chicago style dogs

For 35 years we lived about 3/4 of a mile from Martino’s. It’s a hot dog shack. Well, not really a “shack”, it’s a proper business that’s had a loyal following for 45 year now. Since 1977, as their sign says.

When our daughter Kathryn was old enough to get an after-school job working there was one of her first paid gigs. Oddly enough I’m not sure we ever went to eat there, but we have been there a great many times before, during and after.

There’s this thing about Chicago Style hot dogs — or often known as Chicago Style Red Hots. If you’re from the Windy City you know all about the controversy between Kosher and non-kosher dogs (the absence or presence of pork meat in the sausage respectively). But aside from that major sticking point among Chicago Style afficianados a dog needs specific ingredients to pass muster ( or maybe pass “mustard” as a Chicago Style product.

The dogs are grilled, not boiled, and not rippers. They are served on a soft spongy poppy seed bun. They are topped with a squirt of mustard (only, no ketchup), onions, 2 sport peppers, 2 slices of tomato (or wedges) and one dill pickle spear. But between the squirt of mustard and the onions comes a tablespoon of electric green pickle relish. All of that is wrapped in paper, along with a modest portion of fresh french fries. You end up with a little bundle that makes a mess of poppy seeds all over the table when you unwrap it, and it couldn’t be any better, tastier, or satisfying.

I have no idea what it is in the green pickle relish that makes it so electric green but any imitation just isn’t acceptable. It probably isn’t good for us, but there is some mystique about that electric color that the Chicago Style Dog demands. Go figure.

Our new digs are a lot closer to Martino’s than were we formerly lived. I guess it was fitting that just a week or two into our new digs we had to stop and imbibe on the taste of so many years and such happy memories.

Like a lot of hot dog joints they also serve a terrific Italian Beef and all sorts of variations on the menu, along with shakes and malts and desserts — carrot cake, chocolate cake, rice krispy bars, etc.. It’s definitely a taste of the 70’s and it’s worth it.

You never see a long line of cars at their drive up — because there is none. You come inside, and stand in line and order like real human beings. You are greeted with a smile, service is fast, and I’ve never had a botched order. They are about hospitality, not food service.

I bet we’ll stop by more often now that they are almost on our doorstep. I hope so. They deserve to survive well into the mid-21st Century!

Hooray for hot dogs! No my favorite food, but among my favorite food memories.

I hope you’re well, take care of yourself and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.

mysterious mattress topper

I don’t know what to tell you. It’s a full blown mystery to me.

In 2017, while we were living in South Texas, we bought a three inch memory foam mattress topper. It’s wasn’t anything special. I don’t even know where we bought it actually. Truth be told I wouldn’t expect us to still be using it 7 years later. Usually foam deteriorates faster than that — at least in my experience.

We used it atop a queen bed whilst in Texas for a couple years. When we moved to Wisconsin we reverted to our queen size Sleep Number bed inside a 20 some year old IKEA MALM bed frame. I loved the look of that frame the moment we saw it, and I still love it today.

Malm Bed Frame

The picture to the left is of current production. The version we bought all that long ago was a frame “with storage” and while it isn’t a lot different, the mattress set down inside a pocket like this old photo I found.

Malm Frame with Storage

The reason for all this obsession with the bed frame whilst I’m trying to tell you about the mattress topper is simple. When we moved from S. Texas to Wisconsin we put that sleep number mattress in the recessed frame and the topper on top and the bed didn’t function as a sleep number bed any more. The topper was thick enough (3”) that it took up all the plushness that we used the sleep number bed for. So, being too cheap just to throw away the topper we decided to used the topper as a bottomed — and put it into the recess where the mattress should have been and the mattress on top of the topper. That way we got a few extra inches height off the floor, and we still got the advantage of the sleep number bed. Whew…. Long story short.

Enter 2024 and our move. When we moved the bed we moved all the parts and our original agreement with the landlord here was that we would use the bed frame and mattress that were in the unit until they were ready to sell it and we were ready to move to the first floor. We tried their mattress initially, but after a night on it we realized it was way harder than we could comfortably sleep on, so we looked for alternatives, and of course there was the topper in another room sitting there not being used along with the Sleep Number mattress and the IKEA MALM bed frame which we were storing until our move downstairs.

Ok — you can imagine how this goes not. Mattress topper on top of mattress. Lay down. Yes, confirmed, more comfy that mattress without topper. Ok — we decide to sleep on the bed that way.

Next morning we awaken and I feel like I’m falling out of bed. Look at bed and mattress and topper and here topper has moved itself about 3-4” to one side (mine) and is now hanging over the edge of the mattress — giving the falling sensation.

