While inspecting the school, I saw a neat little church near the school. Cool architecture.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Old School and Church Architecture
I inspected an old school in Oklahoma City this morning. The school was constructed in four separate phases beginning in 1910. The last addition was around 1920, which is what you see in the photo. The original two story building was demolished in the mid 1980's. The school was closed about 4 years ago. The OKC public school system sold the remaining school building for $40,000 a few years ago to a home builder who is now planning to sell it to a company that wants to renovate the building into offices. The school is in a rough part of OKC. Lots of run down homes and businesses just west of downtown. The school is in fairly good condition. Bet the current owner makes alot of profit when he sells it.
While inspecting the school, I saw a neat little church near the school. Cool architecture.
While inspecting the school, I saw a neat little church near the school. Cool architecture.
Cars
On the way home the other nite, we saw this green Camaro with a license plate that said "GRINCH". Funny.
Today, I saw this little car at Panera Bread. Debbie and I ate at Pachinko Parlor a few months ago. Pachinko Parlor is a Japanese food restaurant in OKC.
Today, I saw this little car at Panera Bread. Debbie and I ate at Pachinko Parlor a few months ago. Pachinko Parlor is a Japanese food restaurant in OKC.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
More lunchtime learning
Surfing the www yesterday during lunch to find out about hominy made me find some other topics unrelated to hominy the food. Discovering that the town of Hominy is named after a Native American, I wondered about other towns in Oklahoma. Some Oklahoma towns appear to be named after Native American tribes, such as Tonkawa, Miami, Ponca City, Chickasha, Cheyenne, Muskogee, Shawnee. Sequoyah might be named after another tribal leader. Other towns in Oklahoma are obviously some sort of Native American word or derivative of words, such as Tahlequah, Okmulgee, Wewoka, Waynoka, Okarche, Okemah. So, being too curious for my own good sometimes, I decided to pick a town and find out more about it. This will turn into another big chore. Kinda like the family history chore that I started and need to continue wrangling some day.
One thing I discovered is a map of the Tribes of Indian Nation. The map appears to show the areas of the country where the various tribes and nations originated. Pretty cool.
Today for no particular reason, I chose the town of Tonkawa. It is north of Stillwater between there and Ponca City. It is named after the Tonkawa Tribe. The Tonkawas call themselves Tickanwa-tic, which means Real People. The name Tonkawa apparently is from the Waco Indian word Tonkaweya, which means "they all stay together." The Tonkawa tribe almost became extinct by the mid-1880's before the tribe was relocated from southeast Texas to the Tonkawa, Oklahoma region. The tribal headquarters are at Fort Oakland. So far, I am not finding out much about Fort Oakland as an old army post. I found a reference to the Oakland Agency near Tonkawa, which is where the Nez Perce tribe was relocated after living near Quapaw in the late 1870s. In the mid-1880s, the Nez Perce moved from Oklahoma Territory back to their native lands in Idaho. Shortly afterward, the Tonkawa tribe moved into the former Nez Perce reservation. Still searching for information about the Oakland Agency and/or Fort Oakland.
Northern Oklahoma College is located in Tonkawa.
Anyway, interesting lunchtime surfing of the www learning about Oklahoma. Time to go back to work. Have a great day.
One thing I discovered is a map of the Tribes of Indian Nation. The map appears to show the areas of the country where the various tribes and nations originated. Pretty cool.
Today for no particular reason, I chose the town of Tonkawa. It is north of Stillwater between there and Ponca City. It is named after the Tonkawa Tribe. The Tonkawas call themselves Tickanwa-tic, which means Real People. The name Tonkawa apparently is from the Waco Indian word Tonkaweya, which means "they all stay together." The Tonkawa tribe almost became extinct by the mid-1880's before the tribe was relocated from southeast Texas to the Tonkawa, Oklahoma region. The tribal headquarters are at Fort Oakland. So far, I am not finding out much about Fort Oakland as an old army post. I found a reference to the Oakland Agency near Tonkawa, which is where the Nez Perce tribe was relocated after living near Quapaw in the late 1870s. In the mid-1880s, the Nez Perce moved from Oklahoma Territory back to their native lands in Idaho. Shortly afterward, the Tonkawa tribe moved into the former Nez Perce reservation. Still searching for information about the Oakland Agency and/or Fort Oakland.
Northern Oklahoma College is located in Tonkawa.
