sullicom

Grammarnoir

2012-01-29T12:49:00.003-05:00

A collaboration with my colleague and fellow Kentuckian, John McIntyre. He voiced the original "Grammarnoir" script that was written to celebrate the first National Grammar Day in 2009. I added a little audio sweetening.

Curried Beans

2012-01-15T09:24:00.001-05:00

I shouldn't complain about the cold because we've had a mercifully mild winter. But yesterday was on the chilly side and I was looking for a quick, easy and warming dish that we could throw together for dinner.

The photo doesn't do the dish justice. In fact, I'm discovering that when I use my phone to snap a shot of anything boiling or simmering, the result is that it looks like something floating in slime. Next time we make it, I'll shoot the finished product instead.

This recipe came off one of our old hand-written cards, but I think it's based in part or whole on a similar recipe in Annemarie Colbin's "The Book of Whole Meals."

Curried Beans

2 cups kidney beans
8 cups water
1 tsp sea salt or to taste
1 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbs corn oil
1/2 tsp curry or to taste

Place the beans in a 2-quart saucepan, then wash and pick them over. Cover beans with water and soak for 6-8 hours. (Or to save time, bring beans to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes; turn off heat, cover, and soak in the hot water for 2 hours.) To cook, make sure the beans are covered with water, then simmer for 1 hour or until tender. Add the salt, and simmer for 5 minutes more. Strain, reserving the liquid for use in soup.

Chop the onion; crush and mince the garlic. In a 2-quart saucepan, heat oil and saute garlic, then onion; add curry, stirring well, then add 2 cups cooked beans. Cook for 10 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally. Add some bean liquid if the mixture is too dry.

The recipe says to serve atop polenta, which is typically the way we make it. And there's usually enough polenta left over to make corn mush that we serve the next day for breakfast, with a little maple syrup on top. But it's also good on top of rice, which is what we opted for this weekend.

Granny Franny's Cole Slaw

2011-12-24T08:51:00.006-05:00

It's been nearly 40 years since my mom, Frances, passed away. One of the great pains in my and my brother's lives is that our kids never had a chance to meet her. But they know her. She left us with many great stories that we've shared with the kids, who in our house call her "Granny Franny."

One of the tangible ways I've been able to share my memories of her and my dad, Courtlan (who also died much too young) with my kids is through some of the recipes I've posted on this blog.

A few weeks ago I got a message on Facebook from Cathy Toney, a Madisonville friend who very nearly became my step-sister (a story for another time). Cathy mentioned that she had made cole slaw from my mom's recipe. I had vague memories of that dish (cole slaw wasn't a big favorite of mine when I was young), and certainly didn't have the recipe anywhere in my files. Cathy provided the recipe and I decided I would make it as a side dish for this year's Christmas dinner (yes, cole slaw is a perfectly suitable side for our traditionally unorthodox Christmas-day meal).

Granny Franny's Cole Slaw

Dressing:
7/8 cup of sugar
1 cup vinegar
2/3 cup salad oil

1 head cabbage, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
sprinkle liberally with dried mustard
sprinkle with celery seed

Mix everything together and let chill.

When I first read the recipe I was a little amazed at the amount of sugar. But then, thinking about what we ate growing up in Kentucky during those years, yeah, it made sense. As Brother Dave said, we're still wearing a lot of that sugar around our guts.

When I sampled the slaw, it indeed provided a flashback to the early '70s. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's feast when it will be one more way to share Granny Franny with my wife and kids.

Alabama Shakes

2011-12-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

Wow. That's all. Just wow.

Flannery's Cyber-bullying Editorial

2011-12-07T21:55:00.002-05:00

Daughter Flannery is on the staff of her high school newspaper. The following link takes you to a poignant editorial she penned on cyber-bullying.

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Dead Heads

2011-11-29T17:33:00.003-05:00

When we lived in Austin I enjoyed going to Mexicarte, a little gallery that specialized in Mexican and South American art works. There were three things in particular that I liked.

They had these tiny Guatemalan "worry dolls". The story with them is that if you were plagued by worries, you could share them with the little doll and it would accept the worry, leaving you free to sleep easily.

They also had little hand-painted armadillos made out of tiny gourds. Each armadillo had a little bobbing head protruding from a hole carved in the gourd.

And they had lots of "Dia de los muertos" figures. Day of the Dead. Little displays of skeletons, often whimsically dressed, that were brought out in late October to honor deceased loved ones.

A few weeks ago I started thinking about this stuff and remembered that I had some modeling clay in my home office. I went up and fashioned a little "dead head" that resembled the dia de los muertos skulls. The first one I made was pretty good, but I had the oven turned up too high and the finished product looked like it had been burned at the stake. But once I figured out the right temperature, I started cranking the things out en masse. The photo below shows two of my early heads.

I don't think this is the start of a second career for me, but I've enjoyed making all the little marble-sized dead heads.

The Wallet

2011-11-29T14:02:00.009-05:00

(The following is a true story. My friend Barry McCalister sent me a Facebook note late one night early in 2010 to tell me about a message he'd received from a stranger with a truly amazing tale.)

It was like a bell went off in his head, waking him up. The first thing Ronnie Ragan said to himself that day was, “Find the wallet.”

It was April of 2010. Ronnie hadn’t thought about the wallet for at least a couple of years. But he went upstairs in his house in Madison, Tennessee and started going through boxes until he located a tan, leather woman’s wallet, closed with a zipper. The wallet was showing signs of age – it was at least 60 years old. Inside were several black and white photos - a group of sailors, what looked like school portraits - all from the 1940s or ‘50s. There were also some pay-check stubs, various receipts, a letter from Aunt Billy passing along regards from Uncle Arden, a Social Security card and a driver’s license. In a snap-sealed coin pocket was $1.85 in change – a 1923 Liberty silver dollar, plus three quarters and two nickles minted in the 1940s. According to the Social Security card and driver’s license, the wallet had belonged to Joan McCalister. But neither the license nor any of the other papers included an address.

Ronnie had been trusted with the wallet by his late grandfather, Bill “Pappy” Reece. Pappy had been an auto parts salesman for the S&S Sales Company. He lived in Madison, Tennessee, but his sales route frequently took him into Western Kentucky and Southern Indiana. On one of his swings through his territory in 1949 or 1950, he stopped at a store in Cadiz, Kentucky, about 85 miles northwest of Nashville. He found the wallet in the store’s parking lot.

Many people might have simply taken the money and left the wallet. A dollar eighty-five might not sound like much, but it’s the equivalent of a little more than $17 by today’s standards. At the very least, it would have provided a nice meal.

But that wouldn’t have been in character for Pappy. He wanted to get the wallet and everything in it back to its owner. Cadiz is the Trigg County seat, but at that time it was still a few births shy of 1,300 people. It was a small town and he figured someone would surely know Joan McCalister. He went from store to store and asked several people, however nobody could provide him any leads.

Among the items in the wallet were pay stubs for Robert McCalister. No home address was listed, but the company on the stub was Servell in Evansville, Indiana. When Pappy’s travels next took him to Evansville, he tried to track down Robert by going to Servell. But Robert had recently left the company and there was no forwarding address.

So, Pappy came home and put the wallet in a drawer and there it stayed until the early 1990s when he brought it to Ronnie’s attention.

“I started doing family genealogy and I was researching these different branches of my family and I was having some luck finding some people. (Pappy) mentioned to me one day, ‘I’ve got this old wallet I found when I was on the road. Do you think you’d have any luck finding the lady, because if you would, I’d like to return this to her.’”

It had been more than 40 years since Pappy had found the wallet. Ronnie did the best he could at the time to locate Joan McCalister, but the trail was too cold. However, he pledged to Pappy, “I’ll keep the wallet and one of these days if I can ever find (the McCalisters) or their children, I promise you I’ll get the wallet back to them.”

Pappy passed away at the age of 95 in April, 2008. Then, almost two years to the day later, the wallet flashed into Ronnie’s consciousness for the first time in nearly a decade.

“I brought it to work with me and started searching obituaries through Ancestry.com and Google.” He soon found an obit for Robert McCalister who died in 2007, then one for Joan, who had died in 2003. He noted the names of the children, then went on Facebook and found a listing for the youngest son, Barry McCalister. “I saw Barry’s name and his friends included an Adams McCalister and I knew his mom’s maiden name was Adams. Then I saw a Billy McCalister, which I knew from the obituary was his brother. So I thought, ‘This has got to be the guy.’ And then when I saw that on Mother’s Day he wrote about how much he missed his mom, I said, ‘This is why I woke up thinking about this. This is the guy who’s supposed to get the wallet.’”

Just after the Memorial Day holiday in 2010, Ronnie sent a Facebook friend request to Barry McCalister, with a short note mentioning he had something that might belong to him.

“Well, naturally, I think it’s a scam,” said Barry, who lives in Madisonville, Kentucky, where his parents had moved in 1957. “Then this incredible story opens up and the he turns out to be just a super-nice guy.”

Ronnie sent him another note explaining why he contacted him. Not only did he describe what he had, but he also included a photo of the wallet and all the treasures it contained. Barry said that he was so overwhelmed he had to have his wife, Karla, come in and type the response for him. “When I saw the picture and the contents, I just started shaking. It was like a little time capsule.”

He said when his mom lost the wallet, she would have been 19 or 20 and his dad around 25. They would have been married for about four years and had just given birth to the first of their three sons, Billy. The McCalisters at that time were living in Cobb, which was 10 miles from Cadiz.

“Mom was a housewife. She was probably out shopping with a baby in her arms and dropped the wallet and didn’t realize it until later. (Middle brother) Mike and I laughed about it, because first of all, I bet she didn’t tell daddy that she lost the wallet. Then Billy said, ‘I bet she didn’t tell daddy she had that kind of money, either.’ That would have been walking money back in 1950. I guarantee that was kept a secret.”

Ronnie packed up the wallet and mailed it to the McCalister family. Barry kept the wallet in a box, waiting until the entire family got together at Thanksgiving.

“We were sitting around the table and went through all of it,” Barry said. “There were a lot of emotions there.”

Among the items they pulled from the wallet was a 1949 bill from a Caldwell County Kentucky hospital for the delivery of oldest brother, Billy. Barry said, “Billy was a little disappointed when we pulled the bill out and he found out that all he was worth in 1949 was $149. He caught some hell over that one.”

Barry said that his sister-in-law Patti took all the items in the wallet, digitized them and gave copies to all the family members. Mike and Patti McCalisters' daughter, Ann-Michael, who is Joan and Robert McCalisters' only granddaughter, was given the wallet. It’s locked in a safe, with all the contents it held when Joan dropped it and when Pappy Reece found it more than 60 years ago.

“I think Pappy knew that the wallet made it home,” said Ronnie. “I’m one of those people that believes those on the other side know what you’re doing and maybe even help you in doing it. I’m not so sure that when I woke up that morning that that wasn’t Pappy prodding me, saying, ‘Hey son, don’t forget the wallet.’”

Java Jack

2011-11-27T09:06:00.005-05:00

(another piece of unpublished fiction, circa 1991)

Just after the All-Star break I was driving west on Interstate 80, heading to the Bay Area to interview this year's rookie phenom, Stan Barnes. Barnes was just a kid - 20 years old - who went straight to the majors from high school, where he had outrageous stats and behavior to match them. I was the first writer to get an extensive sit down with him. Or make that, him and his agent, and it had cost my magazine plenty to get it.

After driving all night and most of the morning, I pulled off for a rest at a truck stop in Bucket, Wyoming, where I noticed hanging on the wall behind the counter, a photograph of a baseball player in a 1940s-era Chicago Windies uniform.

The featured player was so diminutive that if not for the deep lines on his face you might think he was a child. To almost anyone with an interest in the game's past, the player was unmistakable. Appropriately mounted above the coffee maker was a photo of Jack Coffey. Java Jack! The Starmaker.

John Martin Coffey owns some of the most extraordinary pitching statistics in baseball history. He was born in Drawerton, Idaho on May 1, 1921, and left home when he was 16 to play minor-league ball with the legendary Standish (Kansas) Greenies in the Class B Prairie Dog League. The Greenies dominated the league during Coffey's tenure. In his first season he posted a 45-2 record, with 512 strikeouts and a 0.81 earned run average. Standish cruised to the pennant by a 33-game margin and swept Norb Bacon's great Hazel Grove Scouts on the way to the Miller Cup.

The next three years Coffey lost only five games while winning 42, 37 and 44 games respectively. He led the league in strikeouts (627, 499, 717) and ERA (0.99, 0.85, 0.37) i n each season. Each year the Greenies won the pennant by no fewer than 28 games and captured the cup without ever suffering a loss.

When the Prairie Dog League ceased operations in 1941, Coffey signed with the Clacksburg (Missouri) Haymakers, a barnstorming team on the Ham & Eggs Circuit. The team traveled from town to town, playing whatever team the locals could assemble. Sometimes it was an exhibition game against the town's minor-league entry. Other times they played high school teams, factory teams or rag-tag pick-up teams. But whatever the case, Coffey again put together amazing numbers. In two years with Clacksburg he won 98 games and lost three.