Readjust mattress topper that morning and try again at night.

Next morning, same thing. Mattress walks 3″-4” to one side, and it feels as if I’m falling off bed.

Hmm. Continue with this scenario for about 7 nights cuz I’m too lazy to do anything and it just doesn’t make sense.

Finally in last ditch brain-stormy flash of lightning idea, what if we turn the mattress around. Either upside down or 180 degrees? At this point it can’t hurt to try before we through up our hands in defeat.

Turn mattress. Give it a night’s test sleep and voila! Problem solved. Topper stays right where it’s put and sleep improves 100%. Go figure.

Look closely at the mattress.

Topper Close Up

To all appearances the topper is identical on both sides. Those little holes go all the way through to the other side, there is no appreciable non-flat surface, it just looks like a plane with holes in it. There is no reason on earth that with one side up it should walk, and with that side rotated 180 degrees it should stay in place. But there you have it. It does. Go figure.

I’m flabbergasted. How about you?

I hope you’re well. Keep yourself safe and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.

GERMAN LIVER DUMPLING SOUP – BAVARIAN SPECIALTY

I appreciate that some folks think eating organ meat ( or offal ) is gross, but humans have been consuming animals head to toe since they started hunting and those so-called lesser cut often contain extraordinary flavor. I grew up with the occasional bowl of beef broth with a big old liver dumpling that had been cooked (as in boiled) in the broth.

For some reason the broth was always thin, but flavorful. There were veggies in it, but usually only carrot slices, onion and celery. We weren’t Jewish, but this soup which in the Midwest seems associated exclusively with Jewish food culture was a staple dish on a lot of Milwaukee menus. I hope you like this version.

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The German liver dumpling soup is a Bavarian Specialty and is called in German “Leberknödelsuppe”. “Knödel” means dumpling and “Leber” means liver. If you travel to Bavaria one day, don’t forget to try this soup. It is served in almost every Bavarian Gasthaus (inn).
The recipe’s base is a beef broth, as described in one of my former recipes, and it would be best to make this broth from scratch. In Germany you can buy the Leberknödel pre-cooked in cans or frozen, unfortunately not in the USA (they cannot be imported). The good thing is that we can make them at home. Give it a try. Happy Cooking!

Ingredients German Liver Dumpling Soup

(serves 8)
2 liter beef broth  
– How to Make Beef Broth – 
750 g beef liver
300 g beef
8 older wheat rolls (preferably German rolls)
4 onions
fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives, tarragon, thyme, lovage (Liebstoeckel)
3 eggs
salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste

Cooking Instructions

– Bring the broth in a bigger pan to a boil (Alternatively you can use organic instant beef or vegetable broth).
– Run the beef and liver through a meat grinder.
– Soak the rolls in warm water.
– Peel onions and chop them fine.
– Wash herbs and chop fine.
– Add the meat into a bowl and mix it with onions, herbs and eggs.
– Squeeze the water thoroughly out of the rolls, combine with the meat.
– Add spices to taste.

– With moist hands form dumplings, not too big.
– With a slotted spoon place dumplings into the boiling hot broth.
– Reduce heat.
– Let dumplings simmer for 15-20 minutes on low heat.
– Important: Don’t bring the broth to a boil anymore otherwise the dumplings will fall apart.

Serve the soup with some sprinkled parsley on top.

awareness wisdom

I’m not sure if there are different “kinds” of wisdom but I do think that this guy’s got a point. Wisdom isn’t something that arises from within. We gain wisdom by taking things in that aren’t ours and realizing that we were pretty ignorant, or just plain stupid not to have realized this thing before. Wisdom grows in proportion to our awareness of our own ignorance.

That learning about our own ignorance is important. It opens our mind — or at least it should open our mind — to the possibility of understandings over and above what we have learned, or think we know. It’s a great big world out there and none of us has all the answers — or even knows all the questions to ask to learn the answers.

Indeed, I fear that too many folks don’t care that there are questions to ask. I know too many parents who force their children into pathways that they wanted for themselves but were unable, untalented enough, or too frightened to achieve for themselves. I know there are too many politicians who have accepted enough bribes that they dare not ask questions. I know enough bosses whose careers depend not on making next quarter’s profits but on being able to hold themselves harmless for any profit shortfalls because they are inadequate managers. There are a million reasons why wisdom is rejected because we are too proud, arrogant: truly the gods hate hubris and a great many citizens suffer from it.

I don’t think there’s any way to “teach” wisdom. It’s not about knowledge. You can “know everything” and still not be wise. And you can “have” very little and still be very wise. Some of the wisest people I have known have been aged immigrants who could barely hold a conversation in their second language (English) but who had seen enough of life, love, and suffering to be better counsellors than degreed shrinks. Curiously enough, none of them went around expecting people to flock to them for advice.

