David Buchholz

Some very dramatic sunsets, Jeff, especially with the one with the full moon.  In the film days photographers would go out during a full moon and shoot a roll of film of the moon with a telephoto lens (to make the moon bigger), then rewind the film, trying to remember just where they placed the moon in the image.  On another night they would put the film back in the camera and expose a photo of a city or a silhouetted countryside at night, leaving enough space (if they remembered correctly) where they had exposed for the moon.  A double exposure, one of the moon, and a second of the city.  I tried that a couple of times and forgot where the moon was, so I had a few shots of the moon in a river or in the middle of some buildings.  Digital erased that issue.

If you're on Facebook, Jeff, there's a group called "Sunrise Club".  Members only post photos of sunrises and sunsets.  Of course I'm a member...but this one is an old color slide, before the new Bay Bridge was built, of San Francisco, from the East Bay.

Jeff Daum

Hi Dave, thanks.  That is a powerful SF shot you posted.  I do remember doing double exposures 'back in the day' with some interesting outcomes.  But I preferred doing extra long night exposure shots of buildings and landscapes, that ran for 15 to 20 minutes.  The result was a well balanced shot of the building without capturing images of people moving through the scene.  I did this for the 1964 Worlds Fair (New York) even when there were lots of people walking arround.

Re Facebook, I am one of the holdouts and don't have a Facebook account.

Larry Klein

I fiddled with the double-exposure trick back in the '70s.  Never got very good at it.  Here's the best I could do with it.

Philip Spiess

Jeff:  Thanks for putting up all of those wonderful sunsets.  However, you remind me of Oscar Wilde's quip that "the sunset was like a cheap imitation of a painting by Turner."

Larry:  I suppose you call your photo "Baby Bug."

Steve Dixon:  Going back to the story you related about the Chinese and Roman numerals -- when I had announced my retirement from Browne Academy, teaching 5th and 6th Grade History, I was required to be present at the interviews of my possible successors (which I thought awkward).  One of the prospective teachers mentioned something about Roman numerals, and our Head of School (who almost never visited our classrooms), said, "Oh, we ought to be teaching that!"  I turned brusquely to her and said, "But I do teach that -- as well as teaching an introduction to Old English and Middle English!"  She stared at me like I'd just sprouted from the ground (even though she was paying me as a Master Teacher -- I had more graduate degrees than any other faculty or administrator in the school -- including her).  The kids sometimes seemed smarter than the adults:  once they got this stuff, they lapped it up! 

Jeff Daum

Thanks Phil, that was just what I was going for   Very few things can match Turners great stylistic landscapes.  I'm scraping series 2: Sunsets around the world...

Philip Spiess

Barbara Kahn Tepper:  Back at Entry 1069 you mentioned lack of success with cooking fish.  Actually, much cooking of fish (if it is already cleaned and gutted, and in fillet form) is often simpler than cooking red meat, especially if you fry or bake it (it usually needs less cooking time).  May I offer a couple of my favorite recipes?

OHIO RIVER CATFISH DINNER:

Although this is somewhat of an historical recipe, do not use catfish from the Ohio River:  they eat everything (read "toxic"); always use farm-raised catfish.

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. Catfish Fillets     2 T. Bacon Fat (unmelted)     Bowl of Milk     Mounded Ground Yellow Cornmeal

Melt the bacon fat in a hot skillet or frying pan (do not let it burn!).  Run each farm-raised catfish fillet through the bowl of milk, then through a plate of mounded cornmeal, making sure each fillet is well coated on both sides with the cornmeal.  Fry in the hot bacon fat until golden brown on both sides (about 3-5 minutes on each side), turning periodically to check (too much turning, however, will toughen the fish).  Serve at once with boiled or sauteed greens, such as spinach, kale, or French-fried cucumber or pickle slices (sprinkle the greens with a little cider vinegar or malt vinegar).  Wash down with a good Cincinnati beer, such as Christian Moerlein (if they still make it).

NEW ORLEANS CATFISH SUPREME:

Note instructions in recipe above about using farm-raised catfish.

