Snoozles™
Do you ever eat something for lunch, and it's not really what you want, but it's all you have, and so you eat it anyway, and it's not very satisfying, but at least you're full afterwards, and then you watch TV and it's all shows that you don't like, but then you find "The Matrix" and it's right at the beginning so you watch the whole thing?
Well, I forgot where I was going with that question, but I'm sure it was insightful and pithy. Anyway, here are some Snoozles for your Sunday. Like this extremely common view of the Mark Twain, sittin' at the dock while guests board. This was November, 1974, by the way, and it was short-sleeve weather. A Canoe is sneaking past, but the Mark Twain will not allow it to win! Right after this picture was taken, the steamboat did a wheelie (a "sternwheelie"?) as huge and cool flames roared out of the exhaust, and it did the whole river journey in 11.5 seconds. It was pretty rad.
Over in Storybook Land, we get a look at Cinderella's castle. It has all of the modern conveniences. Indoor plumbing. And... well, that's the only modern convenience that it had, but when you think about it, isn't that enough? Yes, yes, I know that you want a soft-serve ice cream machine, but those hadn't been invented yet. They only had regular hard ice cream, and it only came in one flavor - potato.
Here's a request from KS, a closeup of the canoe from the first photo. It's too blurry to be of much use to KS, but here it is anyway!
14 comments:
Major-
"It has all of the modern conveniences. Indoor plumbing".
Yes, but... it included a bidet-!
Thanks, Major.
Snoozle, it may be, but it's a magnificent Snoozle! The Mark Twain is brightly lit in the November sunlight. The River is glassy. The sky is blue, the trees are green. The photo is (more or less) in focus. There are no AEDs floating around. (Well, maybe just the one, but I think it's a coot, not a duck.) The Canoers are canoeing. The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing. There are no butterflies beating their wings, causing hurricanes in the Bahamas.
OK, I forgot where I was going with that comment, but I'm sure it was insightful and pithy. ;-D
Storybook Land seems to be infested with 4-legged starfish! The gardeners better take immediate steps to rid Disneyland of this dreadful pest or there will be nothing left but bare desolation!
Cinderella castle looks nice and bright and colorful here.
A couple of pretty Snoozles, Major. Thanks.
The indoor plumbing had them flushed with pride, both Cinderella and Prince Charmin.
"They only had regular hard ice cream, and it only came in one flavor - potato."
Today's useless trivia: mashed potatoes will raise your blood glucose faster than ice cream. So clearly, we should be having ice cream instead of stuffing OR potatoes.
I love potatoes in any form, so will need to try the Potato Ice Cream which indeed: is a real thing:https://idahopotato.com/recipes/potato-ice-cream There are a couple of iterations of potato ice cream, and they commonly use a cream cheese base with the cream and sugar etc etc etc....very interesting...I think it's more about texture and not flavor...but I do know that dipping french fries into either milk shakes or soft serve ice cream (think a "Frosty" at Wendy's with hot fries going into the half melted Frosty cup). Probably the salt/sweet/hot/cold thing....worth a try. Not sure I want my potatoes vanilla flavor, but we all have our stuff. Considering the fact that butter...from cream...is slathered on potatoes it makes sense that a confection would be the next step. The Mark Twain! There she is...sailing continuously for 68 years, which has got to be some kind of record. You see these photos of "cruise ship graveyards" where they don't sail for more than 30 years at best. Storybook Land, or Story Book Land, or Storybookland...is always a favorite to see in any iteration. The succulent beds I would love to recreate, however in the NE..."no bueno". Time to start building an "Orangerie" to support all the plants that need to come inside for the winter. I'll settle for a little tent made out of Hefty bags with a grow light. Thanks for the morning SNOOZLES TM Major...always winners with me. Now, time for Potato Ice Cream!
Hm, potato ice cream & sternwheelies…
I’ll give photo 1 ten points just for being from 1974, but can’t give full marks since the smokestack coronets are out of frame.
Photo 2 will rank higher, if only for the plumbing jokes.
I’m a proponent of potato bread, and pretty much potato everything else, so what could go wrong? But I’d rather have French fries than ice cream. Mom used to make potato pancakes out of leftover mash (usually after Thanksgiving), add an egg and some sugar (I think) and griddle them in bacon grease, serve hot with maple syrup. It wasn’t a Danish thing, because I found out years later those were quite different, so might have been a Depression dish, use it up, wear it out, but I still crave it sometimes, salty, sweet, savory, argh…. I would have to pedal the stern wheeler around the island to work it off… and I really have no idea how it was made.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, somehow the less I think about bidets, the happier I am!
JB, I think I am just burned out on photos of the Mark Twain, even decent ones. I wonder how many photos of that boat I’ve shared in 17+ years? Or what percentage of images have the Twain in them? Are coots not a kind of duck? I just assumed that they were, they sure seem to be happy to fraternize with the mallards at our local park. 4-legged starfish? The most delicious kind! Dip them in melted butter for a real treat.
Melissa, I will have to take your word for the factoid about mashed potatoes and blood sugar! Having to choose between ice cream and mashed potatoes is a real “Sophie’s choice”.
