A Photo Post with No Captions

I haven't done this in a long time.

Here Mr. Big Food interrupted my picture taking. He needed some parsley. 

Breakfast for Supper, etc.

I vowed I would post more photos of food and thus be compelled to post more recipes.

This is a Big Food Favorite. There's chicken there on the bottom.

While I was taking that photo, Miss M asked if I'd like to photograph her food, too. 

Of course!

Tonight we had breakfast for supper.

If you've never had breakfast for supper, you've missed out on one of life's finer pleasures. 

So Mr. Big Food asked me the other day if we had any ramikens. I showed him what we had. Those will not do. So I went to Walmart this afternoon searching for something that approximated what Mr. Big Food described. And these are what I came up with. I love the handles. Makes you want to get your jammies on and curl up with a cup of soup, doesn't it? 

I bought six of them because I was thinking they would be perfect for French onion soup. Maybe made with home grown onions? At 4 bucks a piece. At Walmart.

They worked out perfectly!

FRIDAY

Come together. Right now. 

That egg dish was amazing. 

The Season of Promise and Hope and New Life

My latest Books Bygone column is out in our little newspaper. Also available here-- along with all of the others! Take a look!

It begins: 

Long, long ago, in a time far, far away—that would be before the days of Pinterest—crafty souls got their creative inspiration from magazines and books. These “idea” books often focused on a specific season or holiday and provided not just ideas but also step-by-step illustrated instructions on how to make, for example, an adorable Easter Bunny Centerpiece using little more than paper towels, crepe paper, and paste. As Easter is “the season of promise and hope and new life” which “each of us wants to celebrate in the spirit of love and kindness,” I’ve begun to look through the Easter Idea Book (1954) for inspiration.

Recipe: Cincinnati Chili (5-way)

Sometimes you just have a craving for it!

This “chili” is a spiced meat sauce served over spaghetti. Three Way: Topped with shredded cheese; Four Way: topped with shredded cheese and chopped onion; Five Way: topped with shredded cheese, chopped onions, and beans.

CINCINNATI CHILI
Serves 8 

2 lbs ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
1 6 oz can tomato paste
3 C water
2 tsp vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp chili powder (preferably Pure—see instructions in Basics section)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp black pepper
Hot cooked spaghetti

Brown beef and onion in a large heavy pot or skillet, and place a portion at a time in a blender and blend for a few seconds. Combine blended meat mixture with tomato paste, water, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, cinnamon, chili powder, garlic, and pepper, and simmer 1-2 hours or until thick. Serve over spaghetti, topped according to the directions above.

Recipe: Hungarian Chicken Paprikash and Dumplings

I love Hungarian food!

HUNGARIAN CHICKEN PAPRIKASH AND DUMPLINGS

Serves 8

CHICKEN

3 Tbsp shortening or butter

1 C onion, diced

3 lb chicken, cut up, or 3 lb chicken thighs

2 tsp paprika

2 Hungarian peppers, chopped OR ½ bell pepper, chopped

1 Tbsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2 C tomato juice (or use Spicy V-8 for a spicier dish)

2 Tbsp flour

1 pint sour cream

Melt shortening in a heavy pan and brown onions. Add chicken, paprika, peppers, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Add tomato juice, cover pan tightly, and cook slowly until chicken is tender. Mix flour with sour cream to form a paste, add to chicken, and mix well. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Dumplings below.

Recipe: Chicken Pie I

CHICKEN PIE I

1 chicken, cooked, meat de-boned, 1 ½ C chicken stock reserved

4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

1 can condensed cream of celery soup

1 C canned tiny peas, drained

1 stick butter, melted

Pepper to taste

1 C self-rising flour

1 C milk

Preheat oven to 350°. Place chicken meat and egg slices in a lightly greased oblong pan, and sprinkle with pepper. Mix together reserved stock, soup, and peas, and pour mixture over chicken and eggs. Mix together flour and milk, add butter, and pour batter over chicken. Bake until crust forms and browns.

WECD (Wednesday Evening Comment Drive)

Good Evening and Thanks to all who participated in last week's Drive.

You should check out Daughter C's spontaneous comments, as well as suek's thoughts on daisies.

Mr. Big Food's Dad has been participating behind the scenes.

Thank you for your support.

Pass it on.

WARNING! I'm in a Bad Mood.

I'm sort of sad about the Courthouse vote. 

