I met Rick Graves a few years back when I sat next to him at an Ian Hunter show at City Winery. I could tell he was taking great pictures so I asked him his name. Since then we've run into each other at an Ian show here or there (well, Chicago for me...he goes all over to see Ian) and he's always been lovely. When I moaned online that I couldn't get a City Winery Ian Hunter 80th birthday party bottle of wine that was available only at the New York shows, he kindly said he'd bring one back for me. Sometimes you just gotta love social media. I know it has its downsides, but then again; how delightful is that? Yesterday evening, a friend of Rick's delivered the wine to our house.
I was giddy.
I even let Ernie take a picture.
Thank you a million times, Rick!
Then I sat it on the mantel, in a place of honor. As I lay in bed trying to fall asleep last night my mind kept obsessing over the fact that the Cable goblet next to it was made around 1860, which was around 80 years before Ian Hunter was born, and now it's 80 years since he was born. I don't know....late at night, it all seemed very meaningful.
Ernie and I have been puttering around the house, getting ready for the Gretchen Peters concert tonight. Off to doctor appointments in a bit. The house is freezing right now, but I know the air conditioner will have to fight to keep this drafty old uninsulated house cool tonight, so I am determinedly shivering.
Hope to see you all tonight. This is going to be a very special show.
Today is the DAY! Gretchen Peters and Barry Walsh! And, might I note that it will be a COOL alternative to the wonderful, but OUTSIDE, KCPA event at Research Park. Air conditioning, great food, fantastic music. I NEED this. What on earth would I do without live music?
Our street is closed at Church Street so you will need to find one of the back ways to us. You can go through Davidson Park, or you can come north on James Street from Washington (note...it looks like an alley, not a street). Here's a map...the red arrows are through the park. Oh, and you can see the way we can take the back roads to Huber's!
I rarely leave a post unfinished and unpublished. As you well know, I throw everything on here whether it's interesting or not. Ha! It's just my life, splat, on a computer screen. Over the last several days, however, I've abandoned several posts. They were just so unutterably dull I couldn't bring myself to hit publish. I'm going to force myself to publish this no matter what, because writing these posts, for whatever reason, keeps me on track somehow. So here goes; my very random notes:
Despite the weeds, my flowers are finally blooming. Nasturtiums, zinnias, and bachelor's buttons. It's not truly summer until my seeds bloom.
Hattie keeps getting smaller, but she seems to have stabilized a bit. She's raggedy but she eats and purrs, and when I wouldn't scratch her head this morning because I was still half asleep, she walked over and laid down on top of my glasses in protest. I like that girl.
Lazy dinner last night....salmon over greens with avocado and flaxseed. I should have added some other vegetables, but I wasn't feeling it.
Today? I've got work to do, while Ernie is cleaning madly for tomorrow's house concert with Gretchen Peters and Barry Walsh. He's got a couple of doctor's appointments tomorrow which means we need to be mostly ready tonight. He's not supposed to lift anything heavy so Owen will set up the PA for him, Leo's said he'll bring chairs up from the basement. Oh, and Owen is mowing the lawn as I write, despite the wretched heat. They are my sweet peas. Always and forever.
Ok...the name of this recipe sounds a bit odd.... Lettuce with hot beef dressing? I know, but it's really good! I used grass-fed ground beef, and subbed coconut aminos for soy sauce, as well as skipping garlic, sigh. I'm sure the garlic would make it even better.
One head of romaine lettuce, roughly chopped (about 4 cups)
One tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil
One tablespoon minced garlic
One tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 pound (1 packed cup) ground beef
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
One tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste
One tablespoon Jinjiang (black rice) vinegar, or to taste
1/2 cup warm water
Two teaspoons cornstarch
One tablespoon cold water
1/2 teaspoon roasted sesame oil
Place the lettuce in a wide salad bowl or serving dish and set aside.
To make the hot beef dressing, place a wok or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Toss in the garlic and stir-fry for 10 seconds, then add the ginger. Stir-fry over medium-high to medium heat until slightly softened and starting to turn color.
Add the meat and use your spatula to break it up so there are no lumps at all, then add the salt and stir-fry until most of the meat has changed color. Add the soy sauce and vinegar and stir to blend. Add the warm water and stir. (The hot beef dressing can be prepared ahead to this point and set aside for up to 20 minutes. When you are ready to proceed, bring the dressing to a boil.)
While the beef dressing mixture is coming to a boil, place the cornstarch in a small cup or bowl and stir in the cold water to make a smooth paste. Once the liquid is bubbling in the pan, give the cornstarch mixture a final stir, add to the pan, and stir for about 1 minute; the liquid will thicken and become smoother.
