I remember playing in the sandbox a lot when I was young. And, I remember my mama's words "watch out for the cat poop". Then she told me how cats like to get in sandboxes and poop and cover it up with sand. We didn't even have a cat, but she told me that cats come from all over the neighborhoods. The first time she told me about cats pooping in the sandbox, she gave me a small tea strainer with a screen like bottom. I remember taking that strainer and sitting there for hours putting sand through it, trying to find cat poop. Now that I think about it, I think she was just simply trying to keep me occupied. I don't ever remember even finding any cat poop.
Then, when I got to kindergarten, which was in the home economics room at the high school, I wanted to take my tea strainer to get out the poop in our sandbox. Mama said no and told me there wouldn't be any poop. Back then there wasn't an organized class.....thus kindergarten was fun, playing in the sand, eating a snack and then a nap on a mat. It was hard work, but those older home ec girls did try to teach us some things. But they were doing the Kindergarten thing to get class credit and to learn about raising kids. Our class was always ornery, so I bet they sure had a time! I liked sandbox time the best because I didn't have to work to find the cat poop at school like I did at home. It wasn't long that my dad did away with my sandbox. My mom was afraid that my sister Patty would have problems in the sand.....just like the small pool in the rock garden...she was afraid Patty would drown in that. At the time the sandbox went away, I really didn't care because I didn't like having to sift that sand and I always got so dirty in that sandbox and my shoes always got full of sand. And then I tracked it in the house. I really think that the tracking of sand into the house caused the elimination of the sandbox!
These days when you hear the word sandbox on the internet it means something totally different .... sandbox is a security environment for running programs for tests and other things and it won't affect existing programs. And I bet they don't have to worry about cat poop in their sandbox!
A sandbox has always been considered a safe place. When I was learning all about the world of writing, we were told to use the safe place, sandbox approach. Go to the safe place where you wouldn't be disturbed and always set a time limit to play with the thoughts, then play and then write and then finish. All of these are things you would experience in a sandbox.
The nearest sandbox to me is over at the Boar's Head Restaurant/Bar in Athens. They use their sandbox for sand volleyball. Can you imagine what a ball a clowder or clutter of cats would have pooping in this sandbox. By the way, did you know that a bunch of cats is called a clowder or clutter? Those words might be new words for some of you. When the mother cat first has the kitties, it's called the litter and sometimes called a kindle. A couple of other words used to describe a large bunch of cats is a glaring or a clan. I remember seeing a show on the "Hoarders Show" and that hoarder had about 500 cats.....that was a huge glaring clan which cluttered up the house and made a heck of a big clowder. See I just used all of the bunch of cats words. LOL To me cats seem to be individualistic creatures and don't usually hang around together, so I wonder why they have so many names for a bunch of cats?????? But, I think feral cats might hang together more than domesticated house cats. These feral cats must be the ones which prowl the neighborhoods and poop in all of the sandboxes!
You might remember how I've always said to have fun in life. The next time you see a sandbox, just jump in and wiggle your toes, make some sand castles, get a few friends to join you, pretend you are young again and by all means forget about the cat poop....just have fun! A little dried cat poop won't hurt anyone....you can always take a bath afterwards....and it probably won't be there anyway.
Some People Wonder When We Say We're Going to Eat a Horseshoe!
For those Greenviewanites who moved away from the area, did you ever talk about eating a horseshoe and your new out-of-area friends looked at you rather weirdly?? Not everyone knows what the heck we are talking about. These unknowing people probably think that iron would be tough on the old toofers! I can just see them picturing in their mind an imagery of us eating iron horseshoes and then picking our teeth with a pick axe to get out the iron! Ha ha ha.
Being from "Horseshoe Country" you've heard the story many times, but I thought you might enjoy again hearing the horseshoe story from the beginning and I know we have some newer Greeviewanties that might not know the entire tale. The story I'm posting, for the most part, is stuff I copied from the web site what'scookingamerica.net and the article was prepared by Linda Stradley and according to the rules of copyright, I have to tell you this. Note most of this will only copy in small text size...sorry.
THE HORSESHOE SANDWICH STORY:
"The original Horseshoe Sandwich was served on a sizzling metal plate (known as the Anvil). Two thick-cut slices of bread were toasted and added to the plate. Then a thick slice of ham, shaped like a horseshoe, was added, to it a Welsh rarebit cheese sauce made of white sharp cheddar, and then just before serving, fresh-made French fries were added as the (nails) in the horseshoe. The secret to this sandwich is the delicious cheese sauce."
" FACT: The sandwich was created in the late 1920s by chef Joe Schweska at a Leland Hotel in Springfield, Illinois located on the corner of Sixth and Capitol (now an office building) The Leland Hotel, the leading hotel of Springfield, was built in 1867, and has housed hundreds of prominent Americans. The structure is five stories high and contained 235 rooms."
