Remember When: TV Shows for Kids (A Kathi Post)

In Denver, we had some fun TV shows when we were kids. Did you have some where you lived? We'd watch in the morning before school, and we'd watch in the afternoons after we got home.

We had Fred & Faye, Gene's Junction, Noel & Andy, and a little before my time there was Sheriff Scottie. We had Blinky's Fun Club, and our Brownie troop got to visit for a taping one day. We had Romper Room. In Denver, our host was Miss Genie (deLuise)

I was glued to the TV every day when I was preschool age, dying to have Ms. Genie "see" me through her magic looking glass. I tried so hard to be good, to be a "Do-Bee," not a "Don't Bee." My sister Karen and I even flung our toys around the living room one day before the show so she could see us picking them up during the time when she used her magic looking glass. Then, one day she SAW me, and I was SO excited! My sister, however, was really pissed that Ms. Genie saw me, but didn't see her. She was, after all, in the room right next to me. That was the start of a long string of her feeling slighted. I totally blame Ms. Genie. 

My cousin had a Gene's Junction songbook, and we used to get that out and sing when we visited her house. It was really no more than some mimeographed sheets that had the words to songs on them, and the binding was two sheets of colored construction paper. The whole thing was held together with three brass brads. We had a lot of fun with that. Gene's Junction had a lot of singing! You can find a Gene's Junction video on youtube if you want to see. I found one with video of trains from the Colorado Railroad Museum, but couldn't get it to embed here.

Fred and Faye was something we watched all the time. Here is a clip from that show (above).

As we got a little older (say, maybe 3rd and 4th grade), we watched Noel and Andy in the mornings. Noel was the hostess of the show, and Andy was her puppet. I think he was a dragon. They used to draw and they encouraged us to send in drawings that we did. They'd randomly draw an entry from each week's entries to win a prize. I won a giant Tootsie Roll once. I was really excited when we picked it up, 'cause it was about 10" long and 4" in diameter. But, it was too good to be true. The Giant Tootsie Roll was actually a tin canister full of regular-sized Tootsie Rolls. Still good, but to me it was as disappointing as the sea monkeys we ordered off the back cover of an Archie comic.



I guess Blinky's Fun Club was the longest lasting. We watched him when we were little, then our brothers and sisters who were 10 years younger saw him, too. I think every kid we knew was on the show at one point or another. I still know people who sing "Happy Birthday" the Blinky Way. Annoying, it is!

I don't know if there are kid shows like this on TV anymore. Romper Room had us say the Pledge of Allegiance every day, first thing. Gene's Junction taught us to be respectful. Noel and Andy taught us manners. Blinky taught us safety. 

From what I've seen out in public lately, we could use more of all those things.

OW OW OW!! : Knee therapy

OH MY GOD! Today, I can hardly walk. Both legs, and knee's, and lower back, are in a up roar. So, today, I'm going to forgo the exercises my therapist gave me to do today. She had me doing things that I have not done since grade school. it's going to be a long road back. But I will get there.

Yay for meds!

KNEE THERAPY: Yay, maybe

Today I get to start therapy on my knee. The doctor says it looks fine, nothing torn. But, it looks like I have a stretched calf muscle. It seems that your calf muscles are supposed to stretch. I mean, my calves don't look like tube socks blowing in the wind. If anything, I have to stretch every morning as it is. (Go you chicken fat go! Remember that one?) As it is, Kathi thinks I have cute calf muscles. NOT manly calf muscles, but cute calves.

So, today we get to see just what they are talking about. I want to know why my knee keeps popping when I bend it at times. It's loud enough that I woke up our dog, Nugget, the other day while outside pulling up our tomato plants. I guess I'll have to get out a pair of workout shorts to wear to therapy. Just what the whole world needs to see right now, is my almost fish-belly white (I got some sun.) legs. And, I get to go to such a nice part of town for this.

With all the stuff I carry day to day, I'm a little concerned about being able to keep my shorts up. I wonder how shorts look with suspenders? And knee high white tube socks. (Won't that be burned into your brain for the rest of the day!) That's so bad that it even scares me. Well, I could maybe dig out an old pair of cut-offs that I used to wear back in the good old days. (1970's) You know, the kind that we would cut off just below the pockets. And they were not worth wearing unless there was like three inches of fringe from the threads hanging down.

Well, enough of this. Time to go to therapy and have them run me through the grind. If I'm able to walk when I get done, I will blog some of what they did, or didn't do, to my knee.

Quote of the Week: 9/23/2013

“My favorite poem is the one that starts 'Thirty days hath September' because it actually tells you something.”
--Groucho Marx, American Comedian

HAND-ME-DOWNS

Just about all of us have had things handed down from family members at one time or another. Some had hand-me-down clothes from older brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, or grandparents. Some of these things may have been handed down from several generations. Like a wedding dress that has been handed down from great grandma to grandma to your mom and then to you. Then maybe you hand it down to your daughter and she will hand it down to her daughter. And so it goes.

