"Storming of the Bastille" by Jean-Pierre Houël
Jean-Pierre Houël - Bibliothèque nationale de France
See ‘Thumbnail’ below for further description.
This, the Lead Picture Today, Monday, July 15, 2019, on the blog –
existentialautotrip.com
The blog? A daily three to four minute excursion into photos and short texts to regale the curious with an ever-changing and diverting view of a world rich in gastronomy, visual art, ideas, chuckles, stories, people, diversions, science, homespun, and enlightenment.
Observing with wit and wisdom, Dom Capossela, an experienced leader, guides his team of contributors and followers through that world, an amusing and edifying conversation to join.
__________________________________________________________
Commentary
Monday, July 15, 2019
So let’s make us some Baked Beans and Franks.
That’s it.
Delicious.
Serve with crusty bread.
Start by prepping 1lb navy or white beans:
Cover with water to 2” above beans, bring to boil and then simmer for 15min. Hold it for a moment while we finish preparing the Dutch Oven.
In a Dutch Oven Let’s flavor the pot with 2oz each of celery, carrots and leeks in a food chopper sizing them to a small dice, about 4 seconds in the chopper.
These aromatics will be softened in a fat of our choosing. I use duck/goose fat since I make these birds often and render their fat which I keep in the freezer. Or use bacon or other pork fat. Just enough for the aromatics.
And then add herbs and spices: 2 TB tomato paste, 2TB hot mustard, 2TB molasses, 1TB honey, and 1/2t each of curry, cumin, and ginger.
And then the liquids: 1 cup dry white wine, 2 cups of our own chicken stock (or water if our own stock not available).
And then the beans and the water they cooked in.
On the stovetop bring the Dutch Oven to a boil and then set the pot into a 325* oven.
Check in 45minutes to ensure there’s still enough liquid to keep the beans covered. Add stock or water as needed.
Cut the frankfurts (or knockwurst or other) into six pieces and add them into the pot.
Taste the beans (they won’t be done) and then return them for additional cooking.
That’s it.
Delicious.
Serve with crusty bread.
_________________________________________________________
News re: existentialautotrip
Monday, July 15, 2019
We’re happy to announce that we’ve figured out how to send a 2-minute promo piece via email.
The promo pieces for the existentialautotrip blog will consist of single-chuckle videos featuring Dom as the teller.
As we produce them, we’ll add their links to the blog so our regular readers will have a chance to see them before finding them on the social media.
The videos will be of assistance to our vision-impaired friends.
Small victories adding up to a constantly evolving blog.
The next days look like hot. Perhaps uncomfortably hot, especially doing strenuous outdoor work like walking four miles with a heavy backpack.
This is where people start complaining.
____________________________________________
Tracking Postings – Tracking Time
Monday, July 15, 2019
Our 465th consecutive posting, committed to 5,000.
After 465 posts we’re at the 9.30 percentile of our commitment, that commitment a different way of marking the passage of time.
Posting always done by 6.00am the day of, but usually by 6pm of the night before.
On this day Boston will enjoy warm temperatures, with a high of 85* and a feels-like of 82* and sunny skies.
____________________________________________
Dinner
Monday, July 15, 2019
Saturday’s dinner was a Slow-Roasted Duck.
My, oh my, was it delicious.
__________________________________________-
We love getting mail.
Contact me at domcapossela@hotmail.com
Monday, July 15, 2019
This great homespun from Sally C:
Dear Dom,
Your post today, about the WASP service, puts me in mind of Jane Healey’s recently released book, “The Beantown Girls.” Beautifully done, emotionally appealing, and accurate details of the Red Cross’s cooperation with the army during WWII, bringing attractive, capable women to the front, to help soldiers heal from the war trauma with a taste of home. They dispensed coffee, doughnuts, and compassion, via the Red Cross Clubmobiles. It is a history of which I was completely unaware (although if I were more into WWII history, I would have heard of them). It’s a story you will enjoy. Healey is a local author who lives in Melrose. She has a couple other books to her name as well.
With regards to baked beans: I’m not overly fond of baked beans, but there are exceptions, like the sweet and sour ones my mother would usually make for family reunions. Another recipe that we employed on the reenactment field sometimes was bean-hole beans. We started by soaking the beans overnight, of course. In the early morning after breakfast, we built up the fire (there’s always a cook fire at these events), applied hardwood when we could get it, added a lot of medium-sized rocks into the fire, and waited for the rocks to get as hot as possible. While we waited, we dug a hole in the ground next to the fire pit and prepared the soaked beans with various additions, like molasses, onions, fatback, etc. A favorite addition was a whole fryer chicken, submerged in the beans. When the rocks were hot enough, we rolled some from the fire to the hole and let them line the bottom. Then we set the bean pot – a cast-iron Dutch oven in this case – down on the hot rocks, rolled the rest of the hot rocks into the hole so they sat around and on top of the pot, then buried the whole thing with the soil from the hole. About supper time, we dug up the pot and removed the lid to a bubbling mess of beans with the chicken falling off the bone. Succulent! (Warning: If anyone wants to do this, DO NOT EVER USE rocks taken from a body of water. A submerged rock gets waterlogged. Heating it in a fire can cause the water to expand and explode it. For the same reason, waterlogged rocks should never be used to create a fire pit.)
Sally
Web Meister Responds: Check out the Baked Bean methodology we’ve worked out here. It’s also wonderful.
___________________________________________
Chuckle of the Day:
Monday, July 15, 2019
Five Catholics, four men and a woman, having coffee in St. Peters Square.
One man, "My son is a priest, when he walks into a room, everyone calls him 'Father'."
The second, "My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Grace'."
And the third, "My son is a Cardinal. When he enters a room everyone bows their head and says 'Your Eminence'."
The fourth, "My son is the Pope. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Holiness'."
The woman had been looking bored, sipping her coffee in silence.
The men prod her to speak.
"I have a daughter, slim, tall, 38" DD bust, 24" waist and 34" hips.
“When she walks into a room, everybody says, "Oh My God."
____________________________________________
Today’s Thumbnail
Monday, July 15, 2019
The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France, on the afternoon of 14 July 1789.
The medieval armory, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris.
The prison contained only seven inmates at the time of its storming but was seen by the revolutionaries as a symbol of the monarchy's abuse of power; its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution.
In France, Le quatorze juillet (14 July) is a public holiday, usually called Bastille Day in English.
I still keep a list of the aristocrats we missed.
Their day will come.
____________________________________________
Good Morning on this Monday, the fifteenth day of July, 2019
Our lead picture is the Storming of the Bastille.
Our commentary offers up a recipe for Franks and Beans.
We posted a tip on our video promos to come, the Boston weather report, the ticking calendar, and the growing number of posts as calendar markers.
We posted a great piece of homespun from Sally C and a chuckle.
Finally, our Thumbnail, Bastille Day.
And now? Gotta go.
Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?
See you soon.
Your love.