The Bon Vivant's Companion - Haiku

The Hilton Archives on campus has the most fantastic collection of cookbooks. We've been digitizing those that aren't already online somewhere and falls under Public Domain. We are also scanning those that are rare and in very fragile condition.

We found this charming little book tucked away. It is packed full of drink recipes. What I really like is the illustrations. Here are just a sampling.

How does one go from
Principal Bartender to
Professor Jerry?

 Pensive...or angry.

The Charming Miss Dickie looks

I am not sure which

He sits at the bar

John Peterson of Kirk's

Celebrated bald head

A roue and his tricks

Professor Thomas will hit

punch bowl with big dent

Young Billy Tracy

lifts his full wine glass up high

to the Bank Exchange

A fancy saloon

a pointy mustachio 

Dennis Sullivan

Scoundrels with liquor

Innocent maiden on bed

this does not bode well

Orgy, wine and song

Prof. Thomas is such a prude

to not allow it.

Sensational Dance

Kiralfy Trio triumph

goofy feathered hats

I hope you enjoyed this little look at alcohol consumption in the late 1800s to early 1900s. 

I'll be in Philadelphia for the next 3 days but I'll try to visit. 

Love,

M

JR has worked through all 5 stages

Yesterday morning I received an IM from The Boy: 

The Boy: i uh think the big tv is broken

 we turned it on and the picture came up and then went out and started making a low buzzing sound

  and smelling like dead electronics bad

  candance says its the smell of ozone, which ive never heard of

me: aw crap

 of course it is no longer under warranty

 The Boy: :(

This may sound like an innocuous conversation but The Boy and I knew the ramifications. And, there were plenty of them. We would have to shell out for a new TV right before tax season, we would have to figure out what to do with the old dead one, and we would have to decide whether to buy a bigger one, these were just a few of the things that were rattling around in my head but the one huge elephant in this room was; JR would be pissed!   I mean Irish lad pissed! JR doesn't get mad often but when he does it is not a pretty site and this was sure to piss him.the.hell.off.

You see, JR is a vidiot (video-idiot). He lives and breathes by his video equipment. It is his one true passion, well, except me but I'm a little harder to turn on. Uh...that's not what I mean. Oh hell, let's face it, I'm 51 years old, it's exactly what I mean! It's that menopause thing. Why am I explaining this to ya'll?

Back to JR.

I came home to find him on the phone with Vizio customer service, though if you asked JR there was really no real service involved in that conversation. I could see that he was passing through the 5 stages of grief that all of us pass through when we have lost a loved one. 

Yes, I said loved one.

JR's TV counts. 

Trust me. 

It does.



DENIAL: If plugging it in and trying to turn it on, over and over again, isn't denial I don't know what is. My heart was breaking for this poor man and his TV. It was sad.

ANGER: Can we talk about THE SWEARING when the customer service people kept asking (FYI Visio customer service reps. Don't ask more than once if you don't want your head bitten off. Just trying to help you out.) him if he bought the extended warranty? His answer was: "NO. If I had known that your product was a piece of shit I wouldn't have bought it to begin with". That was while he was on the phone. We (and I'm using the royal we here) got an earful, with the f-word liberally laced within, after he got off the phone.  After awhile I convinced him that his best recourse was to get onto Amazon and Costco (where he bought the thing) to rate it poorly. He could also fire off some hot but polite,( yeah asking too much) reasonable emails to Vizio and Costco about his lack of satisfaction in this product. He took the extra step of emailing EVERYONE he knew (I apologize to any of our friends and family reading who received said email. I had no control over the content of his email).

BARGAINING: He went through this stage fairly quickly after he determined that the TV couldn't be repair. Most of the bargaining was with me. I told him that after we move we will have a certain amount of money for a new one and he could get whatever he wanted. When we first got married he worked and I kept house/kids/money. It was our division of labor and it has never changed. I've offered to let him take on the money part of our lives but he has always said no. He gives me this song and dance about how good I am at it, yada, yada, yada. Yeah, right! (you are very welcome to my dirty laundry)

 

DEPRESSION: This stage manifested itself in his sitting in front of the TV all.night.long. He even tried to turn it on and off a couple of times. I think he was reaffirming to himself that it was dead.  He could have come into the bedroom to watch the little TV. He could have moved the little TV into the living room to watch. He could have done a zillion things around the house. None of which he did. He sat in front of the broken TV, a broken man. It was very sad.

