My Nats Trip So Far

[Tim Wescott]

I witnessed Mr. Walker's own wife eating mush this very morning.  Mush is one of the foods of my people.  It's made of corn meal.  My family would eat it the first day in its amorphous state, then fried in small pucks the second day as it is served at the Twelfth Street.  I don't know the difference among mush, grits, or polenta. 

I believe that if you call it "polenta" you are either a perfectly normal Italian, or resident of the northern US who wants to be highbrow.

[bob whitney]

 now your talking

[Will Davis]

I witnessed Mr. Walker's own wife eating mush this very morning.  Mush is one of the foods of my people.  It's made of corn meal.  My family would eat it the first day in its amorphous state, then fried in small pucks the second day as it is served at the Twelfth Street.  I don't know the difference among mush, grits, or polenta.  

Mush from Indiana is a lot like North Carolina fried grits, not to be confused  with another North Carolina speciality.  Liver mush , a very  different animal

Ask Sean emery about grilled pimento cheese  and liver mush sandwich

[Tim Wescott]

 now your talking

Did I mention that I call it polenta?

[Frank Imbriaco]

Never would touch the stuff thanks to "Our Gang Comedy". The kids were all orphans run by a wicked witch of an old lady and a nice old gent named "Cap". Of course, Spanky and Stymie were at their best; Dickey, too. Old Cap's "back pension" comes through and he treats the kids to a day at  an amusement park, new clothes and a high class French restaurant. The waiter serves all the main coarse under fancy pewter plates, the kids all lift the covers in unison, and announce "it's mush" ! Old Cap asks the French waiter about it who replies in a thick accent" ALL de children each mush" .
Old Cap promptly pushes the bowl in  the waiter's face.

BTW, they had mush( among many offerings) on the breakfast buffet at the NAVY NATS .

[Paul Walker]

Forget about the mush now Howard.....Concentrate on the Starbucks on the way home!!

[Mike Keville]

Never tried mush, but sure do wish I could find a place that served genuine Army S.O.S.

[john e. holliday]

Mike you're sick.  I remember the 64 NATS at Grand Prairie NAS.  Mid week they said what I had on the tray was SOS.   Traded to Ron Meriwether for his fruit.

[Eric Viglione]

Never tried mush, but sure do wish I could find a place that served genuine Army S.O.S.

When I was a very little kid, my Dad (a WWII Pacific theater Mstr Sgt Vet) made a big to-do out of opening his last can of C rations canned Boston bread and sharing it with me. Kind of a dark, almost sweet, molasses affair, and was pretty darn good as I remember. He said it was as good as it got back then. I have a feeling that can of bread meant something a bit more special to him than I'll ever know, I wish I could ask him now...

EricV

[Mike Keville]

. . . sure do wish I could find a place that served genuine Army S.O.S.

================================================

Anyone?  Anyone?  Buehler?  Buehler? . . .

[Steve Helmick]

Mike, there was a "Diner" on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" that made SOS, and was acclaimed by Vets. If you get back to Fountain Valley, CA, you can find it there, at Paul's Coffee Shop. Otherwise, you can make it yourself...how hard could it be?    Steve  

PS: I have had "Fried Mush", made by one of my canoeing/shooting buddies (RIP). It was OK. I haven't had grits or hominy yet, but I have had biscuits and gravy a couple times. 


Total Time:1 hrPrep:35 minCook:25 min
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Yield:6 to 8 servingsLevel:Easy
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Ingredients
3 pounds ground beef
1/2 pound butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chicken base paste
1 tablespoon seasoned salt, such as Lawry's
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 gallon 2-percent milk
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 loaf white bread, sliced
Home Fries, recipe follows
Fruit, for serving
Home Fries:
3 pounds potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 tablespoon cooking oil
3 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
2 white onions, diced


Directions

Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, being careful not to burn it. Slowly whisk in the flour to make a roux. You are looking for a thick consistency. Add the chicken base, seasoned salt and garlic. Slowly whisk in the milk. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 2 to 3 minutes and then lower the heat to medium, whisking periodically until the mixture gets thick. Whisk in the black pepper and browned beef.

Toast the white bread and put the slices on serving plates. Ladle the SOS over the top of the toast. Serve with home fries and a piece of fruit.
Home Fries:
Put the potatoes in a large skillet with cooking oil and cook for 10 minutes. Add the bell peppers and onions, and continue cooking until golden brown. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

From Food Network Kitchen: This recipe has been updated and may differ from what was originally published or broadcasted.


