We've started to have our first really warm weather
a few days ago, so I made one of my favorite drinks.
The ingredients a

1 young coconut
1 container of frozen pineapple juice
1 bottle of Trader Joe's Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc wine

First, peel the husk off the coconut,
and open the eye that is easy to open.
There are three eyes -- the one which
is further away from the other two is
the thin one which is easily opened
with a paring knife. Pry off the shell
over the eye and enlarge the hole through
the coconut meat.

Empty out the coconut water into a plastic
pitcher. Right at the beginning, you have
to shake the coconut to get the water
started running out, but after enough
airspace develops inside, it'll run out
on its own.

Accidently drop the coconut into the
pitcher, where it wedges itself about
half way down. Try to get a grip on it,
but just manage to drive it in further.

Fortunately, the coconut landed in the
pitcher with the hole facing up.
Stick the end of a spoon handle into
the hole to try to lift it out. When
that doesn't work, try grabbing the edge
of the hole with a needlenose pliers,
which only manages to break a chip off.
Man, that thing is really stuck in there.

Try hooking the edge of the hole with
the screw of a lever-action corkscrew.
Using the edge of the pitcher, try
levering the coconut out of the pitcher.
The corkscrew makes a notch in the edge
of the pitcher, darn it.

Try again, with a better grip on the
edge of the pitcher. This time, the end
of the corkscrew breaks off. DANG!
Goddamsumbitchcoconut! Look around the
kitchen. There's nothing else that can
open a wine bottle!

Go back to the needlenose pliers. After
much struggle, extract the coconut and
drain the remaining coconut water.
Put the pitcher in the refrigerator and
go to the store to buy a new corkscrew.

After examining every style of corkscrew
in the store, choose the worst one.
They all looked like the same Made-in-China
crap, but until I tried to open a bottle
with the one I bought, I didn't realize the
tip at the end of the screw was bent up
and away from the cork. I bent it down with
the needlenose pliers, but it's not going to
last -- it'll break off with only a little
more use.

After getting back from the store, continue
making the refreshing drink. It's important
to drain the coconut into the pitcher first,
because if you have a bad one, the water
will be pink. If it's the first ingredient,
you can dump it. If it were the last
ingredient, you'd have to dump the pineapple
juice and the wine, too. Also, you might not
notice the water was pink, if you were
draining the coconut directly into the other
ingredients.

Add the container of frozen pineapple juice.
The directions say to add an additional three
volumes of water, but I add only two.

Add the wine, and stir. My pitcher has a
stirring plunger thing ideal for this purpose.

http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid...d=HPProd100028

It's also just the right size to wedge a
young coconut halfway down. I did not know
that.

At this point, you really deserve a refreshing
drink!

"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
...
> We've started to have our first really warm weather
> a few days ago, so I made one of my favorite drinks.
> The ingredients a
>
> 1 young coconut


Interesting. I thought you might just bite the head off
a bat and suck.

In article >, "cybercat" >
wrote:

> "Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
> ...
> > We've started to have our first really warm weather
> > a few days ago, so I made one of my favorite drinks.
> > The ingredients a
> >
> > 1 young coconut
>
>
> Interesting. I thought you might just bite the head off
> a bat and suck.

Toad.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article >,
Mark Thorson > wrote:

> We've started to have our first really warm weather
> a few days ago, so I made one of my favorite drinks.
> The ingredients a
>
> 1 young coconut
> 1 container of frozen pineapple juice
> 1 bottle of Trader Joe's Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc wine
<snip method>
> At this point, you really deserve a refreshing
> drink!

Your method was an excellent description of most of my projects. Thanks
for the memories and the smiles. It's funnier when someone else does it.

leo

--
<http://web0.greatbasin.net/~leo/>

"Omelet" > wrote in message
news
> In article >, "cybercat" >
> wrote:
>
>> "Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > We've started to have our first really warm weather
>> > a few days ago, so I made one of my favorite drinks.
>> > The ingredients a
>> >
>> > 1 young coconut
>>
>>
>> Interesting. I thought you might just bite the head off
>> a bat and suck.
>
> Toad.

So, you were thinking he would bite off the head of a toad?

Hmm.

I can see that.

