The warning box encompasses areas to the east of Oktibbeha County Lake Dam. The dam is in imminent risk of failure. County officials are working to relieve pressure on the dam. Forecast to rain again this afternoon.
Dam
Pulled from the Shelf | The Complete Book of Ballroom Dancing
The Complete Book of Ballroom Dancing. Richard M. Stephenson & Joseph Iaccarino. Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York. 1980. Discarded from the Oktibbeha County Library System.
In 1980, “one of the most interesting social changes in recent years [had] been the ‘return to the ballroom’ by students at colleges and universities throughout the United States” (Preface).
This interesting social change did not capture my attention. You?
Dancing is an integral part of life.
p.3
This is one of those books which reminds me there are whole universes out there about which I know nothing, but many know a lot. The history of dance? A distinction between social and other forms? Round dancing was a sin?!? Do tell.
Through a lot of the history discussion– lots of dances come from peasant folk– I had in mind the scene from the wedding reception in Fiddler on the Roof.
All quite interesting. And then we get to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers whose musical comedies really promoted dancing among the riffraff in the days before WWII.
If it’s been a while since you’ve watched one of their movies, do not delay. Watch one. They are beyond wonderful. Truly. I’m fond of Top Hat, but any will do.
And if watching Fred and Ginger puts you in the mood to learn The American Waltz, The Cha-Cha, or The Ballroom Polka, you can order The Complete Book of Ballroom Dancing from Amazon.
Recipe: Hot Steak Roast Canapes
Mr. Big Food was in substitution legal mode for our Football Food menu!
We had had a roast a few days back. And no one sells those little party rye breads in town so we used crackers. And he just warmed the meat up in a saucepan. Good nevertheless.
HOT STEAK CANAPES
Beef strip sirloin steak or whole tenderloin, sliced 1 ½ -2 inches thick
Steak seasoning (whatever you like)
Salty rye bread, slices cut canapé sized
Preheat broiler. Broil meat 2-4 inches from heat to desired doneness. Season meat. Slice thin and serve hot on rye bread slices.
Recipe: Texas Chicken Wings Legs
Seriously good. Mr. Big Food made about half of the recipe.
TEXAS CHICKEN WINGS
Makes about 32 appetizers
½ C flour
1 envelope (1/3 C) taco seasoning mix
3 lbs chicken wings, wing tips removed, remainder cut at joint (about 32 pieces)
6 Tbsp butter
1 C tortilla chips, crushed fine
Preheat oven to 350o. Combine flour and taco seasoning mix in plastic bag, add 2 to 3 chicken pieces at a time, and shake to coat well with mixture. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces. Melt butter in a 15x10x1 inch baking pan, place chicken pieces in pan, turn each piece once to coat all surfaces, then roll pieces in crushed tortilla chips and return to baking pan. Bake about 45 minutes.
Recipe: Appetizer Party Franks Sausages
A Big Food Favorite. Mr. Big Food substituted cut up sausage for the franks.
“Bite-size pieces of frankfurters, coated in a tomato soup mixture of peppery seasonings go well with cold fruit punch.”—The Creative Cook (1978)
APPETIZER PARTY FRANKS
Makes about 4 cups
½ C onion, chopped fine
1/3 C bell pepper, chopped fine
2 Tbsp butter
10¾-oz can condensed tomato soup
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp prepared mustard (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)
Dash hot pepper sauce
1½ frankfurters, cut into 1-inch pieces
In a 1½-quart glass casserole, combine onion, bell pepper, and butter, and cook in microwave oven 4 minutes on High or until vegetables are tender, stirring 1 time. Add soup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, hot pepper sauce, and frankfurters pieces, cover dish with waxed paper, and cook 10 minutes on High until hot, stirring 3 times. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir before serving.
Game’s over but…
football food remains! It was tremendous. Nothing fancy but very tasty. Perfect for game watching– provided you have a good supply of napkins.
Recipes coming up.
