We've
written about the impact and importance of gay bars. Tonight, lets
focus on the gay book store.
This is a basic chuck
roast recipe. The idea is “low and slow” cooked for 2 hours in a
275 degree oven. This will bring back memories you never knew you had
of home cooked meals.
Ingredients:
2
lbs chuck roast
1
pkg frozen stew vegetables (thawed)
1
pkg frozen “Seasoning Blend” (onions, celery, red & green
peppers)
½
tsp garlic powder + ½ tsp thyme
¼
cup flour for
slurry
1
small bottle Italian dressing
5
potatoes peeled & cut into equal sized chunks
4
tbs butter
¼
cup half & half
1
egg yolk
A
side green vegetable.
The
night before: marinade the roast in the Italian dressing
Directions:
Check
and adjust the oven rack so it will hold your dutch oven with lid
first.
Then
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
Cut
the onion and mince the garlic.
Make
sure the stew vegetables are thawed.
Heat
oil in the dutch oven to medium high. Brown roast on both sides, then
remove to plate.
In
the beef grease, fry the seasoning mix until transparent, about 6
minutes.
Then
dump the thawed vegetables in. Stir occasionally for about 8 to 10
minutes until they start to brown or caramelize. (you want the taste
this step brings so don't skip it). Remove to a bowl.
Lay
the vegetables in a bed on the bottom of pan. Place roast on top and
cover.
Put
this in the oven for about 1 hour to the pound of beef. Check the
meat with a thermometer, it should be at least 160 degrees. Higher
is OK as this is a “pot roast” not roast beef!
Since
this takes awhile to cook, you have plenty of time to fix the mashed
potatoes.
Place
cut up potatoes in water and bring to boil for 20 minutes. Drain
well. Dump into a large bowl and mash with a hand masher adding the
butter and half & half a little at a time so you can control the
consistency. When it feels like you want it, stir in the egg yolk.
Adjust salt & pepper to your tastes.
If
this is done too soon and the roast is not ready yet, just put the
potatoes into a covered oven proof dish and slide it in there along
side.
When
roast is ready, remove with a slotted spoon and place on a platter
surrounded by the mushy vegetables. Put the dutch oven on a burner
over medium heat. Mix the flour with equal parts of water until a
“slurry” is formed. Slowly add to the pan liquids while stirring
until a rich gravy is formed. Serve in its own “boat” or bowl.
This
gives you plenty of time to fix any frozen green vegetable to go
along side.
What
a meal!
For
our music:
Happy
to be serving my Master Indy
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
The
Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore.
More
than a sanctuary, a classroom, and proving ground.
Even
as far back as Plato, it had been said that to accomplish anything,
first you had to know yourself. Yet for nearly a thousand years
Western society has worked overtime to erase my tribe from history.
If the subject of “homosexuality” ever came up horrendous lies
were told.
For
centuries the most awesome moment in our lives were finding that
others existed. We were not alone. Most American men were introduced
to real living homosexuals by meeting them in the First and Second
World War armies. After the war, early groups called themselves
“homophile” so that the emphasis would be on who we loved (phile)
not just who we had sex with. We were more than sex organs! We were
starting to find ourselves.
It
was not really until the 1960's that printed material could be sent
through the mail that even mentioned homosexuality. It may be hard
for those who grew up in the “information” age to understand the
limitations we faced.
Then
in 1967, a young man named Craig Rodwell had a idea. He wanted to
have a place where homosexuals could gather, find out about each
other. Who we were, where we were and plot where we could go!
He dreamed of a world where gay
men would no longer be restricted to the bars and bathhouses in the
city as the only places to get together.
He
envisioned a book store of and for gay people. Not “dirty books”,
but honest well thought writings. Newsletters.
“I
was trying to get the (Mattachine) Society to be out dealing with the
people instead of sitting in an office,” Rodwell recalled. “We
even looked at a few store-fronts. I wanted the Society to set up a
combination bookstore, counseling service, fund-raising headquarters,
and office. The main thing was to be out on the street.”
When
the organization backed out of such a public effort, Rodwell saved
money and started one himself.
In
1967
the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop opened. It was the worlds FIRST
gay book store. Despite a limited selection of materials when the
bookstore was first established, Rodwell refused to stock pornography
and instead favored literature by gay and lesbian authors.
Rodwell’s organization
of these scattered books, papers, and pamphlets into a single genre
was revolutionary—it was the first time in American history that
literature had been organized under the subject heading of “gay
culture.”
Every inch of the store
celebrated gay people. Even the name that Rodwell chose for the store
reflected his vision and political commitment. The name gave the
bookstore credibility, evoked the gay literary tradition, and
embodied Rodwell’s mission to promote positive images of
homosexuality.
When the store opened, it became an instant hit,
attracting both gay men and lesbians. Within a short time, crowds
began to show up on the weekends. They had heard about the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop at parties, from friends, from newspaper articles that Rodwell wrote.
Yet all of this attention came at a cost. As soon as the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop opened, it became a public target for homophobic attacks.
The bookstore quickly
became an incubator for the growing LGBT rights movement. In March
1968 Rodwell began publishing a monthly newsletter from the bookshop,
calling it HYMNAL.
From this office he
planned the first yearly “remembrance” protests in Philadelphia.
He watched the events unfold at the Stonewall in 1969.
That night he
grabbed a megaphone and ran to the streets directing the mob and
showing them strategy in dealing with the NYCPD. The very next
morning, he produced fliers with a list of specific demands. All
night had been spend writing and printing them in that office. The
effect was electrifying.
The Oscar Wilde Memorial
Bookstore became the planning ground for the first ever Pride Parade
in New York City held in 1970.
The effect of Craig
Rodwell and his little bookstore can not be overstated.
Today as we see the demise
of many gay bars, the book stores have mostly fallen by the wayside.
However the very fact they
existed was a necessary step in our struggle to find rights.
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