#cattleman chicken

[fieriframes]

[CATTLEMAN CHICKEN. DOESN'T MATTER, IT'S ALL GOOD. YEAH. THIS IS OUR SPOT. COURSE! HE SAID CHEERILY. EVERY TIME WE GO TO GROVER'S, IT'S DELICIOUS. I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU CAME. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED EVERYTHING.]

#s07e10 dives worth a drive #guy fieri #guyfieri #diners drive-ins and dives #cattleman chicken #matter #yeah #spot #course #grover

[ssa-atlas-alvez]

cowboy!reader likes pop music I've decided. he also drives a truck that looks like it's a fossil yet runs perfectly fine. he knows about horses and will try to talk about old wild west movies whenever. definitely loved woody from toy story as a kid. 1000% baby talks dogs. goes to pride parades in full colorful cowboy outfit. can do bird calls back. stress eats sunflower seeds instead of smoking. the list of ideas goes on really

- 🦦

More (Not) Allergies

Okay, so I've only focused on the pop music for this one. Also it directly follows from 'Alergies (Not Really)' (which wasn't titled earlier but it was the one with Mia in). But I do have them all noted down (I'm working on the sunflower seeds on at the moment).

EDIT: Sunflower seeds one is now done and available here

Warnings: minor sad reader

Word count: 621

PART ONE

Taglist: @xweirdo101x @xdark-acadamiax @ara-a-bird @heidss @chubbyboyinflannel @pendragon-writes @migwayne @bigolgay @technikerin23

"Hey, where's your cattleman?" Spencer asked as you sat down in your usual seat. 

"I er, I need to find a new one."

"Did you lose it? We've probably got time to find it before we take off-" Spencer said, already starting to stand up.

"Nah, I didn't lose it. I gave it to Mia," You said. "I'll go lookin' for a new one tomorrow,"

"Isn't that your favourite one?" JJ asked, turning to you.

"Yes ma'am," You answered, 

“Wait, is this the one you wouldn’t let any of us try on?” Derek asked, looking up from his ipod.

“That would be the one,” You said with a small nod.

“Oh man, you must be getting withdrawal,”

“A little,” You joked. "She's a special kid. Plus, I think she might’ve tried to steal it off me anyway. Y’know she called me old? Three times? Imma spring chicken,"

"I don't know about that," Emily teased, "You're nearly thirty,"

"'Scuse me ma'am, Imma spring chicken."

When the conversation dialled down, you sighed slightly, sliding your hands into your pocket out of boredom. You furrowed your eyebrows when your fingers brushed against a small chain. You gently removed it from your pocket.

"Where'd you get that chain?" You asked, seeing Mia fiddle with it, running her fingers along the links. 

She shrugged, "I found it on the floor a few years ago," 

"'s pretty," You commented, she looked at you in disbelief. "What?"

"I wore it once, it turned my skin green," 

"Maybe you're just a zombie." You said with a shrug

"Rich coming from you old man."

"Hey, you okay?" You look up at JJ in confusion and she motioned to your eyes, red and brimmed with tears.

"Oh, yeah," You clear your throat wiping your eyes slightly, "Allergies."

She has a knowing look on her face, but goes along with it. "Allergies are the worst,"

"Tell me about it." You muttered. 

"But," She whispered, despite the team chatting amongst themselves, "If you are… upset or concerned about anything, I'm always here if you want to talk about it." 

You pause for a moment, brushing your thumb against the chain as you frowned. "I-" You paused, "I dunno," You stuff the chain into your pocket as you looked at JJ, giving her a small smile. "'M fine," You gave her a nod, "Just missing ma cattleman, is all," 

"Uh-huh," JJ said with a raised eyebrow before she gave you a small smile, dropping the subject (not wanting to push you). "Alright, well, I believe we are all going for drinks, you should join us."

You look unsure for a moment before nodding, "A'right," You said, "Just don't tell my Mama I'm getting drunk,"

“Ooo cowboy’s finally gonna get drunk?” Derek asked with a grin, “How about you sing some good ol’ country music for us?”

“It’s gonna take a lotta shots to get to that point,” 

“Well, we have tomorrow off,” Rossi smirked. 

God damnit. 

“Y’all do know I don’t just listen to country, right?”

“Yeah, okay,” Emily grinned, “What else do you listen to?”

“I started listenin’ to er, what’s her name?... Arianna Grande, she’s a’right,” You said with a nod, furrowing your eyebrows as the team all let out a laugh (minus Spencer, who was just a bit confused). “What?”

“You listen to Arianna Grande?”

“She’s good!” You argue, “N’ she hits the whistle tones well. I listen to Dua Lipa ‘n’ Selena Gomez sometimes too,”

“Oh my god…”

“What?”

“You have the music taste of a teenage girl!” Derek snorted loudly.

“JJ, defend me here,” You said, turning to JJ.

“Sorry cowboy,” She teased, “They’re right…” You groaned, letting your head fall to the back of your seat. 

“God damnit.”

#bau x cowboy reader #bau x reader #bau x male reader #bau #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds #aaron hotchner #derek morgan #spencer reid #emily prentiss #david rossi #jennifer jareau #cowboy reader #male reader #x male reader

[miilkybnn]

I know these have been requested already but I adore your 09 and cowboy Ghost/Roach/Soap art and would love to see more!! Also, do you have any cowboy/gunslinger headcanons for the three??

I, too, adore ’09 GhostRoachSoap AND cowboy/ranch life GhostRoachSoap so you absolutely WILL see more of them, I promise!!

As for ideas/hc for the cowboy au, it’s a lot more “ranch life” based than gunslingers so if you are into that, keep reading below the line!

If not, then you are more than welcome to skip over this :}

Disclaimer: Most of my ideas are a bit scattered so I apologize for the messy layout, I’ll try my best to keep it coherent. Also, this is not all of them I don’t want this to be overly long

Background:

The AU takes place in Roach’s family ranch where all three members have been discharged from duty.

In this AU, because I like happiness, there is no war over the horizon and is simply a group of people living their lives out on the rolling plains of either Texas or Tennessee— I’m leaning more towards Texas just because I know more about the agriculture of the Texas plains.

In this AU, the 141 & Co simply live their lives from either being retired/discharged/etc. While everyone is involved (except for Shepherd, eat shit and die Shepherd), they all do their own thing but primary attention is mainly on GhostRoachSoap

Roach (+ extended background):

Roach and his other 5 siblings have the ranch under their and their parent’s name. He and two of his siblings, the youngest and the second oldest, are more active in taking care of the ranch's needs now that their parents are well into their ages. The other three help ever so often with more minor things but they have their own families to tend to and his parents don't actually live in the ranch anymore (again, due to age) and live closer to the city.

Roach, however, is the main caretaker for the ranch. He spends the most time on the land and is often alone, that was until Ghost and Soap came

Headcanons;

His accent left when he joined the army. Came back tenfold after a week on the ranch.

Has a collection of cowboy hats and each one serves a purpose (although his favorite is his very worn-out Cattleman that he leaves by the front door to take on his way out)

Expert horse rider. I'm not saying you would see this man at the Rodeo, but he’s had his fair share of bucking broncos, and not ONCE has he been bucked off.

Though there are horses on the ranch, his horse is Estella— a Chestnut American Quarter Horse with three white socks (forelegs + right hind leg) and a star + stripe. She loves to chew on people’s clothes if they turn their backs on her.

Has slept in the barn before (multiple times) and regrets it every time (wouldn’t recommend it, very lumpy and you WILL wake up with straw in places you don’t want it to be)

LOVES cattle work, and hates paperwork 💀 (he lets Ghost, and his two other siblings take care of it) due to this, he is good at reading the animals and knowing when something is wrong!

Are good friends with the vet! (It’s his ex 💀) (They broke amicably though so it’s okay!!) (“So, like, when I kiss you??…. it’s gross” “OH thank God, I thought it was only me")

Gets SOOO distracted when Soap is picking the hay bales. Bff short circuits for a good minute before Ella gets miffed at him and throws her head back

Cows > sheep (will make an exception for baby lambs tho)

Soap:

Along with Ghost, realistically both would not actually retire in some rural Texas town but because I can, let's say they decided to retire to some rural Texas town.

Soap is the most recent member to the farm and took to it like a duck to water. (We'll ignore the times he forgot to lock the chicken coop). He was on active duty but after a close call that was too close to comfort, he decided that maybe it was time to retire. Price is the one that mentioned the ranch to him, although at the time he did not know it was a ranch.

All Price told him was “if you are looking for something a little different, take a look here" and looking he went.

Headcanons:

Not on the friendliest terms with the cattle dogs but boy do they LOVE him (they’ve tried to herd him multiple times and have succeeded) (he cusses both Ghost and Roach out for watching and letting it happen)

Loves the nitty gritty work. Hay bales? Check. Cleaning the stables? On it. Shearing the sheep? The Clippers are all warmed up already. If there’s a job that involves getting his hands dirty, he is the first in line

Sheep > cows

His horse is a Buckskin American Quarter Horse that he very proudly named Buck. This name came after Roach told him the color of his coat but was reinforced when Soap tried riding him and was almost bucked off. They became the best of pals after that, and Buck occasionally tries to nibble Soap’s mohawk for fun.

His favorite chore is feeding the animals! He loves watching them all flock to their food and munch away. He doesn't find it much of a chore as it fills him with such joy to see all the creatures he cares for flourish.

Gagged the first, second, and third time he saw a sheep give birth. Man has seen a soldier’s leg come clean off from a bomb and recovered in less than 5 minutes but BIRTH? Get the bucket ready.

Ghost:

Discharged after a mission had gone wrong, Ghost had no idea where to go. With no family to go back to and no friends to crash with, civilian life was looking very bleak until Price came to him with a plane ticket and an address to some rural town in Texas.

Ranch life was… different for Ghost. It wasn’t bad per say, and he can’t really find much to complain about, but it was just different. It is... steadier? softer? he's not too sure but at least it lets him sleep easier at night.

It took him and Roach a while to find a rhythm. It wasn’t easy and it was very awkward at first but eventually they were able to settle on something unique for them that worked out.

Headcanons:

Sheep > cows

He likes to roam around with the LGDs. He greatly respects their jobs and has grown a soft spot for them. He knows he’s not supposed to distract them, but he just can’t help himself and always gives them a good belly rub.

Became good friends with the farrier. Farrier does most of the talking but Ghost will join in here and there. He really likes learning about the Farrier's different methods and likes to watch him work on the horses. (Lowkey thinking about making Jackson the farrier bc why not)

One of my favorite personal hc's about Ghost is that he is shit at naming things so yeah, he named his horse, Horse. Roach almost took his horse privileges away because of it but anyway, his horse is not an AQH like Roach/Soap but is instead one of the two draft horses the ranch has! His horse is Blue Roan Clydesdale with a very splotchy coat that loves peppermints and loves napping her days away (she’s had three kids alright she deserves it)

Genuinely enjoys doing the ranch paperwork. Sure, he has to ask Roach here and there where some of the stuff is at but honestly? Could spend hours reading and organizing the books and such. He's very interested in the topics discussed.

