Thursday, March 24, 2011

Magpie #58 Knight's Bridge: Where Dwells The Fallen Boggy Fallow Now?


There where the swords cross
Two by Two by verdant moss
Where hearts wounded be
lay the Knights for all to see

Battles fought lost; won
Legends of great daring son
Blood spilt like milk on the ground
the spirit left on Arthur's mound

heathens and pagans songs were sung
As The Gallant Knight's drawn sword hung
Upon horseback the Excalibur did shine
glint of hardened steel pierced the horizon line

here lies the found
stand down soldier on this ground
there where the enemy once breathed
greet these the future seized

Openly sit by the lit fire
on marble'd mantelpiece's did retire
These Past remnants are post hence
These glorious honours once fenced

how to capture a tangent moment
the dragons and their serpentine lair foment
the maidens cry as villains did torment
the witch Morgan La Faye would cast and brew
the three sisters boiled eye of newt or two
the warlock's magic remedy often hemlock
held secrets in Merlin's ancient clock
the enemy behind every tree did see
shield magnifying every magnificent victory

in our momentary hour and dreams of bliss
the arrow's target they certainly never to miss
before they'd die in the bitter morrow
heather would crown the fallen of the boggy fallow

jj


Please, we beseech you, troll over to the portal of all things Arthurian Legend or whatever you see within the knights accoutrement of Love's fine armour. Enter here;
http://www.magpietales.blogspot.com/

A sincere thank-you to Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales for the use of the above photograph.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Magpie #57 Shamrock Haiku for St. Patrick's Day!




Shamrocks in misty rains
drenched in March green lanes
lacy window panes

St Patrick's Day lore
heard a lilting music score
leprechaun's Roar

Down by The Green Spud
Dancin' The Jig at the Pub
Where we eat grub

Lost Pat Egan
Finnegan, Hannigan, Flanigan
Found Egan Again

Shamrocks are lucky
As players always stay plucky
spring muds are yucky

Last Call for Green Beer
Do you have the drink n' wear?
Save it for next year!

jj

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Magpie #56 FIELD of Dreams Have Garlic In Them!




Harvesting garlic, from Tacuinum sanitatis, 15th century (Bibliothèque nationale).


Through the vast fields Allium sativum or garlic grew
to burst forth each and every year this pungent brew
Alliaceae's king onion field; a foodies tantalizing desire
A liveliness of plant so strong the taste never does tire

All who fell under garlic's magic herbal spell
recounted the many happy times the plant did tell
of the edible tales written in garlic stone and in verse
did give clues that garlic could claim those once cursed

who knew it was time to come over to The Epicurean Beast
to sup on whole cloves once such a humble yet hearty feast?
of which garlic played the leading role, it always was said
front and centre and with cooked goose and chocolate rollade

This ground thought so hallowed
once unearthed by trowel and shovel
would thus smitten couldn't help but fall in love
head over heels the garlic Chef's crowning clove?

For all those who staked a claim in the roasting of garlic did wed
they were the first called the "Marriage of Aromatic Garlic Heads"
and the farmer with a smile as wide as the acres of garlic crop
a befitting status; The Finest Epicurean; Everything Garlic on Top"

Meanwhile; the little bulbs did dance wildly in splendor
All the while; in long grassy fields and abutting narrows
past the distant hills, the winding roads and arbours dale
like the silly grin of a lover or a wagging dog's happy tail

Garlic was seen to the farmers akin to finest Aztec gold
All could take Allicin promoter of health so it was told
as a stable crop garlic is the most reliable of crops
from our many fields of glory to our finest tabletops

jj

Some interesting things I have found out about Garlic today!
(from Wikipedia "Garlic")
In the account of Korea's establishment as a nation, gods were said to have given mortal women with bear and tiger temperaments an immortal's black garlic before mating with them.[citation needed][vague] This is a genetically unique six-clove garlic that was to have given the women supernatural powers and immortality. This garlic is still cultivated in a few mountain areas today.

WHAT THE??????SUPERNATURAL POWERS AND MORTALITY? HEY I AM SO GOING TO GET SOME OF THIS BLACK GARLIC..a trip to Korea anyone?

In his Natural History, Pliny gives an exceedingly long list of scenarios in which it was considered beneficial (N.H. xx. 23). Dr. T. Sydenham valued it as an application in confluent smallpox, and, says Cullen (Mat. Med. ii. p. 174, 1789), found some dropsies cured by it alone. Early in the 20th century, it was sometimes used in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis or phthisis.