In a 1943 game against a semi-pro team in Chien Rouge, Lousiana, he struck out 31 batters in a nine-inning win. The only opponents who reached base did so because Java Jack was throwing so hard that his catcher let four third strikes sail past his mitt.

During his seven-year minor-league career, Coffey led his teams to six titles. Along the way he posted remarkable statistics - a 302-14 record, 3,735 strikeouts and an overall ERA of 0.92. Additionally, he threw eight no-hitters and three perfect games.

Coffey is generally regarded as the greatest minor-league pitcher of all time. But few people remember that. What they will long remember about Java Jack Coffey are the dubious credits he earned in the majors. His name will forever be linked with "Homering Hoppy," the "Shot of Ry" and the "Cup of Coffey." These are infamous moments which have become deeply entrenched in baseball lore. But they're also moments that unfairly tarnish an otherwise respectable career in the majors.

Coffey's arrival in the major leagues in 1944 was long overdue. While scouts were for years aware of his eye-popping records, they were reluctant to sign him to a contract because of what they considered a literal physical shortcoming. Coffey stood only 4' 7", and while it initially delayed his entry, it ultimately provided him with his ticket to the bigs.

World War II came very close to destroying major-league baseball. Teams were depleted by armed service call-ups and there was some thought of suspending operations until the war ended. However, the President, who was an avid fan, asked that the games go on to lift the spirits of the nation.

In order to fill rosters, many players who had been career minor leaguers got their first taste of the majors. Many of these men were well past enlistment age (and their playing prime), or did not meet the physical standards for military service. In Coffey's case, he fell one inch below the minimum height requirement.

Java Jack Coffey finally reached his goal of playing in the majors, however he soon discovered it had been more fulfilling getting there than being there.

I noticed that the picture of Java Jack was autographed and I asked the man behind the counter to tell me about the shrine. He explained that Coffey lives in town and runs a barbershop just down the hill from the truck stop. I thanked him for the information, paid for my coffee and left.

I drove a mile down the hill into the center of the very small town. There was one intersection, with businesses stretching a couple hundred yards in either direction. Taking a right turn at the lone traffic signal, I could see a red-white-and-blue-striped barber pole three doors down on the left side of the street. On the shop window was stenciled, "Coffey Cuts." I parked and went in.

As soon as I stepped inside, I was greed with, "Howdy. Have a seat." The man who barked the greeting was a completely bald, stout little gentleman standing atop a wooden stepstool. It was Java Jack.

I sat and waited five minutes while Coffey finished with the customer in front of me. He pulled off the apron, collected his fee and wished the man well as he left. I stood, walked to the chair and introduced myself. I told Java Jack that I was a writer and would like to talk with him.

"I only talk when I'm cutting hair and haircuts are seven bucks. I charge an extra five if the talk's baseball in general - ten if it's my baseball," Jack blurted as if he'd been reciting those same lines for years.

I have the baseball player-barber-storyteller $20, told him to keep the change and to clean me up around the edges.

After clicking on my recorder, I asked Jack if he had any regrets about not being called up to the majors any sooner.

"No, not really. If my stay up there had been better, maybe I would. I did okay. But people are always going to remember me for those few bad things. On the other hand, I was a big shot in the minors. People came to games just to see me. And I was good. Got to remember, we weren't really playing the game for money in those days. Even most big leaguers had to get jobs in the off-season to stay afloat. That's why I took up barbering. We loved the game, not the money, so as long as I was playing somewhere, I was happy."

I mentioned that lots of people claim he was unlucky, maybe even jinxed. He responded without hesitation.

"I don't see how a many can be so lucky in one league and then completely run out of luck in another. I was considered very lucky in the minors.

"When I was with the Haymakers, we had a catcher named Delbert Scott. We called him 'Marblehead,' and I'll tell you why. I think it was in 1942 and we were playing the Anton (Tennessee) Tanners. They were maybe the best traveling team except for us. I believe we were somewhere in Alabama at the time. Delbert was catching and I was throwing. I say 'throwing' because I didn't have much on the ball that day.

"It was late in the game and we were winning by a run. I got the first two guys out. Anton had this big son-of-a-gun - Fuller - who played first base. He wasn't much of a hitter, but he came up and stuck his bat right on a curve that didn't curve. The ball dropped just over the head of our center fielder, Davy Mitchell, and rolled to the fence. By the time Davy got the ball back to the infield, the big guy was at third.

"That shook me up a little and I walked the next guy, a kid named Close. He was one of Anton's speed demons.

"Delbert came out to the mound and told me to settle down. He said Close would probably be heading to second base. Delbert was never a particularly good hitter, and sometimes he had trouble hanging onto the ball, but he had a cannon of an arm. We decided to pitch out the first two throws to the next batter.

"Del went back behind the plate. I threw once or twice to first to keep Close close. Then we tried the first pitchout and Close wasn't going. On the next pitch, all heck broke loose.

"Close got a good jump and was off to second. But Fuller was running, too. He took off on the pitch and was coming home. A double steal. Delbert threw off his mask and jumped up to take the pitchout. But he got distracted by the runner coming home and took his eye of the ball for an instant. The ball hit him square on the hard part of his forehead and shot back to me like a line drive. In the meantime, Fuller stopped and started stumbling back to the bag. When I got the ball, all I had to do was toss it to Showboat Hart at third and he tagged Fuller out. We won the game and Delbert got called 'Marblehead' ever since. Now I think that was pretty doggone lucky, don't you?"

I asked Java Jack why he didn't have any better success in the majors.

"I know this sounds like I'm making excuses, but I just never felt comfortable up there. The cities were too big. Too many people. One of the most important parts of pitching is being able to relax right up until you let the ball fly. I never could completely relax up there like I did in the smaller towns. But keep in mind, I did okay up there. Nothing like the minors, but nothing to be ashamed of."

Which was true. In five years with Chicago, Coffey compiled a 91-50 record, had 793 strikeouts and a career earned run average of 3.42. But when people recall Java Jack Coffey's major-league career, they almost always first remember the three events that earned him the unfortunate nickname, "Starmaker."

The first incident occurred on June 14, 1945 against the Cleveland Grovers. It was on that day that wiry second baseman Arnold "Hop" Henderson went on a home run barrage like nobody else before or since. The 147-pound lead-off man hit five homers in one game. All five came off Coffey.

"That day when Hop Henderson hit all those home runs, people don't remember that I was the winning pitcher. I only gave up seven hits and we won that game 14-6. Back then pitchers finished games they started more often than not. Hop just had a good day - a great day - at the plate. I don't know if anybody'll ever hit five home runs in a gain again.

"People always ask, 'Why didn't you just walk him?' Why should I have? We were way ahead and he only came up once with anyone on base. Plus, what were the chances that he'd just keep popping them out like that? But he did. They guy probably only hit something like 50 homers in his career, but he got five of them that day and I don't deny him any credit for doing it."

The "Shot of Ry" came in 1946 as the Windies were challenging the Boston Canes for the league title. Chicago had pulled within a game with a week left in the season and was hosting the Canes in a critical four-game series. Coffey got the call to pitch the first game.

After allowing eight hits in six scoreless innings, Jack went to the mound in the seventh, hoping to protect a two-run lead provided by a Gene Stevens home run.

Coffey struck out Chico Vellez and Hank Thomas. Then Polly Thatcher came up and lined Coffey's second pitch into center. The key in setting up the incident may have come when Bill Verdi was hit by a pitch that he made no effort to dodge. Windies manager Chuck Hayes was ejected in the ensuing argument and the entire Chicago team appeared to lose its composure.

When the scene calmed, Coffey went back to the mound and Ry Patterson stepped into the batter's box to pinch hit for pitcher Maury August.

"I faced Ry many times in the minors and in the bigs. I don't think he'd ever had a hit. Couldn't get around on my fastball and he was a lousy curveball hitter. That pitch may have been the only curve he hit in his entire career.

"He missed bad on my first two fastballs. Pete (Dalton, the catcher) signaled for more heat, but I shook him off. I wanted to set him up with a curve.

"I guess Ry had been praying I'd throw him something a little slower. When that curve came up, the think I remember most was how big his eyes got. He just swung as hard as he could and connected really good. That was really about the only thing of note he ever did in the majors, but he really picked his moment."

The Canes held on to win that game 3-2 and swept the series on the way to the pennant. The next year, Ry Patterson was out of baseball.

But of all the Starmaker events, the "Cup of Coffey" is far and away the most remembered. Not only is it the one play which is most closely associated with Java Jack Coffey, it is one of the most legendary, and most arrogant, stunts in the storied career of Wham Baker.

It happened during the 1947 series between the Windies and the mighty New York Tartans. It was the first and only appearance Chicago has ever made in the fall classic, but it was the Tarts' eighth-straight visit.

"We were all pretty tight going into the series. Nobody had beaten these guys for years, but we felt if we played at the top of our game, we could do it. New York won the first game, but we came back and won the second behind Jimmy Baugh. I pitched the third game in Chicago."

The Windies staked Jack to a three-run lead, but the Tarts scrapped back with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth. In the Tartan sixth, Harry Wells led off with a walk and was sacrified to second by Tall Tom Tucker. Stew Moroni reached first when Chicago second baseman Frank Waiters bobbled his grounder. That brought Baker to the plate.

"Wham hit me real hard his first time up. Doubled down the right-field line. He hit the ball hard the second time, too, but it was right at Marion Parker, our third baseman. The third time he struck out. Later someone told me he thought I'd called him a name after he struck out. I never did. Never would have. But he thought I did and said that's why he went into his act next time up."

As Baker walked to the plate in the seventh, he paused before entering the batter's box. Then he went into his act. He turned to the crowd and, with a mischievous smile, stretched and yawned as if he'd just awakened. He then gathered himself together and stepped to the plate.

"I didn't know anything was up before that first pitch. But Wham just stood there with his bat on his shoulder. It kind of looked like his eyes were closed, but he was standing right there at the plate. I waited for him to get ready, but he wasn't budging. Dalton was catching and motioned for me to bring it to him. So I did, and the first pitch went by Baker without him so much as flinching."

When the ball hit Dalton's mitt, Baker opened his eyes and slowly turned his head toward umpire Bill Ketchell, who called it a strike. Wham stepped out of the box, calmly yawned for a second time, then resumed his sleepy pose.

"The second time I knew he was up to something. I was just trying not to get caught up in it. If he wanted to stand there and take strikes, that was his business. Mine was to get him out."

Coffey threw strike two past the slumbering Baker. This time, though, Wham stepped out and went into a full pantomime. He yawned again, but this time he set his bat down and acted as if he had picked up a cup and was filling it with coffee. He poured and took a couple of sips. Then he sprang to full attention. He picked up his bat, took a violent slash through the air and then bounded to the plate.

"When he came to the plate for the third pitch, he hollered out to me, 'Good morning!' I shrugged it off. I took the sign from Dalt and came with an inside fast one. Wham swung and took it out. It was far from a spectacular home run. Matter of fact, it barely cleared the wall. But of course, he'd put on such a demonstration that most people today think that ball's still traveling.

"Wham Baker was an arrogant son of a bitch. He was good, but if he hadn't been, I think his own teammates would've killed him."

The "Cup of Coffey" won the game for New York. That's generally the first thing that comes to mind about the '47 series. But the Windies ran the series to seven games and won their only World Championship in extra innings. Few remember that Coffey started the seventh game and pitched eight scoreless innings before being pulled for a pinch hitter in the ninth.

Java Jack Coffey played two more years with the Windies. Today, only hard-core baseball aficionados and rural elders who remember seeing his minor-league exploits hold Coffey in the esteem he deserves.

As for his greatest thrill in baseball, Jack said, "Just playing the game as long as I did. Not too many little guys like me ever get a chance. Not only did I get a chance, I did something with it. Everybody's always trying to get to the majors. I got there and I'm glad I did. But I really enjoyed my days in the minors far more. And that's not just because I fared better down there.

"A lot of players are so intent on getting to the big clubs that they don't take the time to appreciate what they're doing and where they are along the way. I made some good friends in the minors. Good players. Some of them great players. Too many of them are gone now. And you see some of the prettiest place on Earth. Big cities give you a lot to do, but they aren't much to look at. Small towns can be mighty pretty, and I saw an awful lot of small towns in my playing days. And the people there seem friendlier, more appreciative of what you're doing. They seem to understand that you're entertaining them. City folks have high expectations. They always want you to be perfect."

When asked if he follows today's game, he said, "I check now and then to see how the old teams are doing, but too much has changed. It hurts to see what's happening to baseball. Too much money's ruining everything."

I asked if he'd ever heard of Stan Barnes. "I think there was a Stanley Barnes who used to play for the Greenies. Why? Did he die?"

I told him I must be thinking of a different Stanley Barnes. He set down his scissors and comb, pulled off the apron and told me he was through. I glanced at the mirror. My hair looked perfect.

The next night I arrived in the Bay Area and was granted my short "extensive" interview with Stan Barnes and his agent. At the time, Barnes was hitting .256 with six home runs. While his stats were modest, he was making more money for that night's game than Java Jack Coffey made in his entire career. But then again, Stan Barnes never spent a day in the minors.

