Stormy Last Monday Of January Butchering Chicken With Kentucky Fried Chicken's Original Recipe's Secret 11 Herbs & Spices

This is the final Magic Monday of the 1st month of 2013. Magic Monday is my favorite day of the week, my fun day, my I don't go anywhere and run day.

I may go somewhere and hike though, if the stormy looking clouds don't burst.

As you can see, via the view from my pool overlook patio, the stormy looking clouds look like they should already be dropping water.

We are breaking temperature records, heat-wise, in North Texas. I have my windows open again. 67 degrees, currently.

Changing the subject from my favorite one to butchering chickens.

When I was last in Tacoma, summer of 2008, I was instructed to instruct my sister-in-law as to how to cut up a whole chicken. We'd come into possession of two large free range organic chickens that needed to be sliced up.

As I recollect, the instruction session went well, with me cutting up the first chicken and then my student cutting up the second one under my close guidance.

So, this morning I cut up a chicken. I had not done this in awhile. But that is no explanation for how badly I butchered the bird. Some how I got a big chunk of breast on the back. One of the thighs also did not fare well.

I stood there looking at this badly mangled chicken wondering why the butchering had gone so badly, as opposed to the nicely chopped Tacoma chickens.

And then I realized the problem. My sister-in-law had really good knives. Very sharp. I am a bit of a hazard with knives. So, I like my knives to be a bit dull. I think when cutting up a chicken a dull knife turns the process into more of a risky hazard than having a really sharp knife.

Lately I've been having myself a craving for Kentucky Fried Chicken. I Googled to see if I could find the Colonel's 11 Secret Herbs and Spices.

Well, some guy reverse engineered the "Secret Recipe". His version shows up on multiple websites. However, just looking at it it seemed wrong to me, as in each ingredient was 1 teaspoon, with the guy not saying how much flour was to be used.

Then I found a forum where all these knowledgeable foodies were debating this serious issue.

Turns out the guy reverse engineered what went into making a piece of Extra Crispy taste like it does, not the Original Recipe.

Then someone who seemed to be quite knowledgeable detailed the history of the Colonel's Original Recipe and listed what this particular foodie believed to be the Original Recipe's 11 Herbs & Spices....

1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp sage
3/8 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp coriander seed
1/4 tsp summer savory
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp bay leaf
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp green cardamom
1/8 tsp cloves

2 teaspoons of salt is also added to the 1 cup of flour one rolls the chicken pieces in. I guess salt is not considered an herb or spice.

Of the Secret Recipe ingredients I only had black pepper, salt, ginger and cayenne pepper.

I am oven frying my chicken, not deep frying. I suspect my chicken will not be even remotely as tasty as KFC's.

A Crowded Sunday Walk With The Village Creek Indian Ghosts

On MLK Day I saw my first wildflower of the new year, a bright yellow wildflower in one of the designated Wildflower Areas in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Today there were a lot more of the bright yellow wildflowers blooming, along with curious looking cotton snowball-like wildflowers, one of which you see in the picture.

Sunday is my favorite day to walk with the Indian ghosts who haunt Village Creek, due to there usually being a lot of other people also walking with the ghosts.

With the outer world being heated well into the 60s, the Village Creek Natural Historical Area's parking lot had only a couple open spaces upon my arrival. This was the busiest I've ever seen this particular parking lot.

One of the ghost walkers had 6 dogs with him. None of which were on a leash. The dogs were all different breeds, ranging from a small dachshund to a big greyhound. The 6 dogs were well behaved. Except for a dachshund. Her name was Pepper. The guy walking Pepper kept yelling her name to get her back on the trail.

I did not see any armadillos today. I don't know how happy the armadillos would be to see 6 unleashed dogs. Except for Pepper. I don't think little Pepper would scare an armadillo. They'd likely just laugh at her in that high pitched giggle noise they make.

Sunday I also my favorite day to go to Walmart. It can be very chaotic, with a very amusing cross section of humanity to peruse. I think I'll go to Walmart in about an hour.

A Foggy Hike On The Tandy Hills With Organic Coffee Yogurt At Town Talk

From the top of Mount Tandy, looking west, across the wagon trail that heads towards downtown Fort Worth, you can only barely see the aforementioned beautiful town's stunning skyline, due to fog diminishing visibility.

