THREE TO GO!

 Time is of the essence.

And you ghouls that celebrate with the spooks and the black cats have little time to prepare.

Halloween is Thursday night!

But first, let me tempt your taste buds once again.

This was all Judy, as most of our meals are here in our quiet abode.

In the tradition of her ancestry, bratwurst and sweet potato chunks surround a partial head of cabbage, which was sauteed in Balsamic vinegar.

Did I say "our quiet abode".

As I'm sitting down to this I break into a loud chorus of, "Ja, das ist die Liechtensteiner Polka, ja, ja!"

If Google Translate is to be believed that translates to "Yes, that is the Liechtensteiner Polka, yes, yes!"

Which of course has absolutely nothing to do with the meal in front of me but it's been my tradition anytime she puts German food on the table.

I can be a bit of an ass.

I don't know that the side dish salad is of any particular national tradition but cantaloupe and watermelon sure go well with the other food.

And people, always lightly salt your melon slices; it brings out the sweetness even more.

But to get back to readying yourself for the big night ahead, just be careful with your costuming.

ONWARD YOU ZOMBIES!

If any of you have been paying attention, you may have noticed that I began awhile back posting cover pictures of the latest book I've read.

It's over in the right margin of this page.

If you've been keeping track, you've seen that my interests are all over the block.

In other words, fiction to non-fiction and subjects widely disparate.

My latest addition is new today as I finally completed reading "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen.

Perhaps an unusual choice for a 21st century man to read because it's an extremely wordy romance novel first published over 200 years ago.

But I kept hearing, throughout my long life, about Austen and one day when I was browsing in our public library I spotted several of her books on a shelf.

So I brought one home, determined to see what all the praise was about.

Now, granted, she was a very good writer and, as I remarked to Judy, she had mastered a fine art of any good suspense novelist of this or any century: the cliff-hanger.

Leaving just enough at the end of each chapter to make the reader want to know what was going to happen in the next and keep him or her reading.

But after 50 chapters and 452 pages of very fine print, I think I've read enough Jane Austen to last this curious guy all the years he has left.

Now to change subjects violently, need I remind you that there are only a few days left before the darkest of holidays, All Hallows Eve?

More commonly known these days as Halloween.

If warnings ARE needed, then here is some help from the Comedy Bank/Banque.

THE MARCH TOWARD HALLOWEEN

You may be forgiven for not inquiring as to the progress on the fence mural as it has been many months.

But those months meant Summer.

And with the double impact of living in Arizona and the effects of Climate Change, that means months of staying inside and away from the mural.

Recently, however, the weather broke a bit and the juices of creation began stirring again in my Resident Artist, also known here as SWMBO, or She Who Must Be Obeyed.

So let me show you the recent progress with the admonition from herself to inform you that this is a work in progress and much more needs to be done.

Yet there, peeping through her hideaway in a cluster of flowers, is someone who resembles our beloved Sweetie-Pie!

Last night, the model herself was across the room from us, practicing her Halloween stare.

Oh yes, it's her.

She was "ready for her close-up."

I think she was more frightening than this friend she may have been trying to emulate.

At any rate, the paint goes on and I'll try to keep you informed of new progress.

Speaking of artists . . .

Only five more days folks.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Here we are folks, the 25th of October.

Only six days to Halloween.

Now I know my friend, Shirley, over at BootsandBraids will enjoy this week because she is a costume and makeup mastermind and she can't wait for the Halloween season.

But the rest of you had better prepare yourself too because you just never know who, or what, is going to creep up on you in the dark.

So let's take a look at what has popped out of the Comedy Bank/Banque today.

Or maybe it's the Blood Bank!

Okay, folks, those are the chokes, er jokes.

Now have yourselves a freaky weekend and a scarey week.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . oooohhh, testy, testy . . . )

BREAD & TERROR

For all of you thousands of readers wondering, with bated breath, if our new oven is working here is the sad truth.

Not sad to ME but perhaps to you folk who are getting tired of my incessant bragging reportage on my kitchen exploits.

Two loaves of English Muffin Bread, fresh from the oven, cooling on a rack, ready for my lady.

So that's this morning's successful experiment to see if the new oven worked like the old oven.

It does, even though the other one was gas and this one's electric.

That takes care of the "Bread" in the title of this blog.

Now about that other word - "Terror".

The one has nothing to do with the other.

In case you have been marooned on a desert island somewhere, let me remind you that Halloween is one week from today.

And continuing a long-standing tradition here at Oddball (or maybe that's just in my mind) I will share a creepy cartoon, a murderous meme, a selection provided by my Halloween scarifiers each day leading up to the Hallowed Eve.

