TwitBook

[Bmichael]

...The Ranch's answer to you -know - what - with no rules.

Go ahead...tell us what you're having for dinner - we can't wait! Got a cute pic of kitty peeking out of a paper bag? Post it! We live for that stuff!

Math addict? How about a refresher on the Pythagorean Theorem?

Like macaroni and cheese? Tell us why!

So even if you're not a writer or a poet (yet), there's still plenty of fun things to do at the Armadillo!

Oh baby, oh baby!

[Bmichael]

Lol...as far as I know, it's real...from an article about insects as a food source.

[Westerly_2]

high in protein, I understand, and low in fat, too.

[Bmichael]

That's what I've heard...and that there are a lot of places where consuming insects is no big deal. But...

[Westerly_2]

yeah, there's that.

[Marilyn]

Deep- fried tarantula

Exactly what it says.

Ingredients:

2 cups vegetable oil

2 frozen tarantulas (adult, Taxas brown, Chilean rose or similar)

1 cup tempura batter

1 tsp smoked paprika

Tempura batter ingredients:

1 medium egg

½ cup cold water

½ cup plain flour

½ tsp baking soda

To make the batter beat the egg until smooth. Slowly add the cold water while beating. Add flour and baking soda and allow the mixture to sit (don’t worry if it is a bit lumpy). Using a saucepan or deep-fat fryer heat the oil to 190C. Use a sharp knife to cut out the abdomens of the tarantulas and singe off its body hairs with a lighter. Thoroughly coat the spider in batter and ensure the legs are not clumped together before frying. Deep fry for about a minute or until the batter is browned. Allow the spiders to drain on a paper towel. Cut the spiders in two lengthways and sprinkle with paprika to serve. Eat the legs first and then nibble at the more meaty bits (avoiding the fangs…)

[Westerly_2]

Have you tried this, Marilyn? Wonder where frozen tarantulas are available outside of Texas.

[Bmichael]

Here in the Bluegrass, we mostly have our tarantulas on a bun - with ketchup and tartar.

[Marilyn]

I actually found the recipe by Google-ing "bug recipes!" This was the most disgusting-sounding one .... gulp! I especially like the part about "singe off its body hairs with a lighter." Yikes.

And I prefer my tarantulas on seeded rye with Dijon mustard. As befits a Joisey goil.

[Westerly_2]

I enjoyed the caveat to avoid the fangs. Wonder what happens if you don't.

As a a Joisey goil, you prolly have had soft-shelled crab and cherrystones on the half-shell. Years ago we tried beef tongue and I found it tender and tasty, if you can get past the fact that...well, it looked like a great big TONGUE! We waived the implications.

[Marilyn]

As long as the tongue didn't start talking back to you! Yes, in Joisey we have crabs (hard and soft-shelled), clams at the ready, deelish tomatoes and corn and it's all in season, yay! 'Cept the crabs are few and far between, due to the hellish winter. Bad in Maryland as well. Bah!

OK, back to the dandy newsletter article I'm writing. I've been back at the bank for 3 weeks and have shuffled between 4 (count 'em, 4) teams. Can't complain, especially since they had a big layoff riiiiight after I got back. A bunch of full-timers got axed. Most 20+ years with the bank, most 50+ years in life. Gotta love corporations!

[Westerly_2]

You dodged a bullet, my friend. I thot times wuz gettin' better. Guess maybe not everywhere. My young granddaughter just got a job as an assistant at a spa for rich old gals in a posh town in Connecticut. Rich old gals and their grateful tips do rule in the marketplace, it seems. Good luck  with the bank. You could always switch to giving mud facials to leisurely ladies with disposable incomes.

[Bmichael]

"You could always switch to giving mud facials to leisurely ladies with disposable incomes"...hmm...why didn't I think of that?

Connecticut, here I come!

Jean Luc