Oxford Updates (label: "silly stuff")

Courtesy of North Mississippi Commentor

The food desert that is Oxford has a new restaurant on The Square.

And this, that I'll just copy, paste and link:

This just in.

The Ole Miss Alumni Association
is exploring the idea…

…of establishing an “on campus” memorial to honor proud alumni and friends. Throughout our history, Ole Miss has touched many individuals and created a proud and vibrant extended community. And while our school has helped shape the lives of those in pursuit of knowledge, it’s the people themselves who have made Ole Miss truly special.

Inspired by the devotion of our alumni and friends, we are considering the establishment of a small, on-campus memorial garden that would feature a columbarium containing the cremated remains of interested individuals. This permanent memorial would honor those who hold our school so dear to their hearts and give them a special place on our campus. We envision a peaceful garden landscape, complete with strolling walkways and reflection benches. Space in the columbarium would be available for purchase in advance of an individual’s passing. [My emphasis]

Read the whole thing. The comments are fun.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole in a Sweet Potato Squash Shell

Mr.Big Food asks if I want the recipe. 

"No," I say, "I'll post it tomorrow."

BEFORE: The casserole loaded into the pare-boiled end of a sweet potato squash

AFTER: The casserole, after it's baked in the par-boiled end of a sweet potato squash

It was so good! 

Chain-sawing: UPDATED with more photos

Of all of the pictures I took of them, I liked this posed photo the best.

Mr. Big Food (L); Mr. Kant (R)

The only missing element was Rocky.

UPDATE: A few more photos below the fold 

Recipe: Slower Cooker Potato Cheese Soup with Wieners

It is so cool to be me. I am a judge in a Fall/Winter Soup Contest. Mr. Big Food tells me there will be a lot of entries. 

I am excited. There's talk of a greens & homemade sausage soup. I've had this before. It's not bad. 

Here is some more discussion about the soup's fine qualities.

Here's the recipe for our current favorite, the second entry. 

Inspiration

Kat plates some food for photographs of  Meals That Matter.

 Note Mr. Big Food's desk light, and the flour sack towel.

Miss M. prepares to survey th . It didn't go all that badly. 

 She ended up walking back to the house.

A tea for the Bride-to-Be

Thanks to Daughter C & Aliesha.

Best Fall Soup Contest Winner? Contestant #2

Slow Cooker Potato Cheese Soup with Wieners

We each get a vote. (We are making up the rules to this contest as we go along.) The vote is 2-0 in favor of this potato soup. Not that we didn't like the previous winner (having been the first contestant), Beer Cheese Broccoli Soup, but we both liked this better. (Recipe at second link.)

I'll post photo and recipe tomorrow.

I liked the potato in this soup. It provided some texture that, in retrospect, I think was missing in the previous soup. I don't mind a bit of grittiness in Fall soups. I like starches that are falling apart. The wieners are just a hoot.

This was Mr. Kant's Farewell Supper.  

I don't think I've mentioned it here yet, but I like Mr. & Mrs. Kant's kids.  They are refreshing. They remind me that kids can still be kids.

~~

There aren't as many leeks coming up as I had wished. I was hoping for one really smooth potato leek soup next Spring.

Creative Cooking Basic Whole Wheat Bread

I pulled two loaves out of the oven about 15 minutes after Mr. Kant and Mr. Big Food walked through the doorway. Five minutes later I took the butter out of the fridge and cut three slices of bread. It is  very good. It's fairly dense-- not as dense as a pumpernickel rye, but dense enough. 

So we were pleased with the final product, but I had doubts from the beginning.

I'm starting to really dislike my camera.

Rather than stirring in six cups of whole wheat flour, I used the mixer and bread hook. By the time the whole wheat flour was mixed in, I doubted that I'd be able to incorporate the white flour. And I was correct. 

I let the dough rise for an hour but it didn't double in size. I doubted that 30 more minutes would make much of a difference. Again, I was correct. 

I let the loaves rise for an hour and you can see where this is going. 

So the loaves were small but good. They were also quite attractive.

A word about the recipe. Mr. Big Food includes "prefaces" in some recipes that he puts in The Big Food Manual and Survivalist Flourishing Guide. The preface for the bread recipe is the caption for this photo. Now it makes sense!

From The Creative Cooking Course, edited by Charlotte Turgeon (1982)

Recipes for bread and egg wash below the fold.

Are the folks at TSUN really this dumb?

H/t North Mississippi Commentor

We are talking about the offense of That School Up North's football team. Juco All-American at Red Cup Rebellion was at last week's Louisiana Tech's game against Ole Miss. Rather than leaving at half-time, he stayed and started paying attention to the signs the offensive staff were holding up on the sidelines. Click to enlarge and see what he discovered. 

