Red Nose

What's Happening?

Hi!

I know, I know; it's been a while. Let's get caught up, shall we?

Mom

Mom continues to hold her own. This woman is amazing. She can sit in a wheelchair for a couple hours a day and carry on a conversation, but just when you think she might beat back death once again, the conversation takes a turn. I visited her yesterday and she told me she wanted to host Thanksgiving this year.

Yeah.

I decided to play along, not wanting to upset her by pointing out that it might be difficult to have eight people over for a big turkey dinner when you're pretty much bedridden. Instead, we planned out the meal. She had a blast, so I think I did the right thing there.

Hockey

My Capitals finally snapped their four-game losing streak by beating the San Jose Sharks 4-1! Then they beat the Nashville Predators in the shootout 3-2! My adopted son Alex Ovechkin is leading the league in goals and points. He's a beast, I tell you, a beast. And cute, in a Russian kind of way.

 

(Okay, I cheated. This shot is from the HD Jumbotron. Still!)

Lunch

I love a good Italian joint, so when the lovely and talented Deb suggested a nice place near both of us, I jumped at the chance. It had been way too long between lunch dates for Deb and me, so we really made the most of it. Good food, good friend, good visit!

Stuff on eBay

I'm cleaning out my jewelry box! If you're in the market for some nice pieces, check out my eBay auctions. I'll be putting more things up as the days go by and I dig deeper through my unused and lonely baubles, so check back often.

Condition Is Everything

I meant to write this last night, and then Gilda started up on TCM and I got distracted by Glen Ford and Rita Hayworth. Did people really dress like that? I suppose the rich did.

Anyway, here's what I started to tell you.

Back in the dark ages, I did a lot of community theater. (I was going to be a famous actress back then and it seemed like a good way to get some acting chops.) Because of my many important community theater connections, I happened to get a gig at a dinner theater. I landed the plum roles of the maid and the female dinner guest in Blithe Spirit. It was really fun -- a good cast, a fun play, a nice director.

Seeing as how this was dinner theater on the cheap, we pretty much supplied our own costumes. As the dinner guest, I wore a lovely red velvet, empire-waist gown that I had worn to a formal dance a couple years before. The director supplied a cool necklace: a large pocket watch hanging from a chain.

The show ran on weekends for three weeks or so, then I got a phone call. The dinner theater had abruptly shut down and the building closed up tight, so no more show. Everything associated with the show -- costumes, props, sets -- was left behind.

Except the pocket watch. The director told me to take it home every night because it was valuable, so I did. He never got in touch to ask for it back; I didn't have his phone number or address. I went away to college; I ran off to the circus. Life happened.

The watch rested in my jewelry box -- close to 40 years.

When I did the flea market a few weeks ago, I toyed with the idea of selling it, but decided not to. It really didn't seem like flea market material.

I thought I might try selling it on eBay. To do that, I figured I better do a little research. I found out a lot about Elgin antique pocket watches, the most important bit being that the serial number that matters is the one on the works, not the one on the case.

I managed to pop open the back and got the serial number. I found a web site where I could look up the number, so I did.

The watch dates from 1891. There was a lot of other info that meant nothing to me, but that date was kind of exciting. A little more googling led me to a DC auction house, Weschler and Sons. I found out that they offer free auction-value appraisals the first Thursday of each month. No appointment needed; just show up with your swag.

This was last Wednesday, so that seemed to be sign.

I headed over to the shop on Thursday. The storefront for the shop was full of furniture, so I asked the guy supervising where the appraisals were.

"Next entrance, third floor. Hope you get rich!"

Another sign? Perhaps.

Up to the third floor I went. A very nice lady asked if she could help me.

"I'd like to get a free appraisal," I said.

"What have you got?" she asked, somewhat skeptically.

"I have this," I said, pulling out the watch and handing it to her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, sounding impressed. My heart did just a little flip. "Let me call John Weschler," she said, "wait just a moment."

As I waited, I thought about all the ways I could spend my new-found fortune.

A couple minutes later, a very businesslike gentleman came out and escorted me back to his office. I handed over the watch.