WE live in a world with excessive information, and not a lot of knowledge. Yet, for all the knowledge that there is, there is even less wisdom. We trade short term gains for long term suffering. We bomb generation after generation of children — and then we can’t understand why the future generations hate us. Particularly in the U.S. where we have been at nearly continuous war with some country or another for the entire 200+ years of our existence — we don’t. understand why people around the world may want the freedoms and the wealth that we have but hate the society we have become.

Wisdom has a lot to do with our ability to observe what’s happening around us. But first we have to be watching and listening, rather than expounding and proclaiming. I wish more of us could try that….

I hope you’re well, and prospering. Take care of yourself and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.

neighborhood

Neighborhood! It’s been a long time coming.

We took a walk in our new neighborhood today. And I mean, “neighborhood.”

The place we left was technically a suburban city restricting the growth of the City of Milwaukee on the Southwestern corner of town. With a population of just under 37,000 it’s big enough to have services and affluent enough to attract lots of MAGA voters — only part of the reason we were willing to move with so little provocation. To say that most of the population there feels privileged is not a hasty judgment, or unfounded one at all.

I mentioned a couple days ago that the city of Milwaukee has/had a wonderful park system. Well, our new digs are IN the city, and the closest park is about 0.4 miles from the park. On our Saturday morning walk today we were delighted to see that multiple games of school soccer were going on — to be replaced by another group of multiple games with different aged kiddies. What a delight! Lots of parents in attendance (and grandparents). Cars parked up and down the street with dads carrying lawnchairs and moms carrying water bottles and shin-guards. Wonderful to see.

It’s almost like our place 20 years ago in Cudahy where we lived adjacent to a city elementary school and I got to talk to the kiddos through our adjoining fence whilst they were on “recess” and I was working in the garden. You know how it goes…. “Hey mister, what’cha doing?” And of course there were also questions about the ghost in our building which peculiarly placed windows (to the kids I guess) and shadows and light gave rise to very imaginative suppositions which I was happy to …. well…. not exactly deny. 🙂

We live half a mile from the local library. Also doing double duty as our local polling place. The city services Ward yard is about 1 mile. There are loads of dog walkers, who actually seem pretty well leash and poop-bag trained. But, sadly, we have not yet seen very many actual recreational walkers. The fact that our street is one three blocks long before it dead-ends 1/2 block from our front door into a crosstreet which also dead ends into it. So, we’re on a sort of closed loop with two semi-busy streets at either end of an L-shaped residential neighborhood.

It’s going to take time getting used to this place, but so far most of the signs are positive!

everything vegan fruit, veggie and nut breakfast bread

Ok — I’ll be honest. I don’t know if I’m ready for this recipe. Look at the ingredients.

Ingredients

• Dry Ingredients
• 2 cups spelt flour (can sub in 1:1 gluten free flour)
• 1 cup rolled oats (regular or gluten free)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• Wet Ingredients
• ½ cup coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup pure maple syrup
• ½ cup non dairy milk, I used coconut
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Mix in’s
• 1 cup mixed fresh berries, I used raspberries, blueberries and blackberries
• 1 cup finely chopped baby spinach
• 1 cup finely grated carrots
• 1 medium sized apple, shredded – I used a Fuji
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup of a mix sunflower & pumpkin seeds, or any chopped nuts
• ¼ cup diced dried apricots

But the thing looks mesmerizing. I can’t take my eyes off it, but I’m afraid to actually try making it.

The recipe is simple. The original cook says the secret is the cardamon and I like the flavor of cardamon a lot if it is used in moderation. But I just can’t bring myself to try making this.

Instructions

1. Prepare a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan with parchment paper or non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together wet ingredients then add to dry ingredients just until blended. DO NOT OVERMIX.
3. Fold in balance of ingredients (the mix in’s).
4. Place batter into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean.
5. Let cool for 10 minutes then remove loaf to baking rack to cool completely.

Maybe your braver than I.

Hope you’re doing well today. Keep Safe and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.

birding

Birding has always been part of my life. Sometimes more; sometimes less; but there in the background. My earliest memories of going out looking for birds is when I was a Cub Scout and my parents took me out for Saturday Morning Bird Walks with the Milwaukee County Exec. (who’s name I can’t recall — “Doyne” perhaps) Through youth and marriage being in the woods and looking for critters — mostly birds — has been one way of relaxing, tuning into the world around me and just “having fun” — though I suppose for some people that wouldn’t be their idea of “fun.”

