Every once in a while, maybe once a year or so, I get a bee in my bonnet to shake things up a little. Last year (or was it 2 years ago?) we had a house full of people for Thanksgiving, and I pulled out all the stops, with homemade everything and a perfectly cooked turkey.
This year, not so much. In fact, we have NO company for the holiday. I am not cooking a turkey, nor dressing, sweet potatoes, blah blah de blah all that. Not gonna do it.
We are having that wonderful, Southern Coastal concoction:
The Low Country (or Lowland) Boil. What’s so great about that? you query. Well, it’s like this. Everything is cooked in one large pot outside, by the men. It’s served on newspaper in the middle of the table and you eat it with your hands. When everyone is done, all the leavings are wrapped up in the paper and thrown away. There’s all this time for watching past episodes of CSI:NY and playing backgammon and getting into scraps with one’s older brother. What could be better than that?
My single concession to Tradition consists of a Marie Callender’s Razzellberry pie, baked in mine own good oven. Oh, and a punkin pie from the Walmart, to keep the natives from howling.
For those of you in North Dakota, here’s how you make a Low Country Boil:
The biggest pot you can find or borrow, filled with water and brought to a boil.
A big can of Old Bay Seasoning, or the kind in the bag…doesn’t really matter.
5 lbs red potatoes, in big chunks
4 carrots (well, honestly, no one ever eats them, but one must, because it’s How It’s Done)
1 really large onion, cut in large chunks
4 stalks of celery, in 3 inch pieces
6 ears of yellow corn- frozen is fine, but on the cob is important
4 pounds shrimp- 28 to 30 count
2 pounds of your favorite smoked sausage, cut into 2 inch pieces
Put the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery in the seasoned boiling water and cook until the potatoes are done but not falling apart. Add the corn a few minutes before the potatoes are done. Take them out and put them in a big bowl, covered to keep them hot.
Put the shrimp and smoked sausage in the boiling water, and cook until the shrimp are done- maybe 5 minutes, tops. Shrimp is done when it’s pink and it floats.
Drain the pot and all the shrimp and sausage through a colandar.
Cover the table with several layers of newspaper, and dump the veggies, shrimp and sausage in the middle.
Put some cocktail sauce in bowls around for dipping the shrimp in.
Cocktail sauce:
1 cup ketchup
2 heaping tablespoons ground horseradish (not the cream style)
juice of 1/2 a lemon (or 2 tablespoons lemon juice from a bottle)
1 tablespoon of your favorite hotsauce
Mix it all together, and adjust to your taste.
Some parts leave out this ingredient or that, but they all agree on the shrimp, sausage, and potatoes.
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So, Jerseychick and her Three Fine Kids ™ have been here since Friday. It’s refreshing to have an adult to talk to during the day. It’s nice talking to Jerseychick , too. (Har…) Her second daughter is 10 going on 40, and a great and accomplished conversationalist. Her eldest daughter is 11 going on 11, and loves crafts so she totally speaks my language. We bonded over Hobby Lobby and the glitter aisle. Her elfin 8 yr old son kind of wafts through the day, gently and with more purpose than one would immediately assume. He marches to his own beat, that’s for sure.
I discovered that having twice as many people in a house means twice as many dishes to wash. 5 times yesterday I thanked God for inventing the dishwasher.
Jerseychick discovered that chicken base is rawther saltier than she expected, and yet the broccoli cheese soup remained delicious.
We got lost in Savannah looking for Brighter Day Foods, and saw many lovely houses. We finally found it when I happened up on the Asian Market, which is on the same road only at the way other end. She tried on jeans at the mall, and found a cut and size that fits. I eyeballed with some trepidation all things that glitter, fashion-wise.
Today we intend to do nothing with any real purpose, except maybe let her #1 finish watching all 75 episodes of The Muppet Show on dvd. I’ll make a hash brown casserole for supper, and maybe get the glitter and glue back out so they can decorate some snowflakes they made the other day.
Aimlessly meandering through the day: it’s what’s to do.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Alrighty then! I now have 3 lower-priced angels listed on Etsy. My shop name is Rootietoot, if you’re interested. There’s a blue one, a red one, and a burgundy one that has wee bits of gold shot through her dress, thanks to the expirimentation with gold pigment powder. Of course, if you like the bigger angels, they’re still there as well 
Filed under: Hooray!
I’m feeling much better now, thanks for asking. Colds follow a predictable path for me- the start in my head, move to my throat, and finally settle in my chest, causing much drama and goop as I seem to bark up a lung now and then. But I feel better. I can think, now that it’s gone from the sinuses, I just can’t really talk or breathe. Breathing is overrated, anyway. It’s for wussies and a total waste of time.
Being as it’s Sunday and the race doesn’t start ’til 3:30, I’ve asked Sweet Daddio to fix me up a device I can hang small angel ornaments from as I’m making them. In the past I’ve used the work lamp on my desk, but this year I’ve moved the whole production (sans desk and lamp) downstairs so I can watch Season 2 of Quantum Leap whilst making the ornaments. Love Netflix Instant View. Love It. Anyway, because of the move I need the hangy-thing. The intention is to make several small ornament type things to list on Etsy- stuff that’s not so pricey as the big angels. I have more than just angels in mind, too.
When I described to SD what I wanted, I asked “can you do that?” and he gave me his Look and replied “Hey, it’s Me.” Duh. Of course he can. That man can do anything except sing or play an instrument. Srsly…he’s done everything from make a quilt and a Norman back-laced gown to build a multi-bazillion dollar piece of textile finishing equipment that even the EPA approved of. He can Fix Anything Except a Broken Heart ™
Enough bragging.