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. Catfish Fillets     Bowl of Milk     Country-Style Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard

1 to 2 small pkgs. of Crushed Pecans OR Crushed Black Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350^o.  Butter a casserole dish large enough to hold all of the fish fillets without overlapping.  Run each farm-raised catfish fillet through the bowl of milk, then coat all sides of the fillet with a thin (but thorough) coat of the Dijon mustard.  Roll (or coat) the fish next in the crushed pecans (for a sweeter taste) OR in the crushed black walnuts (for a drier taste), making sure that each fish fillet is fully covered.  Bake in the casserole in the oven until the fish is browned outside and cooked through the middle (you may cut open a fish to make sure).  Do not dry out by cooking too long!  This dish is not only easy, but it makes a good party dish with a green salad or various other sides.  If you're into wine, a well-chilled Pinot Grigio, a Sauvignon Blanc, a Sancerre, or even a good Rose will go well.

PORTUGUESE FISH SOUP:                    [This recipe may sound complicated, but it really is easy.]

1 lb. Cod or Haddock (or other flaky white fish)     10-12 medium shell-on Shrimp     1 tsp. Salt

1/2 cup chopped Parsley     2 Tblsps. Olive Oil     1 large Onion, thinly sliced     1 tsp. crushed Garlic

2-3 cups Tomato Juice     1/2 cup small Pasta (Macaroni, Orzo, etc.)     3 Tblspns. chopped fresh Cilantro

Black Pepper to taste     Bread Cubes (French or Italian -- optional)

Bring 3 cups of water to boil in medium saucepan.  Drop in shrimp and cook for 1-2 minutes (until pink).  Reserve cooking liquid.  Remove shrimp and drop into cold water to stop cooking (shrimp will get rubbery if cooked too long).  Peel shrimp and return shells to the reserved cooking liquid.  Add salt and parsley and cook for 10-15 minutes.  In another pan, heat the olive oil and saute the onion and garlic until soft.  Cut the fish into bite-size pieces and add to pan.  Strain the liquid from the shrimp shell mixture.  Discard the shells.  Add the liquid to pan along with the tomato juice.  Add the macaroni (or other pasta) and half the cilantro and stir briskly.  Cook for 6-8 minutes until the pasta is cooked.  Season to taste.  Cut the shrimp into 1/2-inch pieces and add to soup along with the remaining cilantro.  Heat through.  To serve, put bread cubes (optional) in bottom of soup bowls and ladle soup on top.  Serve with French or garlic bread on the side.

Barbara Kahn (Tepper)

Phil, After reading this forum I am thinking there's little you don't know!  Anyway, I can clarify that frying fish I do successfully but broiling or baking never turns out right.  You're so right about the milk because it removes any fishy taste and helps the corn meal to adhere to the fish.  One of the problems is that I don't like lemon on my fish and my husband does so the last time I cooked in a lemon sauce I hated it and he liked it.  So it goes here...........

Sorry to be a party pooper but neither of us drinks and Cincinnati beer would be difficult to find in these parts anyway. ;)

Your creative suggestions are always appreciated!

Philip Spiess

Barbara:  There are always simple solutions to cooking and drinking:  each of you should add your own lemon or lemon sauce (or not) after the dish is served; if you don't do alcohol, just drink what you enjoy with your food!  (I'm sure you do!)  As to broiling fish, you have to watch it almost constantly (shrimp or scallops can be broiled nicely on wooden skewers), but I prefer doing it on an outdoor grill; however, you have to oil or grease the rack well to prevent sticking, or wrap the fish in aluminum foil (usually with some butter or garlic butter) and essentially roast it.  Baking fish, on the other hand, is easy:  make sure you butter (or oil) the container you plan to bake the fish in; most baked fish do well with a sauce of some sort (often a cream sauce -- although I like an olive oil sauce with actual olives - and maybe chopped bell peppers -- in it).  And don't make the temperature too hot:  most fish bakes well at 350^o; you can always cut into the fish to see if it's done. 

Only gradually did I learn, while trying cooking over an almost thirty-year period (I found it relaxing after work, and it was creative; besides, my wife was grateful), that recipes are made to be altered:  that, if you're missing an ingredient, you can usually figure out one you have to substitute; that, if you don't like a particular ingredient in a recipe, you can substitute something similar that you do like; and that, if you suddenly realize the recipe you're cooking ain't working out, you jettison it and do something else, like order out for cheap Chinese take-out (if I was at home in Cincinnati, we'd just run out for Skyline chili or White Castle hamburgers, topped off with Graeter's ice cream, but here in Washington we're so deprived -- all we have to dine on is cheap political rhetoric, heated up by an excess of gassy hot air -- and that makes for indigestion).

