1958 F.W.D.

16 hours ago, other dog said:

Now I know why the last pizza I made was terrible. It was one of the Chef Boy ar-dee make your own home made pizza kits and she said to make it on the pizza stone instead of the baking pan. The stone is thick and the crust never got crispy, because the stone never got hot enough. I never thought to cook the crust first. 

SIR! Step away from the kitchen and let us professionals handle things!

I heard my name being used in vain........a few days later. 
I only smoked a prime rib once, and neither myself or the boss liked it. We both prefer them roasted. 

Here is this year's prime rib- it was a big one because we had some friends and family over for dinner. It was close to 20 pounds. Coarse grind black pepper and sea salt and granulated garlic rub- that's all you need. Room temperature, into the oven at 450 for 40 minutes, then back the oven down to 350 for two hours. At the two hour mark, check your temp (no not your temp Tommy, the prime rib's temp) you are looking for about 125 to 130 internal temp. Pull it out, tent with foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes. The photo of it sliced open is the result. This year's side dishes were Yukon Stacked Potatoes (It's a Disney Resort recipe, kind of like Potatoes Au Grautin, very good) I also made carrots with cranberries (first time try, was good but I want to adjust some things) and I also made green beans sauteed in butter, olive oil and garlic. 

14 minutes ago, other dog said:

OK, we'll all be there.

Bring a side dish, no peas. 

I will post some of my recipes from when I was a paid firefighter. No one sat out on any of my meals. Smallest shift I cooked for was 12 guys. 

NAWCADWAR Engine 69 Chicken
This recipe was a favorite of the firefighters at the NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER, AIRCRAFT DIVISION, WARMINSTER PENNSYLVANIA Fire Department, Bucks County Engine 69.
NAWCADWAR FD Closed permanently in March of 1998. This recipe is dedicated to the 50+ years of men who served there, but most of all, to the members of the "A" Platoon with whom I worked with for 2 years.....

You can make this with chicken halves or quarters, but I prefer boneless, skinless breasts. Costs more in the end, but easier to cook in my opinion. If using halves, allow one per man.
4-5 pounds of boneless/skinless breasts will feed 8-10 guys
2 large bottles of italian salad dressing
3-4 large garlic cloves
2 TBS ground basil

Red pepper flakes to taste
4 TBS montreal chicken seasoning
3-4 pounds of pasta (can use ziti, linguini or spagetti.)
3/4 cup of grated parmesean cheese
1/2 cup hormel bacon pieces
1 stick of butter
1 cup of chicken bone broth
 

Place chicken in large baking pans. soak with the salad dressing, just until the sides of the chicken pieces are covered. Sprinkle the seasonings over the tops. Cover with foil & marinate minimum of 4 hours. Preferably 8. Leaving foil on, bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 45 mins. (Time varies if you use halves compared to breasts) Towards the end of the cook time for the chicken, prepare the pasta and drain it off. In a large pot, melt the butter into the pasta, mixing well. Toss in the bacon pieces, the broth and the grated cheese. Serve the chicken over the pasta.
Goes well with garlic bread or plain italian bread, and a nice salad.

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard FD stuffed shells
This recipe was an "A" Platoon favorite of the PNSY FD. In fact, it was so popular, the "B" Platoon would steal the leftovers!

This is a large recipe.....Enough to feed 12 hungry shipboard firefighters........this is enough for 4 of those large stainless steel cafeteria-style pans. If you dont have these, spend a couple of bucks and get a few. DO NOT USE THOSE FOIL PANS- THE ACID IN THE SAUCE WILL ATTACK IT! 

4 boxes of LARGE shells
1 pound EACH: lean ground beef, ground pork, ground veal and sausage meat (1 large of those "tubes" usually works....Bob Evans or what have you.......)
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed/diced
2 large tubs of ricotta cheese
4 cups (2 bags) of shredded italian cheese mix: Mozzarella/Parmesean/Provolone/Asiago
1-2 cups milk as needed
2 eggs
2 TBS ground basil
4 LARGE jars prepared sauce

First prepare the "stuffing." In a large frying pan, cook all the meats and garlic, chopping it all finely. Mix it well. Drain off and discard the fats. Set the meat aside.  In a large mixing bowl: All the cheeses, the eggs, and basil. Mix with an electric mixer, and add milk as needed until it is a pudding-like consistency. When it is all blended well, add the meats, again maintaining a pudding-like consistency. Use milk as needed to accomplish this.

Place in refridgerator to chill.

Prepare the shells according to the directions. When cooked, drain and then quench with COLD water to stop the cooking process.

