George Washington Slept Here

   We went from “Polar Vortex” conditions to a balmy 56 degrees and rain all day yesterday. The Mr. and I  decided to take a drive to a town known for its well maintained centuries old homes – Wethersfield, CT.  

  The town, founded in 1633–34, has its niche in history, being “Ye
Most Ancient Towne” in Connecticut. Over 150 of it’s distinctive old Colonial homes still stand as a symbol of  its heritage since the early days of its
founding more than 375 years ago.

   We visited in the off season, meaning the museum houses are only open for tours by appointment or on  special occasions.  So, we weren’t able to go inside.  All are close together, however. We grabbed some breakfast and walked between, in and around rain puddles and snow melts to take some pictures.  While other continents can boast much older ancient structures, here in New England I still marvel at the homes that withstand the elements and other tests of time for hundreds of years. The design of homes haven’t changed much over the centuries either. 

The Webb House –  built in 1752 by Joseph Webb.   A young and successful merchant, he hired
Judah Wright to frame a stylish three-and-a-half story house and shop
with a massive gambrel roof that provided greater upper-floor storage
for Joseph’s trade goods.  It was also probably used as the sleeping
quarters for the household’s enslaved Africans.  In May 1781, Gen. George Washington
spent five nights in the house.  Here, in one of the front parlors,
Washington met with the French general Comte de Rochambeau to plan a
joint military campaign that led to victory at Yorktown and American
independence. 

 To see the interior, click on the link highlighted above.

Beautiful brownstone steps and foundation blocks…  
Brownstone was a popular, durable building material used in many places
Many of you are familiar with the brownstones in  brooklyn and NYC…
and one of the main quarries back in the day is located right here
in Portland, Connecticut, now a recreational water park.

   Pineapples were a sign of welcome in the early colonies and continue to be a popular element in decor today. Visiting was the main form of entertainment and sharing of news, making hospitality in  that period vital. The way a woman presented her “food” declared her personality and her family’s status. There were, in fact, competitions of this nature between the women, creating elaborate table displays with what they were able to acquire. If she could produce a pineapple for her company to enjoy, it was a  highly regarded gesture.  At that time, pineapples came on ships from the Caribbean and those trade ships sailed right into the cove mentioned below. 

 

The Deane House,  built in 1766,  was the home of Silas Deane, the first diplomat for the United States. 
Note the large size of the windows and front door.. This surprised me, as one would think those features would be smaller to keep out the New England weather.  I believe I read that  the doors were made so wide because in those days wakes were held in the deceased person’s home and the casket needed to be able to fit through the door.  The large windows were a status symbol, as glass was scarce. The wealthy had the economic ability to install them.

Beautiful old glass like this cannot be duplicated and is prized among 
antique and history enthusiasts.  These particular windows have a leaden hue…

These homes have many layers of (original?) paint and hardware.

BUTTOLPH-WILLIAMS HOUSE – 
Built for Benjamin Belden around 1715, this house – now a
museum – provided the setting for Elizabeth George Speare’s
award-winning novel, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which depicts a young
woman’s encounter with superstition and intolerance
 in a 17th century
New England town.

Note the smaller window size in these houses…

I Love the simplicity of this door.

More houses heading toward the cove…

 

The Cove and Warehouse…

Once part of a thriving commercial center, the warehouse located on the cove –
now housing a Wethersfield Historical Society maritime exhibit –
contains reminders of the West Indies trade that flourished in
Wethersfield from 1650 to 1830. Merchants exported lumber, grain,
onions, salted beef, fish and pork in exchange for salt, sugar, molasses
and rum from the Caribbean. 

We also drove through the ancient burying ground –


“The quaint, often poetic, inscriptions found on the
headstones in this historic burial ground tell poignant tales of the
demise of loved ones. The skills of a dozen different Connecticut Valley
stone carvers are represented here. The earliest one – Leonard
Chester’s table stone – dates from 1648.”

 
Many stones had this face or a variation  of it on them…
An Angel?  The Sun?  A Spirit Guide?

