RIP Husum Roadside BBQ

I forgot to mention this, as I was caught in the despair of an unfortunate end to the fabulous Super Bowl game the other weekend. It was just too much bad news to deal with at one time. The winter storms took their toll on the MASH tent that had so much potential for good times. The big ice storm, which caused an estimated $2.4 million in damages around Klickitat County, delivered the death blow to the aged canvas.

BBQ John says he'll reopen for the Annual Husum 4th of July Parade, .1K micromarathon and celebration. And he thinks he might do special orders. We'll see. He also said he has to find a 'real job'. It might be a long time before the denizens of Husum enjoy a good Combo again.

Thanks, BBQ John, it was great while it lasted.

Oh NO! Italy Joins the 'War On Relgion'?

A bit of shocking news on page 10 of the Oregonian this morning: Church to Lose Tax Break. Yes, the Italian Government is breaking from its business as usual, that is passing laws that benefit the Catholic Church with little fanfare. It hasn't been in the habit of publicly taking bennies away.

"The government of Prime Minister Mario Monti took that step Wednesday, telling the European Commission that it intends to change Italian law to ensure the Church pays property tax on the parts of its buildings used for commercial ends."

So now the convents that offer B&B services, and the churches that rent space to shops will have to pay their full share of property tax. No small change: estimates range from $650 million to $2.6 billion. And could set off a wave of such changes in tax exemptions across cash strapped Europe. There was no link to it from the O, so here is a Reuters link instead.

Hmmmmmm.

Love Is Blind- Get Over It

(Political alert)

The ink wasn't even dry on the Marriage Equality bill that Gov. Gregoire signed yesterday when Rick Santorem rolled into town to whip up the homophobes and try to advance his chances of winning the GOP nomination ahead of the March 3rd GOP Caucuses here in Washington State. He couldn't give supporters of the bill one damn day to celebrate. He spoke in Tacoma, just blocks from an Occupy group, and was honored with protesters and a glitter bomb.

As he hypocritically charged intolerance of religion, his own intolerance was showing like a long slip under a short dress. His intolerance of the rights of women. His intolerance of those who don't believe strict Catholic dogma. His intolerance of those whose sexual orientation is not to his liking.

Rick, honey, that speech won't play well west of the Cascades. But you can keep on giving it wherever you like because it's making it easier for the rational among us to motivate the voters.

Reach out to those gay and lesbian voters. They love being treated as second class citizens. It's such a shame about VT, MA, CT, NY, IA and Washington DC. They've just fallen apart and gone to h-e-double hockey sticks since voting in Marriage Equality laws.

Then reach out to all those women voters. You know, the ones who are tired of being able to control when or if they become mothers (including an overwhelming percentage of Catholic women). Or deciding if they can afford to stay home or go to work for almost equal pay. Or who like their contraception covered, because it's a whole lot cheaper for insurers to not have to pay for childbirth and all those medical costs of raising lots of kids. You know better how it should all go down. And women are just not capable of making all those tough decisions.

Rick, Rick, Rick...I appreciate that you know who you are and what you stand for. I'm glad it all works out for you in your world. But the bigger world out there doesn't see things that way. You should have figured that out when you got bounced out of your Senate seat in 2006 by a measly 18 points was it? The NW prides itself on being progressive. Your dog won't hunt here.

And by the way, your slip is showing.

UPDATE: My awesome Governor blogged today on Huffpo. Read it here.

Fenway Fun

This year, Fenway Park turns 100 years old! I hope to catch a game in person this year, just because. I kind of have a big birthday coming up, too. Spring fever has hit. Saturday was Truck Day. And now there is a fun activity for all you die hard Red Sox fans out there.

Go here and choose your players for the All Fenway Team! They are tallying RH and LH Starting Pitchers now, and will add positions from now to mid May. Seeing as I'm slightly biased towards the Impossible Dream team, I was happy to see Jim Lonborg on the list. And who could forget Spaceman Bill Lee on the LHP list?