Barbara Kahn (Tepper)

Phil - I think cooking for 50 years has burned me out!  Chicken tonight. ;)

I absolutely love White Castles and asked to stop on the way home from the doctor on Tuesday but Roy wouldn't indulge me. He gets too tired sometimes.  That's sort of why I cook so much - too much trouble to go out.  At least when we do go out we can order what we each like so I'm not stuck trying to please us both.  Then if my son stops by I might need a third option.  

He wouldn't eat chili but I love it.  It's funny that I never had Cincinnati chili until later in life.  I always loved the chili my mother made.  

Philip Spiess

Barbara:  At the risk of doing one too many recipes, I offer one more:  my grandmother's recipe for what we in the family have always called "Cincinnati Chili."  Her recipe predates Skyline (which, I believe, started in Cincinnati about 1947 and is Greek, anyway, not German -- its "secret" ingredient, which many now know, is cinnamon, which is what makes it special; more below, about other Cincinnati chilis); we used to have my grandmother's chili at many a Sunday night supper in Clifton or, later, Finneytown, and occasionally we'd take her chili on picnics, most notably to the old Coney Island (on the Ohio River).  It's remained popular with my work colleagues, with our church, and with my son and his set.

GRANDMOTHER GOEPP'S CINCINNATI CHILI:

1 lb. Ground Beef     1 Tbl. Butter     1 and 1/2 large Yellow Onions     1 can (8 oz.) Tomato Sauce

1 can (15 1/2 oz.) dark Red Kidney Beans     1 tsp. Salt     1 tsp. Black Pepper     1 Tbl. (or more) Chili Powder

Melt the butter in a large skillet, then fry the cut-up onions in it until they are golden.  (My grandmother chopped the onions; I prefer to slice them and then divide the slices into sixths, thus making longer strips of onion.)  Add the ground beef to the onions and fry until all of the pink is gone from the meat (that is, until the meat is well done).  Add the kidney beans with their liquid, the tomato sauce, the salt, the pepper, and the chili powder (to taste), and stir all in together until all is well mixed.  Cook for about 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally (so it does not stick on the bottom of the pan, though a little sticking adds to the flavor), until the sauce begins to thicken a bit.  Skim the fat as desired (I leave it in).  It's possibly even better on the next day, and good served with homemade garlic bread or corn bread (recipes on request).  [Note:  Although my grandmother never added spaghetti to this dish, neither do I, but my wife and son do -- it's perfectly acceptable.  They also are apt to add shredded or grated cheddar or parmesan cheese as a topping, which I often do as well.]

Why chili, a seemingly Tex-Mex dish, in Cincinnati, in a northern state, and in a city which has been historically German?  (The annual Congressional chili cook-offs in Washington, D. C., between Texan congressmen and Cincinnati congressmen, are legendary.)  The answer is simple, my friends -- the "free lunches" at pre-Prohibition Cincinnati-German saloons!  Those "free lunches" -- pickles, chili, "wienie-wursts," hot tamales, salted nuts, briny olives, etc. -- were heavily salted and heavily spiced to induce thirst -- in order to have the customer buy plenty of beer (or maybe even whiskey) with which to wash it down (that's where the money came in!).  Yes, before Prohibition it was 21 beers for a dollar along the swath of Vine Street that stretched from the river to the Cincinnati hills, where inclined railways then carried imbibers to the bibulous resorts on Price Hill, Fairview, Bellevue Hill (Clifton Heights), Mount Auburn (Main Street Incline), and -- most famous -- Mount Adams.  And these were by no means low dives; these were good family establishments, where good Germans -- whether Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish -- could take the whole family for a solid meal and listen to a house orchestra play Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, and Wagner.  Downtown there were Wielert's Saloon and the Atlantic Gardens -- both the classiest -- and in the suburbs, in Mount Auburn, was Mecklenberg's beer garden under its grape arbors.  Carrie Nation visited Vine Street in the early years of the 20th Century and threw down her axe in despair -- it was even too much for her!

[Historical note:  A song from the period (the canal in question was the Miami & Erie Canal, which ran through the "Over-the-Rhine District"; its route is now Central Parkway):

"I stood upon the old Canal bridge / At the midnight hour /

And fed the little fishes there below / 'Cause the last eleven beers I had were sour!"]

