I was idly cooking up a pot of Pierre Franey’s turkey chili yesterday when some doglike portion of my brain not focused on the task at hand hopped the wall and came back with a bone for me to gnaw.
It was the Fourth of July. I was preparing a meal of Mexican origin that Texas claims as its own (along with a sizable portion of Mexico) using a Frenchman’s recipe in a New Mexican kitchen.
This particular recipe was “fairly traditional,” according to Franey, and not so very different from my Iowa-born mother’s take on the dish, which dates back to the O’Grady family’s stint on Randolph AFB at San Antonio, circa 1962-67. But Franey’s version uses turkey instead of beef, with a particular season in mind — not the Fourth of July, but Thanksgiving, which is when his recipe was published in The New York Times in 1992.
Franey’s journey to a quick, simple, and delicious chili recipe certainly took the scenic route, if we use his biography as our map. As a young man he left France to join “an impressive team of cooks” at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. When World War II erupted a few years later, he took another job — with the U.S. Army.
Offered a cushy berth as personal chef to Gen. Douglas McArthur, Franey declined, saying he’d rather help his countrymen fight Nazis in France. Thus, after boot camp at Fort McClellan in Alabama, he shipped out to Europe as a machine gunner, rising to the rank of sergeant and collecting a Purple Heart for his troubles.
After the war, Franey went on to work with Craig Claiborne on recipes and restaurant reviews for the NYT, and in 1975 hung out his own shingle there as “The 60-Minute Gourmet.” A decade later he was cooking on public television, too.
Imagine that.
What might an 18-year-old Pierre Franey encounter upon his arrival in today’s America? An immigrant … and from France? Taking American jobs? Willing, even eager, to fight Nazis rather than serve his betters in the kitchen?
He’d be in a Salvadoran slammer before he could get his apron on. And without machine-gunning any Nazis, more’s the pity. If the kid could channel the Pierre Franey from that other timeline I expect his 1942 self would be astonished that 83 years later we’re fighting brownshirts in America as Lady Liberty hides her face in shame.
Me, I’d still be using Mom’s chili recipe. Which is fine. But it takes a lot more time, and runs light on peppers and long on tomatoes.
Mad Blog Media 
Reminds me, for some reason, of a chili cook-off competition we had back at the Geology Dept. at Stony Brook. Mine was a venison chili given I had a freezer full of ground venison. The tasting was going reasonably well and then someone noticed I had a picture of Bambi by the pot. She shrieked, almost gagged, and stormed off.
I guess as Orwell once said, some animals are more equal than others.
One of my favorite chili recipes uses lamb and white beans. It’s hard to go wrong with a Melissa Clark recipe. Perfumes the whole house.
But … it uses lamb. One of the “cute” animals. We try not to eat the real cute ones.
Too bad all animals are not “cute”
Sea turtles. Always look like Larry David trying to get to the eleventy-fifth floor when some kid just pushed eleventy-four buttons.
This guy has never thought about people. He only think of himself, wealth, and power in that order. We have a demented old man who is the quintessential ugly american.
It’s like having the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen as president. Except the Baron was both fictional and smart.
From this 4th on, the attention and focus should not be on tRUMP (it’s like oxygen for the bastard)but rather on the sick, weak and ball-less supporters We The People put in Congress. Remember that Congress (Senate mostly) has to approve the SCOTUS appointees as well as some cabinet positions. We are totally taking our collective eye off the ball (again damnit) by grousing about Adolph the Orange when if we want any hope of change, we should be pestering the hell out of Rethuglican office holders from township level to DC. In our case, Tim (Man of God) Walberg is more responsible for porking over those who need help most than tRUMP since Walberg has been in office a looong time and has taken (ungodly) amounts of money to keep in office. All likely legal too….
Ok….for chrissakes someone help me climb down from my high horse this morning!
Absolutely right, Herb old political-science fictionist.
The Repugs have been working for years to seize the underpinnings of government, from school boards to city councils, county commissions to statehouses, House to Senate, and of course, the White House. In some cases the local races aren’t even “partisan,” though of course they are. “Nonpartisan” only means the candidates don’t tell you which party they represent, and sometimes your local press doesn’t either.