Fables for Fearful Times: The Hen and the Weasel

2011-11-25T20:32:00.004-05:00

There once was a hen who graduated with honors from college. After many years of hard work in school, she was ready to find a job and begin a successful career. It wasn't long before she found a job in the product development department of a large corporation. On her first day of work, her boss, a weasel, called her into his office.

"Hen, please come in - and grab me a cup of coffee on your way," said Weasel. "Cream. No sugar. Remember that."

Hen went into Weasel's office, reluctantly delivering the coffee.

"Hen, we're so glad you're with us," said Weasel. "I expect many good things from you," he added with a sneer. "You can start by re-typing this letter."

The hen looked at hte piece of paper that Weasel thrust at her and thought, "I'm not here to be his secretary. I'm not here to deliver him coffee. Just who does he think he is asking me to do these things?"

The more Hen thought about it, the more upset she became. Suddenly, she go so made she began to cluck and tremble.

Weasel, not quite sure what was happening, hid behind his desk. A few moments passed, then, almost as suddenly as it started, the hubbub stopped. Weasel peaked over his desk just as Hen stood to leave. On the seat where Hen had been sitting was an egg.

Weasel's eyes widened with excitement. "That was incredible!," he said. "Can you do another one?"

Hen, now feeling that she was getting some respect from Weasel, sat. A few minutes later, she stood up and revealed another egg.

"This is absolutely amazing," said Weasel. "Forget about that letter. Get to work laying more eggs. This could well be a very important development."

Hen left the office and went off to lay eggs.

A few days later the company newsletter came out. On the front page was a photograph of the CEO shaking hands with Weasel. THe caption said that Weasel had developed the perfect food - comes in its own easy-to-open package and cooks quickly. It added that it was a most revolutionary development and everyone has Weasel to thank for it.

Hen could not believe that Weasel had taken all the credit for the egg. She stormed into his office.

"You took all the credit for my eggs!," she shouted.

"You might have laid them," said Weasel, "but it was me who saw their potential."

"Well, here's something you didn't see," said Hen. "I quit!" With that, she stormed out of the office.

Weasel tried to lay eggs of his own, but of course it did not work. Within a few weeks all of Hen's eggs were gone and soon thereafter Weasel was fired for lack of productivity. He lived out the rest of his life in wretched poverty. Meanwhile, Hen married a famous baseball mascot and raised a happy, healthy family while running a successful independent marketing firm.

MORAL: Don't take credit for others' work and ideas. If you do, the only eggs you'll get will be on your face.

Fables for Fearful Times: The Boar and the Goose

2011-11-25T19:31:00.000-05:00

A wild boar ran in the forest outside a king's castle. He was famous for eluding the king's huntsmen, but he was even more infamous for boasting about his close escapes. The other beasts were so tired of hearing his stories that many started to root for the hunters.

As the boar grew older, he started to lose the quick reflexes that helped him elude the hunters in the past. He knew he had to do something to maintain his edge, especially since the king was more intent than ever on catching him.

The boar had heard about a goose who lived in a forest pond. The goose was known for his incredibly loud honk and he was as proud of it as the boar was of his escapades with the huntsmen.

The boar sought out the goose and said, "I'm the famous forest boar. I'm the biggest, baddest boar there ever was. I'm so bad that the king has placed a high price on my head. I'll pay you handsomely if you'll honk any time the king's huntsmen approach."

The goose decided that the job sounded easy enough. "If I can just tolerate this jerk for a while, I can make a pretty decent buck. Then I can blow him off and move south permanently."

So the goose began accompanying the boar on his rounds through the forest. First the boar saw a porcupine and stopped to talk.

"Hey, Porky! This is my pal the goose. I hired him to honk whenever the hunters are near," said the boar.

The goose strutted with his bill in the air as he was introduced.

The boar added, "Now those buffoons won't ever catch me. Not that they would have anyway. I remember the last time I had a run-in with those idiots..."

And the boar continued with his story until the porcupine tired of him and walked away.

"Let's go see the fox," said the boar.

The goose followed the boar over to the fox's den.

"Foxy!" shouted the board into the den. "It's me, the boar."

There was no answer.

The goose said, "If he's in there, this will bring him out."

The goose took a deep breath, poked his head through the door of the den and let out a mighty honk.

Seconds later the fox poked out his head, quite annoyed at the disturbance.

"Hey, how ya doin' Foxy," asked the boar. "This is my pal the goose."

The boar said to the goose, "Foxy's pretty sly, but even he couldn't have given those hunters the slip like I did. Why those guys are so dumb. I remember the time..."

And the boar started yakking out another tale. The fox tired quickly and disappeared into his den. Halfway through the boar's boring story, the goose became very sleepy and dozed off.

Shortly thereafter, a hunter who overheard the boar's loud boasts emerged from the brush, drew his bow and shot the boar.

That night the king and his huntsmen ate well. So did the fox, who came back out of his den and decided the sleeping goose would make a tasty meal.

MORAL: Brash displays of pride and vanity do little more than make you stand out on the menu.

Fables for Fearful Times: The Snake and the Octopus

2011-11-25T08:35:00.001-05:00

Where the water meets the woods there lived a snake and an octopus.

One day the octopus popped up from the sea just as the snake was slithering past.

"Hey, snakie boy, great to see you! Put 'er there," bellowed the octopus as he stuck out all eight arms as if to shake hands.

The snake, who was quiet by nature, tried his best to ignore the chortling octopus and just kept going.

The octopus followed the snake, picked up several stones and began to juggle them.

"Yo, snake, can you give me a hand with this," asked the octopus with a chuckle.

The snake kept moving.

"Hey, whatsa matter? No sense of humor? I bet you aren't even ticklish." The octopus dropped the stones, reached out and grabbed the snake and began to tickle him.

The snake had tried his best to simply ignore the boorish octopus. But now he had had enough. He decided he wasn't going to take it anymore and in one flash of white-hot fury, he brandished his long fangs and sank them into one of the octopus' arms.

The octopus dropped the snake, then dropped dead.

The snake quickly composed himself and slithered away, never to be bothered again.

MORAL: Don't make fun of others for what they have not. Respect them instead for what they have got.

Fables for Fearful Times: The Ants and The Bees

2011-11-25T08:26:00.003-05:00

There once was a beehive inside a hollow tree. At the foot of the tree there was an ant hill. Both groups of insects had highly developed societies, and each boasted that their own form of society was the best.

The Queen Ant declared, "We are much more superior than the silly bees. Our workers are quite strong and we all have well-defined responsibilities. Everyone knows what their job is and how it relates to the smooth functioning of the whole society."

When the Queen Bee got word of the boast, she responded, "Ants! What do they know about socialization? We bees are far more highly civilized. Why, we invented division of labor! And our hives are arranged in neat octagonal cells. Have you ever seen an ant colony? Absolute chaos! Plus, we make honey! Let me see an ant do that!"

More words were exchanged over the next few days. Soon, war was declared so that the two colonies could settle the dispute once and for all.

Battles raged for weeks. Many ants and bees were lost in the conflict. Finally and reluctantly, the ants surrendered.

The Queen Bee announced, "By winning we have shown them which society is superior. To demonstrate how kind and generous a queen I am, we will spare them and teach them to adopt our form of civilization."

So the bees put the ants to work in their hive. However, the ants were unable to move through the honey and they became stuck. As the bees led more ants into the hive, the pile of stuck ants grew and grew. Soon the pile was so large that neither the bees nor the ants could get in or out of the hive. Within just a few days, all the insects were dead.

MORAL: Don't think that what works well for you will necessarily do the same for everyone. Forcing your way of life upon others could be your downfall.

Fables for Fearful Times: The Very Hungry Fish and Fisherman

2011-11-25T08:21:00.003-05:00

Things were bad all over. One day a fish was in search of food. All he could find was a worm that was attached to a fisherman's hook.

"If I try to eat the worm I might swallow the hook, too," said the fish. "But I'm very hungry and it's a risk I have to take."

So the fish went for the worm and indeed took the hook. When the fisherman pulled him out of the water, the fish said, "Please don't eat me."

The fisherman said, "I'm a hungry man and you're a big fish. If I keep you I'll eat well."

The fish said, "But if you let me go, I'll grant you three wishes. You can use one wish to get all the food you'll ever need."

"How do I know you're really a magic fish," said the fisherman. "How do I know you won't just swim away?"

"That is a risk you'll have to take," said the fish.

The fisherman thought about it for a minute. Then he removed the hook and tossed the fish back into the water. The fish swam away, never to be seen again.

MORAL: Appreciate what you've got in front of you instead of bargaining for empty wishes. You might just end up throwing away a talking fish.

Squash Casserole

2011-11-24T10:20:00.007-05:00

I found myself in a panic this morning - Thanksgiving morning - when I couldn't locate the recipe for the squash casserole. It's a traditional dish that's been on our holiday tables for almost as long as I can remember.

The original recipe, as I recall, had come from Gwen Thomas, a dear family friend who I'd called "Aunt Gwen" ever since I started to talk. My mom used to make Aunt Gwen's squash casserole, but never told me what it was, fearing that if I knew there was squash in it, I probably wouldn't eat it. She was right. To me, it was just some yummy, cheesy thing we ate at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

After mom died, my sister-in-law Jan continued making the dish. And when I finally was out on my own, she passsed along the recipe to me. The first time I made it was probably for Thanksgiving in 1981. And the sheet of paper with the instructions I scribbled back then was the same tattered, taped and stained one I couldn't find this morning.

I searched in all the usual places, but then, after about an hour of futility and fuming, it struck me that I'd been making the damn dish for 30 years. It's not all that complicated and so I sat down and wrote down the ingredients and steps needed to make it. It all came back easily.

Ingredients:

6-8 yellow hook neck squash
1 medium onion
1/2 lb of grated cheddar cheese
cracker crumbs
1 cup milk
2 eggs
4 pats butter
2 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp paprika

Peel the squash, cut off ends, cut into quarters, then into one-inch bits.
Peel and chop the onion.
Add the squash, onions and 1/4 cup of water to a pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for one hour.

While the squash and onions simmer, mix a cup and a half of milk, 2 lightly beaten eggs, the salt, peppers and paprika. Set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 350.

When the squash and onion mix is ready, drain, add 2 Tbl sugar and mash.
Line the bottom of a casserole dish with 4 pats of butter.
Add a layer of the squash and onion mix, then a layer of cracker crumbs, a layer of cheese then a layer of the milk mix. Repeat adding the layers, finishing off the top with the milk mix.

Cook uncovered in the oven for 60-75 minutes, or until the cheese is melted to a golden brown on top.

Enjoy!

Mars Wins!

2011-11-24T08:08:00.007-05:00

I ran across the following while sifting through my file cabinet last night. It's a piece of fiction I wrote 20 years ago that was published in The Minneapolis Review of Baseball, a wonderful little journal filled with fact, fiction and folly dedicated to the greatest game.

Mars Wins!

Steve Sullivan

(First published in The Minneapolis Review of Baseball, Volume 10, Nov. 4, 1991)

October 17, 2030

Port Zak, Mars

Dear Bubba,

Bododeodo!!! That’s what Martians holler when they’re happy, and let me tell you, there are a bunch of those happy suckers around here now. You’ll never believe this – on my very first trip to Mars I scored a ticket to the final game of the Universal Series between Mars and Glorbia! I paid 75 nools, which is about 200 Earth bucks. So it ends up being cheaper than a bleacher seat at Wrigley Field! It was a pretty good seat, too, in the hover boxes over second base.

Now, I know you’re a snob about baseball and still think the Japanese game’s the best, but you would’ve like this one.

When the cocky Glorbia Gigabits sauntered out, let by their computerized manager, Connie MacIntosh (or “Mac” as they call him), the crowd really let them have it. They don’t “boo” up here. It’s more like, “urp.” So it was like a stadium with more than 200,000 fans sharing a belch. But it all stopped the next minute when the locals, the Port Zak Attack, appeared. And the place really went nuts when the Attack’s manager, crafty little Billy Martian, trotted out.

Pretty soon the game started. Jop Haxifand was pitching for Port Zak. He pitches by putting the ball in his mouth and then blowing it to the plate. Now you might think that would be a spitball, but it’s not. “Haxi” spits with his hands. As a matter of fact, he can only go to his hands if he’s off the mound.

Pitching for the Gigabits was Pord Zing, Glorbia’s all-time wins leader. You may remember him. Back when they had the Universal expansion, this guy was the first center-handed pitcher ever to make it to the astro-bigs.

Anyway, both pitchers were perfect for three innings. Then in the top of the fourth, Dreep Nimnot, the speedy second baseman, led off for the Gigabits. Nimnot is invisible and the only way you can tell where he is is to follow his hat.

Well, he laid down a really pretty bunt. Sizz Krinik, the third baseman fielded it and threw to Krax Wolnoid at first. But on the way to first, Nimnot was running so hard his helmet fell off. And since he didn’t have any way to tell, the first base ump called him out. Well, Connie Mac started beeping and whistling and rolled out to first base. He threw a matrix up on his screen and created a replay that logically proved that Nimnot not only was safe, but that he also took second on the play. The ump agreed and reversed the call.