Guys are no different. They might hand down cuff links, a pocket watch, or maybe a pocket knife from your great great great grandfather. I have a old fishing pole that belonged to my great grandfather. It still works, and the reel has been well taken care of over all of these years. The pole is made from, I think, bamboo. It split part way down its length years ago. My grandfather did a repair on it, using thread and some of grandmother's nail polish. It is still holding together. That was done when I was about 9 or 10. The last time that my Dad and I got to take him fishing? I'll let you guess who caught the most fish!

I have a BIG butcher knife that belonged to my great grandmother. My sister has a tea set that was our great grandmother's, then it was my grandmother's. My sister and I played with it when we were 5 or 6. We would set in the shade out back of Mamma and Poppa's little house. Mamma would fill the little tea pot with water or sometimes with cold tea. We would set for hours and sip our tea. Sometimes Mamma would make us these little sandwiches that were served on the little plates. Sometimes Mamma even joined in and would set on the lower step. We would nibble on those little sandwiches and drink our tea.

My sister has the tea set. It is still in the original box that it came in. She drags it out now and then when we visit. She also has some Christmas decorations, as I do, from our childhood. Some of them are from when our great grandparents were first married. They handed them down to our grandmother, who handed them down to us.

Some may think that some of the things that have been handed down are junk, that they are too old-fashioned and should be gotten rid of. Some of us still see these things as part of our family history, treasures to be held on to then given to younger family members who will cherish them as much as we do. Besides. . . they may bring back some of this stuff! They say that what is old is new again. Like grandpa's leather suspenders.

LOTS OF WATER

As you probably know, we here in Colorado have had flooding. Some say it is a 100 year flood, others say it is a 500 year flood, and a few others have said it is a 1000 year flood. It has brought back memories of past floods. Like the flood of the Big Thompson in 1976. Homes lost. People lost. Then we had the flood of 1965. I was nine years of age and I remember seeing houses gone. Debris all over, cars piled up, railroad tracks bent, and mobile homes laying around like so many dominoes. It's scary.

Now we have all of this flooding after five days of rain. We have friends who live in Loveland. Thankfully, they and their home are okay. We have friends in Lafayette, and they also are okay. There are a few others we know around Colorado Springs and Pueblo who are stationed at Fort Carson and they are okay.

I went out Thursday and made my way to my sister's house in Golden. It was still raining, and with she and my brother-in-law up in the mountains, I thought it best to check their house. They have a stairwell that leads to the basement. There was about six inches or more of water in the stair well. I didn't have a key, so could not get in to see how bad their basement was. I called both of them and left messages on their cell phones and just hoped that they got them. (I found out later that they did.)

From their house, I went on into the town of Golden and took some pictures of Clear Creek, which runs through town. They are taken from the bridge from downtown Golden. The first one is looking east along clear creek. You can see Coors in the background.

The next picture shows some sculptures of trout. There is also a bike path there, but it is underwater.

The next picture is looking west. The big "M" on the mountain in the background is for the Colorado School of Mines. The "M" is on Lookout Mountain, where Buffalo Bill is buried.

The last picture is of the arch on main street of Golden.

As the flood waters move east towards the plains,  we hope that there will not be any more lives lost. We can all band together to help each other rebuild. Also, I want to thank ALL of the first responders and ALL of those who fly the choppers and drive the trucks to rescue those who are stranded. And thanks, too, to those who have opened up their hearts to lend a hand. 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 9/16/13

"Endeavor to be innocent as a dove, but as wise as a serpent."
--Lady Anne Fanshawe, British memorist

IT'S A KNEE THING

Well, it's been almost six months. And I finally get to have a MRI done on my knee today. YAY!

NOTHING

I've got nothing for today, except for checking on some wild plums, and choke cherries.

A BASIC BAKING MIX FOR THE OUTDOORSMAN/WOMAN

I like to cook. I really like to cook outdoors. And I really, really like to cook on a open fire. It's an art. It takes some getting used to. And once you master a few things, and a few dishes, you will have people in camp asking you to make a meal or two. Whenever I have gone fishing, camping, hunting, or just going to the hills for the day, I've cooked for myself. When I'm with friends or family, we share the duty of cooking meals and doing dishes and keeping a clean camp.

One thing that outdoorsmen and women have a hard time doing is baking. Now, if you have a trailer that has an oven or a portable oven that sets on your Coleman stove, then you can do some baking. A lot of it is done with canned biscuits and such. Or you take the biscuit dough and roll it out like a snake then drape it on a stick to cook it over the fire.