And on that day, you'll get a healthy dose of horror.

So with that, here's my first offering.

It's not exactly Halloween related though it would certainly scare the Dickens out of me.

And yes, I did sneak Charles Dickens in there.

At any rate, enjoy.

Or not.

THE JOY OF HOME REPAIRS

A few days ago I told you about how my gas oven quit working after I tried to reset the clock on it following a power outage.

To the amazement of me and not a few of my readers, the Almighty Google told me the display on it of what looked like Sb6 was some kind of code that was meant to tell me it had gone into "Sabbath mode".

This apparently is some sort of mode that prevents baking over a weekend but which still supposedly lets the oven stay warm for already baked food.

Various sites told me to hold down the clock button for 5, 7 or 10 seconds to restore my programmer.

None of that worked.

Other sites told me to unplug the stove and then plug it back in.

That didn't work either.

And some sites told me to turn off the breaker to the outlet and then after 5 seconds or so to turn it back on.

Nope, no success.

Finally I was told by some guy who got to me through a website that if none of those solutions were actually solutions I probably needed a new computerized control board and that would be a tad over $200.

Not including the installation charge, of course.

So we went to a thrift store, where we had purchased the range a few years ago, to look for another one but this time an electric one because SWMBO had read recently that some gas fumes can cause illnesses.

(Silly me, I thought they just caused death!)

And we found a used electric range that looked like it would fill the bill, purchased it and arranged for delivery today.

The delivery guys weren't supposed to hook it up but offer of a tip might change their minds.

And it did.

But then the guy said, "Oh, it's electric. I can plug it in. I thought it was gas and we're not supposed to touch that."

So he got down to plug it in and promptly exclaimed "Oh, this is a three-prong plug and you have a four-prong socket!"

He said, in response to our confused queries, that yes, a hardware store probably would have an adaptor.

So off we went to a hardware store and SWMBO, who had announced she was taking on this project, talked to a guy and acquired, not an adaptor, but a new cord with the correct prongs on it which would have to replace the cord on the new (used) stove.

And, having a father, a son and a daughter, who had all been electricians and handymen in their time, she urged me to leave the room while she did the work.

But soon there were cries of frustration as she was unable to loosen the screws holding the old cord to the range.

I tried several times with several tools with the same lack of success.

So we called a handyman we had used previously and explained the dilemma.

He said he could get here sometime this evening but then later texted the name and number of an electrician he uses and suggested contacting him as he wanted to be sure it was wired correctly.

So I did but, of course, got his answering service and left a message to call me.

That was an hour ago and I'm still waiting to hear from him.

Meantime, the cost of that new (used) stove is rising and I'm starting to feel like the guy in this cartoon.

SAUCY

Sometimes it's the smallest things in life that can make a difference.

The recipes that can keep you coming back, time after time.

Making a fool of yourself.

Such was one I conjured yesterday.

It's a very simple dip, intended for the sweet potato french fries we were having with our meal.

And it was good in it's intended purpose.

But what was left over was even better today, once the flavor had melded, used as a dip for little pretzel sticks.

I had been about to go into the kitchen and get it out for just that purpose when I saw that SWMBO had beaten me to it.

She was the one who pointed out the deepening of the flavors since yesterday.

So I dipped.

And then I dipped again.

And again and again before stopping in danger of ruining my appetite for our meal.

That's the trouble with tasty appetizers.

They can satisfy and then sate the appetite if one likes them too much.

As I poured myself a drink and took a sip I wondered why they don't serve this stuff free in bars to encourage over-ordering.

Well, I've kept you in suspense long enough.

So here's the recipe: a quarter cup of sour cream, a half cup of mayonaisse and a teaspoon of Sriracha sauce.

I tasted after one teaspoon of the latter and added a second.

And it's still not too hot.

I'm trying to keep from heading back into the kitchen right now.

SUNDAY SCONES

 We are at present without an oven.

Early the other morning there was a thunderstorm here and we lost power for about half an hour.

After we got it back I was resetting clocks and made a mistake with the one on the kitchen range.

After Googling I found that I had mistakenly put it in "Sabbath Mode", which essentially put the oven out of commission.

After trying several fixes I reluctantly committed to the final one, which says it will restore itself after 72 hours.

We still have the stovetop and a lot of food can be prepared on it.

And we have two, count 'em, two Microwave ovens.

The big old monster we've had for ever and a smaller one we bought when we moved here and discovered there was not one mounted above the stove and the old one took up way too much of our limited counter space.

And we have a toaster oven/air fryer, on a shelving unit in the garage which also holds the old microwave oven.