He was not nearly as impressed as the lady.

"It's gold-filled, not gold," he said. He popped open the cover.

"There's some damage to the face," he said. He popped open the back and looked up the serial number.

"1891," he said.

"Condition is everything with these pieces," he said.

"Auction value is $100." He handed back the watch.

"Thank you very much," I said.

Oh well. Not gonna be rich. But the vanilla bean cupcake I treated myself to was delicious!

A Full Course Dinner

We did a bit more cleaning out over at my mom's house tonight and I picked up an old cookbook of my gramma's -- The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Miss Fannie Merritt Farmer, Revised, copyright 1912. After all of the recipes, Miss Farmer details the proper composition of a full course dinner. Here's the scoop, straight out of the book.

---

A Full Course Dinner

First Course
Little Neck Clams or Bluepoints, with brown-bread sandwiches. Sometimes canapes are used in place of either. For a gentleman's dinner, canapes accompanied with Sherry wine are frequently served before guests enter the dining room.

Second Course
Clear soup, with break sticks, small rolls, or crisp crackers. Where two soups are served, one may be a cream soup. Cream soups are served with Croutons. Radishes, celery, or olives are passed after the soup. Salted almonds may be passed between any of the courses.

Third Course
Bouchees or rissoles. The filling to be of light meat.

Fourth Course
Fish, baked, boiled, or fried. Cole slaw, dressed cucumbers, or tomatoes accompany this course; with fried fish potatoes are often served.

Fifth Course
Roast saddle of venison or mutton, spring lamb, or fillet of beef; potatoes and one other vegetable.

Sixth Course
Entree, made of light meat or fish.

Seventh Course
A vegetable. Mushrooms, cauliflower, asparagus, or artichokes are served.

Eighth Course
Punch or cheese course. Punch, when served, always precedes the game course.

Ninth Course
Game, with vegetable salad, usually lettuce or celery; or cheese sticks may be served with the salad, and game omitted.

Tenth Course
Dessert, usually cold.

Eleventh Course
Frozen dessert and fancy cakes. Bonbons are passed after this course.

Twelfth Course
Cracker, cheese, and cafe noir. Cafe noir is frequently served in the drawing and smoking rooms after the dinner.

Where wines and liquors are served, the first course is not usually accompanied by either; but if desired, Sauterne or other white wine may be used. With soup, serve Sherry; with fish, white wine; with game, Claret; with roast and other courses, Champagne.

After serving cafe noir in drawing-room, pass pony of brandy for men, sweet liqueur (Chartreuse, Benedictine, or Parfait d'Amour) for women; then Creme de Menthe for all.

After a short time Apollinaris should be passed. White wines should be served cool; Sherry should be as near the temperature of the room in which it is served as possible. champagne should be served very cold by allowing it to remain in salt and ice at least one-half hour before dinner time. Claret, served without cooling, and as it contains so small amount of alcohol, is not good the day after opening.

For a simpler dinner, the third, seventh, eighth, and tenth courses, and the game in the ninth course, may be omitted.

For a home dinner, it is always desirable to serve for first course a soup; second course, meat or fish, with potatoes and two other vegetables; third course, a vegetable salad, with French dressing; fourth course, dessert; fifth course, crackers, cheese, and cafe noir.

At a ladies' luncheon the courses are as many as at a small dinner. In winter, grape fruit is sometimes served in place of oysters; in summer, selected strawberries in small Swedish Timbale cases.

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And there you have it. If you make this dinner, be sure to invite me, and don't bogart the Sherry, Claret, and Champagne!

Embrace Your Inner Jackie O

"Well, you look so pretty in it
Honey, can I jump on it sometime?
Yes, I just wanna see
If it's really that expensive kind
You know it balances on your head
Just like a mattress balances
On a bottle of wine
Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat"

--Bob Dylan

Yes! I'm selling this gorgeous thing on eBay. My mom gave it to me, but it's way too small for my enormous noggin.

So if you or any drag queens you might know are in the market for the gen-you-wine article, click that link up there and put in a bid!

My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, and I thank you!