Oh, this is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to see who the other choices are.

34th Anniversary of the Blizzard of '78

A friend reminded me that on this day in 1964, the Beatles arrived in NYC to prepare for their 1st appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. And that it's "the anniversary of some blizzard that happened 14 years later".

I remember that first appearance of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was a turning point in musical history. I remember even better the Blizzard of '78. It was a turning point in my life.

The story starts in June of '77, when my fisheries coworker Linda and I took a vacation to Poland to visit the folks we worked with on the RV Wieczno over the previous few years. She worked in Woods Hole, and I worked in Narragansett. What an adventure for two wild and crazy single gals in their 20's. In fact, I celebrated my 25th birthday during that holiday. At the end of the trip I met a nice dental student in a town near Gdynia, the brother in law of the Bosun of the ship. We made plans to meet in February during his school break, and go skiing in the mountains. He would meet me in Warsaw, and we'd take the train to Krakow. How exciting!

By November, I'd met Lloyd. He was in a long distance relationship, so I wasn't taking him too seriously at this point. He agreed to stay in my apartment to take care of my cats while I was gone to Poland. Boy, I had it all covered. My best buddy Karen drove me to the Amtrak station that morning in her Karmann Ghia, in the snow that was beginning to fall. In this day and age, I'd have been online checking the Weather Channel, the airline and airport websites and never left Saunderstown. Back then, nada. We knew it was going to snow. Period.

I got to South Station, and rode the T to the airport, which was closing as I arrived. Wind was blowing through the terminal any time a door opened. I scrawled a note to my Polish date for the airline rep to forward to Warsaw. Poor guy would be wandering around looking for me. And there was no one for me to call, he didn't have a phone. Talk about being stood up!

I made it back to South Station in time to catch the train that was heading to DC. The Kingston stop was ordinarily about an hour and 20 minutes or so. We slowly made our way south, got stuck in Providence for several hours during which time the train ran out of booze. Four hours it took to get to Kingston. The snow was waist deep by then. People were stranded at the train station.

Neighbors had brought PB&J sandwiches and hot chocolate for us. I waded out to the main road where there was a phone booth. Remember phone booths??? I called Lloyd to tell him I was NOT in Poland. He said the road had been plowed by the house, he'd try to get there. So I waited by the phone booth. Built a family of snow men. Watched plows go by. Finally the phone rang again. No luck, there was no way to get to the station. So I trudged back and waited with the other refugees. Sometime after midnight, the station got plowed out, and the fire dept came and evacuated us to a makeshift dorm at URI. There was a buffet of food for the workers and refugees. We had cots to sleep on.

The next morning, we were watching the Today Show, amazed at the size of the storm. A pair of wet mittens fell on my face. It was Lloyd, come to rescue me. I never went back to Poland. The airport was closed for a week. I did mail clippings of the newspaper about the storm to the dental student in Poland, so he'd know I didn't totally stand him up. He never did get that message from the airline. But by the time the last of that snow had melted, there was a nice oceanography student who'd won my heart.

And they lived happily ever after.

For some great photos of that day, check this link.

What Would Susan Do?

Today's stupidity is worth a political alert. Momma, don't go any further.

Who knew there were women out there who are still stuck in mean girls fifth grade?

Up until today, two powerhouses of women's interests, the Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood, were partners. But the Komen gang got an infusion of crazy when they hired Karen Handel as their VP. Ms Handel previously ran for Governor of the great state of Georgia on an anti-abortion rights campaign and lost. She's found her niche.

Komen grants have provided breast health care for women across the country. Many have no other health care options except for Planned Parenthood. I cannot believe that Komen is doing this. From the Washington Post:

Komen said it could not continue to fund Planned Parenthood because it has adopted new guidelines that bar it from funding organizations under congressional investigation. The House oversight and investigations subcommittee announced in the fall an investigation into Planned Parenthood’s funding.

What a crock.

