Commercials and the Ruination of Television

A few weeks ago I tried to watch a show on the Cooking Channel. After 15 minutes of what seemed like one endless commercial, I gave up. Granted, my judgement was unscientific. Subjective.

So this Saturday I sat down with paper, pen ,and timer,and watched "The Little Paris Kitchen", with Rachel Khoo.

Here is what I watched:

17 minutes of Rachel Khoo cooking. 13 minutes of commercials. 20 different commercials in that 13. This was a break every 4-5 minutes.

And I watched all this on a service I am paying 100 dollars a month for.

I rest my case!

The Estate Sale Diaries-February 22,2013 Nashville , Tennessee

On Friday and Saturday I went to the same estate sale three times. I was certain there were things I had overlooked, so I went back twice. And I was right to.

The sale was in Williamson County, and not a quarter mile from Edwin Warner Park. It was in a subdivision of McMansions in one of the richest and most Republican counties in the United States. On one side of Vaughn Road were the more modest houses, and the sale house was one. On the other side, guarded by security gates ,there were Tudor replicas and faux Tuscan villas.

Even at eight there was a line, though many of those closest to the front door were represented by canvas bags used as placeholders, put down by a buddie who arrived early. Later his Ebay re-seller and dealer friends showed up and went to their bags, jumping the line.The common people grumbled about this, but they actually had little to fear since the first day prices left the re-sellers little margin. They came back the next day when everything was 50% off and made off then with the silver candelabras.

And what was the General Public buying the first day?

An Ottoman. Grocery bags full of cleaning supplies from the laundry room and foils and wraps from the pantry. Tool sets. Big clay flowerpots. Books from the dozens in the study-James Patterson,Anne Rivers Siddons,Michael Connelly, Maeve Binchy,Rosamunde Pilcher, biographies of the various Bushes, including Barbara. These were two dollars ,but the Civil War and Nashville histories, of which there were many, went as high as 12 dollars.

They sold none the less, as did a large framed print of General Robert E Lee. And some astute ladies,scouring the upstairs bedrooms, found hand sewed linens and lace. They raided the shoe closet and left it bare. They decimated the pocketbooks-

There were the usual tables of glass ware and silver services, ignored the first day, absconded with the second. An antique dealer from Franklin, who I talked to in line,had told me it was hard for her to figure out what people wanted to buy these days. Of one thing she was certain.

No one wanted glassware.Unless it was half off.

The basement held luggage, two tables of Christmas decor, three ancient childrens' sleds, that I doubt saw more than one or two days of snowy hillsides in 40 years. There was a six inch high pile of doormats.

"She had one for every season and every holiday", one of the Estate Sale staff told me. Cornucopias, hollies, carved pumpkins, tulips, and Easter Bunnies.

A peculiarity of this sale was how much stuff was still in wrappers, and never opened. Napkins and linens. Bath soaps. Fancy knife sets and pewter salad servers hand cast in Norway.

The sale was crowded, the checkout line long, and standing there allowed me to spy and people watch. I saw once again the All In Black Boho couple. He was in tight black leather with his white-blonde hair tied in a topnot. He had multiple facial and ear studs and was carrying a poodle. Black of course. His wife was noir as well. Her hair was the color of a carrot. I have seen her in closets before, looking for evening wear, ball gowns, and inspecting the furs-

And what did I buy, besides a rug and a hand vacuum?

A vintage Mouli grater-



A set of antique Limoges dessert plates-



An oversized spice jar-



A pewter salad set-



A vintage Juice-O-Matic-





A duck serving dish-

A Note-

Blogger has changed. Again. I have to get used to the new format for loading photos, and I will, but it will be hard to live with the hair trigger that publishes posts when one only wants to preview them, and the out of no -where links to photos.

Leek, Onion, and Blue Cheese Pie

A few weeks back I caught the end of a recipe on one of the America's Test Kitchen shows on PBS. The visiting cook had made a special pastry dough, then had stuffed it with leeks, mushrooms, and Gorgonzola cheese. This sounded good to me, so I decided to make a savory pie. It turned out very well, and since the pie dough came from a box,the dish did not take much time.


3/4 stick of butter

2-4 tablespoons of olive oil

Dash of sea salt, and a dash of celery salt

5 leeks, cut into thin rounds and washed, then dried with a towel or salad spinner

16 oz sliced mushrooms-I used Baby Bellas.

5 oz crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 pie crusts

9 inch pie dish and a large skillet or saute pan

1 egg, beaten

1 tbs of grainy mustard, but add a little at a time if you like to suit your taste.

Melt the butter in the skillet, add the olive oil, then add the leeks. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Saute the leeks on medium heat until they are soft, then add the mushrooms and mix well. You may need to add a bit more olive oil. Continue to saute until the mushrooms are soft.

Now add the crumbled cheese and mix well after lowering the heat to medium-low. Next add the cream and mustard and continue to cook until the sauce has thickened, as shown in the first photo.

Fit the pie crust to the pie plate, then prick the bottom with a fork a few times. Spoon in the filling, as shown in the second photo, then take a paring knife and make five or six slits evenly around the crust.

Now brush the crust with the beaten egg. This will give the pie a shiny golden brown crust.



Bake the pie in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes, though I advise keeping an eye on it after 30 minutes to make certain it does not get too crispy.

And here is a slice-


This was so good I dispensed with bacon and eggs this morning and ate pie for breakfast.

Skillet Cornbread with Creamed Corn and Green Chilies

This recipe,minus the green, diced chiles, came out of my Quick-bread baking Bible "The Southern Heritage Breads Cookbook". Once useful, but now ignored and sold for a quarter at McKay Used Books, "Breads" was one of a set published by Southern Living magazine and Oxmoor House in the early 80's. Should you be lucky enough to find one, buy it and bring it home. If you don't have room for it make room. Toss out that Chef's restaurant cookbook with its recipes for Anchovy Foam with Chocolate Sauce.

I will begin on a practical note. This recipe calls for a preheated cast iron skillet which will be in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Do not even attempt this recipe if you do not have a thick oven mitt, and even then add a towel to take it from the oven for safety's sake.

Cornbread with Corn


1 cup of self-rising cornmeal( I used White Lily Buttermilk Cornmeal)

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs,beaten

1 cup of canned creamed corn

1 cup of sour cream

2 tbs grated onion (I substituted a shake or two of onion powder)

1 4oz can of diced green chilies


Mix all the above well. I recommend a spatula for best mixing.

Spray a 9 inch cast iron skillet with canola oil baking spray and put in a 400 degree oven for 3 minutes.

Remove the skillet carefully and pour in the batter.

Bake 40 minutes till golden brown. Allow to cool ten minutes before slicing into wedges.

"Breads" says this will feed six to eight people.

Do not expect any will be left over. It would go well with cooked greens, vegetable soups, fried chicken or by itself with some Guava jelly.

Oops! Forgot Two Photos On My Previous Post-

My apologies. I forgot I had to upload two photos so readers would know what I was alluding to. It has been a long day! The car photos are now on the updated post.

Passing through Leiper's Fork-February 11,2013

This preserved Land Trust farm, dating from 1801,is just outside the village of Leiper's Fork on Tennessee State Route 46. Parked just outside the fence was this police car, and just inside the fence this Dodge Charger.

If you do not recognize the cultural importance of these cars you are not American,you are under 45, and you grew up without brothers who hogged the TV.