Thread: Happy New Year

George Shirley wrote:
> We're putting up canned carrots tomorrow, along with a few heads of
> broccoli. Our New Years Day meal will include steamed cabbage from the
> garden and home canned blackeyed peas, done from dried peas. In this
> part of the south you MUST have cabbage and blackeyed peas to ensure a
> lucky year. So far we've been pretty lucky in our lives so it must work
> to some extent.
>
> Today we finished painting my office and now we have to put it back
> together. Painting an occupied home is a PITA, everything has to be
> moved from one room to another. I can see why contractors turn down
> these jobs. We have the master bedroom and the art room left to do. I am
> amazed at how much "broken" stuff we have in a house we've lived in for
> nearly 22 years. Things like closet doors with broken hardware,
> something we never noticed until we tried to close a bifold door. I
> think I will do a "repair or replace patrol" every month once we move
> into a new house, just to try and stay ahead of things.
>
> Have a safe and sober New Year's Eve and a wonderful home preserving
> jaunt in the coming year.
>
> George, Miz Anne, and Tilly Dawg in 70F SW Louisiana (eat your hearts
> out in the frozen north)


So you're finally moving back to East Texas? Good for you! (I started
to abbreviate it GFY but I was afraid that might get misinterpreted)

I always eat blackeyed peas on New Years to remember my Great Aunt Mary
-- it was really important to her that we ate peas on New Years Day.
The cabbage or collard greens part wasn't so important. This year I'm
making BEP croquettes or fritters just to be different. It's just like
falafel but made with dried BEPs. I may heat up some canned peas to go
with them to get a double dose.

It's 40F up here. If it's not raining tonight maybe I can shoot off
some fireworks at midnight. Usually it's too cold, and I just light one
string of firecrackers and run back in the house. :-)

-Bob

zxcvbob wrote:
>
> So you're finally moving back to East Texas? Good for you! (I started
> to abbreviate it GFY but I was afraid that might get misinterpreted)
>


I'm sorry, that sounded funny in my head. :-/

-Bob

Nice recovery Bob--well, probably wouldn't have been misinterpreted
but it did make me laugh.

George, why is it always so warm here when it isn't supposed to be--
considering the time of year. I've never really figured that out after
living here 28 years. Although, I am not going to complain--I always
brag to the northern relatives that I will likely be wearing shorts on
Thanksgiving.

And...our house will never be finished, there is always something to
be done or fixed. Such is life, I don't mind, we are blessed to have a
home of our own.

I can't eat cabbage so, we are having turnip greens, peas (whatever is
in the freezer--I think we have purple hull peas in there) and
cornbread for New Year's Day. I love the tradition of eating this meal
on the first day of the year. Whether it brings luck or not, it is a
tasty meal, Hun Bun loves cornbread and those 2 reasons are good
enough for me to make it.

It's a 4-day weekend for me. I've done some canning every day so far.
Still have a long list of other things I want to get done before
heading back to work on Tuesday. So, not sure I will do something
tomorrow. All I know is that I will blink and Spring will be here--
gotta make some room in the freezers.

In article <4eff77c5$0$15418$88263[email protected]>, George Shirley
<[email protected]> wrote:

> eat your hearts out in the frozen north

Only 3 months before I can start seeds indoors!

But it's too warm here for a decent ice layer to form on the lakes, so
I can't even go ice fishing yet! Damn! There should be be a good 6 - 12
inches by now...

Happy New Year, all.

--
Woodworking and more at <http://www.woodenwabbits.com>

On 12/31/2011 11:17 PM, Mimi wrote:
> Nice recovery Bob--well, probably wouldn't have been misinterpreted
> but it did make me laugh.
>
> George, why is it always so warm here when it isn't supposed to be--
> considering the time of year. I've never really figured that out after
> living here 28 years. Although, I am not going to complain--I always
> brag to the northern relatives that I will likely be wearing shorts on
> Thanksgiving.
Let's see, I was born in Beaumont, TX, raised in Orange, TX, lived in
Huffman, Crosby, Houston, Corpus Christi. That was over 72 years ago and
it was warm then. I saw snow for the first time in January 1958 when I
was checking in on the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River, MD. Thought
it was cool until it decided to drop about two feet on us that winter. I
did discover that driving in snow and ice was not different than driving
on muddy East Texas backroads. I love the Gulf Coast MiMi, always have.
I can fish salt water not 20 minutes from my house here and fresh water
is even closer. I love to watch a Blue Norther moving in, coming out of
the north and bringing cold winds and hail and rain with it. Looks like
it is all of a sudden getting dark in the middle of the day.
>
> And...our house will never be finished, there is always something to
> be done or fixed. Such is life, I don't mind, we are blessed to have a
> home of our own.

