This Week: 8/19-25 The Lincoln-Douglas Debates Commence

Recall that the 17th Amendment was not even a twinkle in Lincoln's eye. He was trying to get the legislature of Illinois to elect him as a United States Senator.

Thus, he had to debate Douglas, the incumbent.

Douglas was a little s^%# who-- at least on my reading (which isn't much)-- had no real convictions except to stay in the Senate. And I'm not a fan of Big Abe, either. For Senator, sure. But that whole habeus corpus thing... .

The debates do make an interesting read, though.

The Lincoln and Douglas Debates: In the Senatorial Campaign of 1858 in Illinois, between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Arnold Douglas; Containing also Lincoln's Address at Cooper Institute. Archibald Lewis Bouton, Introduction and Notes. Henry Holt and Company, New York. 1905.

Reviewing the Facts

Call me old fashioned-- go ahead, I've been called worse-- but I think there are just some things you should know by heart: the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, the opening split infinitive to all things Star Trek, the words to White Christmas, and the multiplication tables up to about 15 or so. 

Back in the crappy olden days we learned some of these things by rote memorization. Remember when you learned to "count by"? 3-6-9-12-15... . 5-10-15-20... . 12-24-36-48... . And then BOOM! "Counting by" is multiplication! Wow.  It was handy learning it this way. By the time you were in the 4th grade, the facts were at your fingertips when you were asked to review multiplication facts.

"Study again those you miss."

Please direct your attention to the fourth row, third column from the right. Thank you. Now please read this gibberish:

“Even if they said, ’3 x 4 was 11,’ if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with their answer really in, umm, words and oral explanation, and they showed it in the picture but they just got the final number wrong, we’re really more focused on the how,” August says in the video.

When someone in the audience (presumably a parent, but it’s not certain) asks if teachers will be, you know, correcting students who don’t know rudimentary arithmetic instantly, August makes another meandering, longwinded statement.

“We want our students to compute correctly but the emphasis is really moving more towards the explanation, and the how, and the why, and ‘can I really talk through the procedures that I went through to get this answer,’” August details. “And not just knowing that it’s 12, but why is it 12? How do I know that?”

I can think of only two reasonable explanations for answering "11" rather than "12": 

1. "I failed to learn to count by three's." 
2. "I had a dumbass teacher like you in 3rd grade and was not made to memorize my multiplication facts." 

That's it.
~~

Iroquois New Standard Arithmetics: Grade Four. Harry DeW. DeGroat and William E. Young. Iroquois Publishing Company, Syracuse, New York. 1938.

Repurposing: It Came with the House But Now It Must Be Recommissioned

4' x 8'

Mr. Low-Man-on-the-Totem-Pole-Who's-Tasked-with-Following-My-Little-Blog-and-Your-Little-Life has not shared with me, his employer, what large surface areas in your home look like. 

In my home, large surface areas which are not used for their intended purposes on a regular basis become large surface areas (LSAs). LSAs can hold a lot of stuff. Before I moved all of the stuff on this LSA to nearby LSA-- to photograph the former LSA so I might sell it-- it held gardening, sewing, crafting, and gun cleaning stuff.

It's time for this LSA to go. 

Don't get me wrong! When we first moved in, we did shoot some obstacle pool-- and that was fun. And we have put it to use as a LS pattern cutting A and LS serving table. But we did that roughly four times each year. The pool table must go.

The more I thought about selling it, though, the less inclined I was to sell it. LSAs of slate can be turned into LSAs of dining table & whatnot. And my 2013-2014 project, which I've accepted, will eventually entail my finding a large table. So today I began the process of decommissioning the pool table, with the hope that it would be the basis for a large table.

First to go were the sides, exposing the pockets.

And then the rails or whatever they're called.

Removing the felt took a long time. 

For my money, a deconstruction project is more intellectually challenging than a construction project. When constructing, you either have the tool or you don't. To staple felt onto the wooden base under the slate, you need a stapler. Sure. If you didn't have a stapler, you could try some little nails and a hammer. But you'd end up getting a stapler.  