On May 12, 12:25 pm, Mark Thorson > wrote:
> We've started to have our first really warm weather
> a few days ago, so I made one of my favorite drinks.
> The ingredients a
>
> 1 young coconut
> 1 container of frozen pineapple juice
> 1 bottle of Trader Joe's Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc wine
>
> First, peel the husk off the coconut,
> and open the eye that is easy to open.
> There are three eyes -- the one which
> is further away from the other two is
> the thin one which is easily opened
> with a paring knife. Pry off the shell
> over the eye and enlarge the hole through
> the coconut meat.
>
> Empty out the coconut water into a plastic
> pitcher. Right at the beginning, you have
> to shake the coconut to get the water
> started running out, but after enough
> airspace develops inside, it'll run out
> on its own.
>
> Accidently drop the coconut into the
> pitcher, where it wedges itself about
> half way down. Try to get a grip on it,
> but just manage to drive it in further.
>
> Fortunately, the coconut landed in the
> pitcher with the hole facing up.
> Stick the end of a spoon handle into
> the hole to try to lift it out. When
> that doesn't work, try grabbing the edge
> of the hole with a needlenose pliers,
> which only manages to break a chip off.
> Man, that thing is really stuck in there.
>
> Try hooking the edge of the hole with
> the screw of a lever-action corkscrew.
> Using the edge of the pitcher, try
> levering the coconut out of the pitcher.
> The corkscrew makes a notch in the edge
> of the pitcher, darn it.
>
> Try again, with a better grip on the
> edge of the pitcher. This time, the end
> of the corkscrew breaks off. DANG!
> Goddamsumbitchcoconut! Look around the
> kitchen. There's nothing else that can
> open a wine bottle!
>
> Go back to the needlenose pliers. After
> much struggle, extract the coconut and
> drain the remaining coconut water.
> Put the pitcher in the refrigerator and
> go to the store to buy a new corkscrew.
>
> After examining every style of corkscrew
> in the store, choose the worst one.
> They all looked like the same Made-in-China
> crap, but until I tried to open a bottle
> with the one I bought, I didn't realize the
> tip at the end of the screw was bent up
> and away from the cork. I bent it down with
> the needlenose pliers, but it's not going to
> last -- it'll break off with only a little
> more use.
>
> After getting back from the store, continue
> making the refreshing drink. It's important
> to drain the coconut into the pitcher first,
> because if you have a bad one, the water
> will be pink. If it's the first ingredient,
> you can dump it. If it were the last
> ingredient, you'd have to dump the pineapple
> juice and the wine, too. Also, you might not
> notice the water was pink, if you were
> draining the coconut directly into the other
> ingredients.
>
> Add the container of frozen pineapple juice.
> The directions say to add an additional three
> volumes of water, but I add only two.
>
> Add the wine, and stir. My pitcher has a
> stirring plunger thing ideal for this purpose.
>
> http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid...tml?prodId=HPP...
>
> It's also just the right size to wedge a
> young coconut halfway down. I did not know
> that.
>
> At this point, you really deserve a refreshing
> drink!

Down here in the keys we refer to people like this and myself as
"Island trash" .
Loved this post and it reminds me of yesterday. Errr at least I think
it was yesterday that I husked a nut with a hammer claw, barefeet, and
a stone. No water down here so the nuts are dry! =) Yeap it
definitely was 4 weeks ago like I said.

www.floridakeysrecipes.info

In article >, "cybercat" >
wrote:

> "Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
> ...
> > We've started to have our first really warm weather
> > a few days ago, so I made one of my favorite drinks.
> > The ingredients a
> >
> > 1 young coconut
>
> Interesting. I thought you might just bite the head off
> a bat and suck.

And here I thought he only liked doing that with songbirds....

Emma Thackery wrote:
>
> And here I thought he only liked doing that with songbirds....

If you don't want to be treated like a fool,
stop acting like one.

Mark Thorson wrote:

> At this point, you really deserve a refreshing
> drink!


Thanks for the laugh :-)

--
-Gina in Italy

Currently Reading:

Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton
Cold Fire by Dean Koontz

Stitching WIP:

Rosemarkie by Long Dong
St. Sylvestre by Long Dog
St. Georges by Long Dog

Soon to start:

Pompeji Garden Mandela by Chatelaine
Tuscan Town Mandela by Chatelaine

cybercat wrote:
> >>
> >> Interesting. I thought you might just bite the head off
> >> a bat and suck.
> >
> > Toad.
>
> So, you were thinking he would bite off the head of a toad?
>
> Hmm.
>
> I can see that.

