Eureka Springs Scene - a pic

Here is a colorful picture I took in scenic Eureka Springs, Arkansas. You can tell by sky that it is early autumn. The New Orleans Hotel is in the background, up a level in this little town built in a circular tier.

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Beer Battered Baker

My good friend David Beatty of Livingston, Louisiana is a Renaissance Man. He does many things well and is now into baking. Here is his learned primer on the do's and don'ts of making bread:

I have recently gotten into baking bread, and above are two recent examples of my newly found skill. In an attempt to be healthier, I have been making whole wheat and sourdoughs. All who have seen and tasted my early attempts might find it difficult to describe what they ate as bread. Things have changed.

Bread making is a science. It requires a chemical reaction, and thus an exact recipe. Add the ingredients in the correct amount and bake. Presto, you have bread. Well, not exactly. If you have success at making bread, it may be because you followed the recipe exactly as written. If you do not, the world as you know it may not be the same.

With the chance of sleet and snow tonight and in the morning, the weather in south Louisiana looks very much like the Christmas season, so it must be bread-making time. The first whole-wheat loaf I baked was beautiful, and with butter and jam, was something for which you might even pay good money. That is where my troubles started.

Once I made the first good loaf, I got cocky and began considering myself a real baker. This loaf tastes so good, I thought, why not improve it by adding a few favorite ingredients - some additional this, and a little extra of that. Before long, you have the perfect, new and improved loaf of bread. Well, not exactly.

It could have been the small amount of sourdough starter that I added, or the extra yeast, or that little detail of using instant buttermilk instead of the required milk. About now, some of you are probably thinking that I added too much beer to the mix, or perhaps drank too much of it myself during the process. WRONGAMUNDO, ladies and gents!

I refer to the aforementioned pictures of my culinary creations. The loaf on the right is actually the second loaf I made; the near-perfect loaf on the left included the liberal addition of my favorite beer, not only in the batter, but also in the baker.

Therefore, the moral to the story is this: Be very careful when you alter a proven bread recipe, unless, of course, the altering ingredient happens to be your favorite alcoholic beverage. Then, as you can see, you cannot go wrong.

Eric's Web

You Can't Juice an Avocado

Marilyn and I recently purchased a new juicer and she is juicing practically every morning. I began juicing years ago when my second wife Anne and I learned that she had cancer.

The two primary treatments for cancer are radiation and chemotherapy. Both treatments harm a person’s entire body, as well as the cancer cells, and most patients soon lose their appetites and desire to eat. Anne used to say that most foods tasted like the working end of a ball peen hammer.

An oncologist told me once that many cancer patients die of malnutrition because ice cream and a few cold desserts are the only foods they can tolerate eating. As Anne’s cancer progressed, this became a problem.

Some friends of ours had juiced for years and suggested that I get a juicer. My cousin gave me a basic recipe that included soy protein, but it was much too bland and doughy. I would not eat it myself, so I knew it was a lost cause trying it out on Anne. I devised my own recipe instead and I began making it for her every morning. It did not cure her cancer, but I feel strongly that it kept her alive, and with a better quality of life, for at least an extra six months. Here is the recipe:

The Juice

2 apples, any variety
1 pear, any variety
3 carrots
1 broccoli stalk and crown

I would often add grapes, blackberries, blueberries, red bell peppers, etc. Try these out for yourself. I like to experiment, and sometimes the ingredients that I like make others wince.

Other Ingredients

½ cup of soy protein
½ cup of green stuff *
1 banana (a mango, papaya or other similar type fruit can be used instead – be creative)
½ blender of ice

I think this product is Source of Life, but I cannot really remember. It came in a large round can with a pop-off top. The product itself was dry, like flour, and green. It contained practically every nutrient, enzyme, and vitamin known to humanity and was very expensive (about fifty bucks). The product did not have an appetizing look and I don’t mind telling you that I thought about the movie Soylent Green every time I opened the package.

Put all the ingredients in the blender and then pulse until thoroughly blended. Makes 2 large shakes.

Along with Anne, I drank variations of this concoction for over a year. I never got sick during this time, not even a sniffle. My blood pressure was perfect, as was my cholesterol, my body weight, etc. I also had exceptional strength, and I believe I could have lifted the front end of a heavy car if I’d had to.

There is no good disease, and in the case of cancer, sometimes the side effects of the attempted cure are almost as horrible. I am not a juicing spokesperson here, but if you are trying to care for a person with an appetite destroyed by radiation and chemo, try my shake on them. If you are simply looking for a healthier life, try it yourself. You might even like it.

Hey, if you try to juice an avocado, it'll just turn into pulp. Use it instead to make guacamole.

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Alligator Gar - a pic

Here is a recent pic of a hundred pound alligator gar caught by my stepson Shane. He caught the gar in the Red River where it borders Oklahoma and Texas.

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Headaches and Padded Bras

My stepdaughter Kate lives with her Dad in Texas and she visited Marilyn and me during the Thanksgiving holidays. She had a headache when she got here and Marilyn quickly did something to rid her of the pain, and put a big grin on Kate’s face.

Marilyn left her daughter lying on her bed and went to the freezer for something cold to put on her forehead. When Kate saw what Marilyn handed her, she burst into laughter.

“Where did you find this?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but I keep it in the freezer and use it when I have a pain in my head.”

“Mom,” Kate said. “This is a silicon insert from one of my Victoria’s Secret bras.”

“Well I’ll be damned!” Marilyn said. “I thought it was a headache thingy from Wal-Mart. That’s how I’ve been using it for six months now, and it works like a charm.”

When Kate quit laughing, she placed the silicon falsie over her eye, learning a valuable lesson in the process: Almost everything has more than one use.

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