Regional Cuisine

Chicken Fried

Country Fried

Swiss Steak

Years ago while living in Georgia, I remember a colleague from Lubbock, Texas (who looked like Buddy Holly)(you make the connection)..... was raving about "Chicken Fried Steak". My Hoosier head went spinning. I somehow got the description that it was steak fried like Chicken. Sounded like Swiss Steak to me, but maybe more crispy. So I went about my business over the years feeling like those crazy Texans had a weird way to describe that food. A few years ago, the Zack Brown Band (Aren't they from Georgia????) came out with their hit song "Chicken Fried" Chicken Fried Lyrics  Don't know how I missed that during the years we lived in Georgia. Fast forward to last fall in Gas City, Indiana (yes, back in Hoosierland). I'm sitting at breakfast at the B&B and gazing at the "Daily Special" on the chalkboard. There I see "Country Fried Steak".... Hmmmmm So I asked Deb to explain, telling her I knew about Chicken Fried Steak, so what was the difference? She had never heard of Chicken Fried (so she said), but her description of "Country Fried" sounded very close, in fact the same. Well, I couldn't leave it there, so went on yet another internet hunt. Apparently I wasn't the only one with that question as I found several descriptions. I'll post one here, but basically although some feel it is the same thing cooked in different localities, Chicken Fried supposedly is more crispy and is usually served with white gravy while Country Fried is served with brown gravy. Country-Fried-Steak-Versus-Chicken-Fried-Steak.  Sounds a lot like a crispy version of Swiss Steak. I felt rather smug now that I had unraveled yet another mystery. Recently at the B&B enjoying my breakfast, I glance up at the "Daily Special" board to see; "Chicken Steak". I about spit out my crispy fried potatoes with onions (what a waste that would have been). Before you health nuts crawl all over me for my choice.... I only get a 1/2 order, OK???? With ONE egg and ONE piece of toast. (and sausage links??) When Deb came to refill my coffee cup, I had to ask.... Seems Chicken Steak is a piece of breaded chicken breast.   Maybe we should call it "Steak Fried Chicken"??? 

Just a nice little story

A year ago this week, we were driving from home to Corvallis, OR and met a nasty storm in Lincoln, NE. At home they had around 20 inches of snow. So different from this week. Yesterday the weather was so nice that I decided that rather than driving the mile and a half to the post office, I should ride the bicycle. Nearly the entire bike route is on a concrete bike path that picks up in our addition, just around the corner, crosses 2 bridges, and dumps me out on Main Street. All but about a quarter mile is visible from the road. (This will mean something later.)
I decided to tuck the extra garage door opener in my pocket so it would be easier to get back in when I returned. I set out, enjoying the gorgeous weather and feeling good about the exercise for my knee (and the rest of my body). Arrived at the post office to pick up the mail being held because I had planned to be gone. My departure was delayed, so I wanted to pick up any held mail before paying bills. The only piece of mail was the water bill.
I finished my business there and headed out for home. As I crossed the second bridge I remembered passing a young man buried in his electronic device and earbuds. I decided to drop by the pharmacy to check on a couple of prescriptions before going back home. Having the good feeling of exercise and accomplishment, I arrived at home and reached for the garage door opener, but it wasn't there. Panic hit immediately. I pictured some unscrupulous person finding the opener and driving up and down the streets pushing the button til a door opened. I had carried a backpack for the mail, but it wasn't there. That opener was no where. The logical next move would have been to get back on the bike and retrace my route. I really wasn't up to that. The alternative was to get in the car and retrace as much as possible. I followed my route to the trail and found nothing. However, as I turned around and headed for the pharmacy, I saw that young man walking in our neighborhood. I pulled up beside him and said "Sir..... Sir"... Now I tend to bristle when younger folks call me "Sir" cause it feels old, however I couldn't think of anything else to call him. I guess I could have said "young man".... but that would have really made me feel old. I did get his attention and he smiled and asked what I needed. I explained that I had passed him earlier on my bike and lost my garage door opener. He said that he hadn't seen it, but if I would give him my number he would keep an eye out on his trip back to town.
I went on to the pharmacy and asked Jodi if I had dropped it in there. Negatory (Sorry I had to use that. That's from CJ McCall's trucking "songs". ) I went on to the post office. As I drove along, I scanned as much of the bike path as possible, taking care to not run into anyone or anything on the road. Asked Patty at the post office and left my number there. As I got back in the car to continue my search, my phone rang. I need to insert here that earlier, my prayer was, "Lord, here I am needing your help again. You know where the opener is and I ask that you would let me know where it is." I didn't recognize the number on my phone, but answered it. I think he said his name was Mike, but he was the guy I had talked to earlier. He had my opener. I thanked him and thanked God and we set a place to meet.
He was walking on that part of the path that was hidden from the highway and streets when a young lady pushing a stroller said, "did you lose a garage door opener".. He said, "No, but I know whose it is."... As I was heading to the post office, I saw this young lady and almost stopped to ask her about the opener, but there really wasn't a good place for me to pull over near her. Those who know me, know that I much prefer the country or small town to city dwelling. This little story illustrates my reasoning. I am so thankful for honest helpful people.
Another interesting little piece of this story is why that young man was walking. He was somewhat ill and was home from work because of that. In addition, he was trying to train for a 5K run on Saturday, but because of the illness decided to take an extended walk instead.
Then I think of the orchestration God used to answer my prayer. All of this was set in motion before I had even dropped the opener. This young man and I had noticed each other as I passed him earlier. As I was looking for the opener, he was right there where I couldn't miss him. When the young lady found the opener, there he was ready to take the baton and pass it on. That's my little story about a scare and salvation. Just in case I bored you and wasted your time, here's a link to help you understand the small town mentality.

