Today, another sleeping-cat Sunday from the archives of Arlo & Janis. And more about wine. Prohibition understandably was hard on vintners. Many vineyards ripped out vines of grapes more suitable for wine and replaced them with grapes good for eating or for juices and jams, such as Concord grapes. This practically destroyed a long-established wine industry in the Ozarks and in New York. These regions relied heavily upon “my” grape, the Norton, said to be the only native North American grape that will produce a decent dry wine. Just now are the Norton wines really coming back in Missouri and Arkansas. My favorite prohibition story, true or not, is about desperate grape growers who would ship their produce to consumers with instructions such as, “Do not mash these grapes into juice, add yeast and store for several months in a cool dark place. It will turn into wine!”
245 responses to “More Cat in the Sack”
About 30 years ago, I bought a wine-making kit for my brother-in-law. He loved it! I cannot remember if I was ever able to share in the results but… about a year ago, his daughter found some that he had put away in the basement. I understand that the bottle was quite drinkable! At least, she had a fine ole time remembering her dad and drinking it in his honor. It may have gotten somewhat maudlin…
Gee – first post!
My cat!
Jerry in FL: I know what you were saying… don’t necessarily always agree, but the comments have been hilarious! Always glad for your input – keep ’em coming!
Good morning, Villagers. Yeah, The Man In My Life says that it is no harder putting me to bed than his boys when they were young. I have seen a pic that The Boss Of My Life took of him carrying me up the stairs. It loks a lot more like The Taming of the Shrew than Gone With the Wind
Ah yes, Prohibition. We are so lucky that we now have a Federal government and state governments that don’t intrude into to our lives by deciding what is best for us and attempting to make all the most important decisions for us.
NK: Were you having to do the Arizona breaststroke yesterday, hon?
Heh, to a dyed-in-the-wool Francophile like me, today’s 9CWL was laugh-out-loud funny.
I am the Designated Cood tonight, since I was off at a party last night. Not really a party as in Whoopdido! but a Church get together to welcome new members. Since I was asked to be n the Greeting Committee, I kinda had to show up. At least there was wine! Not very good wine, but wine. You know the saying, “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.”
Heh, to a dyed-in-the-wool Francophile like me, today’s 9CWL was laugh-out-loud funny.
I am the Designated Cood tonight, since I was off at a party last night. Not really a party as in Whoopdido! but a Church get together to welcome new members. Since I was asked to be n the Greeting Committee, I kinda had to show up. At least there was wine! Not very good wine, but wine. You know the saying, “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.”
Cood=cook
“. . . stroking someone’s bonnie / ‘FIE ON GOODNESS, FIE, . . ..”, from “Camelot.”
Is there a ‘next’ to click on to review yesterday’s posts?
Thanks for the concern, Ghost. The really bad stuff yesterday was north of Phoenix, and we’re in Tucson. (Southern Arizona, should we happen to have any geographically challenged village folk.) We had just over an inch from that storm at our house. Two years ago, July 4, 2012 was when we got more than 4 inches in just over an hour and the big wash behind our house ran out of its banks. We’re well above it, but it did get into one house on the street on the other side. Granted, the ” Do not enter when flooded” signs on the road out here in our desert look really funny most of the time—but you’d better take them seriously.
EMB, LOVE “Fie on Goodness, Fie.” Great lyrics.
NK, that’s good. I was hoping that you (and my cousin who lives in your fair city) didn’t get as much rainfall as Phoenix did. I saw an online report that a location in north Phoenix recorded one inch of rain in only 14 minutes. I’ve haven’t heard back from my cousin yet, but I suspect her house was OK, also.
Why, Lily? Did Martine take off her clothes and burst into a rousing rendition of La Marseillaise?
“A rousing”…get it? Huh? Huh? ::Makes elbow poking motions::
I’ve brewed my own beer for close to 25 years now. I brew less than I used to because I consume less and, like rusty said, there are now so many great beers available. I still make 3-4 batches a year. I have also brewed some truly great meads and ciders.
I have seriously considered making a wine, not so much that I care for wine as just for the experience of doing it.
I thought “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker” was meaningful in quite a different context than a church social.
I think the context you (and I) were thinking of is the one that won’t rot your teeth.
Dear emb, to see any yesterday’s posts, scroll down a bit from this “Leave a Reply” box at the end of today’s. Under “Recent Posts” click on the title, like “Cat in the Sack”.
Ghost: Nash’s original title for that doggerel was “Reflections On Ice-Breaking.” ( “The _other_ thing about epigrams … is
that when they’re done a-right, further comment is superfluous.”) I fully admit I have never thought of it any other way. Sounds like that awful old song.”Baby, It’s Cold Out There,” which always makes me want to hurl
Lily. You’re kidding, right?
About not ever thinking of “Reflections…” like that or hating that smirking, drooling song? Nope, not kidding about either
So your interpretation of “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker” is “People will begin to socialize at a meeting more quickly around a punch bowl than they will around a candy bowl”?
A slightly different interpretation would be “A man who woos a woman with candy and flowers and gifts may eventually bed her, but he will likely do so much sooner if he gets her drunk.”
I’ve attended a lot of meetings, but never one where candy in a bowl was used as a social lubricant. Though perhaps that was a common thing in Ogden Nash’s day.
Believe me, it is common enough that I encountered it last night. The first thirty minutes of our little get together was facilitated by nothing more than cookies and candies and nuts. Then they brought out the wine. One bottle for twelve people! I thought of that little epigram over and over, and not for the first time, either. Anyway, see the dictionary. “Icebreaking” in a non-nautical sense means “something intended to relieve mutual shyness at a gathering of strangers,” not, “getting the poor girl drunk so she will be less able to resist your seductive ploys.” :p