OF LUCKY PENNIES AND NEW BLOGS!!!

Something wonderful happened yesterday!!! Yes I added a new Lucky Penny to the smashed penny collection. Granted it is not smashed but it is LUCKY and we could all use some of that. I do believe this is the oldest penny in my collection. It is an Indian Head 1901 penny from The Pan American Expo in Buffalo NY 1901. Last week I bought a lot of Military Patches and medals at auction and this was inside. Wonderful find. I know have 2 aluminum lucky pennies in the collection.

In other news we have started a blog for our record store Rock_o_bilia. I'm learning to link and Erin is helping me set up graphics etc. We started it not only for the store but my daughter Erin is a Journalism major at San Fransisco State University and most internships require blogging background. She has had a personal blog but we set this up to make it professional and of course less personal. please join us for the fun and frivolity's!!!!

OF LANYARDS , BEACHES , BOATS AND BEER!!!

Well this is a case of better late than never!!! In October My husband and I took my sister Laura (green purse) and her daughter Melissa (the cute one!!) on a Galveston Caribbean Cruise. This particular cruise was in honor of my 50th birthday and Laura's graduation from Beauty School. No Beauty school drop out here!!!! I'm proud of her. At 57 she went back to school to do something she loves. Truly an inspiration and proof that you are never too old for change!!!

We had a wonderful time!! The destinations were Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel Mexico. Loved them all. I do believe I had 3 of the best beach days ever. The waters were beyond blue and swimming in Jamaican waters was like taking a bath!!!

Thanks to the LanyardLady of Etsy we had "THE BEST" Lanyards on the boat!!! Erik thought something special was in order so I ordered 3 Lanyards to carry our room cards. When I received them I was stunned!!! Did not expect the quality and beauty. This lady knows her beads and creates a beautiful item. We were the belles of the boat. There were many inquiries on where we got them, plus a few jealous stares . My lanyard went into the passport pouch and I will be using it on future cruises.

Our special table on the boat. Many meals,beers, cups of tea, Uno and Yahtzee games were enjoyed here! Plus we had beautiful lanyards.


Of course we golfed with our lanyards!! I am still the queen of mini-golf. I have no idea why I'm so good at it. Even at 50 go figure.



Sampled the local "Caybrew" beer in Grand Cayman with of course our lanyards!
We even got swallowed by a shark in Mexico. We tickled his belly with our lanyards and he spit us out!!! We were saved by the Lanyard Lady's lanyards!!!

MAMA MIA !!!! SHES AT IT AGAIN!!!!!

I have been beyond busy lately. In my workaholic haze I decided to open ANOTHER Internet store on Etsy. Why you ask? "Just because " is my reply. Actually it is a fantastic market for many items I can no longer sell on Ebay. Believe it or not the smaller customer base and lack of intense competition from importers have allowed me to sell specialty items. Plus its kind of fun. A new challenge. I also have Charla, my record lister extraordinaire and sounding post. Every Wednesday like clockwork she comes in to help list the thousands of records we have recently acquired and listen to me bitch!!

It is definitely tomato season here!!!! Last year I planted 3 tomato plants and got a grand total of 5 tomatoes. This year I moved their spot and planted about 7 plants. I love tomatoes . I have tomatoes. Hundreds of tomatoes. All at once!!! I am not much of a cannier and have gotten food poisoning from tomato sauce so the thought of putting them up is not too enticing. I got a wild hair and decided to make homemade Marinara . I definitely needed a small break from work and it sounded fun!

I started out with the ingredients of this tote plus a small eggplant I picked yesterday. I am proud of my garden this year. Lots of yummy vegetables. Bag on desk I hopped on the computer to find a Marinara recipe. What a joke!!! Most of the fresh tomato homemade recipes included a can of tomato paste. Now why would I need that ? You must know that until I was 30 years old all I knew about cooking was making broiled chicken and Minute Rice. I was a career girl. I printed out what I could find and went inside to consult the ladies.
Yes these ladies. Betty Crocker and Julia Childs. This is the sum total of my cookbooks. I have had the Betty Crocker book for 30 years .My Mom gave it to me when I got my first place. Betty has been my cooking mentor for years. I did not clean her up for the picture. The loose pages and filthy cover is what makes her my old friend. You should see my Mothers. Julia I got in a box of books at an auction. I kept her in hopes I might make gourmet food some day . I haven't.

Imagine my surprise when I could not find a Marinara recipe in either one!!!! My stress level began to build. I decided to tackle the one project I knew needed to be done . Peeling the tomatoes. The thought of peeling tomatoes did overwhelm me. Yes I have peeled Green Chiles, but tomatoes ? I dove right in. I was amazed. Tomato peeling proved to be extremely easy and lots of fun. I do need to get a life. I missed you Erin you would have loved peeling tomatoes too.