So, he’s outside right now putting together the Thing, and I’m going to get meself set up to working on an angel.
OH! How cool is this! Speacking of clay and stuff. I’ve had issues with a couple of boxes of clay I bought. It was hard and I had to use some mysterious and probably carcinogenic chemical to soften it (after grating it like a block of cheese), and even then when I baked it the white clay (used to make angel wings) turned this…kinda…mauvey-purple not very attractive and certainly not angel wing color. So, I emailed Sculpey corp, and whined about it. I received a reply from their customer service person who said they’d had some issues at the factory with the formula, much apologizing and offers to replace the clay I’d bought with some new. More apologies that they couldn’t reimburse me for the time spent making my things, but hey, I’m ok with that. They’re replacing my clay with some new. 15 years I’ve been using this stuff, and it’s the first time I’ve had these issues with it. I appreciate their willingness to make it right.
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There’s a LOLcats Bible.
Yeah…and there was much hilarity!
I have a cold. The gross kind where goop comes out of one’s head and all one wants to do is lay on the couch and sigh, except with all that goop in one’s head laying down is ill-advised.
Y’know, I love my job. Taking care of a household of people, cleaning messes up and doing laundry, all of that works together to make me happy, because I’m domestic that way.
Except when I’m sick.
When I’m sick, especially with a head cold that makes me whine, I want someone else to make the rich, salty chicken soup that feels so good on my sore throat. I want someone to bring me hot tea with a slice of lemon and a splash of bourbon, except that everyone’s off doing their Very Important Business that doesn’t involve soup and tea.
I tried to ask Lily to fix me some tea, but her short little legs and lack of opposable thumbs made that a silly request. She tried, giving me that vacant Lily look that said “um…what?”
I asked Lacy to make some soup. She’s surely smart enough, but then I realized I’d have to give her a knife to cut up the carrots and…well…not a good idea.
So, instead, I’ll just sit here and suffer in silence, and watch House from Netflix. And make my own damn tea.
Filed under: Good grief
Think what you will about the whole Prop 8 thing. Believe what you will about homosexuality, gay marriage, all that. It is NOT the government’s job to legislate morality. If gays want to join together in a public and legal union, let them.
This statement is not open for discussion. Because I’m close-minded that way.
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Yes it is. I’m listening to The BeeGees, and enjoying it. I didn’t realize I knew all the words to Everlasting Love. And vintage Elton John. I like that too. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboys. Not just a good excuse for fantastic cover art. Next thing you know I’ll be swirling around the room to Dancing Queen.
I can hear the kids. “Mom! You’re so retro!” It’s not retro if it’s still in your lifetime. Retro is Perry Como, and Benny Goodman.
Oh well, I like ’70’s music. Most of it. I’m not keen on Donna Summer and that lot. Sister Sledge and Gloria whats-her-name. Don’t like it. I like groups, for the most part. Earth Wind and Fire’s good. And the Doobie Bros, ELO, ARS, that sort of thing.
You know why I like it, I think? It’s happy, a good beat in a major key and singing about love, or fishing on the river, or dancing all night long. yeah. This emo shit that’s so popular right now just …well…bleh.
So, a few days ago I bought some green clay, and a leetle tub of superfine gold pearl powder. This stuff is really, really fine, finer than talcum powder. When mixed with the clay it makes a gorgeous shimmer. So, today I took the green clay and the gold powder and played, to see what would happen.
mm…lovely. Almost a metameric effect, where the clay looks green from this direction and gold from that. Very pretty. It will make a nice angel cloak.
Then I wondered, what if you use black clay and kind of a hematite powder. Kinda silver, only darker, right? And so I did! Black with the dark pearl powder makes for a metallic black, shimmery dark kind of thing. I am not sure how very appropriate, culturally speaking, a black metallic angel would be, but I’m going to give it a try.
No, I’m not going to make an angel of death, nor demons, nor vampirey gothy stuff. I only made up a little bit of the blend, so I’m thinking I’ll wrap it up until inspiration hits. I’m thinking I might could texturize it on crumpled plastic wrap, and get a leathery look. Biker-chick angel? I don’t know. Something with occur, eventually.
The Gardener Faith is next in line. She requires a little different method, as I’ll have her either squatting or on her knees, and won’t need the wire foundation. You’ll also be able to see her feet. I might have her wings pinned up, out of the way of the mud.
I need to figure out how to work the Etsy system for maximum exposure. It seems to be all in the keywords that people use to search for specific items.
I’m also thinking of making smaller figures, as I have done in the past. I’ve made nativities, ranging in size from 2 inch tall characters to ones 6-8 inches tall. I’ve made angel ornaments as well, for teachers and friends.
I’d love to make another big nativity again. The one made about 10 years ago took alot of work, but it had all the usual cast-Jesus, Mary, Joseph and wise men, plus a trio of shepherds, a slew of animals, an angel host plus cherubs. It took roughly 150 hours to make, but it was so much fun. I wonder if someone would buy something like that, for what I’d have to charge to make it worthwhile. If I figured my time at $10/hour, it would run $1500. I don’t know anyone with that kind of money. Maybe I’ll just make it for myself. That’s why the angels on Etsy cost what they do- I have about 8 hours in each one of them, plus about $25 in materials.
Anyway, maybe I’ll make some small angel ornaments, to sell for $15 or so.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Alrighty then, thanks to the encouragement of more than several people, I listed 3 of my angels on Etsy. The store name is Rootietoot, if you’re interested.