Earliest riser. His favorite time of the day is just before the sun peaks over the horizon where everything is blue and foggy, where condensation sits on his skin, when the crickets are still chirping, and when the mourning doves are softly cooing. Roach wakes up soon after him.

#I HOPE YALL ENJOY MY HCs #theres more to the background and stuff but i had to cut sm </3 #gary roach sanderson #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #cod roach #cod ghost #cod soap #ghostroachsoap #cod #ranch au #bug boo and bubbles #ask me stuff #milky talks #apologies for the wall of texts but not really #you wanted my hc so now get ready to sit and listen to me talk for multiple hours #ghostroach #soapghost #ghostsoap #anon i actually finished this at 3 in the morning but was struggling with the layout on my phone #anon ask #thank u anon <3

[happyk44]

nobody asked because the post was only made yesterday and only went in like two directions with readers, which is par for the course so whatever, but like fuck it, i care and want to explain what anyone who read through it might've been like ??? if the attempted subtlety didn't go right over their head (and if it did no problem, sometimes I miss my own subtlety until like six years later and I'm thinking when did this become an allegory), but anyway

yah so in that Hades and his bitching pomegranate tree piece, the part where he and menoetes are talking is supposed to reference this theory that menoetes is actually the son iapetus. there is little information about my beloved cattleman who I have had rolling around in my head for over a decade, being sweet on the chickens and getting pegged by zagreus every day

so yeah meno as the cattleman is pretty barebones. Like the herder of Hades, son of ceuthonymos, that guy that wrestled Hercules/herakles - that's pretty much it. I think he only ever shows up in that passage. So the concept is that the Titan Menoetes (or Menoetius) who Zeus blasted into Tartarus during the war is actually the cattleman, and his dad Ceuthonymos is just an epithet for Iapetus, especially since all that is understood about Ceuthonymos is that he is a daimon who lives in the underworld and his name means Hidden Name (which. alright 🤷‍♂️ why not) and that's literally all that anyone knows because the only reference I could find was "menoetes, son of ceuthonymos" - which, in hindsight, is hilarious

anyway what this all means is my thoughts with the concept was that Menoetes, who as a Titan was of rage and rash actions and was really arrogant and hubristic or smth (the little kiddies of Iapetus - titan of mortality - were supposed to represent humanity's flaws), was just a kid when he "died" and long after the Titan war but following so many others, Hades decided it was unfair that a child had been drafted and harmed. So he took meno, cleaned his soul in the Lethe and made him a little baby mortal and sent him off to go live with some nice people

Iapetus was thought to be the Titan of mortality and mortality is so entwined with death and being dead, and I thought it would be cool if Menoetes was just called towards the underworld because deep in the back of his mind, he knew that it had been his home - where he and his brothers had been born and raised, and where he had "died". so at point he leaves and manages to get into the place that once knew him as its prince, but Hades is ruler now and Menoetes is just a mortal boy, so it doesn't bow to him.

But Hades is the god and Hades is the underworld and Menoetes eats the fruit because he wants to be connected to home again, even if it means binding his soul to Hades the god forever

And that's what that whole convo was about 👍

#happy talks about his stories #menoetes #its always reallt fun when i check over a god or spirit or whatever and theres like zero information #because then suddenly im searching at mass intensities to factcheck instead of just double checking on another site 😂 #i actually looked up the books that were referenced found some archived versions (it was from rhe fucking 1860s) and read it myself #anyway happy day to me i get to make up all rhe nonse about menoetes i want and no one can stop me 🙌 #hades

[worldwide-blackfolk]

Read more at page— …We are asking that you can help our family members out at a time when they are in the fight for their lives, the fight for freedom and the fight for their land, fight to mainatin a family legacy now and generations to come. They are FIGHTING TO FARM WHILE BLACK IN AMERICA!

All donations will go to enhanced security that can not be jammed, privacy fence, electric fence and legal fees. Any donation will help with this fight they face!

Get out. Black Colorado ranchers face domestic terrorism by local sheriff deputy and whites who are trying to steal their land

A Black couple rebuilt their lives after losing everything in a hurricane. They never thought they’d be thrown into a fight for their ranch and possibly their lives in a predominantly white and hostile Colorado county.

Every night on Freedom Acres Ranch is a gamble of life and death for Black cattleman Courtney W. Mallery and his wife Nicole. As of late, he most likely will find tools destroyed, a prized calf stolen, or one of his hogs with their entrails spewing from slit bellies.

Their ranchand has been murdered. Beheaded and butchered goat carcasses are a common sight. Recently, his newly-born calf vanished. Not long ago, the mother of his Pyrenees puppies was poisoned along with several pigs. Often, he picks up animal remains on the farm and has had to put out fires like when the chicken coop was set ablaze.

#black farmers #Colorado #being terrorized

[mysfts-aa]

𝑷𝑬𝒀𝑻𝑶𝑵 𝑷𝑨𝑳𝑴𝑬𝑹   -    𝑅𝐸𝐷 𝐷𝐸𝐴𝐷 𝑅𝐸𝐷𝐸𝑀𝑃𝑇𝐼𝑂𝑁 𝑉𝐸𝑅𝑆𝐸  .   THESE ARE BULLET POINTS , BUT A VERY DETAILED CHAPTER ONE PLOT ! i just need to figure out how to bring it together to make it coherent in a verse box . 

PERSONAL HORSE  -  missouri fox trotter named starlight - starlight is a little stupid, but loyal, the embodiment of staring at an animal where you’re like “i think you’re human, but you’re also a lil too stupid to be human... whats the truth?” and in response star is just the eye and lip emojimeme WORKING HORSES - two appaloosa’s , a spotted black and white one named moonlight and a white with brown spots named jupiter - yes, peyton knows about the space theme going on, it was an accident . LOADOUT  -  buck cattleman revolver x2, litchfield repeater, bow and arrows, hunting knife. ACCENT  -  while it’s not realistic for peyton to keep the thick yorkshire accent, she still has it, as a treat, because its fun :) sick of londoners, its time for some spice.

peyton grew up in a small cottage surrounded by a handful of animals . a ranch , but its slightly laughable calling it that with how compacted the place is in comparison to others along the way .  they have a coop for chickens, a cow and three horses -  it’s around a three hour drive to valentine ; surrounded by forest, a good bit of land to enjoy to themselves ; but the living vicinity is small . but , for peyton , its home , humble - but its hers, and its more than what most people have . peyton also goes out hunting regularly, another way to try and pick up the paycheck is selling animal skin and meat to the local butcher.

her mother died when she was eighteen years old , cause of death , typhoid fever ; it was horrible , and something that certainly traumatized her witnessing ; going from getting through the world together, to having no one there at all  -  peyton did her best to take care of everything, to bring in as much money as possible so aveline could get the top tier care she deserved  -  but in the end, there was nothing the doctors could do . it’s a death that peyton still hasn’t gotten over, and even as the years pass and she’s on her own , it just gets worse . but, she’s coping, as best as she can and in the end that’s all that matters.

a regular in valentine, first name basis with a lot of people  -  always greeted with smiles and waves when riding into the town. she still deals with her fair share of sexism, just as anyone else, but luckily its not as bad as it could be when going out into civilization. though, she doesn’t have many friends - or any friends, for that matter. the property is isolated, and she’s far too busy trying to keep the place standing to socialize on that sort of level. as a result, peyton is incredibly lonely, but it’s something she tries not to acknowledge ; blocking the voices out with writing and book reading. 

peyton has had many run ins with the o'driscolls, given where the property is and going back and forth from valentine pretty much daily, its only a matter of time. it was slow building encounters, depressingly  giving away some eggs because they demanded, some milk there  -  eventually it became routine and half of her income was going down the gutter, eventually hunting and  animal hides became her main source of income, it wasn’t something they hadn’t caught onto her doing yet - or if they did, they didn’t see it worthwhile.

#struggling for chapter 2 stuff yet but ... :( im gonna put a starter out for this .. i know im getting ahead of myself but IM SOO EXCITED #FOR THIS OKAY #━━ 𝑃𝐸𝑌𝑇𝑂𝑁 𝑃𝐴𝐿𝑀𝐸𝑅 ✗ red dead redemption .

[things-to-do-lagrange-ky]

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Cattleman's Roadhouse 

The Cattleman's Roadhouse is a casual dining establishment specializing in delicious steaks and American favorites. The restaurant offers a variety of steak cuts cooked to your liking, along with classic sides like loaded baked potatoes, onion rings, and creamed spinach. Aside from steaks, the menu includes burgers, sandwiches, ribs, seafood, and chicken dishes. The restaurant also offers seafood dishes, including fried pickles, mozzarella sticks, and Boom Boom Shrimp. Shareable appetizers like fried pickles, mozzarella sticks, and Boom Boom Shrimp are also available, along with a large salad bar with various toppings and dressings. I like the restaurant's lively atmosphere, complemented by comfortable seating and friendly service. 

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Link to maps

Cattleman's Roadhouse 1018 New Moody Ln, La Grange, KY 40031, United States Head east on New Moody Ln toward Paige Pl 0.3 mi Use the left 2 lanes to turn left onto S 1st Ave Pass by AutoZone Auto Parts (on the left in 0.5 mi) 1.6 mi Turn left onto Cedar Springs Pkwy 377 ft Turn right onto Willow Oak Ln Destination will be on the right 0.1 mi Air Support Heating & AC Repair 1123 Willow Oak Ln, La Grange, KY 40031, United States

[disarmluna]

Among the new offerings are Bad Blood Waffle Fries, topped half with Buffalo chicken and half with Kansas City Cattleman’s BBQ pork.

#bills #chiefs #playoffs #bad blood #taylor swift #inspired #food #food porn

[food-advisor]

21 Shelf-stable meals for your Emergency food deliver

You’ve in all likelihood heard the recommendation to have an emergency meals supply and stock up on different simple wishes in response to the brand new coronavirus outbreak. That’s due to the fact professionals say it's miles possibly that we’ll see the new coronavirus (COVID-19) spread widely inside the U.S. 

Proper now, the centers for ailment manage and Prevention (CDC) says that most people within the U.S. Have little immediate danger of exposure, but the usual danger evaluation varies extensively depending to your state of affairs (like if you’re in a network with an acknowledged outbreak, you’ve traveled to an area with an acknowledged outbreak, or you’ve been in contact with someone who has). It’s important to keep in mind that the scenario is unexpectedly evolving—and based totally on cutting-edge global circumstances, COVID-19 is likely to purpose an epidemic here in some unspecified time in the future, the CDC says.

The branch of the place of birth safety advises preparing for a potential pandemic using having a two-week delivery of food and water accessible (amongst different matters, like prescription and OTC meds). That manner, if quarantine does occur, you’re already set—and, as SELF previously reported, it’s virtually better to buy now so shops can reorder stock earlier than any capability shortages due to a pointy leap in demand and/or supply chain disruptions. (For extra professional advice on the way to get geared up for a probable pandemic, study 5 activities in case you’re concerned about Coronavirus inside the U.S. Or test the CDC emergency package checklist.)

