce with the creamy spuds, sprinkle with Parmesan or some other cheese, grind pepper over the thing, add a tbs of butter or olive oil, and put it in the oven at 350 until golden brown. Perhaps you want to texture the mashed potato top, maybe add a slogan. Up to you, some say it makes for a better pie.

Cottage Pie

Kick back for 30 minutes, have a glass of wine, sharpen a kukri,  load magazines, clean weapons, whatever, then take the pie out of the oven, let it rest, and fall upon your scoff.

Like a Warrior,

LSP

Utter Total Disaster

 

What started off as a pleasant trip to Dallas for a late birthday celebration turned into unmitigated disaster. Sure, it began well, easy traffic for the most part, enormous steaks, convivial company. All well and good.

Useless

Then, after everyone had gone to bed, it seemed like a good experiment to pour a glass of claret on the technology. Give it a go, see how it works, no rule. Maybe it'll even help your machine. 

Rubbish

It didn't in my case, the recently upgraded if ancient ASUS started to smoke when the power was on. Huh. Fail. So I drove back to the Compound, got the Blue in situ, then drove to Waco for another machine. 

I won't lie, it was weird to see masked paranoia in full force and I hated it, but there was a gently used laptop at one of the few remaining "Best" Buys and I took it home.

Excelsior!

The sleek little beast's sitting here now, backlit keyboard and everything. Ma LSP says, "That was an expensive glass of wine." I won't enlarge further.

Fall To!

Back up your data if you have any worth keeping. And oh, while you're at it, crush the NWO underfoot.

Shoalin,

LSP

Grilling & Fishing

Mothers Day was all about church, grilling, and mothers. Well done, women, without you we wouldn't be here. Speaking of women, Alyssa Milano's gone on a sex-strike because Georgia doesn't want mothers to kill their babies if they have a heartbeat.

Devil Witch

The cute teen witch, celebrity millionaire socialist isn't going to have any more children, apparently, if she's not allowed to kill them in the Peach State. Strange, satanic, and demented? Yes, but nonetheless true.

Soldiers Bluff

Hollywood logic aside, today dawned bright and clear and seemed right to go fishing, which is what we did. Soldiers Bluff was pretty much flooded thanks to climate change, and hungry fish were cruising through the shallows foraging for food. 

Big excitement as a catfish struck and tore off with the hook; rod double, bring that fish in! But no, line and hook somehow separated. Perhaps the cat was a magician or I need to tie better knots or both, who knows. 

Flooded Thanks To Climate Change

Still, good action and the Cadet had a similar experience with a Leviathan Carp. Enormous great beast, leaping and thrashing on the end of the line only to escape.

Beat The Drum

We closed out on the other side of the dam, where water from lake Whitney was roaring into the Brazos and ultimately to Houston. I caught a drum and then it was time to head for home, all well with the world. Unless you're in Houston, which is flooded.

Tight lines,

LSP

Black Friday Grillout

Did you survive Thanksgiving? We did, just, and fought through to the next Objective, Black Friday. What did Black Friday mean, here at Dallas HQ?

Operation GRILLOUT. And let me tell you, it was perfect.

In other news, Welby's been spotted brawling over flatscreens at malls in flyover country. But that's a different homily.

God bless,

LSP

Cooking With LSP, The Hard Way

"Cooking with LSP?" you ask with a wry smile, "That's kind of weird." Not so fast, readers, here's how it's done. The hard way.

Go to Walmart and pick up a couple of Threepers. No, not two members of a citizens militia! Two 3 packs of New York Strips; they shouldn't cost more that $30, all in all. Take your Threepers home, salt and pepper them and let those steaks come to room temperature in a place where the dog can't get them. He's hungry for steak.

Fire up the Weber using a large chimney, you'll want a lot of charcoal for a hot fire, then spread the coals when they're grey and put a grid over them. Scrape that grid down with a wire brush and admire the inferno as you sip an ice cold Stella. But look, there's no rule, it doesn't have to be Stella, that's just my choice. Do what you like, it's up to you.

Meditation over, get the steak and throw it on the grill. Watch it sizzle as the Threepers hit the hot grid; after about a minute, put the lid on the grill and observe the mystery of cooking for around 3 minutes, depending on the size of the steaks. Uncover, flip, repeat.

Grilling over, put the steaks on a tray and serve them up to the hungry team. Maybe throw in some baked potatoes and salad, perhaps some fried onions and mushrooms, whatever. 

You, not Big Government, are in charge of this operation. Then eat your steaks, like a Warrior. 

And that's cooking with,

LSP