Anyway, interesting lunchtime surfing of the www learning about Oklahoma. Time to go back to work. Have a great day.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Hominy
Not the small town in Oklahoma where Philip and Mona live. I am talking about the hominy that is made from corn. Until today, I had no idea there are two colors of hominy. I have eaten the white hominy before. Mom used to make hominy when I was a kid and I hated it when served alone. Dad used it to make pozole and menudo. Debbie has been making pozole using the white hominy. Yesterday, Deb made another pot of pozole and used yellow hominy. The yellow hominy kernels are smaller than the white ones, but seem to taste the same. I checked the www about hominy and found some interesting info about it.
What is hominy?
Hominy refers to corn without the germ. It is served both whole or ground. Hominy is boiled until cooked and served as either a cereal or as a vegetable. Hominy may also be pressed into patties and fried. This dish is especially popular in the southern United States. Samp is another name for coarse hominy. Hominy ground into small grains is sometimes called "hominy grits."
American colonists used the words "hominy" and "samp" interchangeably to mean processed corn. The colonists, unfamiliar with corn, had to learn from the Indians how make the tough grain edible. The pioneers prepared hominy by soaking the kernels in a weak wood-based lye until the hulls floated to the surface.
Colonists usually kept both a samp mill and an ash hopper near their kitchens. A samp mill was a giant mortar and pestle made from a tree stump and a block of wood, which was hung from a tree branch. The branch acted as a spring. The samp mill was used to crack hard kernels of dried corn into coarse meal. The ash hopper was a V-shaped wooden funnel. Wood ashes were put into the funnel, and then water was run through the funnel to make lye. The lye was then used to soften the corn hulls and create hominy.
An English traveler in 1668 once described hominy as similar to the English dish, "Hasty Pudding." Hasty pudding and hominy were the instant cereal of colonial times.
The word samp fell out of use but the word "hominy" was eventually joined with the word "grits" in the American South. In the rest of America, hominy referred to the whole kernels which were skinned but not ground; in most of the South, "hominy" came to mean the coarsely-ground skinned kernels used to make the dish known as "hominy grits" or plain "grits."
In New Orleans, the whole kernels are still called "big hominy" and the ground ones are known as "little hominy."
In the American Southeast, grits are eaten with everything--country ham, shrimp, fried fish, eggs, cheese, gravy, etc.--to this day.
In the Southwest, big hominy is called "posole," and it is used to make hearty stews of hominy, chile peppers, and pork. Southwesterners and Mexicans will also grind small hominy until it is very fine and use it for tamale and tortilla dough.
The word "hominy" is from the American Algonquin Indian word "ustatahamen". Yeah, no wonder the pale faces changed that to "hominy". Hominy is essential a corn kernel that has the outer shell removed and then the kernel is boiled to create hominy. How and why did someone figure out how to remove the kernel shell to make hominy? Dunno.
Caddo Indians made a thick soup called "sagamite." The soup was made using hominy made from Indian Corn. Whattayaknow? I always thought sagamite was what my butt did as I got older.
In some South American countries, people make various soups and stews known as "mote". Not the big ditch filled with water around the castles.
Why did someone name the town, Hominy? Well, apparently the name has nothing to do with corn. "Hominy" is derived from the Osage Indian word for "night walker." More correctly, the town was named for a nearby creek which was named after an Osage tribal leader, Ho'm-Mo'n-I'n or Walks in the Night. Maybe he was a sleep walker as a young person?
Well, that's what I learned during lunch while eating pozole. If you have not tried the recipe that I posted a month or two ago, please do. It is good stuff.
Have a good day!!
What is hominy?
Hominy refers to corn without the germ. It is served both whole or ground. Hominy is boiled until cooked and served as either a cereal or as a vegetable. Hominy may also be pressed into patties and fried. This dish is especially popular in the southern United States. Samp is another name for coarse hominy. Hominy ground into small grains is sometimes called "hominy grits."
American colonists used the words "hominy" and "samp" interchangeably to mean processed corn. The colonists, unfamiliar with corn, had to learn from the Indians how make the tough grain edible. The pioneers prepared hominy by soaking the kernels in a weak wood-based lye until the hulls floated to the surface.
Colonists usually kept both a samp mill and an ash hopper near their kitchens. A samp mill was a giant mortar and pestle made from a tree stump and a block of wood, which was hung from a tree branch. The branch acted as a spring. The samp mill was used to crack hard kernels of dried corn into coarse meal. The ash hopper was a V-shaped wooden funnel. Wood ashes were put into the funnel, and then water was run through the funnel to make lye. The lye was then used to soften the corn hulls and create hominy.
An English traveler in 1668 once described hominy as similar to the English dish, "Hasty Pudding." Hasty pudding and hominy were the instant cereal of colonial times.
The word samp fell out of use but the word "hominy" was eventually joined with the word "grits" in the American South. In the rest of America, hominy referred to the whole kernels which were skinned but not ground; in most of the South, "hominy" came to mean the coarsely-ground skinned kernels used to make the dish known as "hominy grits" or plain "grits."