Shelf-strong meals, especially, are your smartest buy for an emergency meal supply. That nonperishable merchandise can be stored thoroughly at room temperature and stay properly for weeks, months, or years without refrigeration (ever, or as a minimum until after starting), in keeping with the American branch of Agriculture (USDA) meals safety and Inspection carrier. That’s because they’ve been handled with the aid of heat and/or dried if you want to kill any microorganisms that can cause spoilage or foodborne illness, and then packaged in sterile, airtight containers like cans, bottles, pouches, and cartons, the USDA explains. (Shelf life varies, so test the expiration date on the packaging.)

Blanking on what the heck you should be buying? We’ve got a reachable list of shelf-strong ingredients for your emergency food supply intending to offer you tasty nourishment, pandemic, or no pandemic. First-rate case state of affairs, you wind up with some scrumptious and convenient greater food to your pantry.

Just a brief note: the goods listed here had been available on the hyperlinks beneath as of publication, but if they aren’t to be had anymore, attempt your nearby grocery save or Google to discover something similar.

The scenario with coronavirus is evolving rapidly. The recommendation and information on this story are correct as of press time, however, it is viable that some data points and hints have changed because of publication. We inspire readers to stay updated on information and pointers for his or her network with the aid of checking with their nearby public fitness department.

All merchandise featured on SELF is independently decided on by using our editors. If you buy something via our retail links, we may earn an affiliate fee.

1 - Mac and Cheese

You might have a few boxes of this goodness on your shelves already.

Products to try:

365 Everyday Value, Shells & Cheese, $1, Amazon Fresh

Annie’s Gluten Free Rice Pasta & Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese, $24 for pack of 12, Amazon

Kraft Deluxe Original Macaroni and Cheese Dinner Cups, $4 for pack of 4, Amazon

2 - Crackers

Crackers are a great vehicle for other stuff you might have on hand, like nut butter or cheese. Whole grain will be more filling.

Products to try:

Mary’s Gone Crackers Super Seed Rosemary Crackers $4, Amazon

Triscuit Fire Roasted Tomato and Olive Oil Crackers, $2, Amazon

Blue Diamond Almond Cheddar Cheese Nut Thins, $16 for pack of 6, Amazon

3  - Applesauce

This stuff is very much for adults too. For a better deal, go for a big jar over single-serving cups.

Products to try:

Santa Cruz Organic Applesauce, $5, Amazon Fresh

Mott’s Cinnamon Applesauce, $3, Amazon Fresh

Nut/seed butter

Always amazing by the spoonful, in PB&Js, on crackers, or with apples.

Products to try:

Justin’s Cinnamon Almond Butter, $9, Amazon

Wild Friends Creamy Peanut Butter Creamy $5, Amazon

Sunbutter Natural Crunch Sunbutter, $7, Amazon Fresh

Oats

This breakfast staple is super versatile in terms of toppings (literally anything) and cooking method (on the stovetop, in the microwave, or overnight).

Products to try:

Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats, $3, Amazon Fresh

365 Everyday Value, Organic Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats, $4, Amazon

Quaker Instant Oatmeal Express Cups, Honey & Almonds, $12 for pack of 12, Amazon

Canned chili

Vegetarian or meatless, spicy or mild—just heat and eat for a filling dinner.

Products to try:

Stagg Country Brand Chili with Beans, $8 for pack of 6, Amazon

Amy’s Organic Medium Vegan Chili, $3, Amazon Fresh

Granola/protein bars

Tasty bars are one of the best snacks ever, quarantine or not.

Products to try:

Kind Dark Chocolate Chunk Granola Bars, $3 for pack of 5, Amazon Fresh

RXBAR, Peanut Butter & Berries Protein Bar, $19 for pack of 12, Amazon

Quaker Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars, $11 for pack of 58, Amazon

Dried fruit

The trail mix staple will help you get your daily servings of fibrous fruit and natural sweetness in. Maybe try a new kind—pineapple, mango, apple, banana, blueberries…

Products to try:

Mariani Mediterranean Apricots, $15 for pack of 4, Amazon

Newman’s Own Organic Prunes, $6, Amazon

Sunbest Mango Slices, $17, Amazon

Tuna pouches

Your best bet for Omega-3 fatty acids that last a long while. The plain canned stuff you had as a kid works, but there are also tons of flavorful varieties available in pouches today.

Products to try:

Bumble Bee Lemon & Pepper Seasoned Tuna, $12 for pack of 12, Amazon

Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna, Chili Lime, $45 for pack of 12, Amazon

Milk

You’ve probably seen shelf-stable cartons of nondairy milk at the grocery store—soy, almond, rice, hemp. Dairy milk also comes in shelf-stable cartons and bottles.

Products to try:

Silk Original Soymilk, Original, $2, Amazon Fresh

Horizon Organic, Low Fat Organic Milk Box, $6 for pack of 6, Amazon Fresh

Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, Unsweetened Vanilla, $10 for pack of 6, Amazon Fresh

Canned veggies

Having a nonperishable source of vegetables is key in the event you can’t hit the grocery store.

Products to try:

Amazon Brand Happy Belly Mixed Vegetables, $1, Amazon Fresh

Del Monte Fresh Cut Blue Lake Green Beans, $18 for pack of 12, Amazon

Popcorn

One of the more fun whole grains to have on hand. Go for dry kernels, which stay good longer than microwave bags.

Products to try:

Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Popcorn Kernels, $11, Amazon

Anthony’s Organic Yellow Popcorn Kernels, $11, Amazon

Jerky

The gas station classic is a great source of animal protein (beef or turkey), with lots of zesty flavors.

Products to try:

Cattleman’s Cut Teriyaki Beef Jerky, $13, Amazon Fresh

Lorissa’s Kitchen Szechuan Peppercorn Grass-Fed Premium Steak Strips, $5, Amazon Fresh

Canned fruit

If any fresh fruit you happen to have already goes bad or runs out, you’ll be happy to have the preserved stuff on hand. No peeling or slicing required!

Products to try:

Dole Diced Pears in 100% Juice, $2 for pack of 4, Amazon

Dole Crushed Pineapple in Juice, $18 for pack of 12, Amazon

Hearty soups

Opt for beefier varieties like minestrone, chicken noodle, or lentil vegetable, which contain several different food groups to make a meal in and of itself. Comes in cans and cartons.

Products to try:

Wickedly Prime Chicken Noodle Soup, $22 for pack of 6, Amazon

Pacific Foods Organic Creamy Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup, $4, Amazon Fresh

Amy’s Organic Chunky Vegetable and Lentil Vegetable, $25 for pack of 6, Amazon

High-protein Pasta

Pasta made with beans and legumes is extra high in protein, which is awesome if you don’t have access to the fresh proteins you might usually have at lunch or dinner.

Products to try:

Barilla Protein Plus Farfalle Pasta, $3, Amazon Fresh

Banza Chickpea Pasta Variety Case, $20 for pack of 6, Amazon

Cereal

You can’t go wrong with cereal, whether it’s a whole grain variety, a crunchy granola, or the “kids’ stuff.”

Products to try:

Kashi Berry Fruitful Whole Wheat Biscuits , $3, Amazon Fresh

Cascadian Farm Organic Granola, Cinnamon Raisin Cereal, $17 for pack of 6, Amazon

General Mills Frosted Cheerios, $3, Amazon Fresh

Rice

From basmati to brown, any type of this beloved grain will serve you well.

Products to try:

Lundberg California Brown Basmati Rice, $23 for pack of 4, Amazon

Uncle Ben’s Original Converted Long Grain Rice, $8, Amazon Fresh

Precooked entrees

These are lifesavers any day of the week. The only thing you have to do here is warm up the food in the pouch, in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Products to try:

Tasty Bite Channa Masala, $18 for pack of 6, Amazon

Campbell’s Ready Meals, Creamy Dumplings With Chicken & Vegetables, $2, Amazon Fresh

Trail Mix

This energy-dense snack tastes just as good inside as in the great outdoors. Nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate—you’ve got lots of options.

Products to try:

Archer Farms Monster Trail Mix, $15, Amazon

Powerup Almond Cranberry Crunch Trail Mix, $7, Amazon

365 Everyday Value Chocolate Cherry Carnival Trail Mix, $7, Amazon

Navy Beans

Beans are one of the greatest sources of plant protein and fiber there is. Dried and canned are both shelf-stable. Any variety will do, but navy beans are particularly versatile.

Products to try:

Bush’s Best Navy Beans, $1, Amazon Fresh

#foods #Shelf-stable #Shelf-stable food

[sharkoman]

In 1954 this wooden frame building, with a pitched roof and covered porch along the front, was erected as a restaurant on the square, in downtown Blue Ridge, Texas by William and Faye Nelson. It quickly became a gathering place for the locals. Cattleman's Cafe is famous for it's home-style cooking and homemade pies. It is best known for it's "Chicken Fried Steak" and was given the best "D" Magazine 'Best of Dallas' award for it. The front table is home for farmers, locals and the everyday customer. Newspaper clippings and stories about local celebrities line the walls. Students of Blue Ridge High School along with many others have always been treated as family members by the servers. Stories told by those loving in the area always include the Café. Because of it's owners - past and present, have a real connection with the community. For 64 years, Cattleman's has a legacy in Blue Ridge of home cooking, fun times and great memories. #architecture #dfwtexas #cityscape #city  #streetphotography #dfw #blueridgetx   #citykillerz #dfwphotography #texasarchitecture  #texastown #dfwtexas #northtexas #smalltown #downtown #cityview #collincounty #blueridge #dfwhistory #blueridgetexas #texas_ig #street_photography #streetview #texashistory #instagramtexas #city_captures #Texas #visitdfw #cityphotography #northtexas (at Blue Ridge, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQROgMtrkhp/?utm_medium=tumblr

#architecture #dfwtexas #cityscape #city #streetphotography #dfw #blueridgetx #citykillerz #dfwphotography #texasarchitecture #texastown #northtexas #smalltown #downtown #cityview #collincounty #blueridge #dfwhistory #blueridgetexas #texas_ig #street_photography #streetview #texashistory #instagramtexas #city_captures #texas #visitdfw #cityphotography

[erynthriel]

“It seems like the second you tell people that you eat a plant-based diet, the first thing out of their mouth is some remark about soy or tofu. “Ugh, you actually like tofu?” “So, do you only eat soy now?” The commentary goes on and on. Sure, not everyone who eats plant-based loves tofu, but we would be lying if we didn’t admit that yes, we love tofu. So there.

To make matters worse, if you happen to mention that one of the reasons you eat primarily plant-based is because it’s more environmentally sustainable … brace yourself for the ever dreaded, “well, soy production to make tofu is destroying the planet just as much as animal agriculture.”

