Monday, February 2, 2009

Happy Groundhog Day

Photo by Alan Freed


From the Official site of Punxsutawney Phil........


Phil Says

"Six More Weeks of Winter!"


Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2009 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:

Hear Ye Hear Ye
On Gobbler's Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009
Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators
Awoke to the call of President Bill Cooper
And greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths
After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were World Champions one more time
And a bright sky above me
Showed my shadow beside me.
So 6 more weeks of winter it will be.

~*~


With that said, I guess we should just dig in and brace ourselves for the 6 more weeks of winter that has been predicted. Now there are impostors all over that claim they have the inside track on the weather forecast. It is your choice of course which you will put your trust in. Meanwhile you can get into the swing of the Ground Hog celebrations by singing the old Appalachian song:


Ground Hog



Shoulder up your gun and whistle up your dog
Shoulder up your gun and whistle up your dog
We're off to the woods for to catch a ground hog
Ground hog, ground hog


Too many rocks and too many logs,... (x2)
Too much trouble to hunt ground hogs,...


He's in here boys, the hole's wore slick,... (x2)
C'mon, Sam with your forked stick,...


Stand back, boys, and let's be wise,... (x2)
I think I see his beady little eyes,...


Here comes Sam with a ten foot pole,... (x2)
Twist that whistle pig outta his hole,...


Work, boys, work just as hard as you can tear,... (x2)
The meat'll do to eat and the hide'll do to wear,...


Up come Sal with a snigger and a grin,... (x2)
Ground hog grease all over her chin,...


The children screamed and the children cried,... (x2)
"I love that ground hog cooked or fried!",...


You eat up the meat then you save the hide,... (x2)
Makes the best shoestring that ever was tied,...


Look at them fellers, they're about to fall,... (x2)
Eatin' till their britches won't button at all,...



Little piece of cornbread laying on the shelf,... (x2)
If you want any more you can sing it yourself,...


If the song isn't enough to get your toes to tapping then you might want to try a Groundhog recipe:


Woodchuck Pie


1 woodchuck (groundhog)
3 medium carrots
3 potatoes
1/4 cup of butter or margarine
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons of flour
pie crust dough


Quarter the woodchuck and place the pieces in a large pot with enough cold water to cover the meat. Boil it for 10 minutes, then discard the water, refill the pan, and bring the liquid to a boil again. Lower the heat and let the contents simmer for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Add the carrots and potatoes and continue cooking the stew for about another 30 minutes ... until the meat is tender and separates easily from the bone. By this time, you should be able to pierce the vegetables readily with a fork.


Now, strain the liquid and reserve 2 cups. The remaining pot liquor can be saved for soup stock, or discarded.


Next, remove the cooked meat from the bones and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Melt the butter or margarine in a large, heavy skillet, add the diced onion, and cook it for 5 minutes. Then add the flour and stir the mixture until it bubbles ... put in the reserved liquid and blend the brew some more until it thickens . . . and, when that happens, combine the vegetables and meat, mixing the whole concoction thoroughly.


Finally, butter a large casserole and pour in the meat-and-vegetable mixture. Lay pie crust dough over the top of the filling, brush the pastry with milk, and place the container in a preheated 400 degrees F oven for about 30 minutes, or until the crust has turned golden brown.


~Or you could just go back to bed and hibernate a little longer with the covers pulled up to your chin. Personally, that sounds like a good idea to me, but I have an appointment this aftenoon to get my 3rd and final Synvisc injection in my knee. I guess I will have to save the hibernating for later.


"Happy Groundhog Day"



7 comments:

Mike Golch said...

so winter it is.

Betty said...

Oh boy, that groundhog pie sound delicious, tee hee.

I hadn't heard that the groundhod saw his shadow. Oh no, 6 more weeks of bad weather.

Have a good week, Jo.

Tersie said...

eww ... woodchuck pie?

I've made it more than 6 weeks into this winter. I think it started early December here, didn't it? So I'll just think I'm more than halfway through it. I'm going to take it one day at a time!!

Unknown said...

Sorry Mike... I was hoping for an early spring too, but we just can't dispute Phil's word...lol

To be honest Betty, that pie sounds pretty good if you would substitute a chicken for the groundhog.

Tersie you can safely say that we are more than half way through winter. We had two snows before Thanksgiving this year. Bundle up in a quilt and we will play pogo and wait out the rest of this winter.

Lanny said...

I'm all for hibernating, unfortunately I have too much stinking work to do. Wouldn't it be lovely if I could hibernate and wake up to all my trees finished, cold frame mended and filled with fresh little seedlings etc. Now that would be the way I would want to spend the last half of winter and the first part of spring. If I can't see the sun I might as well just have my eyes shut! Actually I would like one more really good "ice skating " freeze and or a fort making snow fall! Fun post! And I think there are a few folks out there that would like to fry up good ol' Phil for his forecast!

Carole Burant said...

Our local groundhog also saw his shadow so another 6 weeks of Winter here as well...oh well, we usually have cold and snow until mid April so no change there! lol It's absolutely frigid over here and we have tons of snow. I think I'm going to go join that groundhog and hibernate some more:-) xoxo

Anonymous said...

When the weather gets above 40, give me a call... I'll be hibernating. Sheesh! This is Florida! The sub-tropics, for heavensake! I watched the weather tonight and couldn't help but exclaim, "What do you MEAN 25 degrees? Isn't that against Florida law?" LOL
BTW, I love your music here!
Keep thinkin' warm thoughts. Spring will come.
Lynn