LOL...

Why **** around with a coconut? Make yourself a Mojito or a Margi and
get on with it.

-L.

In article >,
Mark Thorson > wrote:

> Emma Thackery wrote:
> >
> > And here I thought he only liked doing that with songbirds....
>
> If you don't want to be treated like a fool,
> stop acting like one.


You're the asshole who professed a desire to feast on songbirds---
ortolan buntings to be specific. If pointing that out--- noting that
hunting the species is banned in the EU--- makes me a fool, then I
relish the charge.

Yesterday, it was a warm 88 degrees, so I decided to make Sangria. I
had two great recipes, but I could not find either one of them, not to
mention, I did not have all the ingredients.

Not letting that stop me, I used merlot, rum, sugar, ginger ale, the
juice of 1/2 orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon. I sliced the rest of the
fruit and I added that to the picture. It was tasty.

Becca

Becca wrote:
> Yesterday, it was a warm 88 degrees, so I decided to make Sangria. I
> had two great recipes, but I could not find either one of them, not to
> mention, I did not have all the ingredients.
>
> Not letting that stop me, I used merlot, rum, sugar, ginger ale, the
> juice of 1/2 orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon. I sliced the rest of the
> fruit and I added that to the picture. It was tasty.
>
> Becca


I guess that nobody ever mentioned the word "sharing" to you. It was
warm in New York City, too, you know. (

On May 13, 12:59�pm, margaret suran >
wrote:
> Becca wrote:
> > Yesterday, it was a warm 88 degrees, so I decided to make Sangria. *I
> > had two great recipes, but I could not find either one of them, not to
> > mention, I did not have all the ingredients.
>
> > Not letting that stop me, I used merlot, rum, sugar, ginger ale, the
> > juice of 1/2 orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon. *I sliced the rest of the
> > fruit and I added that to the picture. *It was tasty.
>
> > Becca
>
> I guess that nobody ever mentioned the word "sharing" to you. *It was
> warm in New York City, too, you know. * (

I'd say Becca did share... an easy enough recipe.

Sheldon

margaret suran wrote:
> Becca wrote:
>
>> Yesterday, it was a warm 88 degrees, so I decided to make Sangria. I
>> had two great recipes, but I could not find either one of them, not to
>> mention, I did not have all the ingredients.
>>
>> Not letting that stop me, I used merlot, rum, sugar, ginger ale, the
>> juice of 1/2 orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon. I sliced the rest of the
>> fruit and I added that to the picture. It was tasty.
>>
>> Becca
>
>
>
> I guess that nobody ever mentioned the word "sharing" to you. It was
> warm in New York City, too, you know. (

Come on over and I will make some more. We can sit on the patio, drink
sangria and watch the men in funny pants play golf.

Becca

Sheldon wrote:
> On May 13, 12:59�pm, margaret suran >
> wrote:
>> Becca wrote:
>>> Yesterday, it was a warm 88 degrees, so I decided to make
>>> Sangria. �I had two great recipes, but I could not find either
>>> one of them, not to mention, I did not have all the ingredients.
>>> Not letting that stop me, I used merlot, rum, sugar, ginger ale,
>>> the juice of 1/2 orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon. �I sliced the
>>> rest of the fruit and I added that to the picture. �It was tasty.
>>> Becca
>> I guess that nobody ever mentioned the word "sharing" to you. �It
>> was warm in New York City, too, you know. � (
>
> I'd say Becca did share... an easy enough recipe.
>
> Sheldon
>
Yes, it is easy and I do have all the above ingredients at hand. Why do
I think there should be pieces of fruit in Sangria, such as chunks of
pineapple, pieces of strawberry and slices of orange, plus pineapple
juice for the drink, all stuff I do not have.

Have you ever noticed how much better something tastes when someone else
makes it for you?

