DECEMBER 19 - DECEMBER 27, 1998
DECEMBER 24, 25, 26, & 27, 1998
Have a Merry, Happy, and Holy Christmas; a very happy and safe Holiday Season,
and look for us on Monday, December 28th when we will begin the daily Publisher's Page
again.
DECEMBER 23, 1998
Aunt Rosie's recipe - Choosing the Christmas Dinner
Following the opening of the Christmas presents (whether you do them at
midnight or first thing in the morning), following church, the next most important event
is the Christmas dinner.
Christmas dinner is a time when the entire family can come together and share the
genuine love they have for one another. Grandmothers, mothers, and daughters have fussed
over the preparation of this single and very important meal for generations. This year
will be no different.
As you prepare your menu, especially the main course, a variety of choices face you.
There is always turkey, but then most of us had that at Thanksgiving. Still, turkey is the
most popular choice for Christmas Dinner by an astounding 2 to 1 margin. The second most
popular choice is Ham, but Prime Rib offers a meal that most will remember for a long
time. That is followed by any of the pork roasts - and elegant one being the stuffed crown
rib roast. Ham, Prime Rib, and the pork roasts require no defrosting and can be
purchased as late as tomorrow and still be prepared easily on Chirstmas Day. A turkey,
however, unless you find a fresh turkey, will require defrosting and should be purchased
today and slowly defrosted in the refrigerator. Early Christmas day it can be finished by
running cold water over it before it is stuffed. All are prepared in your oven and if you
don't have a large roaster, there are aluminum foil throw away available in the store. Any
of the main courses mentioned here can easily be prepared using that in place of a
roaster.
Regardless of the choice of the main course, potatoes are always part of the meal even
if the turkey or the pork is stuffed. Generally, baked potatoes are not part of a holiday
menu. Instead, any of the various varieties are prepared. The most popular is mashed
potatoes, but scalloped potatoes, au gratin potatoes, and boiled potatoes are also fine
choices and will go with any choice for the main course. If you don't like the bother of
whole potatoes, there are many dried mixes that are tasty, economical, and very convenient
to prepare. The directions are easy to follow and require no special skills or kitchen
utensils beyond normal every day cook ware. I have always found them to be very
acceptable.
Next you need to choose vegetables and there are a wide variety for all tastes. Because
of the differences in tastes in my family, I like to prepare several vegetables. I like
green beans and mix a small amount of chopped onions with them as they cook. Melt
butter over them and they are ready to serve. They come canned, frozen, or fresh. Take
your pick.
Another choice is corn. Again there is a choice of canned or frozen and either is fine.
Once more, add butter and serve. Some people like to mix lima beans with their corn -
succotash - and that also is very desirable to the taste.
Harold went shopping for the family on Saturday. Some different choices he brought home
were Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and cauliflower. He likes all three and in all
likelihood, we will have green beans, corn, and the cauliflower on Christmas day.
Another fine choice is a tossed salad. You can really add a number of items to the
salad to spice it up. Once the lettuce is washed and torn, I salt and pepper it lightly.
Then I add tomato pieces and bits of onion. I like cukecumbers in my salad, too. From that
point on it is up to you. How about pepperoni or anchovies! You could add shrimp or crab
meat. I especially like the artificial crab meat. It has no fat and is very tasty. Beyond
those items there are any kind of peppers: cherry peppers, peperocinni, etc., and make
them hot, mild, or otherwise. You can also add beans to a salad. There are also olives and
they add taste and color. Croutons have become very popular and there are any number of
prepared varieties available.
Bread is a must at Christmas both at the main meal and with the appetizers before the
meal. Harold brought home small cocktail pumpernickel that is just perfect for a spread.
Again, depending on the main course, you can choose the bread or the biscuits, rolls,
etc., accordingly.
Finally, there is desert. Pies are great, especially with ice cream. Apple, blueberry,
blackberry, pumpkin, cherry - they all are good. Take your pick.
Now, what I have given you here is an out line of what my family has had over
the years. I am well aware that many of my Italian friends go an entirely different route
with the antipasto, the pastas, the lasagnas, and on and on. Those meals also are very
tasty and very appropriate for the family Christmas dinner.
Really, the most important thing is that you are all together in the love of
one another and the love of God. That is what Christmas is about. I hope each and every
one of you enjoy your holiday season and find the love you have for one another. From all
of us Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.
Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
DECEMBER 22, 1998
Making sausage while the temperature is falling
....must be something like making hay while the sun shines. Good morning. It is
27.9 degrees at 6 A.M. It is snowing and the wind is howling up on top of this hill
(mountain).
It stopped raining about three this morning and it turned to snow. The temperature
dropped from 40 to 31 degrees suddenly ( in a matter of minutes ) and it began snowing. In
the meantime I was putting the finishing touches on the county budget and doing my last
hand mix of the summer sausage we have been working on since last week.
Making good summer sausage is pretty much like preparing a good budget. You have to
know your ingredients and you have to know the mix to get the best results. Like making
sausage, a budget cannot exceed its limits. You have only so much revenue to spend and
only so much space in which to spend it.
I have been using George Walter's recipe for the sausage. It all began when I ground up
a little over 5 pounds of venison last week. I added two pounds of ground pork and then
mixed it up by hand. Later that day I added three tablespoons of garlic salt, three table
spoons of celery salt, three table spoons of pepper, five table spoons of meat
tenderizer, and five table spoons of liquid smoke. I mixed it up again and then
placed it back in the refrigerator.
On Sunday we mixed it again. Once more on Monday we gave it another mixing. Finally,
early this morning we mixed it a final time. With that out of the way I rolled the mix
into four logs that were about 3-4 inches in diameter. Then we placed the four logs on a
broiler pan and put it in the oven at 170 degrees for the next nine hours. Half way
through you need to turn the logs over. When they are done place them in the refrigerator
to cool. Tomorrow you can start slicing off pieces and you are in for a tasty treat. This
is the best sausage I have ever tasted.
I want to thank the phantom for his kind comments.
I will keep up the good work. Also, I should draw your attention to the end of this
section of the MLR. Check out the Pet Sitter's ad! Linda e-mailed us and reminded us that
she is The only pet sitter in the Bradford area. Linda asked us
to note that on her ad.
Another reader wrote:
I have a question about property ownership that I don't quite understand. You wrote
in your MLR about Cummins owning the McKean Theater. My question is why wasn't Mr. Cummins
or any other previous owners for that matter, responsible for the blight of this
"crumbling piece of property?
And another wrote:
I must tell you that I love the MLR. I want to know what's going on and too bad you
are the only politician that will speak up for the people. Meetings behind closed doors
just does not cut it with me. I feel when we vote for the person or persons to run our
town or county, we have the right to know all that they know. If we are not told, if
meetings are held behind closed doors, or if we are given the run around, then there is no
honesty in that elected official or officials. Please Harold, do not give up. Imagine what
or where McKean County would be without you representing us. I may not have had the
pleasure of meeting you, but because I know Sharyn, she is one nice person and because of
her, I know you are cool.
That's me! Mr. Cool!
Other readers questioned why charges from 1993 - 1995 were just being made now.
It sounds to me like you have been doing a job on Alfieri and she needs to get
something to make it look like she is finally working instead of going to knitting school
and staying a four star hotels on our time and money.
Another said:
I agree with you. A snitch is not to be respected. A snitch should be shunned and
reviled. They are scum who have broken the law and are now taking the easy way out to
avoid the consequences of their actions. Mike Fisher is a sissy.
And from another:
Duke and Bacha in business together. Now there are two birds of a feather. Either
one will stab you in the back, pick your pocket and smile at you while doing it.
Oh well. Thanks for the comments. Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
DECEMBER 21, 1998
Witnesses for the state and undercover agents
The county was a buzz with the breaking story of the arrests in the
cocaine-selling case. Even with the nation at war with Iraq and the House of
Representatives preparing to vote for the Impeachment of the President, The Era ran
it on the front page.
Few people of the baby boom generation can honestly say that they have never used or
tried drugs of any kind. After all, alcohol is the most widely used and abused drug in
this nation and the world. Going farther, there still is a large majority of that
generation who, at some time in their lives, have tried or used any one or more of the
illicit and totally illegal drugs. Remember, that includes our President and may also
include many of the old hippies who will soon be sitting in judgement of the people named
in the current case.
Many questions are immediately raised when people are charged in the final month of
1998 for something that may or may not have occurred between December 1993 and June
1995. We are intended to believe that while justice may move slowly, it does have a
long arm and is able to reach out and grab those who would flaunt the laws in our faces.
