A Paddy here and a Paddy there, and include the greenbacks that may come through May and Beyond, and this old pot of gold brings you up to a Lucky 13, when considering the recent Green Light on what you can do when out.
It only starts with The Beef. Corned Beef that is, and you will certainly be on board with the rest after I have spoken my piece. I recommend the well carved and shredded layers of the corned beef and cabbage at Paddy Ryan’s just off the freeway in the town of Hudson, which will freeze well and could be a total-taste and money-saving substitute for ham in your main meal of Easter and beyond, perhaps teamed with pastrami if there are such leftovers. Their red potatoes are also a draw, but as far as spuds go, there are also Yukon Gold and big white baked varieties, so why not put them all into a sure-to-please-all-tastes medley that can accommodate as far as the recipe, whatever number of ounces happen to be left in the fridge of each type. They can flow as seamlessly into any level or variations of degree, as a System of a Down guitar solo coasts from thrash to ballad, just ask Hudson’s own Taeja about her soul and instrumental mates who used to stop by the coffee shop, and save enough for a lot more than a latte. And while you’re at it, why not consider the five main forms of onion — white, yellow, green, Bermuda and pearl — in a manner where regardless of their mix of flavor, they will be joined with Wisconsin’s own butter and parsley for an appetizer. And that above-mentioned meat could be rested on a bed of rice, again with multiple mix-and-match money savers of white and brown, and for the adventuresome, Wild and even Spanish forms. And about that cabbage, hey it was not nearly as much of a hit as the CBC, but even hitting well over .300 says you have arrived as a chef, I’d say this: Cole Slaw. With finely sliced carrots. With red cabbage. With a bit of celery, and maybe even the leafy stems well cut — but that’s only my taste, and don’t spare the green sticks that make up the onion stem. Just a few sweet peas and half-inch green beans on the side. And don’t forget broccoli (as part of the base) and cauliflower (one or two florets only please), to taste, and that means just a sprig. All this makes for an empty refrigerator and a full wallet. And yes, you will need dressing, but we’ve got you covered even if you don’t want to go out and buy the expensive Neuman’s Own. Think regular mayonnaise, and it doesn’t have to be Miracle Whip, topped off with regular sugar and mixed. Pour in a little sugar at a time, until you can no longer notice an aftertaste. And even that lettuce salad where the top leaves are fading toward brown, peal them off and you still will have 90 percent of the head left, and use the salad croutons that remain from the turkey stuffing mix, topped off with olive oil and just a bit of the stuffing mix into a bag — spreading any remaining liquid, or light vegetable oil or even a pinch of corn syrup — and then shake and bake “around like you used to,” for Stones-style Satisfaction, although not stone dried — and flavor an on-top-at-dish-width garnish. Consider on the four corners of the main bowl, placing some of the slaw for variety, and other salad greens such as the buttery kind with a twinge of Russian dressing (you can mix honey with a variety of tomato sauces and tiny sweet vegie bits, but your honey will really appreciate it if heavy on the honey.
