These shoes were made for clownin'

I’m no shoe hoarder, aficionado or otherwise.  Most of my shoes are gotten at Walmart or Payless . . . Leona Helmsly I ain’t.

That being said . . . as uninterested as I am in the latest and greatest shoe fashions or the sluttiest heels or the most comfortable sneakers, I do have definite opinions what looks hot and what looks downright stupid.

Here is my WTF list:

 

Crocks . . . why??  They are beyond ugly and, frankly, they are cartoonish.  I hear they’re comfortable but seriously . . . ew!

Uggs . . . ugh!  They are big and puffy . . . kind of like a giant pair of marshmallows for your feet.  Okay, I get the whole warmth in the dead of winter aspect; that makes sense.  But when I see girls (mostly) wearing them with yoga pants that totally accentuate the poofiness or with tiny skirts that just looks downright silly . . . I truly don’t get it.  Ugh.

But the worst . . . the absolute worst . . . is Adidas sandals.  Not the sandals themselves but how they are  . . . uhm . . . accessorized that I think is awful.  

More and more I’m seeing all kinds of people . . . kids, old folks, gangbangers, hipsters . . . wearing Adidas sandals with socks . . . knee socks, crew socks, ankles socks, black socks, white socks . . . what ever, it’s all bad.  Nerd alert!!!  Who . . . I ask who . . . thinks this looks cool?  I’m mean really!

I may wear cheap shoes but they are low key, nondescript and comfortable.  No, no, no  . . . I don’t wear grandma sneakers with Velcro closures or orthopedic shoes . . . just plain ol’ sneakers or black boots or the like.

And, for the record, I’ve bought high end shoes.  The first pair of sexy designer pumps I bought my dog ate and I own a pair of Lowa hiking boots (which are the most comfortable boots ever).

Just sayin’ that look in the mirror . . . especially your feet . . . before you walk out the door.  If you look like a clown or a cartoon or a nerd you may want to rethink your footwear choice. 

Olive Pasta Salad

This simple salad tastes better if allowed to for several hours, in the fridge of course.  It’s even better if you make it the night before you’re going to serve it.

1 Box Uncooked Twisty Macaroni

2 Cups Pimento-Stuffed Green Olives, Sliced

3 Ribs Celery, Chopped

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.  Run under cold water to cool down the pasta.

In a large bowl, mix the olives, mayonnaise, celery, pepper, and Creole seasoning. Toss in the macaroni.

Cover and chill at least 3 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Firewater Friday - Sing a song of sixpence while all in a tizzy

Have you ever gotten yourself so worked up that you were in a veritable tizzy? Hmm . . . I'm not even sure I know what in the heck a tizzy is?  But writing it out twice in two sentences is making me dizzy.


A tizzy is outdated English jargon for a sixpence coin; the equivalent of about $2.75 nowadays.  Mmmm . . . not much there to get roused about.  I'm not sure I can even get a small . . . er short . .  coffee at Starbucks for that.


I feel like I'm going round and round and really not getting much of anywhere.  Perhaps this word . . . this tizziness . . . doesn't have any literal roots in language, per se.  It happens . . . people make up their own words all the time.  It has been said that 'tizzy' is simply a corruption of 'dizzy'.  But, nope, it ain't so.


The most likely source of the word is based on a 1930's radio variety show character named "Tizzy Lish".  She was a hyper, scatterbrained character on the The Happy Go Lucky Hour.  The character, played by Bill Comstock, was a cooking "expert". 


Miss Tizzy would start her skit, "Well hello, folksies!" She would begin with a few one-liners, mostly self deprecating jokes.  And then she would go on to give a recipe and encourage her listeners to write them down.  For example:

Frog Stew

First put a pan on the stove.  Now take it off.  Are you  taking your pans off? Shame on you!

Now, take two chicken legs.  Now put one leg in the sink.  Now put the other leg in the oven. My, what long legs you have!

Now, take a chuck roast and cut a hole in it.  Now, look in and see if Chuck is in there.  Yes he is!   Hello Chuck!!

When guests arrive serve and when they ask, "why do you call this  frog stew".  You say. "After one mouthful you'll hop around a while and then croak!" 

Then she would end her monologue "Well, goodbye, folksies!" 



So, now you know.