Well, this sent the crowd into an urping rage. Billy Martian raced out, but no matter how hard he shouted, the ump wouldn’t change his mind. Then somebody in the stands zapped the ump with some kind of ray, leaving just a hat and puff of smoke. That seemed to satisfy the crowd. Everyone calmed down a bit and an uncomfortable-looking new ump cautiously took over at first. Nimnot’s helmet was floating at second base and left fielder Gonny Vaz stepped to the plate.

He took the first pitch, then banged the second into the air toward left field. Then – it was the dangdest thing – the ball suddenly just stopped in mid air! What happened was it hit what they call a “coincidental convergence.” It’s kind of like a fork in a tree, except you can’t see it. Something about magnetic fields coming together just by chance.

Whatever, Vaz whacked the ball right into it and it just stuck there. There isn’t a rule that deals with coincidental convergences specifically, so they treated it like a ground rule double. Nimnot scored and Vaz went to second.

If that wasn’t weird enough, wait until you hear this. The next batter, Bob Smith (Remember him? Used to catch for the Mets, Giants, Reds, Ham Fighters, Bilzzits, etc.), grounded out, bring Poyd Frinimitux to the plate. Frinimitux is the Babe Sunumata of Glorbian baseball – their all-time home run leader. Haxi puffed one right down the middle to him and he took a wicked swing – the hardest swing I ever saw – with his trademark red bat. He powdered the ball. But get this – he hit it right smack into the ball that was stuck in the coincidental convergence! It knocked the first ball loose and then both balls fell onto the field. Vaz had been standing on second, waiting to make sure the blast wasn’t caught, and when the balls fell, Frinimitux was right behind him. By the time the balls were fielded, they were running right together, rounding third and heading for home.

Mox Thiddik, the Attack’s left fielder, grabbed one ball and center fielder Glip Mux grabbed the other. Both threw home at the same time. Stum Nuk, Port Zak’s great seven-armed catcher, caught Thiddik’s peg and tagged out Vaz, then tagged Frinimitux with the ball Mux threw. The home plate ump called the runners out, which brought Connie Mac out again to argue the logic of the call. He pointed out that Nuk had tagged out Vaz with a ball bearing a red smudge, while Frinimitux was tagged out with a clean ball. He said that the red had come from Frinimitux’s red bat, which did indeed have a smudge on it.

Again, the ump couldn’t deny the logic and he changed the calls to safe. The crowd started urpring again. All 12 of Billy Martian’s eyes were bulging so much I thought they’d fall out of their sockets. Then they had to bring in a nervous new home plate ump after someone zapped the one who made the call. When the smoke cleared (literally) the Gigabits had scored 3 runs, all thanks to Connie Mac’s logical arguments.

After all the hubbub, Billy Martian calmed down and set himself to pacing the dugout. You could tell he was coming up with some sort of zinger, and I knew we’d find out what it was before the game was over.

Well, nothing much else happened until the ninth. The highlight in the top of the ninth came when shortstop Julio Dryvot was called back for a pinch hitter. Then I noticed a vaguely familiar figure walking up to hit for Dryvot. It was Minnie Minoso! He was getting in an at bat for his tenth decade in the majors. He swung at the third pitch and legged out an infield hit. But that was all Glorbia could manage in the inning. The next three batters struck out and Minnie went back to the dugout. They’ll cryogenicize him and keep him on ice until sometime in the next decade. It’s such a great tradition.

Port Zak had the top of the order coming up in the bottom of the ninth. Zing, who had been strong all day for Glorbia, finally started to lose it. After hitting second baseman Volly Brin with a pitch, Udner Flom, the little shortstop, took Zing’s first pitch out of the park for the Attack’s first runs. Wizzit Profax, a pretty good contact hitter, was up next.

But that was all for Zing. Mac rolled to the mound and took the ball. Then he signaled for relief ace Grak Tubo to come in and hold the lead. After throwing two quick strikes, Tubbo grooved one and Profax poked it into short left for a single. Profax took his lead off first. When Tubbo made his first pitch to Krax Wolnoid, Profax bolted toward second. He beat the catcher’s throw by at least 10 feet. Billy Martian called time and ran out to talk to Profax. I suspected this was when Martian planned to hatch whatever he’d been scheming.

Martian skittered back to the dugout. Tubbo went into his stretch. Wolnoid stood at the plate, waving his big bat. Profax, though, stayed right on the bag. He wasn’t taking any lead at all. But when Tubbo delivered the pitch, Profax broke from second. He wasn’t heading to third, though; he was dashing back to first! Well, Smith caught the ball and threw to first, but Profax slid and beat the throw. The ump called him safe, then ran into the Attack dugout to keep from being vaporized by Gigabit fans.

Connie Mac suddenly started to shudder. He was beeping and whirring louder than ever. He rolled toward first, but it wasn’t a smooth roll like earlier. It was real herky-jerky. And he was smoking and shooting little sparks out of his screen. He kept insisting that the play wasn’t logical. But the umpire, who was still taking cover in the dugout, kept saying that if the runner wanted to steal first, he could do it. Frankly, I think this umpire wouldn’t have said anything to upset the home fans again. While Mac was arguing with the umpire, I looked into the other end of the dugout and saw Billy Martian smiling from ear to ear to ear. You could tell it was exactly what he had hoped would happen – he had blown out Connie Mac’s logic circuitry.

Mac rumbled to the mound and sent Tubbo to the showers. Both Dimtode Riprod and Foz Jork were ready in the bullpen. But Mac decided to bring in Ntuc Itanip to pitch. Nobody could believe it! You see, Itanip is an Ambilant, a being that’s all legs. They’re the best there is when it comes to pinch runners, but since they don’t have any arms it doesn’t make sense to use them for anything else. So when Mac signaled for him to come in, nobody knew what the heck was going on.

Even the Gigabits thought it was weird, but they figured Mac surely had a logical reason for making the move. They obviously didn’t know about the blown circuits. But as soon as they saw Itanip kick the ball toward the plate, they started wondering what kind of bizarre strategy Mac had in mind.

Itanip never got close to kicking the ball over the plate. He walked Wolnoid and the next three batters, forcing in the tying and winning runs.

The stadium went wild! Bododeodo! They players hoisted Billy Martian up on their shoulders and carried him around the field. Meanwhile, Connie Mac sat in the Gigabits’ dugout, sparking and shaking.

What a great game! The only complaint I have is that the beer was salty and the peanuts were flat.

Say “Hey” to the gang.

Your pal,

Fuzzy

Leon - Before the Beard, Long Hair and Shades

2011-11-23T16:18:00.000-05:00

Seeing The Sun

2011-07-24T08:40:00.002-04:00

Our archivist, Paul McCardell, dusted these off for me a couple of years ago. "Seeing The Sun" is a four-part documentary about how the paper gets published, circa 1931. The clips show just how much - for better or worse - the newspaper business has changed during the past century.

From Trees to Tribune

2011-07-24T08:36:00.003-04:00

When I worked in the Tribune newsroom, one of my favorite hangouts was Dick Locher's office. Locher was an award-winning editorial cartoonist and also the artist for the Dick Tracy cartoons. This video shows some of his predecessors.

Alice's Restaurant

2011-07-17T18:30:00.001-04:00

A terrific summertime combo that we picked up several years back from Alicia, our Polish nanny in Chicago.

Bistro Chicken

2 cups cooked penne or rotini
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
1 4-0z. package crumbled feta cheese with basil and tomato
1/2 cup prepared Good Season's Honey Mustard or Cesar Salad Dressing mix
1/3 cup lightly chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup each chopped red onion, sun dried tomatoes (drained and chopped)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled or broiled and cut into 1/4 inch slices

Mix all ingredients. Serve warm or chilled.

And in honor of the title of this post:

White Bean Vinaigrette

2011-07-17T08:50:00.001-04:00

This is one of our favorite summertime meals from Annemarie Colbin's "The Book of Whole Meals."

2 cups dry baby lima beans
8 cups water
1 small onion
1 small carrot
2 parsley sprigs
1 tsp sea salt
2 Tbl chives
1/2 red bell pepper
1 handful parsley
2 whole scallions

Place the beans and water in a 3-quart pot; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and soak for 2 hours.

Add the whole carrot and onion and the parsley sprigs to the beans; simmer for 1 hour. Add salt 10 minutes before removing beans from heat. Discard the carrot, onion and parsley sprigs; drain the beans and cool to room temperature.

Chop the chives, red pepper, parsley, and scallions. In a 1-quart bowl, combine 3 cups cooked beans, chives, red pepper, parsley and scallions. Toss with Vinaigrette Dressing, and marinate for at least 15 minutes.

VINAIGRETTE:

1 tsp umeboshi plum paste
4 Tbl brown rice vinegar
2 Tbl olive oil

Combine the ingredients, mixing well with a fork.

Capital "L", small "a", capital "F"...

2011-06-29T18:18:00.002-04:00

Slim

2011-06-24T11:37:00.001-04:00

Son

2011-06-24T11:34:00.001-04:00

Hayes Carll's "She Left Me for Jesus"

2011-05-27T10:59:00.002-04:00

Wang Dang Doodle

2011-04-23T09:41:00.001-04:00

Please Please Please

2011-04-23T09:39:00.001-04:00

Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

2011-04-23T09:33:00.000-04:00

How You Like Me Now

2011-04-23T09:24:00.000-04:00

Light of the Morning

2011-04-22T20:53:00.001-04:00

Muddy!

2011-03-26T19:53:00.001-04:00

Dedicated to our MoJo (Moira Joy Sullivan)

Jalapeno Cornbread

2011-03-26T19:22:00.005-04:00

Not sure how this one hasn't made it on here before, but it's been one of our favorites for more than 20 years. Great with chili, soups, bbq, and just about any comfort food.

2 cups corn meal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
4 tsp baking powder
optional - 1/2 to 3/4 cup poppy seeds
2 pinches sea salt

mix the dry ingredients.

Blenderize the liquid ingredients, which are:
4 oz tofu
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 - 1/2 cup sliced jalapenos
optional - juice of an orange plus 1 tsp grated peel.

mix all ingredients and pour into a greased, heated cast-iron skillet.

bake at 375 uncovered for 20 minutes.

2011 Fitness Challenge

2011-02-06T11:58:00.003-05:00

Talk about hanging it out in front of everyone. I have volunteered, along with two of my colleagues - Sarah Kickler Kelber and Kevin Richardson - to participate in a Fitness Challenge on the baltimoresun.com Exercists blog.

All three of us have, shall we say, let down our guard and packed on a few extra pounds in recent months and years, as you can see above from the recent self-portrait of yours truly. So beginning at the first of this year, we took baseline weights and measurements and are each working to drop pounds and get back in shape. And we're each pursuing this with a different approach.

Sarah is doing the 100 Days Challenge program that's geared to get runners in shape. Kevin is doing the P90X extreme home workout program. And me? I'm doing what I've termed the "behave yourself" program. Nothing official, just cutting out junk food (particularly sugary stuff, salty-starchy snacks, fast food), limiting portions, not eating after 8 at night, limiting carbs (not eliminating, but cutting back and making sure the ones I eat are healthy), eating more raw fruits and veggies, more fish and fowl than red meat, drinking lots of water, and exercising 20 minutes at least five days a week. Basically doing everything a doctor would tell you you're supposed to do anyway.

My reasons for doing it the way I am is that I'm trying to change my behavior in positive and easy ways that I can maintain. Having dieted in the past, I was able to lose weight, but the problem was that the programs were so extreme that I eventually fell off and regained the weight. Or behaviors didn't change because all I did was substitute an Oreo with a diet snack. When the diet snacks weren't around, I simply went back to the cookie. My goal now is to eliminate the urge to grab a snack in the first place.

So far, so good. A little more than a month in and I've dropped 10 pounds. You can follow our progress via the link at the top of this post. We put up our weekly reports every Wednesday.

Hoppin' John

2011-01-01T16:37:00.002-05:00

Caving to tradition this New Year's Day and making the southern favorite, Hoppin' John.

From what I can tell, the link between the dish and New Year's Day stems from Jewish tradition that was imported to the southern United States. It asserts that eating black eyed peas on January 1 ensures prosperity for the remainder of the year. With that said, call all your friends and family and beg them to spoon down lots of black eyed peas and maybe that's what we need to end this infernal recession.

Serve with cole slaw and cornbread.

2 Tbl canola or olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups chopped tomatoes with 1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried thyme
3 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups cooked blackeyed peas

Heat oil in large skillet and saute onion and garlic. Add tomatoes and liquid and spices; simmer covered 5 minutes. Add rice and beans, pinch of sea salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

I once mistakenly used bulghur instead of rice and it was a damn fine mistake. That version we call Hoppin' Sully.

Multimedia Reporting

2010-11-01T09:06:00.003-04:00

When I tell people I'm a multimedia editor I usually feel compelled to explain what that means because the definition of multimedia morphs every couple of months into something different.

Not long ago I was invited to speak to a college journalism class about multimedia reporting. The presentation came about a week after a big breaking news story here in Baltimore in which a man had shot a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital, then killed his mother (a patient at the hospital), and finally turned the gun on himself. A horrible, fast-breaking story that for one afternoon in September had the attention of all the local media and the cable news networks. I started to sketch out how we covered the story that afternoon and ended up with the doodle at the top of this post. It pretty neatly sums up how we do what we do.