How many times have you done that? How many times did you have it fall off the stick into the fire only to have to fish it out and eat it anyway? I've lost track of how many times that happened to me. Now, with a good cast iron skillet or Dutch Oven, you can bake things on your outdoor adventures just like you do your baking at home. It takes some practice. And -- I can attest to it -- I've eaten some pretty bad things from learning how to get it right. And almost broken a tooth or two along the way.

'Course, I did a lot of camping and baking on my own and didn't need to worry about others having to eat what I messed up. I mean, it's pretty bad when you try to make biscuits and they are burnt black on the bottom to the point that they look like rocks and weigh like one and the tops look like molten lead. The birds can't pick them up and fly away. And the chipmunks break their teeth and scurry on their front legs with their back legs up in the air when they do manage to pick one up!

So, here is a basic baking mix to make and take with you on your outdoor excursions.
Mix 12 cups flour, 2 tablespoons salt, 1 pound of shortening, 1/4 cup double acting baking powder into a course texture. Pack the mix in 2- and 4- cup measurements into plastic bags.
Place them in your fridge before you leave, then keep in your cooler or trailer fridge while in camp.

When you are ready to try some baking. pull out one of the bags. Add some water or milk, a little at a time, enough to make a dough. Roll it out and cut out some biscuits. Or cook it up like a round of bread! Next, grease up the Dutch Oven or your big skillet, put the dough in it, and bury the dutch oven in the coals of your hot fire pit. After about 10 minutes, check on your biscuits. The tops should be a nice golden brown. If not, add some more coals to the top of your Dutch Oven.

It takes a few times of trying. Don't get discouraged if they don't come out right the first time. If need be, bury them. I don't think the EPA would be too upset. Or leave them out for the critters and have your camera ready!

If you do them in your skillet, you want it hot with enough grease in the bottom. Put the dough in the skillet, cook until the bottoms are brown, flip them over, put the lid on the skillet. then put the skillet close to the fire, and rotate the skillet every so often. Check the bottoms of the biscuits. When they turn brown, they should be done.

If you have a oven in your trailer, well cook them up just like you were at home. Same if you have one of them fold up ovens that sets on the burner of your Coleman stove.

Get the butter and jelly ready and FEED YOUR FACE!

FEED YOUR FACE: Another venison recipe.

This is for your Dutch Oven. Your Dutch Oven can be used for just about all types of big, wild game. Of course, we know that game meats, like venison, are usually very lean and -- if not cooked properly -- can come out looking like the sole off of a old army boot and taste like you know what. In my opinion, there is nothing better than game meat, of all types, that is cooked right.

So, for this you need to use a Dutch Oven or a deep skillet. You could use one of them newer types of Dutch Ovens that are enameled and come in different colors if that's what you have. They don't have legs like the black ones, though, but cook just as good. Plus, you do not have to season them. So let's do a venison (or elk) roast.

You will need:
Flour
Salt & pepper
1 onion
1/2 cup hot water
1 can of tomato soup
Several strips of bacon
Suet or some bacon grease
Toothpicks

Trim off any fat that is on the roast. Mix salt and pepper in with some flour. Roll the roast in the seasoned flour mixture. Put enough suet or bacon grease in the bottom of a preheated Dutch Oven. Sear the meat on all sides. Then put your bacon strips across the roast  and fasten them to the roast with toothpicks. Slice up the onion, and hang rings of onion from the toothpicks.
Pour in 1/2 cup of hot water and the can of soup. Then cover it and let simmer for a couple of hours until tender and done.

You can make a great gravy out of the pan juices. Maybe make some biscuits to go along with.
My great grandmother would make this dish and I'm here to say there were never any leftovers.

So, get out the old Dutch Oven, do some cooking, and FEED YOUR FACE!

FEED YOUR FACE : Venison

Well, hunting season is starting up. I hope that all of you hunters out there will fill your tags. And, as always, when you butcher your game, I hope that you keep the liver and heart. There is some really good eating there.

Here is one recipe for doing the heart. You need:

• 1 trimmed venison heart, cut in 1 -inch squares (you could also use elk heart)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 T chopped fresh thyme
• 1 T freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• A zip lock bag big enough to hold all of the ingredients 

Mix the spices and vinegar together in the bag, then add the venison squares and seal the bag. Let it all marinate for 24 hours in the fridge.

After marinating, drain the pieces and cook them for about 1-1/2 minutes per side over a hot fire. A grill or skillet will do.

This serves 3 to 4 people as an appetizer.

We had this several times over the years while in deer camp. We also had fresh back strap a time or two. There's no better eating! 'Course, I like all things venison or elk.

So, give this a try. Share it with some of the other people in your hunting camp who have not filled their tags yet. So, FEED YOUR FACE! 

Be careful out there while hunting, and have a good time.