I had to sit with my thoughts about Thursday for a minute

 It's taken me a day to finally put my fingers to the keyboard about the debate and I have a few thoughts.

President Biden DID have an off-night.

The convicted felon was his usual practiced lying self.

No one can deny either of those points.

What pisses me off is that some Democrats are talking about President Biden withdrawing as a candidate because he's old and wasn't on his "A game" and replacing him as a candidate with someone "younger?" The media also pushes that narrative with gusto, instead of talking about how he answered questions while the other guy didn't.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but why the actual fuck isn't the media and the pig-headed GOP not calling for the convicted felon, rapist, and racist to be replaced as the GOP nominee? If anyone on that stage on Thursday night sounded like an addled-brain drunk grandpa it was the convicted felon!

I don't agree with every position the President has taken, but I am convinced that if Joe Biden isn't re-elected in November, there will be no election in 2028! I truly believe that this election will determine what sort of SCOTUS we will have, what rights our daughters will have, what civil rights we ALL will have, and where we will stand within the global community. 

This November we will either be given the chance of a future opportunity to find, as Gov. Whitmer has said, a Gen X candidate for the 2028 election or we face the imposition on us of the GOP Project 2025 and the end of our "striving towards a more perfect Union."

I am concerned, nay I am worriedthefuckout

 Tonight is the first debate between President Biden and the convicted felon.

Bets are being taken on whether or not the convicted felon will show up since so many GOP members seem to be giving him cover for withdrawing. It makes me laugh over some of their reasons given that representatives for BOTH campaigns agreed to the rules for the debates, including muting the mic when a candidate wasn't answering a question. I'm wondering how the convicted felon will react to not being able to yell and act out during the debate. The bar is so low for the convicted felon that if he doesn't collapse on stage, his minions will consider him the winner of the debate.

I hope you'll check out an excellent post by Jim Wright on his observations about tonight.

Here's the reason I decided to write this today. The MITM had to go to a major studio here in Lalaland and on his way back home he was behind a car that had a bumpersticker that said:

~I'M VOTING FOR THE FELON~

Not only was he NOT surprised given where he was when he saw it, but the fact that it's become perfectly fine to support a convicted felon, acknowledged racist, and sexual predator PUBLICALLY!

And that, dear friends, is why Iamworriedthefuckout! 

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but VOTE as if your life depended on it BECAUSE IT DOES!

The Day After

Updates ended abruptly at 4PM yesterday because everyone arrived, dinner was served, the wine flowed and the beers were plenty! It was too hot to sit outside so folks congregated in various parts of the house. Conversations over Bisque were of memories of family gatherings when we weren't the eldest generation, children were young, and so were we. Food brings us together today just as it did all those many years ago when multiple generations and extended family came together for celebrations.

One of the cousins couldn't make it today, so she and her partner had to make due with a plate brought over by her sister. They had helped yesterday and were really sad to have missed out!

Next year the MITM will be Chef Emeritus because Captain Chaos has decided that he will be the one to carry on the annual tradition. He'll have two apprentices working with him, BigKidChaos (BKC) and BigGirlMatrix (BGM) who want to learn the steps that lead up to stuffing heads (which they do with great speed and agility!).

Just as the MITM learned from his Grandmother, the tradition will be handed down to the next generation, along with Big Blue!

p.s. If anyone is interested in this recipe, the MITM will send you a PDF of his recipe! Let me know

Party in the USA or Sunday at super nana's with the Krewe 4PM UPDATE

The first 2 photos are of the clean heads ready for stuffing! The stuffing is made of boiled tails, bread crumbs, and the trinity (known to all devotees of Creole cooking: finely chopped onions, bell peppers, and celery)

Currently, the MITM is making his roux for the Bisque. Once it's reached the perfect color, he'll add the trinity to stop the roux from cooking further, add the stock, let it simmer for an hour or so, with the 4 pounds of the boiled crawfish tails, and finally add the stuffed heads, green onions, and parsley.

The entire dish is served over white rice, warm baguettes, and a simple salad on the side!

More pictures to follow!

This is the pot we call "Big Blue." It's a 16 qt. le creuset Dutch oven! We had so many extra stuffed heads we had to freeze some, not that I'm complaining!

TODAY is the first day of the Crawfish Bisque party!

*

 I know many of you won't see these until Sunday morning, but we were a bit busy today with 70 pounds of live crawfish (4th pic) that had to be boiled (1st and 2nd pics), played with (3rd and 5th pics), and finally cleaned which meant pulling the tails off and removing the tail meat! Once all that was done, it was time for pizza, beer, or margaritas! BGM and BK had soft drinks.

*Photos 6, 7, and 8 courtesy of BGM

We've cleaned the heads for stuffing tomorrow (Sunday), the MITM is making his stock for the bisque, and the kitchen is clean and ready for tomorrow morning's cooking!

WTAF Louisiana?

 I can't even set this in a larger font because it will just increase my need to scream or actually spew profanities at my screen!