If you care to stay for a while among these colonial treasures,
there is a bed & breakfast right in the heart of it all –

The Silas Robbins House


Silas Robbins, an owner of the seed business Johnson, Robbins and Co.,
built the large house in 1873.
It is now renovated and  available for weddings, special occasions and as a B & B. 

*LOVE* the front door!

Well..Dang it all to hell and back…

…now you’ve got me thinking about Velveeta.  Did I even just type that? 

   You see… something about that stuff has just always reminded me of plastic.  Like those individually wrapped slices of  yellow-orange cheese my mother used to buy at the local A & P when we were kids that were of the same ilk.  Plastic-y.  bleh.

    Oh, my mouth was so happy when on occasion I’d be invited to stay at my friends house just down the street for lunch.  They had the real sliced cheese asked for at the deli counter and those sandwiches on Pepperidge Farm bread were just delightful. To be fair, my mom worked full time and probably didn’t want to spend the time standing in line at the deli counter when she could grab that prewrapped slice package quick as lightning right off the shelf.

   Yesterday, many of you shared FOND memories of  -Velveeta- and still use it in some of your treasured recipes. I’m a little embarassed to tell you I had no idea what “Queso” was and I actually had to google it.  Knock me over with a feather!  I’ve had it!  I’ve even made it!… although I just call it Mexican dip with nachos and now that I know what Ro-Tel is I probably won’t dice my own tomatoes, peppers onions.  Being really real here, it’s true I have used Velveeta maybe four times in my life because the recipe called for it and I didn’t want to F it up.  But I couldn’t help but think… oh, boy, we’re really eating CRAP today… is there even any CHEESE in this stuff?

   Turns out, there is. 

    So..I finally decided after so much praise from some of you, that I oughta do some  research before my cheese snobbery gets me in some trouble. Keeping it real, isn’t that what I blather on about right here on this blog?

   Here’s the Velveeta story according to Wikipedia-

Velveeta is a processed cheese product having a taste that is identified as a type of American Cheese with a texture that is softer and smoother. (PLASTICY… just saying)  It was invented in 1908 by Caleb Hommel of the Monroe Cheese Company NY .    The Velveeta Cheese Company sold it to KRAFT Foods in 1927.  The product was advertised for its nutrition. (go figure!)    According to Kraft’s website, in the 1930s, Velveeta became the first cheese product to gain the American Medical Associations seal of approval  ( get out of town!)    It was reformulated in 1953 as a cheese spread.   Velveeta is labeled in the US  as a “Pasteurized Recipe Cheese Product”.  The name “Velveeta” is intended to connote a Velvety smooth edible product. Smoothness and melt ability are promoted as its properties that result by reincorporating the whey with the curd.

Ingredients:  Milk, water, whey, milk protein concentrate, milkfat, whey protein concentrate, sodium phosphate, contains 2% or less of:  Salt, calcium phosphate, lactic acid, sorbic acid, sodium citrate, sodium alginate, enzymes, apogarotenal, annato, cheese culture. 

   I have discovered that while it’s true that Velveeta is a real cheese PRODUCT –  it is high in calories, fat and sodium if you look at the overall content of that package, not just the “serving size”.. which is one little slice.   So, while you won’t kill yourself using Velveeta in your favorite occasional Queso, if you’re a regular consumer of the stuff, you’re better off Health-wise buying a -real- cheddar version for your Queso, broccoli casseroles or grilled cheese.

…although, consumers might kill  you trying to get at the stuff if you’re found with it in your possession… you do know the cheesepacolypse is upon us, don’t you? 

 
– Just sayin.  

  

Cheesy Sister Act

On my way out to the barn early this morning I got a text from my sister as I was pulling up my boot straps…

S:   I’m ready to go buy Velveeta even though I’ve never used it, lol.

Me:  Isn’t that so ridiculous? Even the name is gross.

S:  LOL I know .. it must be a PR gimmick.

Me:  Well.. out into the Polar Vortex I go…with no Velveeta.

S:  Lol.. Stay alive! I will find you and bring nachos!

Me:   Perfect! …but only if you managed to score some velveeta.

