Pancakes and Tuna

[u/Schmutzie_]

After speaking with Jack about pancakes so much, I started making them for breakfast on Sundays. I almost never eat breakfast, but it's a nice change of pace. I do have to make an adjustment in my caloric intake or I'm going to be as fat as a giant bluefin tuna.

As luck would have it, the local antenna TV channel called Quest runs a Wicked Tuna marathon on Sunday mornings. For about a month now I've watched these Red Sox fans catch bluefin tuna while I eat pancakes.

These fish are enormous, sometimes weighing 800 pounds and reaching 9 feet long. It takes all 3 of the crew to land one of these monsters. And then they go back to the Gloucester harbor (Glowstah Habbah) to sell the tuna to fishmongers waiting at the dock. They cut off the head and the tail, gut the fish, and then weigh it. "Faw hunnit n fawty pounds fully dressed!" They take a slice from the tail, and a "core sample" (kaw sample) to check for the amount of fat the fish has, as well as the color of the meat. Fat is good, especially in the major lobes. (majuh lobes)

A good fish can bring a boat $10K-$12K, but they often go days without catching one. In the meantime, they argue with each other over the radio in these outrageous Boston accents, except for the young gun, Tyler, operating the Pinwheel out of Rye, Maine. The TV show has cast him as the villain, and a fine job they did. He's a punk-ass punk. I'm always happy when Tyler (dat punk Tyluh) loses a fish.

I like fishing as much as the next guy but I can't believe people make a living like this.

[u/La_Rata]

When I saw the title of your post, I thought I'd be reading about an unusual breakfast combination.

[u/Schmutzie_ → u/La_Rata]

Thinking about it, but who can afford tuna?

[u/La_Rata → u/Schmutzie_]

Good point. But pancakes...I dunno. Here's how I forever lost my appetite for pancakes:

When I was a kid, we occasionally had pancakes for breakfast. Nothing fancy - just Bisquick-based basic pancakes with cheap-ass syrup on it (who could afford the real maple syrup?). I liked them just fine, as I never overdosed on them.

When I was about 13, a neighbor started taking my brother and me to his second home in Bend, Oregon. I loved it out there, being on the east side of the Cascades, where everything was so different. And Bend was still mostly a mill town, not the (relatively) big tourist city it has become.

My neighbor's cabin was situated on a plot that also had his sister's house on it. Every morning that we were there, his sister would cook up a huge batch of pancakes for everyone. Not only pancakes with good syrup, but jams and honey were available for us to slather on the pancakes. My neighbor's sister and her husband would marvel at how many of those damned pancakes my brother and I could put away. I'd be feeling full, and they'd say, "Come on there's just a few left. You wouldn't want to waste them, would you?" And we would oblige.

I got so sick of the damned pancakes, I swore I'd never eat another. I did have a few now and then when I had kids of my own, but I don't eat them today.

[u/Schmutzie_ → u/La_Rata]

That reminds me of the first time I got sick from drinking. Budweiser. 50 years later, I can't even take a sip of that stuff without remembering it.

[u/La_Rata → u/Schmutzie_]

Ha! You reminded me of the first time that happened to me. I had had a few beers before, but had never had enough alcohol to get sick until a coworker and I got ahold of some Strawberry Hill. We drank beer, we drank the Strawberry Hill, and we drank the two mixed together. I remember getting sick so suddenly the next morning that I didn't have time to get to the toilet, so I barfed on the carpet. Talk about a mess to clean up. I had a hard time eating strawberries for quite a while after that. But I love berries, and eventually re-learned to love strawberries.

[u/Schmutzie_ → u/La_Rata]

You never forget your first time....