Becca wrote:
> margaret suran wrote:
>> Becca wrote:
>>
>>> Yesterday, it was a warm 88 degrees, so I decided to make Sangria. I
>>> had two great recipes, but I could not find either one of them, not
>>> to mention, I did not have all the ingredients.
>>>
>>> Not letting that stop me, I used merlot, rum, sugar, ginger ale, the
>>> juice of 1/2 orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon. I sliced the rest of
>>> the fruit and I added that to the picture. It was tasty.
>>>
>>> Becca
>>
>>
>>
>> I guess that nobody ever mentioned the word "sharing" to you. It was
>> warm in New York City, too, you know. (
>
> Come on over and I will make some more. We can sit on the patio, drink
> sangria and watch the men in funny pants play golf.
>
> Becca


Thank you! I do not have a car (for that matter, no driver's license,
either), so could you, please, give me instructions on how to get to you
by walking? I will bring a fresh pineapple for the Sangria and some
berries, too. )

Could you, please, get some men in funny pants come to your patio and
play tennis instead of golf? I like that much more. Thank you.

margaret suran wrote:
>
> I guess that nobody ever mentioned the word "sharing" to you. It was
> warm in New York City, too, you know. (

http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/ge...7051209473.jpg

Mark Thorson wrote:
> margaret suran wrote:
>> I guess that nobody ever mentioned the word "sharing" to you. It was
>> warm in New York City, too, you know. (
>
> http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/ge...7051209473.jpg


How did you know that this is my favorite comic? I thought that Andy is
the only one who knows this secret of mine.

Emma Thackery wrote:
>
> In article >,
> Mark Thorson > wrote:
>
> > Emma Thackery wrote:
> > >
> > > And here I thought he only liked doing that with songbirds....
> >
> > If you don't want to be treated like a fool,
> > stop acting like one.
>
> You're the asshole who professed a desire to feast on songbirds---
> ortolan buntings to be specific. If pointing that out--- noting that
> hunting the species is banned in the EU--- makes me a fool, then I
> relish the charge.

What makes you a fool is stupid, wrong statements
like this one:

> I hope you're joking given the protected nature of this
> endangered songbird species.

You make these assertions like this one that have
absolutely no basis in fact. When asked for evidence,
your reference provides no support (even contradicts)
your assertion. That makes you dishonest or a fool.
I'm being charitable when I say that you are a fool.

In this particular case, you linked to this article
to back up your assertion that the ortolan is
"endangered":

http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anz42-free/anz42-091.pdf>

The word "endangered" does not even appear in that
article. In fact, it says that BirdLife International
has classified this species as "vulnerable" in 2000.
However, that is certainly not its present classificiation
by BirdLife International, which is given he

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sea...sid=8 941&m=0

BirdLife International ranks it as "Least Concern",
and they are the authority used by the IUCN for
the IUCN Red List.

You most certainly are a fool for believing
foolish notions and trying to spread them
to others. And when confronted with actual facts,
you certainly won't change your mind, which is
another hallmark of a fool. If fools in cages
were major attractions at zoos, you'd have to
live in hiding from the men with nets and dart guns.

"Mark Thorson" > wrote in message
...
> Emma Thackery wrote:
>>
>> In article >,
>> Mark Thorson > wrote:
>>
>> > Emma Thackery wrote:
>> > >
>> > > And here I thought he only liked doing that with songbirds....
>> >
>> > If you don't want to be treated like a fool,
>> > stop acting like one.
>>
>> You're the asshole who professed a desire to feast on songbirds---
>> ortolan buntings to be specific. If pointing that out--- noting that
>> hunting the species is banned in the EU--- makes me a fool, then I
>> relish the charge.
>
> What makes you a fool is stupid, wrong statements
> like this one:
>
>> I hope you're joking given the protected nature of this
>> endangered songbird species.
>
> You make these assertions like this one that have
> absolutely no basis in fact. When asked for evidence,
> your reference provides no support (even contradicts)
> your assertion. That makes you dishonest or a fool.
> I'm being charitable when I say that you are a fool.
>
> In this particular case, you linked to this article
> to back up your assertion that the ortolan is
> "endangered":
>
> http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anz42-free/anz42-091.pdf>
>
> The word "endangered" does not even appear in that
> article. In fact, it says that BirdLife International
> has classified this species as "vulnerable" in 2000.
> However, that is certainly not its present classificiation
> by BirdLife International, which is given he
>
> http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sea...sid=8 941&m=0
>
> BirdLife International ranks it as "Least Concern",
> and they are the authority used by the IUCN for
> the IUCN Red List.
>
> You most certainly are a fool for believing
> foolish notions and trying to spread them
> to others. And when confronted with actual facts,
> you certainly won't change your mind, which is
> another hallmark of a fool. If fools in cages
> were major attractions at zoos, you'd have to
> live in hiding from the men with nets and dart guns.

Troll. The bunting post was a troll post, period.

