Country Dance

Long long ago in a land two states away actually there lived a rural community that liked to dance.

My parents liked to dance this stemming from fast paced jitterbug from the 40's to a stately two step, Us kids learned to dance at these places; Dad would teach us girls the two step and Mom would hector the boys into shape.

The country dance I remember was held in Ola, Idaho at the foot of Squaw Butte held in the grange I believe, liquor was not allowed but those did like a nip brought bottles that were left in the unlocked cars. Which became a source of easily obtained liquor for under aged drinkers. Tsk. The dance was a family affair, I went with my folks and they went with several families; the Green's, the Cutbirth's and such. So there were plenty of kids to keep each other amused.

The music was usually a local band who played country tunes, a polka or two, and the general favorite was the Schottische. This was a circle dance and the couples would start out with a kind of a two step hop and repeat. Lah dee Dah dee Dah, Lah deeDah dee Dah, Lah dee dah dee lah dah dah. Shuffle, change arms and swing. Repeat.

The evening would progress until about midnight and there would be a pause to pass the hat for the musicians and everyone set out their potluck dishes. Mom always made a spice cake with powdered sugar frosting. When we saw that cake sitting on the counter we knew we were going somewhere. There would be a couple more dances after that and the evening was over.

I remember one time a couple of the gentlemen had imbibed perhaps too freely and their conversation became heated; one hauled off and pop pop POPPED his fist into the other guys face. Immediately Dad was there between them talking them out of their mad. He was nicknamed Shorty and it was apparent that he was much shorter than the two opponents who were gradually calming down. That particular confrontation entered the family history as “Do you remember the Ola dance when Dad....”.

Couple other things I remember vividly was the eldest Green daughter, dancing a two step and as the couple danced by I was confounded at how her partner had her arm twisted neatly up behind her back, it looked painful but she was clearly flirting.

Also that dance was the first time I noticed one of my dance partners had an erection, I did not know what that was so no joy the for dancer. Had I even innocently asked Mom what that was poking me in the belly I think there would have been another Pop Pop POP.

Favorite leftovers

We have leftovers.   That is the best thing about cooking for Thanksgiving at home.  Got the turkey bones cooked down to 4 pints of stock, yum!  

The best left overs I EVER tasted was several decades ago.  Helen Dougherty had cooked a standing rib roast for Christmas which was pretty spectacular.   The next day the left over mashed potatoes and peas and delicious bits of roast went into a sort of Shepards pie.  Dayammm that was goooood.  

Enjoy your left overs people!  Now I need an aspirin or something, the relentless late November sunshine is giving me a sunshine headache and the humidity has dipped into the low 20% so I must seek moisture.  Mebbe put on a big old pot of turkey soup and go make some noodles the kind you dry on newspapers laid on top of the bedspread.  Close the doors to keep the cats out of the noodles. 

Fifty years later.

All of the networks have been broadcasting pieces on JFK's assassination 11-22-63.

I remember it well. I was sixteen years old, in my geometry class taught by Miss Primativa Perez a spitfire Filipina five foot nuthin in heels. The announcement came over the intercom, everyone was stunned. In the picture above, most of the focus is on John-John saluting his father's casket.  Caroline had a book, wonder what it was?

The next four days consisted of being glued to the television set for hours, going to church on Sunday and watching the funeral. I didn't think there was anything I missed seeing fifty years ago but there was. There was a special unit from the Irish Army who performed close order drill of the last salute at Arlington. Most impressive. I do not subscribe to any conspiracy theories because most everyone is dead and if there was a conspiracy, nothing important came of it in the long run.

On a less serious note Friday was also a day of minor aggravation at our household. The new freezer has been gently unfreezing it's contents. The local dealer came today, defrosted it, replaced the timer unit, it was still under guarantee. Yay!!