The space of deconstruction is vastly larger. To remove the zillion staples, I tried a staple puller (fail) and a garden tool (fail). I was successful with a knife, a very small flat-head screwdriver, and a pair of needle-nosed pliers.

Humm. Not what I had envisioned.

I had envisioned a big giant hunk of slate.

It is 3/4" thick.

And what I have is three small hunks of slate with a bunch of holes and six cutouts.

So. It's too late to sell it as a pool table. 

I did note that there's a sticker on the underside-- says something about Italian Slate, Italian Fir. 

I'm confident that Daughter C can make something beautiful of these three pieces of slate that we'll talk about for years to come.

"Who remembers when this _______ was but a lowly pool table in the bunkhouse?"

 And now... Daughter C. It's all yours!

I Would Not trade Living On The Farm for Living In a City For All The Tea In China

but some nights... make me want to shake my child and remind her that this is not City Life.

I was in the Bunkhouse peacefully contemplating how to rearrange the Bunkhouse when Miss M exploded through the door because there was A SPIDER and I needed to do something.

Truth be told, as she shined a light on it, it was a big spider. And not one of those camel cricket things. So I got Missy. And we tracked it down and we smashed it.

End of story. 

Miss M is a vegan. She R-E-S-P-E-C-Ts Life. So long as it's not a spider's life.

:-)

hap´pi-ness (-nĕs),

Missy

Rocky

n. 1. Good fortune; prosperity. 2. A state of pleasurable content with one's condition of life; felicity; bliss.

Break Fast

Sausage fondu

Made with home made hot sage sausage. The recipe is from The Pick of the Crop, a collection of recipes from members of the North Sunflower PTA, Drew, Mississippi (1978). I guess that's how they spell 'fondue' in Drew!

Filed Under Big Life: "And Then There's Mike"

A pack of 50 envelopes for 10₵. I bought 50 cents' worth. I'll use them to file Big Things.

Miss M and I went to town today.

I should back up. 

As we were leaving the Farm to go to town, we observed that the truck was up by the Shop. So we drove up to the Shop and said, "Hello" to Mr. Big Food & Mike who were home earlier than "We'll be home early" we expected.

Backing up further... .

Mr. Big Food and Mike had taken the truck and the trailer into Starkvegas this morning because it's the 15th-- the day Mike can occupy his new home.

Even further... .

Mike put his stuff in storage some two and one half months ago, left 'Vegas, returned homeless, and has-- as every person with a standing invitation can-- made himself at home here on the Farm for a little while awaiting the 15th.  

And as you know, Miss M returned just a day or two ago from her short Facation in North Carolina. 

To sum up, Mike's been here while Miss Miss wasn't and now Miss M is. 

And to back up even further

Daughter C has been out to the Farm a lot lately before and after Mike's arrival. Fun times.

Which brings us to this evening and Mike.

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.

--Emerson

 Thank you, Mike, for indulging my stupidity.  

P.S. I know quoting Emerson is so passé-- so 70's. But "you know what I mean"-- which has been a sub-theme-- has proven to be correct more times than not. 

Godspeed, Mike!

How Cold Is It?

It's so cold here this morning that 

• I wore long pants to the pasture.
• The front & back doors are open to let in some fresh air.
• and

Rocky wouldn't get into the water!

 I'm not complaining. I'm just noting.

While I Dislike "Loyal" I like "Liberties"

I'm no book critic. I am certainly not a historian-- although I play one on the World Wide Web sometimes just for fun. And I most decidedly am not a historian of biblio-stuff. But I have noticed that crappy old books published in the United States around the time of the War to End All Wars have some interesting pre-front matter. There are often advertisements for War Bonds, encouraging notes about how running tight ship in the kitchen supports Our Troops and such on the inside front cover.

Here's a good pre-front matter good one, from The Constitution of the United States: Its Sources and Its Application (Thomas James Norton. The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York. 1943. First published in 1922.)

"You may decide... ." It's up to you.