So it upset Emma, that's what you wanted, right?

To upset people.

Ass.

"-L." wrote:
>
>
>
> Why **** around with a coconut? Make yourself a Mojito or a Margi and
> get on with it.


I'll drink to that. I was just thinking that it is getting close to
cocktail time and I think Manhattan season is over. I'll save them for the
season when I need warming drinks. I think there is some simple syrup in
the fridge and some lime juice. I know there is plenty of dark rum but I
don't know about white rum. There is always gin and tonic.

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> "-L." wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Why **** around with a coconut? Make yourself a Mojito or a Margi and
>> get on with it.
>
>
> I'll drink to that. I was just thinking that it is getting close to
> cocktail time and I think Manhattan season is over. I'll save them for the
> season when I need warming drinks. I think there is some simple syrup in
> the fridge and some lime juice. I know there is plenty of dark rum but I
> don't know about white rum. There is always gin and tonic.

I love gold margaritas--1 or 2 max unless I want to be really, really sorry.
Fresh lime juice (NO Rose's!) sweet and sour, 2 oz Cuervo 1800, 1 oz
Grand Marnier. No salt for me, on the rockswith a lime wedge, mmm
mmmmmm.

cybercat wrote:

> >
> > I'll drink to that. I was just thinking that it is getting close to
> > cocktail time and I think Manhattan season is over. I'll save them for the
> > season when I need warming drinks. I think there is some simple syrup in
> > the fridge and some lime juice. I know there is plenty of dark rum but I
> > don't know about white rum. There is always gin and tonic.
>
> I love gold margaritas--1 or 2 max unless I want to be really, really sorry.
> Fresh lime juice (NO Rose's!) sweet and sour, 2 oz Cuervo 1800, 1 oz
> Grand Marnier. No salt for me, on the rockswith a lime wedge, mmm
> mmmmmm.


I like them too, but they go down too easy. A few years ago I came across
an article about Margaritas and got the urge to make some. I had a bottle
of Tequila that a friend of my brother's gave to him and since he does not
like tequila he passed it on to me. I had limes, sugar, tequila and mixed
up a pitcher full of Margarita on a hot summer day. They were delicious,
so I mixed up another batch. That batch was as good as the first batch, so
we made another batch. We would have made a fourth batch, but we had
already consumed an entire bottle of Tequila in about 40 minutes and we
were smashed for a short time, followed by a headache and dehydration. I
like Margaritas, but I avoid them.

> GUEST wrote:
> We've started to have our first really warm weather
> a few days ago, so I made one of my favorite drinks.
> The ingredients a
>
> 1 young coconut
> 1 container of frozen pineapple juice
> 1 bottle of Trader Joe's Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc wine
>
> First, peel the husk off the coconut,
> and open the eye that is easy to open.
> There are three eyes -- the one which
> is further away from the other two is
> the thin one which is easily opened
> with a paring knife. Pry off the shell
> over the eye and enlarge the hole through
> the coconut meat.
>
> Empty out the coconut water into a plastic
> pitcher. Right at the beginning, you have
> to shake the coconut to get the water
> started running out, but after enough
> airspace develops inside, it'll run out
> on its own.
>
> Accidently drop the coconut into the
> pitcher, where it wedges itself about
> half way down. Try to get a grip on it,
> but just manage to drive it in further.
>
> Fortunately, the coconut landed in the
> pitcher with the hole facing up.
> Stick the end of a spoon handle into
> the hole to try to lift it out. When
> that doesn't work, try grabbing the edge
> of the hole with a needlenose pliers,
> which only manages to break a chip off.
> Man, that thing is really stuck in there.
>
> Try hooking the edge of the hole with
> the screw of a lever-action corkscrew.
> Using the edge of the pitcher, try
> levering the coconut out of the pitcher.
> The corkscrew makes a notch in the edge
> of the pitcher, darn it.
>
> Try again, with a better grip on the
> edge of the pitcher. This time, the end
> of the corkscrew breaks off. DANG!
> Goddamsumbitchcoconut! Look around the
> kitchen. There's nothing else that can
> open a wine bottle!
>
> Go back to the needlenose pliers. After
> much struggle, extract the coconut and
> drain the remaining coconut water.
> Put the pitcher in the refrigerator and
> go to the store to buy a new corkscrew.
>
> After examining every style of corkscrew
> in the store, choose the worst one.
> They all looked like the same Made-in-China
> crap, but until I tried to open a bottle
> with the one I bought, I didn't realize the
> tip at the end of the screw was bent up
> and away from the cork. I bent it down with
> the needlenose pliers, but it's not going to
> last -- it'll break off with only a little
> more use.
>
> After getting back from the store, continue
> making the refreshing drink. It's important
> to drain the coconut into the pitcher first,
> because if you have a bad one, the water
> will be pink. If it's the first ingredient,
> you can dump it. If it were the last
> ingredient, you'd have to dump the pineapple
> juice and the wine, too. Also, you might not
> notice the water was pink, if you were
> draining the coconut directly into the other
> ingredients.
>
> Add the container of frozen pineapple juice.
> The directions say to add an additional three
> volumes of water, but I add only two.
>
> Add the wine, and stir. My pitcher has a
> stirring plunger thing ideal for this purpose.
>
>
http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid...d=HPProd100028
>
> It's also just the right size to wedge a
> young coconut halfway down. I did not know
> that.
>
> At this point, you really deserve a refreshing
> drink!