Also I hopped in the car to go meet a friend for lunch and ticka-ticka-ticka-brrrrrrrrt. Dead battery. Called Les Schwab who came and gave a jump. He said the back upper gate was ajar and probably ran the battery down. Um, would that have caused the car alarm to go off yesterday? Yeah probably. Thanks! Drove to fill the tank and retired from battle.

We are having a few days of extreme sunshine and crispy cold nights. Oregonians do not do well in the winter when it is sunny, we get disoriented driving and having bright sunshine strobe through the trees. Drive carefully out there!

Whaaaa!?!?!?!

Yesterday, donated a unit of blood and they took my blood pressure.  Hey!  BP meds are working, it is down to normal for me.  

Today I experimented with canned biscuits with quarter of a Kosher hot dog sticking out.  B'cuz it AIN'T pigs in a blanket, 'k?  Tasty.

PS: I have never seen either of the two movies portrayed in the picture above.  Tsk.

Making cookies!

Using recipe of the Quaker's Oatmeal Box.  Only difference in technique was to make a slightly larger cookies (quarter cup size) baked at 350 for 20 minutes.  Smells soooooo good.  Pairs well with milk and a nap.  Woo Hoo!

Stuff this past week....

Well let me sum the week up:

Went out for gratitude banquet celebrated by ourselves at Hilltop House, very nice. They had remodeled since we were last there. Lots of nice cherry trim, new tables and chairs. Husband hated the captain's chairs, he kept smacking his elbow. We both determined that halibut was on the menu. Delish! It came with pasta and veggies. The salad was rather grand consisting of shrimp, pepperoni, pepperoncini, beans, pickled carrots and pickled cucumbers, some greenery, house dressing honey mustard. Oh and there was warm herbed Italian bread with a side of olive oil and elderly vinegar. We splurged on dessert; carrot cake which is as light as air and chocolate mouse (I don't think that is the way the French spell it) which was not.

Went to see my care provider, BP is still one hundred and stupid over stupid, so dropping the spendy BP med to the similar yet much cheaper BP med as well as another one. Check back and see if that worked at all. Drew some more blood for a couple more tests. Had been researching potassium over the counter, all sorts of warnings, side effects and ASK. YOUR. DOCTOR. FIRST. Jeez. OK.

Trotted to pharmacy to pick up scrips, did not have part D yet so they very nicely threw in the state pharmacy discount and got it down to 29 bucks. Thanks.

Received notification from Medicare that part B had kicked in and future deposits will reflect the withholding of the premium. Crap! AND I can now sign up for part D with the plan of my choice which will cost and extra X amount of dollars. Crapola!

Note to self look for qualifications for reverse mortgage. I bet we do not qualify.

Went to Bandon for Saturday noon meeting, then scarpered off to The Station for eats. I ate from the dainty appetite menu (HA!) and husband ordered veggie omelet. We went home and that was that.

Tomorrow I make oatmeal,walnut cookies...because...we ran out. 

Sunday Dinner

Cooking on Sunday:

It has been literally decades since I last ate or prepared this dish. Mexi-Chicken. I think I first tasted it at a potluck held at WKMH in Emmett. It was memorable enough to dash off a quick recipe from whomever had prepared it.

2 cups of chopped chicken or turkey. (Today I used a plump chicken breast).

1 cup chopped onion or one whole onion your choice.

1 half cup chopped green chilies. (I like Ortega canned chilies, not too hot, lots of flavor).

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese.

12 corn tortillas torn in pieces, mix all together bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

On the backside alternate directions say: Use turkey broth to make soup base to melt in cheese and add veg and meat. Bake til brown crust forms on rim of pan, closer to 50 to 60 minutes.

My own twist this morning was to add three small Yukon Gold potatoes, a can of golden hominy, a sprinkle or four of Paprika, salt and pepper to taste. Bake 55 minutes, will see how it turns out.

Hubs did a quick spoon tasting and declared it tasted like cornbread, yep that would be the dissolved tortillas. The cats finished licking the empty skillet. Very efficient. Meow. House smells wonderful.