Make a "stuffers" by snipping off a 1 inch corner pieces of large zip-lok freezer bags. Spread out newspapers on the table, and go in the TV room and get 1 or two of the lazy slobs watching Dr. Phil. This part goes faster when you have 1 or 2 helpers. Take the 4 pans, and coat the bottoms with some of the sauce. Now, with the helpers and the "stuffers", stuff the shells. Spoon the "pudding" into the bags, twist the tops closed, and hold in one hand. Using the other hand, hold a shell, squeezing it open. Squeeze some pudding into the shell, and place it into the pan. When the pan is full with one layer of shells, cover the shells with a thick layer of sauce. Bake at 350 for 45 mins to one hour. Goes extremely well with a salad and garlic or plain italian bread. Serves 12, with enough leftovers for the thieves on the other platoon working tomorrow!

Bread-Pot Cheese Dip

Here's a good one to serve at the Firehouse during a football game or new years day or any other special occasion.......Good for about 6-10 people depending on how hard they hit this.....which will be hard!!!!

1- 10" round bread loaf, I prefer a white or sourdough loaf.
1- 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1- 2 cup package shredded cheddar cheese
1.5 cups of sour cream (this works out to about 2/3rds of a 16oz container)
1/2 cup of chopped scallions (green onions.)
2 cups finely diced or finely cubed ham (I buy one plain ham steak, avoid "honey" or "smoked" flavors)
3oz (1 can) mild green chilie peppers, drained and chopped
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
 

-Preheat oven to 350
-Carefully cut a hatch in the bread by slicing it open across the top. Save the "lid" that you cut off.

-Hollow out the loaf, being careful not to puncture the bottom. Save the pieces you tore out from the center, creating a "bread pot". You can toast these and use them for the dip later.

-In a bowl, blend the three cheeses well. Add the ham, scallions and chilies, and worcestershire and again blend well.

-Spoon the mix into the bread "pot". Replace the "lid" Wrap the entire thing in foil all the way around. (If you dont have commercial foil, use normal kitchen-sized foil crossed in a + shape.)

-Bake at 350 for one and a half hours. Serve warm, with the toasted bread pieces, or chips (I prefer Fritos "dipping" corn chips but thats me.)

The BEST PART is the LID by the way!!!!!!! When you take it off, cut it in strips!!!!!

Easy hot cheese dip
If my other cheese dip recipe intimidates the non-cookers out there, this is so pathetically easy anyone can do it, and it tastes great!!!!

1 medium sized block VELVEETA Cheese (I forget what the package size is....get the medium one, or use HALF of one of the large blocks.....)
1 can HORMEL CHILI (with or without beans....I prefer WITHOUT......)

Cut the cheese (HA!) into cubes, toss into a small crock pot, pour in the can of chili, mix well as the cheese melts, serve with chips when thoroughly melted and mixed.
VARIANT: substitute a jar of salsa for the chili.
DISCLAIMER: This is toxic waste but tastes oh so good. And be sure to IMMEDIATELY SCRAPE THE CROCK POT WITH A RUBBER SPATULA, or else you have to clean it with a pressure washer or dynamite.

Yardo's Meaty Balls 

Making good homemade spaghetti gravy is hard enough. It is a lot of work and to do it right takes 6-8 hours. We usually dont have that kind of time in the firehouse. So if you want to make a good spaghetti dinner in the firehouse one night, try this meatball recipe, which will do WONDERS for any "store bought" red gravy. (A side note to the red gravy- dont skimp and buy cheap stuff! I know spaghetti gravy isnt cheap, but dont compound the matter by purchasing the cheap stuff! I like Franchesco Rinaldi, for 4-6 servings, I buy 2 large jars of "traditional", one medium jar of "mushroom" and 1 small jar of "3 cheese"). No matter how you go with the red gravy though, these meatballs will cover up the fact that you used store-bought red gravy!!!! This only takes a few minutes to make, and since you can bake these, you can concentrate on other parts of the meal while they are cooking.

Serves 4-6 with leftovers. (2 boxes standard #9 spaghetti pasta and the above recipe for the red gravy. Also dont forget salad and ITALIAN bread!)
Preheat oven to 375.
1.5 pounds of lean gr. beef (try to get as lean as possible.)
1 pound gr. pork
1 pound gr. veal
1 small can tomato paste
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs basil
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or put through a garlic press
3/4 cup of grated parmesean
Italian bread crumbs as needed

mix all ingredients well, using the bread crumbs to "dry" and hold the mix together as needed. Now go to the TV room and grab 2-3 other guys who are watching Dr. Phil and get them to help you roll the meatballs. I like mine just a bit bigger than golf balls, as they bake nicely without drying out in about 35 mins. Place them in a glass baking dish or a deep cookie sheet, as there will be grease produced. Throw em in the oven for 35-45 mins. When they come out, drain them on a paper towel for a few minutes and then toss em right in the gravy!