Coffee, Cream and Cake Cocktail


1 1/2 Ounce Baileys Irish Cream
1 1/2 Ounce Pinnacle Cake Vodka
8 Ounces Strong Coffee, Chilled
1 Tablespoon Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Half and Half


Make coffee in advance and chill in refrigerator until ready to use.  I used espresso.


Mix all the ingredients and pour into a blender with a cup or so of crushed ice.  


Blend until frothy.

New Brew Thursday - Sunday River Brewing Company

Hubby and I went off on a long motorcycle ride on a beautiful day. We went through two states. . . Maine and New Hampshire . . . three notches. . . Evans, Grafton,  and Pinkham. . . making a 200 mile trip.  The plan was simply a nice long ride and to see some beautiful sites.  Which we accomplished most successfully but we had the bonus of finding a micro brewery along the way.

Sunday River Brewing Company

The brewery / brew pub was waaaaay out of the way in the middle of nowhere.  And, because we were on the bikes we obviously weren't going to be slamming down a whole big pile of beers.  Hell, I don't feel comfortable riding after having a single beer. 

So, we decided to share a sampler and a whole big pile of hot wings. . . a few sips each of six beers . . . just a tease really. . . and noms.

About the brewery:  Sunday River Brewing Company (SRBC)  . . . once tied in with the now defunct Stone Coast Brewing Company . . . is located on  Sunday River Road in Bethel Maine. It is a decent sized pub with clear viewing of the brewing area.  The brew master . . . or pro brewer, as he is called there . . . is Stewart Mason.  A home brewer to start he began working for breweries in Boston and then other locations until he made his way to Sunday River, where he’s made his home. 

Our lovely and knowledgeable server, Darcie, brought us our sampler and described the brews as such . . .  a blonde, an alt, an IPA, a porter, a wheat and a double IPA.

The first, Sunday River Blonde, was a pale lemon colored ale; a very light and refreshing but tasty 3.8% ABV; this would make an excellent session beer that you could enjoy many of on a long hot day.

The second, Sunday River Alt, was a tawny colored ale that is lightly sweet and has a clearly define caramel flavor. Another excellent beer.  Smooth and delicious. (4%ABV)

The third was Sunday River IPA. For some reason I have been lusting after IPAs recently and this one didn't disappoint me. Grapefruity hoppiness, bitter on the front end with a clean finish. A classic English IPA flavor with 5.7% ABV.

So far we're going three to three on liking this brew pub's offerings . . . and the wings are pretty darn good, as well . . . they all cant possible be good. Can they? Read on . . .

The fourth was Black Bear Porter.  This was my least favorite of the sextet . . . but not because it was bad.   It was indeed quite good, in fact.  What made me like it less than all the others is the smoky aspect. . . I'm jot a fan of smoky beer, that's all.   Hubby claimed this to be his favorite partially because of the smoky flavor . . . so, to each his own. This porter is typically dark and malty but surprisingly hoppy.  6% ABV

The final two were seasonals . . .

The fifth in the line up was a Belgian Wit a pale golden yellow.   A fruity wheat beer simply screams summer.    Like a lemonade beer . . . oh so good and refreshing . . . was refreshing, light and tasty.  The lemon wasn’t overpowering but instead complimented the wheat to create a nicely balance beer.

The final beer in our sampler was Mollyockett’s Revenge, a double IPA. A very big IPA coming in at a strong 8% ABV.  Despite the high alcohol content there was no boozy taste.  A really good hoppy beer . . . bitter, citrusy and seriously good. 

The beer discovery of Sunday River was nearly as amazing as the awesome ride.  If you’re ever in the area of Bethel Maine stop by and have yourself a few brews, you won’t be disappointed . . . great beer, pleasant staff and good food make for an all around experience.

Cheers.

If I had my druthers

Hubby and I were off on a scenic motorcycle ride.  We have a totally spiffy helmet to helmet bluetooth intercom system that allows us to chat while we're riding.  While we were cruising along we had a conversation about barbecue ribs . . . styles of ribs, places that make the best ribs . . . that kind of thing.  We'd been riding a while and we were getting a little hungry.


Anyway, as the discussion progressed I said that if I had my druthers I prefer ribs dry rubbed and smoked and then slathered with a tangy barbecue sauce.

Whoah, wait!  Druthers?  What in the heck does that mean, where does that word come from . . . sounds like a blog post.  Yeah, that's how these things come about . . . really and truly, it is.


So, what's the deal with the word 'druthers'?  Here's the low down . . .