thats a nice drink idea. thanx, migh try it out over
the weekend. cheers.

In article >,
Mark Thorson > wrote:

> In this particular case, you linked to this article to back up your
> assertion that the ortolan is "endangered":
>
> http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anz42-free/anz42-091.pdf>
>
> The word "endangered" does not even appear in that article. In fact,
> it says that BirdLife International has classified this species as
> "vulnerable" in 2000.

And you're a delusory, equivocating moron who will not waste my time
again. The title of this recent *April, 2005* article published by the
Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board, which you so
expediently omitted, is "Population Crash of the Ortolan Bunting..."
Whatever the nomenclature--- endangered, vulnerable, in decline or
otherwise--- hunting the creature (emberiza hortulana) is banned in some
regions, because of population decline. This is a fact well documented
throughout the relevant professional literature. You insist otherwise
because the article does not contain the word "endangered". This is
simply a silly sophistic ploy on your part to hide the fact that hunting
and eating this bird is considered not only in 'poor taste' but illegal
in some regions including Europe. Your incessant regurgitation of the
same ideas has done nothing to alter the hideous reality of your ethical
and cognitive shortcomings.

Below is a BBC article that, while somewhat dated, serves to illustrate
the controversy surrounding the bizarre rituals employed in the
consumption of this bird as well as the $10,000 fine for its illegal
persecution.

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/425485.stm>

French hunters target bunting
Emberiza hortulana: 'Delicious' and under threat

By Hugh Schofield in Paris

Hunters in south-western France are planning to defy a ban that comes
into force on Friday, prohibiting them from hunting a small migratory
bird known as the ortolan.

A tiny bird from the bunting family, the ortolan is regarded as a
traditional delicacy - but environmentalists say it is gradually being
hunted out of the sky.

The ortolan crosses south-west France between late August and early
September - and for the past 150 years vast numbers of them have been
tempted from their journey into baited traps.

Environmentalists say the ortolan is being hunted from the skies
Caught alive, they are fattened up - then, in a culinary extravaganza,
fed with brandy before being popped into boiling fat and eaten whole,
beak, innards and all.

For the full experience, the diner drapes a napkin over his or her face
to savour the aroma.

The legal status of the ortolan has been in limbo for some years.

President Mitterrand famously ate some shortly before he died, thus
incurring the wrath of those who said it was already a protected species.

This year, for the first time, there is no question: A government order
makes catching the bird punishable by a $10,000 fine.

But the Gascon hunters are determinedly independent to the last - and
have no intention of complying.
..

dsilva wrote on 14 May 2007 in rec.food.cooking

> > First, peel the husk off the coconut,
> > and open the eye that is easy to open.
> > There are three eyes -- the one which
> > is further away from the other two is
> > the thin one which is easily opened
> > with a paring knife. Pry off the shell
> > over the eye and enlarge the hole through
> > the coconut meat.
>

Since a young coconut is white-ish and more or less shaped something like
a jewish top (I forget it's true name... drezel perhaps?); I find with a
clever it is relatively easy to cut a 'V' notch in the pointed end to
allow for easy juice removal. Then with the cleaver and a rubber mallet it
is again easy to totaly remove the pointed end cleanly and levely. Leaving
you with a tumbler or drinking glass shaped coconut shell. Which sits
reasonably well on a table.

