Friday, January 11, 2008

it takes two polaks

ok, ok, so i don't post often, but the expressed concern of two polish gents stirred some postability in me... so here it is.

post post post post post post post post.


HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! the new year in shleydom started like this:
firecrackers being thrown into the fireplace (very safe, i assure you)
the clippers being dragged out for an impromptu midnight head shaving (not mine, don't worry)
punk-balkan music cranking on the stereo, which no doubt fueled such behavior
and
lots of cheese.

since the first of january, the great project of shley revitalization has been underway with great success. a membership to the local recreation center, where the cross-country skiing machine has me wincing away the winter pounds. a new job at an unnamed fine foods establishment, a well-considered decision to drop out of the campaign for mayor of negativetown, and a new cow! that's right a cow! we purchased a quarter of a grass-fed cow for a full year of meaty goodness. for those not in the know, grass-fed beef is superior to your regular CAFO beef in many ways:

1, it is grass-fed, not corn-fed, which means that the cowy stomach(s) can deal with the sustenance without producing ulcers which cause internal bleeding which cause infections which require antibiotics, like corn-fed cows. cows ain't supposed to eat corn. corn bad!

2, the meat supposedly has a better ratio of omega 3: omega 6 fats, though i admittedly don't know what that means, and has more nutrients and less fat than CAFO beef.

3, the cow was not brought up standing in it's own shit. important point.

4, the cow didn't get fat at an unnatural pace, because it wasn't eating corn to the point of bursting.

5, the whole system under which the cow was raised is a hell of a lot better than the factory cow system.

buying the cow this way worked out to about $3.50 a pound. or maybe less..... i can't remember. at the foo foo stores here grass-fed beef is either unavailable or costs $3.99 for ground beef. we got a wide selection for $.40 less, including 2 porterhouse steaks, 2 t-bones, all classes of sirloin and roasts and quite a pile of hamburger meat. we also (gulp) got the tongue of the poor animal, as per m's request. i guess there is something he plans to do with it... i earnestly hope i am absent that day from school.


how many polaks does it take to make shley post? 2, the answer is 2.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who was the other Polak I ask!?

I don’t know where you buy you beef in Colorado, but good ol’ Rick Hopkins has a grass-fed cows and sheep farm close to Springfield MO - www.americanpasturage.com. Some might also might remember the organic turkey Rick once provided for the Grand Street House Thanksgiving.

Shley – thanks for your struggle aimed at bringing back the true dignity of the word “Polak”, something that Dj Cracow called for in his memorable song- manifesto “10 inch Pierogi”

shley said...

in fact, the organic turkey is immortalized on the grand street refrigerator.