We've been blessed that way for years, our first real home was an eight
foot wide by forty-nine foot long "mobile" home. Paid $1500.00 for it in
1961, took out a three-year note to be able to afford it. When we had
our first true house built in 1965 I sold the trailer to a dealer for
$1800.00. Our first built home, 1585 square feet, cost us $14,000.00 and
we worried about the $144.00 a month note on a twenty-year loan. All
electric and the juice cost us $44.00 a month. We celebrated if we had
thirty cents left over after paying our bills. Times really change,
nowadays we live in a 2000 square foot brick house and it small compared
to some in our neighborhood. We've worked on this old place every one of
the nearly 22 years we've lived here. We've made good friends that we
will miss but won't abandon them. We've made many friends over the 51
years we've been married in the three states and two foreign countries
we've lived in and are still in touch with lots of them.
>
> I can't eat cabbage so, we are having turnip greens, peas (whatever is
> in the freezer--I think we have purple hull peas in there) and
> cornbread for New Year's Day. I love the tradition of eating this meal
> on the first day of the year. Whether it brings luck or not, it is a
> tasty meal, Hun Bun loves cornbread and those 2 reasons are good
> enough for me to make it.
I hope you're making Arkansas cornbread and not that sweet stuff in a
prepared package. <G> I introduced Miz Anne to that country cornbread
when we were a young couple and had to stretch things to make ends meet.
Many times we ate fresh cornbread with chopped onions, black pepper, and
sweet milk poured over it. The "strike" meal my folks used to serve in
the old days.
>
> It's a 4-day weekend for me. I've done some canning every day so far.
> Still have a long list of other things I want to get done before
> heading back to work on Tuesday. So, not sure I will do something
> tomorrow. All I know is that I will blink and Spring will be here--
> gotta make some room in the freezers.

We're still gardening and putting stuff up even though most of our time
is spent working on the house. Miz Anne is washing the window of my
office right now, it's sunny and warm out and the dawg is laying on the
sidewalk in a sunbeam watching her. She can't sit still for to long so
stays much busier than I do.

We're looking at houses with fruit trees and established gardens but, as
you might guess, the Kingwood area doesn't have a lot of those. Found
one house with a pear and a grapefruit tree and a small garden. Reckon
we will have to build some raised bed gardens and put in some good sized
fruit trees if we want to have real gardens.

I will certainly be thinking of driving to Livingston area to look for
dewberries though.

<snip> I hope you're making Arkansas cornbread and not that sweet
stuff in a prepared package. <snip>

Always home made cornbread. The recipe I use does have a tiny amount
of sugar in it. Many mixes contain lard which is not kosher so, I
couldn't use a mix if I wanted to.

: - ]

On Dec 31 2011, 3:59*pm, George Shirley <gmshir...@suddenlink.net>
wrote:
> We're putting up canned carrots tomorrow, along with a few heads of
> broccoli. Our New Years Day meal will include steamed cabbage from the
> garden and home canned blackeyed peas, done from dried peas. In this
> part of the south you MUST have cabbage and blackeyed peas to ensure a
> lucky year. So far we've been pretty lucky in our lives so it must work
> to some extent.
>
> Today we finished painting my office and now we have to put it back
> together. Painting an occupied home is a PITA, everything has to be
> moved from one room to another. I can see why contractors turn down
> these jobs. We have the master bedroom and the art room left to do. I am
> amazed at how much "broken" stuff we have in a house we've lived in for
> nearly 22 years. Things like closet doors with broken hardware,
> something we never noticed until we tried to close a bifold door. I
> think I will do a "repair or replace patrol" every month once we move
> into a new house, just to try and stay ahead of things.
>
> Have a safe and sober New Year's Eve and a wonderful home preserving
> jaunt in the coming year.
>
> George, Miz Anne, and Tilly Dawg in 70F SW Louisiana (eat your hearts
> out in the frozen north)

a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, George! Hope you and
yours had a wonderful time! From a quick scan, it looks like you did!