The events started to come to our attention the afternoon of Thursday, September 16. Our email tip line started buzzing with scant reports about a shooting at the hospital. Then we started seeing Twitter tweets about the same.

After a couple of calls to the police to confirm that something was up, we immediately dispatched a team of reporters, led by Justin Fenton, to the hospital.

Fenton, a crime reporter who is very savvy with his use of social media, started checking the many tweets that were coming in about the incident and trying to confirm what he was reading. He was also sending out his own, confirmed tweets about what was going on. We were picking up his Twitter feed on our website, baltimoresun.com. At the same time, other news organizations, CNN, FoxNews and ABC were starting to follow Justin's tweets and calling us to get phone access to him for on-the-scene reports.

Fenton, using his iPhone, took a photo of a police sniper positioned behind a column and posted that to Twitpic. That photo ended up on baltimoresun.com and was also picked up by the news networks.

At one point, an hour or so into the situation, I got a call from a CNN producer who I had put in touch with Fenton for a phone interview. This time, instead of asking for something, she was actually calling to alert us that Fenton's cellphone had died, so that we could run a replacement phone to him. (Thanks, CNN!)

Also on site at Hopkins was another Sun reporter, Erica Green. While Fenton was doing phoners with the national networks, Green was doing interviews for our local television partner, WJZ.

The media interviews are a great way to get our brand stamped on the event and the idea is that hopefully many of the people seeing the interview on TV will come to our website or newspaper for more information.

Of course, Fenton and Green were doing their primary reporting for us. The tweets and story dispatches they were filing were delivering up-to-the-minute information to baltimoresun.com. That information was also automatically populating our mobile site so that people could also follow the event on their phones. In addition to the story reporting, we were also getting photos and video from our staff, and picking up a live video feed from our TV partner, WJZ, as well as embedding their packaged reports on the story.

As the situation reached it's unfortunate conclusion, we wound down our breaking-news coverage and started to turn our attention to packaging the story for the next day's paper. That's when we took a step-back look at what happened, and tried to add some additional context into how and why such an event could take place.

So, what is multimedia? As of this writing, it's using all the tools current technology has provided us, mixing it with good old urgency and accuracy that have been hallmarks of our business for years, to bring our audiences reliable information they need to know, when they want it, where they want it.

Hillbillies in a Haunted House

2010-10-29T05:24:00.003-04:00

This year's Halloween bonus is this ditty from the great Austin Lounge Lizards. There's also a movie - Hillbillys in a Haunted House - a real Hollywood classic starring Ferlin Husky, Joi Lansing and a guy in a gorilla suit.

I guess the lesson here is that anything combining hillbillies and haunted houses is probably well worth your investment in time.

The way-better-but-completely-made-up Legend of the Mandy Tree

2010-10-28T12:00:00.002-04:00

Back in 2007 I posted a brief story that talks about the legend of the Mandy Tree. It involves a woman named Mandy Holloman, a gardener who was shot to death in her home sometime in the 1920s. Several years later, to the astonishment of the good citizens of Madisonville, the foliage of a tree Mandy had planted out on West Broadway suddenly began to take the shape of her profile. Sometime during the late 1940s or early 1950s, the tree died.

It's an amazing photo and a legend with a lot of potential. But on the whole, I've always felt that what little I've been able to find about the story of the Mandy Tree was pretty dang skimpy. So, in the spirit of Halloween, I've taken the root of the tale and liberally infused it with a heaping helping of bull to embellish the Legend of the Mandy Tree.

In the mid-1920s a man named Sam lived in a shack on the far western side of Madisonville. Sam was a blacksmith who specialized in horseshoes. The location of his shop was no accident. He picked the spot because it gave him equal access to the people in town and to travelers passing through. But also figuring into his decision was a broad oak tree that cast a shadow over the shack, offering some relief from his blacksmith's furnace.

It was hard making a living selling horseshoes at a time when automobiles were starting to outnumber horses. However, it was also a time when men who wanted a sip of alcohol couldn't come by one legally, and Sam soon found that he could use his furnace to heat a still for making moonshine.

Moonshining gave Sam a small but steady income for a time. But before long, Sam became his own best customer. The more he drank, the meaner he became. And the meaner he became, the fewer people would come to buy his liquor. So day after day, Sam would sit drinking in his shed, growing ever more bitter and discouraged, shouting at the heavens and anyone who happened to pass by.

Among those who did pass by several times a week was a young woman named Mandy. Mandy and her family lived nearby. They, too, were feeling the hard times and her job was to fetch water at the spring. Sam knew Mandy and her family. He had watched through the years as she had grown from a little girl who used to walk to the spring with her mother, into a fine young woman. A beautiful young woman, Sam thought.

One hot summer day a drunken Sam saw Mandy approaching as she made her way to the spring. A combination of the heat, alcohol and wanton lust triggered Sam to yell out, "Come over here, girl!" The shout startled Mandy and she stopped. But when she recognized that Sam was drunk, she began to hurry away. But Sam was determined to get the girl. He jumped up and started moving, unsteadily, toward her. Mandy started to run, but caught her foot on a fallen branch and fell. Before she could get up, Sam was on top of her. She struggled, then started screaming. With one hand, Sam covered the young girl's mouth, and with the other he clutched her throat. And he squeezed. He squeezed until her screams - and her breathing - stopped. Then Sam passed out.

It was dark when he came to and saw what he had done. He knew he had to hide the body, so Sam carried Mandy up to the shed, grabbed a shovel and dug a hole beside the oak tree. He pushed Mandy's body into the hole and covered it with dirt.

A day later, a group of men came searching for the girl. Sam told the men that he'd seen her. She had come by, asking if he knew where she could get a horse. He asked her why and he said she told him she wanted to leave town to start a new life. He said he told Mandy she was foolish and the should go back to her home. The group believed what Sam told them. Soon the search for Mandy stopped, with everyone assuming she had just run away from home.

When autumn came, leaves from the oak tree fell and blanketed the grave for the cold winter. When winter gave way to spring, leaves started to reappear on the tree's limbs. As the tree took on full foliage, Sam noticed one moonlit night that it had grown out into a familiar-looking profile. The more the tree began to look like Mandy, the more Sam drank.

One mid-summer night a tremendous storm was developing and the winds were growing. Sam, drinking again, had fallen into alcohol-fogged sleep in the shed. As the winds grew stronger and stronger, what Sam thought was a voice startled him awake. "Ssssaaaammm." He could swear he hear someone whisper his name through the wind. "Ssssaaammm," he heard again.

"Who's calling my name?" Sam shouted. "Who's out there?"

"SSSAAAMMM!," he heard the wind cry.

Sam ran outside and saw the Mandy Tree bending in the wind. "SSSAAAAMMM," he heard through the rustling of the tree's leaves.

"What do you want from me girl?!" he screamed up to the tree.

The wind blew harder. As Sam swayed from drink, he looked up just as the tree bowed over, with the mouth of Mandy's profile opened wide, and came down on him and swallowed him in a great gulp.

The next morning, the sun came up. As the townspeople in Madisonville came out to inspect the damage from the storm, someone noticed that Sam's shack had been toppled, along with the great oak tree that once stood beside it. They searched the rubble, but no trace of Sam was ever found.

The tree was taken to a local lumberyard and cut up. Boards from the tree were later used in the building of several houses that still stand in Madisonville to this day. If your house is one of them you'll know. When the wind blows strong in the dead of the night, listen closely. What you might once have thought were creaks and groans are actually the muted screams and whispers of Sam and Mandy.

Marketing Mensch

2010-10-11T06:39:00.002-04:00

The remarkable Marcy has decided to take the plunge into blogging (what's next, podcasting?), by launching her "Marketing Mensch" blog.

I've been encouraging her to do this for some time. She's a brilliant marketing professional and has some very insightful tips and observations that she can now share with others.

I hope you'll show some support and drop by and see what you think.

Thanks!

Ribs It Is

2010-08-22T10:30:00.001-04:00

It's been at least 20 years since I barbecued ribs. Hard to believe. Back when we lived in Columbus, I used to do baby back's from time to time, but was never satisfied with the results. When we lived in Chicago, one of the world's great rib joints, Robinson's #1 Ribs, was just around the corner and it was simply easier to go there, or to our fall-back joint, Russell's, and grab a rack.

My daddy used to do ribs all the time on his pit and in all likelihood, ribs were the first bbq I ever had. But over the years I've grown partial to pulled pork, brisket and chicken, so I simply never had the urge to do my own ribs.

Until last Friday. Not sure what it was. Maybe I needed the challenge. I've been on the grill a lot this summer, but mostly for quick hits on burgers, sausages, dogs and chicken. But something was telling me it was time to test my grillmanship and burn a rack.

Off to the store on Saturday morning where I picked up a nice slab of spareribs. After trimming, I poured a couple of cups of apple cider vinegar and the juice of one lemon over them and stuck them in the fridge for a couple of hours while I prepared a rub and a sauce.

Here's the basic rub I threw together:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup paprika
3 1/2 Tbl coarse salt
3 Tbl black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp cayenne

After makinig the rub, it was onto the sauce. Again, just a basic, ketchup-based sweet sauce:

2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbl molasses
2 Tbl mustard
1 Tbl hot sauce
1 Tbl of the rub
2 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp black pepper

Over a medium heat, bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

I also decided to make a cauliflower salad as a side. It's basically potato salad recipe using cauliflower instead of the potatoes to cut down on the carbs.

1 head of cauliflower
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 red chili pepper, chopped

Cut the cauliflower into florets and steam until soft (but not squishy). Let them cool to room temperature. Once cooled, chop the florets into bite-sized pieces and add to a bowl with the other ingredients.

Make a dressing of:
1 cup mayo
2 Tbl vinegar
2 tsp dry mustard

Mix the dressing in with the veggies and sprinkle some paprika on top. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and put in the fridge for a couple of hours. It's not a dead ringer for potato salad, but is very tasty.

It was finally time to set up the grill for indirect heating. I placed an aluminum drip pan in the center, and when the coals were hot, placed an equal amount on either side of the pan and a cup of soaked hickory chips on each side.

I pulled the ribs from the fridge, rubbed 'em up real good and put them in the center of the grill, over the drip pan.

My first check came about 30 minutes in. I sprayed the ribs with some of the marinade to keep them moist, and I also put some foil under the tips because it appeared they were getting a little burned.

After an hour, I added a few more coals and chips to each side, plus gave the ribs another squirt from the sprayer.

I repeated the routine every 30 minutes while the ribs were on the grill.

After about an hour and 45 minutes, the meat was pulled back from the tips of the ribs. I gave the top a good brushing with the sauce and put the lid back on the grill for a final 20 minutes of cooking.

The shot at the top of the page was taken just before the ribs came in the house. There was more than enough to share with the other meat eaters who were home at the time. And even the cauliflower salad got solid reviews.

Earli Jimi on Night Train

2010-08-21T07:45:00.001-04:00

Growing up in Madisonville, Kentucky in the 1960s, we were at the mercy of whichever TV signals could swim upstream far enough to reach our antennas. We received all the stations from Evansville, Indiana, which was 50 miles due north. And we received all the Nashville stations from 100 miles south. The Nashville stations I remember better because they produced a healthy slate of local programming.

No surprise that much of the local programming coming out of Nashville was music related. There were country music shows, gospel shows and there was the R&B showcase, Night Train from WLAC, Channel 5. I remember Night Train aired on Saturday nights, hosted by Nobel Blackwell. I was a pre-teen when I first saw the show, introduced to it by Brother Dave. We used to watch in particular whenever Ironing Board Sam was on. I was likely more attracted to the name than the music at the time.

A little while back I went on YouTube to try to find some clips of Ironing Board Sam. There are some clips, but what also turned up was the nugget above from Night Train. It features a duo named Buddy & Stacy performing a faithful version of Junior Walker's "Shotgun." But the highlight of the clip is a young Jimi Hendrix, in the background on the left, playing guitar.

This is reportedly Jimi's first recorded TV appearance. He had been stationed in the Army at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and after his discharge, he played in a number of bands in nearby Nashville. He left the area and played in New York, but returned to Nashville and, playing as "Maurice James" was a member of The Royal Company this night in 1965 when the show was recorded. He would have been 22 or 23 at the time.

Steven Raichlen comes home

2010-05-25T18:09:00.004-04:00

Baltimore guy and grill god Steven Raichlen was in town today to talk about his new book, "Planet Barbecue," and the new season of his PBS show, "Primal Grill." The show is produced by my pals at Maryland Public Television.

Here's a video done by my colleagues Rob Kasper and Ken Lam, where Raichlen talks about his experiences (or lack of them) with barbecue growing up in Baltimore, and about a recipe for bbq ice cream that you'll find in his new book.

Remember Bosco?

2010-04-28T11:26:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a little Bosco in your vodka.

And Now His Food Blog Is Back, Too

2009-09-02T12:34:00.005-04:00

Glad to report that the Chef From Hell's food blog is now back, too.

Chef From Hell redux

2009-08-21T09:51:00.004-04:00

I've made no secret the past couple of years that one of my favorite food and fun blogs was the Chef From Hell. Alas, that blog is no longer with us, but fortunately, the blogger is.

