A good number of pies have come out of my oven during the past six months to be taken to parties and such. Even to a cigar lounge. Fortunately, there have been no claims of food poisoning – so far.
But I ended up buying a few more Pyrex pie plates (They work great provided you place them on a preheated cookie sheet – helps brown the bottom.). But what to do with them when pies are on hold? They just lay in my pots and pan drawers.
Well, my very good friend from the 1980’s, Tom G., had a “fishy” time last weekend. Tom is an avid fisherman and got shot at in Viet Nam. He was drafted and did his duty as an American (unlike Clinton). His dad saw combat as a gunner in a B-24 Liberator during WWII. His family has indeed served the US of A.
Anyway, Tom went out on a fishing boat and everyone on board hooked tuna like crazy… except for Tom. Just kidding! He snagged his limit of five so we were recipients of fresh tuna!
What does fresh tuna have to do with pie plates?
Lots.
As my kids “whine” about eating, i.e., “Pasta again, Papa?”, I decided to try something different – and easy… and hopefully, the kids would eat it. That’s where the pie plates come in.
I decided to try the “Garlic and Ginger BBQ Tuna”. Couldn’t go wrong, I thought, as I know the kids’ll eat (almost) anything if it has soy sauce and garlic in it.
The marinade was simple:
2 tbsp soy sauce (I have a ton of that)
2 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar (I have a ton of that, too)
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
Freshly rated ginger (Use the side of a spoon to scrape off the outside.)
Minced garlic
Chopped green onion
Pepper (I used the Japanese kind)
Ready to get grilled!
All went into a Pyrex pie plate (which I have a ton of) and the tuna was marinated for about 30 minutes in the fridge (turned after 15 minutes). Onto a dilapidated Weber BBQ grill over medium heat they went, four minutes each side (I had to slightly over-grill them as my son Jack wouldn’t eat it if he saw just a touch of red). Three minutes may be sufficient, too.
They turned out good!
So if you have an unused Pyrex pie plate and a great friend like Tom, try it!
There is something enchanting about the Corps. The United States Marine Corps.
It’s the only branch of service where the first letter is capitalized.
Marine.
Yes, we owe our current freedoms to ALL of our branches of service, especially during WWII (It seems, however, that our current leadership do not value that.). Don’t get me wrong. Many of you had fathers or grandfathers fight in the Army, Navy, USAAF during WWII. Two of my uncles served in the US 8th Army as part of the then secret Military Intelligence Service. I just place the US Marine Corps at the top of my own personal list… I am but a citizen and like Obama and Clinton, I have never served although I got close in 1973…but I sure the hell didn’t flee the draft like a former President we know.¹
Yet, why does our media castrate or belittle the Marines so much? I just do not understand.
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Definitely not Iwo Jima, Saipan or Guadalcanal but perhaps Okinawa. These Japanese children are wearing Marine helmets given to them for protection; you can see the Marines in combat behind them.US Marines on Saipan helping a very old Japanese man to safety.US Marines rendering aid to a Japanese child.US Marines rendering aid to a Japanese child.
Old Man Jack endured combat in the SW Pacific during WWII as a sailor. Put it this way: for whatever reason, he volunteered for duty in 1942, soon after Pearl. One very piercing and ugly flashback he would endure while describing what truly went on in war was, “If you got killed with shit in your pants, you got buried with shit in your pants.”
I think of all the boys and young men who were killed on those “stinkin’ islands” as Old Man Jack called them. One step to the left or just taking that step one second earlier or later meant instant death. And on Iwo Jima, there was no “front line”. The enemy hid in caves or were secreted away by camouflage or were in well hidden concrete fortifications that they had years to build. They would pop out of a tunnel that the Marines just “cleared”. Death came from all directions for very young Marines. Same at Pelileu. At Guadalcanal. At Saipan. Many other small islands.
Yet, they fought – and died for their buddies – to be buried with soiled dungarees in that black talcum-powder like sand like Old Man Jack horribly recollected. Or in an unmarked grave deep in a jungle on Guadalcanal, forever lost.
But why does the media today showcase to no end an instance when front line Marines urinate on dead Taliban? Because it isn’t PC? Or because its a paycheck? And the injustice – yes, injustice – served upon the Marines by the media during Viet Nam? I, for one, thank each and every one of the military who were in Viet Nam.
But most importantly, why DOESN’T the media showcase all of the other gazillion humanitarian acts performed by the Marines?
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At least the Japanese media appreciated the US Marines during the tsunami’s aftermath.
Well, since in my opinion CNN and other outlets have their own agenda, I will write about just one of the HUGE US Marine humanitarian efforts here. In my tiny corner of this blogging universe.