ACCEPTANCE: After an hour or so of pity came acceptance. He accepted then embraced (a little too whole heartily if you ask me) the notion that he would get a new TV soon. Being the take charge kind of guy that he is, the search started. He got onto Consumer Reports to see which ones were the best rated, the most reliable, and the best value. He shopped Amazon, Costco, Best Buy and anywhere else he could think of for his chosen brand. He narrowed it down, he aggressively shopped, I kept the credit card out of his hand.

While I like this stage better than the pitiful depression stage I'm a little afraid that for the next several months I'm going to hear nothing but, this TV rates higher than this other TV and if we get this one it does this extraordinary thing. This will get very old for me very fast. Why? Because I just don't care. TVs just don't do it for me. 

Does it show a picture?  Good, I don't need to know how many pixels per inch.

Does it have sound? Great, I don't need to know the Dbs or whatever.

Does it turn on and off? Terrific, that makes it one step up from what we have now.

He will make sure I know everything. God bless him. I'll listen, nod, and assure him because that's what I'm here for. 

So that's where it's at around here. JR is planning to go pick up the TV box (don't even get me started about saving component boxes) from storage tonight if he has time. Otherwise the old dead TV will be sitting on it's stand taunting him. Pray that he gets off early enough to get the box so this thing can go to TV heaven. Wherever that is?

Love,

M

Container garden update

We live in an apartment with an excuse for a patio. This thing measures about 10 feet by 6 feet and faces west. Not the best size or orientation for gardening. We decided that a patio tomato sitting by the tree outside our door and herbs in pots were about all we could do. Some of these are from our old place and some are new. 

 This is our sage and second rosemary plant. This rosemary is a bunch of starts from my primary rosemary plant, shown below. Rosemary, like most plants, is very easy to root.  When I need to use rosemary in a recipe I usually cut off about 4 or 5 six inch sprigs. I strip off about 3 inches of the leaves from the cut end. I use the leaves in my recipe then place the sprigs in a glass of water. After about 1 week the sprigs will sprout. By 3 weeks they will have a couple of roots around 3 inches long. I poke a hole in the dirt of one of my pots, plant the rooted sprigs, and what you see above is where they go from there.

 The nice thing about rosemary is that it is really hardy. When it gets cold around here (it does too!) it will hang in there through the cold. This plant is around a year and a half old. When we move to the new place we'll place it in our little backyard. Little is 26 feet by 12 feet. It will seem like an acre compared to this patio. I have just the place for it, right next to the sliding glass door next to the fountain. It will love that spot.Nice and sunny. I'll love the smell as I brush by it as I come and go. We will have to wait until October though otherwise it will be too shocked.

 This is our oregano plant. I think. It could be our marjoram plant. They look a lot alike. I always have to eat a leaf to figure it out. Sometimes I throw caution to the wind and add whatever I cut off. As you can see it needs a bit of a hair cut and clean up. I feel its pain. I too need a bit of a hair cut.

To maximize our space we bought a chrome shelving unit. It works very well, except that our strawberry plant likes to put out runners. If you look to the back of the pot you can see that one of them found a home in with the oregano. 

 3 weeks ago our basil plants were this size

10 days ago this was what our basil plants looked like.

This is what they looks like today. You can see that the tops of the plants have reached to the bottom of the shelf above. I felt compelled to start eating off these plants already. I'm doing it a service. Mmmmm.... basil. 

 

 Strawberry plants 10 days ago.

 Strawberry plants today.

Hopefully we can get to those red ones before the birds do. Not that I don't begrudge the birds the food, it's just that JR loves strawberries and he has worked so hard keeping these alive on a patio without a water faucet. That's right. JR carries bucket after bucket of water from the master bathroom to water these plants. Sounds like stupidity doesn't it? It is still worth it.

 

 These are some more of the herb plants that we picked up 3 weeks or so ago at the farmers market. Flat leaf parsley and lemon thyme. The thyme is going crazy and it is about time to give the parsley a cut.

 No matter where we move JR buys himself a tomato plant. This cherry tomato plant we got at the farmers market also. It was 6 inches tall then. It is about 3 feet tall and flowering right now. We should be eating tomatoes in another month. We've found that cherry tomatoes do very well in pots.

That is how our garden is growing right now. For those of you with very little space, like us, a container garden is the best way to go. Also, gardening is a wonderful activity for your children. We taught The Boy his colors in the garden. It was the only way we could keep him from eating the green tomatoes.

Have a great day everyone.

Love,

M

2 of the funniest men ever

You really must watch this and if you ever get a chance to watch any other "You bet your lift" television shows be sure to do so. Groucho is incredible!