Chef J.P. Gelinas is a former restaurateur, occasional TV personality and longtime rocker. Thanks to some CDs he's sent me and online videos (like the one above), I've become a fan of his band, the Freelance Vandals.

The Vandals site is great fun, and is a great way to get into the mood for a wild weekend.

J.P. - as always, it's good to see and hear what's on your twisted mind!

Mo likes Pie

2009-08-15T09:47:00.008-04:00

Pardon the double entendre, but I'm going in two directions here.

I've posted before about Mo's growing interest in baking. She's finally mastered (sort of) cookies and has moved on to cakes and pies. Last weekend she and the Remarkable Marcy made a blueberry pie. The result was tasty, but a little runny. Nevertheless, a great effort from an 11 year old.

The other Pie Mo likes plays baseball. That would be Felix Pie (pronounced pee YAY), a reserve outfielder who plays for the Orioles. It was indeed the name that first attracted her to Pie, when he was a prospect for the Cubs. When he was acquired during the offseason by our hometown team, she was delighted. Pie hasn't quite lived up to his potential, but last night had what is without doubt the best night of his career when he hit for the cycle against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California/USA/North America/Earth/Milky Way/etc.

Here's the recipe used for blueberry pie (courtesy James Beard's American Cookery). For a Felix Pie recipe, you're on your own.

4 cups prepared berries
3/4 cups sugar
4-6 Tbl. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
Unbaked pastry for two-crust 9-inch pie

Combine the berries with sugar, flour and salt. Turn into a pastry-lined pie pan. Dot with butter. Trim the pastry edge and moisten it. Cover with the top pastry, trim the edge, crime the top and bottom edges together, and cut vents for steam. Bake at 450 degrees 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 degrees, and bake 25-30 minutes longer. Cool on a rack.

Enjoy!

Disabled List, Round 2

2009-08-07T09:22:00.009-04:00

It was about this time last year that I posted about son Courtland's surgery to repair the torn labrum in his left shoulder. This time I'm posting about the surgery to repair the torn labrum in his right shoulder.

Unlike last year when the tear kept him from hitting during his summer baseball season, this time it kept him from pitching. He first started complaining about the pain in January during the Southern Maryland Baseball Camp. He looked strong throwing the first weekend, but after his moundwork in week two, he said his arm hurt. We took him to the doc and it was originally diagnosed as tendinitis. He stretched and worked on it all spring and by the time the high school season started, it looked like he was going to be okay. But a couple of games in, when he was catching, he made a throw that reaggravated the injury.

That pretty much washed out his senior baseball season. But he played this summer, playing outfield and batting. We tried some long toss, but his arm was still sore and we went a few weeks ago and got an MRI which showed a SLAP (Superior Labrum Anterior Posterior) tear where the bicep tendon attaches to the labrum.

So, this week he went in for the repair (see photos of the procedure above). As with last year, two weeks in a sling, isometric rehab, soft throws in three months then hopefully pitching in the spring.

The big difference this year is that he is off to college in three weeks. When he reports to York College of Pennsylvania, he'll hook up with the baseball team trainer, who'll work with Courtland while his teammates are on the field. I'm sure it will be frustrating for him not to play right away, but he'll have to take it slow. The doc said that often the kids who've gone through this repair say that the second season after surgery they're throwing harder than ever, courtesy of scar tissue from the procedure reinforcing the shoulder.

With any luck, this time next year I won't be filing any Disabled List posts.

Spongetech

2009-07-30T13:25:00.005-04:00

Our 11-year-old, Mo, is a stitch. We were watching the Orioles game on TV last night and one of the advertising billboards behind homeplate was touting a company called Spongetech.com. Marcy wondered aloud what Spongetech is. Without missing a beat, Mo answered – “Spongebob’s college.”

New Look

2009-07-28T09:03:00.002-04:00

With the summer baseball and softball seasons winding down, I'll soon have my weekends back and I think I'll start posting with a little more frequency. In advance of that, I'm introducing a new look to the blog. While I liked the warm earth tones of the old template and the smokey, bbq-joint feel it evoked, it was starting to remind me more and more of my paneled college dorm room.

So, a fresh new look. Let me know what you think.

You Don't Say

2009-05-04T06:13:00.002-04:00

My friend and colleague John McIntyre is now my friend and former colleague. It's an unfortunate result of last week's newsroom purge at The Sun.

Many of you know that I've frequently referred to John's excellent blog on the language, You Don't Say. Fortunately, John was able to carry the blog with him and set up shop at a new location. You can find the new site here.

Drop in and spend some time with John's blog. You'll be all the smarter by doing so.

The Worst Days

2009-04-30T09:57:00.002-04:00

My former colleague, Dave Ettlin, paints an accurate picture of what our newsroom suffered through the past couple of days.

In case you were wondering, my job was spared, but I am not okay.

Austin, Texas

2009-04-21T06:04:00.007-04:00

I made my first trip back to Austin, Texas in nearly eight years last week. It was technically a work trip, but it's hard to go to Austin without making time for a little fun, food and music. I pretty much summed up the good stuff in my weekly post on Rob Kasper's beer blog.

Another personal imperative while there was my quest to obtain a dozen Round Rock Donuts to bring home to the family. Anybody who lives in Central Texas knows the addictive qualities of these sticky, orange, melt-in-your-mouth donuts. Every Sunday - and some Saturdays - found us waiting in line with the other RRD junkies waiting for a score.

I was without a car for this trip, so was unable to make the run up to Round Rock to pick them up. I also struck out with a couple of hopeful rendezvous with old friends who I had hoped might be able to pick up a box and run them down to me. And my search downtown for RRD resellers also proved fruitless. However, bless their little cholesterol-clogged hearts, RRD now sells their product at the Austin airport. I was able to grab a dozen before boarding the plane.

When I got home, the family was much happier to see the donuts than the man bearing them. But that was okay with me. I got to eat them, too.

Drinking the "Backbone of a Puppy"

2009-04-14T06:51:00.002-04:00

This week's guest post on Rob Kasper's beer blog looks at the Beer Activist blog and explains why South African's drink the "backbone of a puppy."

Why Don't the Big Beer Companies Blog?

2009-04-07T07:48:00.001-04:00

That's the rhetorical question I ask in this week's guest post on Rob Kasper's beer blog.

Black Bean Feijoada

2009-03-28T17:56:00.003-04:00

When Mo asked what I was making for dinner tonight, I said, "Feijoada."

"Fishwater?" she replied.

I guess it does sound a little like that, but that's not how it tastes. I've seen feijoada credited to Portugal and Brazil, and the traditional dish has meat and beans, usually served over rice. The recipe we use is vegetarian, just a simple but spicy black bean stew, served over brown rice and topped with roasted red peppers, avocado slices and a dollop of sour cream.

The recipe below comes from Annemarie Colbin's classic, "The Natural Gourmet." It's a great recipe, but if you're going to make it, start early. Cooking time is almost two hours if you count preps.

Black Bean Feijoada

2 cups dried black beans, soaked
2 tbl extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions
2 tbl fresh grated ginger root
1/2 tbl cayenne
1/2 tsp ground cumin
6 cups water
3 tbl umeboshi vinegar or 2 tbl brown rice or apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
3 sweet red peppers
4 cups cooked brown rice

Drain the beans. Chop the onions. In 4- to 6-qt pot, heat the oil. Add the onions and saute over medium heat. Stir in the ginger, cayenne and cumin, then add the drained beans and the 6 cups water. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours.

Add the vinegar and salt and cook for 10 more minutes.

While beans are cooking, roast the red peppers over a gas burner or put them under the broiler until they are charred black. Place in a paper bag or covered pot and let "sweat" for 10 minutes. Then wash off charred peel under cold running water. See and slice the ppers into thin strips.

Serve over rice, garnished with the red pepper strips. We're also adding a few slices of avocado.

- From Annemarie Colbin's "The Natural Gourmet"

Beer Commercials

2009-03-24T09:27:00.001-04:00

My weekly guest spot on Rob Kasper's beer blog deals with the amusing and memory evoking world of beer commercials.

Spring is Here!

2009-03-20T05:52:00.003-04:00

Thank God!

Bye Bye, P-I

2009-03-17T09:32:00.003-04:00

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published its last edition today, becoming the second major daily to go under in the last few weeks (Denver's Rocky Mountain News folded in February).

I won't dwell on the reasons why, but news consumption patterns and advertising preferences - not to mention a lousy economy - are likely to lead more papers to follow suit. And don't think it's not on the mind of me and my colleagues here in Baltimore.

The P-I was a paper I knew more from reputation than from ever having read it. A solid source of information in the Northwest that was a breeding ground for talented writers and artists. This latter fact I learned from one of the newspaper's alums, Ray Collins, a cartoonist who wrote and drew a strip called "Cecil and Dipstick." Ray left the P-I in the late '70s, following family east, and wound up in Columbus, Ohio where he landed as a graphic artist at the interactive QUBE cable system, where I was cutting my professional chops as a young producer. We got to know each other well when, I was in charge of a weekly kid's game show called Quizzles and Ray's cartoons were a huge part of the show.

We'd often go out to lunch together and Ray would entertain me with stories of his days at the P-I, when he was a drinking buddy of Frank Herbert, who went on to author the Dune sci-fi series, and Tom Robbins, who wrote Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and other novels. It was Ray's stories that brought the P-I to life for me.

Good luck to all the journalists who lost jobs as a result of this paper closing. And good luck to the readers in Seattle who have lost a valuable voice in the community.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
-Dylan Thomas

Clipper City Beer Blog

2009-03-17T06:16:00.004-04:00

I'm celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a guest post on Rob Kasper's beer blog. Today I give a nod to Hugh Sisson's blog on Baltimore's Clipper City Brewing site. Check out the post, the blog and treat yourself to one of Clipper City's brews if you get the chance.

Beer Haiku Daily

2009-03-10T06:39:00.002-04:00

My post this week on Kasper on Tap is about one of my old faves, Captain Hops' Beer Haiku Daily.

Beer in Baltimore

2009-03-03T06:03:00.000-05:00

On Tuesdays I guest post for my friend Rob Kasper on his "Kasper on Tap" blog. This week I wrote about Alexander Mitchell's Beer in Baltimore blog.

Chocolate Chip Goopies

2009-02-27T06:03:00.004-05:00

Today I'm the guest dad on my colleague Kate Shatzkin's Charm City Moms blog, talking about MoJo's efforts to bake cookies.

UPDATE: Last Monday was a snow day for the kids and Mo was back in the kitchen. This time she nailed it and we had cookies instead of goopies!

The (almost) perfect food

2009-02-25T07:31:00.004-05:00

When the mid-afternoon munchies kick in, one of the best places in the newsroom to troll for snacks is over by our features department. Frequently the gang who works on the food section will lay out remnants of recipes they've tested or samples of snacks that have been sent in for them to review.

A couple of days ago I wandered by and there was a box featuring a photo of a slice of bacon adjacent to a square of chocolate. It was Mo's Bacon Bar! Inside were squares of creamy milk chocolate-covered Applewood-smoked bacon crumbles.

I'm not sure why nobody thought of this before. It was a nice juxtaposition of sweetness, saltiness and smokiness. The only thing keeping this from being the perfect food was a liquid center filled with beer.

Mmmmmmmm!

Awakening from hibernation

2009-02-22T09:19:00.003-05:00

Just waking up from my long winter's nap. Ironically, this note aside, my first post since the beginning of the year will appear Tuesday, Feb. 24, on my friend Rob Kasper's beer blog.

I'll be dropping in on his blog once a week to share some findings from other beer bloggers out there, so if you have any suggestions for Rob or me, please don't be shy.

Happy New Year

2008-12-29T08:59:00.004-05:00

Prescription for a happy 2009...

Embrace the good times and kick the bad times in the ass. Then embrace the good times again.

Keep your head up, eyes forward and try to see beyond the end of your nose.

Do more listening than talking.

Be quick with a kind word and good deed.

And, did I mention embrace the good times?

(What's Left of the) Chocolate Fudge

2008-12-21T11:57:00.004-05:00

Yesterday the spirit moved me to make chocolate fudge. This is something I've never done before, so it was somewhat of an adventure, wedged between MoJo's basketball game and the Ravens/Cowboys football game.

I found a recipe in old faithful - James Beard's American Cookery. And, as luck would have it, we had all the necessary ingredients in the house, so it required no runs to the store. And while the recipe calls for nuts, we skipped those and went with only the bad-for-you stuff.

Now, me making fudge is akin to an arsonist making matches. In the end, it's a dangerous proposition. But fortunately, with a house full of kids and a wife with a chocolate addiction, I was mercifully spared the possibility of eating the entire batch all by myself. I did, however, share in the indulgence.

Again, keep in mind this was my first effort. I'd welcome hearing from any of you black belt fudge makers with suggestions on how to improve on my next attempt.

Chocolate Fudge

2 cups sugar
2 Tbl corn syrup (light or dark)
2/3 cup rich milk or evaporated milk
2 to 4 Tbl butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup corsely broken or chopped, lightly toasted nutmeats
1 to 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate

Combine the sugar, corn syrup, milk, butter, chocolate and salt in a 3 or 4 quart saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil. Cook to 234 to 236 degrees (use a candy thermometer).