Then came time to deseed the tomatoes. Can we say Ragu? At this point I was having a grand old time but an understanding of why people buy Ragu started to grow. I was beginning to make peace with my lack of perfect Marinara recipe. Maybe it was so simple you kind of needed to wing it. Wing it I did.

As I was chopping my wonderful bounty I began to fantasize about being self sustaining. The process of making my way in a modern world on my little 1/2 acre was enticing. I could Blog about all that I had learned and endured. My husband loves End of the world Sci Fi fantasy books . Maybe he could join in and we could do this life changing process together. I fantasize alot. I guess that's why I like to blog. Sometimes the thoughts just need to leave my head. It gets crowded in there. Anyways back to my Marinara.

So I stuck it all in a pot together and just let it simmer, and simmer, and simmer. Cant you just smell it thru the computer? I can. My house had the most delicious smell .

Viola!!! Marinara and Penne Pasta!!!! I will say it was the best marinara I have ever tasted. I was beyond proud of my self. Even have enough to freeze some for later. Hmmm maybe this self sustaining thing could be done..... That's when my Husband came home with a surprise for my homemade Marinara dinner....

Screw self sustainability !!!!

ROCK_O_BILIAS LATEST BUYING VENTURE!!!

Went on a great record buying expedition last weekend. We purchase our records many different ways. Perusing $1 record store bins is our most expensive way but is always a great family outing. Yes most families go to theme parks , ballgames or play board games. Not us. We drag Erin to dusty dirty record stores in search of vinyl gold. I don't think she minds it though. It was "HER" idea to start this store at the ripe old age of 15. Now shes off to college at San Francisco State leaving "ME" to run the wretched business. Honestly I have a love/hate relationship with Rock_o_Bilia. I do love working with the records but sometimes between my other store Dageland_curios and Rock_o_bilia I get overwhelmed. Its times like these however I realize I could still be working for the Man. This is much better.

Our first stop was Amoeba Records. This is a wonderful chain of 3 stores in California. They are in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley California. We have been to them all and each has their own eclectic flavor. The Los Angeles store is HUGE!!!! there are always a mix of hipsters, pre- post punkers, hip-hop etc etc etc. Great place for people watching and they have it all!!!! Vinyl, CDs, cassettes ( yes Melissa they have cassettes!), posters ,Dvds you name it. The San Francisco store is in the Haite -Ashbury area. Lots of street kids outside and a much more laid back crowd. The store is much smaller but does have great deals. Berkeley is much smaller and decidedly more collegy (is that a word?) . All of them also have guest appearances on a regular basis. Elija Woods was guest DJ last Sunday. Who knew he did that?

Very impressed with the Los Angeles Amoeba store last weekend. We purchased over 200 $1 albums and in the mess of checking our order they forgot to include Erin's $13.00 "Jawbreaker" album in our boxes. They not only shipped out the album in 2 days ,as we are an hours drive away, they also included 3 shirts and a bag!!! SCORE!!!! Talk about great customer service.

Plus they have the coolest elevator ever!!!!!

The next record store was Counterpoint Records in a tony part of Hollywood across from a Gelsons Grocery store. More interesting people watching. This store , also a used book store, was a wonderful shopping experience. Not alot of records but all of them were very clean and the store has a great ambiance. Something about shopping in a store packed with old books and records listening to Jazz made it the perfect wind down after the frenetic exuberance of the Amoeba Records. Their $1 section was quite small but it did not disappoint. We bought approximately 50 records in the best shape ever!!! Most were near mint. Not an experience found in most $1 record store bins.

I have saved the best for last. The Dages absolutely loved Record Surplus in a seedier part of L.A. The day we were there a homeless man was asleep on the sidewalk. It was one of those situations where you want to go up and poke him to see if he was alive but were afraid. I did see him move however so that made me feel better. Don't be surprised though if you see us on one of those hidden camera shows ignoring the poor homeless man.

Record Surplus touts themselves as "the last record store" . Although they are not as Los Angeles is full of record stores , they still are our favorite. It is just a HUGE open space full of mostly used vinyl. Very , very, good prices. they have an upstairs attic type space for 90 cent records. Not $1 but 90 cents. They also have special 3/90 cents weekend sales. We will definitely be there!!!

Here is Erik wearing his Ramones shirt perusing the soundtracks. That shirt has travelled the United states, Canada and Mexico.

