Aw man! I loved that drawing.

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Our last house was built on a hill such that one could go ’round to the door and walk straight into the basement. The Girls claimed the basement. None of The Girls lived at home by the time we moved, but a couple of their best buds came over and help deconstruct years of growing up in the basement. Couldn’t bare to part with some of the things.

Texted this photo to them just now and that’s what Miss M had to say.

I know you can’t keep everything, but you should keep some stuff if for no other reason to hear Miss M say, “Aw Man!”

UPDATE: Agreement that it’s 20 years old. Only two of us had ever noticed what’s in the smoke. Crazy, man.

One Dozen Football Food Recipes

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Originally published on January 29, 2019. Mr. Big Food tells me there are games coming up this weekend. Yippee. When is Jesus, I mean, Nick going to retire?

THE START OF AN END RUN
Our Wonder World: A Library of Knowledge in Ten Volumes Volume Six Sports and Pastimes Indoors and Out. Howard Benjamin Grose, ed. Geo. L. Shuman & Co., Chicago and Boston. 1923.

As has been our habit for many years, we eat Football Food on BIG GAME days. And as The New England Invitational is this coming up Sunday, we will be eating Football Food– appetizers and such eaten before, during, and after the BIG GAME.

Here are some links to great Football Food recipes:

Recipe: Veggie Pizza appetizer

Recipe: Crunchy Cornmeal Onion Rings

Recipe: Shrimp appetizer supreme (with more links to Football Food)

Recipe: Beer Battered Chicken Strips (I remember these! Hope we have ’em again.)

Recipe: Shrimp Jambalaya (No tomatoes!)

Recipe: Taco Peppers in Electric Skillet (a pintrest favorite)

Recipe: Asparagus Spears Rolled in Ham

Recipe: Baked Gouda A Big Food Favorite!

Recipe: Spinach Balls II

A few more below.

Continue reading →

Recipe: Wings Piquant

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Yesterday was Marica Cooks Monday. It was also the evening of the so-called ‘Championship Game’ which means I made football food: Spinach balls, Wings Piquant, and the best frozen pizza on offer at the local grocery. It was pretty good!

These wings are good. I made half recipe and did them for 10-12 minutes in the air fryer.

“This dish is so simple it is absurd! Everyone will think you are a genius.”—The Frugal Gourmet by Jeff Smith (1984)

“These make a great appetizer, a marvelous cold lunch, and an easy evening meal. Pasta goes well on the side, along with a tomato salad. Either red or white wine fits.”

WINGS PIQUANT

Serves 3 or 4

24 wing pieces, “either corner or upper arm” (see Chicken Wings (1984) in Poultry section)
1 C Jeff Smith’s Basic Fennel Dressing
1 tsp oregano
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese or Romano cheese, preferably freshly grated
Salt, pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375o. Marinate wings in Fennel Dressing for 30 minutes. Drain, place on an oiled baking sheet (lined with foil for easier clean-up, if desired), sprinkle with oregano, cheese, salt and pepper and bake 35 to 45 minutes or until wings are browned lightly and tender. (10-12 in the air fryer at 365*)

Recipe: Jeff Smith’s Basic Fennel Dressing

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Marinade for Wings Piquant

“Bottled dressings are strong in flavor and high in price. The Frugal Gourmet suggests you prepare a basic dressing and leave it in your refrigerator. It keeps well.”—The Frugal Gourmet by Jeff Smith (1984)

JEFF SMITH’S BASIC FENNEL dRESSING

Makes 2 cups

½ C olive oil
½ C peanut oil
½ C red wine vinegar
½ c white vinegar
1 tsp sugar or more to taste
1 Tbsp dry mustard, “I like Colman’s”
1 tsp fennel, ground
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/8 C dried parsley
Salt, pepper, to taste

Blend together olive oil, peanut oil, red wine vinegar and white vinegar, add sugar, mustard and fennel. Add lemon juice, parsley and salt and pepper.

Book World | The Finding

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Part of the fun of doing the annual book cleaning is the finding of forgotten crappy old books.

“But what do we mean by the America Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations… . This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.”

–John Adams, letter to H. Niles, February 13, 1818

The Founders’ Almanac: A Practical Guide to the Notable Events, Greatest Leaders & Most Eloquent Words of the American Founders (2002)

I did not see this coming

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As good as I am at predicting the weather I got this one wrong. I figured it would snow, but I was not expecting four inches (just measured). Interestingly, the weather station (on the post in one of the photos) is not registering any precipitation.