Taste for salt, and add a little salt or soy sauce if you wish. Add the sesame oil and stir once, then pour the hot dressing onto the lettuce. Immediately toss the salad to expose all the greens to the hot dressing.
I was afraid this would wilt too fast to be able to serve it at a house concert, but I just had leftovers from last night for breakfast and the romaine was still delightfully crunchy. It's super simple to throw together, and it's a much lighter dish than it sounds. I thought the meat would kind of overwhelm the lettuce, but it doesn't at all...in fact, the lettuce is the star of the show. For us, this ended up being three servings (dinner for each of us and breakfast for me), so it works out to between two and three ounces of meat per serving...not bad.
A keeper. You may see it on the table for the Gretchen Peters show. Speaking of Gretchen Peters, take a look at these quotes from other artists. Pretty amazing.
Beautiful, brave and poetic, "The Matador" literally inspires me to tears. Hand over my heart. -Rodney Crowell
This is seasoned writing - full of a woman' s heart and soul - and short stories brought into song length. Full of beauty and real life from a grand voice... beautiful. -Darrell Scott
The songs are timeless and true, and her mastery of melody and language is profound. It's an amazing and beautiful work of art, and people need to hear it. -Mary Gauthier
Not a word is wasted, the imagery and poetry come together with her sublime voice and a concern for humanity. Her songwriting is the standard of excellence you set for yourself when approaching the art of making music. -Eliza Gilkyson
The songs, as always, masterful---the singing and playing are inspired. Honored to get to make such great records with y'all. “The House On Auburn Street” would make Sandy Denny blush. -Will Kimbrough
The song title that popped into my head while listening to Gretchen Peters’ new CD Hello Cruel World was Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece”. This is a brilliant collection of songs. -Jimmy LaFave
One good song, these days, is a quiet revolution. An album full of great, truthful songs, is an apocalyptic event. Hail the apocalypse: Hello Cruel World. - Tom Russell
I happen to adore Adam and Chris Carroll. Just the way it is. Pure love.
Chris popped in the front door when they arrived. We both squealed and then I put my hand up and said, "I have a cold, you can't hug me." She said, "Are you sure it's a cold?" I said I was, and she paused, and said, "You want to hug anyway?" "YES," I shouted. I love her.
The day after the show Teri posted some pictures on Facebook and Chris commented, "Love was bouncing off the walls."
Those two Chris-isms pretty much sum up the whole night for me.
They have two new albums out, a solo Adam, and a duo (can't find the link to that one....maybe it's not out officially yet). They are both truly great. Adam's songs are so incredibly spare...they are honed down to the barest essence, and yet they are packed with images and stories, humor and sadness. How he can pare them down like that amazes me, and it's of course what makes them so powerful. And Chris on the spoons now, as well as her beautiful mandolin (and that voice)! They are truly special. The real deal, as they say...which I said until Heather and Sue made fun of me for saying it too often. But DAMN, we get some great folks here, and they really ARE the real deal.
Great food the other night too----thanks all. And thanks to everyone that came---lots of old friends and regulars but we were delighted to welcome some new folks too. That makes me so happy. Of course, Kirk wins the prize, as he drove all the way from Ontario!
As always, nights like this make my heart full. Thanks, Adam and Chris. We'll be with you in spirit as you travel on.
Thanks to our beloved Richard Hill for the photos!
All of a sudden it seems to be summer, despite the cool weather today. I feel like the 4th of July is right around the corner. Help! Before that though, we have a few things to look forward to. For those of you in town this weekend, you might want to check out Sandra Ahten and Kevin Elliott's house concert with Kyle Carey. I'm not familiar with her but Kevin and Sandra have great taste in music (hell, they come to Sandwich Life Shows, don't they?), so it's recommended.
The weekend after that is Moccasin Creek down in Effingham. Looking forward to seeing Anne McCue, and several others, including Slaid Cleeves, Chuck Hawthorne, John Fullbright, and Darrell Scott. Wow! Lots more too.
1. I realize I forgot to post our classic post-show picture from the Ray Bonneville house concert. It felt lonely with only Ray so I got a few others to join us. Thank you, Richard (and Steve, and Ray, and Mary, and Heather). And please note that there are three French-Canadians in the middle there.