http://vevo.ly/i07fHO

What's wrong with this picture?

I know you might think the oddity is that there is a fish swimming down the highway. I gleaned this picture via my friend Becki's comment on a picture posted on facebook by one of her friends in Oregon January 20 during their torrential rains. You literary folks can have fun with that sentence. Well that's not the strange thing I want to talk about. It's February and Georgia and I are in the Midwest. If you've followed this blog, you will know that it was started in January 2008 as we set out for our first ever trip to the Pacific Northwest; Corvallis, Oregon to be exact. Since that time, each year, we have spent February and part of March helping out and seeing the sights at and around Oregon State University. Many of the posts on this blog describe the amazing sights, people, and eating establishments we encountered either on our way to and from OSU or during our stints there. This summer after I had regained function of my right leg following knee replacement, I checked in to see what was up at OSU to find that they had hired their second radiologist and would no longer require my services. Although we were happy for them in this quest for acquiring perminant faculty, we were saddened that our fairy tale had come to an end.
We developed good relationships with Dave who manages the Corvallis Depot Suites where we stayed in Corvallis, Sherry and Juli who handled the fiscal issues at OSU, Dr. Cebra, who afforded us the opportunity, the IT folks who put up with my loss of memory and other inane requests. Too many faculty and staff members at vetmed to mention made us feel at home in their shop, especially those in imaging as well as 5 classes of graduate OSU veterinarians. This included renewing relationships with several former Illinois veterinarians who are/were at OSU.  In addition we made neet contacts with the folks at New Morning Bakery, Cirello's Pizza, the Lodge at Suttle Lake, and the couple in that cute little house along the track in Corvallis. (Seems her name may be Laura???
Although we hope to visit again, "just for fun", we're also hopeful that both of the Radiologists at OSU will be invited to give papers at the same time at some international conference, so we can be invited to fill in.
However, Dave; feel free to consider the stuff we left in your Speeder Shed as your own. Also, I hope the benches by the door remind you of us each time you lay something on them so you can lock or unlock the door.  Dr. Steiger, consider the teaching material on the web site as your own.
Our biggest lament is that we never got to see the Painted Hills of Eastern Oregon. http://paintedhillsvacation.com/  We came so close on our last trip, but had to make a quick trip and felt it was not feasible to swing by there. I'm sure there are other equally wonderful places we've missed, but we really got to see a lot of them. We thank all the folks in the Corvallis area as well as those along the way for some fantastic experiences, and for making us feel at home. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!

