Out My Back Door

I've got a pile of sticks outside my door. Some are as thick as my arm, and one is twice my height. Since the flood waters receded, Shadow has been bringing sticks up to the house every time I call him to come in. He has this idea that he should be able to bring them into my house and shred them into the carpet.  I am not always successful, but I sure try to confiscate them when they are on their way into the house. Usually I catch him. But I've picked splinters out of my bare feet when he sneaked small ones past me. I've got quite the collection now, and keep meaning to ask mom if she needs them for kindling for her fireplace. Heck, some of them can be used as logs. Maybe I should start my own business, selling firewood. 

"Remove the beak."

That's what the recipe said to do. Right after "Remove the head." Remove the head, and then remove the beak? If you remove the head, have you not already removed the beak? Does an octopus even have a beak? I double checked the recipe title to see if we were both talking about cooking baby octupus. Yep, that was the right recipe. I studied the little octapus in my hand and reread the recipe. I determined the head had been removed before I bought it in the deli. I did find what looked like a tiny bird claw and decided that was probably the beak. Well, I finally got a pile of those little suckers cleaned, and fried them in a hot pan. I wondered how I would I know when it was done. As it cooked, the normally slimy-looking legs became bit curled and stiff. Have you ever fogged your house and then come home to a few huge dead spiders on your floor with their legs curled under? I have, and that is what my dinner was now resembling. And when they were piled onto a plate of fried rice, they made the rice look a little like maggots. Summing up my bravery, I took a very tentative taste. The things were delicious! I'll admit I did have to close my eyes to finish, but what a wonderful meal!