thanksgiving duck

So, Andy wanted me to make quail or pheasant this year for Thanksgiving dinner. I appreciated his passion, However, it was a little too much effort to find a butcher with game meat. Yeah, I am lazy. Deal with it. As a compromise, I agreed to make duck.

I chose two recipes and made two different flavors to appease him. Andy liked them both but one was ultimately better.

Duck Cavity

5 clove garlic

2 sprigs sage

Half onion cut in two pieces

Duck Rub
3 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon fresh minced sage

Orange zest

the message

I have a thing for classic hip hop. This is a classic remix of one of my favorites. Thank you Grandmaster Flash!

 

you are in control

i found a book

One of the benefits of living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is that I live close to the half price books flagship store. This store is about the same size as a large Barnes & Noble. It is complete with a coffee shop might, I add.

Every time I go in there, I end up losing control. There are too many wonderful tomes that wish to accompany me home. This time I focused on replenishing my more spiritual texts. I won't list all the goodies I rescued. I will only share one book that stands out.

This particular edition was printed in 1939 and in great condition. I thought about writing a review of the book and the author, instead I will will quote the review of it I found at Weiser Antiquarian Books.

"...Chicago, IL: The de Laurence Company, Inc., 1939 [c. 1960?]. "Fourteenth Edition" Hardcover, Large Quarto. (8 x 11 inches) 636 pp. Maroon faux leather with gilt title, etc. to cover and spine, frontis photo portrait of L. W. de Laurence. Illustrated. A massive book 'by' Lauron William de Laurence (1868 - 1936), renowned book pirate, plagiarist, and publisher of occult literature. De Laurence was notorious for taking other people's works and reissuing them under his own name (sometimes re-titling them in the process). Despite his roguish eccentricities de Laurence played an important part in the occult history of the USA: he was a pioneer in selling occult books and supplies by mail order, and the cheap "Pow Wow" books and other books of simple magic which he published were surprisingly well received, and he is quite revered in some quarters. The title of this particular volume says 'Hindu' and 'East Indian' but in fact it is largely a grimoire of Western ritual magic, taken from a variety of sources including Francis Barrett's Magus, the works of Agrippa et al. It's odd title and genesis aside, it was probably one of the most widely used for actual magical practice in the USA in the middle years of the twentieth century...."

Oh, de Laurance....you crazy fella!

local beer

I found this local beer today. It is called Dallas Blonde by the Deep Ellum Brewing Company in Dallas. I am a fan of blonde and hefeweizen style beers. So, it was natural to be drawn to this product. I also thought the art was fun.

It has a light smooth flavor with notes of citrus and a slightly bitter end. Pretty good, but not the best... After doing some research about the company I found out that the beer has some controversy surrounding it.

They say that the ad slogan "Goes Down Easy", is sexist and promotes rape culture. What the hell is rape culture? I find that in itself disturbing. 

The argument is that the can shows a blonde woman. WRONG!

That is a picture of a kewpie doll with cartoon hair. If you happen to be a kewpie doll with cartoon hair, watch out...you may get raped? Honestly, if anything this would promote some sort of, "Children of the Corn" thing that I am missing.

Here is the news reel on the sexist story.

modern vampire

Modern Vampire by definelulu 

I made this set in my leftover excitement from Halloween and the Romanian Food festival.

romanian food festival

I went to the Romanian Food Festival this weekend in Colleyville, Texas. It is a small event held at a local Romanian Orthodox Church. They have food, little booths, historical information, and a stage where they do traditional dances and things.

Although they had A LOT of food, the food that I was drawn to was the Mămăligă (Romanian Polenta). They serve it in a pile with shredded goat cheese and sour cream. This was my dish of choice and I enjoyed EVERY minute of it.

Picture stolen from: Vipnyc

Later, I stumbled on a booth that sold Dracula book purses from NovelCreations. I couldn't contain myself and purchased one immediately. 

I have a feeling I will be back next year, and I might have to buy more book purses as well.