We’ve been spoiled the past 11 years by living in Blue Country. We’ve met and talked with our mayor, school-board reps, state reps, House rep (don’t think I’ve met our senators, but Herself probably has). They know how we think, and railing at them is a waste of everyone’s time.
Annoying the mortal fuck out of your GOP “reps,” on the other hand, is a must, and can be fun, too. Emails, phone calls, postcards, in-person visits, recruiting and supporting candidates to run against them … this is the People’s Work, and we all need to be doing more of it.
These assholes need to be more afraid of us than they are of their donors, the Red Caps, and Shit-for-Brains himself at the top of the very smelly heap.
The mid-terms will be excruciatingly important. That’s where the eyes need to be focused on.
Testing…
Seems to be working, Skeezix. I see one “testing” comment in the spam folder from two minutes earlier, though.
My message to the republican members of the state and federal legislatures will be simple. I expect you to work together with all members for the benefit of all citizens. I want public servants not party servants.
Try again
This one obviously made it. The one beginning “That one was sent from Firefox. …” went to spam. I guess for now you might consider using your most successful browser for commenting here, because I have no idea what the issue might be. Friggin’ technology is not our friend.
Me either. At first the Norton browser worked fine and then it didn’t. Today it works.
So how was the chili? It sure looks good. Did you use the Diamondback Rattler as the appropriately named ground round protein of choice? Or were you able to get some lab grown beef and try that? I’ll have to toil away at some chili in the near future as well. I’ll let you know how the farmed roaches work out if I decide to go that route.
Speaking of roaches, did you ever wonder why teams in the TdF never seem to have proper security around their team vehicles during idle times?
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thieves-strike-at-tour-de-france-steal-eur143-000-worth-of-bikes-from-cofidis/
I always thought it would be a cool thing to volunteer with a second person as on-sight night watchmen for one of the Tour teams. Just give me a can of bear spray and a supply of some good French coffee and I’m sure all the bikes will be fine and dandy in the morning. What, bear spray may be illegal in France? That’s ok, I’m sure I could pickup a lighter and a can of starting fluid at a local auto parts store. Shooting flames always gets hoodlums attentions.
Given his posts over the last year which refer to burgling parts or bikes from POG’s stable, it might be wise for the gendarms to check the whereabouts of one Mr Obrien around the time those bike’s were purloined. Oh…never mind….. they were LOOK bikes, not Jones or Soma which would line up with POB’s interest. Plus, POB has made it clear in no uncertain terms he ain’t doin no big traveling anytime soon so I think popping over to France is out of the question. Still, I’m keeping a watchful eye on the Soma mixte I built up since you never know when POB might decide to get back on the bike.
Your SOMA Mixte us my number one target. Let me kniw when you replace that Brooks saddle. Then, wait for me to come sneaking around.
Well, the crash and burn is on at Le Tour (Philipsen).
With the exception of the draft and the feeling that one is gliding along on their own airplane over the road with no effort, the days of my desire to be in a tight pack are long gone. Why would I want to spend a delightful day in France packed like a sausage in a peloton casing riding in a direction that I may not want to go? Not to mention the constant risk of contending with gravity, physics and colliding with hard surfaces. Nope. Not for me. I’d rather spend my competitive days chasing my own records up my own routes.
Have to agree. There was a time when I got excited by the idea of the peloton. That excitement came….crashing down, so to speak, the day I overlapped wheels and turned my collarbone into disconnected pieces.
Well Shawn you won’t be getting any flowers and kisses on the podium after your ride. But if you do, ya better share your secret with us!
Well, I stumbled on the NBC highlights video from stage 3. I couldn’t believe I was hearing Phil Ligget! There was some serious “argy bargy” going on with a photo finish. Still love me a good sprint. Maybe I’ll catch a redeye flight to Detroit City and find me a bicycle.
Would love to have you back here along with O’G, Herb, and your nephew for a reprise of that half century we did six years back.
Thanks Khal! I doubt that riding will be in the itinerary, but another trip to Albuquerque isn’t out of the question. I will make sure to coordinate with all yous guys. I doubt I could finish a half century right now.