Professional Recipe: This recipe was provided by a chef, restaurant or culinary professional and makes a large quantity. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe in the proportions indicated and therefore cannot make any representation as to the results.

Recipe courtesy of Phil Martinez, owner Paul's Coffee Shop in Fountain Valley, CA

[Paul Walker]

Home yet?

[Howard Rush]

I'm home now.  Behold below two features of the trip out: the new speed limits that reduced my gas mileage and the Lincoln statue that so frightens Brett.  Abe seems to have the same neck anomaly I do.  A little physical therapy before and after the trip fixed me up. 

[Howard Rush]

Some pictures from the Nats: 
1. Jim Lee wearing his Jim Lee shirt.  I thought that was really cool.
2. Folks drawing for flight orders at the pilots' meeting.  The yellow fields on the screen are Open.  Purple are Advanced.  Note that Advanced was on three circles. 
3 and 4. Mark Scarborough's pretty airplanes.  The gold Avenger was about 3 mm too low on an outside, as one can see from the tip of the tail. 

[Howard Rush]

5. America's Stunt Team
6. Chris Cox launches Paul Walker's Flaming Dog Head Airplane for the third Open finals flight.

[Howard Rush]

7. The Open finals result.  There was more point spread than usual.  Nobody won by an appearance point this time.  
8. The Open winners.
9. The combat winners.  I had signed up for combat, but my preparation time went to switching stunt planes instead.  

[Howard Rush]

I was accompanied on the trip home by my lovely wife.  Speed and travel-after-dark restrictions were thus imposed, so it took longer than the trip out.  Below is one of the two westbound Indiana I-74 rest areas, now converted to native plant refuges by the ecologically minded Indiana government.  It must be nice to live in a rich country like Poland that can afford good freeway rest stops.  I really can't complain about the rest areas in other states on the way home, particularly Iowa and Montana.  We eschewed South Dakota, Land of Billboards, to go through North Dakota, which has unencumbered vistas and well-maintained roads.  We stopped at a Comfort Inn in NoDak and were assigned to the same room as another family.  Fortunately we were not shot, as is the custom for the second party to enter an American hotel room, because it was occupied by unarmed Japanese.  The twit desk clerk's solution to the problem was to evict the first occupants of the room, which she meant to assign to us, and send them to the room she had in mind for them.  Both parties assigned to the double-booked room set her straight.   We freeloaded with friends in Bozeman the next night and got home before dark the next day.   The following day was Marilou's birthday, so we went to an upscale restaurant where she had polenta.  It seemed to be chemically identical to first-day home mush, and wasn't nearly as good as the Twelfth Street's.

[Mark Scarborough]

Some pictures from the Nats: 
1. Jim Lee wearing his Jim Lee shirt.  I thought that was really cool.
2. Folks drawing for flight orders at the pilots' meeting.  The yellow fields on the screen are Open.  Purple are Advanced.  Note that Advanced was on three circles. 
3 and 4. Mark Scarborough's pretty airplanes.  The gold Avenger was about 3 mm too low on an outside, as one can see from the tip of the tail. 

upshot of the whole deal,, both airplanes started pretty,, both not so pretty at the end of the trip,, sigh,, lesson learned,, velcro bad,, low bottoms,, ( well really low bottoms) bad,,
Nats experience good,,
Dave Fitzgerald suggested alternate methods to reshaping my rudder,, I appreciated them,, Later I suggested perhaps his rudder was to tall and offered to improve its shape for him,, he declined,,

[John Leidle]

  On my drive home , I left Friday at 8:20 EDT   my drive up I-74 showed me just how screwed up the Interstate system can be & how it varies from state to state, Indiana & Illinois were constant chuck holes & bumps at section intersections once I hit Iowa it was smooth  ,,,got on I-80 through Iowa , followed a sleepy truck driver for a while & at the border of Nebraska I went north to Sioux Falls & hit I-90 drove into the night & a storm I hit a place to sleep for a few hours & hit it in the am . South Dakota is wide open & 80mph so I set the cruise at 90 & drove ... found a few people that understand that below the posted speed limit doesn't belong in the passing lane,,, I pushed on until almost dark felt sleepy & pull off again near Butte , Mt.  was up at 4:00am & hit Butte for coffee got home at 2:30 PDT   outside temp 98 degrees. The hottest place during the whole trip..   pretty grueling drive 2,424 miles one way.
    John