GARLIC'S CLAIMS AND AS LENGENDARY AS THEY ARE PROLIFIC...NO SAYING WHAT GARLIC CAN DO AND DOES DO!

A similar practice of hanging garlic, lemon and red chilli at the door or in a shop to ward off potential evil, is still very common in India.[21] According to Pliny, garlic and onions were invoked as deities by the Egyptians at the taking of oaths. (Pliny also states that garlic demagnetizes lodestones, which is not factual.)[22] The inhabitants of Pelusium, in lower Egypt (who worshiped the onion), are said to have had an aversion to both onions and garlic as food.

WORSHIPPING ONIONS? AND NOT EATING THESE OR GARLIC...ok that's just wierd!

In test tube studies, garlic has been found to have antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal activity. However, these actions are less clear in humans. Garlic is also claimed to help prevent heart disease (including atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure) and cancer.[23] Garlic is used to prevent certain types of cancer, including stomach and colon cancers. In fact, countries where garlic is consumed in higher amounts, due to traditional cuisine, have been found to have a lower prevalence of cancer.[24] Animal studies, and some early investigational studies in humans, have suggested possible cardiovascular benefits of garlic. A Czech study found that garlic supplementation reduced accumulation of cholesterol on the vascular walls of animals.[25] Another study had similar results, with garlic supplementation significantly reducing aortic plaque deposits of cholesterol-fed rabbits.[26] Another study showed that supplementation with garlic extract inhibited vascular calcification in human patients with high blood cholesterol.[27] The known vasodilative effect of garlic is possibly caused by catabolism of garlic-derived polysulfides to hydrogen sulfide in red blood cells, a reaction that is dependent on reduced thiols in or on the RBC membrane. Hydrogen sulfide is an endogenous cardioprotective vascular cell-signaling molecule.[28]

INCREDIBLE GARLIC CURES!!! THE POTENT KIND OF GARLIC NEEDED HERE..I GUESS THE MEDICINAL GRADE GARLIC...ALLICIN GARLIC OIL. I STILL PREFER THE "STINKIER" GARLIC BECAUSE I FIND IT WORKS BETTER THAN THE N0N-SCENTED VARIETY...ESPECIALLY FOR EAR ACHES...ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THIS???

NOW FOR A GOOD GARLIC RECIPE TO MAKE THE MOUTH DROOL! MMMMM...GOOD! ENJOY!!!

Honey Garlic Sauce


10 minutes to make
Serves 46This is a very delicious sauce for ribs, chicken or meatballs

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed shopping list
2 tbls. corn starch shopping list
3/4 cup water shopping list
3 tbls. soya sauce shopping list
1 tbls. honey shopping list
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or 2 tbls. garlic powder shopping list
How to make it
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Combine sugar with corn starch, and garlic powder if using it.
Add water, soya sauce, honey and fresh garlic, if using fresh.
Bring to a boil stirring constantly.
Pour sauce over your cooked meat and serve immediately or keep warm in low heat oven.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/16888/honey-garlic-sauce.html

http://recipeland.com/recipes/honey-garlic

Bon Appetite!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Photo courtesy of Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales! Thank-you Tess!

Got to get two cloves for this EPICUREAN FEAST~~THE finest fare EVER...of all things garlic and literary in a single place; MAGPIE TALES...and maybe to luck into a recipe or two here;
http://www.magpietales.blogspot.com/

Friday, March 4, 2011

Magpie #55 "Five Dead in Orange Juice Explosion"


"Secure the Crime Scene"
A Detective screamed
A "river of blood"
thick sticky drying mud

The slaughter had created such horrific splatters
DNA on every square inch and the kitchen platters
The orange the thing they were quarrelling over
The knife used as a weapon by the one-time lover

"Of all the things"
A Coroner panged
"Isn't that...oh my gosh; a bloody finger!"
What the...in the blender it did linger?

The madness did seem off-beat and surreal
slightly odd how the sanguine did congeal
Certainly not a sight one would want to see
Enough gore makes the heart skip; the stomach reel

"I need fresh air" The rookie sheepishly pleaded
Proby piped "Get him outside before he teeters"
Stated point blank by the Chief "Crimes of Passion do not pay!
Should have shared the last orange; not been so screwy today"


the Rookie came to after a dose of smelling salts
seemed he never fainted nor had he seen orange juice cults
not for the weak-kneed, no backboned or lazy lounge lizards
Post-Traumatic Shock and the new bloody occupational hazards"

jj

Visual Image courtesy of Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales

Please visit the scene of the crime here; http://www.magpietales.blogspot.com/
and try your hand (or finger) at CSI!