Love,
M

RTT = weekend roundup

I will be using rodeo and/or Texas expressions throughout this post. Why? Because it is rodeo season here in Texas or should I say southeast Texas. This state is so danged big it has to sit down in shifts. Another reason for what may be a post rampant with rodeo/Texas euphemisms is because my friend of 33 years, Sally and her husband can down to the Houston Rodeo to see Sally's favorite country star, someone by the name of Brad Paisley. She says that she refrained from making a cake of herself. I'm not sure I believe her. I'm pretty sure she was as crazy as a peach orchard sow when Brad stepped off the stage and into the crowd. Anyway, they were in town for the weekend so JR and I took them on a whirlwind tour around the area. 

First up:

John (Sally's husband) eats a steak the size of his head. With a bone that looks like it would boom-a-rang back to you. We kept waiting for the table to tip over just like Fred Flintstone's car.

Then we took them to a local place that makes beignets.

And, while the beignets at Crescent City are no where near the tasty fried dough and powder sugared goodness of Cafe du Monde's in New Orleans these are nothing to sneeze at. Or they are when you snort up a load of powder sugar. We cowboyed up to eat 2 orders of them lickity split.

Then we took them to the Johnson Space Center. Where the trams where named after planets (or space missions, I not sure which). I tweeted that I was hoping to get on the Uranus tram only to have my hopes dashed when we boarded the Neptune tram. Truly disappointing but as they say, If you can't handle the ride, don't climb into the chute.

Then they went to their concert. While they were there Nessa must have felt left out of the fun. In a fit of pique she gutted one of her toys (called babies in the Dog's Life household). Some days she is all horns and rattles. 

Actually, gutting babies is a past time that she enjoys. As she does it on a fairly regular basis. 

The wildflowers have started to bloom

I decided to get in while the gate's still open to grab some photos for ya'll.

Next, we drove down to Galveston. While waiting an interminably long time for our breakfast this showed up:

It was so ugly it looks like the dogs have been keepin’ it under the porch. Yes, that is purple carpet covering that thang. 

Then we left the restaurant to go to Moody Gardens. 

We were in tall cotton at the Aquarium. 

I was as happy as a gopher in soft dirt that Sally and John came down to Texas to visit. After ferrying them around for the weekend I think they plan to come back real soon. We will have to discourage them from coming in the summer because is it so hot the hens are laying hard-boiled eggs then. October and November are good months though. 

Well, ya'll come back now, real soon.

Love,

M

28 Years ago Saturday

 

I have lots of news from over the weekend but haven't the time to upload all the images. One big event was JR and I celebrating our anniversary. 

28 Years ago Saturday I walk down the aisle of our family's church to meet and marry JR. All the while I was checking out the exits just in case I felt the need to make a fast get away. Since, I was standing on the left a good bet was the door in front and to the left of the alter. The door on the right held no promise because dodging between my daddy and JR was just asking to be caught. And fleeing down the aisle seemed overly dramatic, even for me. 

 

I must have telegraphed my possible intentions because it was just as making a break for it started looking really good that my daddy tightened his grip on my arm and whisper, "it'll be alright, honey." Of course, he was right. he was always right.

It has been alright. 

It's been better than alright.

It's been terrific.

Even though JR thinks this should be my next tattoo...

I love you JR. Thanks for putting up with me. And, No I will not be getting that tattoo.

Love,

M

Oh Joy! Mad container gardening skills.

Right at this moment we live in an apartment. We thought this was going to be okay. Mmmm, not so much. It is close to our places of employment. It has 3 bedrooms. It has the mandatory 2 bathrooms. It has space for a dining room table. What it doesn't have is storage, OMG it is so lacking in storage, it is not funny. Don't laugh. I store all kinds of crap. 

What it also doesn't have is very much outdoor living space. This wouldn't be too bad if; 

1. we didn't have the dogs. Giving them up is a non-issue. They are not just companions but getting a dog is a responsibility. Yikes! I almost went into pet responsibility lecture mode. 

2. It is hard to seat 2 people on our excuse for a patio. During the fall and spring JR and I like to sit out on the patio, drinks in hand, chat about our day or he reads and I paint. We miss this. Seriously miss it.

3. We can't garden. Much. Or barely at all. We have some gardenias that we put along the fence that is 5 or 6 feet from our door but what about veggie and fruit? Where do we put those? And, basil? Please God, don't make me give up my basil. It is life to me. It is my drug of choice. If we don't count wine. For this example let's not, m'kay?

What were we to do?

We put up a set of wire shelves to hold pots of plants. Herbs mostly.

This is lemon thyme and Flat Leaf Parsley

Yummy

We did pot up a few strawberry plants. 

Lookee how well they are doing.

