Track These Down...

Amira picked these up recently, and we
gobbled them right down. Superb -- and
just one product of many made by this
company. Who knew that tortilla chips
made with quinoa, chia seeds, broccoli
 seeds, golden flax, radish seeds, etc., etc.
could be so edible?!  

Click HERE to learn more, including where
you can find them in your area.  Seriously good
 stuff, the polar opposite of, say, Fritos. 

***

Found this on Wikipedia: "Some Frito-Lay
 brand seasoned products, including some
 flavors of Tostitos, contain pork enzymes in
 addition to herbs, cheese and other seasonings.
 Frito-Lay's website  states that they use enzymes
 from pigs (porcine enzymes) in some of their
 seasoned snack products to develop 'unique
 flavors'. The presence of pig-derived ingredients
makes them unsuitable for Vegetarians, Vegans,
 as well as non-kosher (sinful for observant Jews
 to eat), and haraam (sinful for Muslims to eat)."

"What has she got? She's got the most..."

Remembering MMM, born on this day in 1911.


For a special treat, click right...

 HERE.

The Verdict is in...

Say it ain't so, Ho.

And now for the rest of the story on old Doc Weinblatt, whose
years of pediatric service to the Ann Arbor community included
  watching over the health of a couple of of thumbsucking droolers  
named Mavourneen and Amira.


Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft
 into the USS Bunker Hill during a Kamikaze
 mission  on 11 May 1945. 

Sadly, Dr. W has crashed hard and continues to burn, and like a
 dedicated kamakazi pilot, there's no turning back now
 for the poor sod...

To read all about it, click HERE.

Note:  For original story, scroll down to Older Posts at the bottom
and go to December 9.

More on Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Chia...

Click pic for more info.

NOTE:  A few days ago (1/23/12), I added a post about chia, the
 super-nutritious "wonder" seed that nobody had a clue about.
 (Except for, as we learned, the Marions of Newton, who have been
 eating it "for years," enjoying, as a result, alarmingly good health
 and retaining their youthful energy and good looks long after the
 rest of us, totally in the dark, have continued, ironically, to
 go to seed.  Thanks for nothing Mike, Donna....

Here is some nutritional info about chia that I dug up while writing a

press release for the al dente pasta company which is preparing to

introduce BonaChia, a new line of pasta made with chia seeds...

al dente's latest line

"Better known in its most whimsical form as a “made for tv” plant

 (everybody knows the Chia Pet), Chia is actually categorized as a superfood

 in the culinary world.  This means that not only does it taste good in
 our pasta, it’s also good for you.

"Chia, in fact, is really good for you:  Gram for gram, it truly

 stands alone with twice the protein of any other seed or grain; five
 times more  calcium than milk; more fiber than bran cereal; twice the
potassium of bananas; three time more iron than spinach;
and more antioxidants than blueberries.   What’s more, Chia is
 nutritionally superior to flax and soy and possesses the

richest non-marine whole food source of dietary fiber and Omega-3."

Incidentally, I did a little checking around and found that chia seeds
were available at the Ann Arbor Food Co-op for $13+ per pound.
  That seemed ridiculous, so I googled it and found any number
 of sources online for far less.  I ended up ordering from getchia.com

and got a 3-pound bag like the one above for $19.99 (AKA, $20). 
 So that came out to $6.66 a pound, much better.  The shipping was
 free and fast, and two or three days later, we had our chia. 
I then immediately tossed some in bread dough and ended up with
 this loaf...Delicious AND, as the tightlipped Marions of Newton have
known "for years," filled with nutrition.

See those little black specks?  Chia seeds.

(A very smart addition to a basic white bread.)

Remembering Rose...

Rose Yazembiak, circa 1942

"When she was 17, my mother left home and headed to Erie, the biggest

 city in the region. Erie was just 20 miles up the road from Edinboro (PA),

but  it was a whole new world for her.  She moved in with her married

 older sister Mary and began waitressing at a local restaurant.

"As custom required, she sent most of her earnings to her parents,

but for her, that was a small price to pay for being away from the

 drudgery and endless toil of the farm.  In truth, by then, she had

 developed such a distaste for farm life that as a young, eligible

 woman, she wouldn’t even date a farmer. 

She wasn’t taking any chances!"

Char LaCasse, from her remembrances of her mother, Rose, written for

Rose's memorial last spring.  Rose died on 1/6/2011 and would have turned

 88 today, 1/17/2012.

MLK Day?! HE would not be amused...