My grandmother and an aunt died from metastatic breast cancers. I get Komen's original mission. Well, I thought I did. No more. Done with the ribbons, done with the pledges, done with the walks and runs and all that. I am more into making sure women get the health care they need to prevent breast cancer, or catch it early.

From now on, every piece of mail that comes into my mailbox from Komen (believe me, that's plenty) will result in an extra gift to Planned Parenthood, above and beyond my monthly gift.
I will request a donation in the name of Karen Handel, and have the card sent to Komen. Here's what you need to join me. Send thank you note to:

Karen Handel
Senior VP of Fail
c/o Susan G. Komen Foundation
P.O. Box 650309
Dallas, TX 75265-0309

Thank You Santa!

Every year my 6 siblings and I rotate who we buy a Christmas gift for. It's fun, helps all our budgets, and gives us a chance to focus on ONE person that year and make them feel special.This year my youngest sister Carol had me. I got a beautiful calendar of photos she took of Boston. It's wonderful. And she sent me a gift card for Williams Sonoma. A place I will happily window shop (or peruse online now since we live so far away from one) but rarely buy from. After much consideration, we decided on the perfect prize. It came today.

Thank you Carol, for the most wonderful Raclette Table Top Grill. Now all I need to do is get the cheese and we will amuse and amaze our friends with this fabulous and fun way to eat.

We discovered raclette on our trips to France and Switzerland, a staple at the outrageous buffets at Club Med ski clubs. We even bought a machine for our home in Lagos, but sold it there when we transferred back to the US (it was 220 so wouldn't work without a transformer). We've been raclette-less since 1997. No more. Stay tuned for adventures in table top cooking....

Saturday Night Supper

My readers from Boston will know what I'm talking about. Growing up, Saturday night meant several things. Bath night. One scoop of ice cream for dessert. Hot dogs and Baked Beans with brown bread for supper. My 84 year old mother and my brother still eat baked beans on Saturday night, though the hot dogs are often replaced with turkey burgers (a little healthier).

This is the time of year when start thinking about Saturday night supper. Mostly because, it's NFL Playoff time and my way of bringing good luck to Boston teams in ANY sport is to host a New England Comfort Food party to go with the game. How wonderful that the Pats had their first playoff game on Saturday night! Perfect! A HOME game no less.

I started preparations early, because I was working at the winery that afternoon. Found my stash of saved cans for steaming the brown bread and got that done Wednesday. B&M Brown Bread can be found sometimes in grocery stores here in the Northwest, but it's a rarity. Fortunately, it's easy to make if you have cans and a big pot to steam it in. Takes a few minutes to whip up, 3 hours to steam. This link has a recipe similar to the one I use, called Brown Bread in a Can. It's an interesting read with a couple of bean and bread recipes to choose from.

Next up, the beans. Thursday night I soaked the small white beans so they'd be ready to bake on Friday. I use a recipe from Durgin Park that tastes just like the ones my Grandma Sully used to make. I will admit to liking Julia Child's crock pot version that also includes ginger...but I digress. I was using my bean pot, so it had to be the Durgin Park recipe. With salt pork, onions, molasses, dry mustard...no ketchup, no bacon, no sugar. My house smelled awesome as they slow cooked for about 6 hours. Fortunately, the back deck was as cold as my fridge, so they stayed out there to keep cool until I needed them!

Another must have for New England Comfort Food: Clam Chowder. Made the base for this from an old RI clam cookbook I've had forever. You cook some salt pork, save the bits, add potatoes and onions, flour, clam juice then throw in the clams. Save it with those flavorful bits of salt pork until you need it. When it's time to serve, you add the milk and cream, or in my case, half and half.

And where there is New England food, there is clam dip. With Ruffles (have RRRRRidges). I have a clam dip recipe from that same RI cookbook that I could eat with a spoon, it's so good.

Throw in some steamed all angus beef Oscar Meyer weiners (on sale), Gulden's mustard, and you're all set for half time. Don't forget the Sam Adams Winter Ale...and finish up with Boston Cream Pie. It's a WINNING combination.