Yep, there it is. The misconception of all misconceptions. While it is true that yes, soybean plantations are responsible for an enormous amount of deforestation, especially in the world’s rainforest ecosystems … tofu is not to blame. Sure tofu can be slimy and it doesn’t really have a flavor, but a driver of mass deforestation it is not!

Let’s break this down.

1.  How Much Deforestation is Caused by Soy?

The majority of deforestation caused by soybean production occurs in South America. The tropical climate and relative availability of space (that is once the trees are removed) makes this an ideal region for growing soy. The Brazilian Cerrado region, Amazon Rainforest, Gran Chaco and the Atlantic Forest of South America are the major areas at risk from soy-related deforestation. These regions are known for their biodiversity and deforestation is quickly endangering the animals who call these forests home. Not to mention the greenhouse gas emissions that are related to the destruction of these forests. Deforestation related to soy production in Brazil is responsible for 29 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. (The irony of Killer Tofu is not lost on us.)

The USDA estimates that the area of Brazil that is devoted to cultivating soy plantations will reach 30 million hectares by 2020. That’s an area the same size as the Philippines. Over 80 percent of agricultural lands in Paraguayan region of Gran Chaco are devoted to soy. Worldwide, the size of land that is devoted to soy cultivation reaches an area the size of Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands … combined.

2. Who is Eating All This Soy?

While soy is popularly associated with a variety of dairy-free and meat-free products, such as soy milk, soy cheese and the illustrious tofu, the bulk of the world’s soy is NOT consumed by people. Around 70 percent of the world’s soy is fed directly to livestock and only six percent of soy is turned into human food, which is mostly consumed in Asia. The rest of soy is turned into soybean oil.

3. Why Are We Feeding Soybeans to Livestock?

Soy is the largest source of protein for the world’s farm animals, but chances are you’ve never seen a cow or chicken nibbling on edamame in the wild, so why are we feeding them soy? The simple answer: it is cheap and effective. Soy and corn are the two go to crops that are used to help livestock reach market weight in record times. According to the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, the average cow on a feedlot will gain between two and four pounds a day, thanks to the special diet they are fed. Ah, the power of soy (we’ll address why eating tofu doesn’t make humans gain this much weight at a later time).

4. What Can We do to Help End Deforestation?

If we eat meat, and the animals who become meat eat soy … the logical way to help stop soy-related deforestation is to stop eating meat. WWF Germany conducted a report that found that if every citizen of Germany were to lower their consumption of meat, just enough to meet the country’s dietary guidelines, they would be able to save 1.8 million acres of agricultural land (825,000 hectares of which are specifically in South America). Additionally, if less people ate meat, more of the crops grown to feed livestock could be redirected to feed people. In fact, if everyone in America were to remove meat from their diet, there would be enough extra grain grown to feed 1.4 billion people! So … how’s tofu looking compared to that burger now?

As the leading organization at the forefront of the conscious consumerism movement, it is One Green Planet’s view that our food choices have the power to heal our broken food system, give species a fighting chance for survival, and pave the way for a truly sustainable future.

By choosing to eat more plant-based foods, you can drastically cut your carbon footprint, save precious water supplies and help ensure that vital crop resources are fed to people, rather than livestock. With the wealth of available plant-based options available, it has never been easier to eat with the planet in mind.”

#eat for the planet #soy #plant based #vegan #environment

[tlatollotl]

In the early twentieth century, the members of the Osage Nation became the richest people per capita in the world, after oil was discovered under their reservation, in Oklahoma. Then they began to be mysteriously murdered off. In 1923, after the death toll reached more than two dozen, the case was taken up by the Bureau of Investigation, then an obscure branch of the Justice Department, which was later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was among the F.B.I.’s first major homicide investigations. After J. Edgar Hoover was appointed the bureau’s director, in 1924, he sent a team of undercover operatives, including a Native American agent, to the Osage reservation.

David Grann, a staff writer at the magazine, has spent nearly half a decade researching this submerged and sinister history. In his new book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the F.B.I.,” which is being published by Doubleday, in April, he shows that the breadth of the killings was far greater than the Bureau ever exposed. This exclusive excerpt, the book’s first chapter, introduces the Osage woman and her family who became prime targets of the conspiracy.

In April, millions of tiny flowers spread over the blackjack hills and vast prairies in the Osage territory of Oklahoma. There are Johnny-jump-ups and spring beauties and little bluets. The Osage writer John Joseph Mathews observed that the galaxy of petals makes it look as if the “gods had left confetti.” In May, when coyotes howl beneath an unnervingly large moon, taller plants, such as spiderworts and black-eyed Susans, begin to creep over the tinier blooms, stealing their light and water. The necks of the smaller flowers break and their petals flutter away, and before long they are buried underground. This is why the Osage Indians refer to May as the time of the flower-killing moon.

On May 24, 1921, Mollie Burkhart, a resident of the Osage settlement town of Gray Horse, Oklahoma, began to fear that something had happened to one of her three sisters, Anna Brown. Thirty-four, and less than a year older than Mollie, Anna had disappeared three days earlier. She had often gone on “sprees,” as her family disparagingly called them: dancing and drinking with friends until dawn. But this time one night had passed, and then another, and Anna had not shown up on Mollie’s front stoop as she usually did, with her long black hair slightly frayed and her dark eyes shining like glass. When Anna came inside, she liked to slip off her shoes, and Mollie missed the comforting sound of her moving, unhurried, through the house. Instead, there was a silence as still as the plains.

Mollie had already lost her sister Minnie nearly three years earlier. Her death had come with shocking speed, and though doctors had attributed it to a “peculiar wasting illness,” Mollie harbored doubts: Minnie had been only twenty-seven and had always been in perfect health.

Like their parents, Mollie and her sisters had their names inscribed on the Osage Roll, which meant that they were among the registered members of the tribe. It also meant that they possessed a fortune. In the early eighteen-seventies, the Osage had been driven from their lands in Kansas onto a rocky, presumably worthless reservation in northeastern Oklahoma, only to discover, decades later, that this land was sitting above some of the largest oil deposits in the United States. To obtain that oil, prospectors had to pay the Osage in the form of leases and royalties. In the early twentieth century, each person on the tribal roll began receiving a quarterly check. The amount was initially for only a few dollars, but over time, as more oil was tapped, the dividends grew into the hundreds, then the thousands of dollars. And virtually every year the payments increased, like the prairie creeks that joined to form the wide, muddy Cimarron, until the tribe members had collectively accumulated millions and millions of dollars. (In 1923 alone, the tribe took in more than thirty million dollars, the equivalent today of more than four hundred million dollars.) The Osage were considered the wealthiest people per capita in the world. “Lo and behold!” the New York weekly Outlook exclaimed. “The Indian, instead of starving to death . . . enjoys a steady income that turns bankers green with envy.”

The public had become transfixed by the tribe’s prosperity, which belied the images of American Indians that could be traced back to the brutal first contact with whites—the original sin from which the country was born. Reporters tantalized their readers with stories about the “plutocratic Osage” and the “red millionaires,” with their brick-and-terra-cotta mansions and chandeliers, and with their diamond rings, fur coats, and chauffeured cars. One writer marvelled at Osage girls who attended the best boarding schools and wore sumptuous French clothing, as if “une très jolie demoiselle of the Paris boulevards had inadvertently strayed into this little reservation town.”

At the same time, reporters seized upon any signs of the traditional Osage way of life, which seemed to stir in the public’s mind visions of “wild” Indians. One article noted a “circle of expensive automobiles surrounding an open campfire, where the bronzed and brightly blanketed owners are cooking meat in the primitive style.” Another documented a party of Osage arriving at a ceremony for their dances in a private airplane—a scene that “outrivals the ability of the fictionist to portray.” Summing up the public’s attitude toward the Osage, the Washington Star said, “That lament, ‘Lo the poor Indian,’ might appropriately be revised to, ‘Ho, the rich red-skin.’ ”

Gray Horse was one of the reservation’s older settlements. These outposts—including Fairfax, a larger, neighboring town of nearly fifteen hundred people, and Pawhuska, the Osage capital, with a population of more than six thousand—seemed like fevered visions. The streets clamored with cowboys, fortune seekers, bootleggers, soothsayers, medicine men, outlaws, U.S. marshals, New York financiers, and oil magnates. Automobiles sped along paved horse trails, the smell of fuel overwhelming the scent of the prairies. Juries of crows peered down from telephone wires. There were restaurants, advertised as cafés, as well as opera houses and polo grounds.

Although Mollie didn’t spend as lavishly as some of her neighbors did, she had built a beautiful, rambling wooden house in Gray Horse near her family’s old lodge of lashed poles, woven mats, and bark. She owned several cars and had a staff of servants—the Indians’ pot-lickers, as many settlers derided these migrant workers. The servants were often black or Mexican, and in the early nineteen-twenties a visitor to the reservation expressed contempt at the sight of “even whites” performing “all the menial tasks about the house to which no Osage will stoop.”

Mollie was one of the last people to see Anna before she vanished. That day, May 21st, Mollie had risen close to dawn, a habit ingrained from when her father used to pray every morning to the sun. She was accustomed to the chorus of meadowlarks and sandpipers and prairie chickens, now overlaid with the pock-pocking of drills pounding the earth. Unlike many of her friends, who shunned Osage clothing, Mollie wrapped an Indian blanket around her shoulders. She also didn’t style her hair in a flapper bob but, instead, let her long, black hair flow over her back, revealing her striking face, with its high cheekbones and big brown eyes.

Mollie Burkhart.

Her husband, Ernest Burkhart, rose with her. A twenty-eight-year-old white man, he had the stock handsomeness of an extra in a Western picture show: short brown hair, slate-blue eyes, square chin. Only his nose disturbed the portrait; it looked as if it had taken a barroom punch or two. Growing up in Texas, the son of a poor cotton farmer, he’d been enchanted by tales of the Osage Hills—that vestige of the American frontier where cowboys and Indians were said to still roam. In 1912, at the age of nineteen, he’d packed a bag, like Huck Finn lighting out for the Territory, and went to live with his uncle, a domineering cattleman named William K. Hale, in Fairfax. “He was not the kind of a man to ask you to do something—he told you,” Ernest once said of Hale, who became his surrogate father. Though Ernest mostly ran errands for Hale, he sometimes worked as a livery driver, which is how he met Mollie, chauffeuring her around town.

Ernest had a tendency to drink moonshine and play Indian stud poker with men of ill repute, but beneath his roughness there seemed to be tenderness and a trace of insecurity, and Mollie fell in love with him. Born a speaker of Osage, Mollie had learned some English in school; nevertheless, Ernest studied her native language until he could talk with her in it. She suffered from diabetes, and he cared for her when her joints ached and her stomach burned with hunger. After he heard that another man had affections for her, he muttered that he couldn’t live without her.

Ernest Burkhart.