JR loves strawberries.

Maybe not as much as peaches. 

Peaches are his favorite,

but strawberries come in a very close second. 

Plus, they are easier to grow in a pot. 

Though we do have a peach tree in a pot. 

It's just not doing as well. Something we'll have to work on.

We have my beloved basil.

We had to put in new plants a couple of weeks ago.

The freeze killed off my last bunch. It was a sad day in the Dog's Life household.

I'll be planting basil seeds in that bare front area tomorrow.

Basil loves to be in pots. Loves to be bunched up with its buddies. Loves the hot humid weather of southeast Texas. 

By this time next week we will be snacking on these plants and the seeds will be up.

We also have oregano, rosemary and sage. 

Do not think that this situation will persist. We are moving in July to a bigger townhouse with fenced front and back yards. We will be making good use of that place. I have been plotting (steeples fingers and taps them). Because while the new place has 20 times more area to work with I want 40 times more veggies and herbs. Here's what we are going to do; we're going vertical. I have plans for those fences to become garden space. I'll keep you all posted. Though I'm pretty sure you don't really care about my mad planting/gardening plans I'll tell them to you anyway. Because I'm like that. Mhahahaha.

Love,

M

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

While I am not technically Irish, I'm more of an American hybrid or as I call myself, a mutt. You know that mutts make the best pets, right? Not that I'm a pet but...I'm not sure where I'm going with this, anyway.

JR could be considered of Irish ancestry. 

3 of his grandparents came over from Ireland between 1870 and 1910. 1 by way of Canada but we don't hold that against him. JR still has family up north. Then again, he still has family in Ireland. He and his brothers stay in contact with his cousin Terry in County Meath. Computers help, I remember sending birthday and Christmas cards to their great uncle back in the 80s and 90s. My mother-in-law use to send him cards and I just picked up that mantel. When he passed away we stayed in contact with his son/grandson (I can't remember the connection) Terry. My brothers-in-law have even been over there to visit. JR and I hope to get over there.

While, the gang around here is just a tad Irish we don't really do much for St. Patrick's Day. I'll be persuaded to make corned beef and cabbage. The boys will drink a Guinness or two but that is about it. We don't go out to brave the crowds. If you do, have a great time.

Love, 

The Mutt

RTT - and they thought these were funny how?

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Random Tuesday Thoughts.

The denizens of this particular form of social media are entertaining and most often enlightening.

Can you tell I'm in academic gray literature paper writing mode?

You may want to drink a couple of cups of coffee first.

1912 humor

WRITING HOME

"Writing your husband again? But you wrote him yesterday for money."

"I find it advisable to use a thorough follow-up system."

If you are ever in the Washington DC area and that includes Baltimore, here is a tip; 

stand on the right

walk on the left

this is the unwritten law of escalators and those moving pathways. If you don't follow this tip you may find yourself mowed down by a man in an expensive suit as the poor lady that I helped by grabbing the sleeve of her jacket to pull her to safety did. After she got over her total bewilderment of why this crazy lady was grabbing her and pulling her to the right and why Mr. Powersuit was racing past her on the left fast enough to spin her in a circle I explained the rule. I doubt she'll forget it anytime soon. Poor thing.

More 1912 humor

He - Be this the woman's exchange?

She - Yes

He - Be you the women?

She - Yes

He - H'm! Then I guess I'll keep my Sal.

Edwardian humor. Not all that funny.

While in Baltimore I picked up a birthday gift for my friend Julie. 

She'll love these:

Prosperity Hens and an evil eye.

She'll be safe from evil and hopefully she'll be prosperous.

The perfect gift.

I'm just looking out for her.

I, of course, picked myself up a set also. My department is getting new offices in a month so I'll need to guard it against evil spirits. With that thought in mind I also picked up another set of these.

Tibetan prayer flags. 

I'll be in New Orleans in June maybe I should check out the local voodoo shops?

Better safe than sorry.

1912 advertising

When you visit Galveston

drink

"HIGH GRADE"

The Beer That's Liquid Food

Galveston Brewing Co.

JR considers most all the beers that he drinks liquid food. 

It's not just for breakfast anymore!

That's enough out of me. I've got a ton of stuff to do today that should have been done yesterday but instead I came home from work yesterday, made dinner (and not a very good one I might add), then promptly fell asleep. That traveling stuff takes it right out of a girl.

Love,

M

Zucchini Pancakes

I wrote this post, like eightygillion years ago. Okay, maybe not eightygillion but when you travel a lot it feels like that. I did have it all set up to post last Monday with the exception of the photo but things got hectic and you all know how that goes. So, here you go, last Monday's post this Monday. That makes it almost the same.