It has warmed up to 36*– says the weather station– and the gravel part of the driveway is melting. But it’s still snowing.

Back to drudge work Monday.

Reading Now

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“I would claim, if I did not think it presumptuous in one so ill-instructed, to have as one object the elucidation of truth, and the encouragement of good morals in this real world, by the ancient devise of exemplifying them in unfamiliar embodiments … “

–J.R.R. Tolkien, Letters (September 1945) in Hobbit Virtues, Christopher A. Snyder, 2020

‘In Quest of the Perfect Book’

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This is going to be so much fun!

William Dana Orcutt. In Quest of the Perfect Book: Reminiscences & Reflections of a Bookman (1926)

One of Orcutt’s many talents was designing new typefaces. For this type, which he named ‘Humanistic,’ he wanted to preserve the individuality of hand letter of the scribes. Thus, there are several characters for some common letters: eight e’s; five a’s; two m’s; etc.

I see two different e’s on the top line, and can convince myself that the e’s in eye are different than those in speed. The a in ethereal is obviously different that in the top line.

More on this crappy old book to come.

Go ahead, ask!

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Exciting, isn’t it? Just to give you a sense of things, that pile is 7″ tall.

Yesterday I read up on Andrew Lang and Edward Fitzgerald. A little Kant got thrown in for good measure. Not a Kant fan, but the others were interesting characters.

Lang is known today– if he’s known today– for his folk tales and work on the history of fairy tales. But he’s also the one who established the unity of Homer. Homer as one real person and author of all (most?) of the works attributed to Homer.

Fitzgerald of course translated (from Persian) the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám which was not received very well when first published, but gained in popularity as further editions came out.

Let me know if there are authors you’d like to know more about. I promise the entries in these volumes are far superior to those in that infallible source.

Today would be a good day to ask you to hit the tip jar. I mean, really. Where else on the internet do you get recipes, funnies, pleasant farm scenes, and crappy old books about crappy old books?

  • Jazzed up Garlic Pasta
  • Pleasant farm scene

This is downright funny

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The Saturday Morning Joke shamelessly lifted from the Saturday Morning Coffee Break


A nun walks into Mother Superior’s office and plunks down into a chair. She lets out a sigh heavy with frustration.

‘What troubles you, Sister?’ asked the Mother Superior. ‘I thought this was the day you spent with your family.’

‘It was,’ sighed the Sister. ‘And I went to play golf with my brother. We try to play golf as often as we can. You know I was quite a talented golfer before I devoted my life to Christ.’

‘I seem to recall that,’ the Mother Superior agreed. ‘So I take it your day of recreation was not relaxing?’

‘Far from it,’ snorted the Sister. ‘In fact, I even took the Lord’s name in vain today!’

‘Goodness, Sister!’ gasped the Mother Superior, astonished. ‘You must tell me all about it!’

‘Well, we were on the fifth tee…and this hole is a monster, Mother -540 yard Par 5, with a nasty dogleg left and a hidden green…and I hit the drive of my life. I creamed it. The sweetest swing I ever made.

And it’s flying straight and true, right along the line I wanted…and it hits a bird in mid-flight!’

‘Oh, my goodness’ said the Mother. ‘How unfortunate! But surely that didn’t make you blaspheme, Sister!’

‘No, that wasn’t it,’ admitted Sister. ‘While I was still trying to fathom what had happened, this squirrel runs out of the woods, grabs my ball and runs off down the fairway!’

‘That would have made me blaspheme!’ sympathized the Mother.

‘But I didn’t, Mother!’ sobbed the Sister. ‘And I was so proud of myself!

And while I was pondering whether this was a sign from God, this hawk swoops out of the sky and grabs the squirrel and flies off, with my ball still clutched in his paws!’

‘So that’s when you cursed,’ said the Mother with a knowing smile.

‘Nope, that wasn’t it either,’ cried the Sister, anguished, ‘because as the hawk started to fly out of sight, the squirrel started struggling, and the hawk dropped him right there on the green, and the ball popped out of his paws and rolled to about 18 inches from the cup!’

Mother Superior sat back in her chair, folded her arms across her chest, fixed the Sister with a baleful stare and said…………..

‘You missed the fucking putt, didn’t you?’