<And butter, and not much of it, with honey>
First, the rest of the many foods with which to celebrate the various holidays of spring, which kind of morph into each other as the applicable edible items move forward on the calendar, to start with being the St. Patrick’s Day that wasn’t and related offerings of Easter, which was also a no-show if you wanted to dine-in at a diner with the family of all ages — including those with no excuse this time around to bolt from the company of, and tolerate the family that includes strange Uncle Sid, while in the realm of any year but 2020, where you might be nursing a weeks-old music and more hangover. At least for Easter brunch such as it was, you might be feeding on some killer drive-up ham that might even rival your mom’s recipe that’s been around since before you did your first Easter Egg hunt — ouch! — but this time she won’t have to be slaving away at the stove to make it just right, and at best grab a few bites on the fly for quality control of both lean meat and not so lean champagne. And yes mom, we know about Mother’s Little Helper in its various forms. Hey, in those past years, mom might not even be able to bite into her creation(s) until every buddy else is already at her various desserts, and they are always pots of gold pieces in number, the price of listening to Uncle Sid be the ham that he always is. Mom of course was too busy getting all the last side dishes going and maybe there was a reason — mom knows best — for being in the kitchen rather than the dining room, and she never even did find time to munch in short order, as a short order chef and much more, while seated at the table itself, rather being on the move past the pantry because that last scrumptious dessert was still to be served and — Heaven Help Us! — she still can’t find the vanilla extract. So what is her method? She won’t have to pretend to laugh at the bad punch line that often doesn’t even make sense, if Uncle Sid remembers it at all after a lengthy build-up about walking past telephone wires on poles that when a wee lad were almost buried by snow drifts even at Easter, and for sure were “that high” on St. Patrick’s Day, not to mention the now infamous 4-20 that wasn’t around when Uncle Sid would only get juiced on his famous stogies … and then fall soundly asleep. And what do you think he would have done with a turkey and its enzymes instead? And yes, you would rather treat in mom’s way, and to be sure its always over-the-top, that Irish redhaired honey you met in mid-March, and go for the gold even at the end of April.
So what’s the moral to this long story? The aforementioned holidays that include Earth Day and Passover, and you can throw in some motorcycle rallies and even April Fool’s Day, are all about green, and were not talking dollar bills — just a single one of them being Uncle Sid’s usual tip. Its about all the great food, drink, clothing and decor that didn’t take place fully just before the start of the spring, so all of the St. Patrick’s people did, I’m willing to guess, what people do if their 21st birthday is on a Wednesday, not celebrate a birthday only, but even a birth week and birth month. So even when Easter came hopping along, the Irish were still in celebration mode for almost another full week. And stores knew this and for the rest of the spring forward and unto summer focused, intentionally with their specials or not, on fare that arguably would sell very well into April, May and into Xfinity and beyond. They say that everyone is indeed Irish, at least for an (extended) time. And maybe that Earth-Day-health-focus on lean meat mom chose could have been thin flat corned beef, not chunky hunks with fat/gristle connecting them. (More of that later). And her lean (maybe) drink, could be some “smooth” Irish whiskey, or a 99 cent frappe that’s basically is a legal self-service (gasp?) smoothie at Kwik Trip. And not to get further started on all the green husked, ripe or not, produce out there, (hey make it all of the spring quarter with a plus when farmers markets soon open, and we recommend the each weekend one that’s “a friendly” at Plaza 94, maybe before other competing businesses reopen), here’s one example to pick from among the many ‘cuz we know jack too: tropical Jack Fruit, which looks like a kids toy not quite as big as a self-respecting pineapple, having many hundreds of little arms springing from them. Looks cool. It could be a great centerpiece for a fruit plate that’s not just the usual melon-mania, and even if you don’t know jack about it, its still just a matter of giving a few slices to what’s still available at the grocer. Which one(s) you ask? Do you think I’m going to give all my secrets away that easy? Stay tuned. OK, that was long enough. Just suffice it to say, my college readers can get it almost between classes, once they are held again. But they might want to lobby their dean of student fruit affairs, Take Consumer Education 101, for another Two Minutes To Midnight, but day tripping version. But then it might be “bumped” up to CE 301. Bummer, and it is pass/fail if you know what I mean …
– 15 — But not quite as bad off as your stomach and indeed your soul will be if you ignore, CE 101, and the rest of the story on these long-ballyhooed 15 tips on the ways to get by in virus land, and fail to put them into play. So finally now, you gotta Give Me Three Steps plus a dozen, with the first category of that 15 being what I just hit on already, with the later addition of plenty of specifics to offer your palette and its Appetite For Destruction; then keeping up via the next paragraph, 14; and now 13, (and that’s a baker’s dozen in this countdown, of the different ways you can save even more than the equivalent of a postage stamp, for that Easter Day is the main subject of the feared family letter in which your kid took and ate the last jelly bean after ripping it out of the dog’s mouth, which in turn made Uncle Sid so nauseous that he bolted carrying a Wal-Mart bag with him for, you know … Won’t see him again until all that’s left of the ham is that part which is wings; but wait a minute …) And didn’t Reagan do the same thing, when Nancy couldn’t convince him that the dog drool, some of it was already caked on the Red Button, is not the same as turkey gravy?