I scored some sweet looking zucchini at the farmers market last week that needed to be used, and quickly. I'm leaving town Wednesday morning (going to Baltimore, if you are close please let me know. We'll meet up. totally ignore this line.) so would not have time to do much with this stuff.

I had made fritters the evening before that were a major hit with the family but that still left me with an over-abundence of zucchini (or as they call it here Italian squash)

Recipe

2 cups zucchini, grated

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons milk, maybe a little more or less

1 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup cream cheese

Add-ins, see below

Mix all ingredients together until just combined. Let sit for a few minutes to let the flour absorb the liquid. Spoon into greased skillet (well seasoned cast iron is the best). Spread around a little to flatten them out. Fry until golden brown on one side, flip and repeat.

Serve warm with sauce appropriate for the add-in. See below or make up your own.

Makes 15 to 16 medium sized pancakes

These would make wonderful appetizers if you cut them into small squares or rounds. About the size of a shot glass. They are firm enough to hold small bites of other food yet soft enough to bite into without breaking apart and sending crumbs and food down the front of your shirt. What? That's never happened to you? Happens to me all the time. I pretty much wear my food. If I had a big enough rack it would land there but I don't so it usually lands on the tummy. It seems that that sticks out far enough. *sigh*

Suggested Add-ins

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp cumin = serve with thick chunky salsa and sour cream

3 tbs dried mint (double if fresh) = serve with taziki sauce

3 tbs Italian seasoning = serve with basil or sun-dried tomato pesto

no add-in = serve with olive tapenade, mushroom ragout, pico de gallo, etc

Love,

M

PS: Meatless Monday today. Granted everyday that I am home it is meatless and everyday that I travel it is a meat orgy.

Another exciting episode of "student writer at work"

Remember a few weeks ago I posted the titles and descriptions of images that our clever and interesting student worker wrote? 

Remember how funny they were? 

I only was able to post a fraction of his work. 

He was amazingly prolific.

At the time I just didn't think that you would want to read through all 263 titles and descriptions all at once. 

One can only take so much funny sarcastic in one sitting.

Or maybe not.

Title: Tele-Auction

Description: Auctioning off bullet pullers, wigs, cassettes, dancing lessons, etc. with Paul Boesch. And proving that PJN will do almost anything for Channel 8.
I'm pretty sure the PJN and Paul Boesch didn't consider their work as whoring for the TV station like this description implies.

Title: Take  #...

Description: A photograph shot pre-emptively before the filming of a show.

Pre-emptively? Really? Is that the correct word for what he saw in this photograph?

Let's look at the definition of that word.

pre·emp·tive or pre-emp·tive  (pr-mptv)

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of preemption.

2. Having or granted by the right of preemption.

3.

a. Relating to or constituting a military strike made so as to gain the advantage when an enemy strike is believed to be imminent: a preemptive nuclear attack.

b. Undertaken or initiated to deter or prevent an anticipated, usually unpleasant situation or occurrence: The two companies organized a preemptive alliance against a possible takeover by another firm.

4. Having or marked by the power to preempt or take precedence: a preemptive business offer; preemptive authority.

5. Games Relating to or being a bid in bridge at a high level that is intended to interfere with the opponents' bidding.

Can he really tell from this photo that this was a 'military strike made so as to gain the advantage'? Or a 'something that was undertaken to prevent something unpleasant'? It looks more like 'a woman sitting on the set' or 'cameramen filming a woman on set' to me

 

Title: Starting early

Description: A photograph showing a child maning one of the television recording camera.

This one could have been a whole lot worse. 

Title: Mud shot

Description: Picture of a young woman in the middle of filming.

 Mud shot? Is that an industry term I'm not familiar with?

Title: Working hard or hardly working?

Description: 1st Video tape recorder Arriving.

The title kills me. 

One last title and description by our crackerjack student

Title: Age has nothing to do with it.

Description: A photograph of Dr. Hubertus Strughold, Paige Keetan, and Dr. John Meaney.

How he thought this title was going to work is beyond me.

Stay tuned for more mocking titles and descriptions with "student writer at work".

Love,

M

Coffee Talk

It's a busy busy day today.

No time to chat

.

I'm so verklempt. I am so upset about the amount of work I have to do before my trip to Baltimore next week that I must go out for a fabulous 2 martini lunch.

Give me a moment.

I'll give you a topic

Early 20th Century nutritional advice is neither nutrition nor advice.

Discuss!

Give us a chat. We'll talk. No big whoop

Love,

M