"The following history of the Horseshoe Sandwich are personal remembrances of Tom McGee of Springfield, IL.
Tom says, "What knowledge I have of the Horseshoe Sandwich, I have from my deceased brother-in-law, Joseph E. Schweska Jr., and to a lesser degree from personally knowing Chef Joe Schweska. My brother-in-law often helped his father after school or when special events or parties were being held at the Leland Hotel. I knew the dad, Chef Joe Schweska, before I ever knew my brother-in law."
How did the "Horseshoe Sandwich actually originate?
The actual idea for the Horseshoe Sandwich came from Elizabeth Schweska, Chef Joe Schweska's wife. Chef Schweska came home one day and remarked to his wife that he needed a new lunch item for the Leland Hotel's restaurant's menu. She had seen a recipe using a Welsh Rarebit Sauce and suggested the possibility of an open-faced sandwich using this sauce. Joe Schweska liked the idea and developed his own sauce and sandwich and named this sandwich creation "The Horseshoe."
The first Horseshoe sandwich was originally made from ham cut from the bone in the shape of a horseshoe. The first potato (the nails) were wedges of potato (not the frozen French fires you see used today). Also, if I remember correctly, the sauce was poured over the meat and bread and the potato was on top instead of sauce being poured over the whole works. Originally, it was a potato cut in eight wedges. I did eat the horseshoe at the Leland while Joe was still there but that was a long time ago.
Joe Schweska was Chef and Chief of Staff at the Leland Hotel from the late 1920s until the beginning of World War II. During the war, he left the Leland Hotel and moved his family to Decatur, Illinois and worked in a defense facility cafeteria. After the war, he returned to Springfield and became head chef at an upscale Springfield restaurant known as "The Mill". It was located in Springfield close to a Pillsbury mill and was owned by two men, Louie and Herman Cohen. Around 1952, Chef Joe Schweska's wife was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and the medical advice was to change climate. At this point, Joe Schweska Sr. and most of his family moved west - first to Arizona and ultimately to California. He became chef at a country club in Temple City, CA. and he and Elizabeth spent the remainder of their lives there.
FICTION: Most historians falsely give credit to Steve Tomko, a then dishwasher at the Leland Hotel in Springfield, Illinois, as the inventor along with the Leland Hotel's chef Joe Schweska.
FACT: Steve Tomko did work in the kitchen at the Leland Hotel, but he started as a dishwasher and learned his culinary skills from Chef Joe Schweska. At the time of the creation of the Horseshoe Sandwich, Steve Tomko was only 17 years old and was a dishwasher, not a chef. Steve Tomko had nothing to do with originating the sandwich. He only began to claim that he did after Chef Joe Schweska had died."
Steve Tomko worked at various Springfield restaurants including NorbAndy's and Wayne's Red Coach Inn. Every restaurant Steve Tomko worked, he served the Horseshoe Sandwich. At one point, around 1986, a local food writer did a feature on Wayne's Red Coach, and in the article Steve Tomko boldly claimed that he had originated the Horseshoe Sandwich.
By this time Chef Joe Schweska was deceased, his widow was seriously ill, and most of the Schweska family had left Springfield. At one point my brother-in-law, Joseph E. Schweska Jr., called his mother and told her of Steve Tomko's claims. She was seriously ill an simply replied, "Oh, let it go". That ended any resistance to claims being made by Steve Tomko.
The Schweska family were simple, humble people. It was not their nature to seek fame or the limelight. To Chef Joe Schweska, his sandwich creation was no big deal, and he freely gave the recipe to anyone who asked for it.
Tom McGee
Springfield, Illinois
December 28, 2008"
*****************************************************Springfield, Illinois
December 28, 2008"
"The following history of the Horseshoe Sandwich are personal remembrances of Verney Blackburn.
I worked at John’s Lounge in Springfield, IL. In the late 1967, Steve Tomko was one of the cooks. At that time I was 15 years old, and I started as a dish dryer, then salad boy, and then busboy. I had talked with Steve, and he said that he had gotten the recipe from a man that taught him how to cook.
At that time, people would line up out the doors and down to the state garage. I made as many as 500 salads on Friday and Saturday nights. Steve would make the horseshoe sauce in the morning. There is one ingredient that you forgot that gave the sauce a little zing and made the horseshoe sandwich so popular back then. Steve Tomko would leave at 2:00 p.m., and that was when the other ingredient was added by a cook named Sharlot. She would add some A-1 sauce to taste. That is why that no horseshoe sandwich to this day has the same great taste.
John's Lounge then was sold to Wayne who called it the Red Coach Inn. John’s lounge had great food that made it a hit, but the main attraction was Big John Somonik. The ladies would pack in to see Big John, and on one very late nights, we would hold mass at the bar.
I could go on and on about my great years that I worked there.