I seem to have lost touch with this group. I miss you guys. My New
Years Resolution is to visit more often and put up more stuff!

Hope to see you all real soon ...(if I can just figure out an easy and
convenient way to read this group.....)

Kathi

On 1/8/2012 6:42 PM, Mimi wrote:
> <snip> I hope you're making Arkansas cornbread and not that sweet
> stuff in a prepared package.<snip>
>
> Always home made cornbread. The recipe I use does have a tiny amount
> of sugar in it. Many mixes contain lard which is not kosher so, I
> couldn't use a mix if I wanted to.
>
> : - ]
>
>
Well, I guess a tiny bit of sugar is okay. My Mom's recipe was always
two cups of yellow cornmeal, one egg, well beaten, two cups of
buttermilk, one teaspoon of baking soda. Mix well. Put a ten-inch
skillet with a tablespoon of oil in the oven and set the temperature at
425F. When oven is ready pour the cornbread into the skillet, close the
oven door and cook for 20 minutes. The hot skillet basically frys the
bottom of the cornbread and makes a tasty crust.

When dad was on strike we either ate the chickens we raised at the time
or cornbread with milk, cornbread with beans poured over, or cornbread
with cane syrup. I got really tired of chicken and/or cornbread by the
time I left home. Took me several years before I would eat either. Now I
love both of them again. I think I will put on a pot of lima beans with
sausage today and bake a pone of cornbread tonight.

Our other staple was rice. I grew up in an area of Texas that grew a lot
of rice. The rice warehouse was about a mile from our house. Dad would
go there and buy a "barrel"* of rice and we would keep it in the
kitchen. Just dip out a couple of cups of polished rice and cook it. *
A barrel of rice was 42 lbs back then, just like a barrel of oil is
still 42 gallons today. Looked it up a long time ago and that was an
arbitrary figure used because old small barrels held 42 gallons of
liquid and about 42 lbs of rice. Nowadays I eat brown rice as white rice
raises my blood glucose level too much.

George Shirley <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 1/8/2012 6:42 PM, Mimi wrote:
> > <snip> I hope you're making Arkansas cornbread and not that sweet
> > stuff in a prepared package.<snip>
> >
> > Always home made cornbread. The recipe I use does have a tiny amount
> > of sugar in it. Many mixes contain lard which is not kosher so, I
> > couldn't use a mix if I wanted to.
> >
> > : - ]
> >
> >
> Well, I guess a tiny bit of sugar is okay. My Mom's recipe was always
> two cups of yellow cornmeal, one egg, well beaten, two cups of
> buttermilk, one teaspoon of baking soda. Mix well. Put a ten-inch
> skillet with a tablespoon of oil in the oven and set the temperature at
> 425F. When oven is ready pour the cornbread into the skillet, close the
> oven door and cook for 20 minutes. The hot skillet basically frys the
> bottom of the cornbread and makes a tasty crust.
>
> When dad was on strike we either ate the chickens we raised at the time
> or cornbread with milk, cornbread with beans poured over, or cornbread
> with cane syrup. I got really tired of chicken and/or cornbread by the
> time I left home. Took me several years before I would eat either. Now I
> love both of them again. I think I will put on a pot of lima beans with
> sausage today and bake a pone of cornbread tonight.
>
> Our other staple was rice. I grew up in an area of Texas that grew a lot
> of rice. The rice warehouse was about a mile from our house. Dad would
> go there and buy a "barrel"* of rice and we would keep it in the
> kitchen. Just dip out a couple of cups of polished rice and cook it. *
> A barrel of rice was 42 lbs back then, just like a barrel of oil is
> still 42 gallons today. Looked it up a long time ago and that was an
> arbitrary figure used because old small barrels held 42 gallons of
> liquid and about 42 lbs of rice. Nowadays I eat brown rice as white rice
> raises my blood glucose level too much.

Sent my daughter your Mom's cornbread recipe. She lives here, so maybe I'll
get some. Thanks.

My wife is Thai, so a day without rice is like a day without sunshine for
her. I, too, have diabetes. I can have a very small bowl of rice soup (Thai
cao tom) or about two Tbs of rice. For me, all rice is sugar, so when I
have it, I have the kind I like most: glutenous or sticky rice (Thai cao
niao), preferably with coconut milk.