I tried to occupy myself today as I thought through the implications. Traffic is going to be a nightmare as they build a new courthouse.

Mr. Big Food's Dad sent me a few little ditties that cheered me up.

Missy had a Big Day! So did Rocky!!

"Ruff."

I Guess Folks Just Don't Care Too Much About Crappy Old Stuff

Replace : Restore / 1119 : 472

Well. So be it. 

We could have had a nice little conversation

And then she said, "Businesses are people."

True. And False.  

Of course, business are people. I shop at the Pigglet. From my perspective, The Piglet just is the people who work there. 

I think Roy owns the franchise. 

It was funny, sitting above the lights in LA, to hear Alcino say the worst Court Decision was Citizen's United. 

Restore Or Replace?

January 17, 2013

Things move pretty fast here in rural north central Mississippi. Just 446 days after the Courthouse burned, the citizens of my little county are voting-- in a non-binding referendum-- on whether to restore or to replace the crappy old Courthouse.

We've been debating this-- and by "we" I mean the county supervisors and other officials, the mayor of the little village which is the county seat (who just happens to be an architect specializing in old building restoration), Mr. & Mrs. County citizen, and folks who haven't lived here in a coon's age but just happen to have been born here-- for over a year. These discussions (along with my Books Bygone column) have kept the weekly county newspaper in business! Some fellow even wrote poems about the Courthouse that appeared in the newspaper. And a coalition of citizens had machine-made signs made up supporting restoration!

We also are being sued by the company that insured the courthouse. And almost lost our opportunity at a half-million dollar grant for restoration. 

Diddle daddle.

The Supes (as we call our supervisors) finally decided to put the question to the People. 

Today Mr. Big Food and I voted. O'course, we couldn't vote where we usually do because our polling place burned down. I was #56 to vote in our precinct. 

This is such a BIG DEAL the mainstream media out of Tupelo even sent a reporter to cover the event!

I might be on television!!!

Look! Girls! I Made A Video!!

The final still. 

It ain't great, photo-wise, but it was a lot easier to upload.

Happy Birthday, Miss M. We all hope you had a great day.

Love you!

Words, Words, Words

Trouble not yourself about their present reception; of what moment is that compared to what I trust is their destiny? To console the afflicted, to add sunshine to daylight, by making the happy happier; to teach the young and the gracious of every age, to see, to think, and feel, and therefore to become more actively and securely virtuous-- that is their office.

Words written by some old guy who shares a Birthday with Miss M!

"The Importance of Reading"

The reading of good books is one of the most helpful ways in which young people can develop themselves. One of the saddest mistakes I made in years gone by was utter neglect of reading. I now realize what I have missed by not having read and studied more. 

... [I]t is a spendid thing to make money, but it is a greater thing to make a good way of life. If [you] will devote some time each day to reading the best books [you] can find [you] will derive a lasting benefit throughout [your] lives. 

--J.C. Penney, Lines of a Layman (1956)

A Little Tune

Margaritas

From Sing, Children, Sing: Songs for Children, Edith Lovell Tomas. Abington-Cokesbury Press, New York. 1939. 

Dear Friends & Family,

Tomorrow is Miss M's birthday.

Daughter C has been preparing for days--

Did you see that bird in the above photo? That's my curly-tailed paper cat-- over there on the right. I showed my pitiful cat to Miss M and she asked Daughter C to make her a bird for her birthday.

Top is the first photo I can find of all three of them together.

That's Miss M up a tree. And there she is sitting on Miss America/USA's lap.

Somewhere there is also an excellent photograph of Kat & Marg with a pascel (sp?) of Slovenian no-good hooligans. That's a good one.

Happy Birthday, Margaret!

Have a Great Day! 

 When do you want to open your presents??

BREAKING!

I've just been informed that if you have lightening on the last day of February, it will freeze in April.

Least that's what some old guy told Mr. Big Food's Mom somewhere in Texas within the last few days. 

And it did lightening in Georgetown on 2/28/2014. 

I'd be holding off planting those 'maters, it I were you. 

Sweets for the Sweet

Miss M's edible Birthday Bouquet

arranged by Daughter C!

Ain't it pretty?

Plummeting! UPDATE: I Take That Back

It's always good to see traffic on the blog just plummet over the weekend. You know what that means, don't you? We have lives! Good for us.

It was a nice day. Cool to start. Warmer later in the sun. Then the clouds starting showing up.