"Speed" for speed option

I hope someone brings this to Mullen's attention.

A Possible World

We and a regional financial institution own a nice house and piece of land in rural Mississippi. It's not all that big, but it's Big enough for us.

Before we saw The Farm, we looked at several houses and pieces of property. One of the factors in the decision over which piece of land to buy that figured big in my mind was size. A piece of land would need to be Big enough to split three ways, with all three ending up with a sizable property. It would need to be Big enough to accommodate us all at the same time-- and Big enough for privacy.

Farther Along Farm satisfies a lot of conditions.

This past week was the "Possible World Week" during which we (almost) all co-existed at Farther Along Farm. I think it went well. Rocky learned a lot. He can differentiate males from females and he has learned how important that bit of knowledge is to his maleness. 

Mr. Big Food was getting restless near the end. He loves them all. He loves that they cook & bake. But he wanted his kitchen back.  He loves them! 

Dry run. Need more kitchens.

I neglected blogging while they were all here.

Mr. Kant arrives tomorrow.

~~

I have a "metaphysics" label. Should I have a "Kant" label? That just don't seem right.

Sewing

There will be a sewing post just as soon as I finish the sewing. The product will be a much better than the product would have been if I'd only followed the instructions.

Sew long, farewell,

"Aufwiedersehn
Adeiu"

 Wouldn't it be fun to live where we all could have Sunday supper once a month?

UPDATED to correct typo

Chili Cook-Off Winner: Mr.Big Food.

Folks at the tailgate voted "Coosie's Cowboy Up" chili #1! I attribute this to garden fresh tomatoes and peppers, a creative mix of spices, two cuts of freshly ground beef, and homemade chorizo.

Pepperoncinis & Hungarian peppers

 

 

 

Beef

A very large pot of steamy chili

Last year Mr. Big Food's entry came in second. That just was not going to happen again.

Game Day

ESPN, the self-proclaimed "Worldwide Leader in Sports"

ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Screwing with Fans' Saturdays. Why couldn't this have been an afternoon game?  Why?

GO DAWGS!

Poppies

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. 

We have broken faith. 

Everyone has arrived.

The girls are busy re-establishing a pecking order. CKM, CMK, KCM, ... .

Kat is documenting Meals That Matter. 

Aliesha is documenting Kat who's documenting Meals That Matter.  

C is happy to have all of the girls here.

J is being a good sport. 

Miss M. has a few things to say now and then.

And the fried squash, ... and catfish ... . 

Very Big Life. 

If anyone is listening,

I won't be talking much except when I give myself a timeout. 

As I write it's 9:19pm on Wednesday. (I scheduled this post.) We don't expect them until 2:30am, or later. I hope she doesn't speed. Not that it takes that long, but just I imagine a stop & rob stop with them in Southaven would be a delightful way to kill 30 minutes. 

There will be a lot of laughing. 

Lord, please remind C that the Waffle House in Batesville is nasty.

Meanwhile, I left a note saying the coffee would be ready at 6am and I'd see them in the morning.

Now I lay me down to sleep;
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake.
I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take;
And this I ask for Jesus' sake. Amen.

*We passed by a very remarkable scene at the courthouse-- which we have to pass by every time we head to town-- about 9:30pm. I'll talk about it soon.

*We passed by a very remarkable scene at the courthouse-- which we have to pass by every time we head to town-- about 9:30pm. I'll talk about it soon.

I'm coming to understand that Daughter K has my gift of story-telling.

The Sheriff's race was contested. Our neighbor is a guy we've gotten to know a bit, and who we like, and would probably trust. He served some time in Afghanistan. I think he was in the calvery. He lost his hearing and now has a horse. He's our "neighbor" because we share a property line.

See how easy it is to write this shit?

But seriously, Our Neighbor is a deputy sherrif. We know him a little, and like him a lot.  We share a property line. We were interested in his views on the sherrif's race. 

He gave them to me. I asked a few questions, he gave me answers; we discussed a few general matters, and I voted for a Democrat for Sherrif.

And then he ended up aploogizing. Turns out that since this is such a small county, and since the county seat is in such a small town, people gather at the county seat--- actaully at the "tennis court" across the street from the courthouse-- to see the election results come in. 

He apologized that he hadn't told us about this before. 

AND THEN  I turned left and  saw the trucks and cars at The Courthouse.

Election night

Today was Election Day. The results were all but settled by the time we got back from picking Daughter K up at MEM, stopping for some Memphis bar-b-que at a Tops in Southaven, ... and I'd tethered to my phone to connect to the World Wide Wed to see what was going on.*

I first saw it on a Hot Air update. #26 was defeated.