Michigan Ave., Dearborn, MI, circa 1950s - Orville Hubbard, the bigoted, bloated, bad boy mayor of Dearborn

An entire day dedicated to the life of a black man!?  "WTF!" old Mayor
Hubbard would  have exclaimed, had he not died in 1982, one year before
 President  Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law.  

Orvie ruled the city with an iron fist for 36 years, keeping Dearborn
 "lily white" for most of that time, much to the satisfaction of the
 electorate.  Otherwise, how would he have lasted so long? 

(Aside:  This electorate included our own parents, neighbors,
fellow parishioners, etc., etc.  Could it be that we moved to
 Dearborn in the first place because of its reputation and
 WJM's  deep-rooted connection to the South?!  He was,
 after all, born and raised in aggressively segregationist
 Alabama.  Just wondering aloud; alas, we'll never know....)

  In fact, according  to local legend, blacks had to be out of town by

 nightfall, or else....  And Camp Dearborn, a summer "resort" for
residents-only located in Milford, about an hour northwest
of the city?  It, too, remained all white during his corrupt reign.

Click HERE to read more about the diabolical
 "Dictator of Dearborn" who strove always to
 Keep Dearborn Clean (wink-wink, nod-nod)

Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King

Logan discovered this really oddball brand in Montreal...

JPM Photography, copyright 2011

And he appears to be 'head over heels' about it.

Click the Pic for verification.

He also sent me a photo of the jam he had

 presumably slathered onto his toast that morning,

complaining that it was really sour (NOT!)...

Researching further, I found that you can also get these...

Note:  Amira Lima Beans (Flatulence Level 19 on the

20-level Petard Scale) are well-known throughout

 Upper Canada for being "extra farty," a desireable,

warming, truly beneficial trait during those endlessly

brutal Northern winter nights.  It is also the only brand

 endorsed by the International Flatulist Association

(AKA, the IFA).

And finally, while we're on the subject, we have irrefutable
proof that fact is, indeed, stranger than fiction...

CLICK HERE.

______________________________________________________________

Click HERE to order AMIRA products of your very own....

______________________________________________________________

Young cousins at Christmas in days gone by...

(circa 1987) Mavourneen, Annie, Nicole (seen here enjoying a savory, spittle-laden
knuckle sandwich.  She would later become a vegetarian.)

From the Norman Rockwell collection...

Roger and Rose, Char and Linda and Jerry Mathers as the Santa

A Merry (Late 50s) Christmas...

Dearborn, Michigan, circa 1959-1960



Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.

Mt. Pleasant, MI, circa 1959

Not sure if this is Thanksgiving, but Martha has broken out candles, her best

 china (Pomeroy Royal Doulton, "produced from the original Davenport

 engravings, 1793"), and the meal** has been memorialized by this shot,

 so it could well have been.  Note ashtray in foreground near where

 WJM would be sitting if he hadn't been the photographer. Also check out

the beverage of choice for all minors: milk (except for RJ - mostly hidden

 by little bro, JP - who has a pitcher of martinis in front of him). 

Appropriately, the china (how it survived our abuse I'll never

comprehend) is now in Julie's possession, and the table was

 passed from JP to me, and is still alive and well in Ann Arbor.  (Now,

its conveniently broad surface is usually loaded with LDM's legal

 and medical books, magazines, paperwork, accoutrement, junk mail,

 and miscellania until the next big holiday or special occasion when

 it is cleared, cleaned, set, and pressed into service once again.... 

**Could that be the remnants of a turkey dinner on my plate?

As they say... "Possession is 9/10s of the law...."

Summer, 1952

Well...maybe not when it comes to moms and newborn

baby sisters. This is Char, of course, holding on for dear

life as her formerly unquestioned primary position in the

 pecking order has now been disrupted by Linda's arrival.

Looks like Rose is handling it pretty well, all things

considered.  Hard to believe that this cling on here is now

 officially eligible for Social Security.  Well, better get it

while there's still some left in the pot, right?

All the best on your Big Day, Char!

Sweet Sixteen...

Char sent along a treasure-trove of vintage photos of her mother,

including this classic:  Rose at 16.  It was 1940, and

she was still living on the farm in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, about

20 miles south of Erie.  Must be be Sunday, given her fancy attire (not 

exactly milking clothes).  Note one of her little brothers lurking in

the backround, trying to muck up the shot. 

I'll be posting more pics of Rose as the days go on and also photos

taken at her memorial on April 23, 2011, which turned out to be an

absolutely perfect day of tribute from start to finish.