You may decide, as have other loyal Americans, that you would like to arouse in others the reverence you feel for for this great document which underlies all our liberties. If so, and you wish to see that copies get into other hands, you can buy them at bookstores or order by mail from

a committee. 

Or you could read the Constitution on the World Wide Web. (It's pretty short. The Bill of Rights is really short.)

Hey! Mr. Low Man! Check this out. Nudging has been around for a long time. Note the use of "loyal." As if you exercise your first amendment rights to disagree-- which I do in the book's exposition of my Second Amendment rights-- you're not "loyal." Dogs are "loyal" to their masters, just ask Rocky & Missy. I am not a dog. So I'm nudging you to read the US Constitution. Not because I want you to be loyal, but because I want you to be free-- to enjoy your liberties. 

It would make my life a lot easier if you were free. Nudge. Nudge.

And you'd be Happy!

Arbitrary

Downtown Starkvegas is odd for a Southern town because it does not have a square. But it does have a Main Street and on that Main Street is a very nice independent bookstore with a large selection of Dawg merchandise and a little café in the back. (Once I happened upon a gaggle of blue-haired little ladies playing bridge in the café. Sweet.) The second floor has used books and easy chairs and tables. Very cozy.

Because the bookstore caters to students and the Starkvegas Intelligentsia, the used book selection is vastly different than the selection at my personal crappy old book store. And for the same reason, the books are more than one United States Dollar. My efforts to preserve Western Culture one crappy old book at a time are-- despite what you may think-- not restricted by cost. I don't mind spending two, three or even five (!) dollars on a book if I think it's worth it. So it's worth my while to wander around the second floor of the bookstore every now & again. It's worth it just for the laughs.

The bookstore has an abundance of such crappy old books.

Can you believe it?

There's a special section that tickles me to no end.

I don't have a clue what the real criteria are that categorize a book as an "antique" book,

but if I had to guess, I'd guess it criterion was absolute crappiness.

The antique encyclopedia section is a hoot, too.

Encyclopædia Britannica 14th Edition

To be fair, this was not a Revised 14th Edition but an original, published between 1929 and 1933. 

Still, I though $300 was a bit steep for the set.

The other encyclopedia sets were priced more reasonably-- between $100 and $150 for the set.

Pricing at the bookstore seems rather arbitrary to me. A book is worth $15 because it's 70 years old? There's nothing remarkable about A Brief Course in Analytics other than it's managed to survive 70 years. If one were just beginning to embark on a project to preserve Western Culture one crappy old book at a time, were independently wealthy and didn't know any better, I suppose this might be a book to have in one's library. But I'd counsel against it. 

On the other hand, The Constitution of the United States: Its Sources and Applications is also 70 years old and seems to me be of much greater value than a run-of-the- mill math text. But it was priced at $7. Go figure.

The Philosophy of Civilization by Albert Scheitzer is 64 years old. (This crappy old book was first published in 1923, but the edition at the bookstore was printed in 1949.) It was priced at $14 although I'd value as worth more than the math text.

I was puzzled by the arbitrary pricing, but I gathered up my two little crappy old books-- leaving Madame Currie: A Biography by Eve Curie (1939; on sale for $29) and The Ultimate T-Shirt Book: Creating Your Own Unique Designs (1998; $14.95) on the shelf and headed downstairs to the cash register. 

"That will be $7.49, ma'am," the well-mannered young man informed me.

My articulate response was, "Huh?"

"The prices on these old used books don't mean anything. We discount them."

I asked what system-- what percentage-- was taken off because a 2/3 discount seemed rather odd, I was told there was none. He just looks at the book and how old it is and how yellow the pages are and decides on a price. This is a change since I'd last been in the bookstore.

"Hang on a minute," I said as I ran back upstairs. 

I'm all for free-wheeling capitalism, but this pricing system strikes me as a bit arbitrary.