It wasn’t easy for them to marry. Ernest’s roughneck friends ridiculed him for being a “squaw man.” And though Mollie’s three sisters had wed white men, she felt a responsibility to have an arranged Osage marriage, the way her parents had. Still, Mollie, whose family practiced a mixture of Osage and Catholic beliefs, couldn’t understand why God would let her find love, only to then take it away from her. So, in 1917, she and Ernest exchanged rings, vowing to love each other till eternity.

By 1921, they had a daughter, Elizabeth, who was two years old, and a son, James, who was eight months old and nicknamed Cowboy. Mollie also tended to her aging mother, Lizzie, who had moved in to the house after Mollie’s father passed away. Because of Mollie’s diabetes, Lizzie once feared that she would die young, and beseeched her other children to take care of her. In truth, Mollie was the one who looked after all of them.

May 21st was supposed to be a delightful day for Mollie. She liked to entertain guests and was hosting a small luncheon. After getting dressed, she fed the children. Cowboy often had terrible earaches, and she’d blow in his ears until he stopped crying. Mollie kept her home in meticulous order, and she issued instructions to her servants as the house stirred, everyone bustling about—except Lizzie, who’d fallen ill and stayed in bed. Mollie asked Ernest to ring Anna and see if she’d come over to help tend to Lizzie for a change. Anna, as the oldest child in the family, held a special status in their mother’s eyes, and even though Mollie took care of Lizzie, Anna, in spite of her tempestuousness, was the one her mother spoiled.

When Ernest told Anna that her mama needed her, she promised to take a taxi straight there, and she arrived shortly afterward, dressed in bright red shoes, a skirt, and a matching Indian blanket; in her hand was an alligator purse. Before entering, she’d hastily combed her windblown hair and powdered her face. Mollie noticed, however, that her gait was unsteady, her words slurred. Anna was drunk.

Mollie (right) with her sisters Anna (center) and Minnie.

Mollie couldn’t hide her displeasure. Some of the guests had already arrived. Among them were two of Ernest’s brothers, Bryan and Horace Burkhart, who, lured by black gold, had moved to Osage County, often assisting Hale on his ranch. One of Ernest’s aunts, who spewed racist notions about Indians, was also visiting, and the last thing Mollie needed was for Anna to stir up the old goat.

Anna slipped off her shoes and began to make a scene. She took a flask from her bag and opened it, releasing the pungent smell of bootleg whiskey. Insisting that she needed to drain the flask before the authorities caught her—it was a year into nationwide Prohibition—she offered the guests a swig of what she called the best white mule.

Mollie knew that Anna had been very troubled of late. She’d recently divorced her husband, a settler named Oda Brown, who owned a livery business. Since then, she’d spent more and more time in the reservation’s tumultuous boomtowns, which had sprung up to house and entertain oil workers—towns like Whizbang, where, it was said, people whizzed all day and banged all night. “All the forces of dissipation and evil are here found,” a U.S. government official reported. “Gambling, drinking, adultery, lying, thieving, murdering.” Anna had become entranced by the places at the dark ends of the streets: the establishments that seemed proper on the exterior but contained hidden rooms filled with glittering bottles of moonshine. One of Anna’s servants later told the authorities that Anna was someone who drank a lot of whiskey and had “very loose morals with white men.”

At Mollie’s house, Anna began to flirt with Ernest’s younger brother, Bryan, whom she’d sometimes dated. He was more brooding than Ernest and had inscrutable yellow-flecked eyes and thinning hair that he wore slicked back. A lawman who knew him described him as a little roustabout. When Bryan asked one of the servants at the luncheon if she’d go to a dance with him that night, Anna said that if he fooled around with another woman, she’d kill him.

Meanwhile, Ernest’s aunt was muttering, loud enough for all to hear, about how mortified she was that her nephew had married a redskin. It was easy for Mollie to subtly strike back because one of the servants attending to the aunt was white—a blunt reminder of the town’s social order.

Anna continued raising Cain. She fought with the guests, fought with her mother, fought with Mollie. “She was drinking and quarrelling,” a servant later told authorities. “I couldn’t understand her language, but they were quarrelling.” The servant added, “They had an awful time with Anna, and I was afraid.”

That evening, Mollie planned to look after her mother, while Ernest took the guests into Fairfax, five miles to the northwest, to meet Hale and see “Bringing Up Father,” a touring musical about a poor Irish immigrant who wins a million-dollar sweepstakes and struggles to assimilate into high society. Bryan, who’d put on a cowboy hat, his catlike eyes peering out from under the brim, offered to drop Anna off at her house.

Before they left, Mollie washed Anna’s clothes, gave her some food to eat, and made sure that she’d sobered up enough that Mollie could glimpse her sister as her usual self, bright and charming. They lingered together, sharing a moment of calm and reconciliation. Then Anna said goodbye, a gold filling flashing through her smile.

With each passing night, Mollie grew more anxious. Bryan insisted that he’d taken Anna straight home and dropped her off before heading to the show. After the third night, Mollie, in her quiet but forceful way, pressed everyone into action. She dispatched Ernest to check on Anna’s house. Ernest jiggled the knob to her front door—it was locked. From the window, the rooms inside appeared dark and deserted.

Ernest stood there alone in the heat. A few days earlier, a cool rain shower had dusted the earth, but afterward the sun’s rays beat down mercilessly through the blackjack trees. This time of year, heat blurred the prairies and made the tall grass creak underfoot. In the distance, through the shimmering light, one could see the skeletal frames of derricks.

Anna’s head servant, who lived next door, came out, and Ernest asked her, “Do you know where Anna is?”

Before the shower, the servant said, she’d stopped by Anna’s house to close any open windows. “I thought the rain would blow in,” she explained. But the door was locked, and there was no sign of Anna. She was gone.

News of her absence coursed through the boomtowns, travelling from porch to porch, from store to store. Fuelling the unease were reports that another Osage, Charles Whitehorn, had vanished a week before Anna had. Genial and witty, the thirty-year-old Whitehorn was married to a woman who was part white, part Cheyenne. A local newspaper noted that he was “popular among both the whites and the members of his own tribe.” On May 14th, he’d left his home, in the southwestern part of the reservation, for Pawhuska. He never returned.

Still, there was reason for Mollie not to panic. It was conceivable that Anna had slipped out after Bryan had dropped her off and headed to Oklahoma City or across the border to incandescent Kansas City. Perhaps she was dancing in one of those jazz clubs she liked to visit, oblivious of the chaos she’d left trailing in her wake. And even if Anna had run into trouble, she knew how to protect herself: she often carried a small pistol in her alligator purse. She’ll be back home soon, Ernest reassured Mollie.

A week after Anna disappeared, an oil worker was on a hill a mile north of downtown Pawhuska when he noticed something poking out of the brush near the base of a derrick. The worker came closer. It was a rotting corpse; between the eyes were two bullet holes. The victim had been shot, execution-style.

It was hot and wet and loud on the hillside. Drills shook the earth as they bore through the limestone sediment; derricks swung their large clawing arms back and forth. Other people gathered around the body, which was so badly decomposed that it was impossible to identify. One of the pockets held a letter. Someone pulled it out, straightening the paper, and read it. The letter was addressed to Whitehorn, and that’s how they first knew it was him.

Around the same time, a man was squirrel hunting by Three Mile Creek, near Fairfax, with his teen-age son and a friend. While the two men were getting a drink of water from a creek, the boy spotted a squirrel and pulled the trigger. There was a burst of heat and light, and the boy watched as the squirrel was hit and began to tumble lifelessly over the edge of a ravine. He chased after it, making his way down a steep wooded slope and into a gulch where the air was thicker and where he could hear the murmuring of the creek. He found the squirrel and picked it up. Then he screamed, “Oh, Papa!” By the time his father reached him, the boy had crawled onto a rock. He gestured toward the mossy edge of the creek and said, “A dead person.”

There was the bloated and decomposing body of what appeared to be an American Indian woman: she was on her back, with her hair twisted in the mud and her vacant eyes facing the sky. Worms were eating at the corpse.

The men and the boy hurried out of the ravine and raced on their horse-drawn wagon through the prairie, dust swirling around them. When they reached Fairfax’s main street, they couldn’t find any lawmen, so they stopped at the Big Hill Trading Company, a large general store that had an undertaking business as well. They told the proprietor, Scott Mathis, what had happened, and he alerted his undertaker, who went with several men to the creek. There they rolled the body onto a wagon seat and, with a rope, dragged it to the top of the ravine, then laid it inside a wooden box, in the shade of a blackjack tree. When the undertaker covered the bloated corpse with salt and ice, it began to shrink as if the last bit of life were leaking out. The undertaker tried to determine if the woman was Anna Brown, whom he’d known. “The body was decomposed and swollen almost to the point of bursting and very malodorous,” he later recalled, adding, “It was as black as a nigger.” He and the other men couldn’t make an identification. But Mathis, who managed Anna’s financial affairs, contacted Mollie, and she led a grim procession toward the creek that included Ernest, Bryan, Mollie’s sister Rita, and Rita’s husband, Bill Smith. Many who knew Anna followed them, along with the morbidly curious. Kelsie Morrison, one of the county’s most notorious bootleggers and dope peddlers, came with his Osage wife.

Mollie and Rita arrived and stepped close to the body. The stench was overwhelming. Vultures circled obscenely in the sky. It was hard for Mollie and Rita to discern if the face was Anna’s—there was virtually nothing left of it—but they recognized her Indian blanket and the clothes that Mollie had washed for her. Then Rita’s husband, Bill, took a stick and pried open her mouth, and they could see Anna’s gold fillings. “That is sure enough Anna,” Bill said.

Rita began to weep, and her husband led her away. Eventually, Mollie mouthed the word “yes”—it was Anna. Mollie was the one in the family who always maintained her composure, and she now retreated from the creek with Ernest, leaving behind the first hint of the darkness that threatened to destroy not only her family but her tribe.

#oklahoma #native american #osage #gray horse #history

[ellingtonboots]

NSAC Members Gather in Louisville, Kentucky

NSAC Members at Fox Hollow Farm, Kentucky. Winter Meeting 2017. Photo credit: Reana Kovalcik.

Last week over 100 advocates representing the 116 member organizations of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) met in Louisville, Kentucky for our annual winter meeting. NSAC member groups gather twice a year to work on policy campaigns, develop grassroots strategies, and connect with one another. Our winter meetings are especially busy because it is during these gatherings that the NSAC Policy Council votes on our policy priorities and strategies for the coming year.

NSAC Member Photo, Winter Meeting 2017.

This winter’s meeting was hosted at Louisville’s 21C Museum Hotel by Community Farm Alliance, based in Berea, KY, and the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, whose annual conference was held directly after NSAC’s meeting. We also received generous (delicious) support from our sponsor, Annie’s Homegrown.

As is the case twice each year, NSAC member groups from all over the country came together, including several new members who joined the Coalition last year: FoodCorps, Missouri Coalition for Environment, Montana Organic Association, and the Sustainable Food Center.