Random thoughts again

Tony's BLT

OK, let's start this with a little reminder of an earlier post about the Tomato and BLT. Saturday after returning to Gas City from a great day of visiting, I watched an interesting show with "the girls". It was about wonderful and outlandish sandwiches. I was taken by the "Ultimate BLT" served at Tony's I-75 Restaurant in Birch Run, Michigan. As you look at the picture of Tony's BLT, you should notice that something seems to be missing (or covered).... Does look tasty!!! If it looks good to you, here's a blog that may interest you.  http://baconation.blogspot.com/

Back to my visits on Saturday. For the first time since, I think last spring, I got to go visit with my sister. Sadly her husband was out of town to a Lion's Club meeting for the day, but we talked, laughed and ate the remains of her wonderful Beef, Barley, soup... mmm good. It does seem that as the years go by, we find ourselves agreeing on more issues and values.  That sibling relationship is rich and valuable. There are many things that can come along in life to strain those relationships, but they are so valuable and worth preserving.

From there, I finally made connection with Art and Pat Windmiller. Art was the high school coach when we, the class of 1960 were in "junior high". I remember him most as the coach and in "study hall", although he also taught math.Our class has reconnected with them in the past few years and it is really great tht this reconnection has occurred.  Don't remember if I have posted this before, but we have another connection in that their son Bob played baseball and basketball at the University of Illinois in the late 60's (while we were at the University of Georgia).  I was met almost immediately with a cup of coffee and a tray full of local Heyerly's "rolls"... some fantastic "donuts". Couldn't find a website, but if find yourself south of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, it must be worth a stop. Here's a link: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/148/928222/restaurant/Fort-Wayne/Heyerly-Bakery-Ossian. Ossian is south on State Road 1. If you happen to know who Art and Pat Windmiller are, I advise you to look them up also. They aren't difficult to find and it is so worth your while to spend some time renewing that old relationship. We talked about folks we knew in Silver Lake, Basketball in Silver Lake, colleges and even the Pacers. (Pat's apparently a devout Pacer's fan, but they had the Illinois/ Nebraska game on the TV while we visited and she was pulling for Nebraska... What's up with that. There I was retired from the University of Illinois after 30 + years, and their own son played for the U of I and she was cheering for Nebraska.... Hmmmm. Oh well. "we" won. Funny thing is that the game was really in the background as we visited. When I started this paragraph I said that he was "the" coach.... Not the basketball coach, the football coach.... etc. You see there were 25 people who graduated from SLHS in 1960. In our class maybe 5 or 6 guys were involved in sports. I'm sure it was similar when Art was coaching there. Those few guys were the basketball, baseball, track, and cross country teams. Weren't enough to field a football or tennis team. I think I did this "big fish in a little pond" theory before, so won't go there again. The point is that for guys in multiple sports you didn't have the coaches fighting over them cause they were the same coach. Notice I said "guys"... sad to say that at that time sports were primarily a "guy thing"..
We talked a little about WW II which of course I only can relate to through movies, books and conversation with those who "were there". Reminded me of an interview I had just heard on WDWS radio. A local "Mahomet" man, Kevin Brooks, had collaborated on a book called Glider Infantryman about their experiences riding gliders behind enemy lines at Normandy. Wow. What little we know. Here's a link for that: http://www.amazon.com/Glider-Infantryman-Williams-Ford-University-Military/dp/1603444246. Art was one of the guys who "patched" up folks. I can imagine the anguish in working feverishly to save a life or a limb, nourished by cigaretttes and coffee and little sleep. OK.   Not my story!!!