Some time back I had purchased a couple of cookbooks designed for air fryers but had never used them other than for idle reading.

So I pulled them out yesterday and was leafing through them when Judy asked to see them.

She quickly found several recipes that sounded good to her, including one for Mini-Blueberry-Scones and suggested I make them this morning.

And so I did.

This is not a photo of mine since we scarfed them down before I thought of the camera.

This is a photo from the cookbook but mine looked about the same.

The ones I made are capped with an orange zest/sugar topping which made for a nice crunch.

They were luscious and we quickly devoured all eight of them!

For those wanting the recipe, here it is: Allrecipes Air Fryer Mini 

Blueberry Scones

If you make them, don't forget the tea and keep your pinky finger out.

British or not, gotta be correct y'know.

SATURDAY MORNING

A (semi-)perfect breakfast.

A two-egg omelet rather sloppily flipped with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses melted inside.

It tasted good, anyway.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

So, in honor of Thursday . . . HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Wait a second.

It's NOT Thursday?

It's NOT Halloween?

Oh, man, talk about jumpin' the gun.

I'm sorry.

But it IS still Autumn, isn't it?

No, don't get teed off.

It's rough but that's all I've got.

Just a slice of humor.

But it's par for the course.

Now get y'selves over to the 19th hole and pour y'selves a drink.

Or not.

At any rate, have a great weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . at least SOMEbody appreciates my humor . . . )

DA BOYS

 Well, once again the "old boys" got together for lunch and a special "so long".

But there was a difference this time.

A couple of days before, I came down with an intestinal "bug" and didn't feel I could leave the house.

Our previous gatherings had been held at the Rock Springs Cafe (aka The Pie Place) that I had selected because it was (theoretically) halfway between me in Prescott Valley and the rest of the gang all in Greater Phoenix.

Since I was out for today's gathering they were free to hold it in the Valley of the Sun this time.

So at a restaurant in North Phoenix this crowd gathered today to eat, drink, lie, laugh and bid a fond farewell to The Legend: Lew Ruggiero.

Left to right, they are Rick DeBruhl, Wally Athey, Lew Ruggiero, Steve Torbeck, Al Macias, Roger Ball and Chuck Emmert.

What's with all that grey hair, you're asking?

It comes from the intensity with which they all did their jobs at the same television station.

Well, okay, it comes with age, too.

The alums all departed KPNX for greener pastures at differing times in the past.

Some in the distant past.

Now about Lovely Lew.

After 45 years enjoying Arizona's healthy sunshine, he and his wife are moving back to California to be closer to his kids and grandkids.

He will be missed by this gang, by many other co-workers, by nefarious outlaws and scofflaws, and by all who have stood in his shadow and marveled at his deeds, this writer for example.

'Course, he will also be thought kindly of by the owners and workers at numerous 7-Eleven stores who, in his honor, could have coined the slogan: A Slurpee (or two) a day keeps the bad guys away!

Happy landings, Lew.

Mindless Monday

Somewhere today it's Columbus Day.

And somewhere today it's Indigenous People's Day.

But here at Oddball, it's nuts to you.

STILL BAKING

Just to let you know, I'm still baking.

Earlier in the week, I made a couple of loaves of banana bread.

This one is getting smaller by the minute as SWMBO, my official taster, has pronounced it delicious as one slice after another disappears.

But not to fear, the second loaf is in the fridge, so far untouched.

That same evening I finally squoze (Taylor vernacular for squeezed) 18 limes and made my first ever Key Lime Pie.

Half of it remains but it won't last out the weekend.

Don't tell anyone but the "whipped cream" that tops each slice comes out of a can.

SWMBO pronounced it equally delicious.

This morning I tried a new recipe I found for Maple Oatmeal Muffins.

Mine were studded with dried cranberries instead of the cherries the recipe called for and I didn't have pastry flour so used a mix recommended of half and half whole wheat and regular white flours.

No word from the official taster yet but she scorned them before I made them because she claims not to like maple syrup in baked goods.

I snagged a small corner as we were removing them from the pan and I loved it.

So we'll see.

I can not by any means be classified as a master baker but as SWMBO might say, "it keeps him out of the bars and off the streets."

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

With yet another humongous storm in the southeastern United States, it's been another of those weeks you don't want to write anything about in your diary.

Which may explain the absence of entries in my blog for the past several days.

But each day I wake and open my eyes with surprise and some degree of elation so I hope passing on some humor will help those in nature's angry path and those with friends and family in those areas.

So, once again, here goes.

Well, that's the best I can do, my friends.

Now let's all take care of each other and try your best to have the bestest of weekends.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . oh, c'mon, that was good advice . . . )