Louisiana is home to many of the MITM's extended family, the birthplace of jazz, and home to some of the most delicious foods ever created has just passed legislation requiring the posting of the 10 Commandments in every classroom in the state.

This piece of pandering will likely be challenged in the courts since it violates the opening lines of the First Amendment to the Constitution, known as the establishment clause, which prohibits the government from creating an official religion or favoring one religion over another. I expect there will also be some moves to demand that if the legislation is allowed to stand, every other religion will demand equal exposure. 

1. “When you hear people demanding that the Ten Commandments be displayed in courtrooms and schoolrooms, always be sure to ask which set. It works every time.”

Where is Christopher Hitchens when we need him??

Wednesday

 Today's a Federal Holiday here in the USA. Yeah, celebrating Juneteenth, the day that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, two years AFTER the end of the Civil War and the signing of the Emancipation Declaration which, by the way, did not officially end slavery in the United States. The Emancipation Declaration ONLY applied to those held in slavery in the Confederate States! Those enslaved people who lived in states that did not secede from the Union were still LEGALLY slaves and would not receive their freedom until the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution on December 6th, 1865!

Yeah, so there you go.

The Roots did a great job explaining it!

Movie music "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

 This is one of my favorite Cohen Brothers movies! 

Miley Cyrus sang the same song during a tribute to George Clooney! 

My favorite Dive Bar in Savannah

First Nations got me thinking about dive bars that I've known and loved over the years, so I wanted to share my favorite in Savannah!

It was around the corner from our loft in the Historic District of Savannah. Many a night after work I'd walk over and meet the MITM and a few good friends for a drink or 4 depending on the day I'd had or for that matter what day it was! Anyway, our spot was The Rail Pub and we'd hang until the college kids descended and were, you know, college kids! 

When we moved to the other end of the district (literally a straight line from the loft to our house) we decided to upgrade our imbibing habits and stocked our own bar so we never had to leave home!

Here in Lalaland, we've stuck to our home bar routine and now that it's summer, we're enjoying drinks on the patio!

extras

 

The NEXT big Krewe party!

 Every year since we've been back in Lalaland, the MITM aka CreoleBeBop has hosted a Crawfish Bisque party for the Krewe. This year the guest list has expanded to include extended family who live nearby! He ordered 70lbs of LIVE crawfish to be shipped from Louisiana Crawfish Co. that will arrive next Saturday morning and then the prep work will begin! The crawfish arrive iced down in styrofoam coolers with all the seasonings packaged and ready to pour in the boil. Making this dish is a 2-day effort and requires many hands to make light the work! Seriously, after the crawfish are boiled, they have to be picked apart and the tailmeat removed. Of course, one of the perks of being part of the process is eating a bit of the meat while you work! This process usually takes the entire afternoon with a break for lunch! and breaks for drinks...

We're absolutely going to have to take pictures because the first day of prep is always a lot of fun and a lot of work but we all have a great time! BKC and BGM hold crawfish races and this year are planning a scene from Romeo and Juliet in the fountain. THAT will have to be a video!

Part of the cleaning process is selecting the cleaned crawfish heads for stuffing on Sunday. Here's a great pictorial explanation of the process and a recipe for Crawfish Bisque but to be clear, this is not the MITM's recipe! He doesn't share that with anyone. After all the prep work is done I usually like to chop up all the veg and bag it for the next day because mise en place makes cooking a big dish like this needs efficiency and preciseness! I'm kidding, I do it on Saturday so that on Sunday while the MITM is cooking I don't have anything to do except wait for the food to be ready!

Everyone will show up around 3 or so bearing drinks and desserts and we'll sit around until the last bit of Bisque is gone or we're all so stuffed we can't eat another bite! We're looking at 20+ family and friends helping and eating Saturday and Sunday!

Party Central is gearing up for an exciting Summer!

A gardener's tale for today

It's party planning time again, but this time it's A Family Affair so there WILL be photos (I just won't be the responsible for taking them) that will be in focus! More about the party later in another post.

Today we have a tree guy coming to treat the big tree in the back garden that seems to have been infested by aphids! One of the downsides of the infestation is what BGM calls aphid poo or the less graphic name which I prefer honeydew. 

Herein begins the lesson on Aphids. Read the article at your leisure because I didn't want to edit it down to the salient parts and spoil all y'all's reading pleasure! One of the downsides of the infestation is that all the patio furniture and anyone sitting under the tree gets pooed on covered in honeydew! When it happened last year we all thought it was just sap from the tree and ignored it. It was also not as abundant! The treatment will last a year, so perhaps we'll have to do it again! As the tree guy (his name is JERRY GARCIA!!!) said, "Maybe I'll see you again next year, maybe I won't." This garden has definitely been a learning experience for us. The MITM downloaded an app for his phone, so now we know all the proper names for all the fruit trees (the obvious one was a lemon tree) in the back garden, exactly which roses we have in front of the kitchen windows and all the proper names for all the drought resistant plants in the front garden. He's still fiddling with the herb plants and BGM's strawberry plant. In fact, he's made pesto twice since starting the herb garden!