Crappy Old Book Shelf of the Month
Long time readers may recall the Crappy Old Books of the Months series. Though I often fell down on the job because of real life, I enjoyed those. I thought some posts were quite good. Naturally, a few books became tiresome toward the end– you may have eventually tired of the Bacon jokes– but it was a fun series.
This year, let us put a new spin on Crappy Old Books of the Months and frame the series in terms of Crappy Old Book Shelves. Each month we’ll look at the crappy old books on a single bookshelf (broadly construed) until I run out of bookshelves, which should keep us in business for quite some time.
I will not be too terribly ambitious to start. The bookshelf in the front bedroom that The J-Man loving crafted has relatively few books. I chose them because of their potential appeal to guests who enjoy crafts, gardens, home decorating, food preparation, photography, and ballroom dancing.
Stay tuned. I think we’ll start with ballroom dancing.
I’m bored
Doesn’t happen too often.
Back Inside We Go
Jack and the Dummies stayed in the shack until about noon today waiting for the storm to pass. Started raining again just a bit ago and I saw them trundling through the Pond Pasture headed to the shack in the Overgrown Pasture. Why Clyde is still standing outside is beyond me. Dummy.
Man it looks desolate out there.
Thunder
To my untrained eye, it looks as if the very very bad stuff is going to miss us. We shall see. Meanwhile, I had to tell WTVA to please sit down and stop shouting at me. We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm. I can hear it! I do not need to be told that lightening has been detected in my area, I inferred that given the thunder, plus my weather station is beeping. Thank you very much.
TWiP 2
TWiP 1
Look at those colors!
Good thing I made coffee.
On it’s way
Woke up feeling as if I’d been cheated. Then I looked at the radar, made coffee, and looked at the radar again.
Red is never good. Stay tuned.
We’re as ready as we’re gonna be
Geeze. WordPress is so weird sometimes. Anywhooo… .
The generator is staged on the covered patio. I have sorted and confirmed my inventory of heavy-duty extension cords, walked though the Generator Network & made adjustments. Days ago, I discharged and recharged all of the things that plug into things that provide Electricity (32 days worth on hand but that’s not really true, though come to think of it, if it’s sunny– maybe). Refilled several 5-gallon tanks with non-ethanol gasoline for the generator.
Dealt with some donkey & the dummies issues to maximize their safety and comfort. They’re on their own from here on out.
Laundry’s done. Temperature wise it’s going to be warm so now worries there.
That’s about it.
This is acceptable
As I mentioned a while back, if you’re on Twitter, you should follow your local National Weather Service Offices.
Links to all NWS sites at the post linked above.
I’ve had it
This is so freaking stupid.
Where am I?
One thing is for sure. If there are people out there who really truly need to be told that they need to know where they f-ing are, they are NOT following weather related twitter accounts.
Know where you are. JFC. I know where I am down to the lat/long second. I can point to true and magnetic north from my kitchen window AND can tell you what the offset is between the two. I follow weather related twitter accounts.
Where am I?
The reality from Shreveport
Winter tornadoes are a real thing.
Hasn’t been updated in more that a decade but hey. Making excel graphs costs money.
That’s an excellent question. What is the annual budget for NOAA, and NWS?
I must have more coffee
Know where you live.
What the bleep does that even mean? I am open to all thoughts on this.
And now. Back to morning coffee.
Prepping for the storm: The important things
In anticipation of crummy weather later this week, I spent today preparing. Of particular import, I restocked both tea drawers. The one on the left sits on the counter in the Big House, the other under the bar in the Bunkhouse.
On the left in the Big House drawer you will find herbal teas, beginning with lighter fare such as red clover, nettle leaf, and chamomile. These are followed by the mints, and then “warmer” cinnamon, apple and such teas. On the right are teas containing caffeine, beginning, from the lower caffeine whites through the greens and fruited greens to the classic blacks– Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, Darjeeling, finishing up with Constant Comment.
Here’s to the weekend!