I had a plea for duck leg risotto. First we rendered the duck legs in their own fat, discarding most of the fat. We sautéed local chanterelle mushrooms in local butter, and set them aside. Then we fried the risotto rice in butter and duck leg crispies, deglazing with a local white wine. Finally, we cooked the risotto in giblet stock leftover from Thanksgiving. Finish with peas and grated Parmesan cheese. YUM!!

Special thanks to Sylvia Hanratty for schooling us!! Also, we use their wood risotto stirring spoon for everything!

Thanks Hanratty Family!!

Since we are expecting soon, we don't get to slack off while my mom cooks us a Thanksgiving feast this year. We had an early Thanksgiving in September, where mom showed us how it's done. Now it's our turn.

We rinsed the 20lb bird, and put all the innerds in a pot with filtered water. Our new sink is plenty big!

While we slowly simmer the stock, we make the stuffing. First, sauté onions and celery in butter. In another large pot, brown sausage. Then combine it all in the large pot.

Then mix in spices and croutons. Reserve some in a casserole dish to roast later. Yum!

This is our new favorite brand. It is the quickest to install, and takes the least time to flush-start the filters.

These are in a 100 year old house!

Recently, a group of friends was discussing how US pilots get their training. I noted that most commercial big-jet pilots get their training "for free" from the military. In fact, two childhood friends of mine did this.

Their dad was a multi-talented man who had several successful careers, ultimately rising to 2-star (or maybe 3-star?) General and head of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. His name was Bob Harris, and they just don't make dads this cool anymore.

Until an epic battle with cancer made him too weak, he still made physicals and kept up all his flying certifications, even though he had tremendous administrative, military, and publicity duties. On summer Thursday afternoons, when he knew his kids were playing with us at our mountain pond in Pennsylvania, he would buzz our house in a giant, C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft. Alas, cancer took his life too early, but he lived more in five decades than a dozen ordinary men could in eight.

Oh, I don't know. A C-130 Hercules can takeoff and land on 3,000 feet of beach (or on a freakin' AIRCRAFT CARRIER!), with several trucks on board, while looking like this:

General Bob Harris talked about landing a C-130 on a beach as if he were parking a Cadillac on a lawn. Speaking of which, he kept a mint 1958 Cadillac convertible, in a conservative rural area known mostly for Amish buggies. 

In case you think I am kidding about the giant brass balls on these aviators, enjoy this demonstration.