Dog On A Root

This is how a world leader explains to a crowd of thousands? how trees fall down, explode and create forest fires.

(He said ‘Doo-doo’)- jim Young In some ways, siblings, and especially sisters, are more influential in your childhood than your parents. - Deborah Tannen
We are all creatures of habit. We often do the things we do without ever really knowing why we do them or where we learned them in the first place.When asked “why do you do that when you do, do that?” the answer will likely be something like, “It’s just the way I’ve always done it.”But that doesn’t really answer the question “why?”Some people will put both of their socks on and then put both of their shoes on while others will put one sock on followed by the accompanying shoe before moving to the other foot.Whichever way you do that, you probably don’t know why you do, do that.I always check to see how others eat their corn on the cob.Some people eat their corn right to left with no regard as to whether the tapered end is facing left or right.Others will take their bites randomly at any spot on the cob, jumping all over the place. I l…

- jim YoungThis is a great recipe to make ahead when you're having overnight guests. Prepare it in the morning before they arrive, then let it sit overnight in the fridge. The next morning just pop this in the oven and an hour later breakfast is made. No fuss, no muss. Note: If you don't have enough room in your fridge and the evenings are cool enough, you can also store it overnight in the trunk of your car.Prep Time: 20 min.Set Time:  2 hours to overnightCook Time: 1 hourTotal Time: 3 hours 20 min - 15 hours 20 min.Serves: 6-8Stuff Required:1 lb sausage meat1 bell pepper, chopped3 large green onions, chopped
10 eggs, beaten2 cups milk1 tbsp ground mustard1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce2 cups shredded cheese, divided½ tsp basil1 tsp salt1 tsp pepper10 slices of bread torn into small pieces1 tomato, thinly sliced (optional)Do This:Use a large frying pan to cook the sausage meat, breaking it up as it cooks.When the sausage begins to brown, add bell pepper and onions and cook until t…

- jim Young “Good fences make good neighbors.” - from “Mending Wall” by Robert FrostLiving next door to the U.S. has been kind of like living next door to a pretty nice family. New families come and go every few years but they’ve all been pretty nice.Until a few years ago.Oh, the family is still really nice but the dad is a bit wonky. He lies all the time and cheats on his wife as well as all his business associates. The dad’s a bully and a fraud and prone to temper tantrums. He doesn’t have any respect for anyone, not even himself.Some of his family are willing to overlook his faults when he fools them into thinking he’s doing it all for the good of his family. We don’t agree with how he treats his family a lot of the time but for the most part, that’s not really our business.He’s pretty rude to most of our neighbours though and sometimes even us and when he crosses those lines, it does become our business. A few years ago some of his family threatened to move in with us because they…

- jim YoungWhen offered a serving of Jambalaya you'd likely be expecting it to include crawfish or shrimp, as at least one of those is a main ingredient most often associated with Jambalaya. This recipe however is for people (like My Shirley) who just don't care for seafood but don't want to miss out on this otherwise tasty delight. If you're more of a traditionalist, feel free to add some crawfish or shrimp when you make it.Serves: 10Stuff Required:1 lb chicken breast, boneless, skinless 1 ½ tbsp paprika3 tbsp cooking oil1 cup onion, chopped1 cup sweet pepper, chopped3 stalks celery chopped1 tsp minced garlic1 can tomatoes, crushed (28 oz/795 ml)3 bay leaves3 ¼ cups chicken broth2 cups rice, brown, long grain2 tsp thyme, ground1 ½ tsp salt½ tsp pepper½ tsp Tabasco® sauce1 lb sausage (mild, medium or hot) cut into small bite-sized piecesDo This:Wash chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub chicken with paprika.Cut up chicken into small, bite-sized pieces.Heat cooking…

- jim YoungThis year we had an exceptionally good harvest of cucumbers. Normally we don't eat that many cucumbers so we started giving some away. We even considered putting a small table at the end of our laneway and offering them for sale. However it seems all our neighbours had a good cucumber harvest as well and there were no shortage of them for others to purchase.It seemed that every time we visited our garden a new cucumber had sprouted up out of nowhere and was ready to be picked. We don't like to waste food but we don't consider feeding it to the wildlife as a waste. The problem is deer and squirrels are about the only animals that seem to like cucumbers. We don't like to encourage the red squirrels that live on our property, however and the deer probably won't be around until the Mountain Ash Berries are a little more ripe.My Shirley was already feeding me cucumber slices with dip for breakfast but our supply continued to grow. Finally I came up with this r…

- jim YoungThis recipe calls for mild prepared horseradish but of course you can use a hotter horseradish or add some extra Tabasco sauce if you like your sauces spicy.Use this as a dip for raw vegetables such as carrot or celery sticks, cucumber slices and pieces of sweet pepper. It makes a great topping for baked potatoes and salads and a nice side serving for scrambled eggs or a roast beef dinner. I use it for my Breaded Fried Cucumbers that you'll also find in the recipe section at Dog On A Root.Total Time: 10 min.Yield: 1 cupStuff Required:½  cup drained horseradish (mild)¼ cup sour cream¼ cup mayonnaise1 tbsp lemon juice½ tsp kosher salt¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper1 tsp Worcestershire sauceA few drops of Tabasco sauceDo This:Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.