Thursday, December 16, 2021

Bits & Pieces

Once again I've got a collection of single photos in my Miscellaneous file, along with an update. It's time to share these bits and pieces. 


Packing up the MD house has begun. I took a load of stuff to Goodwill before, and packed these boxes with things from the kitchen that I don't think I'll need between now and February. I brought them home to NJ and promptly unpacked them. There has also been a trip to Goodwill with things from the NJ house. We've spoken to the real estate agent and will probably list the house in early to mid-January. It will be interesting to see how this turns out, and there will LOTS more packing. At least I can reuse the boxes from Ryan's move.


I made a pheasant pie over the weekend. I was looking through a game cookbook, saw a recipe for pheasant pie, and mentioned that I had never tasted pheasant. Jess (Justin's girlfriend) said that she had pheasants in the freezer and I was welcome to them as long as I prepared them when she was here for dinner. My thoughts: it's a lot of work for something that tastes a lot like turkey. You have to boil the pheasants, pick all the meat off while you check for shot and bones, then prepare the filling, and put the pie together. It was a labor-intensive dinner. I didn't have any pheasant cutters, just turkeys, but I don't think that's why it tasted like turkey.


I don't know what these clouds are called, but they were interesting enough for me to take a picture. There is a book called A Cloud a Day that I told John would make a fine Christmas present for me. I don't know that he has ever listened to suggestions even when he has asked me what I want, but I think I might get this book for myself if someone else doesn't get it for me. 


Ryan and I had a celebratory lunch last weekend at Braveheart Highland Pub. As you might guess from the name, much of the menu is Scottish. For several reasons, it's taken him a couple of months to get his car registered in PA, but he was finally able to get it done. This seemed like a reason for a celebration, so we did. You can see the one remaining piece of the corned beef and cabbage spring roll appetizer (it was very good) and Ryan's bridies. Bridies are flaky pastries filled with minced steak and sometimes onions. We could think of a couple of improvements, so I've looked up some recipes and will be trying them at home in the next couple of weeks. 


In an update to the Tasmanian Devil light-up Christmas decoration I shared on Monday, guess how much they are? I had never seen one before, so I looked on eBay to see what I could find and was a little surprised completely astounded by the price. Apparently, they are rare, desirable, and expensive. 


There is even a guy selling replacement antlers in case yours might be missing or broken. I had no idea!

What kind of bits and pieces do you have going on in your life?

12 comments:

  1. $700 for that thing? Good Lord, people will pay for anything! hahahaha! Not having a dog to hunt with has curtailed Dale's success with pheasant but he used to get several every fall. I generally just roasted them like a chicken, stuffing them with apples and using some apple cider in the gravy. Not a ton of meat but very tasty.

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  2. I've never tried pheasant, although we used to have a pheasant dog toy around the house. When Erin was very little, she used to "serve" the dog toy pheasant under the dome of my old cheese server in her Little Tykes kitchen . . . proclaiming it "pheasant under glass." (I think she'd seen it on a cartoon.) It was hilarious. And . . . Very Erin. But that's as close as we've ever gotten to cooking pheasant in our house! (Tom used to hunt pheasant as a teenager, and his dad cooked them somehow. He agrees . . . turkey.) And I am STYMIED by the Holiday Tasmanian Devil. (Who knew?)

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  3. I am completely flummoxed by the fact that not only are there people who would willingly put a Tasmanian Devil in a Santa hat on their lawn for the holidays but that they'd also pay that much for one!

    I've never tasted pheasant, and I'm sorry to say that as pretty as your pie is, I'm not in any hurry to. I think I'd rather save the time and make a chicken or turkey pot pie!

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  4. My dad used to hunt birds, and I think we had pheasant a few times, but my favorite by far was partridge. It was decades ago, so I don't actually remember what it tasted like, but if I ever come across partridge on a menu... I'm ordering!

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  5. I think your pheasant pie looks very, very nice. I'd love to try it! We used to see pheasants in our yard when we first moved here, but now it is way too built up...pheasants did not adapt to humans the way foxes and deer have. That Tasmanian Devil thing confuses me - I can't imagine wanting one (especially at that price) and then antlers on it??? Weird! Congrats on getting some packing/moving already accomplished.

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  6. Turkey, huh? Not gamey? Your pub lunch looks great. I would have never thought to put corned beef and cabbage in an egg roll, but why not? Sounds good. Never take an ebay price as its value. I have seen things on there that you can get at Goodwill for pennies. I think there are a lot of dreamers and scammers on ebay who want to lure in a sucker. We'll have to check back and see if it actually sold for that much. I buy stuff on ebay, and there are some people out there who ask ridiculous prices for things that rarely sell. Having said that, there is a sucker born every minute, and the value is subjective, so what do I know? Hooray for packing, Bonny. Sounds like you are organized and making progress with your move. Congratulations!

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  7. So - I haven't had pheasant either ... and there's a delightful bit in Stanley Tucci's Taste about how and his now-wife Felicity bonded over the preparation. I guess the lesson here is that pheasants - like many things - are best prepared with another person who is passionate about the experience.

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  8. My grandfather taught my brothers to hunt. My grandmother used to bread or flour and then brown pheasant in a skillet, add some liquid like broth or wine, and let it simmer. She tried to pass it off to my sister and I as chicken but it didn't taste like her fried chicken. Sorting out stuff in the MD home and beginning to pack sounds like you are on top of this house sale. I admire your can-do spirit.

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  9. how exciting that you are packing up one house, that is thrilling. Just think no more living between two houses and splitting your brain :)

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  10. I can't help but think how pheasant sounds so Victorian! They would at least have had a kitchen staff to prepare it. You're the bomb to do all that work!
    Just because the devils are listed at $700 does not mean they are worth it. ;) That must, in part, be due to the price to get it from Australia to here!

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  11. Holy Moly! $700.00???? And now I want a bridie - that is right up my alley!

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  12. Yikes! That is one pricey Tasmanian Devil! (and I am not certain that I'd risk putting it outside!)

    The lunch looks lovely! (and I really love pheasant... they are especially good wrapped in bacon and roasted in the oven!)

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