Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Ferrets ‘n cookies
We bought a new ferret today. Bought him used*, so he wasn’t quite as expensive as Zappa. Zappa is the darker one in the background; the new boy is in the foreground. He’s creamy white with faint dark markings down his back and tail — an inverse skunk.
Any suggestions for names? I like “Ghost,” but I’m in the minority here. Can’t think of what might work well with “Zappa.” “Hendrix,” perhaps? How about a name-that-ferret contest?
Oh, and I made chocolate chip cookies today!
I wanted to use the Tollhouse recipe, but in searching for it, I found this site, which claims to improve on Tollhouse. Suggestions I followed: I used melted butter instead of softened butter, 1 tablespoon of vanilla instead of 1 teaspoon, and 1/2 cup of oats instead of 1 cup of nuts. The melted butter made for an easier cookie dough (no sore arm from stirring), the vanilla improved the flavor slightly, and the oats were a BIG improvement over the generic Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie. I like the flavor of oatmeal cookies, though, and Jake objects to nuts in his cookies, so the success of the oatmeal addition doesn’t surprise me.
Hmm. Maybe I need to run a “fatten up my family” contest — we can get readers to post their favorite fattening recipes. God knows I need to fatten up my family.
Don’t forget — live blogging tonight. Soon. My pork roast has to get up to temperature.
D.
*His previous owner took him back to the store; she was allergic to him. He’s six months old and as sweet as can be. I thought Zappa was good-natured, but this fellow is even better.
PS: Here’s something different. Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy . . . backwards.
This cracks me the hell up. And where is everyone tonight? You have to save me from myself.
Alfredo sauce, my man, alfredo sauce. Put ham in it to disguise the massive caloric load. Sneak up on them.
The pork stuffed with cream cheese recipe I invented (yes, yes I did) packs an assload of calories, especially if you take the very oily pan drippings and use them to make a gravy. There’ll be no sneaking up on them, though. This one shrieks its artery-plating richness from the rangetop.
I made linguine with pesto tonight (first time I’ve made fresh pesto… wow) and still, I’m salivating at the thought of your roast pork. I’m betting it’s damned good.
Oh, and there are several Indian dishes that might fill the bill: korma, for example, is made with ground cashews, butter, and cream. Butter chicken contains a lot of butter. Both of these would be a valuable addition to a family-fattening chef’s arsenal of evil.
Doh.
would be valuable additions rather than would be a valuable addition
I’ll stop commenting now. Gonna go make pie.
Dean, you’re out of control 😉
What kind of pie?
I’m surprised you’ve never made a fresh pesto. And to think, if I had made pesto for you guys, I could have blown you away at 1/10 the labor 🙂
The roast was fine. It seemed to be taking a long time to get up to 170F, so I stopped at 145 and it was, if anything, overdone. Strange. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, brown sugar, and garam masala, and I put bacon on top to keep it moist. I think it came out very well. I made candied yams and sauteed apples for the side dishes.
I was thinking Pepé, but since he’s reverse-skunk colors, maybe Épep?
Another option is Slade. I’ll let you figure out the comic book reference.
Or Preacher, and I’ll let you figure out the movie reference.
Are you sure those ferrets are alive?
those cookies look divine. i’m making cookies tomorrow! yay.
oh, and that video is disgusting. those boobs are not only gross, they’re unhealthy. she must have wicked back problems–i’m getting them with MY boobs, and hers are three times mine, at least. that’s just…bad.
[…] Agastopia I think Doug may “suffer” from agastopia–just look at the photos he posts (or don’t, if you’re under 18 or have traditional values; the ferrets and cookies are okay–but I’m guessing the video probably isn’t). […]
Maureen: The new ferret has an odd habit of sleeping on his back with his paws in the air. He is NOT an ex-ferret, ;). He’s a really good natured critter although he’s making a racket right now. That may be a problem since his cage is in our bedroom.
It is apple pie. We bought some tiny beat-up Liberty apples and they made a delicious pie.
For the ferret, what about Banquo?
If you don’t like that, Morrie? From Jim Morrison. Or you could just call him Jim Morrison.
Moon, from Keith Moon. Hey, that works. He’s sort of moon coloured.
A video you may enjoy. Extraterrestrials as agents of Lucifer. Good stuff.
Jack van Impe
The cookies look great! Did you use an ice cream scoop to get the uniform shape? It’s what I use. I will be looking up that recipe!
Name for the ferret: Moonglow. Too foofey?
Gotta love dem sleeeeeping ferrets. (would love to make the word curl around too, but damn this linear data entry paradigm!)
How about “Procol”?
He’s a whiter shade of pale.
Sorry about the lateness of this suggestion. I’ve been away
You have a healthy, svelte family and you want to make them fat?! What’s that all about?! Shame on you.
Lasagna, lots of cheese. It’s the easy way to love handles and cardiac arrest. Or anything Greek.
Mmm… cookies.
Since he’s white with a dark “cape,” and you started with the name “Ghost,” how about “Space Ghost?”
Karen wants to name him “Harmonica.” That’s what you get when you watch Once Upon a Time in the West 2^8 times.
I like the “Space Ghost” suggestion best 🙂
Lyvvie, they are UNDERWEIGHT, the both of them. That’s why I need to fatten them up. I know, I know, it doesn’t fit everyone’s prejudice about Americans.
Oh! Cookies and ferrets! Very cute.
I like ferrets. Never owned one, but have enjoyed playing with them. They are very affectionate.
Unfortunately, I think my dogs would try to eat the ferrets.
Whereas I would be all about the cookies.
M
Oh, you might be surprised . . . ferrets fear nothing, and that attitude might hold even a vicious dog at bay.
It may be too late, but I have a suggestion. This one came to me this morning when I was visting a friend’s MySpace page. He has a very interesting playlist. How about Zevon?