Kentucky Farm Tours

At each of our biannual meetings NSAC makes it a priority to visit at least one local farm, and to serve as much locally produced food as possible. This year we were especially lucky to have two local food and farm operations available to our members: La Minga Cooperative in Prospect and Foxhollow Farm in Crestwood.

La Minga was started by Nestor Escobar, an El Salvadoran who wanted to bring the farming traditions of his homeland with him when he immigrated to the United States. Farmers at La Minga work cooperatively, each of the 12 farmers is responsible for a few of the crops, and everyone helps out when it comes time for harvest. Nestor believes strongly in the power of cooperative work; in some South American countries a traditional organization based on cooperative work is also called a “minga”. In 2012, Perennial Plate produced a short video on Nestor and La Minga, which you can watch on their website. NSAC was honored not only to visit La Minga, but also to have Nestor join members of our Diversity Committee for a plenary panel session on racial equity.

Chickens in pasture at La Minga Cooperative. Photo credit: Sarah Hackney.

NSAC Diversity Committee Plenary Panel, featuring Nestor Escobar. Photo credit: Sarah Hackney.

Foxhollow Farm offered NSAC members the unique opportunity to visit a fully biodynamic, organic, and grassfed beef operation. Our tour was facilitated by Janey Newton, who describes herself as a third generation steward of Foxhollow, and Derek Lawson, a young herdsman and Master Cattleman. According to Janey:

“In 2005, my brother, sister, and I moved into the position of stewardship for Foxhollow. It was our turn to converge our unique passions and intentions with this 1300 acre piece of the earth. All three of us were lovingly influenced by our grandmother, Jane Norton… a life long student of the work of Rudolf Steiner…[who formed] the foundation of biodynamic agriculture. Our united decision to understand and use biodynamic methods on our land was a natural next step.”

Janey Norton, Fox Hollow Farm. Photo Credit: Reana Kovalcik.

Derek Lawson, Master Cattleman, Fox Hollow Farm. Photo credit: Reana Kovalcik.

Foxhollow recently took another big step forward: earlier this month they signed a contract with five Norton Hospital cafeterias, where they will now serve Foxhollow’s grassfed beef. This kind of partnership will allow Foxhollow to serve not only the local, niche markets, but to also get their products to a wide variety of consumers looking for healthier, more local beef options. According to Louisville’s Courier-Journal, Norton also plans to purchase up to 1,000 pounds/week of vegetables from Louisville-area farmers throughout 2017.

After the farm tours NSAC members were treated to a locally sourced dinner prepared by Farm to Fork (featuring Foxhollow’s grassfed beef).

2017 Policy Priorities

CHAMPION ON-FARM CONSERVATION EFFORTS

Working lands conservation programs reward American farmers for their stewardship of our water, soil, and air. As we gear up for the 2018 Farm Bill, NSAC aims to ensure these programs are protected and enhanced in the Conservation Title. We will also work with USDA to improve implementation of conservation programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and to publicize enrollment opportunities for farmers and ranchers. We continue to advocate for common-sense improvements as the “reinvention” of CSP is rolled out.

NSAC Winter Meeting 2017. Photo credit: Reana Kovalcik.

PROTECT THE FAMILY FARMER

NSAC believes that a crop insurance program backed by the federal government is an important and necessary component of an effective farm safety net. However, the annual cost to the taxpayer is excessive and current policy does not align well with the societal goals of fostering family farm agriculture and protecting the environment. Unlike most other farm bill programs, there are no limits on crop insurance subsidies and only minimal conservation pre-conditions. The current program also excludes many types of farms and presents barriers to farmers seeking to implement sustainable practices. This makes the program ripe for reform, and we predict that action on federal crop insurance will be among the most contentious issues as the next farm bill debate ramps up.

NSAC Winter Meeting 2017. Photo credit: Sarah Hackney.

GROW OPPORTUNITIES FOR BEGINNING AND SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMERS

NSAC is committed to improving and expanding the existing supports for beginning, socially disadvantaged, and veteran farmers. In 2017, we look forward to advancing beginning farmer and rancher legislation; working with the new administration to ensure that it continues to prioritize beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers through programs like farm operating loans and the 2501 program; and continuing our efforts to evaluate the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) and Conservation Reserve Program – Transition Incentives Program (CRP-TIP).

BUILD A ROBUST LOCAL FOOD ECONOMY

Local food means local jobs, and NSAC is committed to strengthening rural economies at the local and regional level. We will continue our work to advance federal policies and programs that support marketing infrastructure, rural economic development, and improved consumer access to local healthy food. In 2017, we will advance legislation to invest in local and regional food system development, work to improve existing programs such as the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program and the Value-Added Producer Grants program, and get the word out far and wide about opportunities for farmers and organizations to partner with USDA.

NSAC Winter Meeting 2017. Photo credit: Sarah Hackney.

AMERICAN SEEDS FOR AMERICAN FARMERS

NSAC aims to increase support for our nation’s waning public plant and animal breeding infrastructure, including through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) and the Agriculture Research Service (ARS). Public plant breeding offers an important alternative to the alarming trend of increasingly privatized plant breeding, which has resulted in patented seed that farmers cannot save, rising seed prices, and decreasing diversity in commercially available plant cultivars. Public plant and animal breeding fills gaps that private breeding will not, such as research into locally and regionally adapted seed, organic varieties, and other crops with a smaller market share.

Other policy priorities will include soil health and resilience, fair competition in the livestock marketplace, and Food Safety Modernization Act implementation, among others.

NSAC members also set priorities for the upcoming fiscal year 2018 appropriations process:

Prevent Cuts to Farm Bill Conservation Programs: In past years, the Administration and congressional appropriators have attempted to use farm bill conservation funding as a piggy bank to pay for unrelated discretionary spending. Our goal in 2017 is once again to defend against raids to important programs like EQIP and CSP.

We will also fight to obtain additional support and funding for the following programs:

Outreach and Assistance to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (2501 Program)

Food Safety Outreach Program

Value-Added Producer Grants

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education

NSAC Winter Meeting 2017. Photo credit: Reana Kovalcik.

Other appropriations priorities will include Conservation Technical Assistance, farm loans, and defending against policy riders, among others.

For more information on NSAC’s priorities, see our Campaigns Page. We’re ready to get to work – if you are too, see our Take Action page!

from National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition http://ift.tt/2ks6mKp

from Grow your own http://ift.tt/2jXOvKQ from Get Your Oganic Groove On http://ift.tt/2jXPomw

#Get Your Oganic Groove On

[instantdeerlover]

Find New Restaurants Opening Soon Around the Country! added to Google Docs

Find New Restaurants Opening Soon Around the Country!

(RestaurantNews.com)  Flhip.com has released its latest restaurant openings report, providing restaurant vendors with a sampling of fresh sales and marketing leads that can be found on their website.

Flhip provides regularly updated lead lists, allowing vendors to check for updates at any time.  To see leads in your sales area click here.

Find New Restaurants Opening Soon Around the Country!

Click on the map above to see how Flhip can get you in the door first of new restaurants!

Chandler, AZ – Pesto Italian Eatery

Pesto Italian Eatery, a build-your-own pasta concept, will open its first fast-casual restaurant in Chandler this fall. The authentic Italian eatery will give guests the opportunity to enjoy fresh, homemade pasta and sauces in a casual environment at an affordable price point, according to a release.

The Woodlands, TX – Whiskey Bar

Anticipation over the new Whiskey Bar at Dosey Doe Breakfast & BBQ restaurant has been bubbling for months. The new feature at The Woodlands restaurant was scheduled to open in June, but was put on ice for the summer due to the pandemic. Now, the Whiskey Bar will make its debut on Sept. 1 with a grand opening at noon.

Carmel, IN – Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria

Carmel is getting a Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria location this fall. The deep dish pizza icon is set to open a restaurant in October at 11435 Spring Mill Road, Suite 170. The pizzeria will be a carryout and delivery only location which includes curbside pick-up and catering services.

Spring, TX – Chicken Salad Chick

Chicken Salad Chick, the nation’s only southern inspired, fast casual chicken salad restaurant concept, announced today it will be expanding in Texas with its newest restaurant in Birnham Woods Spring. Following the brand’s recent openings in Katy Cinco Ranch, Tomball and Kingwood, the Birnham Woods Spring location marks the fourth Chicken Salad Chick to open in Houston this year, and 17th restaurant in the state of Texas overall.

Wilmington, DE – Le Cavalier

The highly anticipated new restaurant inside the historic Hotel du Pont in Wilmington is set to open its doors for dinner service starting September 1, 2020.

Sidney, NY �� Cattleman’s Steakhouse and Lounge

Morris resident Shawn Zrowka, formerly of Pennsylvania, is swapping the rodeo ring for restaurants. Zrowka, 40, plans to open Cattleman’s Steakhouse and Lounge at 64-66 Main St., Sidney, later this month.

For more information or to view the leads in your area, please visit Flhip.com

Contact:

Ken Roberts

772-231-5826

[email protected]

The post Find New Restaurants Opening Soon Around the Country! first appeared on RestaurantNews.com.

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[csrgood]

Cargill Works to Positively Impact Communities Where Employees Live and Work

Across Cargill’s locations in 70 countries, the company and its employees are committed to positively impacting the communities where they live and work. This year, with a pandemic and natural disasters globally, Cargill intensified its focus on boosting economies, improving livelihoods and making a difference to individuals, families, farmers and small businesses around the world. 

In the fiscal year 2020, Cargill provided $115 million in total charitable contributions, hosted trainings for 860,000 farmers in sustainable agricultural and business practices to improve their earnings potential and provided more than 39 million meals to global and local food bank partners.

“As the world faces extraordinary challenges – from climate change to food insecurity – delivering on Cargill’s purpose to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way is more critical than ever before,” said Michelle Grogg, vice president of corporate responsibility at Cargill. “We collaborate with strategic partners across the globe to bring this purpose to life by empowering farmers, protecting the planet and nourishing people and communities.”

Empowering farming communities and energizing the next generation of food and ag leaders

The National FFA Organization and Cargill continued their 60-year commitment to inspire and educate future leaders of the food and agriculture industry. Over the last year, the partnership reached 29,500 students and 500 teachers.

In 2019, Cargill and CARE announced a new phase of collaboration aligned to CARE’s She Feeds the World initiative. This phase aims to improve education, nutrition, water access, sanitation and economic support for 2 million people across Central America, Africa and Asia. The program strengthens women’s skills and confidence in sustainable agriculture, financial inclusion, market engagement, gender equality and food and nutrition – while also engaging men to support greater equality. In the first six months of the three-year program, 502 small producers and microentrepreneurs across Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua saw a gross income improvement of $540,212.

Cargill and Heifer International expanded Hatching Hope into Mexico, helping women farmers improve their livelihoods via poultry farming. The program connects Mexican women smallholder farmers with private sector buyers, creating market access and income opportunities. Hatching Hope has reached 206 Mexican smallholder female farmers and their families. This builds off the original Hatching Hope program in India, which has improved earnings for 24,000 smallholder female farmers since June 2019.