<Anyway, and this is a long overdue anyway>
– 14 — What all the hospitality industry dine-in or drink-in closures really mean for the dozens of categories of venues that had the main part of their business shut down, as there are noteable exceptions (lapses?) in the close-to-Big-Brother executive orders that could be unintended loopholes used to keep your business running, and how it would seem that the very number of workers involved in these occupations would bring political attention, (read as voters). But I will tell you about how these volumes of people, and in which job categories they roll, now form an undesired new underclass severely impacted by the Still Runnin’ lawmakers-on-steroids and the magnitude on which they have wrought their powerful decisions. Seen especially at the gubernatorial level of our two states, they have done very well on a no-sleep-till-Brooklyn Park type of demanding schedule, with the multi-layered hand they were dealt, and needed to respond to almost overnight, in what makes my early-morning deadlines seem like a piece of cake, or at least hard to handle in an economic market that for most all communications businesses literally died on the vine in 2001. And who was it that tried to move into his Washington Office at about that time, but was betwixted and between on just what an Oval was? If he or Trump would have been at the helm from that year on; my God there would be no underclass or even middle class existing, unless the Dems stepped in like a seasonal Messiah all over again and paid down the hideous beast that’s our now-by-far-highest-and-growing national decifit, you know the one where Trump basically bolstered his popularity by simply printing more money with nothing to back it, (said reportedly, by his printer/dungeon master who is Overlording the migrants under his thumb, and getting them to man the presses well before sunrise, or even moonrise, so they can produce In What Only Trump Would Consider An Essential Service). Much better to be designated by the likes of Walz and Evers, who have simply done a bang-up job. Did I say that? I will say this, I had been confident for a time now that when I dropped my five dollar bill and one dollar bill at the bank”s teller counter, they would not bounce. After all, I’d just printed them up that morning in the downstairs of my one room flat, but the bank wasn’t open its regular hours, and there was no counter to be found anyway in the drive-through. Biting humor? Well of course. Sometimes satire is the best teacher. A tough job but somebody’s got to do it, and hope it will start an open exchange of ideas that goes far beyond the hopelessly vague We Will Make America Great Again. So back to the state level, here’s an example of what oversights, (or are they, as money breeds power and influence?), do exist in greater Minnesconsin, as determined by a thorough reading of Executive Orders and what jobs and activities are singled out for stay-at-home and travel exclusions, (or leave silence because they are not specifically listed, where others in the same scope are. The only difference I can see is why such choices, except for the sheer light speed at which they needed to be made, which limits a long examination, are impacted mainly by socio-economic status). Are you ready? If you want to go anywhere across town to be babysitter for pay, you are simply out, as far as being able to legally travel. A single mom working her way through college? Don’t care. Unless you have a hefty student loan you want to refinance, and then our people will be calling your people, if they haven’t already. The flip-side as an exclusion from bans, is the St. Croix River effect. You want to buy a great big cruiser of a ship, not too much smaller than the deck where that annoying hip-hop video, “I’m On A Boat,” was filmed, “And Come Over Here, Dear Boy Have A Cigar, You’re Gonna Go Far,” you might even be set up with a cushy Small Business Loan. And you can house your brand new toy at the local marina or boat launch, and pay to drive it to the other side of town to be serviced. All these water sports are Essentially Services? I’ll let you figure that one out.