PS- You can fry these if you want, but I prefer baking for a few reasons- it cooks them all evenly with minimal effort, this kind of a quantity will require 2-3 frying pans or multiple "batches" in one frying pan, plus if you just put them all on a baking sheet at one time, you can then work on the rest of the meal while you wait for these to bake, versus having to constantly tend to them if they were in a frying pan!!!

APG Fire Department "Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole" This is great for those leftover Thanksgiving mashed taters. 

I named this after my last hurrah as a Career Federal FF. I spent 9 years at the US Army Fire Dept at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

This is enough to make a standard 9x13 pyrex glass dish.
5 and 1/2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
8 oz. sour cream
1 tsp. granulated garlic or garlic salt
1/2 cp. milk
2 tbs. dried parsley flakes
1 cp. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup bacon- cooked crisp and crumbled. (Note: the pre-packaged Hormel Bacon Bits found in the salad section of the store works also. Use one entire "small" package.)

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except cheese and bacon. Blend with electric mixer until smooth. Spoon into lightly greased 9x13 dish. Top with the cheese and bacon. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 8-12 servings.

An excellent side dish for almost any recipe that would call for baked potatoes!!!!!

FWD's horseradish-marinade pork loin

Serves 2-4.
1 package Hatfield Pork Loin (usually comes 2 loins per package.)
1 bottle BOARS HEAD CREAMY HORSERADISH SAUCE
Montreal Chicken Seasoning
Cracked black pepper
**CORN FLAKE CRUMBS** (very important to use these, as bread crumbs just wont create the hard crust....You can find packaged corn flake crumbs in the stuffing/bread aisle, or buy a box of the cereal and mash them yourself....)
 

Spray a 9x13 pyrex dish with cooking spray or coat with oil.
Remove the loins from the package and rinse off with hot water. Pat dry thoroughly with a towel.

Dry-Rub the loins with the montreal chicken seasoning, then toss on a few pinches of the cracked black pepper.

Liberally coat the loins with the creamy horseradish sauce. Use the whole bottle, dont be shy.

Put into the fridge and marinate for minimum of 8 hours, I like to let em soak for 24.

WHEN READY TO COOK:
Preheat the oven to 375.

Pour the corn flake crumbs over the loins, covering them completely. As the loins cook, the crumbs will turn into a crust that is out of this world!!!!!

Bake 35-45 minutes or until pork is cooked throughout.

I like this with the leftover mashed potato casserole.

These are just some of what I used to make. If you guys want to see more, say the word and I will post. 

On 9/28/2025 at 9:01 AM, other dog said:

Wow, I just looked at that Pit Barrel Cooker website. Like everything else, they're much more expensiver than when I bought mine. I'm thinking they were like $299 then. But if they do have them at Lowe's or Tractor supply they'll probably be putting them on sale this time of year. Or it wouldn't be too hard to make one, with the barrel and rebar, then you could probably get grates that fit at Walmart or Amazon.

I had one just mysteriously appear......It fell out of the sky. 

2000 Dakota Sport

3.9L V6

5-Speed w/Manual 4WD

Runs great but as you can see the body is a bit of a train wreck......needs new rocker panels too. 

This kid is a huge grease monkey. He has been fixing and selling lawn mowers for a while now, but it's time to graduate onto bigger stuff- he will be 15 in May and it's time he started thinking about his 16th bday and that little card that goes in your wallet that every 16 year old kid thinks of.......Plus I wanted him to have a manual transmission 'cause he sure as hell ain't learning on my 67 year old truck!!! The package I handed him is the Haynes/Chilton Manual for his newest "Mechanical Conquer" 

I think I downloaded this video right.......

1 hour ago, other dog said:

I called ahead and the parts guy said they only had oxygen sensors for 2 wheel drive vehicles, and all the air fresheners they had left were for manual transmissions.

That parts guy doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground

4 hours ago, Joey Mack said:

I am truly sorry Paul.  I know it was tough.  My boys stay around me every time im in the shop. Unconditional love. Thats why a Dog is God spelled backwards. 

I never heard this one before, this is excellent. I have heard the saying "We do not deserve our dogs."

Paul, I am so sorry for your loss. I am typing this as Fozzy is laying his head across my feet under the table. Seek comfort in knowing you did right by him all these years up to the end.