This is the only record store with listening stations .They even have them in the attic.

Well that's it for our latest venture. All in all we aquired over 500 rock records for your buying experience. I will be sure to share other ventures with you later.

GREEN CHILE ROASTING TIME!!!!

Its green Chile roasting time!!! I do believe that no one ,with the exception of my daughter Erin , loves green Chile's more than I do. My father in law lives in Las Cruces New Mexico. It was there that I truly learned Green Chili appreciation. Growing up in California I have learned to appreciate good Mexican food. It is abundant here. The Green Chili however is not a big part of the cuisine. Sure we have Chili Rellenos and Green Chili sauce but they tend to be bland and somewhat slimy.

Not in New Mexico though. They put Green Chili's in or on everything. Eggs, hamburgers , hot dogs ,you name it Green Chili's go on it. Once you have eaten a freshly roasted Green Chili your hooked!!!! I started out buying Big bags of Green Chili's when we would visit New Mexico . I would bring them home and roast them. They freeze quite well.

I always shop at the Mexican Grocery store for my vegetables. Great prices and they are fresh, fresh, fresh. One day I noticed they carry Green Chili's. Honestly I'm not sure if the regular Grocery store carries them or not but I do buy them regularly and roast them .

This year while shopping for plants for my vegetable garden I got quite the wild hair. Not only did I purchase Eggplant and Artichokes, stories in their own right, I purchased peppers ,peppers and more peppers. All kinds of Peppers. Green Peppers, Red Peppers, Yellow Peppers, and of course the Anaheim Green Chili. To my amazement the Green Chili's took off. All of them have taken off.

Following is a tutorial on how to roast Green Chili's for my niece Melissa the self proclaimed foodie. But you can roast Green Chili's too !!! Its fun and self satisfying. Great thing to do with kids. My daughter Erin enjoyed helping me and shes 18!!

First you start out with firm fresh Green Chili's . Get your propane or gas barbecue nice and hot. Put your chili's on the grate and shut the top. In about 3 to five minutes you will hear a sissing and some pops . This is the Chili's starting to pop. Once the skin browns on one side and you can easily stick a fork in it turn the Green Chili's on their other side and let that side brown. Don't be afraid of burnt skin. This is a sign they are done .

This is what the Chili's should look like. The skins will start to peel off. They should still be firm enough to hold a shape and let a fork pierce easily. You need to let them cool a bit. You don't want to wait too long as they peel much better while they are warm.

This is how the skin should peel off. The Chili underneath should be pliable yet firm. Too mushy and you have roasted it too long. I don't recommend starting off with a large quantity as the roasting process is a learned one.

This is your end product. At this point you need to make a decision. As all the heat of a pepper is in the seeds, you can cut them open and get rid of the seeds or you can keep them in. The Green Chili flesh is a wonderful mild pepper .I keep the seeds in. After they defrost I can choose to keep the seeds or dispose of them depending on my heat preference.

I them will pop 2 chili's in a baggie and freeze them. As it is just my husband and I this is the perfect portion of Green Chili. If I need more for a recipe I will defrost more bags. Now all you have to do is take them out of the freezer pop them into the nuker for about 20 seconds and you have fresh roasted chili's. Perfect for eggs, quiche, hamburger topping ,Chili you name it!!! Erin and I have decided I need to take the next step. Chili Rellenos here I come. Wish me luck........

EVY LOU AND MILDREDS ADVENTURE!!!

As most everyone who reads this blog knows I am a Purveyor of Junque. I auction quite regularly . Believe it or not I really dont have much in the way of possessions. Seeing what people leave behind and what it is ultimately worth has cured me of the Possession Mania.I will admit I have a deep appreciation of the smashed penny and old letters. Both are not very space consuming and not really important to the general public. They are mystery's to me. Relics that give great insight to those who possessed them.

People fascinate me. Not your ordinary run of the mill people but people who are somehow outside of the box. I have always been slightly outside of the box. I don't think I really appreciated the outside of the box until my 30th birthday.

History was never my strength in school. I never appreciated it. I love what I do because I am learning History through these possessions . Through the letters.

Recently I opened an Etsy store. 9 sales so far WOOHOO!!! I decided that i would look through my paper stash for items to sell to scrapbookers/ crafters. I found a prized possession I acquired in a box of goo some years ago. It is a letter I found in a box that contained an empty vodka bottle. This isn't any letter though. It is a letter written by a young girl to her Mother in 1928. It chronicles her trek through St George Utah in 1928. Remember cars were different then so were young ladies or were they?