In Vietnam, Cargill has built a total of 96 schools across the country, 9 of those during the company’s past fiscal year. These schools positively impact and bring education opportunities to 14,000 students annually.

Nourishing communities

In partnership with the Global FoodBanking Network, Cargill provided 14,640,750 meals across 16 countries.  

Feeding America and Cargill supported the creation of a new USDA clean room at the Houston Food Bank that, once in place, will deliver 3 million more pounds of protein annually to families in need. Cargill’s other contributions to Feeding America helped provide more than 1 million meals across the U.S.

In Canada, Cargill worked with Food Banks Canada to provide 554,772 meals.

In Central America, Cargill worked with World Central Kitchen to train school cooks in 40 schools across Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Costa Rica on how to improve the safety, sanitization, and nutritional value of the food they prepare for more than 15,000 students. This initiative also significantly reduced food waste.

The Cargill Foundation, contributed more than $10 million to over 50 local nonprofits and schools in its headquarters state, Minnesota, to provide support for low-income children of color. Targeted investments in childhood nutrition, STEM education and college and career readiness brought to life the company’s goal to advance racial equity.

Cargill and Save the Children partnered in Thailand to promote positive nutritional practices and physical activity among children, adolescents and communities through school-based programs. The program is running across 50 schools and impacted 3,5000 children. Cargill and Save the Children also launched programs in Indonesia, Cote d’Ivoire and the Philippines.

“Thanks to Cargill’s support of The Global FoodBanking Network, food banks in 44 countries served 1.4 billion meals to families facing hunger. Unfortunately, the number of those suffering from food insecurity are steadily on the rise,” said Lisa Moon, President & CEO, The Global FoodBanking Network. “Due to the devastating impacts of COVID-19, demand for food relief has skyrocketed in the countries we serve. Our partnership with Cargill is now more important than ever, since early March this collaboration has enabled food banks in our network to reach to more than 21 million people facing hunger.”  

Supporting those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

In addition to continuing its long term strategic corporate responsibility work, Cargill has worked with nonprofit and nongovernmental organization partners worldwide to address food security, health and safety needs, agriculture and industry challenges and employee support due to the spread of COVID-19. 

To address industry challenges and support customers and their employees, Cargill partnered with the National Cattlemen’s Foundation and the Canadian Cattleman’s Foundation, the American Farmland Trust’s Farmer Relief Fund, the National Restaurant Association Foundation Employee Relief Fund and the China Animal Health and Food Safety Alliance.  

Cargill opened the kitchen at its corporate office center in Wayzata, Minn. to cook meals for the nonprofit partnership, Minnesota Central Kitchen. The additional kitchen space provided employment for laid-off food service workers and 5,000 meals each week for Minnesotans.

Along with monetary contributions, Cargill has donated nearly 3 million pounds of products to food shelves and hunger relief efforts, including 239 tons of chicken, sausage, and eggs to local food banks across Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Colombia; 1,000 metric tons of animal feed in Mexico to research centers, universities, farmers and Hatching Hope participants; 56 tons of oils, mayonnaises and sauces in Brazil; 300,000 packages of eggs in the Philippines; 60,000 liters of disinfecting alcohol to the health sector in the Netherlands; 58,000 liters of oil in France; and 500,000 pounds of beef and turkey to Feeding America Food Banks in Virginia, Nebraska and Texas.

Additionally, the company pledged 16 million meals, impacting over 150,000 families across 16 cities in India.

Protecting the land and regenerating our soils

Through its BeefUp Sustainability initiative, Cargill teamed up with Burger King restaurants, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Northern Great Plains ranchers to launch a three-year grasslands restoration program. Through reseeding, the program is converting nearly 8,000 acres of marginal cropland across Montana and South Dakota to ecologically diverse grasslands. The program is projected to save the carbon equivalent of driving nearly 70 million miles in an average passenger vehicle.

As part of Cargill’s collaboration with the Soil Health Institute to assess the economic benefits of soil health practices, over 80 farmers across eight U.S. states were interviewed on their adoption of these practices. The majority of the farmers cited increased yield, reduced fertilizer use, increased crop resiliency, better field access and reduced runoff as key benefits to their farming businesses.

In Mexico, Cargill has been working with Bimbo and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center to help corn farmers adopt sustainable agriculture practices, saving over 1 billion liters of water since 2018. And in Iowa, Cargill partnered with the Iowa Soybean Association and Quantified Ventures to create the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund, a pay-for-performance model that supports farmers, communities and the environment. In the first year, we enrolled 9,400 acres and aim to scale the program up to 100,000 acres next year.

“At Cargill, our commitment to the communities where our employees live and work has been a core value of our company for over 150 years. Through these partnerships and programs, we are able to put our values into practice – to reach higher, do the right thing and put people first,” said Grogg. 

Visit https://www.cargill.com/about/community-engagement to learn more about Cargill’s work with global and local partners to build vibrant communities.  

#    #    #

About Cargill

Cargill’s 155,000 employees across 70 countries work relentlessly to achieve our purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Every day, we connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, and people and animals with the food they need to thrive.

We combine 155 years of experience with new technologies and insights to serve as a trusted partner for food, agriculture, financial and industrial customers in more than 125 countries. Side-by-side, we are building a stronger, sustainable future for agriculture. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.

source: https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/45562-Cargill-Works-to-Positively-Impact-Communities-Where-Employees-Live-and-Work?tracking_source=rss

#CSR #corporate social responsibility #social good #philanthropy #employee engagement #workplace givi

[surelypovichjr]

Surely Waxes Brazilian Part III: Chip and Surely’s Legitimate Beef

This is part three in a four part series documenting my recent adventures in Brazil. Helluva time! Catch up with Part I and Part II before reading this sweet juicy peach! Zei Gezunt! 

Is this Arby’s located in Brazil or is it simply Rockville Pike? The correct answer gets a free curly fry on the tab of Yers Surely.

Part III: Chip and Surely’s Legitimate Beef

It was an unbearably humid morning just like the rest of them—February in Rio. The days had been like this for awhile now…business was good, but still, pushing Isabel’s cart up the steep, winding roads of the Morro da Babilônia favela, I could sense that something was off. I continue pushing the cart, up to where Isabel is standing at the top of a hilly mound; quickly, I brushed aside my ominous feelings, and stop to admire the curvaceous silhouette Isabel is cutting on a makeshift shack with peeling yellow paint. A small tidepool of sweat crept down the beautiful boob job I had gotten her just the other week as the Brazilian morning grew increasingly swampy.

Isabel was worth all the salt in the shaker! Living here her entire twenty-six years made Isabel not only street-wise but also endearing to everyone she greeted; a friend and trustworthy woman to the whole neighborhood, a brand of community cache no amount of money could buy. Chip’s business proposition that night had prompted Izzy to quit her library job and instead work for us…naturally, she still maintained her night shift at the City of Goddess, but at this point, it was just for some extra pocket change.

A weaker man might have wanted Isabel to quit that life but I prided myself on being a more enlightened individual. As my old friend Jeffrey Gildenhorn (RIP) once said, being a sex worker is a job just like any other. Reading up on the subject, I learned that workers like Isabel are far too often marginalized because of the broken way that our governments attempt to scandalize the occupation for political points with pearl-clutching constituents. Truly, if this world had any guts whatsoever, it’d realize that incorporating prostitution into the legal workforce would only increase communication between those in the industry and the people trying to stop slave-trafficking and other forms of heinous activity that ladies like Isabel sometimes run up against in their line of work. As Jeff said, cash for sex ain’t nuthin’ to sneeze at, unless, you know, that’s what gets yer dick off…and for me, it actually does, which is a pretty cool fetish, in my opinion. No judgment and no sneezeguards, is what I always say!

Jeffrey Gildenhorn was a Renaissance man ahead of his time in that the man both owned a diner AND ALSO advocated for the decriminalization and ultimate legalization of the sex worker industry in DC...in the early 1990s! A true visionary! RIP, my good friend.

Isabel was also now a sales associate for our latest business enterprise, Chip and Surely’s Legitimate “Beef”, a 501(c)(3) providing door-to-door food delivery services to the city’s minimally regulated outer boroughs. The whole shebang was paid for by the suckers at the UN in partnership with the International Olympic Committee, who were of the mind that feeding the country’s most at-risk citizens would be good for Rio’s image as the events approached.

Izzy was a great fit at CSLB; her wonderful customer relationships made her a natural pick to grace all of our company’s billboards and television commercials. Of course, I had hired my old photographer Trevor for these gigs. The guy had decided to stick it out in Brazil, and was doing good after a few recommendations with some of our business partners—and because of all the referrals, we didn’t have to pay him! As for Isabel, it cannot be overstated how good she was. Out of the 1,264 slums in and around the Rio de Janeiro, Isabel was Chip Rosenbaum’s top earner and the two of us became inseparable as we worked her old stomping grounds together, hand-in-hand. Still, she had her doubts.

“I don’t know what it is about this job,” said Isabel, having just made $25 selling a bag of grade D meat to a family of four, “but I feel like there’s something else I could be doing with my life. Surely, do you think I should go back to my job at the library? I know it’s less money, but it felt like I was making a difference.”

Isabel’s old job. Total snoozer.

For a moment I mulled this around in my head. The whole point of getting Izzy involved was to get her out of the library and onto the streets. There was more money to be made out here slinging hot beef than it was curled up inside the Biblioteca Nacional, collecting a steady, but below-average paycheck. A few more years of the illicit meat racket and the two of us could retire somewhere special, maybe even make it back to Rockville someday—of course, this would be after the statute of limitations on Ping’s child support runs out. On that day, I could see it all so clear. Me and Isabel, back in my North Bethesda duplex. I’d fit it up real nice with some quartz countertops and a tanning bed. We wouldn’t miss a beat. We’d be happy. Maybe raise a couple of children—maybe they’re even our children and not some random kids we see walking around Bethesda Row on Simchat Torah. Was it really so crazy?  

The Bethesda Bagels where I am no longer welcome. I still frequent the Dupont location.

“I dunno, Izzy,” I said, rolling a bucket of rancid tripe up an unpaved embankment. “I think Chip’s doing right by us. We’re making money. Way more than you were dewey decimalin’…more than I ever did selling ‘ticles to this place and that. Why change things? Besides, we’re in love, aren’t we?”

“Of course we are, Surely. I don’t know what I was thinking. I love you.”

“I love you too,” giving her a peck on the cheek.

“Come on Surely, this meat isn’t going to sell itself,” said Isabel, knocking on the next door. A woman opened up and Isabel started in with the usual spiel.

“Would you care for…some tripe?” I asked, not waiting for the answer before unloading some samples on her sweet lil kiddos.

While I was eating at Arby’s my pal Chip had been buying ‘em up left and right. Chip’s dad Leo had died and left him with the family fortune. Turns out, the old man was the silent partner behind J.Chow’s Chicken, Salad, and Ribs in the White Flint Mall food court, arguably the best restaurant in the entire shopping center, besides the Cheesecake Factory, of course.