Verney BlackburnSpringfield, Illinios
October 19, 2009"
October 19, 2009"
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1/2 pound butter
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 pound all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 quart plus 1 cup milk
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 1/2 to 3 pounds chopped Old English Cheddar cheese
1 pint beer
Melt butter, add flour and milk. Add rest of ingredients except beer. Stir constantly, while cooking, to a smooth cream sauce. Stir in beer to sauce just before serving.
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Thank you Ms. Stradley to allow my readers to learn about the Horseshoe....although most of us from the area have known the story for many years .... some of us even eat this "heart attack on a plate" meal -- I don't! That cheese gets stuck in my throat and in my veins!
Learn A New Word
Today I gave you the words clowder, clutter, kindle and glaring when I talked about a bunch of cats.....those might have been new words to some. Greenviewanites are going to be so smart!
Another Newly Coined Word - Alcopop = fruit drinks fortifies with alcohol designed and marketed to attract young people.
New Spanish Words - Uno, Dos, Tres = One, Two, Three
Thought For The Day
I have made mistakes, but I've
never made the mistake of claiming
that I never made one.
--James Gordon Bennett
This week I "looked over my shoulder", tore off a bunch of "yellowed wallpaper", looked at germs in "don't eat the mints at a check-out" and gave you "imagery and guided imagery". These were intended to knock your socks off. Hopefully they did. It's too dang hot for socks any way you look at it.
Speaking of taking off socks, you can't believe how hard it is to take off a sock when you become the bionic woman or man for that matter. You absolutely can't do it .... maybe for weeks and weeks or even years....and then only half as well as a non-bionic legged person.
The physical therapist said "you can teach your dog to take your sock off". I burst out laughing at this .... I thought the therapist was kidding.... but she wasn't. For crying out loud.....my dog is one who used to chew up my socks and still will if I don't push them down in the laundry hamper. If I tried to teach my dog to take off my sock, the dog would probably try to chew it off my leg and foot. Or, be so lazy she wouldn't even try. So, I had to learn how to do it myself. Talk about feeling like a big baby not knowing how to take off my sock! (But putting it on is even worse because the sock they want you to wear is elasticized....try getting that over your toes and up your leg when you can't bend over).
Do you know how unsexy one of these white elasticized embolism socks can be in middle of summer, when you wear shorts or capris? Your toes stick out of the pair of sandals you have on .... the toes are covered part way or sometimes covered all the way with white stretchy stuff. And, you can't bend over far enough to pull the sock off your toes. First of all you try to bend over, but the leg won't let you....then you tumble over on your side. Your head hits the floor and you see stars and the dang leg is hurting because you land on it right where you have a big scar. You cuss for a long while. You look at that ugly unsexy white stretchy sock and it's talking to the sockless leg.....and the dang sock is laughing because it ain't gonna let you take it off your leg. You get even more frustrated than before you fell over.
You just have to have a shower and that sock has to come off.....Just then you get an idea.....you take a shower with the sock on because there isn't another soul in the house and the dog is asleep. Carefully step in the shower, and hope you don't fall....make sure you put a wash cloth with soap on it on the shower floor so you can wash the bottom of the sock. If the sock can't come to the washing machine, the foot will wash itself and the sock too. That sock is still laughing and talking to the sockless leg....but at least the sock is getting a bath.
Once you get out of the shower, carefully of course, and then try to dry a sock which starts at the toes and goes to the knee when you can't bend over. That sock just sits there innocently minding its own business and not helping at all. H*ll with it....let the dang sock catch a cold....let it be wet.
Ahhhh finally the sock is starting to dry and shrinks as it dries. Finally! The next day it's time to again see if you can get the sock off your leg and foot....as if overnight a miracle has happened! Nope...still can't do it...so back to the shower with that stupid sock which by now is laughing out loud.
A few weeks go by and the bending is getting better. Oh goody, when you try to bend, you only fall over twice in one week instead of each day. But the foot is getting closer. It better be because the toe nails on that foot are beginning to look like cat claws and are catching in the white stretchy sock when you try to move the sock off your toes.
Then another couple of weeks pass and finally the sock is not laughing so much because it sees that you are bending further and further. And then another bright idea.....if you put your knee on a chair you can reach backwards and almost can pull the sock off....at least the sock can be rolled down and then, with the toes on the other foot and 15 minutes, you can pull it off! Finally! But can you put it on is the question??
Sit in the chair and bend over, holding the sock open with both hands ... bend woman bend ..... and by a hair, the sock goes over the toes and is on the foot. Barely grab hold of the top of the sock and yank it up your leg.....only getting a run a couple of times. Thank the Lord, I learned! The sock no longer laughs and no longer talks to the sockless leg because it no longer has its attitude problem .... it simply acquiesced! By the time I conquered the sock, it was time to no longer wear the sock. Whew!
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After the gynecologist's office called!
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Don't forget the rating indicator at the bottom.
1 comment:
After reading your blog, I WANT A HORESHOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks, Carla.
Charlotte :)
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