Even Gunfighters Love Cherry Cream Pie

Childhood is a magic time, but there are high points. Birthdays of course, best if it’s yours, but any ones birthday is good for a party. The fourth of July, especially is Texas, is breathtaking. The last few months of the year things ramp up.


I loved Halloween and Trick-or-Treating. Dressing up in costumes and collecting candy! Can it get any better than that?

YES!

Next came Thanksgiving. The gathering of the family, and the feast that followed seemed to get better every year. We would start the day gathered around the TV to watch the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade. The meal was a late lunch. As much as I loved the Thanksgiving meal, I always saved room for desert. Thanksgiving and Christmas were the only two time of the year my Mom and Grandmother would make Cherry Cream Pie.



This was not your standard Cherry Cream Pie. The Cherries are suspended in a sweet cream filling. It isn’t cooked; the cream solution is set up in a chemical reaction. It was one of Mom’s favorites when she was a little girl. If memory serves me correctly Ma Moo got the instructions off a can of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk in the 1930’s. Sadly, neither of them are available to call and ask anymore.



I’m not a Pie guy, but I learned how to make this one for myself while I was in Junior High. Like Mom and Ma Moo (my Grandmother’s nick name) I make it between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Why? If I made it any more often I would weigh 1,000 pounds. When folks would ask me about it I would refer them to the Eagle Brand people. I can’t always recall everything off the top of my head. Recently I got a call asking me, “Did your pie have cream cheese in it?”



A quick check of the web site confirmed they had “improved” my favorite childhood desert. I hate to suggest people that make such wonderful products are stupid, but what were they thinking?

To serve Humanity and preserve Cherry Cream Pie I am listing the original instructions. You will need;
1 can of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk
1 can of water packed Tart Pitted Cherries
¼ cup of Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon of Vanilla
1/8 teaspoon of Almond Extract

Combine the Eagle Brand Condensed Milk, Lemon Juice, Vanilla and Almond Extract in a mixing bowl. Drain the cherries and add them to the contents of the mixing bowl, then pour the mixture into a chilled pie shell. I still lick the bowl.

To be fair, I also make changes. First, I serve the Cherry Cream as a pudding. After a couple of hours pie shells get soggy, and I hate that. Second, I always make a double batch. A single batch isn’t enough to go around our family gatherings.

Cub's and Flattops

I got an E-mail from a friend a few days ago asking about the Piper L-4 being launched off the USS Ranger. He had read that L-4s were launched from LST's that were converter to carriers for them.

Which of us was right?

Both!

Captain Allcorn didn't get very far with his first flight during Operation Torch, but the other two cubs did.



Fighters of the day carried four to six machine guns. Bombers carried a couple of tons of bombs early in the war. But the L-4 Pilot and Radio Operator directed the guns of one battle ship, to an entire task force. When spotting for the Army the could call fire from over 100 + guns at times down on a target.




After their combat trial in North Africa the Army wanted more of the liaison planes as 'eyes in the sky' for future invasions.



The L-4 next became the only plane in history that had an aircraft carrier designed just for it. The Navy needed it's carriers for their own aircraft, so LST's were converted with a plywood deck laid the length of the ship. There were six slanted parking ramps, three on each side, to store planes prior to launch. I believe the plan was to keep four planes lashed down to the rear of the flight deck, figuring they would still have room to take off.




Officers who didn't fly, and weren't flying in the cubs, were sure they could crowed six and still get off OK. The best I can say to that logic is that cubs take care of their people. No one seems to be sure how many LSTs were converted in this manner.





The biggest drawback to the LST carriers is that the L-4s were on a one way trip. The little planes had no arresting gear and the LSTs had no cable system. They could not land back on the LST after launching. In fact, after the last plane was off, the plywood deck was torn apart and pushed overboard in most cases.




Below is a photograph from the National Archives taken aboard one of the converted LSTs, #906, in the harbor of Naples, Italy. It shows the liaison plane crews gathered in front of an L-4. I treasure this photo because the names of the men are listed.

In the Pacific there were places the L-birds had no choice but to return to the ship. My friends, you ain't gonna believe the answer they came up with!


Note: I found these photos on the net. If the owners object to my use of them, drop me an E-mail and I will take them down.

Need a new handgrip for the Mossberg 500

I need a new handgrip for the Mossberg 500. I got this one last year, mainly because they look so cool. The little beast is handy, and as I've said before, that clack-clack sound of it cycling is about as close to a universal language as you can get.

