Friday, June 24, 2016

Caned Chicken a Go Go

The other day Master mentioned a restaurant He found in Las Vegas called Hash House a Go Go, that name has stuck in slave's mind ever since. This dish has nothing to do with that establishment. Nor does it have anything to do with the Pride event we honor with this dish. It was just a handy name!



43 years ago a horrendous event happened at a gay bar in New Orleans: The Upstairs Lounge. Lets dedicate this dish and remember the victims of that horrible night. Be sure to read the quick write-up on The Upstairs Lounge following the recipe. 
 


Ingredients

12 oz uncooked pasta (used linguine)
2 tablespoons butter
1 jar sliced fresh mushrooms
1 onion (chopped)
3 cans chopped cooked chicken breast
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 pkg softened cream cheese (room temp)
green peas (left overs – or just use ½ a package)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese


Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch glass baking dish.

Do the cutting of onion and anything else that needs it. Open the cans and drain them.


Cook pasta as directed on package, using minimum cook time; drain.
Meanwhile, in large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Cook the onions in butter 7 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes until moisture is gone.



In large bowl, mix the onions & mushrooms with the cream cheese.



When combined, add the chicken, the soup, and cooked pasta. Stir this together until mixed. Pour mixture into baking dish.




If you like a touch of crunch topping mix Parmesan cheese with bread crumbs and sprinkle over top.


Bake uncovered 55 minutes or until bubbly.
Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

This can be served as a one dish casserole, no need for additional sides. However a brown & serve bread goes nicely and maybe a small fruit cup to round out the presentation. Again magic from what was in the pantry.



For our music tonight slave has picked a reminder of the song that was sung that fateful night in New Orleans. Be sure to read the quick write up that follows.

So grateful to be serving my Master Indy and grateful for Pride. Our viewpoint today is from the shoulders of heroes!

Socialslave
To satisfy and restore.
To nourish, support and maintain.
To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,
to nurture, assist, and sustain
..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White http://www.amazon.com

/dp/B00F315Y4I

/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM via 

@amazon


A Dark Night in New Orleans

OneOrlando” has raised about $7.5 million for family and friends of victims of the Pulse homophobic terrorist attack. This is the largest of the MANY fund raising efforts going on around the world. Our hearts are still heavy from this atrocity. But let me remind you of another carnage that took place in a gay bar. The response 43 years ago was very different.

Let go back for a quick time line of history:

In 1968 The Rev. Troy Perry felt called to return to his faith and to offer a place for gay people to worship God freely. He started the Metropolitan Community Church.


In 1969 the NYC police raided the gay bar Stonewall Inn, this caused riots that lasted nearly a week. Those riots are considered to mark the beginnings of the LGBT Rights Movement.

On Sunday, June 24th, 1973, The LGBT community of New Orleans were celebrating the last day of Pride weekend. This was only the third Pride weekend in history.


Sunday afternoons at the Upstairs Lounge usually meant a sing along around a piano. That Sunday, dozens of members of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), got together there for drinks & talk. It was the fourth anniversary of Stonewall. The club hosted free beer and dinner for 125 patrons.

As was the custom, the ending sing-a-long closed with the group singing “United We Stand”.

There was still no Gay Pride Parade in New Orleans. It is said that after the free food and beer ran out about half of the people had drifted off for the night.

Then just a few minutes before 8PM, the door buzzer sounded. Gay bars had to keep the doors locked and have a doorman screen who could get in. This involved unlocking a steel door to the flight of stairs leading down to the ground floor. So the heavy metal door was opened and ALL HELL broke lose!
In less than a second, an explosion of flames engulfed the entire bar. Amazingly some escaped, some through running upstairs, some wiggled out through the bars on the windows falling to the street below. Reverend Bill Larson of the MCC could only make it halfway out. The firefighters left him fused to the window frame. Rev. Larson's body was not removed from the window throughout the initial investigation, and symbolized the city's uncaring attitude towards the mostly gay victims.


Thirty-two lives were incinerated in less than 18 minutes!
The death toll was the worst in New Orleans history up to that time.
It was until this month, the largest mass murder of gays and lesbians to ever be reported in the United States.

Even at first, the media responses to the fire were not sympathetic.

Some family members who knew, refused to claim the remains (little more than ashes). That would be admitting someone in their family was “queer”. The un-identified were buried in an unmarked mass grave. Radio commentators joked the remains could always be buried in FRUIT jars. The press ran quotes like: "I hope the fire burned their dresses off."




The States-Item described the scene this way: "workers stood knee deep in bodies. The heat had been so intense, many were cooked together."

Detective Major Henry Morris, of the New Orleans Police Department said, "Some thieves hung out there, and you know this was a queer bar."

The news coverage was mean. At best, the police response could be described as “uncaring”. However the reaction from religious organizations of New Orleans was a disgrace! One after another of the churches and cathedrals refused to hold memorial services.

Finally, on the first of July a full service was held at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church. Reverend Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Church, officiated along with Methodist Bishop Finis Crutchfield.

According to the official story and popular histories: a troubled street hustler who was thrown out of the bar earlier was quickly blamed. He passed a lie detector test and he was never charged, nothing was ever proved. He had been in psychiatric custody for awhile, but had gotten out long before the incident. He was the perfect scapegoat. Was he guilty? He is said to have committed “suicide” the following year.

Finally 3 years ago, the Roman catholic Archbishop of New Orleans, Gregory Michael Aymond, issued a statement of regret that the local church leadership and former Archbishop Philip Hannan had ignored the arson attack at the time. He stated “The church does not condone violence and hatred. If we did not extend our care and condolences, I deeply apologize.”

So today we can be thankful some attitudes have changed. Yet we still face the kind of homophobia that drives a person to mass slaughter!

When I'm asked: “Why have a Pride?” I say look at what we have achieved in the past 43 years. Yet still some churches celebrated the killings! The hatred continues. We had Pride because it took a riot to start demanding citizenship rights – not some kind of “special” rights.

You say that you don't have to parade down the street shouting you are straight. Just be thankful you never needed to!


yprOLmRkc




The Municipal Courts Building in Saint Louis 


This weekend for PRIDE! 

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