(To review these times, try to find a copy of the Cincinnati Times-Star's 1920s publication, Pioneers of Night Life on Vine Street -- it's a classic.)

Prohibition, of course, shot down all of this, but one of the country's biggest bootleggers was George Remus, a Cincinnati cohort of Al Capone, whose Western Hills estate hid many a shipment of illicit booze headed for Chicago or New York (you must remember that, pre-Prohibition, many of Cincinnati's big industries were brewing and distilling, based on Cincinnati's location in the Corn Belt).  After Prohibition, new breweries and distilleries started up (perhaps more on this in another entry).  Came the chili parlors back again.  My grandfather's favorite was an Empress chili parlor in Camp Washington (where our favorite White Castle hamburger outlet also was located), but I always thought Empress chili too spicy for my tastes (my grandpa was a smoker).  Later, when I was in college, I heard many times (and in several parts of the country) that the "secret" to Cincinnati chili was "chocolate" (apparently adapted from the pre-Columbian Mexicans).  I have never actually seen a Cincinnati chili recipe -- I mean one that originated in Cincinnati -- that had chocolate in it.  I am told that Star Chili (I think that's the name), a supposed Cincinnati brand, has chocolate in it, but I disdain to accept this as actual fact.  Again, the "secret" ingredient in my favorite, Skyline Chili, is cinnamon, not chocolate; I have this on the clear statement of the manager of the Skyline chili parlor in Blue Ash (Montgomery?), who was well known to our family.  Enough said! 

Margery Erhardt (Schrader)

Phil,

You are a treasure trove of information. Is there anything you do not know well? I can’t imagine what it would be. As today is Halloween, it has been our family tradition to serve chili (with cinnamon sans chocolate). While my parents were alive (we all lived in Dallas) they would also come over for Halloween dinner as they didn’t like the getting up and down for the doorbell. I would make the chili at noon and it would be great for our sons at 5:30 before they set out and then the rest of us ate between visiting with all of the children. Now that we live in Austin, each year I freeze huge batches of hatch chili peppers in August for year round consumption and that just makes the chili better!  Thank you for your amazing posts!

Sandy Steele (Bauman)

We are celebrating Halloween in Austin with also a big pot of chicken chilli! One of these days, Margie, we will have to get together.

Barbara Kahn (Tepper)

That's what I think too - Phil is amazing! I love this chili recipe - it's something you could even make with the kids.  Thank you so much Phil and thank you Grandmother Goepp!  

Happy Halloween everyone!  

Philip Spiess

And thank you all for your chili posts, an unexpected shared thread!  Happy Hallowe'en to all; we spent the day creating our usual front yard graveyard (always "Room for One More!") and carving Jack O' Lanterns -- but you know what they say about Hallowe'en decorations:  "The Devil is in the details!"  [And a thought for the day:  "It's not the cough that takes you off; it's the coffin they carry you off in!"]

Philip Spiess

Margery and Barbara:  I appreciate your encomiums, but I'm getting a little nervous at the number of people on this Forum who are saying, "Is there nothing that Phil Spiess doesn't know?"  I will relate the story of one of my wife's fellow students in her Cooperstown (N.Y.) Graduate Museum Studies Program (he was from Cincinnati, by the way), who, one evening at my house, looking at some pictures I had drawn (which I may post soon here, if I can figure out how to do it), said, "Philip, you do everything so well!"  I immediately answered, "That is because I only do those things that I do well.  I don't do things that I don't do well!"  The same is with things I don't really know about (or interest me).

David Buchholz

To riff on Phil's comment...I, too, don't do things that I don't do well.  Fortunately, we live less than two miles from UC Berkeley, and the adult classes in lightbulb changing, though challenging, have opened up a whole new world for me.

And that's pretty much why I only post photographs.  I know my way around light.  For those who don't think we have autumns in California, you're mostly right.  This one was taken yesterday in Ashland, Oregon, the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  For all you Midwesterners and East Coasters, a trip to Ashland, (5 hours north of SF by car) for the Shakespeare Festival is an absolute must.  And a bonus, in October they have real autumns.