A FRONTAL SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY DEVELOP OVER THE REGION LATE
TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY...EVENTUALLY RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD AND LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINS DURING THE DAY SUNDAY. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS AT LEAST IN
EXCESS OF 2 INCHES ARE ANTICIPATED IN MOST AREAS AND A FLASH FLOOD
WATCH WILL BE IN EFFECT FROM TOMORROW MORNING THROUGH TOMORROW NIGHT.

It was wet outside but we managed to get some things done that we needed to do. Good thing. Looks like I'll be tending to the house for the next couple of days. It's just too wet to plant.

Mr. Big Food & Co. made over 30 pounds of ground sausage. 

VEGANS and various versions of vegetarians! DO NOT click to read more.

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

One is silver,
And the other, Gold.

kymber blogs at http://framboisemanor.blogspot.com/. That's *Framboise Manor*.

I met kymber a long time ago, and I ran across her a while back, thanks to Aggie who has apparently decided she doesn't like us anymore.

kymber lives in Canada. If memory serves, ... well, I want kymber on my side. that bunny costume will really crack you up. especially when you find out about her.

Framboise Manor is our Bug-Out Location (BOL) that we have been living in since December 2010. As can be seen by the above picture - calling it simply a "Manor" doesn't do it justice - we bet you think it is more like an "Estate", eh?

wait until you see the back!

Anyway-- kymber decided it was Spring in Canada. But then the lights, internet, sun, and moon went out. But they have a generator.

kymber took a tumble down the stairs.

But She is Bound And Determined to Get On with That Dance.

And Speaking of Political Correctness...

Lots of grumbling out there this morning about Firefox. I like Firefox. But I like the First Amendment more.

Anywhooo...

A modern classic, wouldn't you say?

(James Finn Garner. Macmillan Publishing Company,  New York. 1994.)

When they were first written, the stories on which the following tales are based certainly served their purpose-- to entrench the patriarchy, to estrange people from their own natural impulses, to demonize "evil" and "reward" and "objective" "good." However much we might like to, we cannot blame the Brothers Grimm for their insensitivity to womyn's issues, minority cultures, and the environment. Likewise, in the self-righteous Copenhagen of Hans Christian Andersen, the inalienable rights of mermaid were hardly given a second thought.

Today, we have the opportunity-- and the obligation-- to rethink these "classic" stories so they reflect more enlightened times. To that effort I submit this humble book. 

We've taken to reading a story after supper just before we all go our separate ways for the evening.  

I have an Idea!

Here's the situation. I had planned to have the best garden I've had yet here at the Farm. You've seen the photos of the heirloom tomatoes and tobacco. You may recall I ordered seeds in January when the pipes were freezing and the dryer gave out. (Or was that February?) I had invested in a twice the normal size heat mat and I started seeds like crazy. Although I had a whole flat full of failure, I think we are bound for success, barring a tornado. And even then, it wouldn't surprise me if we'd quickly put on our thinking caps and manage to salvage the tomatoes and peppers and eggplant and celery & such.

I've been planting like crazy and A. Leland has been doing some tilling. Oh. By the way. That little baby Cub Cadet FT26R or whatever tiller has an interesting little twist. You apportion energy to the forward or rear tine function as you see fit. I had to download the owner's manual from the Internet. 

Anyway-- I was ready for a productive break this afternoon and I convinced myself that I should assess the situation. And so I retrieved all of the plastic boxes from my refrigerator* and made a list:

This is what needs to be planted within the next 4-6 weeks. Some of it should have been planted 4-6 weeks ago. We will see how that works out.

I also took a blue marker and made a mark on the seeds I'd already planted. That was inspiring.

Here's the situation. We have the space. There's time. What I need is for A. Leland to offer to take over the squash/melon/bean/corn garden that he just tilled up. And I wonder if Miss M would pay special attention to the herb and lettuce gardens? Not asking you to do anything, just let me know

Good Lord. I just remembered the sweet potato slips. They get planted in the carrot beds. Oh Lord. And the carrots have just come up and the slips will arrive in a few weeks!

Question: Can you grow sweet potatoes in Canada? 

I also have a list of things I'd like Daughter C to help me with before she moves to LA. I don't think that's unreasonable, do you? There is one item on her list. The little hallway. I'll bankroll it (within reason). I have a little stack of paint chips, photos, and such. She knows me. She's lived here. She knows what it should look like. 

