Joy

Shamelessly stolen from McBourne's Musings.



Because it makes me smile and cry and want to cheer at the end all at the same time.

Bacon Soda

The people at Jones Soda have done it again.

"Nailing the flavor was tough. We didn't want pot roast, we didn't want pork tenderloin, we wanted bacon. The drink started out tasting more like ham than pork. But eventually we were able to get the crispiness of bacon in there without it being overpowered by porkiness," Esch said.

"It's also good as a mixer in cocktails. Bourbon and bacon soda go together very nicely."

Also available in gift packs from the Bacon Salt guys! What a great stocking stuffer for the carnivore in your life.

A new blogger!

I’d like to introduce a new blogger, John Moseley, of Tales from Left Field.... .

He’s a living historian, and member of the Detached Hospital (among other units), former 8th grade history teacher, and all-around good guy. Don’t let the title of his blog scare you, he’s a staunch 2A supporter, too.

He also started blogging and didn’t tell anyone. I asked him, “If a blogger blogs alone in the forest and nobody reads it, is it really a blog?”

So drop on by and say “hey”. Tell him I sent you so he’ll know about the tens of people who read my blog. (Because it's really all about me. *grin*)

More projects

I have got a crap-tonne of projects on my plate. In the past 3 weeks I’ve:

With help, made a linen workman’s cap for Al.

Made a wool bedgown for KenuckyJam, my Appleseed friend.

Re-pleated two aprons. I don’t care if I’m the only one who will notice  -- I needed to fix them.

Mended my patched brown gown where the stitching was coming out down the back.


On my plate:

Restyle and refit a 1750’s waistcoat into something more recognizable as something you’d see in the 1780’s.

Make some baggy linen breeches less baggy. I can usually do a pretty good job on fixing breeches, but I have to know you really well to do good work (meaning I’m going to have to be fiddling around up near the boys,) and that is just too fraught with potential complications …

Restyle and refit a jacket into something a little less feed sack-like.

Turn a pair of trousers into a pair of breeches.

Knit a cap for DLG (or something else if a new job means something else would be more appropriate).


Now the following don’t have to be completed until March, but still:

Make 3 linen shirts for Michael W.

Make 2 shifts and 2 gowns for Miss F.

Ditto for Sweet Daughter, who has outgrown everything she owns.

And then insanity struck. I finally got the Norah Waugh book “The Cut of Men’s Clothes 1600 – 1900”. And I saw a pattern in it for a banyan, and the book mentioned where the original was. I worked my google-fu and found it here.

And then I went traipsing around the interwebz and found this:

And it has this cute little motif:

So I informed one of the guys in our group that he really needed a banyan. I think I may have pressured him into buying the fabric so I could make it. Maybe. Just a little.

And banyan fever hit after I had decided I needed a riding habit. But not just any habit. A habit based on the regimental uniform for the Detached Hospital.

Something like this.

Mrs. Lovibond

Or this:

Lady Worsley

Or this:

Mrs. John Montresor

This means a shirt, neck stock, waistcoat, petticoat and jacket. Of all things, I actually have the epaulettes kicking around already. I’ve commissioned the hat, and have bought a wig. Which of course, means a block head of some sort for styling, and the right kind of brush, and shampoo, and …

Good heavens ... what have I gotten myself into?

Election Tie

I really need to watch what I say in front of people who don’t know me and my hobbies too well.

One of my many jobs is to cover the receptionist's desk while the receptionist goes to lunch each day. It's been a long time since that was my primary job duty, and I'm afraid I've lost some of the tact needed to do a good job.

An upper level manager from Not Our Division was signing a visitor out while I was covering the desk today and I noticed his tie. It had 18th century-like figures on it, and the landmarks in the background were clearly 18th century Boston.

“Nice tie!” I said.

“Good for Election Day!” he said.

“Or Boston Massacre Day!” I said, thinking of the background. Then noticing that the gentleman signing himself out may have possibly been a descendant of Crispus Attucks, I chimed in with “Or Bunker Hill Day, or Yorktown Day!” as I did not want to offend anyone.

I don’t think it worked.

Update

I didn't win the chili cook-off, although they sold more bowls of mine that any other.

On another note, this came to me via North Carolina. Just in time for Halloween. Or Election Day. You pick.

H/T to John M.

Chili update

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Since this is for a cook-off :

1. in which I have no vested interest (I’m just trying to be a team player once so I can go crawl back under my rock for the rest of the winter),

2. I was given a package of “really spicy” venison by BYG who won’t be in town to participate, and

3. I am a spice wimp and can’t really adjust the seasoning on anything “really spicy”,

4. and I have a version of the Marian Plague (I keep coughing up little green men, or blowing them out of my nose. You’re welcome.) and can’t taste anything anyway,

I decided to take a little from column A, and a little from column B, and a little from column C.

I started with an idiot-proof recipe that Michael W. e-mailed me, to wit:

1 pound of ground beef
1 can of Rotel
4 cans of beans
16 oz. jar of salsa

I took T-Bolt’s advice and added other species as well; pork, beef and veal (yes, I know veal is beef).

I added a chopped onion and some garlic while I browned the meat.

Then I browned the venison in the leftover fat from the first batch of meat. It looked and smelled a little bit like bulk sausage. I could see some seasonings had been added.

I stirred everything together in the giant crock-pot, added a can of tomato sauce and some chili powder and stirred. I then tasted the spoon. Eh. Bland. I chalked it up to my cold.

And then I tasted it.

Chromium Yellow.

I bet you didn’t know you could taste yellow, did you?

You can, and it stings.