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
families: https://semperfifund.org https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
http://www.specialops.org/ http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ ~Semper Fi~
http://www.woundedwarriors.ca/ http://www.legacy.com.au/ ~Semper Fi~

On 1/10/2012 2:53 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
> George Shirley<[email protected]> wrote:
>> On 1/8/2012 6:42 PM, Mimi wrote:
>>> <snip> I hope you're making Arkansas cornbread and not that sweet
>>> stuff in a prepared package.<snip>
>>>
>>> Always home made cornbread. The recipe I use does have a tiny amount
>>> of sugar in it. Many mixes contain lard which is not kosher so, I
>>> couldn't use a mix if I wanted to.
>>>
>>> : - ]
>>>
>>>
>> Well, I guess a tiny bit of sugar is okay. My Mom's recipe was always
>> two cups of yellow cornmeal, one egg, well beaten, two cups of
>> buttermilk, one teaspoon of baking soda. Mix well. Put a ten-inch
>> skillet with a tablespoon of oil in the oven and set the temperature at
>> 425F. When oven is ready pour the cornbread into the skillet, close the
>> oven door and cook for 20 minutes. The hot skillet basically frys the
>> bottom of the cornbread and makes a tasty crust.
>>
>> When dad was on strike we either ate the chickens we raised at the time
>> or cornbread with milk, cornbread with beans poured over, or cornbread
>> with cane syrup. I got really tired of chicken and/or cornbread by the
>> time I left home. Took me several years before I would eat either. Now I
>> love both of them again. I think I will put on a pot of lima beans with
>> sausage today and bake a pone of cornbread tonight.
>>
>> Our other staple was rice. I grew up in an area of Texas that grew a lot
>> of rice. The rice warehouse was about a mile from our house. Dad would
>> go there and buy a "barrel"* of rice and we would keep it in the
>> kitchen. Just dip out a couple of cups of polished rice and cook it. *
>> A barrel of rice was 42 lbs back then, just like a barrel of oil is
>> still 42 gallons today. Looked it up a long time ago and that was an
>> arbitrary figure used because old small barrels held 42 gallons of
>> liquid and about 42 lbs of rice. Nowadays I eat brown rice as white rice
>> raises my blood glucose level too much.
>
> Sent my daughter your Mom's cornbread recipe. She lives here, so maybe I'll
> get some. Thanks.
>
> My wife is Thai, so a day without rice is like a day without sunshine for
> her. I, too, have diabetes. I can have a very small bowl of rice soup (Thai
> cao tom) or about two Tbs of rice. For me, all rice is sugar, so when I
> have it, I have the kind I like most: glutenous or sticky rice (Thai cao
> niao), preferably with coconut milk.
>
We like Thai food quite a bit too Nick. When we lived in Saudi Arabia we
always arranged our trips home through Bangkok going home and back there
going back to Saudi if possible. Neither of us can handle the really hot
stuff but we could always ask for them to back off on the chiles and
they did. Probably the most polite people in the world in my opinion.

I hope you enjoy the cornbread, I always have and so does my almost
Yanqui wife and our kids and grands and great grands.

George Shirley <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 1/10/2012 2:53 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
> > [ . . . . ]
> > Sent my daughter your Mom's cornbread recipe. She lives here, so maybe
> > I'll get some. Thanks.
> >
> > My wife is Thai, so a day without rice is like a day without sunshine
> > for her. I, too, have diabetes. I can have a very small bowl of rice
> > soup (Thai cao tom) or about two Tbs of rice. For me, all rice is
> > sugar, so when I have it, I have the kind I like most: glutenous or
> > sticky rice (Thai cao niao), preferably with coconut milk.
> >
> We like Thai food quite a bit too Nick. When we lived in Saudi Arabia we
> always arranged our trips home through Bangkok going home and back there
> going back to Saudi if possible. Neither of us can handle the really hot
> stuff but we could always ask for them to back off on the chiles and
> they did. Probably the most polite people in the world in my opinion.
>
> I hope you enjoy the cornbread, I always have and so does my almost
> Yanqui wife and our kids and grands and great grands.

Sometimes I can handle it really hot, mostly I like it toned down a bit. We
have a home in the mountains in NE Thailand, but I haven't been there in
seven years. ;-(

Mostly, we get 'Jiffy' cornbread, but I've had the real thing, made by my
friend, Big Jim Whitten, down in Florida.

George, have you ever had Bitter Melon (also called Bitter Gourd - Thai
call it Ma La). It's real good for your BG and is delicious in soups. I
wonder if it would work pickled?