I've watched big bad Arnold pump thirty plus rounds through one of these (without reloading) and thought "I gotta get me one of these!" I did, and I don't regret it, but some adjustment is required.

Anyone who has fired this weapon will know what I am talking about. For those who have not, I dirrect your attention to the right angle handgrip. When the weapon is fired all the recoil goes here, into the web between thumb and forefinger. Hardly a surprise but it can't be appreciated until experienced. With light loads it's a jolt.

My trouble load here at HomePlace is double OO buck interspersed with slugs. This weapon holds seven rounds in the tube, and one in the chamber. Take a moment to think about that.

Three loaded sets with this weapon left my hand numb, which wasn't good. When the feeling came back, that wasn't good either.

I have thought about a gel glove, will probably get one regardless, but I would like to try another apporach. I have noticed when firing regular shotguns from the hip the recoil against the hand isn't that bad. I fired a shotgun like this one during my Cowboy Action Shooting days and didn't have any problems with them.

The reason is the grip is sloped rather than a right angle.

I believe someone out there makes a grip like this for the Mossberg, but I have had no luck locating one. Failing that, I can cut down a standard Mossberg stock.

If anyone out there can put me onto a premade "sloped" handgrip I would be grateful.

Update

This one got quick results. It seems a company called Speedfeed builds exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for the assist folks.

Operation Torch - 68 Years Ago This Morning

It was just less than a year after Pearl Harbor when the ships of Operation Torch gathered off the coast of French North Africa. The USS Ranger CV-4 and four Escort Carriers prepared to launch their Grumman F4F "Wildcat" fighters and Douglass SBD "Dauntless" dive bombers against Vichy French Targets.

One of the Escort Carriers, USS Chenango CVE-28 carried a load of Army Curtiss P-40 War Hawks. But all of these followed three unlikely warbirds already scouting targets over the African coast.

In the predawn hours of November 9, 1942 the Ranger's deck crew hauled three small green planes with yellow noses onto her flight deck. These were Piper L-4 liaison planes, the military version of the Piper Cub already famous even then.

This photo shows Captain Ford E. Allcorn who lead the small plane unit. In the rear seat is his radio operator, Captain Brenton A. Devall.

Some of you might ask, why cubs? The answer is the very things that make them seem unsuitable were their strenghts.

The Army needed slow moving light planes that could go down and look for hidden ground targets that their faster, high flying counterparts would never see. Cubs were perfect for the role.

This duty was not for the faint hearted. The planes had no armor. For those who have never seen one, the fuselage is covered in fabric. To make working on the plane easier the fuel tank was between the engine and instrument panel. It was not self sealing.

Since the purpose of the L-4 was not to fight, the only guns they carried were in the pilots shoulder holsters. That's not to say they didn't carry something else from time to time. But the weapons the carried by L-4 were hardly the point. As mentioned earlier, they had radios.

A P-38 or B-17 carries one hell of a wallop, but the L-4 was spotting for a Navy Taskforce or Artillery Division. One well placed rifle shot will bring it down you say? I've read the thoughts of men on both sides regarding this. Both conclude if the Liaison Plane stops transmitting, that tells whoever they were talking to something.

So what came of Captains Allcorn and Devall? It seems not the entire taskforce got word of Army Liaison Planes flying off the USS Ranger. They took antiaircraft fire from US ships on their way to the coast.

The French shore batteries faired a bit better, sadly. Allcorn was wounded and his plane set on fire as he crossed the coast. He was able to sideslip his plane to the ground and drag himself away from it before it exploded. He was taken prisoner and his wounds treated.

During his first morning to combat he flew the first plane launched in the invasion of French North Africa. He also became the first Army aviator wounded in the campaign, as well as the first shot down. Busy morning.

But the news wasn't all bad, he lived to tell the story.

Sometimes You Can't Take A Gun

From time to time James at Hell-in-a-Hand-basket has talked about canes as a self defense option. I had mentioned my "Street Legle Mace" a couple of times and he said it was time to show the world what I kept talking about.

Of course, that's when the camera when down.

Now that we have a replacement camera I can start providing images to my blogs again, starting with these.

I first tore up my knee in junior high school PE class, a bad dislocation. To this day I hate anything remotely related to soccer. The knee continued to pop out of place for years afterward. If you have never experienced it, you wouldn't understand.

