Random Ramsdom - Ramdude's RAMblins 9/8

"We're haulin' (you know)"

***Editor's note: We've had a bit of trouble backstage here at SBN with getting posts to the front page lately. This post is pure ramdude, but it's under my by-line because of technical issues***

"Hey man, how far can the Rams go with 3 injured DTs?" I look at him. "All the way to the scene of the crash! Which is pretty lucky, because that's where we're headed! I bet we beat the paramedics by a good half hour! We're haulin' ass!" (with much apology to Mr. Ron White)

Nah! Now if the secondary was all in traction like last year and we had
Clap-a-matic and McHoser as coaches, I'd be worried. We control our own destiny here - we're pretty much whole at the other positions. Detroit lists Louis Delmas S and Chris Houston CB as doubtful. TROW DA BOMB!

However, to win (or at least beat the moderate 7.5 pt spread), Jeff Fisher needs to pull out all the stops and slather on the "secret play sauce" a little heavier than in preseason. And we'll need lady luck to blow us a kiss and not punch us in the gut for a change. Even the Cowboys and Giants looked a little shaky Wednesday night, so all we can do is give 'er a go and see where she lands.

You're pathetic, and everybody hates you. Have a sparkling day!

BTW, there are currently 3 teams that are bigger underdogs than us - YES! We're not the weakest link! We're not the weakest link!

And that honor goes to........... Dinner Roll please............
Dolphins vs. Texans: ~12.5 points
Colts vs. Bears: ~ 10 points
Browns vs. Eagles: ~ 9.5 points

We're about even with the Redskins vs. Saints.

Bulletin Board Material (for JL's Mom)

In the past week or so, TST has poked and prodded the Internet from all angles for anything that might lend a glimmer of insight into the outcome our Sunday afternoon Deathmatch in Detroit. I did some pokin of my own and found a surprising Shout-out to JL55 from the Detroit Free Press of all places. There's even a lovely photo of dear old dad, plus some things the author thinks you need to know. Here's something I didn't need to know, but don't really care:

If history means anything, the Lions should be a lock. They have won 49 home openers, which is tied for the second most in the NFL with Green Bay and the New York Giants.

"History, it don't mean nuthin." (my 5th grade History Teacher)

Now, if you'd care to cross over the reading speed bump, we'll talk about dinner.

Tinfoil: It's What's for Dinners??

I don't want to take too much of your time. I'm sure you're in the midst of game day preparations for Sunday:

Lion Steaks? check;
Tiger Blood? check;
What have you and dip? check;
Beer? just finished the last one - oh crap, back to the store!

However, if you are not familiar with Tinfoil Dinners, you need to be. They're great for camping trips (what's better than fall camping?) or cooking on the gas grill or oven at home.

Back Story

When I was a young lad in Cub Scouts, everything was run, for the most part, by the mothers. The men folk helped at the Pack Meetings, but the mothers ran the dens. In fact, my mother was a Den Mother. My family camped, but I don't remember camping as a Cub Scout. I do remember learning how to wrap presents, and maybe we vacuumed and dusted a little. I also helped watch my Dad build my Pinewood Derby car. He We won First Place for the Pack. Unfortunately, I got loose on a turn or something at Districts and that was that. The kid whose father owned a car dealership with a paint and body shop won for prettiest car, but I'm sure the kid did it all himself - like me.

Now Boy Scouts was a whole different story - no Moms allowed. The first night at orientation was pretty scary. The parents dropped me off at this little cinder block building way out in the woods. Meeting was fairly disorganized, and it felt like the older guys were deciding which newbie(s) they were going to pick off from the herd if they got chance. I feared the local paper's front page headline the next morning would be: Former Webelos Found Skinned and Gutted in Snipe Hunt Gone Wrong. Well, I never went back. And a few weeks later, the Troop was shut down due to lack of proper supervision.

Flash forward a generation. My son started in Tiger Scouts as a first grader. At this point in time, Tiger and Cub Dens were mostly run by the fathers. So we did a lot more outdoor stuff - no vacuuming badges for us! It was a great experience for us both since I helped with the Dens too.

Now, when it was time to move up to Boy Scouts, I was still a little leery of how the veterans would treat the new meat (both kids and fathers) based on my earlier experiences. One of the things we were to do at a first Troop get together meeting was make "Tinfoil Dinners." I had never heard of such a thing. Tinfoil? Does that even exist any more? "Hey Honey, I'm gonna take the buckboard down to the Gen-ral Store and pick up some more tinfoil and molasses and hard tack. Do you want I should pick up some leeches for your headache, too?" OK, and lets say it's just an old fashioned name for aluminum foil. What kind of sauce do you put on it to make it edible???????

Despite my deep-seated fears that "Tinfoil Dinners" was just a code phrase for "Horrible, Bloody Snipe Hunt," I kept my trap shut and just did what I was told. Glad I did. The foil (aluminum, actually) wasn't what you ate. It was what you cooked your food in (just like in the oven at home - duh!). So not only was this a good experience, the Troop was a phenomenal experience. Lots of great teamwork, and the experienced guys taught the new guys everything they knew about camping and outdoors stuff.

So What are These Things????

I won't go into a lot of detail here, but basically you tear off a good size square of foil (and then another for 2 layers) and make a pouch. Next, put in meat (frequently hamburger) and some vegetables cut into chunks (potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers, etc.)

and finally some seasoning (salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, etc). Before you seal it up, add a little water or olive oil. This is VERY important, because you need the fluid to steam the vegetables. It also allows everything to cook almost unattended without burning. So, ole ramdude can sneak down and grab another cool one without coming back to a 3-alarm steak fire and dirty looks from Mrs. ramdude.

Once you get it all loaded up, you seal it by rolling up the side and top edges. Everybody gets their own pouch, so they can load it any way they like - a lot or a little. It's best not to add any heavy BBQ sauces or ketchup while it's cooking, and don't add cheese. They can burn. Layer that stuff on after you dump the pouch's contents on your plate.

So after you get all the dinners made, fling em on the grill or over a camp fire. Cook for about 15-20 minutes on each side on medium high. You'll hear em sizzlin, and the smell is sumpthin FINE! The water/oil really gives you some latitude on how long to cook, but you can open one after a while and check the meat for doneness and the potatoes or carrots to see if they're tender.

We also tried this with Tilapia and tuna fish fillets. In this case, we used olive oil instead of water. DEEEELISHHH.
Besides the aforementioned benefit of greater beverage freedom, the cooking process also helps to clean your grill. No flare-ups and the grill grease gets burned off for fewer flare-ups next time. How can you lose???

Here's a couple of sites with more ideas you can try:
Bonnevillemariner wordpress.com
Boy Scouts Foil Cooking Cookbook

One Last Thing - the Jetcircus - better than Afrocircus

Did you see this from the New York Post












Rex Ryan has not let ANYBODY outside the team see their secret weapon - the Tebow Wildcat. He seems to believe that any foe will just surrender the minute they pull this bad boy out of their bag-o-tricks. Kinda sad - like we used to be.

Anywho - GO RAMs, and lets kick this beeeeeooooouuuuch into gear.

Have a great Saturday!