Dear Mother,

July 17,1928
We are leaving St. George this morning at 6:30. We have stopped just out of St George to get the radiator cap repaired so water wont squirt in our face every time it takes a notion to. After we get to our destination I will write you a big long letter going more into detail but it seems as if I cant do very much writing going along the road.

July 18, 1928
We have had a couple of punctures , one right after we left Daggett and another one yesterday just around the corner from Scipios ( pronounce it if you can). Mildred and I are getting to be experts at changing tires and finding our way around.
We wore our knickers + jackets yesterday and both of us got sunburned from head to heels. by the way neither one of us had any waist or anything to wear under our jackets. Mildred wore her pajama jacket under hers and I pinned a handkerchief (one of those that Edith Carley gave me) under the front of mine with a couple of hair pins I found in the middle of our cabin floor in St George. How in the world those hairpins got there i don't know. We swept the floor twice that night and the next morning those two hairpins were laying side by side right in the middle of the floor.
After we fled from that flea-infested room at Salt lake City We came on into Ogden. Look on a map and see how far it is from St George to Ogden we made it in one day and stopped at an all night service station and slept the rest of the night sitting up in the car. Sure slept good too. We woke up at 4:30 and are now sitting in front of the Ogden PO office writing letters. After we finish these letters we are writing in our diaries.
When we got into St George we were a little bit tired and a man and woman staying in the cabin next to ours offered us a stimulant Whiskey!!! Said they had a pint and that they would be glad to let us have some if we wanted it. Later that evening we were talking to them and the man was about "half shot" then.
I wish you could have been with us when we came thru Arizona. We saw the most beautiful mountains and clefts. Most of them were straight up and down and a bright red color. They looked just like pictures you see of cliff dwellings . We came over one Mountain range that struck me right between the eyes and has stayed there ever since. The mountain was black and had gigantic rocks as black as coal on it. and the mountain was black too. The next thing we knew we dropped onto another mountain that was as red as blood with giant rocks of the same color.
At the gas station where we stayed last night there were two boys in a car talking to the one in the gas station when we went to get a drink. They asked us if we wanted something to wake us up. We said we were already awake enough. They were about half-drunk . A little later they showed us some whiskey and asked if we wanted a drink. We politely informed them that we did not care for any and that we did not drink. then turned on our heels walked over to the car and drove off.

Mildred is jumping around scratching her bites while she is trying to write some letters. People here in Utah are certainly shocked at us in our knicker suits and bare legs. Its to d.... hot to wear much of anything here. It is nice and cool in the morning and nice and cool in the evening but pretty HOT in the daytime.
Well I'm going to mail this and get some news to you. And also I gotta have some breakfast
Love
Evy Lou

AN ALL AMERICAN 4TH OF JULY!!!!!

Finally getting around to my 4Th of July post. As my husband works for Frito Lay he never gets to do the 4Th. This holiday happens to be the equivalent to Christmas in the chip business. I don't mind really he gets a double check sometimes triple. Money is good. Well as fate would have it the 4Th fell on his Sunday off.
He decided it was time. Time to finally go to a Baseball game. What could be more American than baseball on the 4Th of July ? With promises of Beer and all the carbohydrate ridden food I could eat. I readily accepted. We went on the website called stubhub.com and bought $60 tickets for the low low price of $20.Who would of figured my beer would have cost more than admission?

Growing up 5 minutes away from the Angel Stadium I never once went there for fireworks. I have watched the fireworks from there and Disneyland countless times on my parents roof. I will admit I was kind of excited at 50 years old to finally witness it in person. I do remember going to games there when I was a kid. Back in the day the California Angels stunk. There would be about 400 people watching the game. Seating was a free for all. Now its amazing. Their fan base is extremely strong.
They were playing Kansas City. Quite interesting as it is my Moms team .We beat them. Slayed them actually. Sorry Gloria Dee and all my other Kansas cousins. Of course as I am not a killer fan of Baseball, I did my fair share of people watching.It was fascinating actually.

These kids were about 13 to 15 years old.They were right in front of me. The boy was giving her hangdog looks and kept kissing on her. She seemed very indifferent. She did light up however when his brother on his other side talked to her. I wanted to slap them all for various reasons. This includes his mother who let this all happen without blinking an eye. Jerry Springer here we come!!!

I guess this is the Green Guy? He was beyond an attention whore. Whenever they would scan the crowds he would jump up and dance like a fool. Interesting at first but it did become annoying.

After the game I spied this fan. I have many things to say about this shirt but in the end my question is, Who wears a shirt like this? Creepy creepy old man.



No firework pictures. We decided to just sit back and enjoy them. All in all it was a great adventure .