Because the Obama tainted media won’t and I think that sucks.
When the devastating tsunami hit Japan in 2011, who were the first ones to render aid to the pockets of isolated Japanese civilians?
It was the United States Marine Corps. In the typical and expected norm for Marines, they were the first ones there… even before Japan’s own relief efforts reached them.
Did you know that? They got to many of the isolated survivors before their own government did.
(Note: some of the footage immediately above will be of the USN)
And one thing you will also notice about these desperate Japanese people in the footage.
There was no rioting. No looting. No screams about, “You need to bring us more. We are entitled to it,” when the desperately needed supplies were unexpectedly choppered in.
The exact opposite. The shocked, hungry and cold Japanese formed chains to help unload the desperately needed water, food, clothing, medicine and kerosene… then distributed them amongst themselves in an orderly fashion.
It was all for one… and the Japanese appreciated the Marines.
Dozens of those rescued by the US Marines wave their thanks energetically to the departing Marines. http://www.31stmeu.marines.mil
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But how much footage of the Marines’ relief efforts did you see on TV back then? Very little, I think. I wager that you likely didn’t even HEAR of the US Marine relief efforts.
Excuse me. Anderson Cooper was there on a Japanese street corner in the evening, broadcasting for CNN. But he didn’t report about our military helping tremendously in their relief efforts.
He was stirring up the media pot. He was accusing alluding to the Japanese government hiding the truth about the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown.
Right there on a Japanese street corner.
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Old Man Jack fondly recollected “tussling” with the Marines back then because “they thought they were better than us white caps”. But he followed that up real quick by saying there was no one better than the Marines to protect his sorry ass with theirs when it came time.
Well, if we are stranded somewhere like the tsunami victims, I’m sure the Marines will be coming.
They’ll even help Anderson Cooper…reluctantly.
Footnote:
1 You can decide for yourself about Clinton and the draft. You cannot argue you didn’t agree with the war. It was a duty, plain and simple. Senator Fulbright pressured the officer in charge of the ROTC program at the University of Arkansas to accept Clinton. By doing so, Clinton’s induction would be delayed. Instead, he fled to England to further his studies at Oxford. Google “Clinton letter to Col. Holmes”.
Good blogger geeez2014 wondered in a comment kiddingly if I had stopped blogging.
Well, no, I haven’t.
But my mind is just discombobulated. It is muddled with all the ugly stuff that’s been going on in the world. It is falling apart. Our leaders have failed the world with the result being the everyday people they are supposedly protecting are the ones being killed. NOT themselves.
I don’t care if its a religious leader of any belief or a leader of a country. THEY are the ones ordering the killings when they make decisions…or shy away from making them.
But most of all, I feel our country is but a wooden ship on the high seas besieged by a mutiny while fires are burning below deck. Grave fires.
But rather than trying to express myself with words, I shall defer to cartoons. They reflect my muddled psyche. They may not parallel yours but these reflect my confused thoughts:
Lastly, a photograph of a BOY at the D-Day Commemoration holding our flag. He stood saluting the incoming waves at Omaha Beach for 90 minutes.
This will NOT make your day, my fellow Americans. We have enough problems with fatherless kids now. Think. Not all of these illegals will become taxpaying model inhabitants. They broke the law just coming here. OMG
She has dance every day except Friday and Sunday. Today’s starts at 4:30 and ends at 8:30 pm.
So from 1:00 today, I tell her to have everything together. To remember to take what she needs. I remind her at around 3:00 and she gets mad at me. “I know, Papa! Geez!”
I drop her off then go see an old buddy of mine for a congratulatory smoke since I became a grandpa.
Farmers Market Green Peas, photograph by madlyinlovewithlife
Fresh Green Pea Season
It’s Pea Season! And we’ve been hauling huge bags of them home from the farmers market every week. My favourite way to enjoy summer peas is to simply fill a large bowl with fresh, cold, crunchy pea pods, shell one, pop the succulent little morsels straight into my mouth, savour them thoroughly, and gluttonously carry on until the whole bowl is empty. Mmmmm… they are such a delicious summer treat.
ry good friend from the 1980’s, Tom G., had a “fishy” time last weekend. Tom is an avid fisherman and got shot at in Viet Nam. He was drafted and did his duty as an American (unlike Clinton). His dad saw combat as a gunner in a B-24 Liberator during WWII. His family has indeed served the US of A.
So if you have an unused Pyrex pie plate and a great friend like Tom, try it!
Thanks, Tom!
Masako and Spam Musubi 