In New Orleans, the whole kernels are still called "big hominy" and the ground ones are known as "little hominy."
In the American Southeast, grits are eaten with everything--country ham, shrimp, fried fish, eggs, cheese, gravy, etc.--to this day.
In the Southwest, big hominy is called "posole," and it is used to make hearty stews of hominy, chile peppers, and pork. Southwesterners and Mexicans will also grind small hominy until it is very fine and use it for tamale and tortilla dough.
The word "hominy" is from the American Algonquin Indian word "ustatahamen". Yeah, no wonder the pale faces changed that to "hominy". Hominy is essential a corn kernel that has the outer shell removed and then the kernel is boiled to create hominy. How and why did someone figure out how to remove the kernel shell to make hominy? Dunno.
Caddo Indians made a thick soup called "sagamite." The soup was made using hominy made from Indian Corn. Whattayaknow? I always thought sagamite was what my butt did as I got older.
In some South American countries, people make various soups and stews known as "mote". Not the big ditch filled with water around the castles.
Why did someone name the town, Hominy? Well, apparently the name has nothing to do with corn. "Hominy" is derived from the Osage Indian word for "night walker." More correctly, the town was named for a nearby creek which was named after an Osage tribal leader, Ho'm-Mo'n-I'n or Walks in the Night. Maybe he was a sleep walker as a young person?
Well, that's what I learned during lunch while eating pozole. If you have not tried the recipe that I posted a month or two ago, please do. It is good stuff.
Have a good day!!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Japan
Gotta feel for the folks in Japan. Huge earthquake. Tsunami. Nuclear plant problems caused by the earthquake. Made a donation to the Red Cross this morning. If you can do so, please donate what you can to the Red Cross or another assistance agency.
Looking through the online videos and photos of the devastation. It will take alot of work to clean up the damage. The Japanese have a great emergency system in place for earthquakes, but the tsunami compounded those problems and the aftershocks are pretty large based on the reports. Hope the Japanese government accepts the international help that is being offered.
Hopefully, they don't need to activate this emergency defense force.
Have a good day.
Looking through the online videos and photos of the devastation. It will take alot of work to clean up the damage. The Japanese have a great emergency system in place for earthquakes, but the tsunami compounded those problems and the aftershocks are pretty large based on the reports. Hope the Japanese government accepts the international help that is being offered.
Hopefully, they don't need to activate this emergency defense force.
Have a good day.
Monday, March 7, 2011
New car
Thinking about getting another new car. Not exactly sure what to get, but likely will get another Mazda 6. I like the reviews about it. I like the Chevy Impala, but the reviews are not great. The new Ford Taurus looks good, but it is expensive and not many around at the dealers. Reviewing info about the new Camaro, Dodge Charger, and Mustang. Each has a 6-cyl version that the reviews say are good cars and they get good gas mileage which is what we need to drive to OKC every day. Not really sure I want what is mostly a two-seater.
I found this during lunch. Yeah. I could see me and Deb tooling I-35 in this. Except for the price tag. Not sure what that little jewel costs, but the basic off-the-shelf Cayenne starts at $46,700. The turbo version starts at $104,800. Then, add the extra cha-ching when Hamann pimps-yer-ride. Very cool though.
Hamann Guardian Porsche Cayenne
I found this during lunch. Yeah. I could see me and Deb tooling I-35 in this. Except for the price tag. Not sure what that little jewel costs, but the basic off-the-shelf Cayenne starts at $46,700. The turbo version starts at $104,800. Then, add the extra cha-ching when Hamann pimps-yer-ride. Very cool though.
Hamann Guardian Porsche Cayenne
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Spring is springing
Flowers are starting to bloom in the front garden. A daffodil and a crocus. Purty.
Should also have some tulips. They are kind of iffy in the front of the house. Turns out I planted them in an area that doesn't get enough sunlight. Bummer. The leaves always come up and once in a while they have blooms. There will be some huge irises in a few months that were in the garden when we moved in. I think they have been there for many years cuz the bulbs/roots are huge. Flowers are pretty though.
Will have a few more crocus soon. Should have yellow and white ones blooming. The blooms do not last long at all.
Should also have some tulips. They are kind of iffy in the front of the house. Turns out I planted them in an area that doesn't get enough sunlight. Bummer. The leaves always come up and once in a while they have blooms. There will be some huge irises in a few months that were in the garden when we moved in. I think they have been there for many years cuz the bulbs/roots are huge. Flowers are pretty though.
Anyway, good to see stuff starting to green up. Summer is coming!!!
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