The temperature was somewhere in the 40s when I went hill hiking today. I thought the fog might make for some extra chilling, but it didn't. A t-shirt provided sufficient top coverage.

I got gas today on the way to the Tandy Hills. So, like I usually do when I get gas, I called my mom. No answer.

It appears, according to my computer based weather monitoring device that we are in from some rain over the next few days. With a return to freezing on Wednesday. I would prefer a return to the 80s of a day or two ago.

Today is the final Saturday of the first month of 2013. With today being Saturday and me being a creature of habit, I visited the zoo known as Town Talk. Today I got a lot of avocados at 20 cents each. I foresee some guacamole making in an hour or two.

On my last Town Talk visit I got a case of dark chocolate yogurt. I am not much of a chocolate fan. But I do like dark chocolate in small doses. Years ago I was shocked to discover that I really like chocolate cheesecake, so I thought there was a chance dark chocolate yogurt might be a good thing.

Well, it was. A really good thing.

Today I saw no dark chocolate yogurt in the Town Talk walk-in cooler. But, there were a lot of cases of coffee yogurt. I did not think there was a chance that I would discover this to be a good thing, so I did not get myself any coffee yogurt.

Thinking about dark chocolate yogurt had me heading to my refrigerator. I am looking at the yogurt container right now. Wallaby Organic Down Under Dark Chocolate Lowfat Yogurt.

With the Wallaby word and the Down Under phrase I assumed this was imported from Australia yogurt.

Then I looked at the the ingredients label where it says ALL NATURAL INGREDIENTS: Organic Cultured Pasteurized Reduced Fat Milk, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Chocolate Liquor, Organic Locust Bean Gum, Pectin, Organic Vanilla Extract.

And then a sentence saying "Our premium organic milk comes from pasture based family farms in Northern California".

Not Northern Australia.

I am a bit concerned after reading the all natural ingredients to see that the pectin apparently is not organic. I almost feel as if maybe I should cease consuming this yogurt. But, it is just too tasty.

I also see on the yogurt container that the Wallaby Yogurt Company has a website. And that they are located in one of my favorite places, that being California's Napa Valley. I must muster the energy to find contact info on the Wallaby Yogurt Company website so I can ask why the pectin is not organic.

Getting Cold Walking With The Fosdick Lake Fosducks

The Shivering Fosducks of Fosdick Lake

Yesterday the temperature at my location neared or exceeded 80. Hiking the Tandy Hills yesterday the only outerwear needed were shoes and shorts.

Overnight a new cold front has breezed in, which had the morning starting off with light fog. If I am going to get to experience fog I like it to be of the dense sort. Light fog really is not all that interesting.

Years ago, driving on the Olympic Peninsula, after having hiked to the Pacific from Lake Ozette, heading towards Forks for the night, I found myself in the thickest fog I've ever experienced.

I think the technical term for this type fog is a Pea Soup Fog. This fog was so thick I had to drive really slow. The headlights almost made the visibility worse. Very scary. Eventually made it to an equally scary motel in Forks.

I have not been to Forks since it became famous due to those Twilight movies. I suspect the town has been rejuvenated. Thinking about Forks quickly had me thinking about La Push, which just as quickly had me feeling homesick for some good ocean scenery.

Changing the subject back to the beautiful scenery I see at my current location.

The temperature was in the upper 40s when I drove to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdick Lake. Supposedly, according to my computer based weather monitoring device, the wind had it really feeling like it was 27. However, there was no wind blowing making the air feel colder than it was.

Even so, I did not get the right level of outerwear covering me to prevent getting cold whilst walking fast.

I walked around the lake once, and then got back into the climate controlled comfort of my mechanical transportation device.

Even though outside it is cold, I have had no inclination to fire up my interior space's heating device. This place is well insulated. But, I suspect within a few more hours the insulation will no longer be keeping the cold at bay.

A Lonely Cowboy Searching For Air Filters With Frita

I am one lonely cowboy under a lonesome Texas sky this early Thursday evening.

The sweltering heat, near 80, tempted me to fire up the air-conditioner. I resisted the temptation and opted for open windows and spinning ceiling fans instead.