One new Doggie Door

Sunday I got to use my new "double saw" or "dual saw"  http://www.dualsaw.com/ that the kids got me for Christmas to cut the hole to make a "doggie door" in our nephew's garage so their dog could sleep inside and poop outside. Took me longer that it probably should have, but although I forgot to take pictures before covering my handiwork with the plastic strips, I think it turned out pretty good. During the process, I was reminded of a sermon our family heard years ago at Center EUB church north of Silver Lake for a Christmas or New Year, or something. I need to take this opportunity to highlight again the significance of EUB. I grew up in the local Evangelical United Bretheren Church. Georgia grew up in the Methodist Church. In the year 1963, these 2 demoninations joined and became the United Methodist Church. Why is this significant? Because that was the year that Georgia and I became Mr. and Mrs. Kneller. How's that for a divine union? Back to the story.  This older visiting minister gave a sermon. Not sure how it related to Christmas or New Year or Christianity as a matter of fact, but the message was "if you don't have what you want; use what you've got".... That simple little message has stayed with me for all those years. So how does it relate to the doggie door???? Although I have learned to bring tools when I come here, I never seem to have exactly the right tool for the situation. I did make do with what I had, but when it came to fastening the plastic (Stair Tread covers) to the frame I had built, I was at a loss. I had bought a box of screws to put the wood together, but didn't think about not having 4 hands to hold the plastic while I screwed the wooden frame over it. I looked through my tools and supplies and finally found a package of glazing points. Now if you don't know what they are, you'll have to look them up yourself. I needed something that would hold the plastic to the back of the wood until I could secure the whole assembly to the garage. I stuck one of the points in the plastic, pounded it down, then flattened it and "viola" or as I used to think it was; "walla".... It worked!!! I had what I needed!
I think that's enough rambling for now.

2012 is here. Let's exercise

I know it is cliche, but thought I might as well start the year with a post. It is amazing the things you learn poking around. I was concerned that I wasn't getting the exercise I needed to keep up my knee rehab being away from home. Just before Christmas I stumbled onto a 5-speed light cruiser type bike at the "permanent" Flea Market on main street in Gas City, Indiana...Boy do they have stuff there. If I didn't already have way to many caps in my closets, I would have picked up some real unusual ones.Electric guitars and amps galore... Just lots of "stuff".... But I found this nice bike. The only problem I saw was that the shifter cable was frozen (rusted solid). So I walked it down the street about a block to the local "Do it Best" (Owens) hardware that I frequent when doing small projects here, thinking I would pick up a cable an replace it in Nan's garage with Moe wagging his joy with my presence in his lair. As I walked the bike into the store and told the guy... I'm so embarrassed that I don't know his name as often as I have been in there..... walked me to the back of the store where they actually have a bicycle repair shop. Since the weather wasn't all that nice at that time, I decided to have them replace the cable. You see, although our boys can disassemble and reassemble a bicycle in probably 15 minutes flat, I never got past the old big tired cruisers with coaster brakes. In late summer while I was trying to elevate my bike riding beyond our housing addition, I picked up a 10-speed for $15 via "Dealing with Jim Lewis" on our local Saturday morning radio. Everything seemed fine except the guy had turned those curved handlebars around. I couldn't ride it like that, so set out to turn them around. All the time I was beating on the handlebars to get one of the brake levers off to remove the bars, I knew..... I knew.... there was some simple way to loosen the lever and I knew.... I knew... where it was supposed to be. However I didn't have the patience or sense to compress the lever to expose the screw to loosen it.... So I finally got it off by breaking the band that held it in place.... So had to go to the hardware to get a new lever, which of course, ruined the integrity of the bike. I got it going with the bars correctly placed, but just never felt safe riding it, so kept looking for something more suitable to me. Now I'd found it, but was hesitant to dig into the repair process again, given my recent experience. When we came back, the weather wasn't really conducive to outdoor riding and Nan mentioned that there was a local exercise facility. That's the real subject to this post.
Nan told me where the facility was located, which was in a part of town I had never frequented in all the years I had come to Gas City. On the outside is an "Ironworks" sign. Inside, I found an open floor, most likely for the zumba, etc. with a rather messy counter on the right and a room packed with exercise and body building equipment on the left. There I found the owner Dave Turner. Meeting Dave is an experience in itself. Here is a guy who seems to enjoy life as he finds it and loves to tell his stories. In that little meeting, I found that the exercise facility was only a sideline (hobby) that came to him because he wanted to buy the building for his real business; Ebenezer's Personalized Embroidery. Part of the contract was that he had to keep the exercise business there for some set amount of time. That was about 30 years ago and the "gym" is the longest continually operating exercise facility in the country... And I didn't even know it was there. Dave mentioned that there had been a couple of national lifting and bodybuilding champions who trained there. So what is the embroidery business? Although I couldn't find a website, (Dave said he doesn't advertise either of his businesses) Manta had this: Ebenezer's Personalized Embroidery is a Health Club facility and is located at 109 E South D St in Gas City, IN. (765) 674-3360. After talking with Dave, I understand this strange description. His Embroidery business is primarily making and repairing company and school jackets, etc. I think his best advertisement is word of mouth..
Back to my purpose. I went to the equipment section to be sure they had what I needed. I found several stationary bicycles which were my primary target. There are also several elliptical stairstepper trainers. I remember this as that dratted machine Noelle introduced me to in my initial rehab back home. That sucker will give you a workout. Finding they had what I needed, I signed up for 10 sessions. I have since used 2 of them. While I was there both times, I was a little out of place in my jeans, Keens, and T-shirt with those buff young musclemen walking around in their gym shorts, athletic shoes and torn off sleeve muscle shirts. They were also huffing and puffing more than I as they hoisted those bars with large steel wheels on the ends. If I get to the treadmill at some point, I will also be walking while they jog and run as they cycle between lifting, pressing and jogging. I did get a reprieve last time, however because a couple of ladies came in to use the Stairstepper. The "guy" showed me how to program the bike for various courses. The first day, I did the level course and the second, I did the "rolling hills" course... Now that was interesting. I set the elliptical for a bit too long and that nearly wore me out. We how have a few days of nice weather, so I will probably be using the "real" bike, saving my "club" visits for more severe weather days. In riding the bike I discovered some other parts of town that I hadn't seen before. I think I have now seen the far northeast to the far southwest corners of the town. I think I have seen the 4 corners of Gas City now.