This is shocking.

It is no surprise that #31 and #27 passed.

Sample ballot scanned from the SAMPLE BALLOT printed in our local weekly newspaper

#31 EMINENT DOMAIN: I'm new here, but my sense is that the Nissan thing really got folks in a foul mood about the state appropriating private property. I've seen some quick thoughts by bloggers who have never been to the rural parts of a Southern State.For most, but not all, Mississippians, #31 has nothing to do with Kelo:

MISSISSIPPI MEASURE 31 PASSES: “Mississippi Measure 31 – the important eminent domain reform initiative has passed, probably by an overwhelming margin. Although the returns are not yet completely in, the ‘yes’ side has 74% of the vote with almost 65% of precincts reporting. I outlined the case for Measure 31 here. The overwhelming support for the measure is consistent with results in previous referenda on post–Kelo reform initiatives.”

(The link takes you to where I first see it.)

It has everything to do with the early efforts by Farm Bureau Insurance to make this an issue.  Look at the wording. Very straightforward, I think. Answer: YES. I saw a late (last week) hit on it that was sponsored by some Jackson statist/corporate types. It was all about jobs and how many jobs were going to be lost if the government didn't have eminent domain "in its tool box" anymore.

That was insulting. My guess is that a fair number of Mississippians (~74%) actually do have actual tool boxes, and they know that a lot of the stuff that's in them is stuff used to build and maintain fences that delineate property lines. 

#27 VOTER ID:  The county-wide results will be interesting to look at. But overall, it's no surprise. Assuming it's not held up in court, next November, I will present my government issued License to Carry a Concealed Carry Weapon. It won't be that big a deal, everybody's got one.

#26 PERSONHOOD: Defeated. 58% AGAINST. And Lafayette Co.-- home of Oxford and TSUP-- has not yet reported. All of the is from Jackson's Clarion-Ledger, which, as far as I can tell, is providing county-by-county- results for this initiative only.

I kid you not, when I saw the headline update at Hot Air, I gasped out loud so loud that Mr. Big Food woke up and asked what was wrong. It took me about 10 minutes to find and pull up all of the relevant sites, and retrieve my Mississippi county map, provided to me by the Mississippi Government. The end result is shocking. The county-by-county is predictable, except for a few like the county we live in, where there were a far greater percentage of NO votes than I would have predicted.

If you'd have asked me yesterday what I thought the margin was going to be on this, I'd have said, 65-35, or maybe 60-40, FOR.

Shocking. More thoughts/analyses and appeal to info from the census to come. 

*We passed by a very remarkable scene at the courthouse-- which we have to pass by every time we head to town-- about 9:30pm. I'll talk about it soon.

TSUN is having some problems

Ole Miss-- That School Up North-- is not living up to expectations on the field.

Office of the Chancellor
University, MS 38677-1848
Dear Ole Miss Family and Friends,

As you know, Ole Miss is dedicated to excellence in everything we do. Recently, our football team has not lived up to that expectation. With much thought and consideration, Athletics Director (AD) Pete Boone and I have decided that it is time for a head coaching change for our Rebel football team. We have high standards for all our athletics programs, and that level of competitiveness is not being reached on the football field.

Please note the Chancellor calls it the "Rebel football team," not the blacks bears or whatever.

Read the whole thing here. H/t North Mississippi Commentor where the latest post is a list of potential coaches.

Beer cheese broccoli soup

The first contestant is our Fall/Winter soup contest is...

BEER CHEESE BROCCOLI SOUP

Serves 6

1 ¼ C thick cheese sauce (see recipes in Basics section)

Large can evaporated milk

3 oz cream cheese, cut into small chunks

10 oz box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp ground cayenne

¼ tsp dried oregano, crumbled

¼ tsp horseradish powder

¼ - ½ tsp garlic powder, to taste

½ tsp salt

½ C (4 oz) beer, at room temperature

2 strips bacon, fried crisp, half of rendered fat reserved

1 Tbsp mayonnaise (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

½ tsp Worchestershrie sauce

Combine cheese sauce, cream cheese, mayonnaise, and milk in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook until smooth, stirring constantly. Add thawed broccoli and cook until tender, still stirring constantly. Add all spices, the rendered bacon fat, and beer, and stir to mix thoroughly. Just before serving, sprinkle bacon bits over top of soup. Store any remainder in refrigerator (don’t freeze), and reheat with a little milk to thin leftover soup.

~~

So far, it's the winner. It has a wonderful consistency, pretty color, and very mellow flavor.