Like I mentioned I would, earlier, I called Frita Fremont back when I drove to Walmart this afternoon.

Frita talked so long she used up all her long distance minutes. This is tragic. Does this mean Frita will not be calling me anymore til she has some more minutes?

One of the things I went to Walmart for was to see if I could find some sort of air filtering device. I have not been liking the air that I breathe, full of particulants. And yesterday I learned that among those particulants, thanks to the bad behavior of Texas regulating agencies, and Chesapeake Energy, there is likely too much cancer causing benzene in the air that I breathe.

I wandered all over Walmart looking for an air cleaning device. Finally, about the time Frita's minutes ran out, I asked if she would have any idea where such a thing might be. Frita told me where to look. About 30 seconds later I was looking at air filtering devices.

Frita is very handy to have on the phone when you need information. Imagine how useful she would be in person.

Not Talking To Frita Fremont While Hiking Hot Hills & Making Tofu Chili

This morning was spent up north, in Hurst, on a scouting expedition. That went well, except for the fact that each week the drive through the 820/121 construction zone seems to get more treacherous.

When I got back to my abode I made Tofu Chili using the red hot and yellow hot chili peppers I got at Town Talk on Saturday. The hot peppers were not as hot as I thought they'd be. They are plenty hot in their raw state, but lose a lot of their hotness when cooked.

I guess I'm assuming that it is the application of heat that diminishes the chili pepper heat. I suppose this could be caused by the Tofu. I suspect not, though.

After I was done making Tofu Chili I let it sit in simmer mode while I took off to the Tandy Hills for a pre-lunch bout of salubrious, endorphin inducing hill hiking.

On the drive to the Tandy Hills I was talking on my telephonic communication device when I got an incoming call. Due to my technological ineptness I am unable, usually, to manage two calls at once.

When I arrived at the Tandy Hills I terminated talking and then saw that the called I missed was from Frita Fremont. I don't much like talking on my telephonic communication device whilst doing hill hiking, so I did not call Frita back. Figured I'd do so later.

After I was up and down a few hills I came to the collection of mushroom benches I've made mention of before. I sat down for a spell to enjoy the view from a non-vertical position. In the distance I saw what, upon closer examination, I was to later learn, was a family of four, mom, dad and two kids, hiking the hills.

As I got back vertical, to continue the salubrious hiking, my phone rang again. It was Frita Fremont again. This time Frita left me a message saying she urgently needed to speak to me. Well, as soon as it is convenient, I think, is what Frita actually said.

I think I am driving to Walmart in about an hour. I will call Frita at that point in time.

By the way, the Tofu Chili turned out to be really tasty.

And now, let us talk about the weather.

I've got my windows open. It was in the 70s when I went hiking today, nearing 80 right now in the middle of the afternoon. The only outerwear needed today was shorts and shoes. I do not remember this happening in January before.

As you can see below, this short taste of Summer comes to an end tomorrow...

I Need A Heavy Duty Lifting Device To Get Fubbo The Hut Off My Blog

Yesterday I got a call regarding the Fubbogate Scandal. The caller had read Fubbo the Hut's Facebook rantings and was also a longtime reader of my blog. The caller asked me what it is that Fubbo the Hut is so upset about and what it is Fubbo thinks I have done to her.

I told the caller that Fubbo the Hut's tantrums have been triggered by my blog posts.

The caller then rhetorically opined, but you don't ever mention Fubbo the Hut's actual name, how would anyone know this is her that you are talking about?

Good question.

Does the term paranoid neurotic mean anything to anyone?

The blog post that triggered Fubbo the Hut's recent display of bad behavior was from way back in June, titled You Pathological Lying Cheaters Are Easily Busted. The person whose pathological lying I was describing was not named. But, it was a Fubbo the Hut lie that I was talking about. Fubbo recognized her lie and then made a totally stupid comment to that blogging, containing more lies, which is what is known as irony.

In December I blogged about Fubbo the Hut's ironic comment in a blogging titled The Lingering Creepy Weirdness Of Fubbo The Hut.