Druthers is a purely American word.  Specifically, from the south and is used to indicate a personal preference. It first came into usage around the mid-1800's and was originally 'drathers' . . . as in, I'd rather - a man can't always have his 'drathers.  It wasn't long before it morphed to 'druthers' -   a man can't always have his  druthers.

As luck would have it . . . my luck, that is . . . we stopped for lunch and I had my druthers.  Oh yes indeed I did!  I had me a half a rack of dry rubbed pork ribs with a spicy sweet barbecue sauce.  Mmm, mmm good!

Those ribs are from Moat Mountain Smokehouse and Brewery and you can bet your sweet bippy I had myself an amazing brew (or two) to go along with those sloppy ribs!

Slow Cooker Ground Beef Barbecue

3 Pounds Lean Ground Beef

1 Large Onion, Chopped

2 Cloves Garlic, Minced

5 Stalks Celery, Finely Chopped

1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

1 Tablespoon Cider Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Prepared Mustard

1/4 Cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar

3 1/2 Cups Ketchup

Place ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook until brown, breaking up the meat as it cooks, about 15 minutes. Drain excess grease.

Place the cooked meat, onion, garlic, celery, salt, black pepper, cider vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, and ketchup into a slow cooker, and stir to combine.

Set the cooker on Low, and cook for 6 to 8 hours.

Serve on a Kaiser roll or over biscuits with cheese.

From the pages of a girly magazine

Hubby and I were recently off on yet another motorcycling adventure.  So, there we were cruising along with me taking up the rear, when he pointed with his toe at some debris lying in the middle of the road.  Thanks to his considerate  heads-up toe alert I missed it.  




As I passed it . . . a simple magazine splayed open with pages fluttering in the breeze . . . a childhood memory came flooding into my mind.  Yup, just like that.

When I was a kid I lived in the sticks of Pennsylvania on a mountain called Blue Knob.  My summer days were spent riding my bicycle, exploring the mountains and taking long walks.  If I was lucky enough to have a buck or two burning a hole in my pocket . . . a rare occasion to be sure . . . and it was a particularly hot day I would make the half mile trek up the road to Marie's Store to get a Nutty Buddy.

Marie's Store  was one of two little stores on the mountain that sold penny candy, staples and other stuff at higher than average prices.  It was either pay their prices or drive 25 miles to the nearest town.  Sometimes it was a no brainer.


The walk to Marie's . . . who happened to be the grandmother of my future brother-in-law . . . was short.  On a really, really hot day the heat would bake off the pavement smelling of the fresh tar and shale they lay down every year. 

One day, as I was walking to get my rare ice cream treat, something unusual caught my attention as I passed by the long grass and weeds growing alongside the road.  On further inspection, I discovered it was a magazine . . . the paper wrinkled and brittle from exposure to the elements.  Curious, I pulled it out with a stick to inspect it further.  As I flipped through the pages I was shocked to discover the pages were filled with dirty pictures . . .  I was 7 or 9 at the time.  My first exposure to pornography was a 70's era soft porn magazine filled with half naked women splayed out on muscle cars.  




Slightly shocked but not particularly effected, I continued on my way.  I loved those Nutty Buddy's and was a really hot day.


The funny thing is that it had apparently made some sort of impact because 35 years later that recollection poured into my brain while I cruising along on my motorcycle on a beautiful summer day . . . not unlike the one when I found that girly magazine so many many years ago.

Tube Steak Patty Melt . . . Cheesedog Cheeseburger  . . . or . . . Hot Dog Stuffed Cheeseburger

(makes one burger . . . more than enough for a hearty appetite)

1 Premium Hot Dog

1 Mozzarella String Cheese Sticks

12 Ounces Quality Ground Beef

Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning

Season beef with a couple teaspoons of Tony’s and mix well. Separate the beef into two equal sized patties about ½ inch thick.

Split the hot dog and brown in a bit of butter in a skillet.  Place the hot dog in the middle of a patty and place string mozzarella cheese on top of the hot dog.  

Press the edges of the beef so the meat fully covers the hot dog. Firmly form the meat around the hot dog and tightly.

Grill for about 8 minutes on each side . . . or 10 minutes total on a Forman Grill like I do.  This is not a burger you want under cooked . . . and that’s saying something from a person who likes her meat to moo when I cut into it. 

Serve on a Kaiser roll topped with American cheese and your favorite condiments.  A burger that eats like a 3 course meal.

The Bees Knees