Out with the old...(part I)

First there was this...

Our late friend Sra. Petrona and son Luis in their casita,

Catarina Palopo, Guatemala, circa 1977. (Not present above:

two-year-old Susana, la señora's daughter.)

 Back in the late 70s when Linda and and I lived in the

 village, the women cooked every meal on open, uprotected fires

 inside their huts. It was smokey, labor-intensive, polluting, and

 horribly unhealthy (not to mention dangerous).

Little Susana, back in the day

Then there was this...

This is the stove that Susana cooked our dinner

on (gnocchi!).  There's a hatch in front where

the wood goes. This particular construction was so 

poorly vented that everytime she used it (2-3 times

 a day), her entire house would fill with smoke.

  (Imagine grilling on a Weber in your kitchen or building

a raging fire in your fireplace...then closing the flue.)

Fast forward 35 years.  Little Susana now has four

children of her own ranging in age from 6-18 and just like her

 mother, she struggles day-to-day to get by.  When Amira and I

 visited the village in August 2011, she invited us for dinner, and

when we arrived at her casa -- a rudimentary cement block structure

high up on the mountain overlooking Lake Atitlan -- it was like entering

a smokehouse.  I was immediately alarmed. Was the house on fire!?! 

 No! Not to worry! was the sheepish, resigned reply...just cooking....

And finally...

This pre-fabricated wood burner (called an ONIL stove after its
inventor, an American engineer) eliminates the danger of burns

 and pulmonary illnesses caused by the traditional open fires and
inadequately-vented makeshift stoves still found in so many
Mayan homes. Known for its efficiency, the ONIL eliminates
 smoke from the interior and uses 70%  less firewood (thereby
 addressing another major environmental

concern in the area: deforestation).

(Stay Tuned for Parts II & III)

A photographic goldmine...

Chuck Manson, 1969

A few years ago, google digitized LIFE Magazine (published from

 1936 - 2000 in the form we knew it), and we gained access to an

 endless array of fascinating photos taken around the world, but most
 especially in the U.S., during the 20th Century.  Check it out...

 HERE.

Sense and Sensibility.

The Republicans' airing of their dirty laundry continues this

week in Michigan with the MI primary vote on the horizon.

Came across this arresting video of Mitt Romney.

(Note:  There are equally arresting videos of the other candidates

available as well.)

He DOES have a way with words....

Lunch -- fresh from your own backyard...

MMMM, MMMM, MMMMM... Nothing like a Squirrel Melt.
(This lady is the Julie Child of the wild game set...classic.)

A Taste of the Old Country...

Vintage Rose

found this on the flip side.

I've had this recipe taped to the inside of a kitchen cabinet for years.

Rose sent it to me in the mid-90s after I told her about a Polish

meal we'd just had that included dill pickle soup. We ate it

for the first time at the Polish Village Cafe (the PVC) in Hamtramck,

a struggling city in the shadow of Detroit that is also known as

"Little Poland" -- though if the truth be told, there are more Bangladeshis

living there now than Poles. (Jason and Mira reside in Hamtramck,
by the way, representing another trend, that is, a segment of young, white,
 formerly-suburban residents making their way back toward Detroit, no
doubt because of the PVC's dill pickle soup.)

The PVC is a classic neighborhood gathering spot, very old-fashioned

with ridiculously low prices and a warm ethnic atmosphere that

money just can't buy. (The last time he was in town, Steve Marion insisted

on eating here again, as he vividly recalled the first time several months

earlier. And we all know how picky Steven is about his food -- no doubt

more so than ever upon his return from India.)

Anyway, when I was telling Rose about the soup (which for us was a novelty --

dill pickle soup?) and how we had all (including the girls!) enjoyed it immensely,

she said that her mother, an immigrant from Eastern Europe, used to make it.
  In fact, when Rose was growing up on the  farm in Edinboro, PA, the family
 ate it often (which might explain why she no longer liked it).

She also said that she had a recipe and promised to send it me. She then

painstakingly wrote it out, mailed it off, and I’ve had it ever since.

NOTE:  Depending on one's dietary restrictions, other additions to

 this recipe include a T or two of butter and a half-cup of heavy cream
 or half-and-half added at the end (along with the sour cream) -- or not. 
Just depends on how rich you're willing to go.
 

Also, I often smooth it out with a stick blender or potato masher,
 leaving a few chunks of potato and pickle, but this is not necessary either.
Additionally, you can garnish with fresh dill, if you have it on hand.
And finally, for the hopeless carnivore, some slices of cooked
kielbasa can be tossed on top for that meaty finish.   

Smacznego!

Rose's Dill Pickle Soup

A Birthday Boost from Bunny...