It was the December blog post about Fubbo the Hut, with its details of more Fubbo madness, which set off her Facebook ranting. I blogged about this in a blogging titled The Lingering Creepy Weirdness Of Fubbo The Hut On Facebook.

Apparently Fubbo thought she'd blocked me from Facebook, which made her think she was in the free and clear to do some more of her pathological lying, in the Facebook venue.

I then got a call telling me Fubbo the Hut was blowing up again on Facebook. I had had enough of reading Fubbo's Facebook ranting, so I did not look at it, but I blogged Time Heals All Wounds & Wounds All Heals Including Fubbo The Hut.

A short time later I learned that this latest Fubbo the Hut Facebook blowup was not just attacking me, but that she was going after innocents who had done absolutely nothing to warrant the wrath of a creepy quarter ton sociopathic psychotic monster. I blogged about this in Contemplating Throwing Fubbo The Hut Off Fosdick Falls.

Now, here is where it gets even more amusingly ironic. One of Fubbo the Hut's lies has been that I have been stalking her. Near as I can tell, by stalking her, Fubbo means I read her blog and then blog about what I read.

Truth of the matter is, Fubbo the Hut's now dead blog was not even remotely interesting, with her writing being borderline illiterate. There was nothing there to stalk.

Have I made fun a time or two of something ridiculous on Fubbo's blog that I read myself or was told about?

Yes.

Is that stalking?

No.

One would need to be an idiot to think this is stalking.

An idiot. Or Fubbo the Hut.

With Fubbo the Hut, what she accuses someone else of doing she is likely the one doing it. Like stalking blogs. She's been caught more than once making rude anonymous comments, about me, on various blogs. Of late she has been stalking this very blog you are reading right now, over and over and over again throughout the day and night. The below shows up on my blog stats multiple times 24/7...

The blog posts about Fubbo the Hut's sociopathic madness are being a bit interesting, stats-wise. As in the number of pageviews of the various blog posts about Fubbo the Hut have been way higher than is the norm. For instance, the blog post that triggered Fubbo's paranoia, The Lingering Creepy Weirdness Of Fubbo The Hut has had well over 1,000 page views. The most recent post about Fubbo, Contemplating Throwing Fubbo The Hut Off Fosdick Falls has had over 600 pageviews.

What is causing all these pageviews? It can't be accounted for by Fubbo the Hut's chronic stalking.

It is very perplexing.

Janice The Bibliotechnician Cursed Me With Insomnia

Yesterday afternoon I was peacefully minding my own business when suddenly I found myself confronted with what I believe to be some sort of subliminal message, delivered to me by Janice the Burlington Bibliotechnician.

That is the subliminal message you are looking at where usually you would see a photograph.

I think this subliminal message entered deep into my sub-conscious and caused me my first bad bout of insomnia in a really long time.

It was well after midnight when I finally passed out. And then slightly after 5, this morning, I was back awake again, tossing and turning in my malfunctioning slumber chamber.

Sometime before 6 I gave up on the notion that I was going to be doing any more sleeping. And so I got myself vertical and made coffee.

I have a bad feeling that this next to last Wednesday of the 1st month of 2013 is going to be a very long day.

The Shadow Of The Tandy Thin Man Thumping Trucks

The Shadow of the Thin Man was long on the Tandy Hills at noon today.

With today being the 22nd day of the first month of 2013 we are already over a third of the way through Winter.

I had a strange hike on the Tandy Hills today.

Human sightings are very rare on the Tandy Hills. Today, near the Tandy Bamboo Teepee Grove I heard really loud thumping, sounding like a mallet hitting rock. It sort of spooked me. I did not try and find the source of the thumping. Instead I walked away from the thumping quickly.

A short time later I was heading north on the Tandy Highway, when, in the distance, I saw a guy coming towards me.

When the guy saw me he looked to be startled.

As the distance between us narrowed the guy started looking increasingly odd. He was not dressed like someone getting in some salubrious hill hiking. He said hello to me from about 20 feet away. I howdied him back as we passed by each other.

Is this who is living in that campsite I found a couple days ago, I wondered? Was this who was making the thumping noise?

When I got back to the summit of Mount Tandy I turned around to look west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

Instead of the stunning skyline what caught me eye was a white truck driving on to the Tandy Hills via the trail in from View Street.

