Monday, March 30, 2015

SLOPPY JOES: SANDWICH OF DREAMS (Parody from Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones) Best Ever Sloppy Joe Recipe




Sandwich of Dreams
A Field of Dreams Parody and Best Sloppy Joe Recipe Ever-Rachel Ray
Written by Kim Michael March 2015


"People will come Ray.  They'll come for reasons they can't even fathom.

They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, you'll say. We have Sloppy Joe Sandwiches. 

And you will pass over the mustard, and the pickles, and bun, overrun with Sloppy Joe filling; and they will take it without even thinking about it: for it is hunger they have and food from the past they lack.

And they'll walk out in the yard.  Sit in tee-shirts and sweatshirts under a soft summer moon, and find they have reserved seats somewhere by an open fire where they sat as children, cooking smores; And they’ll eat their Sloppy Joe sandwiches and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces.

People will eat Sloppy Joes, Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been Sloppy Joe sandwiches. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers; erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But Sloppy Joes have marked the time.

This sandwich, this filling Ray: it's a part of our past.  It reminds of us of what was once good--and it could be again.

Oh... people will eat Sloppy Joes, Ray. People will most definitely eat. "

BEST EVER SLOPPY JOE RECIPE:  Courtesy Rachel Ray

Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turn of the pan
  • 2 ½ pounds ground Turkey or Beef (if you use turkey be sure to cook out extra moisture before combining ingredients).
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning
  • 2 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 small red bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 cups tomato sauce (32 oz)
  • 4 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered
  • Garnish: sliced ripe tomatoes, pickles, Deviled Potato Salad, recipe follows
Directions
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops. Serve with your favorite sides or sliced tomatoes seasoned with salt and pepper, dill pickles and Deviled Potato Salad. Have plenty of napkins on hand!
NOTE:  I like to prepare the ingredients in a skillet then put it in a Crock pot on high for several hours.  When using the crockpot always leave the lid off the last hour stirring, the flavor is significantly better.


ENJOY

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The Story of the Wizard's Coat Real?

I had a lot of responses on the OZ story, which I really like. Even the skeptics! Particularly the skeptics! 
Just so you know there have been a number of people who have supposedly "debunked" the story of the Wizard's Coat as a studio publicity stunt. Early on, I think even members of the Baum family said it wasn't true, but L. Frank Baum died in 1919 and the filming didn't happen until circa 1936, so it is doubtful that any of the actual family members were on the set when the name was discovered--primarily because most studios, even today, don't allow the writers (much less their families) on the set unless it is in their contract with the studio. 

I did read an interview with the tailor (who made the coat) and she confirmed that it did actually belong to L. Frank Baum. And sometime after the film was made the coat was actually returned to the Baum family, though I don't know when. 
So in the final analysis, is the story true? None of it? Some of it? All of it? Not sure we will ever know. I just thought it was a cool story, as most urban legends are. And in the end you will just have to make up your own mind. 
By the way there have been other OZ "debunkers" who have also said that there are no such things as flying monkeys and that witches are not all green... but I'm not buying it... Ha ha. Thank you for reading my stuff. 
km

Friday, March 13, 2015

A Wizard of Oz Story Too Amazing to be True...But it is. by Kim Michael copyright March 2015



The Wizard's Coat-
by Kim Michael
copyright March 2015

(Picture provided by: http://thefilmspectrum.com/?p=3634)

I have always believed that nothing in life is random; that there is no such thing as coincidence.  And though I don’t believe in fate, I do believe in destiny and once in a while...we are just lucky enough to see it.  

I think it’s important to understand that point because certain things happen in life that are so far out of the realm of being “random" or “happenstance" that I believe they exist as markers.  The universe telling us that everything in it, was and is, on purpose; and more importantly, you and I are not accidents, and our existence, was and is, on purpose.  

With that in mind I want to share an amazing story with you that I was finally able to verify this evening.  I first heard it on a Paul Harvey broadcast years ago.  It is a story about one of my favorite movies of all time...the Wizard of Oz.  

When MGM began planning the filming of the Wizard of Oz in 1938 (it was released in 1939) the production team under the direction of Victor Fleming was given a task.  MGM did not want a costume designer to make the Wizard’s coat, which it was decided needed to be a classic Edwardian jacket.  

The idea was that it could easily be found in one of the many costume houses in Hollywood, but after weeks of going through every costume shop in the city, the design team found that it might not be as easy as they thought.  

Undaunted they turned to New York.  If it could not be found in Hollywood certainly they would find a coat fit for a wizard in New York, but after going through every costume house on and off the island, again they came up empty handed.  

Determined not to give up they decided to go to Chicago and again, after going to very costume shop there, they began to think that they may never find the perfect coat, and in fact, it may not even exist.  

But as they walked back to catch the last train out of Chicago going back to Los Angeles, they happened on a “used” clothing store, what we call a “thrift" shop today.  Why they stopped there, no one knows, but they did.  And as soon as they walked there it was hanging on a rack at the back of the store.  A used Edwardian coat.  A perfect Edwardian coat.  A coat truly fit for a Wizard.  They bought it immediately and brought it back to Los Angeles to begin shooting.

To everyones amazement the coat fit Frank Morgan perfectly.  Frank Morgan was the actor who played Professor Marvel, the kings guard, and of course-- the Wizard of Oz himself.  And they did not have to make a single alteration.  The coat fit him as if it had been made for him.  

Now in the late 1930s filming in California and Hollywood were excellent places to make movies because the weather is mild and fairly consistent year around.  But it also made the sets and sound stages extremely hot when all the big lights were on, and it was only possible to film fifteen or twenty minutes at a time before they would have to shut everything down to let the set cool.  

Now add to that, Frank Morgan had a terrible problem with perspiration and at the end of fifteen or twenty minutes of filming would be totally soaked in sweat.  So much so that between takes he would turn his pockets inside out to get them to dry.

One day between takes, as Frank stood with his pockets turned inside out, one of the stage hands noticed that a name tag had been sewn into one of the pockets.  People gathered around as he turned it up to see the name of the original owner and when he did, the entire cast and crew went silent—almost spell bound.  

You see, there was a reason why the coat was the perfect wizard’s coat.  The name of the original owner, sewn into the pocket, was none other than the "real" Wizard of OZ himself…L. Frank Baum.  The man who wrote…The Wizard of Oz.