August 19 2006

Well gang, after today there’s only two more pre-season football games. And then it’s football season for real.
Soon (a couple of weeks or so) and the weather will start to cool down.
Folks are already getting in the mood, trying out new tail-gating recipes, new batches of home brew, and throwing impromptu shooting competitions to get ready for the beer drinking and gun shooting season.
Just the other day a group of our club members held a get together to knock the dust off everybody’s competitive spirit with a kind of sharing of new ideas and a little friendly shooting match.
No medals or prizes, but competitive non the less.
The home brews this year are something to behold. The shooting is, to be expected, a little rusty, but when it came to the food tasting the folks received a shock.
It seems that a new comer to Texas and the club wanted to make a big impression, and when it came time to taste his offering, he opened up the lid to his smoker with a dramatic flair, and exclaimed theatrically: "Escargot en brochette!"
Now "escargot en brochette" is fancy French talk for snails on a stick.
The thirty-five or forty folks were stunned for a moment.
Then, as if someone had given a signal, they all removed their hats and started beating the guy smartly about the head and shoulders with their head-gear.
Now, some of that head-gear had campaign buttons on it, and at least one had a rodeo belt buckle on it. He was getting dinged a little.
The crowd followed him to his car swinging all the way, and he some how got hold of his keys, finally started his car, and took off.
He got his cookin’ gear back the next day, and he’s still a member of the club, but the stranger had to learn his lesson.
You don’t go to sophisticated folks like us, that are accustomed to cuisine utilizing raccoon, rattle snake, alligator, mud bugs, armadillo and ‘possum, and suggest the we eat snails on a stick.
Any way, speaking of cuisine, good Irish cuisine, drop into the West Alabama Icehouse this afternoon.
For five dollars you get an arm-band that allows you to graze the food that will be on competition, "Murder the Stout " will be one of the bands playing, there will be a raffle or two, and a real crowd pleaser: a dunking booth…With girls, I bettcha.
All of this is to raise money to pay the city of Houston a bribe so that they will let the people of this town have a St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Will the persecution never end?

Till next week
Helga Biermeister
Secretary