Your 'almost' Yanqui wife???

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
families: https://semperfifund.org https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
http://www.specialops.org/ http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ ~Semper Fi~
http://www.woundedwarriors.ca/ http://www.legacy.com.au/ ~Semper Fi~

On 1/12/2012 2:42 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
> George Shirley<[email protected]> wrote:
>> On 1/10/2012 2:53 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
>>> [ . . . . ]
>>> Sent my daughter your Mom's cornbread recipe. She lives here, so maybe
>>> I'll get some. Thanks.
>>>
>>> My wife is Thai, so a day without rice is like a day without sunshine
>>> for her. I, too, have diabetes. I can have a very small bowl of rice
>>> soup (Thai cao tom) or about two Tbs of rice. For me, all rice is
>>> sugar, so when I have it, I have the kind I like most: glutenous or
>>> sticky rice (Thai cao niao), preferably with coconut milk.
>>>
>> We like Thai food quite a bit too Nick. When we lived in Saudi Arabia we
>> always arranged our trips home through Bangkok going home and back there
>> going back to Saudi if possible. Neither of us can handle the really hot
>> stuff but we could always ask for them to back off on the chiles and
>> they did. Probably the most polite people in the world in my opinion.
>>
>> I hope you enjoy the cornbread, I always have and so does my almost
>> Yanqui wife and our kids and grands and great grands.
>
> Sometimes I can handle it really hot, mostly I like it toned down a bit. We
> have a home in the mountains in NE Thailand, but I haven't been there in
> seven years. ;-(
>
> Mostly, we get 'Jiffy' cornbread, but I've had the real thing, made by my
> friend, Big Jim Whitten, down in Florida.
>
> George, have you ever had Bitter Melon (also called Bitter Gourd - Thai
> call it Ma La). It's real good for your BG and is delicious in soups. I
> wonder if it would work pickled?

Not that I remember, I have eaten Durian though.
>
> Your 'almost' Yanqui wife???

She was raised in Southern Maryland until we married and then she came
to Texas, Louisiana, and other southern places. She hasn't had that
Maryland accent in years so it's hard to tell she isn't native to the
Deep South. We celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary last month so I
guess I have to keep her.
>

George Shirley <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 1/12/2012 2:42 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
> > [ . . . . ]
> > George, have you ever had Bitter Melon (also called Bitter Gourd - Thai
> > call it Ma La). It's real good for your BG and is delicious in soups. I
> > wonder if it would work pickled?
>
> Not that I remember, I have eaten Durian though.

I love durian. Jun's friend grows it. Fresh ripe off the tree is so good!

> > Your 'almost' Yanqui wife???
>
> She was raised in Southern Maryland until we married and then she came
> to Texas, Louisiana, and other southern places. She hasn't had that
> Maryland accent in years so it's hard to tell she isn't native to the
> Deep South. We celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary last month so I
> guess I have to keep her.

51 years! How kewl is that. I'm really happy for both of you. I'm 76 and
been married to my sweet girl for only 21 years.

You do want to try bitter melon!

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
families: https://semperfifund.org https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
http://www.specialops.org/ http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ ~Semper Fi~
http://www.woundedwarriors.ca/ http://www.legacy.com.au/ ~Semper Fi~

On 1/12/2012 11:49 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
> George Shirley<[email protected]> wrote:
>> On 1/12/2012 2:42 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
>>> [ . . . . ]
>>> George, have you ever had Bitter Melon (also called Bitter Gourd - Thai
>>> call it Ma La). It's real good for your BG and is delicious in soups. I
>>> wonder if it would work pickled?
>>
>> Not that I remember, I have eaten Durian though.
>
> I love durian. Jun's friend grows it. Fresh ripe off the tree is so good!
>
>>> Your 'almost' Yanqui wife???
>>
>> She was raised in Southern Maryland until we married and then she came
>> to Texas, Louisiana, and other southern places. She hasn't had that
>> Maryland accent in years so it's hard to tell she isn't native to the
>> Deep South. We celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary last month so I
>> guess I have to keep her.
>
> 51 years! How kewl is that. I'm really happy for both of you. I'm 76 and
> been married to my sweet girl for only 21 years.
>
> You do want to try bitter melon!
>
Friend gifted us yesterday with a pomelo, no stores here carry them but
a Walmart 33 miles away in Texas does. We can get California papaya here
but it doesn't taste as good as the Thai papaya. Every trip into
Thailand we would stay at the same hotel, the Indra Regent, in Bangkok,
the management always put a fresh whole pineapple in our room, top and
bottom sliced off, sides sliced, and then all put back together. We ate
it as soon as we stepped in the room. We liked it so much we once spent
two weeks on Phuket Island just to eat pineapple and fresh fish every
day. It was August so we were the only two guests in the hotel. Lots of
Europeans and Americans came there in the winter, we were the only two
nuts that came in August. Service was great and so was the food. Can't
remember the name of the hotel at the moment but it was built into the
side of the mountain and it was 300 steps down to the restaurant built
out over the Andaman Sea. I still remember the steps.