When it hits the proper temperature, remove the saucepan from the heat and place on a rack to cool.

When the bottom of the pan is cool enough that you can put your hand on it without shrieking in pain, take a spatula and slowly work the fudge from the outside to the center of the pot. When it cools to a point that it starts to look dull instead of shiny, stir in the vanilla (and nuts if you're using them).

Pour out the fudge onto a sheet of wax paper or aluminium foil and let cool. Cut into squares. Eat and enjoy!

The Pirate Life for Me

2008-11-20T05:40:00.006-05:00

As the newspaper biz continues to fold in on itself, I think it's time to consider a fallback career.

Piracy seems to be a growth industry right now. And from what I can tell, the Chesapeake Bay represents a market opportunity.

I've got an 8-foot dinghy and a trolling motor to attach to it. All I need is a scurvy crew. And a few bottles of rum. And an oil tanker to hijack.

Aaargh!

Michigan at Ohio State

2008-11-19T12:26:00.001-05:00

It's that week again. This year's Big Game will be played in Columbus this Saturday with less at stake than usual. Michigan is suffering through perhaps its worst year ever and Ohio State, with two losses, is still in the chase for the Big Ten title but is (mercifully) out of the running for a national crown.

To get you in the mood for the game, here's a link to last year's post, which is chock full of links to the history of the rivalry, and the recipe for delicious peanut butter buckeye treats.

Go Bucks!

Black Eyed Peas (not the band)

2008-11-09T09:40:00.002-05:00

Time to get back to important matters on this blog, like good food.

Lately I've enjoyed rediscovering a favorite of my southern upbringing - black eyed peas. Last night the Remarkable Marcy pulled a Vegetarian Times recipe for Black-Eyed Pea Patties with Corn and Cilantro. We served it with a side of Collard Greens prepared with a recipe off my friend The Chef From Hell's blog. Great stuff!

One of our favorite BEP dishes actually was the result of a mix up when I screwed up the recipe of the traditional Hoppin' John dish. I can't remember exactly how I managed to use bulghur instead of rice, but the result was terrific. Here's the recipe for Hoppin' Sully.

Hoppin' Sully

2 T canola or olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried thyme
3 cups cooked bulghur wheat
2 cups cooked black eyed peas

Heat oil in large skillet and saute onion and garlic.
Add tomatoes, water and spices. Simmer covered for 5 minutes.
Add bulghur and beans, pinch of sea salt and pepper.
Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until golden-brown crust forms on the bulghur.

A liberal shake of Tabasco atop this really helps warm body and soul on cool autumn and winter nights.

Enjoy!

The Real Deal

2008-11-05T06:43:00.002-05:00

The (un)official, (un)scientific Sullicom Presidential Poll proved remarkably accurate, as Nov. 4 saw an Electoral College runaway for Barack Obama in the presidential election.

Among the key states captured by Obama were Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, California and New York. Some of the states that went for Sen. John McCain were Texas, Indiana, Brigadoon and Munchkinland.

It was an historic night.

Yes We Can

2008-11-05T06:38:00.002-05:00

I knew that "Bob the Builder" post was prescient.

Sing along.

Presidential Poll Results

2008-11-03T07:54:00.004-05:00

The (un)official, (un)scientific Sullicom Presidential Poll is closed and the voters have chosen Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain and long-shot Food Network candidate Alton Brown.

With 98 total votes cast, Obama gathered 46 votes (46%), McCain 34 votes and Brown 18 votes.

So, this bit of fun is done. Thanks to all of you who voted. To those of you who didn't, I hope you were simply holding back for the real deal.

Tomorrow's the day - get out there and vote!

Regurgitating Tales

2008-10-30T06:35:00.002-04:00

Halloween is tomorrow and I thought I would spit up a couple of stories I posted last year at this time.

First is "The Curious Case of the Mandy Tree," a story about a ghostly tree in my hometown of Madisonville, Kentucky.

Then there's "Ghost Story," the tale of my personal encounter with a spook at the Buxton Inn in Granville, Ohio.

Have fun tomorrow night. Don't eat too much candy.

Congratulations Tampa Fans

2008-10-30T06:28:00.002-04:00

You have successfully completed Part 1 of your application for true baseball fandom. Your team's loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series has given you your first taste of losing at a high level, falling just short of ultimate success. Yes, we know it hurts. But it's a good hurt. Success followed by failure. That will make ultimate success all the sweeter when it comes.

Now for Part 2 of the application. Put some meat in the seats of that sorry stadium before the month of September next season. You've got an exciting young team that deserves to have more fans at home games than the opposition. Show your support, win or lose. Upon receipt of this portion of the application you'll have earned street cred among the real baseball fans out there.

And now, I leave you with words of wisdom from a life-long Cubs fan - "Wait 'til next year!"

Presidential Poll - The Home Stretch

2008-10-27T05:34:00.004-04:00

There's only one week left to vote in the (un)official, (un)scientific Sullicom Presidential Poll.

Nine votes were registered in the past week and Sen. Barack Obama picked up five of them to slightly increase his lead over Sen. John McCain, who picked up the other four tallies. The margin now stands at 41-29. That gives Obama 48% of the 85 votes, a 14% lead over McCain.

The Food Network's Alton Brown failed to pick up any support this week and is stuck at 15 total votes.

I anticipate that the two candidates, along with their vice presidential running mates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, will be running hard this last full week before the real deal on Nov. 4. Listen to what they say and evaluate how it matches with your own positions on the issues. Then get your butts up and out next Tuesday and cast the votes that really count!

GSC In Da House

2008-10-20T07:08:00.002-04:00

We picked up the Girl Scout Cookies yesterday. No surprise that in the mile between pickup and dropping them at the house, two boxes were opened and sampled. Not just by me, but the entire family.

Dulce de Leche are everything I feared they'd be. Buttery sweet caramel with a little bit of a crunch. Marcy allowed me one, then I sneaked a couple more. I'm hoping this sampling will get it out of my system. If not, does anyone know of a rehab center for this sort of stuff?

Presidential Poll Update

2008-10-20T05:29:00.004-04:00

Two weeks to go and Barack Obama continues to lead John McCain in the (un)official, (un)scientific Sullicom Presidential Poll.

We're now up to 76 (how patriotic!) total votes and Obama now holds a 37-24 lead over McCain. That actually represents a slight uptick for Senator McCain who has picked up 6 votes to Sentator Obama's 5 votes in the past week. Perhaps a bump from Joe the Plumber?

The Food Network candidate, Alton Brown, continues to run a distant third. He picked up four votes in the past week, and now sits with 15. I'm still anticipating a late rush of support - maybe absentee ballots - that will if not vault him into the lead, at least make his showing much more respectable.

We've still got 15 days before the election. Plenty of time to change the course of history. Get out there and work the neighborhoods and help bring out the vote!

On Being a Baseball Fan

2008-10-19T08:25:00.004-04:00

Lemme 'splain something.

If you've been following Sullicom on Twitter, you'd think I hate the Tampa Bay Rays. I really don't. I think the team is talented, exciting and possibly about to accomplish the unthinkable. However, what I don't like are the suddenly-there Tampa fans. Much like I disliked the once-suddenly-there, then just-as-suddenly-gone-again Marlins fans of 1997 and 2003.

I recall watching games in mid and late September when the team was still trying to clinch a playoff spot and that excuse for a stadium was far from packed. Most nights it was far from half-packed. The "fans" still had not bought into this team. Now the place is filled, but I wonder how many of the "fans" are wearing Rays hats and shirts more than a few weeks old.

In Thursday night's wild game in which the Rays blew a 7-0 lead, right before the fold I swear I heard an announcer say something like, "The city of Tampa has waited 10 long years for this." Let me tell you what ran through this Cubs fan's mind. "Ten years? You've got to be kidding me!" Frankly, the reaction was a tad more profane.

Put it this way, I'd hardly consider you a fan if:
- your first game of the season was a playoff game
- you've never been to a game in September in years when your team had been mathematically eliminated in August
- you don't have any fan gear with "Devil Rays" (the team's name prior to this year) on it.

However, if Boston does what Boston does, and that's come back from a 3-1 deficit to crush your new-found dreams, that's your first real step into the brotherhood of fandom. No pain, no gain, you know. I'll be the first to give you a hug. Then, if you're back at the park next season, not when the Red Sox or Yankees are in town, but to root on your team against the Orioles or Royals, I'll buy you a beer and toast your card-carrying acceptance into the club.

Bob the Builder

2008-10-16T22:31:00.003-04:00

In the interest of fairness, here's equal time for another skilled laborer.

Joe the Plumber

2008-10-16T05:49:00.002-04:00

How long until we start hearing songs about America's newest folk phenom?

Above is the CNN video introducing the man whose name was evoked multiple times by both John McCain and Barack Obama during the final presidential debate.

Song to Barbecue Sauce

2008-10-15T08:31:00.003-04:00

I ran across this in the Threadgill's Cookbook recently and was surprised that I had never posted it to this blog before now. It's a little ditty by Roy Blount, Jr.

Brush it on chicken, slosh it on pork,
Eat it with fingers, not with a fork.
I could eat barbecued turtle or squash -
I could eat tar paper cooked and awash
In barbecue sauce.

Nothing can gloss
Over barbecue sauce.

Beautifully put.

Presidential Poll Update

2008-10-13T05:51:00.003-04:00

We're about three weeks out from the real deal and Barack Obama maintains his lead over John McCain in the (un)official, (un)scientific Sullicom Presidential Poll.

As of this morning, we're up to 63 total votes - nearly as many as voted in the last presidential election. Since last week's update, Obama has added four votes, McCain two and the gap has widened to 32-18.

The biggest gain of the week, however, comes from Food Network powerhouse Alton Brown, who more than doubled his total from the previous week, jumping from 5 votes to 11.

There's still plenty of time for each candidate to grab more support between now and Nov. 4. So, get out there and start knocking on doors and tell your friends, family and neighbors to vote!

Presidential Poll Update

2008-10-08T05:52:00.003-04:00

Have you watched the debates? How do you think they've gone? Will they influence your vote?

Speaking of votes, as of this morning Barack Obama holds a 28-18 edge over John McCain in the (un)official, (un)scientific Sullicom Presidential Poll. Food Network heavyweight Alton Brown lags way behind with a mere 5 votes, although I'm still awaiting a late rush from his supporters as we draw closer to Nov. 4.

I'm a little surprised that Sen. McCain hasn't received a bigger bounce from running mate Sarah Palin. Gov. Palin's recent debate with Sen. Joe Biden. But we've got three-and-a-half weeks to go and we'll see how this plays out for real.

Until then, do like we used to in Chicago - vote early and vote often!

World Champion Chicago Cubs!

2008-10-07T17:26:00.003-04:00

That's right - World Champion Chicago Cubs! That is the first time in my life I've ever typed that combination of words.

Of course, I'm referring to the 1908 team, pictured above. The celebration enters its 101st year. Yee hah.

Dodgers 3, Cubs 1

2008-10-05T07:01:00.003-04:00

I'll just rerun last year's season-ending post. All you have to do is change the third paragraph to read, "Next season marks 101 years since their last World Series title."

Ugh.

Dodgers 10, Cubs 3

2008-10-03T06:05:00.000-04:00

Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Dodgers 7, Cubs 2

2008-10-02T05:47:00.003-04:00

It's only one game. But it was the series opener. At home. And they blew a lead. Big time.

I've struggled all season to keep my expectations low. Easy to do, having been a fan of this team since I was a wee lad.

But this is getting ridiculous. Rooting for the Cubs, the Bears and the Buckeyes has given me the best and the worst of payoffs in the past three years.

7-2. Ugh.

They're Baaaack!

2008-09-27T09:36:00.004-04:00

It's that dangerous time of year when MoJo comes home with the Girl Scout Cookies order form. Actually, this is merely the prelude to the most dangerous time - when they're delivered.

It's not like they're enough of a problem for me and my dieting effort already, but they've introduced a new one this year, Dulce de Leche, which they describe as "rich, indulgent cookies... rich with milk caramel chips and stripes." But, there are 0 trans fats! So, I guess they're good for me.

At the bottom of this page, you'll find my playlist widget which includes NRBQ's tribute to GSC.

Presidential Poll Update

2008-09-25T06:17:00.003-04:00

We've got five weeks to go to the election, and based on Sullicom's highly (un)scientific poll, Barack Obama is building a sizable lead over John McCain.

The margin now stands at a whopping eight votes, as Obama holds a 20-12 lead over McCain as of this morning. Food Network personality Alton Brown, who I thought would be a formidable third-party candidate, is surprisingly far back with only two votes.

I'm a little surprised that Senator McCain didn't get more of a bump here from the selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate. But then again, he's taken lumps from the media with a bunch of seemingly paranoid missteps in the past couple of weeks. That includes the entertainment media, especially last night after David Letterman took him to task after McCain cancelled an appearance on his show, but kept his date with CBS News anchor Katie Couric. My friend and colleague, David Zurawik, has the story of the stand up on his blog.

Politics aside, again my greatest surprise here is the poor showing to date of Alton Brown. In past polls on this blog, he's been a force. Alton's Army was impressively organized and there was no contest in the Sullicom Food Fight.

I think, considering the seeming stumbles the McCain camp has made of late, it might be worth the Senator's side to seek out what remains of Alton's Army to bring their skills to his campaign.

Cubs Win!

2008-09-21T09:08:00.005-04:00

I've learned to take these things one at a time and savor them for what they are.

Yesterday the Cubs clinched the National League Central Division with a 5-4 win over arch-rival St. Louis. And they did so in ironic fashion, as former Cardinal Jim Edmonds, a mid-season pickup, caught a fly ball to center for the final out.

The win also provided a historic footnote in that it was the first time the Cubs had won back-to-back division titles (or league titles) in a century. And as everyone should know by now, it's been a century since the team's last world title.

But let's not go there yet.

I've been a Cubs fan since I was 10. That has provided good life lessons in how to deal with disappointment. The great Cubs teams of the late '60s and early '70s always found a way to come up just short. The teams of the mid to late '70s were amusing if not competitive. One of my favorite players of that era was Carmen Fanzone, a second baseman who was much more proficient playing his trumpet during the National Anthem than he was at doing anything else the rest of the game.

But then, in 1984, they put together a team of kids and former Dodgers and Phillies that won a division title for the first time since WWII. The Remarkable Marcy and I traveled from Columbus, Ohio to Pittsburgh on September 24 of that year to see the clinching game. They jumped up on San Diego two games to none in the best of three, then proceeded to drop three straight to the Padres.

In 1989, the team again won the division. I was in Wrigley Field to see them beat the Giants and former Cub "Big Daddy" Rick Reuschel. But it was their only win in the five-game series.

In 1998, Sammy Sosa hit a million home runs and the Cubbies were the National League wild card team. They ended up getting swept by Atlanta.

2003 was the year my son, Courtland, learned the true meaning of being a Cubs fan. Behind a pitching staff led by Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, the Cubs won the division. They were up three games to one against the Florida Marlins and had Prior and Wood coming up in games at Wrigley Field. In game five, with Prior pitching strong, the Cubs were within five outs of getting into the World Series. Then it happened. First, there was the Bartman Play, in which a foul ball drifted into the left-field stands, just out of reach of Moises Alou. A fan, Steve Bartman, reached out to grab the ball. I don't know if Alou could have made the catch. In any case, the real turning point came two batters later when shortstop Alex Gonzales muffed a routine grounder. That was the moment at which I turned to Courtland and said, "Now you know what it is to be a Cubs fan. I'm sorry." The Marlins ended up going ahead and winning that game, beat Wood the next night and ultimately took the series. Could it have been the curse of the goat?

Last year the team staged an unlikely climb from mid-season doldrums and won the division. They then proceeded to get swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But here they are, back again. Seeming to be a little more confident and aware that the season is not yet done. Will they win? Don't know. This is the point in the season where I take each victory for what it is, each series win for what it is.

When I was a kid I used to pray, "God, don't let me die until the Cubs win the World Series." I've always felt assured of a long life up to this point, but now, who knows?

"I Hate Banks"

2008-09-18T08:10:00.003-04:00

Not an editorial comment, but the title of a wonderfully timely song by Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper.

I hadn't heard this thing for about 15 years, but WRNR FM in Annapolis was playing it this morning. Could be an anthem for our times.

Stain Stink

2008-09-15T10:00:00.001-04:00

This morning right before leaving the house I managed to get some ink on my nice white shirt. I remembered seeing one of those Tide stain erasers on one of the kid's dressers yesterday, so I went up and applied it to the stain.

Well, the stain mostly came out, but the stuff in the stick smells like vomit. So now my shirt looks clean, but smells like I puked on it.

Not sure why that's necessarily better than having the ink stain.

Presidential Poll Update

2008-09-12T07:21:00.002-04:00

The poll has been up for a little more than a week and it's been interesting to watch for a number of reasons.

By way of disclaimer, let me acknowledge that the response hasn't exactly been overwhelming. Nevertheless, the dynamics are worth noting.

As expected, it didn't take long for Alton's Army to show up. An Alton Brown fan out there was first on the scene, registering a quick vote for the Food Network star.

Then came the McCain camp, fresh on the heels of the Republican National Convention. McCain grabbed five quick votes and held a commanding lead heading into the weekend.

But slowly the support for Obama began to show itself. As of today, the Democrat has pushed into the lead with 9 votes, compared to McCain's 5 and Brown's single vote.

It's also been pointed out that I've left a significant name out of the poll. It's not Sarah Palin or Ron Paul, but Ralph Wiggum, who seems to have a swell of write-in support.

The election is still a long way off - 51 days from the date of this posting. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

Disabled List

2008-09-05T06:37:00.003-04:00

The images above were taken yesterday during our son Courtland's surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The labrum is a lip-like ring of cartilage that helps hold the arm in the shoulder socket.

Courtland damaged his during a high school baseball game in the spring during an at bat (at least he got a hit, and a big one at that). At first, we thought it was a simple dislocation and he continued playing in that game as well as the next. But it was clear that something was wrong. We went to the doctor and had it diagnosed. Not overly serious, but not good either. With the doctor's blessing, he continued to play baseball all summer long, but was only allowed to pitch and play in the field. His batting for the year was through until we got the surgery. He ended up having a very good summer (here's a link to a nice story about him and his team), but he really missed getting in his licks at the plate.

The photos above are one of two pages of scope-shots taken by the surgeon during the procedure. They're a little hard to see unless you click on the photo to bring it to full size. The scenes are magnified 6.5 times. The top two rows show different angles of the shoulder. It's in the third row where you really start to see the damage and how it was repaired. Row three, column one shows the labrum torn away from the shoulder socket. Same row, second column shows the tool used by the surgeon to start anchoring the sutures, and the fourth row shows the sutures being pulled through to lace the labrum back to the scapula.

Post-op was an interesting experience for us, too. Courtland is a high school senior and isn't the most talkative kid around. But as he came out of the anesthesia, he was amusingly chatty. It was kind of nice to have him open up.

His left arm is now immobilized in a sling that he'll have to wear for at least three weeks. He's now learning how to get through the day using just one arm and it's been an education for all of us to realize how inconvenient that can be. Just putting on a shirt or pulling up pants has required more strategy than you might think.

If all goes well, the sling will come off after three weeks. Then he'll begin some simple isometric exercises as he begins to rehab. Following that comes physical therapy to build up strength in the shoulder. Our target is for him to start throwing a baseball again in mid to late December. We hope he'll be able to start swinging a bat again sometime in January. That puts him on pace to be ready for his senior baseball season in the spring.

It's pretty amazing to me that they've got the ability to diagnose something like this. And maybe even more so, to go in and knit the thing back together. But I'm grateful that they can.

Presidential Poll

2008-09-04T08:14:00.000-04:00

Let your voice be heard!

Cast your vote at the right in the Sullicom Presidential Poll. Who do you feel is the most qualified candidate to lead our nation - John McCain, Barack Obama or Alton Brown.

Vote now!

Arirang

2008-09-01T09:55:00.002-04:00


I was doing a little blog housecleaning and discovered this post that I forgot to publish.

Back in May, I went to the middle school band concert and saw listed on the program "A traditional Korean folksong
called Arirang."

I said to myself, "Could this be the same song I learned one night long ago at the Black Forest Inn with Jim Leickly?

The Black Forest was a small tavern just north of the Ohio State campus.  Once a week, a small, sweet ladynamed Esther
Craw held forth on stage with her accordion, leading buzzed college kids in kitschy singalongs.

Jim, a friend from journalism school, and I were something akin to Esther groupies.

One night, a couple of Korean guys were in the audience and Esther asked them if they had any requests.  One of them asked
if she knew Arirang.  Esther didn't but said she could fake it if the guy could sing a little.  He did, singing in Korean, and Esther
quickly picked up the tune.

She asked him what the song was about.  As I recall, his interpretation of the story behind the song went something like:
Boy meets girl.  Boy falls in love with girl.  Girl's family does not like the boy and moves to the other side of the mountain.  Boy
goes to the other side of the mountain.  Boy finds girl and... ARIRANG! (wink, wink)

I contacted Jim to tell him about this and he said Esther recently passed away.  "Great lady," he said.  Yes, she was.

Tofu Time

2008-08-31T22:07:00.004-04:00

It was about this time a year ago that I first posted about barbecued tofu. It was a favorite recipe from back in the days when yours truly was a dedicated vegetarian.

Now Flannery, our 13-year-old has gone meatless, so we're trying to introduce her to some of our old recipes. With the help of her little sister, MoJo, I whipped up the maranade and sauce, baked the tofu fillets, then served them with a salad and some couscous.

Although Marcy and I made this recipe many times before, it was particularly tasty this time. Maybe because we were sharing it with our kids, which makes everything special.

The Pits

2008-08-30T05:58:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I made my first effort at a couple of local favorites - Baltimore-style pit beef and pit turkey.

When we first got to town almost eight years ago now, I was intrigued by these little roadside pit beef shacks that were scattered around. Sometimes they were in the parking lots of restaurants, sometimes they were attached to fruit stands, or gas stations or just sitting by themselves. When I finally pulled off and ordered one of the sandwiches, I was hooked.

It wasn't like the bbq I'd enjoyed in Kentucky, Texas or Chicago. There's no sauce applied during the cooking and sometimes not even a rub added before. The beef, grilled over direct heat has a crunchy crust and is sliced as thin as possible, then piled high on a kaiser roll and slathered with a horseradish sauce.

Pulaski Highway, which runs through Baltimore's east side, is Pit Beef Alley. Chaps is perhaps the Mecca of pit places, drawing well locally and bringing in aficionados from all over.

I prepared the beef and turkey the night before grilling, using a rub attributed to Big Fat Daddy, who used to be among the Pulaski pit bosses. The recipe is:

1/2 cup Season-All seasoned salt
1/4 cup paprika
4 tsp garlic powder
4 tsp oregano
2 tsp ground black pepper

After rubbing the beef (3 lbs top round) and a turkey breast, I covered both with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator overnight to cure.

The next day I prepared the Weber for direct grilling and when the coals were ready, put both meats side by side over the coals.

I turned the meats about every five to seven minutes to make sure they cooked evenly. After about an hour over the coals, both were nicely blackened on the outside and cooked to temperature inside (about 150-160 degrees for the beef, whenever the plug popped out of the turkey breast).

I brought both in, tented them on a cutting board for 30 minutes, then began to slice as thinly as I could. I also mixed up the requisite horseradish sauce:

1 cup Hellmann's mayo
1/2 cup prepared white horseradish
1 Tbl lemon juice
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste.

I don't know if I'm quite ready to open my own roadside pit joint, but it wasn't too bad for a first attempt.

Rendezvous

2008-08-17T16:11:00.007-04:00

Last night we saw John Hiatt in concert at the Hot August Blues Festival in Cockeysville, Maryland. It was the fourth time we've seen Hiatt in concert. Great shows, every one.

The first time I heard of Hiatt was in the mid-1908s when we lived in Chicago and WXRT FM was playing Memphis in the Meantime. To this day it's still my favorite John Hiatt song.

There's a line in the song I didn't think about much until last night, and it jumped out at me - "At least we can get ourselves a decent meal down at the Rendezvous." Rendezvous? Why does that sound familiar?

Today I figured it out. I was just reading about the Rendezvous in Steven Raichlen's BBQ USA. It's the Vergos family's bbq restaurant in Memphis. The Rendezvous is famous for mouth-watering ribs, pork shoulder and leg of lamb. And you can order just about anything off their menu and they'll ship it to you.

Now I have a reason to like the song even more.

Peace, Love & BBQ

2008-08-13T05:30:00.000-04:00

There are two things I miss most about Austin, Texas, where we lived during the late '90s and early '00s - the music and the food.

Marcia Ball calls to mind both. A bluesy, soulful mainstay of the Austin music scene, we saw her a couple of times in downtown restaurants, where she was eating, not performing.

The clip above preserves that duality and is a perfect fit for the theme of this blog.

Enjoy!

Tube Steaks

2008-08-11T07:02:00.005-04:00

Looking to flaunt my grillmanship this weekend, I stopped by the butcher and picked up a pound of his finest, all-beef tube steaks.

While the beefy links were still fresh, I prepared the Weber for direct grilling. Once the coals were white hot, I carefully placed the links perpendicular to the grate, to give them a lovely striping of grill marks.

These doggies cook quickly, so I hovered over the fire with tongs at the ready. Since these things are round, there's really no "side" to cook them on. I allowed them to rest for roughly 45 seconds before giving each tube a nudge with the tongs to expose another section to the flames.

Within 2-3 minutes, the meat was perfectly browned and the skin was bursting open. I carefully removed them from the grill and placed each in a soft, elongated roll that was split down the middle. They were then dressed with a line of mustard and a sprinkling of dill relish. They were complemented by a side salad of baby spring greens with a balsamic reduction and a perfectly chilled glass of Chardonnay.

Delicioso!

The BBQ Song

2008-08-06T17:36:00.001-04:00

Calamity Jeff sent me the link to the above video, which is Rhett and Link's musical review of bbq across the southern states. Great stuff!

You can see more from them here.