That is a zoomed view of the white truck you are looking at in the picture. White trucks always make me nervous. I have a troubling history, in Texas, with white trucks.

Dozens Of MLK Day Escalator Rides With Spencer Jack

When I woke up my computer this morning there was email from Spencer Jack's dad documenting, via video and photos, yesterday's MLK Day with Spencer Jack, his girl friend and his dad.

I'd heard from others that MLK Day was incredibly foggy in Western Washington, foggy and cold.

You can sort of tell it is foggy and cold in the picture of Spencer Jack and his dad in Jennings Park, in Marysville. Apparently Spencer Jack's dad had trouble finding Jennings Park. I am losing memory of Washington places. I can not remember how to get to Jennings Park, even though I went to that park with my nephews many times.

Below is the majority of the email from Spencer Jack's dad, along with video of one of Spencer Jack's dozens of MLK Day escalator rides....

FUDurango ---

Thanks for the recent blog posts of Spencer's use of my Great Grandma's blankets. I thought you'd enjoy seeing that.

Spencer's flu bug is nearly almost gone. But playing in the snow was probably not a good choice today. I'm glad. Cause playing in the snow is really not that fun, unless your a kid.

Instead, we took off on an adventure. Similar to those outings that you took myself and FNJoe on generations ago. With never a destination. Just with a plan to have fun. And we did!

Spencer and I, accompanied by shared girl friend Brittney headed south. My goal was the new Ferris Wheel on the Seattle Waterfront. We attempted it once, but the lines were too long for my 5 year old's attention span, so we bailed. And today, we failed to ride on the wheel. Never made it that far south.  But still had fun.

On our southern adventure today we pulled off of I-5 in Marysville.

Then off to Jennings Park.

But before such we passed a McDonald's across from a Fred Meyer on State Street that had a huge kid's 'playplace' so we pulled over and had ourselves lunch, while Spencer played with all the other school children who were not in school today because of MLK Day.

Then resumed the attempt to find Jennings Park in Marysville.

We were aided by my Google app on my Iphone, as I didn't quite remember where the park entrance was to be found. But once I we got there, all was the same, as I remembered when you took FNJoe with CJ and JR and myself there. Multiple times. That place is really cool. Fishing pond was under reconstruction. No big deal to us. We didn't bring our fishing poles. And the pond was nearly frozen over.

My Iphone, and close proximity bank clocks, concurred that by 2 pm in Marysville, the temperature dropped to a chilling 30 degrees. Spencer and I were fine, but our small little girl friend was freezing.

Pretty cold for us Western Washington folks. And unbelievable foggy. Some of the most dense fog I have ever seen here in Western Washington.

Spencer, myself and our girl friend had to run to keep warm.

We were forced to make a gas stop in downtown 'run down' Marysville.  If one was to take a short drive on State Street in Marysville to understand why one thinks the town is 'run down' well...just do such and I think you'll come to the same conclusion. Nothing but pawn shops and adult video stores and vacant shops. I thought I was in Reno, Nevada.

I was out voted because neither Spencer or our girl friend Brittney were interested in shopping in the pawn shops or adult video stores, so we furthered our venture south to Lynnwood.

Next venture: Toys-R-Us in Lynnwood. Great store. Hasn't changed a bit since you took me and FNJoe there years ago, except for the prices.

Had fun playing with all the toys.  

After Spencer realized that his dad was not at Toys-R-Us to purchase anything for him, Spencer Jack was eager to get across the street to the mall.

For obvious reasons.

He had been there before and knows that this mall sports 3 escalators. The Macy's, Nordstroms, and Sears shopping venues each have one. We were only privileged to enjoy those at Macy's (13 times) and Sears (4 times). The Nordstrom escalator will have to wait for another trip.

By then hunger stuck us. And our girl friend gets cranky if she doesn't get to indulge in late afternoon happy hour.  So we left the escalators for a beer or two and feeding.

We enjoyed dinner at the Lynnwood Red Robin courtesy of gift cards received from Einar & Doris's annual Xmas festivas.

Good day.

Just like an Uncle Durango Day I remember from years ago. Less the happy hour.

Thought you'd enjoy the story, and the photos.

FNJason