– 13 — A point by point synopsis of how we got to this juncture with all the viral rules weighed in on and voiced, starting on St. Patrick’s Day itself, as I’ll fork over the hour by hour breakdown on how decisions to cancel the three main local parades were made, and then chime in like dominos about even the the rockers being left out in the cold about The Day The Music Died, as one entity waited to see what others that included those in The Cities would do, then act in a clump in what became a wierd but very understandable game of chicken that ended up effecting virtually all activities. But these things green were kept in view and continued to unfold into the following days, and lime shadings were everywhere you looked, with again a key exception, the week-or-so long observance (as shown by the Sunday paper inserts on the immediately following weekend), of What I’ll Call German Week.
– 12 — The spiritual end is still being valued, even by lawmakers, as a Near-Essential Service, (I’m thinking it’s termed something like therapeutic enhancement), placing it in a same odd category as part of a Chosen Few types of venues, which are adapting the communion end of their services to conform to Social Distancing, “I’m Gonna Drink That Wine Because It’s Right There In Front Of Me.” We know the theology you’re getting at, Brother Cain, but its hard to get any wine-in during these days of only delivery and take-out, even for a church, and we might need to get even more Rock Steady and echo the local Catholic Diocese as it reaches up north and often needs to run a priest around a big circuit of clustered, small parishes to pre-consecrate communion hosts. Not ideal, but better than not having any type of Eucharistic celebration at all, some state Catholics think. But there are many more ways to get what you need as far as religious worship, if you are willing to again, adapt a bit as far as format, delivery method and hours of operation available for prayer, which these days is not always with the whole community, but maybe that’s an opportunity, on various fronts that include making virus spread very unlikely. Why could you not meet the requirements by having your flock seat themselves in only one to a pew, and every other pew. Or check in with various other faith communities that are relatively new, but all are within a block or two of each other, so see what makes them different enough to not only stay in business so to speak, but even thrive. (I know there is a certain amount of penance involved with worship, but if your belief system holds that there need be such a type of self-reflection in the immediate forecast, hey, if you have to walk a block in the cold, rainy weather of this two-state area, rather than brave in the cold and wet for Another Mile, I think God would understand. Doesn’t he see this as yet another form of being One with his Congregation(s), and at the same time lead the way in not spreading the virus? I have scoped out for you the best ways, although admittedly obscure at times, to find the spiritual in these days where it was hard enough to access already. I will list as many dates and times of options as I can.
– 11 — How the various workplaces and management styles are dealing with the crisis. And yes, this web site is after all about music, entertainment and nightlife broadly, and these businesses and their workers cumulatively are some of the hardest hit. All the hours they are open, and coming and going almost by the day, with how they are coping and indeed just trying to survive week to week, are taking new form almost hour to hour. I will describe all the manners of making their way in a time that our forefathers, and even the local Chambers of Commerce, could not even have dreamt about. Hours in this end are changing (being shortened, especially when the evening comes) the most of any industry than possibly in retail and fast food.
– 10 — How the businesses in the Hudson area fell apart, literally overnight, following the governor’s midweek decree. And what the local business scene was like that day at the 5 p.m. cutoff and immediately following. Why did a burgeoning city heading toward medium-size fall prey to the virus and its ramifications just like that, at a speed basically unheard of anywhere else in the country? We here are enslaved to the fickle leanings of one dominant industry, which when considering its few separate branches as offshoots, impacts almost every business in town. The effect was not unlike putting all your 401K money into one very risky stock and not diversifying, so it all crashed down. I’ll explore this factor at length later on down, and what’s being done right now and building on month’s past, and pieced together very fast, by successful management that can adjust on the fly and right the ship. That’s a hint about the unwitted culprit that became horrific everywhere, but in a special way the Hudson horror, (from as The White Stripes with such symbolic purity of color sang and somehow knew well in advance how the virus does not respect money and powerful positions, no matter how much of those you have. To wit: “From The Queen Of England To The Hounds Of Hell).