GO PATS!

Two Years of Husum BBQ

Yesterday all the locals and friends came out to celebrate the two year anniversary of the Husum Roadside BBQ. Now, anyone who has had the pleasure of consuming pulled pork sandwiches, ribs and chicken from the hillbilly smoker knows how SMALL the dining area is in the building. OK, maybe COZY is a better word. Summertime soirees mean we expand into the parking lot, but whatever could we do in winter?

Put up a MASH tent. String up party lights and install a wood stove. Run some power out there for the amps, add some chairs and tables. Voila! Husum, we have an event center for the winter.

Then you invite Joel to set up a Wind River Cellars tasting area, where the customers can buy a bottle of deliciousness to wash down their BBQ. He even had a thermos carafe of hot Bad Seed Cider to warm us up!

Add local troubadour Bob Connolly to entertain us with his ballads and bad Irish jokes.


Put the Husum Yacht Club members on notice for an All Hands on Deck meeting to coincide with the festivities.

John and friends have been working all fall to figure out a way to get the surplus tent up. Judging by the happy faces I'd say this is a huge success. Next up for the MASH tent: movie and popcorn night, showing, of course, the original MASH movie. Come as your favorite 4077th character. Details soon.

Junk Mail

I was almost done writing this when Microsoft decided my computer needed updating, and closed it down without warning. I lost my whole story. So I'm trying to recreate the brilliant writing that has disappeared. I hate it when that happens. Curse you, Microsoft!

Somehow I got on the mailing list of someone who blasts Obama lies. Not exactly somehow...he found my chair@ email on the County Dem website. I like to think he is just letting me know what is going around. But I doubt it. There is a blind cc mail list. So we play a little game. He sends me his crap, and I send him back links debunking the crap, showing him how quick and easy it is to check these things our. And politely request he verify before forwarding said crap 'to everyone you know'. He shouldn't take offense. I do this to everyone who sends me crap. Even my mother has been the recipient of my little push backs. I feel like it is the least an honest person seeking truth can do in this day and age.

Today's email was a combination of disinformation. A claim that Obama is a Manchurian Candidate, that 'no one' at Columbia knew him so he couldn't have gone there, and that he uses a stolen Social Security number. Really? Faux News interviewed 400 people who were at Columbia at the time and no one remembers him? I don't think I even KNEW 400 people when I was in college, never mind 400 knowing me...some classes where so big, it was easy to remain anonymous. It's all so very silly. And hateful.

Last week a friend forwarded me a hit piece supposedly by Thomas Sowell that a prolific sender of crap sent to her. I sent her the link sorting out the truth from the fiction, which she forwarded to the sender. He agreed to check before sending in the future. Good on him.

Instead of spending so much time and energy circulating lies and misrepresentations about the President, they should think about the things that have been accomplished in these last three contentious years, with full obstruction from their party. Here is a handy site to get started. A little more irreverently named WTF has Obama done so far can also help your perspective. And maybe spend a little more time looking into their candidates, who have plenty of honesty problems themselves. Spend a little time perusing Politifact. Michele Bachmann is the Queen of False and "Pants on Fire" ratings. Learn more about Rick Perry, "retired" governor of Texas, who may have more going on in the hypocrisy dept. than they might realize. Or look more closely into one of the biggest egos and hypocrites around, Newt Gingrich. Politifact also has a nifty list of Obama promises kept.

Full disclosure, I was a Hillary supporter in 2008, but I think she got the best end of the deal and has done a great job as Sec State. I am not 100% happy with President Obama. But he has to consider more than just MY opinion. The man has a big country to run. He came into a big mess that required everyone on board to start fixing. With half of our elected representatives doing more to make him a one term president, and to get themselves reelected than working with him to make our country a place of which we can all be proud.

So keep sending me your crap, sir. I'll keep sending it back, corrected, in hopes that you will share more honestly with your blind cc list.