Ode to Andy Rooney

At least I'll use him as an excuse. The joy of listening to that crotchity old man was in seeing, as my early morning radio host Dave Gentry says, "a blinding glimpse of the obvious". (http://www.wdws.com/) Though I can't claim as much time marinating in this society as he, I seem to have caught his disdain for the ridiculous things our society has migrated into. (Bad sentence structure, I know.) OK. -into which our society has migrated..... better? This post was actually stimulated by one of those phone calls we seem to get trapped in these days. Whether it is your cable or satellite company, telephone company, Sears, or whatever global group the everchanging mergers have forced on you, you too have gotten into the web of some one with a middle eastern or SE Asian accent sitting at his/her monitor checking boxes as they ask you inane questions. The role is called "troubleshooting". Some times it works and they can tell you what to do to fix your problem. I'm reminded of a time a couple of years ago when there was no question that our satillite dish needed adjustment to get our reception. I called, hoping to make my way quickly to have someone come out and adjust it. I explained to the person that we needed a technician to come out. (remember that)... He started with the questions as I walked through the steps he prescribed. Several times, I said, "this isn't going to work, I need a technician." He said he needed to complete his protocol because if we could fix it over the phone we could avoid that waste. I took a deep breath and dutifully followed along. After a good 20-30 minutes of this he came up with his conclusion, YOU NEED A TECHNICIAN.... I lost my normal friendly demeanor and said "No ____ Sherlock, could you send a technician out?" He did, the technician fixed the problem, and life went on.
Again as Dave Gentry often says, "I told you that so I could tell you this".