S:  I’ll work on it.

*******

For those of you who are not aware.. on many media outlets it has been reported that there is apparently a dire Velveeta shortage. (  – you gotta be kidding me –  ).    So, the new panic shopping items before a snow storm, if Kraft has their way… will be  milk, bread, toilet paper, Velveeta.

 It just doesn’t get any sillier.

Do I even have to say it?

Baby, it is SO FREAK’N COLD OUTSIDE!!!!!!
Seriously.. when you throw coffee up into the air and it freezes
before it hits the ground…  Damn, that’s cold.
 As for the -Polar Vortex- thing, though…
the media has to make something out of everything, don’t they?
It’s called January.  You know, Winter? Yes…indeed..it’s a particularly cold one.
But a  -Polar Vortex -? 
For those of you who like to read..
I’ve come across a couple of good books lately, all very different in style. 
A hilarious take on aging.. an honest and sincere look at his life, good and sad,
and even more hilarity. 
Tad Friend’s memoir –
 a humorous and honest look at the American Wasp,
it’s rise..and inevitable reluctant fall.
For those of you interested in healthy eating… this is THE BOMB!!
Delicious, healthy, easy to prepare. 
Paleo recipe, but it doesn’t seem like you are deprived of a single thing here.
Not that Paleo eating is deprived..lol..
Bruschetta Chicken with Zucchini noodles 

And get yourself one of those julienne zucchini peelers, because they
make the job so easy. I just got one for $8 at a local kitchen store but
you can find them on amazon too.

Off I go without coffee in hand for fear of an immediate freeze, into the Polar Vortex

to feed critters. Stay warm, all.



A horror of a decision

Thankfully, not ours to make. But I can’t help thinking about the situation that is plastered all over the media. I’m referring to the  13 year old girl who was declared brain dead after a tonsil surgery that went horrible wrong.. somehow.  The details are unclear, but the end result is the body of a young teenage girl being kept in a state of non-decay by a machine that pumps air into her lungs, keeping her heart beating. There is no question there has been no brain activity, no blood supply to her brain for quite some time now. There is no refuting the cold hard fact that  there is no hope for her to revive where there will be any kind of function at all.  And yet her family will not let her go.

 Understandable, the horror of losing a child in such an unexpected and tragic way.  I hope I never know the awfulness of having to make the decisions before them.   I give no validity to the sincerity of the lawyer who currently stands beside them to fight their fight, however…and he has quite a lot to say.  If he were hired by the hospital releasing her, he would be singing a different tune.  For him it’s all about the money, the case, the prestige. I wish all lawyers had a little more class. Something integral  in that profession gets lost in translation, not meaning to insult the good honest lawyers out there by any means.

  There was a similar case years ago – that of Terry Schia*o – you might remember that one too.  I thought it was a tragedy to let that poor woman languish in a facility for all those years, and I understood her husbands desire to let her go.  I don’t believe he was being selfish.  I think he was truthful when he said his wife was a vibrant life-loving person who would never want to lay in a vegetative state for so many years.  Her parents felt differently and fought tooth and nail to keep her alive, but her quality of life was nothing more than lying in a bed. No food enjoyment, no recognition of family members, no book reading or comprehension of any sort.  This child now being transferred to a facility that will continue her body’s care is in less than a vegetative state.

  I’ve talked to my family about this very difficult subject, and I’ve let them know I would never want to be kept in a vegetative state if there was no real hope for recovery.  That is not life, that is not living.  And that would not be the way I’d want to be remembered or burden my surviving family.  My husband feels differently.. he would want months and months to go by so that it is certain that all hope for recovery is lost. These conversations are not pleasant, but they are so important to have.  Ofcourse, no one ever wants to think that you should have these conversations with a 13 year old.

So easy it’s ridiculous.

We decided yesterday to invite the Moms over for dinner,
which threw me into  quick menu prep and shopping  mode
for said menu. The husband even picked up a vacuum
whilst I cooked so that dog hair wouldn’t be a condiment
with the evening meal.
So.. we started this paleo way of eating, and we pretty much stuck to
the game plan, except for dessert.  The moms and the kids are not
on this diet and hey… you gotta live it up now and then..
I found the idea for this simple- easy- OMG delicious “cobbler”  on another blog
and it was so good I’m going to share it with you regardless of it’s 
not very health conscious contents, although the fruit is a good thing, right?
 
