Grumpiest hippies random grumps and mumbles

Opinel has been made in France since 1890. They are one of the most widely recognized knives world-wide.

Relatively unknown in the USA they are excellent knives. Coming in both carbon and stainless steel varieties.

The handles are Beechwood and use a unique locking mechanism. The ring at the base of the blade turns. This means that after opening the knife and turning the ring there is about a 1/2 inch of metal preventing it from closing on your fingers.

This is especially handy when you are using the tools in the garden. I have had other folding saws close on me when the catches were hit by limbs. This has never occurred with the Opinels.

I have found a seller for these knives on eBay wooden-box is the sellers eBay name.

They can also be found on Amazon.

There is an Opinel-USA website at Opinel-USA

Rattlesnake Chili

1 large onion, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, chopped

3 jalapeno peppers, chopped

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz. can tomato paste

1 28 oz. can chili beans

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

2 lb. rattlesnake meat

juice from 1/2 lemon

Simmer rattlesnake in water and lemon juice for 1 hour, remove and separate meat from bones.

Combine de-boned meat with the rest of the ingredients in a crockpot and slow-cook for 6-8 hours, or bring to boil in large cooking pot and simmer for 2 hours.

We have just been dealing with a few medical issues.

THE NAVAL “HARD TACK”

There has always been a need for nutritious, easy to store, easy to carry and long-lasting foods in the Royal Navy. Nuts, fruits, vegetables, live game and fish fulfilled a limited role, but the introduction of cooking and baking various cereals provided a more reliable source of food for travellers, especially at sea. Egyptian sailors carried a flat brittle loaf of maize bread called dhourra cake. The Romans had a biscuit called buccellum

King Richard I (Lionheart) left for the Third Crusade (1189-92) with “biskit of muslin” – mixed corn compound of barley, rye and bean flour. At the time of the Armada in 1588, the daily allowance on board ship was 1lb of biscuit plus 1 gallon of beer. It was Samuel Pepys in 1667 who first regularised naval victualling with varied and nutritious rations.

Biscuits have always been made to a large and varied recipes e.g. seed biscuits, fruit biscuits, long biscuits etc. The essential and common ingredients were flour and water, Most flour used today is milled from North American wheat or similar hard grain cereals. It would be difficult to produce an historically authentic biscuit from modern refined flour.

Recipe

To produce a similar plain ships biscuit, a medium coarse stone-ground wholemeal flour should be used.

Add water to 1lb wholemeal flour and 1/4oz salt to make a stiff dough. Leave for 1/2 hour and then roll out very thickly. Separate in to 5 or 7 biscuits. Bake in a hot oven approx. 420 degrees F for 30 minutes. The biscuits should then be left undisturbed in a warm dry atmosphere to harden and dry out.

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 1/2 teaspoons freeze-dried chives
1 cup whipping cream

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar and sugar together into a medium bowl. Stir in dill and chives; mix well. Pour in cream all at once; stir with fork only until dough rounds up into a ball.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead only a few strokes. Gently pat or roll out dough to 1 /2-to 3/4-inch thickness. With a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut straight down into dough, being careful not to twist cutter.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet; bake in a preheated 450 degrees F oven for 10-12 minutes. Makes 8 biscuits.

Nutrient Analysis. One biscuit provides: 191 Kcal, 3 g protein, 20 g carbohydrates, .6 g dietary fiber, 11 g fat, 41 mg cholesterol, 55 mg potassium and 187 mg sodium.