Lyla Kettenhofen, AKA "Bunny," was first Martha's cousin, then her cousin/step-sister
when M.E. O'Brien married his late wife Nell's sister, Lyla -- Bunny's mother. 
 (Got that?) When she wrote this letter, Bunny was Mrs. John Doherty with a
 young family of her own....
PS  Happy B'Day to me, Happy B'Day to me, etc., etc., etc....

Amira's way of scaring us into getting our exercise...

MRI cross-section of leg muscles

 

"i hope you guys are working out!"
-Amira, 2/11/12



 

Click HERE to read the entire original post.

And to think that we once owned a Victrola...

MusicMeister JP passed this along for our edification.  

The question now becomes... what next?!  And then

there's this question:  What the hell do we do with

all those cassette tapes, including and especially

the homemade ones??!!

AKA, early ipod

Tick another one off the bucket list...

Accidentally came across Linda's "Bucket List" while I was helping
her search for her reading glasses (they were around her neck on a
cord, as it turned out).  Although I didn't want to be snoopy, I did
manage to see the first several items before I heard her coming down
the hallway had to quickly close the drawer. (Note: When I
checked back the next day while "looking for a pen," the list was
gone, dammit). 

Anyway, this is what I remember from that fleeting glance (note:
they may be a bit out of order)... 

-  Grow up in a Mexican family in 1960s racist, blue-collar Taylor, MI ✔

-  Attend the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City (after driving all the way there
from Michigan).  Then drive all the way back.  (With my parents.) ✔

-  Somehow overcome a suspect education at Taylor High; earn a
 grant to study at U of M ✔

- Enroll in art school at U of M; become a doctor ✔

- Marry into an elite family from racist, white-collar West Dearborn, MI ✔

- Research husband's family's confederate, slave-owning Southern roots ✔

-  Have two children:  one a lawyer in Chicago, the other a designer in
 NYC/Paris ✔

- Accidentally lock myself into a public restroom in Ecuador ✔

-  Go to law school myself, what the hell ✔

-  Meet Monchy and Alexandra, the Dominican Bachata singers ✔

-  Survive a collision with a deer just two blocks from the house (be driving
husband's car at the time, so no biggie) ✔

-  Make a 100-year-old woman my BFF ✔

-  Buy tons of American Girl Doll stuff for my daughters (but not until they're
 in their 20s) ✔

- Take my sweet, elderly Mexican immigrant half-sister Angie -- who has rarely
  left Taylor except for random trips back to Mexico since she arrived in the U.S.
  in 1951 -- on the vacation of a lifetime to Paris

-  Completely forget that I have them on and wear my new Halfinger
    indoor/outdoor slippers to work ✔

- Take an accordion lesson from the legendary Riobard O'Dwyer in
 Eyeries Village, County Cork, Ireland ✔

Linda and Riobard, Eyeries Village, County Cork


All the Best on Your Big Day, Linda!

DS: Upfront and Personal...

"Somehow Delicate Steve got some air time via these short
documentary-style clips...pretty cool how this stuff gets created
and then put 'out there' (all thanks to basic tools of the digital generation)..."
MJ Marion, 1/29/12

Part 1:  http://www.noisey.com/watch/meet-delicate-steve

Part 2:  http://www.noisey.com/watch/wondervisions

Part 3:  http://www.noisey.com/watch/butterfly

Sent from my iPhone
Ed. note: This little "brag line" is Apple's nefarious and not-so-subtle way of attempting
to shame owners of lesser phones into upgrading to an iphone of their own.  Insofar as
nobody cares where their email comes from and only naive "newbies" retain this empty
declaration, I recommend that all iphone owners disable this signature by going to...
Settings>>Mail, Contacts, Calendar>> Signature >*erase everything*    

And finally:  Until Christmas 2012, MJ's cell phone was of the super-clunky,
bag variety (see below).  Now that he's finally - at long last - upgraded to the aforementioned
iphone, he'll be able to provide us with more timely content, and for that, we are grateful.

Mike's cell phone until his recent iphone upgrade.
Purchased in 1995, it gave him 17 years of uninterrupted
service (uninterrupted, that is, unless he was actually
talking to you on the contraption).

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.)

Another reason to support your local NPR station...

Just out:  A brilliant new collaboration by a group called Caller and our own

 Delicate Steve (the eponymous member of which is, by the way, currently

 wandering about Inda seeking inspiration and ever-hotter curry --

more on that when we get more on that). 

In the meanitme, click "NPR" below to read all about this musical union

and have a listen to Further Out, their just-released new song...

NPR

A truly sheepish look.

Hangin' out on The Ring of Beara, near the ancestral homes of our

forefathers and foremothers, the O'Briens and the (Harrington) Greens.

Found this short video from ABC News. Very much mirrors the O'Brien saga...

Click HERE.

Not for the Squeamish...

Warning:  Hard to watch.  Question:  Where do they all go?  Click HERE.