Hey, all this and the real meat of it, in the form of my virtual (or literal) top 10, is still hanging on the vine, so to speak: A hint, some of the best and most creative, and at the same time most obscure and nether-reaching, sources in low places are still to come with a chime in:
<And here are the rest of the Lucky Seven stories that are coming, to make it a total of Lucky 13, and hey, if I can’t count, it may be only my Irish Charm Lucky that cuts muster>
Admittedly, the charms are in the cases where pubs could only serve breakfast from remote. But they are actually part of my synopsis that even as such carries forward, and as I said Back In The Early Days, from long ago when I was not so strong you know — social distancing will bite everybody’s butt — but as we move forward to The Summer, skipping past what was a spring monumental for all the wrong reasons. So be they spiritual, disabled in all the wrong forms of this set of holidays, and where several-word lawn signs become the substance of communication, even via Joe’s tales of his own crypt:
– You can have your religion fix, in whatever way you determine that to be, and HudsonWiNightlife will help you! If you want simple prayer time, you can get it in a chapel at a local church for a full baker’s dozen hours each day, and go up the street a bit more and there is a full-fledged prayer/meditation/walking path of a thoughtful labyrinth that even becomes more bountiful when you consider there are others like it, the brainstorm of an area prayer “partner” that has done it in an even more whole-hog way in the Stillwater area and has become a veritable leader nationally in reconstruction of such an Old School effort. And if Catholic, you can confess your sins, such as they might be, now that the bands are back open for listing/viewing, just make an appointment with Fr. John at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. As I refer to music and also communion status, which can be an option of thus, as the rock band Brother Cain and what they say when chiming in about the needs of a particular person over the arbitrary “rules” of it you are divorced More on all of that later, not be be coy, but. … More later
– If stir crazy, new (and past) exercise options are now abundant, and I swear the hotties are making the most of it. You know the ones of whom I speak, who are out at dawn showing off their 110-pound eye candy and manage a pace to be much more than those pudgy middle aged guys out walking their dog for the umpteenth time out of stir craziness and hey a chance to wink at that other referenced women. How does this play out as far as social distancing? Read on for more later … And where are my friends in the on-again, off-again band New Skinny, these days. Luv you guys …
– People having disabilities, and with my Tourette Syndrome I am speaking from the trenches, as things as far as suspicions have gone over the roof, but there are also lots of new opportunities. Read about the many, many ends of both, as they are unfolding, in scads of info you will only find here, and how law enforcement can be your best friend — and worst night-mare.
– All things as far as coping mechanisms have been taken away, as far as one disabled man’s story tells with poignancy, and how he is getting it back peace by piece. He’s more like Josh Turner as far as listening, and you may even see a column of his in the near future, but he can resonate with Iron Maiden’s Piece of Mind …
– And them there is Joe’s future picks, not bands necessarily but all things as far as how people’s wants and needs get met/or not in the coming weeks and months, (lets hope its not years), as far as prognostications, that are not pure doom. Poignant again is a band reference, going back to the mythology of the river Styx, which was my first rock concert, back in the days of the Lincoln County Fair in Merrill, of all places — right before they broke it big (as is underscored by the fact that they were equally billed with old Black Oak Arkansas, “Woah Jim Dandy, Woah Jim Dandy,” of Southern Rock fame. So then Styx moved up the “river” and came on with their plea: “So many things I need to know … Crystal Ball.”
– The lay of the land is in lawn signs, as apparently homeowners are getting stir crazy and/or either doing projects themselves to save every hard-earned dollar, or paying up the ante for it. One ace in the hole if you quality, are coming from the local school district, and its extension-based classes, which favor the end of wellness, which is primo at getting the job done these days — think weight training. There are also signs everywhere, including the green lawn area by the former Freedom convenience store, one for a sign for home sales, one for gutter cleaning and even one for mole and gopher removal. As I say as a representative of the new gig economy, stay tuned …
– Lastly, there are a group of Joe’s silly stories, where like the old Tim Conway’s skits, the harder one tries to be frugal/cheap, the much, much worse it gets. Again, only here. And what else is here for food and all the fixings, as mama would do? See the Notes of the Beat Department, or also read on below later: