Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: Broken Arrow (Page 31 of 141)

Storming into Springtime…

Is it dedication to the task to be out refilling the water jugs during a tornado warning? Or is it simply foolishness?

The TV weathermen were citing activity near Catoosa “at this particular moment,” so I figured what the heck? We always use pure filtered water in our tea brewer and for cooking, and we were fresh out. It wasn’t raining at the shop, and I figured I had time to pick up some gallons and get back before the rain began.

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The water was just about loaded in the back of the car when the wind kicked up. I looked up and was a little unsettled by the clouds swirling around overhead. I wasn’t the only one. As I was pulling out onto Kenosha, I watched a driver launch his pickup over the center median in a mad dash for the QuikTrip – for what purpose, I can’t imagine – but it was clear he didn’t want to sit at the stoplight waiting for it to change.

It turned green for me as I approached and I made my way back with a few sprinkles beginning to gather on the windshield.

By the time I got the water unloaded and into the kitchen, I wasn’t exactly soaked, but was well on my way there. But I wasn’t sucked up into the clouds.

And that’s a good thing.

So, Springtime has officially arrived in Oklahoma, the season meteorologists look forward to all winter. Spotters in the field. Choppers in the sky. Raindrops falling on our heads. They keep fallin’.

Thunder is booming as I write this little update and it makes me think of the tornado that struck homes in the eastern edge of Broken Arrow during a storm that cruised right over the bookstore. I was sitting in this same chair and hadn’t a clue (it is a well-insulated building, and that’s my excuse for obliviousness). This storm is a little more vocal.

Just felt the chair rattle.

I can’t vouch for the retweeted picture (some folks are notorious for sharing old photos with new captions), but my own snapshot out the rainy front door gives a good idea of how dark it got in the Rose District as the storm approached. The image was taken long before sunset. Plenty of lightning flashes, but I’m grateful the giant ice-balls decided to skip our little area, and my sympathy to those of you who might have experienced some car-dinging hail stones.

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We’ve been Springtime busy at lunchtime and Dustin prepared a great many chalkboard specials today (bacon, turkey & guacamole on soft-crust sourdough bread, with soup, tortilla chips, and his own hand-crafted salsa). Dee-licious!

Here’s hoping the Springtime Kickoff will roll on out this evening and you’ll have a chance to get out and join us for lunch tomorrow!

We’ll be cooking, so – Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

We did it and Amen!

Another St. Patrick’s Day is in the books, and a big thanks to all who came out and partied with us on Saturday or had lunch with us on Tuesday. We served a lot more folks this year than last time ‘round, when the Rose District was still recuperating from the street-renovation project.

It doesn’t matter how many times the drill has been run, it seems to be a bit like trotting over a frozen-over creek – half way across you hear a little ice-cracking sound and hold your breath looking for a place to jump off on the other side.

And we’re that much more experienced for next time!

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My intention was to have a snapshot or two that I could post for those who couldn’t make it in. We were in the thick of it quickly and no time for photographs, so you’ll just have to close your eyes and imagine a person in each of our chairs and parties waiting to be seated. Green beers on the table and corned beef on the plates. Some Irish jigs and reels playing on the speakers.

We’ll work up to having bagpipers and those high-stepping river dancers. This year it was mostly Kristen and me racing up and down the aisles hoisting plates and glasses and trying to keep up with running orders to Dustin in the kitchen.

There are twelve months between now and the next edition. Plenty of time to plan – and rest up!

In the meantime, in lieu of a picture from Tuesday, I’ve had to settle for a St. Patrick’s Day flashback, in the kitchen at the old haunt: Paddy’s Irish in Tulsa with the evening crew on what may have been my first St. Patrick’s spent there. (I know it’s an early snapshot – I an’t wearin’ the puffy sleeve shirt that went with me kilt!)

Some memories there – and some good old-fashioned googly eyeglasses!

We’re serving our regular menu tomorrow, so…

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

ShamROCK’ing the Rose District!

We’re worn out and our dogs are barking, but we had a fun Saturday during the ShamROCK the Rose District festival! The sunshine never came through on the weatherman’s promise, but here in Oklahoma, we know all about predicting what Mother Nature has in store.

At least the rain ended early enough that the streets were pretty dry by festival kickoff.

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There were plenty of first time visitors to our little shop, and there might have been more but for the fire engine parked directly in front of us. When I opened the door, the roar of the gasoline-powered generator tipped me off that the massive vehicle was a food truck in disguise. Despite the variety of food offerings that rolled onto Main Street for the day, we had quite a few takers for our Irish offerings.

Chef Dustin whipped up an easy-to-carry corned beef and cabbage slaw sandwich that garnered a lot of compliments. As it happened, very few of them were carried out. The cool breeze and cloudy skies sent a lot of folks indoors to sit down and warm up while having a bite to eat during the afternoon.

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For our second year, Irish Stew was also a popular choice among festival goers. I was happy for that – it makes chopping all those carrots and potatoes worth while!

Unfortunately, during the interview with Channel 2, Kristen’s hand made such a brief appearance, even her dad barely caught it. In fact, I had to back up and replay the KJRH video just to double-check what I saw. Sure enough, it was a draft green beer being poured.

Since McHuston’s was the only place to get a green beer in the Rose District, my superior deductive reasoning convinced me that the video was of Kristen at our keg handle, pouring out a pint. I answered several questions from reporter Nathan Edwards, and – fortunately – he kept my onscreen appearance to a bare minimum. I was happy to seen the front of the shop and the wind-blown flags that I had draped below the awning earlier in the week.

Thanks to our beer representative Brett for the decorations, coasters, posters, and tee-shirts… and for personally delivering the keg of green beer on Friday. It gave us just enough time to get it chilled down to a proper serving temperature. We’ll be pouring the green again on Tuesday – which is, of course – officially St. Patrick’s Day!

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Kristen will again be ably assisting at lunchtime, and Dustin and I will be doing our best to keep up.

Hope you’ll have a chance to get out and – Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

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