Comfort Food

Bedlam! Tonight is the night. Our beloved Sooners will battle our toothless, redneck Cowboy cousins from Stillwater. The tickets are practically impossible to get, but I have an extra for you if you'd like to come. How? We have an expression for it here ... even blind hogs root acorns. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Before the big game, it's time for some comfort food. When in Stillwater, Oklahoma, there is only one choice for that - Chili cheese fries at Eskimo Joe's, that jumpin' little juke joint just a block and change from the stadium.


I didn't get a good picture of it, but there is a weird snow/mud combination overshoe and boot thing that people are wearing up here around campus. Now, I appreciate individual expression and that sort of thing, but this is one of the stupidest things of all time. Shoes this ugly are ... birth control devices! Friends should not let friends be this stupid.


The place has been here forever and it's patchwork history really shows.


On the inside, it's plenty cozy, warm and fun. The beer flows to be sure, and the menu here is great, but the shirt shop is the real gem. Be sure to get a souvenir.


Something is always going on at Eskimo Joe's. Check out the website or call ahead.

When our good old comfort food arrived, it was GREAT! It covered an entire oversize dinner plate too. It is just plain good every time I come here. Let's eat and then get over to the stadium. We're gonna need a little extra time coz we're gonna have to climb all the way up to the stratosphere to find our seats.

Just in case anyone asks when you visit Stillwater, please remember that the difference between Culture and Agriculture is 90 short miles; that is, the distance between the University of Oklahoma in Norman and the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Boomer Sooner! Go Sooners!

It has been one helluva fortnight kids. "It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life." Joseph Campbell said that and he was right. In all that darkness, how do you actually find these "treasures of life"? Simply enough he went on to say, "Where you stumble, there lies your treasure." Miss Sunshine, how much longer do we have to keep tripping over each like this? It's you. It's always been you. You are my heart, my love and my greatest treasure.

Will you have some chili cheese fries with me ... again?

Goodbye

Life is supposed to be happy and full of Sunshine. Mine isn't. Going to sign off and follow the Sun.

Thanks for stopping by.

Grabbafruds - Get 'Em While They Last

Have you ever had a hankering for some ... Dragonfruit?

This is a tough itch to stratch. Almost NO ONE carries Dragonfruit. They are small, mildly sweet, kinda citrusy, dense, wonderful and terribly expensive little jewels. They are the seed pod of a very interesting climbing cactus that grows well Southeast Asia and the Phillipines.

So I got on the phone and went hunting. Eventually, a person who could barely speak English told me that this really big Asian food store on the south side of the city had lots of "Grabbafruds" that were "cheappie, you like" and agreed that it was "no problem" and then hung up.

So I went to the store to buy some of the rare and surprisingly cheap "Grabbafruds".

There was produce everywhere.

There were some bananas and their freakish large cousins, the Plantain.


In case you didn't know, Plantains were invented by Satan himself. Mrs. Skeeter once sent me to the store to buy some bananas. I saw these really big green "bananas" and bought a bunch of them. I thought she would be most impressed by my superior hunting and gathering skills. There were plenty of them, so I picked one off the bunch, peeled it open and took a bite. That's when I discovered that some wicked force had invented a banana that tasted like a potato. Yuck!

There is also food items that one would never find in the local grocery store, like these chicken feet. Actually, they're not too bad with a nice long, slow cook with butter, garlic, and some spice.


And here is the world's greatest, most tasty hot sauce. This stuff is hot, but it has a bright, tangy tomato and pepper flavor that really satisfies. Gotta have that kicking chicken to be genuine too!


After searching the store, I found an employee and asked where the "Grabbafruds" were. She lead me back to a multiple pallet display of puffy green grapefruits that were marked way, way down. The swarm of fruit flies meant that these "Grabbafruds" wouldn't be on the floor much longer either. I asked her about the Dragonfruit and after a couple of passes at the word, she said the truck didn't bring any this week.

No Dragonfruits for me. No "Grabbafruds" either!

New Nephew!

I have a brand new nephew! Little Connor is the first child for my brother, Sean, and his wife, Dawn.

Mum and youngun are doing well and resting in a hospital in Kansas. Daddy-O is a profoundly sleep deprived, nervous wreck.

More to follow.

(I know you read this Sean. More to follow ... means it is OK for YOU to send ME a picture of that brand new boy.)

Since I don't have a picture of Connor, here is a picture of his daddy. It is the only one that I have handy. I believe this may be last motorcycle tour photo that is taken of Sean for the foreseeable future.

Thank you Lavinia!

Many, many thanks to my blog friend, Lavinia Ladyslipper, for this beautiful award.


Please stop by her blog and say "Hi!". She always has wonderful images and great writing.

Thanks again, Lavinia. I really appreciate it.

Buffalo Wings

While in Buffalo, New York, we had the chance to visit the home of the original buffalo chicken wings, the famous Anchor Bar.


We arrived at the end of the lunch rush and the small parking lot was full. After a few laps through the lot, we finally got a spot and got in line to have a bite to eat. The creator of the buffalo wing dish, Teressa Bellissimo, greeted us.


We got a double order of the wings with a medium sauce. The wings were very large and meaty. I had a hard time fitting the image of the huge plate into the lens of my cell phone camera. The sauce was perfect.


The wings were served with a dipping sauce that tasted like a combination of real buttermilk ranch dressing with bleu cheese crumbles and fresh ground pepper. It was wonderful.

The store has a small gift shop for souvenirs. It's a near her ...


I think we will visit this place again. It's only a few minutes on clear roads from the Buffalo airport. The food was really great and the building full of fun stuff to see. On the down side, the parking was difficult and the wait staff indifferent.

U of R Swimming

This weekend Mrs. Skeeter and I went to Rochester, New York, to see our son. He is swims for the the University of Rochester. They have a very nice swim facility there and the academics are excellent. The blurry mascot on the left is Rocky, a yellowjacket.


They were having the first swim meet of the season. Here is our son at the last turn in a close race.


And the second place finishing touch ...

Celebration

Hey everybody! We have a new President-elect. A new era begins in January 2009 when Barack is sworn into office.



Here's some cake. Don't hesitate to have a big ole bite either, we made history and it's time to celebrate. I'm going to dash over to the Wild Onion Cafe and get some punch. Be right back.

Back Home Again

Mrs. Skeeter and I went to Rochester, New York, to visit our son at the University. Here's an image I shot in the airport in Detroit. Am unpacking now, will post tomorrow.