We are also intended to believe that a automobile salesman and a delivery person for a
beer distributor are slimy drug dealing desperados probably in league with the Colombian
Drug Cartel. While we are intended to believe all of that, indeed, that is hardly the
case.
Just taking the article at face value and then looking beyond the story, there are many
facts that are relevant that may never be told. Attorney General Mike Fisher, in a press
release praised the confidential informants for playing a major role in
the complex investigation. The people that our sissy Attorney General are praising
were illicit drug users and law breakers themselves who made a deal for the information
they provided to escape going to jail themselves. We should praise these people? I hardly
think so.
Ironically, in the same issue of The Bradford Era, back on page three at
the end of the report on the Thursday sentencing, we find the name of one of these
so-called persons worthy of praise. We find it reported Robert Guzan, 38, of
93 B Kinzua Heights, Bradford, was sentenced to 30 days in jail on a third offense DUI.
Robert Guzan testified with his buddy, Sean Bacha, against the people named in the article
to escape being charged himself. Also, this third DUI, which is perhaps really a fourth,
seems to carry an exceptionally light sentence. This man has already done 30 days for a
similar offense back in the early 90's and had 7 day a week work release the entire time,
only sleeping in jail and eating all his meals out. What happened to the mandatory one
year in the State Penitentiary? Will he be granted work release and a similar arrangement
this time, too? After all, this is a man worthy of our praise.
Even beyond that, a close look at the star witness, Sean Bacha, discloses a man who is
far from lilly white himself. Sean, we were told by a grand juror, was the center of the
Grand Jury Investigation on timber theft that Jeff Duke, himself, convened. He had to
stand trial on those charges and many still say that only an inexperienced Assistant
District Attorney cost the case. However, I wonder if it all might not have been
contrived? How was it that Sean became Duke's snitch? What did Duke deal away in order to
have Bacha travel with Larry Mrowka and take part in the so-called Columbian Connection?
What did Duke have on him? How did these enemies become partners?
On many occasions Sean came to me in The Rainbow Inn, no doubt wearing a wire
for his boss, Charley the Tuna. He constantly attempted to engage me in discussions
regarding the February, 1990 fire at the old Rainbow, then called The Ranch. The
effort was obviously an attempt to have me incriminate myself regarding either the
fire, or gambling, or even drugs. When we discovered illegal surveillance paraphernalia in
The Rainbow, we informed the State Police what and who we suspected, as well as
why. Several years later, one of the investigating officers would admit to me that he was
given instructions from the top to go nowhere with the investigation.
About the same time a big guy named Dave started hanging around. Dave wanted to know
where to buy coke and marijuana. Dave, himself, was a big user and we asked him to stay
out of The Rainbow because we did not want that sort of thing going on. Dave
moved on and went to town. There, between 1993 and 1995, Dave enticed many people to break
the law with him. Dave is an undercover State Police Drug Agent.
Then there is Charley Jeff Duke, AKA "the Tuna", who, if he really wanted to
end the cocaine trade in McKean County and Bradford, did not need to go to all that
trouble to turn Sean and others to the Dark Side of the Force. If the Tuna wanted to end
the drug trade, he didn't even have to look very far. All he needed to do was to go to a
local upscale establishment and round up the people he probably already knew were using
the stuff. Duke could easily have accessed the very people who continue to bring
large quantities of cocaine into McKean County from Florida to this very day.
Heck, a raid on any given evening would have netted cocaine in amounts and quantities
far in excess of the figures the arrested desperados are accused of attempting to sell to
Dave and the boys. Had he done that, it would have been embarrassing to everyone,
including the Tuna, himself. So instead we have the scenario of having snitches turn in
their friends and anyone else they ever knew did coke or even talked about it. That is and
always will be the Duke way.
In no way am I condoning anything that any of the accused may have done. Nor,
am I condoning the use of cocaine. I am, however, willing to give the accused the benefit
of the doubt and recognize that they all are innocent until proven guilty, something many
seem to forget. At the same time, deals for immunity stink just like the people giving and
getting them. The DA's and Mike Fisher are only after headlines, and the snitches are
after saving their own skins. It is a dirty dirty business. It becomes especially dirty
when those sworn to uphold the law purposely invite others to break the law and then
arrest them when they do. I'm sorry, but something is lost to me in that translation.
Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
DECEMBER 19 - 20, 1998
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