Totally yummy – so ridiculously easy – a crowd pleaser for sure. 
 
 So.. you need three things…
 
1 stick of butter
 
I box of yellow cake mix 
(Betty Crocker actually has a gluten free version now)
 
whatever fruit you want in your cobbler.
I chose 2 cans sliced peaches in light syrup
Blueberries and raspberries.  

 – pour canned peaches in bottom of  a baking dish (approx 8 x 8)
 – add berries with peaches
– sprinkle cake mix right out of box on top of fruit
-melt stick of butter, then pour evenly over the top. 
Put in 350 oven for approx 50 minutes or until top is golden brown. 
 
Serve warm.. with soft vanilla ice cream if desired.
 

Totally yummy – so ridiculously easy – a crowd pleaser for sure.

10 degrees

Ten.
 
Degrees.
 
And tonight it’s supposed to reach ZERO.
Believe it or not, it doesn’t feel so bad,
until the wind begins to blow that icy snow dust
up in your bared neck parts 
where you forgot to wrap a scarf. 
 
The men were up at 5:30 am to plow the six or so inches that fell overnight..
 
and the girlchild and I trudged up to the barn around 7am
to feed chickens,  horses, clean stalls, break up the ice in the water buckets
and gripe about the icy snow dust blowing up in our bared neck parts. 
Am I painting a clear picture for you here? 
 
 
I was happy to see the menfolk had cleared a path to the coop for me..
not a lot of things worse than  that  icy snow dust getting down inside your boots
as you’re just getting into your morning chores.
 
 
 
I gave the girls some oatmeal in warm milk
(they’re spoiled, don’t I know it)
 
 
 
Then we tackled the barn chores…
 

Opie and Max had a good romp in the snow 
while we mucked stalls… 
Both are double blanketed today. 

The sun slowly burned through the  heavy, grey winter sky and
we’ve currently got a balmy 16 degrees.
Have I told you lately how much I appreciate my barn help?
I don’t ask for her assistance often because she’s got two jobs 
and a horse living elsewhere at this particular place in time. 
On mornings like this, though, maybe I beg just a little. 
*****
Unrelated…
I’ve been trying some paleo recipes, and for those of you who are interested,
the two I’ve linked below are really really good.   They got a thumbs up 
from both the husband and kids and it’s so much better for you. 
I already feel lighter in my loafers,  I kid you not. 
Getting sugar and bread/pasta/wheat products
out of your system lightens your body’s load
 and the proof is in how you feel if you try it. 
 
I’m not stupid enough to believe myself when I say I’ll never eat junk again..
but there are healthy junk choices out there.. like these cookies below…
My son, the picky eater and chocolate chip connoisseur, ate almost
the whole first batch I made in one milk dunking session.  They’re that good. 

The Red Dog Project

  By now if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know about the shelter dog rescue group I belong to, Dog Days Adoption Events.  I am so excited about a new project Dog Days has initiated, called The Red Dog Project.   What is it, exactly?   



The Red Dog Project rescues high risk (kill shelter) dogs and puppies and
places them with inmates to socialize them so they may be re-homed.   Currently the dogs
for this project are with women inmates and have to be able to stay in a
room behind a baby gate. In the next phase, we hope to also put together teams of  male inmates and  pit bulls who are capable of solid rehabilitation. 


   Below are some of the puppies who have completed their initial training and wellness program and are available for adoption.   As is always the case… in order to be able to do this, we need to raise funds.  We can’t save our next batch of shelter dogs until we’ve raised the funds to do so.  If you have an interest in adopting one of the Red Dog Project puppies, visit www.godogdays.org or send an e-mail inquiry to the e-mail listed on each of the pups ads below.  Donations are easy to do, just click on the DONATE link on the face of the website. Every single dollar helps us bring these dogs HOME.