White Monkey

I made white monkey for lunch today. I got the recipe from a book called Old Squire's Farm, which is a collection of stories about cousins growing up on their grandparents' farm after the Civil War. The stories are really good, and one of the stories had this recipe at the end. It is an old recipe, so instruction include warming the milk over a fire. :-) It is a bit like Welsh rarebit, I think, though I have never had Welsh rarebit. It's surprisingly filling, and would make a good breakfast food, though I don't discriminate. "Breakfast" food is good any time of the day.
Here's the recipe:
Put over the fire one pint of new milk in a double boiler. As soon as the milk is warm, stir in one teaspoonful of flour mixed with two tablespoonfuls of cold water. As the milk gets hotter, add slowly, so as to dissolve it, two ounces of cheese, grated or chipped fine. Then add one ounce of butter, a teaspoonful of salt, a dash of cayenne pepper, and one egg, well beaten and mixed with two tablespoonfuls of cold milk or water. Let the mixture simmer five minutes, then serve hot on wheat-bread or brown-bread toast, well browned and buttered.

That is the exact wording, but it is not hard to modernize. It is liquidy, so be careful when pouring it on a plate.

I tried to go back to work on Friday, but I had to take off the afternoon. I'm feeling better today, so hopefully I'll be fine come Monday.

It definitely feels like spring is coming. Yay! I ran some errands this morning and I could get away without a coat, which was so nice. :-) I'm getting a little stir crazy.

Rain and Crows

I am taking the afternoon off, as I am sick. I am don't feel as bad about it because my work isn't very time sensitive and other people will not have to work harder because I am gone. I was always grateful not to have to use a sick day at Burger King because I knew they would be understaffed if I wasn't there.

Also, my freshman high school science teacher's son died on Monday, I think. He was a junior in high school and died from pneumonia. Several years earlier, his classmate died from a hunting accident, so this class has been hit hard. I was so shocked when I found out. I didn't think people died suddenly from illnesses like that anymore.

I guess I don't have happy new right now. Sorry.

The History of the Hose

My brother is training to be a volunteer fire fighter, and he went to a training session where he sat through 40 minutes learning about the history of the hose. I think it's hilarious. :-)

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend. And now I am getting a cold, but that is ok, because it did not start until after the reception. I figured it was coming because many people around me have been sick, andI had a busy and fairly stressful past week. But, the wedding and the weekend was amazing. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful in so many ways, especially in its Christ-centeredness. The music went well too, even with the very old piano. Kara sang beautifully, and I only made one mistake, and that was at the end of the recessional. The reception was a blast; we danced the night away.

I also had a taste of city driving, and I'm not a fan of it in general. No big problems though. I have oversensitive, rather poor hoodlum radar, and it kicked in again as we headed to the rehearsal. (Btw, the rehearsal went the smoothest that I have ever seen.) I got lost, as my GPS did not put me in the correct place, and as I'm driving around, trying to find the entrance, the neighborhood looked a bit sketchy and a car with 2 guys was following me. I got a little paranoid, but it turns out the "hoodlums" were part of the wedding too, and we eventually all got to the right spot.

Cherish the memories!

Ha!

I found this bumper sticker while perusing campaign memorabilia and it made me laugh aloud. AuH2O - 64.
Do you know what it means?

Sorry if the last post was confusing. I finally found a genre (albeit a small one) that interests me and makes me actually want to finish the book. I hadn't been able to get into a book for awhile. Anyway, the book I mentioned before was written by a public librarian, and she ranted about the people she met through the years with her job. I am reading another book written by a public librarian, but he is much nicer and much more balanced. He doesn't have an agenda, he just tells his stories. Much better.

I had a wonderful weekend with my parents, though I'm still catching up on sleep. That means this post is going to be short. :-)


And I cannot wait for this weekend!

In Which I Review a Book. About Libraries.

I just finished reading a book called The Library Diaries. It was recently published, and there is some controversy surrounding it. I think the lady who wrote it lost her job, and I had heard negative reviews, but I wanted to check it out for myself. It's kind of an expose` of public libraries, and after reading it, I know why the author lost her job, and personally, she kind of deserved it. Though I agree with some of her points, this book was not written in the best taste. It is very negative and critical. To do this type of book well, it must include both positive and negative stories and it must have a good dose of humor. There is very little uplifting or positive about the book, and the humor and style it does have is not enough to counter the negative tone. Also, I really have issue with some of her points. Especially the epilogue which is simply a call for eugenics. I agree that it is a travesty to see children who are not cared for or loved, and I am definitely against the entitlement society that we have created, but I will NOT endorse deciding who can and cannot procreate. That is a dangerous, dangerous slope to tread upon. She also included a chapter against hunting and complained about "turbo Christians." And, she doesn't like the poor, but she also doesn't like the rich. She simply didn't appreciate the small Midwestern culture that was in. In fact, she seemed unable or unwilling to appreciate it. Though her book had some truth, the manner in which it was presented was off-putting and a bit tactless on her part.

My Dear Wormwood

I got accepted to U of M today. Yay, now I have options. It's a really good school, but it's currently my last choice. I still haven't heard from U of I, but they are notoriously slow. I probably won't hear until March. Most of the librarians I work with went to U of M, and they are glad that I got accepted. :-)

I went to a production of the Screwtape Letters last night. It was very good. I had read the book several years ago, and it was good to have a refresher. The actors performed it in a reader's theater format, and they recited the book exactly, though they didn't do all of the letters, as there was definitely not enough time for that. It was divided into 5 different "Screwtapes," 3 girls and 2 guys. They all did a good job, but one guy totally mastered the evil eyebrows. It was amazing. He and one of the girls were my favorites.

I need an accountability partner. I need someone to keep me accountable for my dishes. It is so sad, but it's going to take a lot of work to get into the "do the dishes every night" mindset. Sigh.

I am also watching Daniel Deronda. I hope to finish it tonight. And seriously, I think the hair people had it out for Jamie Bamber. The look does NOT work for him. They also messed with David Bamber (who is not related to Jamie), but it fits with his character better. He's good at playing sleazy, gross characters. (He was Mr. Collins in the long Pride and Prejudice.)

Well, I am going to do my lunch dishes.

TTFN, Ta ta for now.