George Shirley <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 1/12/2012 11:49 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
> > George Shirley<[email protected]> wrote:
> >> On 1/12/2012 2:42 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
> >>> [ . . . . ]
> >>> George, have you ever had Bitter Melon (also called Bitter Gourd -
> >>> Thai call it Ma La). It's real good for your BG and is delicious in
> >>> soups. I wonder if it would work pickled?
> >>
> >> Not that I remember, I have eaten Durian though.
> >
> > I love durian. Jun's friend grows it. Fresh ripe off the tree is so
> > good!
> >
> >>> Your 'almost' Yanqui wife???
> >>
> >> She was raised in Southern Maryland until we married and then she came
> >> to Texas, Louisiana, and other southern places. She hasn't had that
> >> Maryland accent in years so it's hard to tell she isn't native to the
> >> Deep South. We celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary last month so I
> >> guess I have to keep her.
> >
> > 51 years! How kewl is that. I'm really happy for both of you. I'm 76
> > and been married to my sweet girl for only 21 years.
> >
> > You do want to try bitter melon!
> >
> Friend gifted us yesterday with a pomelo, no stores here carry them but
> a Walmart 33 miles away in Texas does. We can get California papaya here
> but it doesn't taste as good as the Thai papaya. Every trip into
> Thailand we would stay at the same hotel, the Indra Regent, in Bangkok,
> the management always put a fresh whole pineapple in our room, top and
> bottom sliced off, sides sliced, and then all put back together. We ate
> it as soon as we stepped in the room. We liked it so much we once spent
> two weeks on Phuket Island just to eat pineapple and fresh fish every
> day. It was August so we were the only two guests in the hotel. Lots of
> Europeans and Americans came there in the winter, we were the only two
> nuts that came in August. Service was great and so was the food. Can't
> remember the name of the hotel at the moment but it was built into the
> side of the mountain and it was 300 steps down to the restaurant built
> out over the Andaman Sea. I still remember the steps.

Wonderful memories, George. We frequently get pomeloes and Thai papayas.
The Indra Regent is great. When my wife and her girlfriend/ex-sister-in-law
would go shopping in the garment district, they'd dump at the Indra, where,
with a little training, they served a damned good Martini! I always
travelled with a bunch of Thai folks, so I'd stay at a friend's house, a
Thai local hotel or a Thai Buddhist monastery. We have a small home in the
mountains in northern Thailand.

What's your FBG? You do want to try bitter melon!

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
families: https://semperfifund.org https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
http://www.specialops.org/ http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ ~Semper Fi~
http://www.woundedwarriors.ca/ http://www.legacy.com.au/ ~Semper Fi~

On 1/16/2012 4:02 AM, Nick Cramer wrote:
snipped excess.
>
> Wonderful memories, George. We frequently get pomeloes and Thai papayas.
> The Indra Regent is great. When my wife and her girlfriend/ex-sister-in-law
> would go shopping in the garment district, they'd dump at the Indra, where,
> with a little training, they served a damned good Martini! I always
> travelled with a bunch of Thai folks, so I'd stay at a friend's house, a
> Thai local hotel or a Thai Buddhist monastery. We have a small home in the
> mountains in northern Thailand.
>
> What's your FBG? You do want to try bitter melon!
>
Other than papaya my other favorite was Jackfruit, street vendors all
over Thailand were selling bags full of the fruit on the street. Our
American friends used to cringe when we ate street food but we never got
sick from the Jackfruit. Walk around sightseeing, go to the museums and
temples, etc. eating out of the bag of fruit. Find a public water tap
and wash your hands, go on about your business. If I ever find any
bitter melon I will certainly try it.