Our garden in Savannah was so much easier! Magnolias in the back garden, a HUGE sugar oak surrounded by a boxwood hedge, pampas grass, and a gardenia in the front! Having a professional gardener helped a LOT!

Who's next?

 Somehow I managed to blog for 10 days straight, sweetpeas! It was fun and reminded me how much I enjoy blogging! It felt a bit strange to miss a few days, but that was then and this is now, so let's see if anyone else will try the TEN DAY CHALLENGE!!

I'm still trying to figure out why my photos from the party won't post, so there will probably be some pictorial posts soon!

The Saturday Baby Shower and why there aren't many photos

 I only have a couple of food photos and (a very blurry) one of the floral arrangements...

BECAUSE

this was a very private affair for folks who don't normally have iPhone photos shared on social media. So, you'll have to take my word that it was a smashing success.

Or as one of the participants said to me as she was leaving,

It was so on brand, Darling!

Followed by double air kisses.

Besides, the photos I took were blurry and were only of the food before being set out, so how many plates of REDACTED does one need to see?

Instead of photos, here's a video from the 75th Birthday party UPDATE

 

ACK! Just realized that the photos didn't post (just had a chance to look at my email to see y'all's comments), so now I have to figure out why they didn't post, too!

The video was about the appetizer selection of Corn Beignets - jalapeno aioli, Di Stefano Stracciatella - brooks cherries, balsamico, and Bluefin Tuna Toast with Kaluga caviar, and smoked tomato. 

As soon as I figure out why the photos didn't post, you'll see the complete menu. It was delicious!!

The day after

There will be pictures from last night's dinner for the MITM as soon as I get them all. He had no idea that all of the Krewe would be there, so he was COMPLETELY surprised when we walked in and they were all seated at the long center table at Republique! (I wish I'd taken a photo of his face at that moment!) If you're ever in LA, make a reservation for dinner there, you will not be disappointed.

Photos to come!

TODAY IS HIS BIRTHDAY!!!

 

This is one of my favorite photos of the MITM aka CreoleBeBop! I took this photo a few years ago when he was still smoking cigars. We're going to dinner tonight at Republique to celebrate his 75th Birthday! 

There might be a few surprises even though he's not a surprise-me guy!

If we get back early enough I'll post some photos, if not check in tomorrow!

You know he reads the blog, so join us in wishing him a 

Happy Birthday!!

I overslept!

 It's 0900hrs and I'm just having my first coffee and remembered I needed to post!!

That could be the end of my I'll-finish-this-10-day-challenge-one-way-or-another, but that would be cheating (IMHO) to not write something meaningful or at least more than one line.

Right?

One must be honorable if not erudite when it comes to blogging.

Right?

Or am I just making a feeble attempt at leaving y'all something meaningful to peruse and/or comment on? I've not had enough coffee yet to know what my sleepy fingers are typing.

It's Tuesday.

Right?

Good Lord! It's Monday already?

 Yesterday the MITM spent a good part of the day sprucing up the backyard for a baby shower that's happening here on Saturday. It will take us the better part of this week to finish because breaktimes seem to get longer as the day progresses. Today I will be focusing on the outdoor furniture cushions and furniture placement. Yes, there will be diagrams and much thought put into the ambiance of the space since I'm not responsible for the decorations. I'm the planner, not the executor, so I aim to make the actual work as minimal as possible. The MITM is doing the moving, not me, so I try not to press my luck.

Supernana and her friends will decorate on Saturday since they're the ones giving the shower. We're just getting the spot ready for the party!

At my age, it seems we're only going to funerals or memorial services these days, so the joy of a baby shower is most welcome!

On a happier note, school is almost out for BGM* and BKC**, and also, a guy I know has a birthday happening this week!! More about that later!

Breakfast is calling, so I'll see all y'all later with maybe a photo or 2.

*Big Girl Matrix

**Big Kid Chaos

Sunday! or why can't we have doughnuts even if BGM isn't here?

 Yeah, it seems to be some unwritten rule around here that we don't have doughnuts unless BGM is here. The MITM doesn't seem to understand that I might like a lemon-filled doughnut with my morning coffee. I also want to avoid getting dressed and going to Krispy Kreme for a lemon-filled doughnut. I want HIM to get dressed and go to Krispy Kreme for MY lemon-filled doughnut.

Is that so wrong?

I know it's Saturday, but how many days has it been?

 There's something about not having a regular 9 to 5 or even a set schedule that makes keeping track of days a tad more difficult than it should be. At least, I think so. But then again, if I don't look at my phone or the date on my MAC I truly am not sure. I do know that it's June and I could probably get a half-off deal on a 2024 calendar, but I think a whiteboard style would be a better deal for everyone, in terms of keeping track of appointments, etc. Also, a whiteboard is sustainable since we can change it every month and start all over again at the end of the year without having to dispose of a paper calendar. I see a shopping trip in my future. 

It's late and I'm starting to get to that point where I start rambling on, so I think...

it's time to say "Goodnight, Gracie."