Bu, these days I think that somebody out there has tried to make ice cream with just about any crazy ingredient. Pork chop ice cream? I’ll bet it has been done. Ladle applesauce over it! Dipping fries into a shake is not gross to me, but I have no desire to do it, either. I made pot roast and mashed potatoes for my mom a while ago, and man, for such a humble meal it sure was delicious. I’d never made the potatoes from scratch before (I’m not much of a cook) but it was very easy. The Twain still sails, but I think she (he?) has had regular and significant maintenance many times. I assume that a lot of what looks like wood is now fiberglass, but perhaps not. As for your little greenhouse idea, Hefty bags will work, but you have to worry about dealing with a snow load. Hmmmm….
JG, the photographer left the coronets out of frame because he found the sight of the hotdogs speared on them (for a rich smoky flavor) to be unattractive. And like I said to Nanook, bidets might be great, but I don’t want to think about them. WHY must I think about them? Those potato pancakes that your mom made sound delicious, I wouldn’t think you would even need the sugar, except that it might expedite browning. I’ve never had anything fried in bacon grease (except for bacon), but it must be amazing. Come on JG, you have to try to make those potato pancakes!
Don't even joke about "Rocket Rod-ding" the Mark Twain. The TRE squad might hear you.
Before the extensive marketing of seed oils, bacon fat and lard were the primary cooking fats in the US. Considering prince inflation in food, I think we may see pot roast, stews and other things that use (and reuse) cheaper cuts of meat come back into fashion. I remember a eating those a lot in the late 70s / early 80s inflation era.
OK Major...I request a blowup of the first picture. Something fishy is going on and that's why the picture was taken. This is my era on canoes. Some folks are standing up...and I see a few on the MT are looking. The front CM appears to be using a steering paddle. Could it be Willie P who could paddle a filled canoe without help? 49 years later...and supervision is calling the dock. KS
Dean Finder, people have made comments about the Mark Twain being changed into some sort of abomination tie-in to “The Princess and the Frog”. Again, a movie that is fine, but don’t touch the Mark Twain! As far as my dad and I are concerned, we would be happy to eat beef stew and pot roast all the time!
KS, I did a blowup for you, but it is not very clear so I’m sure it’s not going to help much, sadly. It’s always fun when specific CMs can be identified!
Major & Dean Finder, my Mom always cooked with bacon grease, and always called it that, no genteel "bacon fat" for us. She had a metal bowl on the range and just spooned in or out of the pan as required.
I know she used Wesson oil and crisco too, but the bacon grease was the day-to-day thing. It was an American thing, a Depression thing, and also a Danish thing.
The Danish "national dish" is open-faced sandwiches called smorrebrod, usually coated with butter and a wide variety of different toppings, eaten with knife and fork. But some types have bacon fat instead of the standard butter on heavy brown bread, topped usually with a strong cheese (which my cousin described as "the Cheese that Walks Alone") and raw onions. Definitely keeps you warm in winter and everyone else at bay.
And while we cook mostly with olive oil and butter today, Mrs G keeps a jar of bacon grease in the refrigerator for special items.
Duck or goose fat is another whole deal, very French, with strong distinctive flavors. I think we have some of that in the freezer, again, for special dishes. A cassoulet is not proper without goose fat, but duck will do in a pinch. If you can get duck-fat french fries anywhere, order them, you are in for a treat.
JG
JG, I am afraid that our bacon grease went into a coffee can, and was then disposed of. My dad (who grew up working on farms) hated it, but my mom did it anyway. I also remember large cans of Crisco at my grandma’s house (the one in Minnesota), I always wondered why she used that stuff that we saw on commercials, but that my mom and other grandma did not. Whoa, a sandwich with bacon fat, onions, and cheese. I mean, it was probably delicious, even though it sounds a little weird. As my dad would have said, “Don’t knock it until you try it”. Duck/goose fat - my grandpa always wanted goose for Christmas, and I remember it being SO greasy that I found it unpleasant. But obviously he loved it.
Makes me think of how Lisa on Green Acres smuggled her family jewels out of Hungary in a jar of chicken's fat.
Melissa, yes! So funny, and yet it would work!
Major, saving fats like that was also a wartime thrift. Bacon fat and other tallow went into munitions manufacturing. Or at least it was said to be so. Mom told of collection points in town where those coffee cans could be dropped off to beat the Huns.
I’m off to search for strong cheese and onions…
JG
Thanks Major! And now I know "the rest of the story". No one is standing after all. What appeared to be standing guests was actually a second canoe behind the first one. And yes, it's unfortunate that we can't get a clear picture of the CM paddling upfront. Still, it is very intriguing to me that he is using a steering paddle. And I don't see a lot of paddling enthusiasm behind him....sometimes not unusual that late in the circle...people find out it really IS a workout. Few of us would use a steering paddle for this....for show but mostly for a good workout. But not all day either. And you had to be a big guy to use it. That fits Willie to a T (or P as it was). He'd pull you all the way around with his strength. So, I'm going to say that was likely him. An XXX-Large of a guy. KS
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