I’m frightened — and yes I admit it — that I do not hear as many birdsongs as in days gone by. And that also means not as many species as used to populate our meadows and forests. I’m not the only person to sound that alarm but one or two of us aren’t going to change macro influences in this world and I have to be satisfied with doing my little bit and continuing to sound the alarm in the hopes the rest of the world will some day care that we are killing the planet and all life on it.

Over the years I’ve taken a good fair share of bird images. A very few of them are attached.

We are fortunate in that Milwaukee had one of the nicest city park systems in the country. Unfortunately maintenance of the parks has fallen prey to budget thievery so the facilities within the parks are no longer pristine and well repaired — but the green space remains and it isn’t polluted by weed killers and the habitat remains more or less intact.

There are a few parks with nature walks — and lovely benches that we can sit on for a while and simply listen and say “Hi” to passing walkers also using the trails. We notice that there are a good number of other “twitchers” out there along with us. A few cameras-with-long-lenses each visit sometimes give rise to conversation, other times simply a knowing glance and smile. But the real ATTRACTION isn’t the hardware it’s the critters. This time especially when babies are being born and parents are shuttling back and forth with food for the little’uns the joy of sightings bring special joy.

It doesn’t have to cost money to have fun in nature. All we have to do is open out eyes, listen with our ears, and take in what nature has in store for us.

I hope you’re doing well today. Take care and stay safe. 🙂

smaller grocery orders

Aging has interesting side effects. At least if you are trying to be independent.

Our temporary digs are second floor accommodations. We moved from the second floor to the first floor 4 years ago because we were tired of dragging things up and down stairs. Now we are back at it.

A little aside here. I know that statistically Americans have been spending less and less on food prepared at home but in our last apartment it really seemed that of the 8 families in our building we were the only ones who did regular (as in daily cooking at home. None of the other families seemed to do any appreciable grocery shopping — including have food delivered to their door — which had been the case with our previous across-the-hall-neighbor who moved out about 9 months ago. We see a lot of Door Dash, and Uber deliveries. As well as a lot of pizza and chicken deliveries. End of aside!

Back to my story.

I have been the guy who does grocery shopping once a week. Sometimes less. I’m accustomed to keeping the frig stocked so that I can prepare pretty much anything I’m likely to want to eat. Lots of staples and of course fresh veg as well as both fresh and frozen protein. It wasn’t until a few months ago (ironically a couple months before the whole idea of this move was raised) that we broke down and bought a shopping cart to help with the car-to-door carrying. It’s actually quite a nice cart.

Such a grocery haul almost always required multiple trips back and forth to the car. Now it also requires multiple trips up and down the stairs — something my legs and heart aren’t all that happy about.

We have decided to try more trips to the grocery more frequently. Now don’t get me wrong, we have TRIED this approach before and failed miserably. It seems the old brain just doesn’t want to re-think old patterns. But, I like the temporary stairs even less than I like more, smaller trips. I’m hopeful this time we may succeed.

But…. consciously thinking about adjusting quantities is one of those constant-thought-challenges that befuddle and sabotage the best laid plan. I’m USED to getting certain quantities. I’ve been doing that in most cases for 20-30 years, and almost everything for the past 13 years since retiring. WE have our regular likes and dislikes and we just fall into habits.

I hope we’ll succeed this time. Our FIRST-at-the-new-address grocery pickup order was this morning. We ended up with 4 plastic bags and 2 paper ones. The paper fit nicely INSIDE the plastic for the sake of hauling so we did our entire grocery shop in one trip up the stairs.

My maternal grandmother had her own house/flat until she was 90. She lived in the upstairs unit. And she went to the grocery every single day. She was a Polish immigrant and for her “going to the store” was a part of life. She walked two blocks to the shopping street — Mitchell Street – and then walked up and down about 4 blocks where she found her day’s groceries, bits and bobs of fabric, and whatever she wanted from the local stores. Today, 30 years later none of those stores exist and that lifestyle has vanished.

I have no idea how long we’ll be in these new digs. 6 months upstairs till the real estate stuff gets sorted then 5, 10, 20 years in the lower? Right now we have 2 groceries, a pharmacy, a Goodwill, and a Home Depot within 2 miles. Easy enough. One might be able to live their life within that circle. I don’t know. I don’t think we’re in a hurry to TRY doing so. I like to get in the car too much. And this morning I forgot that after stopping at the grocery we were going to go the local Farm & Fleet to purchase almonds and peanuts because I make my own peanut butter and Peggy likes to snack on Almonds. So, sometime today or tomorrow we’ll head out just to head out. For something to be done. For exercise. Apple Health says our activity level has finally risen after our winter idleness, so I’m eager to raise our steps per day!

Maybe more trips to the grocery will help? Whatcha think?