Punching a hole in the 'coconut eye' doesn't allow for fast juice removal.
As the hole usually isn't large enough. And requires the last dregs to
drip out.

Since the flesh of young coconuts is not as firm as in mature coconuts and
it is also fairly thin it can be scraped out readily using just a
tablespoon. It is a little slimey in texture but quite tasty to eat.

A young coconut also has way more juice than a mature coconut. You get
almost a cup of juice or more from a young coconut.

After juice & flesh removal you can reuse the young coconut as your
drinking vessel.

There is no need to remove the outer covering or look for eyes in any
case.

If you don't have a cleaver... an electric drill or a large nail (even a
srewdriver) and a hack saw would fill your needs almost as well. But I
find the cleaver method puts less crumbs/dust/crud in the juice.

I find a cleaver very handy in the kitchen for things like this or even
large squash cutting. And a rubber mallet is easy on the cleaver and
allows for more precise cutting. Using the heel of your hand to strike the
cleaver can lead to bruising.

I have 2 cleavers a smallish 8 inch for general veggie chopping and a
larger thicker 12 inch one for heavier tasks, I use my cleavers more than
I use my chef's knife.

Emma Thackery wrote:
>
> And you're a delusory, equivocating moron who will not waste my time
> again. The title of this recent *April, 2005* article published by the
> Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board, which you so
> expediently omitted, is "Population Crash of the Ortolan Bunting..."
> Whatever the nomenclature--- endangered, vulnerable, in decline or
> otherwise--- hunting the creature (emberiza hortulana) is banned in some
> regions, because of population decline. This is a fact well documented
> throughout the relevant professional literature. You insist otherwise
> because the article does not contain the word "endangered".

You said it was "endangered". That word has a
specific meaning, and it does not apply to the
ortolan. The article you referenced said that
BirdLife International called it "vulnerable"
(which is a subcategory of "threatened") in 2000,
but as I showed by linking to the current BirdLife
International web page on the ortolan, that is
not true today. BirdLife International currently
classifies the ortolan as "Least Concern" which
is their lowest category -- the exact opposite of
"endangered".

The title of the article uses the words "Population
Crash", desribing events occurring between the
late 1980s and mid-1990s. But this "crash" merely
restored the population to about what it had been
fifty years earlier. As the article says on
page 10, "Within our study area in particular,
the ortolan bunting densities in the period
1936-1939 (Soveri 1940) were only about 35%
of the densities observed during the early
1980s (Tiainen & Pakkala 2001)." It would be
just as accurate to describe the period of the
early 1990s as the end of a surge in population
rather than a "crash".

Also, this article only concerns a small area in
southern Finland. As the article itself notes,
"The main distributional area of the ortolan bunting
is in the east and south of Europe, mainly in dry
and open landscapes (Cramp & Perrins 1994)."
The relevance of a population decline on the
remote fringe of its range hardly seems relevant
to whether the species itself is endangered or
threatened. These are migratory birds not
confined to any particular region. As the
articles notes (on page 13), the ortolan bunting
winters in sub-Saharan Africa.

No, you have completely failed to back up
your wrong assertions with facts. When presented
with the actual facts, you stubbornly refuse to
acknowledge them. That qualifies you as a fool,
worse yet, an arrogant fool.

margaret suran wrote:
> Becca wrote:
>
>> margaret suran wrote:
>>
>>> Becca wrote:
>>>
>>>> Not letting that stop me, I used merlot, rum, sugar, ginger ale, the
>>>> juice of 1/2 orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon. I sliced the rest of
>>>> the fruit and I added that to the picture. It was tasty.
>>>>
>>>> Becca
>>>
>>> I guess that nobody ever mentioned the word "sharing" to you. It was
>>> warm in New York City, too, you know. (
>>
>>
>> Come on over and I will make some more. We can sit on the patio,
>> drink sangria and watch the men in funny pants play golf.
>>
>> Becca
>
> Thank you! I do not have a car (for that matter, no driver's license,
> either), so could you, please, give me instructions on how to get to you
> by walking? I will bring a fresh pineapple for the Sangria and some
> berries, too. )
>
> Could you, please, get some men in funny pants come to your patio and
> play tennis instead of golf? I like that much more. Thank you.

We're stuck with the golf course, it is in my back yard. The view is
nice, but after watching the golfers, my cats have learned to curse and
I think one of them gave me the bad finger.

Becca