Farm Update: The Sheriff's Back in Town

You may have noticed that I've made very few references to Miss M these past few weeks. That was by design. I didn't want to voluntarily give Mr./Ms-Low-Man-on-the-Totem-Pole-Who's-Tasked-with-Following-My-Little-Blog information about where Miss M was. I am paying Mr. Low Man to keep track of us-- and you. There's no reason I should help him by announcing what our are plans are.

The sad thing is, I don't think Mr. Low Man is a very good sleuth. He knows what we're doing because I tell him. He's not connecting any dots.  Or is he?

Daughter C on her way to composting melon rinds.

M's  back on the Farm now, so I can tell you she was on a "Facaction" in North Carolina. A Facation is a Fake Vacation. 

She's back. Getting the dogs back in line.

And then there's Mike.

You wish you were one of us, don't you Mr. Low Man?

Recipe: Custard Sauce and Variations

Serve with fresh muskmelon or waffles!

This is good! I highly recommend it.

“Waffles with velvety custard sauce enhance a restful Sunday evening.”—The Encyclopedia of Cooking Complete in 24 Volumes, Volume 20: 250 Sauce, Gravies and Dressings (1953)

CUSTARD SAUCE AND VARIATIONS

Makes 1 ½ C

¼ C sugar

1/8 tsp salt

2 egg yolks

1 ½ C milk, scalded

½ tsp vanilla

Add sugar and salt to egg yolks in top of double boiler (or in a saucepan), add milk gradually, beating constantly, and cook over hot water (or very low heat) until mixture thickens. Chill and fold in vanilla.

CHOCOALTE VARIATION

Add 1 oz (square) melted chocolate and 2 Tbsp sugar.

CURRANT VARIATION

Add ¼ C currants.

HONEY VARIATION

Use 3 Tbsp honey instead of sugar. Reduce milk to 1 ¼ C.

PECAN VARIATION

Add ¼ C pecans, chopped fine.

RAISIN VARIATION

Add ¼ C raisins.

Recipe: California Dill Dressing

Garnish with dill flower.

CALIFORNIA DILL DRESSING

Makes about 2 ½ C

2 C mayonnaise (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

4 tsp dill weed OR ¼ C fresh dill, chopped

¼ C white vinegar

2 ½ Tbsp prepared mustard (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

2 ½ Tbsp sugar

Put mayonnaise in a bowl, stir in remaining ingredients, and beat until fluffy. Chill.

Recipe: Garden Potato Salad

No photo. Sorry. It's potato salad.

GARDEN POTATO SALAD

Serves 6

3 C cold cubed cooked potatoes

½ tsp salt

¾ C chopped celery

½ C cubed cucumber

½ Tbsp chopped onion (or more, to taste)

1 Tbsp chopped parsley, plus more for garnish

12 radishes sliced

Mayonnaise

Lettuce leaves (for serving)

Radish roses, quartered hard-cooked eggs (for garnish)

Combine potatoes, salt, celery, cucumber, onion, 1 Tbsp parsley, and radishes in order given, and add enough mayonnaise to moisten (about 1 C). Chill. Serve salad in nests of lettuce leaves. Garnish with radish roses, parsley, and quartered hard-cooked eggs.

Recipe: Sportsman Sauce

Mr. Big Food made a batch of Sportsman Sauce and used it on both the chicken and the ribs he grilled the other day. He mopped the chicken with hot tea mop (peach green tea + Tabasco) before slathering them with sauce. He parboiled the ribs for an hour in broccoli stock before putting them on the grill. 

"Use as a dipping sauce or brush on meats prior to or during grilling or smoking."

SPORTSMAN SAUCE

16 oz can tomato sauce (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

¼ C Worcestershire sauce

5-6 Tbsp lime juice (juice from 2 limes)

12 oz chili sauce (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

1 stick butter

Tabasco, to taste

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 white onion, chopped fine

1 tsp garlic powder

12 oz bottle of beer

2 tsp Kitchen Bouquet Sauce

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

Melt butter in saucepan and saute onions until tender. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer 15-20 minutes.

Recipe: Coronado Island Whole WHeat Bread

♩♪♫♬

Served with Lentil Soup Borracho

From the bakery at the Hotel del Coronado, on Coronado Island off San Diego

CORONADO ISLAND WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Makes 2 loaves

2 packages active dry yeast

2 C lukewarm water

3 ¼ C flour

1 tsp salt

1/3 C sugar, plus 1 Tbsp

3 eggs

¼ C molasses

1/3 C shortening, plus 1 Tbsp

3 ½ C whole wheat flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water, then add 2-3 Tbsp white flour, salt, and all the sugar to yeast mixture, and let stand until mixture begins to bubble. Add eggs, molasses, and shortening, and mix well. Add half the remaining white flour, and beat in mixer with a dough hook or by hand until smooth. Gradually add remaining white and whole wheat flours, mixing well, and knead until a soft, smooth dough is formed. (Dough will be very soft and sticky.) Place dough in a warm, oiled bowl, turn to grease top, cover, and let stand until doubled in bulk. Beat dough again, using dough hook, and place dough into 2 well-greased 9x5 inch loaf pans, turning in pans to grease all surfaces. Let rise again until dough reaches the rims of loaf pans. Preheat oven to 400^o. Bake loaves for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325^o, and bake 45 minutes longer or until bread is done.

Recipe: Lentil Soup Borracho

A Big Food Favorite

I absolutely love this soup. And it gets better and better as it mellows in the fridge.
~~

‘Borracho’ means ‘drunkard’ in Mexican.

LENTIL SOUP BORRACHO

Serves 10-12

1 lb lentils, rinsed

4 C beer

3 C chicken stock (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

1 lb lean ground beef

1 C cooked ham pieces

1 lb smoked sausage or kielbasa, sliced thin (preferably homemade—see recipes in Sausages subsection)

1 C celery, chopped coarse

1 C red onion, chopped

1 tsp garlic (about 2 medium cloves), chopped

½ tsp dried rosemary, crumbled

½ tsp dried basil, crumbled

1 C (4 oz) mushrooms, sliced

Salt, pepper, to taste

Combine lentils, beer, and stock in large kettle or Dutch oven, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer. Brown ground beef in skillet, drain off fat, and add beef to lentils with all remaining ingredients except salt and pepper. Cook 1 hour or until lentils are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

This Week

Miss M will return to the Farm after her Paycation in North Carolina.

Mike will say, "So long!" to the Farm as his in-transition home.

We think ahead to the arrival of Daughter C. and A. Leland.

We note the births of a bunch of folks. Napoleon (b. 8/15/1769-- although this is debated). Sir Walter Scott (b. 8/151771). Davy Crocket (b. 8/17/1786).  Meriweather Lewis (b. 8/18/1774). Marshall Field (b. 8/18/1835).

Also, on the 25th of August, 1914 the Panama Canal opened for business.

The most interesting thing that happened this week in history, in my humble opinion, was Washington's (1790) response to a welcome letter from Moses Seixas, warden of the Hebrew Congregation at Newport, Rhode Island upon the occasion of Washington's August tour of New England.

~~

REFS:

Mary Emogene Hazeltine. Anniversaries and Holidays: A Calendar of Days and How to Observe Them. American Library Association, Chicago. 1928.

Mary E. Hazeltine. Judith K. Sollenberger, ed. Anniversaries and Holidays: A Calendar of Days and How to Observe Them Second Edition, Completely Revised. American Library Association, Chicago. 1965.

William J. Bennett and John T.E.. Cribb. The American Patriot's Almanac. Thomas Nelson, Nashville. 2008.

Big Food Melon

What fun!

Garden-->Table

Don't you wish you had a farm and could pick an Old Time Tennessee Muskmelon in the morning, pop it in the fridge to cool down, and eat it with custard sauce after a meal of BBQed ribs & chicken, and potato salad?

'Course, having a farm is a lot of work. Back to it. There are changes coming.

Get Lost!

From my arch-enemy, Ammonemous:

obviously like your web site but you need to test the
spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I to find it very bothersome to tell
the reality then again I'll surely come again again.

Nothing could be more obbeuslee.