Part Two: Hi, Friends, OK, here is the rest of my post on our recent CASG4. Before I was so rudely interepted by reaching the limit of five photos , I was in the midst of showing you our old Glenwood Camp Cooker, which finally sprang back to life after God knows how many years of neglect! Thanks to Flivver, I can now date this wonderful old stove to the 1916-1921 period, and that also places our cherished Blue Bird oven, which came mated to the Glenwood stove, into the same time period, which is really lovely!! Though it still needs a bit of minor tweaking, both Sweet Bride and I were VERY happy with it's performance, and it did a wonderful job of cooking up our tasty lamb shank stew! Here it is in action: As you can see, this gravity-fed stove, running on Coleman fuel, has a very strong flame! Once a few minor problems are fettled, it will be a fantastic stove, and fully capable of cooking, and with the addition of it's long-time partner, our Bluebird over, baking, anything that we might wish to eat whilst camping!! Brilliant!! 8) Last, here's a photo of the lot of us, minus Ron, who unfortunately had to leave early, sharing some fantastic food together! Ron had left some small, but spicy and very tasty sausages, which Sweet Bride cooked up and offered, and additionally, we enjoyed Sweet Bride's tarragon chicken with shallots, carrots, lentils, and garlic; Big Jim's fantastic barbequed chicken; Mrs Baja's "Killer Beans", and Baja's very tasty mango salsa; Sweet Bride's marinated green beans, cucumbers, fresh basil, with lemon zest; Mrs Flivver's delicious avocado salad, and several bottles of fine wine that she and Flivver donated; and Mac's really popular pasta carbonara, amongst other things!!! WOW! We all ate like pigs, and I was the "Head Pig", having three full helpings of the entire selection!! I have NO shame in this, Friends, and loved every tasty morsel!! 8) One other mention must be made about having a very good and dear friend, from San Luis Obispo, and his lovely wife, drop by for a visit on Saturday. Jon, who is the head maintenance engineer at the hotel where we stay whilst working at our long-time gig that preceeded the Gathering, and his wonderful wife, brought some nice cookies to offer for our feast, even though they could not stay to enjoy it with us!! Many thanks, Jon and Linda!! Also, Jon has officially contracted the Stove Pox, so he's "one of us", Mates!! Cool! He had found a very rare and fantastic Optimus stove/heater, many years ago, at a yard sale, for the princely sum of just $15!! He later sent it to me, and I rebuilt it for him, adding in some missing parts, and replacing all the gaskets and seals. His wife, Linda, is a fine Lady in all accounts, but she did give him a tiny bit of questioning about what use such a thing could be. Well, the day was a tad chilly, so we fired up Jon's old Optimus, and once it's silent burner was roaring red, and the copper bowl was reflecting all that great heat back to Linda, I loved watching the look on her face change from "tolerating" this thing, to LOVING IT!!! That was truly priceless, Friends, and she now understands why having such a fine appliance when camping, can make the difference between being cold and unhappy, and being warm and toasty!! Unfortunately, just as Sweet Bride has now called the Bluebird oven "HERS", I am thinking that lovely Linda will be "appropriating" Jon's neat old Optimus in the future!!!! 8) Here's the photo of our feast, Friends. Wish you all could have been there to enjoy it with us! A last adventure of note: On our final day at the Gathering, Sweet Bride awoke me at 4AM, telling me that "something" was outside mucking about with our stuff!! I quickly grabbed my glasses, and clad only in underwear, with flashlight in hand, I unzipped the VE-25, and tottered to the defense!! Turned out that, even though we were very careful to have put away all our food each night, we accidentally left out one bag that contained some crackers, granola, and some John McCann's Irish oatmeal!! Four Bandido raccoons, complete with their masks, had opened the large cardboard box in which that bag had been placed, and were busy trying to get at the crackers, after having sampled the granola and found it lacking!! They were brazen little thieves, and only by chucking a few small rocks at them were they "convinced" to take leave of their prospective meal!!! I must have been quite a sight, and indeed, Mac shined his light over in the direction of the fracous, probably only to laugh at the sight that he beheld, I'm thinking!!! 8-[ So, there you have it, Friends. I hope you have enjoyed our CASG4 vicariously, and that, one day, we can all get together and share such a Gathering , one and all!! Thanks for checking it all out, and thanks, again, to our stalwart band of CCS Mates and Matettes who joined together to, once again, make our CASG a total success!!! Well done, Friends!!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc and Sweet Bride
A note about ron's Filipino Sausages. I did a web search and discovered they are called Longaniza. I wasn't sure these were the ones, but after several pages of searching I found no other sausage common to the Phillipines. So I'm pretty sure this is it. There are several variations. Vinegar, sugar and garlic appear to be the haulmarks. I think for CASG5, I will haul out my sausage making kit and make some of these before showing up. Takes about 4 days to cure so can't make them on site. Might also think about other Brots etc. So for a change, I'll probably contribute some strings of sausage for our pot luck. Jim Henderson
Jim, that is correct - LONGANIZA and we grew up enjoying that sausage. Too bad they still call it Longaniza because before it used to be about 5 - 6 inches long. Now its less than 4 inches so it should be changed to "shortgoniza" Ron
Say, Doc, isn't the Handy Gas Plant the only stove mentioned in The Bible? I also hear that the International Space Station has to turn off their infrared sensors when they pass over a Handy Gas Plant lest the multi-million dollar sensors overload and burn out. Looks like a really great time, guys. HJ Lamb shank stew!? I love lamb shank stew. Now I'm really cursing my misfortune in not being able to come. HJ
Ron, JoAnne and I really enjoyed those sausages (Doc did leave a few for the rest of us)... We weren't sure what they were, as we had bought some Longaniza at a Mexican store, and they were totally different! We once bought very small sweet sausages at a oriental shop, they were about half as big as yours! Good tho. They said to steam them for breakfast.