The J.Chow’s establishment at White Flint Mall. RIP.

For twenty years, Chip was doing well as the franchise owner of 64% of the Arby’s Restaurants in the lower 48, that is until Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign got underway. This initiative had an almost instant and deleterious effect on the fast food business, especially Arby’s which had at that time not yet launched its market sandwich line of healthier meal choices, such as the Carved Turkey on focaccia, a personal favorite of my son Ping, before he would hit the pool for afternoon swim practice.

To make matters worse, Chip had a supply problem…he had too much beef and nowhere to sell it. His restaurants were now doing a quarter of the big beefy business they had done in the golden years of the Clinton Administration, especially when the fat, philandering fuck machine himself would stroll into the Rockville Pike Arby’s every other week. Yes, Chip was in trouble, locked into a series of futures contracts with the cattlemen, he had an oversupply of product and also could not take advantage of falling meat prices; you didn’t want to get on the bad side of a cattleman, as anyone who has ever seen Lee Marvin’s Prime Cut can attest.

Prime Cut…thought-provoking flick about sellin’ meat.

Archibald’s: A DC Institution 

Adding to his business problems was an embargo on sales of American meat to Asia, which made offloading the product nearly impossible for Chip. But just as things were looking their worst, my friend happened to overhear a conversation at Archibald’s, a primo titty bar not a stone’s throw from the White House. This was a deep conversation between some powerful people, men obviously, who were high ranking officials in the Brazilian government, United Nations, and International Olympics Committee respectfully. Fat knockers in their faces, the men were in discussions as to a public relations problem. With the Rio Olympics rapidly approaching, increasing scrutiny was being paid to the country by the international community. 

Already, Brazil was being ridiculed for the thing. After all, said the UN official, how could the country’s leadership deem it appropriate to host an Olympic Games, to spend billions in public money for volleyball courts and golf courses, while upwards of a half a million children in Rio’s favelas met the World Health Organization’s definition of malnourishment?! At this, one of the Brazilian politicians laughed, “Sure they are poor children today,” he said, “but in two years, when you come for the Olympics...they will be the ones flashing a fake police badge to rob you at a ‘military checkpoint.’ You’ll come back to us, to the bullet caucus, and ask...why were you not tougher on the children...why did you not throw the children in a prison? But today is not that day...on this day, you wish for the children to have what, an order of curly fries...perhaps, a Big Montana?” 

Better lucky than good, thought Chip Rosenbaum, turning around to introduce himself. Almost overnight, my friend’s business woes became a venture of formidable opportune...selling American products to a bunch of Latin American fascists...a tale as old as time. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?

“Surely, aren’t you out of the sportswriting business? Chip asked. “I mean, these people are so corrupt, and no matter what you write, it’s 2016 man...literally no one cares. It’s just another blip on the rolling screen. Fuck man, ever since the Internet and that chucklehead Kornheiser yapping on ESPN...I mean...face it Surely, sportswriting is dead.”

Dad’s least favorite intern.

Chip had me on that. I was done writing. Even if there was no story, there was no one on the other end who would give the corruption story the respect it deserved.

And so, every morning for the past two years, Isabel and I have awoken in the same bed near dawn. I make us coffee as the two of us wait in silence for the large truck and the men. When the truck arrives, a burlap bag is placed over our heads and drives to an airstrip. The bags come off just as a large cargo plane touches down over the flora and fauna of the rain forest. Sometimes Chip is there but most days he’s nowhere to be found as Isabel and I are in charge of monitoring the unloading process. The plane emptied and the inventory accounted for, we’re blindfolded again, back to Rio, where the truckdriver takes us to the various drop zones. We continue to oversee the men, loading up all of the hot carts we own with curly fries and fresh-ish meats to sell throughout their respective territories. After that it’s around 9 am and time for breakfast…a nice spread at the small café down the road from our place…we take up our own cart a short time later.

Indeed, we were doing great things…not only in Brazil, but also back home, where I still could not return because of the whole extradition thing with Ping and Warren Wagglestein, Esq. Instead, we gave a bulk of our money to philanthropic causes back in Rockville and the DC suburbs. We started by making Chip’s brother Barry the head of our foundation, the Native Washingtonian Association. We had a lot of causes during this time, restoring the cafeteria at the Ring House was Chip’s pet project, as his mother was still there and he got a year’s rent free on account of the remodel. For me, it was two vanity projects. The first was the Danny Gatton Guitar School, a big honkin’ grant given to Montgomery College to teach inner city kids from Southern Rockville how to play smooth rockabilly. The second project was more ambitious. The NWA soup kitchen was created to mentor Washington’s next generation of soup masters. We endowed an entire school for the thing, out in Olney dedicated to the culinary arts of broth and balls. My hope…to one day recreate the BJ Pumpernickel’s establishment that Shirely Povich, Sr. had so dearly loved.

Danny fucking Gatton! (Image: © Clayton Call/Getty Images)

Even with NWA going great, I guess there’s a part of me that knew it couldn’t last. Chip and I were always getting into fights over petty stuff. Like when we ran out of imported meat from America and Ever had a burger made out of jaguar? All the Horsey Sauce in the world can’t do it justice. Believe me.

One day, I got fed up with it all.

“Chip, the product is getting worse. You can’t cut beef meat with jaguar and expect to get repeat customers.”

“They’re fuckin’ Brazilians, Surely. Besides, our profit margins have never been higher. What do you care?”

“We’re decimating the population of an endangered species.”

“We’re sourcing locally and reducing our carbon footprint. Isn’t that what you lib yahoos are all about these days?”

A Jaguar lookin’ regal on the Brazilian Fifty Dollar Bill. We fed their meat to people after the demand became too large for our supply chain of week-old beef comin’ from the United States. Members of the Social Christian party loved the idea back in 2016. Swell guys. 

I shrugged. At the end of the day, I was only a minority partner in the business. Chip was holding all the cards. And maybe he was even right about the thing. We were paying Arby’s for all this imported meat that had to travel thousands of miles to get here. That’s jet fuel and a pilot you have to pay for. If you just kill a jaguar, you only have to pay the hunter…and the reserve is only a hop, skip, and jump from downtown Rio. Besides, the kids were learning guitar in Bethesda. And more importantly, the soup was flowing out there in Olney.

Or was it? Even though I couldn’t get back to the States, I still managed to get updates from Chip’s brother from time to time. A few months after we opened the schools, Barry Rosenbaum came down to Brazil to meet with his brother. But first, he showed me a video of two of the kids at the guitar school.

“Classic Gatton,” I recognized, marveling at the young ingenues, soloing away on a pair of Fender Telecasters.

“And that’s not all,” said Barry, taking out a thing of Tupperware and placing it on the table. I recognized it instantly, matzoh ball soup straight outta the NWA kitchen. “Whaddya say, Surely…you got a stove?”

I jumped at the chance. All those months of tinkering, could it really be? Did we really perfect the BJ Pumpernickel’s recipe? Sure, Barry’s goons had paid off the previous owners for the world-famous recipe, but who’s to say if they gave us the real deal. With much anticipation, I lit the gas burner and set it to low, so that the icy block of soup would slowly revert to a beautiful, golden hue. I began to salivate.

Chip came in just then.

“Moment of truth, Surely,” he said. “What’re you waiting for?”

I ladled out the soup for the three of us.

“Gentlemen, I propose a toast,” I said. “To my old friend Chip, without whom, none of this would be possible.”

“Here! Here!” said Barry.

“Here goes nothin,” I said, diving in. Slowly I brought the spoon to my face. The broth was on point, thick but not too thick, and full of rich schmaltz…now for the balls…

“You backstabbing, lying, sack of shit,” I said, dropping the spoon.

“What?”

“Don’t play fucking coy with me, fuckface,” I said. I removed a pistol from my gray sweat shorts and pointed it at Barry Rosenbaum’s head.

“Surely, what the fuck?!”

“Both you and I know…these aren’t the Pumpernickel’s balls. “First the jaguar meat and now this…just what the hell kinda trick you think you’re trying to pull here, Chip?”

The look on Chip’s face faded from disbelief to that of a large grin. “Well, well, well,” he said, clapping his hands, “and here I thought you were nothing but muscle.”

So everything was a lie? In a moment it dawned on me.

“This is the Hofberg’s matzoh soup,” I recognized, almost choking on the words. “Chip, how could you?”

“It’s better…it’s always been better. I mean, BJ Pumpernickel’s…are you fucking kidding me, Surely. Do you know BJ Pumpernickel was not even a real person? Now Abe Hofberg….shit, that was a soupmaster you could set your watch to.”

“You disgust me,” I said, cutting the inferior ball with the side of my spoon. “My father would be rolling over in his grave if he knew the kids at our soup school were learning the Hofberg’s recipe. For goddsakes, he’d rather them learn the Silver Diner matzoh ball than the shit they made over there.”

“The Silver Diner never made matzoh ball soup. It’s a figment of your fucking imagination.”

“They did too. In the spring of ’78…you had gone to some special basketball camp because you were a bigshot athlete…I stayed in Rockville and had a barback gig at the Bethesda Yacht Club. Every morning, I’d kick a new gurly outta bed and head over to Silver Diner for a cup of the stuff. It was the greatest summer of my life.”

This stuff is on par with Hofberg’s, if you ask me.

“The same summer you fucked Sherri Epstein, right Surely? My girlfriend. Hey, no hard feelings pal…I know you weren’t…Sherri told me all about it. Besides, even if you wanted Pumpernickel’s soup, you couldn’t get it…only Barry has the recipe, and it’s all the way back in Olney, where you can’t go because of you owe for your biological son. Face it, Surely, those kids are going to learn the Hofberg’s soup backwards and forwards…and there’s not a fucking thing you can do about it…tell you what though, anytime you want a container of the stuff, I’ll have Barry bring it down for you whenever you want. Sound good?”

Smelling defeat, I lowered the gun from Chip’s brother’s temple. “From here on out, we’re not friends anymore…only partners.”

“Fine by me,” said Chip, ladling himself another round. “Not such a Mighty Mo now, are ya?”

I walk out and back to Isabel’s feeling worse than I had ever felt in my entire sixty-seven years. I had lost.

The next morning Isabel and I wake up for work. Same routine. The truck comes to our place and the two of us greet the two burlap bags that are placed over our heads. The truck starts up and starts to drive. Wrong direction. Gone are the sounds of the rainforest and the secret airstrip, with its black market planes and illicit cargo. Instead, we’re brought inside some kind of abandoned office building—through the blindfold, I make out the scant outlines of an old microfiche reader—we’re inside an old newsroom! Before I can break free and steal ancient office supplies, we’re ushered into a small enclosure with a familiar chemical smell I recognize must be the paper’s dark room. I can tell Isabel is scared but I tell her not to worry as the blindfolds come off.

“Surely…Povich…Jr.”

“Hello Trevor.”

 Stay tuned for Part IV of my amazing Amazonian adventure!

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