Did you know The Pendletones Were One of America's Most Popular Bands?

 

Have you ever heard of the Pendletones? They were formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, CA. They were managed by their dad, Murry and signed to Capitol Records in 1962.
But on September 15, 1961, they attend their first real recording session at Hite Morgan’s studio in Los Angeles. They failed to impress publishers Hite and Dorinda when they performed the ballad "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring". But Dennis mentioned they had an original song they were working on. Hite was interested and asked the boys to come back when it was finished.
With help from Mike, Brian finished the song and they practised for three days before auditioning again with their original song "Surfin".  In October, The Pendletones recorded 12 takes of "Surfin". A small number of singles were pressed on the Candix Records label. When the boys unpacked the first box of singles, they were shocked to see their band name changed to "Beach Boys". Apparently a young promotion worker, Russ Regan, made the change, and with their limited budget, they could not be reprinted.
And that is how brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson along with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine became The Beach Boys.

And how did they get their original name? It came from the Pendleton wool shirts surfers loved to wear at the time.
researched on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and others

You can find The Beach Boys LP Vinyl Albums in my Addoway store!




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My Favorite Stew!

This is my favorite recipe from the New Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book from 1968. It hasn't been in newer editions for a long, long time. I usually cook this in my crock pot all day after browning the meat. I add the vegies about 45 minutes before dinner. It is a much spicier version than I've found elsewhere. Enjoy!
Old-Time Beef Stew

2 pounds beef chuck, cut in 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 tsp. Worcestershire sausce
1 clove garlic
1 medium onion, sliced
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
Dash ground allspice or cloves
6 carrots, pared and quartered
4 potatoes, pared and quartered
1 pound small white onions
Gravy

In Dutch oven, thoroughly brown meat in 2 tbsp. shortening, turning often. Add 2 cups hot water and next 9 ingredients. Cover; simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occassionally to keep from sticking. Remove bay leaves & garlic. Add vegetables. Cover and cook 30 to 45 minutes, or till vegetables are tender. Serves 6 to 8.

For gravy: Skim most of fat from liquid; measure 1 3/4 cups liquid. Combine 1/4 cup water and 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour till smooth. Stir slowly into hot liquid. Cook and stir until bubbly . Pour over stew. Serve in bowls.

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Shop for your Valentine at Donna's Stuff & More on Addoway!

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, here a few ideas for your gift-giving needs! Most of the items in my Addoway store are one-of-a-kinds, so shop early so you won't be disappointed. I am also adding new items nearly everyday. If you have any questions, contact me, and remember I am always happy to combine your purchases to save you money on shipping cost.

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Little Things Mean The Most!

As many of you know, I broke my foot on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Fortunately not a painful break, but frustrating in that I am unable to rush around and do all the things I normally do. The foot is wrapped in an ace bandage, and I'm wearing a walking boot 24/7 to keep everything stabilized.
I am very blessed to have a husband who is a great cook, so that is covered. And he has been walking the dogs (another thing I normally do). He's been through this with me before as I had a much worse break of the bones in my ankle in 1983 - 3 compound fractures! And the kids were 7 & 9 at the time, and we weren't even married! A whole other story.
And this past weekend my daughter came up with her kids to help out. Her original intent was to help put away the Christmas decorations - but David got all of that done by himself. Then she planned on cleaning the house. But he was like a crazy man cleaning before she got here - he wanted us to spend time with them instead of her cleaning.
But ... she did take me shopping! Only to Walmart and a return at Target, but what a treat! I needed some shipping supplies, and also found some more knit pants that I can get on over the walking boot. I thought I wanted to do more, but that pretty much wore me out!
And she took the ace bandage off my foot, exfoliated the dead skin, and moisturized before rewrapping. And she got a sock on over the ace bandage - my toes kept getting really cold! That was heaven!!  I really can't quite reach my foot to wrap the ace bandage, and David isn't confident enough that he would do it correctly.

So the moral of my tale is that little things can mean the most! And I need to be a lot more careful where I plant my feet! ;-D