I had a couple of canes over the years but they weren't anything special. The Sheppard's crook style never felt right. A few years ago I stopped at a smoke shop to look at the pipes. I don't smoke but would love to find a nice 'Sherlock Holmes' pipe. They had a display of canes and this one jumped out at me.

From protective tip to brass head it is just less than 36 inches long. The round head is weighs one pound. The ball fit my hand perfectly and the lenght was excellent. This cane has been, if not a constant companion, a frenquent companion ever since.

For years I have done 'Weapon's for Writers programs'. At Science Fiction Conventions I sold swords and knives in the dealers rooms. Many of the folks who saw me with the cane assumed it packed a hidden surprise. It dose, but not what they expected.

When asked if there is a sword or dagger hidden inside I would simply hand them the cane in such a way they would take hold of it near the tip while I held the head. When I released the head, the unexpected weight would cause the head to slam into the table top. "This one dosen't need a blade." I would explaine.

For Christmas a couple of years ago my wife, Helene and son, Matt had the head engraved for me. I couldn't think of anything nicer to have done.

There are lots of ways to defend yourself with a cane. If nothing else they are useful for keeping problem folks at a distance. The brass head makes this one even more formidable when needed. With a 36 inch haft this becomes a mace. With the brass ball in my hand, the problem folks never expect it.

The beautiful thing about this is I am able to carry the cane anywhere. A couple of years ago I flew with it. This was a day I thought the security folks were going to have me strip to my shorts, but after making sure nothing was hidden inside the cane I was allowed to take it on the plane.

I don't feel that I pulled a fast one on the airport security folks, or the police for that matter. The cane is just a cane, until I need it to be something else.

Broken Shell Extractor 7.62x39

Say hello to my new little friend.

A couple of weeks ago a local man brought me an SKS, belonging to a friend, that wouldn't chamber rounds. He didn't have any details beyond that. There could have been a number of problems.
I took the beastie home and broke it down for a good cleaning. There was no change. After about three days of this I thought maybe there was a blockage in the chamber, and figgured I knew what.

I never realized just how hard it was to get a broken case (shell) extractor. No one local had one for sale. I tried an auction site and I am still waiting for the tool I ordered there.

I finally contacted one of the online vendors that came highly recomended. They had the extractor, with shipping it would have run twenty plus dollars and wouldn't be in until next week (after the first of November).

So I contacted Cheaper than Dirt, some Texas boys out of Ft. Worth. With shipping the extractor was just over half to first quote. They mailed it the next day and it was at the post office Thursday.

After fighting with this thing for almost three weeks I was eager to try the extractor. On the first attempt nothing happened. So I unscrewed it a couple of turns and tried again. This time the action on the SKS locked solid.

I finally resorted to the offically discouraged, sargent recomended practice of kicking down on the bolt like the kickstart on a motorcycle. You can see the results.

The entire neck of a SKS case had been torn off and stuck in the chamber. I ran twenty rounds through it and re-cleaned it before taking it back.

With all the shooting I've done this was the first time I have ever needed a broken case extractor. After this experience I will be in the market for several more.

Sunday Night at the Movies

Once again my bride has gone off to the home of her teaching buddy for a night of girl talk and man trashing. The cats and I are left to our own devices. We started the night with a dinner consisting of nothing healthy and followed up with Pop Corn.

TV consisted of nothing interesting, so I went to the DVDs. If the cats had any suggestions they kept them to themselves once the Catnip came out. As you may have guessed, I elected to watch El Dorado.

You may as well say John Wayne made this movie three time, the others being Rio Bravo and Rio Lobo. This one has always been my favorite.



I noticed this evening that El Dorado is turning into a ghost story. Most of the head liners are gone now. James Caan is still working, I'm told he used his old handle, Alan Bourdillion Traherne, recently on an episode of Las Vegas. I would have liked to have seen that.


Guns are always a big part of any western, this one was no different. I'm not sure when John Wayne started carrying the large loop Winchester, but it was featured here. Of course, the main reason this is my favorite version of this story is Mississippi's shotgun. There are many firearms I want, one of these I will someday have. In the meantime I get a lot of mileage from my little howdah pistol.

Another interesting Firearm that shows up in this one is Bull's (Arthur Hunnicutt) Colt revolving rifle. To the best of my knowledge this is the only movie featuring one of these beasties. If anyone out there knows of another, give us a shout.

Note

I just realized this is my 60th. post. It shouldn't have taken this long. The next milestone is 75.