Margery Erhardt (Schrader)

Sandy - yes we do have to get together here. Isn't the weather just perfect? Do you go to Formula One? This is a busy weekend when many of us “natives” leave town except we decided to stay this year as we have several things going on at this time. Traffic has been terrible the past two days but I just got back from downtown and it seemed normal - not bad at all. 

Phil - You are too funny for words and way too modest! I am afraid if I only did things I could do well there wouldn't be much to do. I did try my hand at art (have always loved anything art since Mr. Vogel in my first years at WH) and did watercolors but then found out I was really into oils more but was too busy so dropped it. Computers came along and I became impassioned with Adobe and their products such as Illustrator and PS as well as a program called Painter. So I have spent much time designing for companies and groups. Anyway, your knowledge of various historical facts fascinates me. Thanks so much!!!!!

Barbara Kahn (Tepper)

Phil, Thou dost protest too much!  Now you're telling us about your pictures so you're an artist too?!  You're cracking me up but it does keep the chatter flowing.  

We have such a nasty day here with a cold rain and I'm stuck inside for most of it.  We made a short stop at the grocery store and bought a small box of frozen White Castles for lunch.  They were actually good but the pickles I had in the fridge fell far short of the proper kind for those burgers.  We made do fine though and I hope to go out for chowder and fried shrimp tonight to a special seafood restaurant - counter service only and paper plates.  

David Buchholz

Margery, you're not posting any of your Adobe-inspired work because????

And Phil, isn't "encomium" another word for baby feces?  Maybe you moms can help me out.

Philip Spiess

Dave:  That's "meconium," you twit!

Nancy Messer

This photo was taken with my iphone from my kitchen bay window of my back yard (to the fence) and the farm behind me.  The cows (one is between the 2 right trees with leaves) are heading to where they spend the night.  The farmer also has horses and donkeys but they weren't out today.  My neighbor is busy raking my leaves with her lawn mower.  This is what I see every day.

Jeff Daum

Very nice Nancy- quite the idyllic scene to gaze at each day. 

Philip Spiess

Margery:  I must admonish you.  In June you asked us guys to post our recipes, but in the recent chili thread, although you talked about the chili you cooked on Hallowe'en, you did not include the recipe.  May it be forthcoming?  Also, talk to me about your "volunteering in the arts."

Sandy:  Same request:  let's hear about your chicken chili recipe; sounds good.

Barbara:  You're quite right:  the pickles on White Castle hamburgers were part of the deal.  As to chowder and seafood and such, I've just returned from a month-long trip into New England (New Hampshire -- where my wife's from -- and Maine), and we gorged on all sorts of seafood -- chowder, lobster, clams, raw oysters, and on and on.  Lovely!  [And I just focused on your recent medical situation:  glad things seem to be going well, and we here in the Spiess household hope for a continuing best for you!]

Philip Spiess

Dave:  Or is it Zirconium?  I believe they make crappy rings out of it.

Margery Erhardt (Schrader)

Phil - I stand admonished! I will post a guy's brownie as it includes Jack Daniels - now who wouldn't like that? My recipe folder on my computer has over 2000 recipes in it and my Pinterest account has several boards of recipes that either I have tried or will try - http://www.pinterest.com/margif/

When I make Chili I always use green and hatch chili peppers. I use to add venison as a good friend has a ranch just outside Austin here and they raised a special French deer (brought them over from France.) Unfortunately the coyote population has been exploding and though they kept buffalo,  ostriches and other animals to keep the coyotes away they still were not successful. Anyway...and always cinnamon!

Jack Daniel’s BOURBON BROWNIES

16-25 Squares

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup chopped pecans                         

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 large eggs

3 T. Jack Daniel's Bourbon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

ICING:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 1-oz. square unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1 T. unsalted butter, softened

1 T. Jack Daniel's Bourbon

1 T. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

             Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Butter a 9 inch square baking pan.  In a bowl, combine granulated sugar, pecans, flour and cocoa.  Stir until well mixed.  Add the eggs, bourbon, vanilla, and melted butter and mix until smooth.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake in the center of the oven for 38-40 minutes (watch carefully).  Let cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

             Icing:  In a bowl, combine the confectioner's sugar, chocolate, butter, bourbon, milk and vanilla.  Beat until smooth and easily spreadable.  Coat tops of brownies.  Serve cold or at room temperature.  These are very moist.  May need to refrigerate before cutting.