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How Vinyl Records Are Made

I wanted to do another blog on vinyl, when Collector's Weekly posted this wonderful interview with Ben Blackwell, the head of vinyl production at Jack White’s Third Man Records. In this interview, he explains how a record is made - from vinyl pellets to the final product - and explores the medium’s perennial allure. The following are excerpts from the interview (the complete interview can be found at http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/your-turntable-is-not-dead-inside-jack-whites-vinyl-record-empire/)
Collectors Weekly: How are vinyl records made?
Blackwell: First off, vinyl as it is right now has a lead component to it, which is obviously not terribly safe for consumption. You don’t want to eat it. There are moves toward working with a lead-free vinyl, which would be better for everyone.
That being said, vinyl in its raw form comes in small, gravel-sized pellets. The pellets are packed in boxes, each of which literally weighs a ton.
That raw vinyl is fed into a machine called a hopper, which melts the pellets down and moves them into the extruder. The extruder pushes the vinyl out in strings, which are then formed into what we call a puck or a cake because it looks like a hockey puck or a small, flat cupcake. That cake is very hot, so it’s malleable. Labels are affixed to the cake’s corresponding A and B sides.
A lot of people don’t realize that the labels lend structural integrity to the record itself. Those labels are baked on there. They’re in the press. A lot of people think they’re affixed afterwards or that they’re stickers. That’s not the case.
After the labels are in place, the record is slid into a machine that exerts between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds of steam pressure, depending on whether you’re pressing a 45 or an LP. The puck is pressed against a plate with ridges that correspond to the actual playable audio, which makes grooves on the puck.
The record then slides out of the press and moves toward a turntable that trims off the excess, what I guess you could call the crust of the vinyl. The trimmed crust falls into a bin underneath. The record slides off into a spindle and is then inserted by hand into a paper sleeve.
The excess vinyl, the crust or the trim, plus any defective records that are scratched or off-center, are all ground down and used in subsequent pressings. For a petroleum product, an oil-based product, there’s actually very little waste involved—there’s a lot of recycling that goes on with vinyl record pressing.
For a regular pressing, I think the percentage is 90 percent virgin vinyl and 10 percent regrind. United also runs specials—what we call the hippie special or the green record pressing—in which they can press on 100 percent reground vinyl so that you’re reducing your carbon footprint. Top-of-the-line 180-gram records, on the other hand, are pressed with 100 percent virgin vinyl.
Collectors Weekly: What is significant about 180-gram vinyl?
Blackwell: The main indicator of a vinyl record’s quality is its weight. The standard weight of an LP is between 140 and 150 grams. Most records you grab are going to be that. The Cadillac of record pressing is 180-gram vinyl, which is heavier and a little bit thicker. There’s a lot of misinformation about it, though. Some people think 180-gram records have deeper grooves, which is supposed to improve the sound. Not true. Records have a standard groove depth, and your turntable wouldn’t really be able to play anything deeper.
The advantage of 180-gram vinyl is that it’s much less susceptible to warping—you basically have a sturdier record. The old 1970s major-label pressings on Dynaflex were so thin they’d flap in the wind. These 180-gram records just won’t do that.
The second thing is that 180-gram records are less susceptible to feedback between your turntable and your receiver, depending, of course, on what kind of stereo record player setup you have. I believe it cuts down on drag or interference between the actual turntable and the stylus, your needle.
_______________________________________________________
For any of you that are Jack White fans, he was on American Pickers last night (January 9, 2011). I'm sure it will be repeated.
You can find Vinyl LP Records, mostly vintage, in my Addoway store. I am liquidating my collection (I have many genres), so check back often.  I am happy to combine your purchase to save on shipping (see how here http://www.addoway.com/viewad/How-to-Fill-Your-Cart-and-Save-on-Shipping-in-My-Addoway-Store-1520023), and don't forget to use your AddoBucks!
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Donna's Stuff & More Return/Refund Policy on Addoway & Etsy

My goal is to have happy customers! I describe my items to the best of my knowledge, but please keep in mind that any vintage, antique or used merchandise may have some degree of visible wear or patina. This is considered quite normal and is part of the overall appeal and gracious charm of any vintage piece. I will describe those instances in the listing.

If you have any questions, please ask before making a purchase. Buyers remorse is not a reason for a return. If I have made a listing mistake please email me using the contact seller button or at sbxdon@aol.com.

All items are sold on an "as is" basis. If there is a problem, it is important that you contact me within 3 days of receipt of the item. Shipping costs for returned items must be paid by the buyer and shipped via the same shipping service assigned to the item as received. A full refund will be issued immediately upon receipt and verification the item returned is the exact same item that was delivered.

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I Married a Man Who Doesn't Deal Well With Change!

This year was a different Thanksgiving celebration for us. We celebrated a day late! And after almost 29 years of marriage, I realized how badly my husband deals with change.

 

Our kids families often can't come home to celebrate with us because of all their kid's activities, work etc. This year our son's family planned on coming the Wednesday before Thanksgiving! We were so excited! Then the cupcake store our daughter-in-law works at decided to have their grand reopening (they had recently moved to a new storefront) on Black Friday. And Wendy had to work on Thursday to prep for the anticipated crowds!

So I said that's fine, we'll celebrate Thanksgiving a day late. Oh, my. The only thing out of David's mouth was "what are we going to do about Thanksgiving?" I kept telling him, we'll just eat like normal on Thanksgiving and have the big meal on Friday with our son's family. And again "Well, what are we going to do about Thanksgiving?" And on and on.

So finally I said - "Let's have the hot crab dip you love so much for Thanksgiving" and he was a happy man! Recipe is below, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!


Our Favorite Crab Dip

You will need:
     1 cup crabmeat
     1 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
     1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese
     1 tbsp. milk
     1/4 cup Onion Blossum Horseradish dip
     1 tbsp. minced onion
     1 cup grated cheddar cheese
     2 ounces slivered almonds

Remove cartilage from crab & sprinkle w/ Old Bay. Stir to blend. In separte bowl beat cream cheese & milk until soft. Add onion, horseradish dip, and half the cheddar cheese. Fold in crab. Top with remaining cheddar cheese and almonds. Bake at 350 degrees 20 minutes or until bubbly. Serve hot with crusty bread or light crackers.

Note: I always double this recipe. If you can't find Rothchild Farms Onion Blossum Horseradish Dip, substitute any horseradish sauce.

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