Steve, you can steam them but its best to boil it a bit then add oil when the water is almost gone to caramelize the sugar in the water then swirling the sausages around to pick up the caramel. Messy pots afterwards so you do have to boil the pots in water as soon as you have taken out the sausages. HJ and Gary did like it so much but both were not able to attend due to illness or prior commitment. Next time I will bring more. Ron
From the various recipies and pictures of Longanisa, they can be whatever length the sausage maker wants, and can even be made patty style, ie no skin. Most of the commercial ones according to the web are artificially colored red and short. When I make these sausages, I will probably go for natural color and 4-5 inches in some nice 35mm hog casings. Need to make a test run soon. My boys love making sausage, so family project coming up. I think the name Longanisa is a variation of Longaniza and Linguica, if I recall my reading. Probably originates from Spain and colonialism, ie lots of former Spanish colonies have their own variations. I have seen these sausages in several of the local Oriental stores, so may be worth looking if you don't have a grinder of your own. So, CASG5, I'll bring my own home brew Longanisa and some other brots. Enough of my threadjacking. Jim Henderson
Thanks for the pics, I really appreciate it. Looks like cool but nice weather down there. Did everyone bring enough stoves?
Please sir, don't talk like that. My wife might hear you and think that there is such a thing as enough stoves. HJ
I'm single, I can get away with anything, just as long as the money holds out. One more stove coming next week. Not sure what to get next if anything. Tires for the car?
I'm looking at around $600 out the door for four for my Civic. Also just took in that much for some firewood I sold. In one pocket, out the other. I thought my clutch or something else was going on my 225,000 mile Toyota PU, I think it is only a $20 part I can replace myself after a little research online.
Hey Doc, Mates, I was out of home for summer holiday vacation and just returned and opened the computer. And as you guess firstly I clicked the shortcut of CCS web site. What a great gathering you had! I wish I was there too. Many thanks for sharing those excellent photos with all of us.
It's a 3 hour job with no problems. Be sure you use the centering plug (you have to buy it seperatly) before you attempt to tighten up the pressure plate and reinstall the transmission. This will make installing the transmission much easier. lance
I fixed the issue for under $25. It was the piece under the gear shift, it is a pivot point, made of a rubber washer/gasket and a hard plastic piece, greased it up and replaced the disintegrated old pieces. Back on the road in under an hour, took longer to get the metal collar thing to push down and turn than anything else. I like those kind of figures.
Greetings, Dear Brother Sefa! I am so glad that you and your family were able to enjoy a nice holiday, and wish you all the best during Ramadan! SB and I were blessed to have been in Turkey during Ramadan when we worked there a few years ago, and it was a very wonderful experience!! Thank you, also, for your kind comments on our CASG4! Though it would have been OUTSTANDING to have had you there in person, you WERE there in spirit, my Brother, with many of us speaking of you in the most kind terms of endearment!! Thank you, again, for the wonderful pump leathers that you sent us to share! When BernieDawg is over his current illness, I will send him a few, too, since he was unable to join us at the Gathering. Your kindness, as always, is much appreciated, and a real blessing to us all, Sefa!! Take care, my Brother, and as always, may God Bless you and your family, always, and especially during this very Holy of events!! There is no God, but God!! Every Good Wish, Doc