We have been at Georgia's sister's helping care for their mother. The first couple of days we were here, I had some time and she asked me about the wire from her house to her shed. Before she bought the place someone had strung an indoor wire which now had lost it's outer covering and was looking pretty scary. On the house it was hooked to a porceline insulator similar to the one pictured here. Along with that wire was another wire which was attached with a makeshift partial hook (also pictured here after it fell to the ground). Trust me this is going somewhere. Later we had a heavy wet snow and the next morning we noticed that the "other" wire was on the ground. Apparently the weight of the snow pulled enough on the wire to straighten the "hook" enough to cause it to release and fall to the ground. It didn't affect the function of anything in the house, but was lying on the ground and needed to be put back up. Aside from the power line this was the only wire we could find coming into the house to serve the telephone, the satillite, and the internet modem. So not knowing which, she started by calling "Bright House" her internet provider. She called and told the person that the modem worked, but the wire was down and needed to be put back up. I will make a long story short by saying that while her phone guru was asking her questions, I was pulling out the couch (the modem was behind the couch) first to tell him that yes some lights were working, then specifically which lights were working, then reading him the very small print number from the back of the modem. When he asked for the operating system of the computer, I went ballistic. In fact, at this point, I couldn't even think of what an operating system was. I asked for the phone and said, "look, the systems are working fine, we're old and don't know what the operating system is, but the wire is down and someone needs to come out and put the wire up; that's all". He said in his severely broken english, I'm just trying to do my job and diagnose your problem". This really set me off. I said, "Look, dammit! The problem is diagnosed, the systems work, the wire is lying on the ground and needs to be put up. Your diagnostic job is finished, just send us a technician.". I know nearly abusive!!!! The phone went silent. He didn't hang up, but there was no one there. I hope he didn't rip off his headset and go crying to the bathroom. However that episode was over. So a few days later, I was going near the Bright House office, so I stopped in and talked with Florence who apologized for our telephone woes and said a technician would be out the next day. I had explained that we didn't know who the wire belonged to and she said they could at least see if it was theirs and we could go from there if not. I nearly hugged her, walked out the door with my chest out and head held high. I had accomplished something. This morning Scott came by and checked it out. We had started with the wrong people. Their wire was buried and the wire in question was for the telephone. He explained that their wires were always round and the flat wire had to be telephone. I had learned something. I have to admit that my confusion came from past when TV antenna wires were flat. We called the telephone company and we think someone will be out in a day or 2 to put the wire back up. Maybe another problem solved. Oh, the telephone company person accepted the fact that the things were working and didn't feel the need to diagnose our problem.

So Andy, if you're looking down. though I would never consider myself as wise or witty as you, I do share your concern for the wonderful technical advances that make our life so much better.  Here are the pictures to show that it is amazing that the wire didn't come down long ago. It will be interesting to see if the just stick it back up and rebend the wire or actually put a functional holder on it. Maybe I'll give an update after it happens.

Potpourri fall '11

We'll start with my new found friend, the portable urinal. I moved back into our bedroom while my bride was out of town, but when she got back and she spotted the urinal hanging in a handy location on the headboard, it was gone. Oh well, form wins over function again. I think the phrase was something like, "either it goes, or I go"... You know the joke..... I'm gonna miss her!!! .... No, I chose her and am glad I did. I guess I can go back to the tension between the stress of a full bladder and the stress of getting out of bed in the middle of the night.

Next is sports. In a year when "my" StL Cardinals looked like they were going down the tube only to come through and become 2011 World Series Champions and the University of Illinois football team starts out like a house afire and is starting to faulter while I also had to witness the second lost match of the Illini volleyball team, the addage of "it ain't over til it's over" rings so true. I have to say that the NFL season is over for me already. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed the Colts with Peyton. Seems like Mathus and Freeney can't even hold the opponent when they are on the field the whole game. Jake Cutler spending more time on his back than on his feet is also disheartening. This past Sunday, I didn't even watch any NFL... So we wait now for basketball.... Obviously not the NBA. The Illinois hoopsters start this week and could be interesting... We'll see.

Oh, my knee. There isn't really anything I try to do that I can't except kneel. It is still swollen and they say it will be til Christmas. Keeping up with the exercises and riding a lot of bicycle inside and out. I have a lot of hope for a pain free winter.

Another chapter of our lives seems to have come to an end. While I was taking time off to get my knee fixed, Oregon State University hired a board certified (ACVR) radiologist to work with Dr. Steiger. Good for them, sad for us. Our late winter trips to Corvallis had become quite special for us. Hopefully there will be some instance where they will need me again or we may just have to go for a "for fun" visit. We wish them success in building a great program.

As I write this, my bride is waiting for the gremlins to come to the door to dive into the basket of candy. I'll have to make this quick because it's time for their arrival to begin. Last year at this time she was in a wheelchair following her foot surgery.












One of my magazines had an article about using power tools to carve pumpkins. I thought it was something new, but when I went to research a bit, I found that people have been doing this for a while. I chose a safe and simple design and had at it. I have included pictures of the first one. I then duplicated it and we have 2 of them flanking our front door to greet the little ones. I won't get into why I used this design rather than a face other than, Halloween is not my favorite holiday and I didn't want to go "all out" in embracing the traditions.

That's what's on my mind at this time. Happy November.