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Depression Party

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Depression Party

by Jenise » Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:00 pm

No, not depression as in down and blue, but Depression as in Great Depression down and out. Our neighborhood wine tasting next month is going to be titled Recession Reds and Whites of Woe. Instead of doing a formal sit-down tasting, I'll set up several self-pour tables of wines costing no more than $10, and instead of bringing their usual six glasses and the usual finery, guests will dress in tatters and bring their own jar for drinking.

For the food, where this is usually a potluck, I'm planning to ask people to bring their own meat for the grill, and I and the other organizers will provide the rest. This is where I need help. I'm thinking we have to have a Bread Line. For that, maybe we'll fill a galvanized aluminum tub with several rolls in brown paper lunch bags that each person can take one of.

A Bean Line might also be on theme, as well as several salads made from "rotten cabbages stolen out of a field in New Jersey"--or something like that.

Funny signs could be part of the decoration. For instance, a sign over the money bag people put their $20 entrance fee in could read "Alms for the Pour".

We need to come up with depression-era suitable appetizers and desserts too.

Anyway, you get the drift. If you have any food ideas or clever puns we can use, please post!
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: Depression Party

by Robin Garr » Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:35 pm

Jenise, you ought to be able to mine this famous Depression-era folk song for some ideas ...

Big Rock Candy Mountain

One evening as the sun went down and the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hiking and he said boys I'm not turning
I'm headin for a land that's far away beside the crystal fountains
So come with me we'll go and see the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains there's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes and you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars are all empty and the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
Where the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains all the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft boiled eggs
The farmer's trees are full of fruit and the barns are full of hay
Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats and the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains the jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again as soon as you are in
There ain't no short handled shovels, no axes saws or picks
I'm a goin to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

I'll see you all this coming fall in the Big Rock Candy Mountains
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Re: Depression Party

by JC (NC) » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:23 pm

A friend sent a slightly different version of this "hobo meal" (doesn't require baking pan as it bakes in aluminum foil or parchment paper.) This version is from cooks.com.

GRILLED HOBOS

FOR EACH HOBO:

1 (7 oz.) ground steak patty
1 med. potato, chopped
1 sm. onion, chopped

OPTIONAL ITEMS:

1 carrot, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 celery, chopped
Mushrooms

Season to taste. Place all ingredients in aluminum foil and bake about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn over twice during cooking.
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Re: Depression Party

by Jenise » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:35 pm

JC, that's really cute, but we can't afford to do meat for everybody, that's why we're going to provide the less expensive side dishes and a hot outdoor grill for whatever anyone wants to cue for themselves (our clubhouse has a big cinderblock one right outside the kitchen with about eight square feet of grilling space).
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: Depression Party

by ScottD » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:45 pm

Stone soup comes to mind. Do you do a soup line?
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Re: Depression Party

by JC (NC) » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:51 pm

It might be nice to ask each attendee to bring canned goods (preferably with a poptop and ready to eat like beanie weenies or canned peaches, pineapple slices, green beans, etc.) and donate them to a local food bank or urban ministry or somesuch that works with the homeless.
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Re: Depression Party

by Jenise » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:58 pm

ScottD wrote:Stone soup comes to mind. Do you do a soup line?


We thought about it! It sounds right, but practicality intervened: the potentil for spillage is too high. We went with beans instead.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: Depression Party

by Jenise » Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:59 pm

JC (NC) wrote:It might be nice to ask each attendee to bring canned goods (preferably with a poptop and ready to eat like beanie weenies or canned peaches, pineapple slices, green beans, etc.) and donate them to a local food bank or urban ministry or somesuch that works with the homeless.


Brilliant. We often do collect for the local Food Bank, and at this event it would be especially right to think of those less fortunate. Thanks!
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: Depression Party

by ChefJCarey » Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:32 pm

I think I have an old 10" vinyl somewhere with Burl Ives singing Big Rock Candy Mountain.
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Re: Depression Party

by JC (NC) » Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:41 pm

Also download "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" and maybe some railroad songs like "Orange Blossom Special."
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Re: Depression Party

by Bill Spohn » Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:46 pm

JC (NC) wrote: like beanie weenies


Uh...are these male legumes, is there really something that carries such a label, or were you just indulging in a fit of alliteration?
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Re: Depression Party

by Jenise » Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:09 pm

ChefJCarey wrote:I think I have an old 10" vinyl somewhere with Burl Ives singing Big Rock Candy Mountain.


Did you know he used to live up here? Retired to Anacortes and passed away there in the 90's.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: Depression Party

by Jenise » Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:12 pm

Bill Spohn wrote:
JC (NC) wrote: like beanie weenies


Uh...are these male legumes, is there really something that carries such a label, or were you just indulging in a fit of alliteration?


You can buy it in the can! Bob used to joke about it all the time, usually in reference to what I could serve him while preparing any food that he didn't like. He joked about it once too often--one night, that's what he found under the silver dome presented to him with much flourish. Still in the can, too. :)
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: Depression Party

by Jenise » Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:15 pm

Okay, I've got another idea: we'll label the water pitchers "Everclear".
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: Depression Party

by Robin Garr » Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:18 pm

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Re: Depression Party

by Mike Filigenzi » Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:30 pm

There's also a good version of Big Rock Candy Mountain on the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. That one's by Harry McLintock.
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Re: Depression Party

by Shel T » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:05 pm

Hmmm, not sure I'd want to go along with the sentiment of this party, sounds kinda like defeatism
But WTF, not being a party pooper, apart from hobo stew, would think po' boy sandwiches are a definite along with beggar's chicken and beggar's purses, a 'quarter-pounder', pumpernickel and 'poor knights of Windsor' for dessert.
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Re: Depression Party

by ChefJCarey » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:31 pm



Hey! I bought it used!
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Re: Depression Party

by Robert Reynolds » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:08 pm

I just saw the topic, and thought the remodel had turned disastrous! :shock:
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Re: Depression Party

by Robert Reynolds » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:14 pm

Bill Spohn wrote:
JC (NC) wrote: like beanie weenies


Uh...are these male legumes, is there really something that carries such a label, or were you just indulging in a fit of alliteration?

Bill, that's franks & beans, packaged in little single serve pop-top cans, and actually called beanie weenies on the label. I cannot believe you have never heard of those! They were a camping staple when I was a kid.
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Re: Depression Party

by Robert Reynolds » Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:16 pm

Mike Filigenzi wrote:There's also a good version of Big Rock Candy Mountain on the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. That one's by Harry McLintock.

I have that soundtrack in my car, and listen to it at least once a month. :D
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Re: Depression Party

by Cynthia Wenslow » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:23 pm

Robert Reynolds wrote:I just saw the topic, and thought the remodel had turned disastrous! :shock:


That ship sailed weeks ago, Robert!
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Re: Depression Party

by Mike Filigenzi » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:58 pm

See if Bernard will send you some grapes from the Santa Barbara area.


You could call them "Grapes of Roth".


(OK, a little out of season, but....)
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Re: Depression Party

by ChefJCarey » Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:35 am

Are y'all familiar with "The Grapes of Ralph?"
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