*I've not mentioned this before on account of Mr. Low-Man, but I have my own fridge. I share it. But it's mine.

A Crappy Old Book about a Crappy Old Magazine

Field & Stream Treasury: Memorable Articles and Stories From the Pages of America's Number One Sportsman's Magazine (1955)

I'm cleaning my desktop. It tends to accumulate a lot of crappy old books that either need to be returned to their homes or find homes somewhere besides my desk.

I'd forgotten all about this one which I picked up last Friday at the Book Mart in downtown Starkvegas. You remember the Book Mart-- 

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.

Typically I file books about sports under the Sports section in the Bunkhouse. But this one is such a gem I think I'll try to keep it handy.

I should do a post on politically incorrect advertising. I've got more than enough material.

And now, to find places for Toynbee's Mankind and Mother Earth: A Narrative History of the World (1976; published posthumously) and Bennett's The De-Valuing of America: The Fight for Our Culture and Our Children (1992).

Wednesday Evening Comment Drive

I am quite certain that a dedicated handful of folks look at the blog on at least a semi-regular basis.

I would like to hear from you. Missy & Rocky are excellent conversationalists, but they-- being dogs & all- don't have the same perspective as all y'all do.

Daughter C comments in waves. Thank you! Much appreciated.

Nice to hear from you, again, suek. 

Hey, Aggie.

American Grouch.

See there? I have just snuck in three-- count them, three-- little regionalisms. This is the sort of thing on which I would think Miss M might comment.

It takes, like, two seconds to tell me a post is brilliant-- given our understanding of the world-- or stupid-- given our understanding of the world. 

So if something makes you chuckle, or you think our understanding of the world differs, please say so. 

Thus concludes the inaugural installment of Wednesday Evening Comment Drive.

Good vs. Bad

What we most need to know about any man is surely this: whether he is good or bad. To be sure, we seldom put the question so crudely. Indeed we often affect a scorn for mere goodness, persuading ourselves that we are more concerned with a man's breeding, his intellectual vigor, his artistic skill or his practical efficiency, but in the end we admit, implicitly or explicitly, that we are more deeply interested in his honesty, his courage and his justice-- in a word, in his goodness-- than in his intellectual or creative endowment, his upbringing, or his possessions. All this amounts to saying that the most significant way of grouping human beings is as good or bad.

Mary Whiton Calkins, 

The Good Man and the Good: An Introduction to Ethics, 1918.

No Joke: 50+ Tomato Plants

Poorly framed photo. Sorry.

Today was the day the little fellows saw their first real light of day!

I sorted through the tangle and grouped them by kind: 50+ tomatoes, at least 36 peppers (including pimentos), 18+ eggplants, ~12 celery & ~12 celeriac, little bit of this & that.

If all goes well, come October the veggie freezer will be well stocked.

I moved one of the walk-up greenhouses out to the patio and positioned it such that they will get bright morning sun, be exposed to the wind, and begin to experience outdoor temperature fluctuations. If we do get a chilly-- or exceeding windy-- night, I can still close the front door to the greenhouse.

That's ginger in the pots behind the flats. That's right. Thanks to A. Leland, we will have fresh ginger from now until we run out of thyme. 

Things are looking good. Some of the tomatoes have gotten really lanky-- but that's okay. I'll strip their bottom leaves and plant them so that just 4-5" of their stems are above ground. Many have already sprouted advantageous roots. This is key. I once had a conversation with an old fellow who was sitting outside the Super-Lu. He recommended to me that I plant my tomatoes as deeply as I could. I doubt that he had any knowledge of the mechanisms of tissue differentiation, but I bet he grew some damned fine tomatoes.

Tobacco.

These are four heirloom tobacco varieties that just need to be air cured. One variety is for the wrapper. The others are fillers. Someone should alert the physicist!

How it all began.

I'm thinking about planting the tobacco in the front yard. Tobacco is such a stunning plant.

In other garden news...

Look! A Bunny!

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

This has been my family's standard joke for over 50 years. Mom whispers, "Shhhhh. Come quick!" And points out the window. "Look! A bunny!!" she says.

So I tapped on Miss M's door bright and early this morning.

"There's no bunny out there," she asserted.

Well. Looks like the joke's on you!

(Though why seeing a rabbit here on the Farm comes as a surprise is beyond me.)