2. I left for a meeting yesterday and as I walked out there were odd footprints in the mud that always gathers by the alley when it rains. I paused to ponder them as I pulled out of the alley in Leo's car.....wondering if was our resident woodchuck, when I saw a snake curled up on top of a daylily. I was on the phone with Owen telling him about the woodchuck tracks or whatever, so I squealed and said, "oh mh god, I just saw a snake." He patiently told me to drive on, so I did. The snake was small and looked all shiny and new (oh good god, ever since I made Owen watch Desperately Seeking Susan he's been playing Madonna...I never imagined this.), but STILL.
3. Earlier, Owen's home because of his poor bronchitis-y chest) I yelled up to him, "How do you feel about spiders?" I then explained that there was one in the bathroom closet. He called down from his room, "Do you want me to kick its ass?" I assured him I did, so he came stomping down a bit later pulling his gardening gloves on. He was victorious. He threw his gloves on the floor and yelled, "I kicked its ASS!"
4. Ernie and Leo are in Buffalo, Wyoming at the Occidental Hotel. It's a tad too Victorian for Leo's tastes, but Ernie loves it and says the people are lovely. At least Ernie went to the Saloon as I had requested.
5. LONGMIRE!
6. The washer doesn't seem to be working. Sigh.
7. I'm not sure what's going on, but I THINK I expressed Hattie's anal gland. That was not enjoyable. I've given birth, raised children, taken care of people dying of cancer and old age ailments, and this may have been the most revolting thing yet. Is there more in store for me? Hattie seems happier and is eating. Damned if I know.
8. Yet again, it has been proven that nobody can hurt your feelings as much as those you love. Owen took me to Huber's and bought me wine and popcorn though. Eh. There are always silver linings.
9. Tomorrow, at long last, Leo and Ernie come home.
Oh, that was a good one. Great, great music from Ray Bonneville last night. And wonderful company and food and drink. Thank you all so much! And thanks to my baby, Owen, for coming through...doing so much around the house, doing the soundcheck with Ray, and every other little thing I asked him to do. He came through big time, and although that wasn't a surprise, it was really lovely to see. My sweet pea.
That's Owen in the process of texting a picture to his Dad, and saying, "This is good shit, Pa." Here's the picture he sent.
Ray came over this morning and made his own eggs. I wish I had a picture. It was delightful. Thanks to my beloved Neighbor Barb for letting Ray park his camper at her place and use her house while she was gone---and for Bud for helping to coordinate!
After eggs with Ray, Owen and I hung out, sat on the porch and talked. It was so nice out we went to Fries and Peanuts and sat OUTSIDE! A radical move on my part. Oh, and you know you have a great bartender when he knows Owen's thirst for lemonade and brings a whole pitcher.
I'm doing the post house concert lazy thing and being lazy. Listened to it rain for a bit, now doing some reading and drinking a bit of leftover wine.
1. Yesterday I got totally stressed out about the house concert, the house, life in general, etc. I cried, told Owen how much I missed his father and drank wine, which I'm not doing as much anymore. I fell into bed like a rock. This morning Owen didn't feel well and I didn't feel like moving. Eventually, we both got going, but it's been kind of a quiet day. I'm already shifting into that house concert mode of thinking, "Oh hell, it's ok if I don't do that...and that..."
2. I made a batch of sesame pasta (not noodles as per usual, but still same recipe) and cooked a big batch of quinoa. It will get a bunch of vegetables added to it, along with some ground bison, and a Thai-ish dressing. An experiment.
3. Ernie sent me some pictures a few minutes ago.
The Big Boy leaving Rawlins, Wyoming.
And, as my beloved husband put it, trainarazzis.
4. I've selected a couple of signs for them...he says he'll do it tomorrow. They have the day off tomorrow. They don't leave Laramie until Sunday morning (and Sherman Hill awaits....a BIG deal) so hopefully, they get a bit of a chance to rest. Then Cheyenne, then Montana, Billings and Missoula, and then HOME! When I gave Ernie his assignment re: signs he told me he was under a different manager currently. HA, I said.
5. Ray Bonneville tomorrow. See you there! Message me for info!
I can't wait until the Ray Bonneville show this Saturday. Owen has promised he will set up the PA and do the introduction....all the things Ernie does. I think it's going to be a great show....check out the video my beloved Mark Gerking got of him a few days ago. Lots of groove going on there.
I'm going to make a big batch of a quinoa/bison Thai-ish salad and some sides. BYOB as always, although we'll have water and some iced tea. Coffee if anyone wants any. Although Ernie's normally in charge of the coffee...we shall see.
All are welcome....bring a friend! $20 suggested donation for Ray. All of that will go to him. I'll also have a jar out for tips for the house, to go toward general expense....but nothing is required. Mostly, I just want you all to come enjoy this.
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