Baltimore21201.Com - The Blog

New Year's Tamales, Tacos. And, a Question.

As you probably know, Jacob and I make lots of Mexican Food each New Year. It's a tradition. We make the food from scratch and write about the prep work and the outcome.

Tamales are a New Year's Day standard for us. So are great tacos -- chicken, beef, and pork. So is a big pot of hearty chili.

Thinking about our 2010 Mexican Food Feast, Jacob asked me a question. "Remember pinatas when you were a little kid?"

 
I laughed out loud and said, "Remember, Jacob... as little kid, I grew up in Kansas. I didn't know a real Mexican person until I was in high school. Even then, I only met three."

When people ask why and how I moved from Kansas to New York City when I was just hitting my late teen years, I remind them about the wonders of diversity. Finding a more liberal environment. Learning from the larger universe of multi-cultural teachers. And, now I'll tell them the about Jacob's totally innocent question.

The question that brought it all home.

2010 is a New Year. Try exploring the world beyond your comfortable boundaries, your usual boundaries. Learn.

Think You Know Bread Pudding? You Don't Know 21201 Bread Pudding.

During Baltimore's Before-Christmas-Blizzard of 2009, Jacob made super-rich chocolate brownies. Lots and lots of them.

And, a bunch of the brownies that we didn't give away or share with others dried out.

On New Year's Eve, what should we do with them? Toss 'em? Not on your life. This afternoon, I cut them into half-inch squares. Soaked them in cream. And, made the most magnificent Mandarin Orange-Dark Chocolate bread pudding that I've ever tasted.

I took this photo right after the Puddings came out of the oven. I was afraid that they would fall. They didn't. So, Jacob and I give you this for the New Year:

1. Make one box of any dark chocolate brownie mix that you like. Use the box recipe. And, let the brownies dry out. You can accelerate the process by cutting the brownies into little squares and put them in an open pan on the counter overnight or for a day or two.

2. Put the dried squares in a mixing bowl and add about one-half cup of cream. Add additional whole milk as you stir them until well saturated. (Let the squares soak up every bit they can.)

3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl combine three eggs, a full two tablespoons of vanilla extract, a teaspoon of allspice and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Whisk until fully combined and slightly fluffy. Then add one ounce (up to two ounces) of a fine orange liquor like Grand Mariner. Whisk again and add the Brownie squares and fold. Let rest while you...

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill ramekins with the Pudding mixture. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until set, when a toothpick comes out clean.

5. Cool on the cookie sheet for five minutes, then pour an additional tablespoon of Grand Mariner over the top and serve.

I'm sure there are other ways to gild this lily; I don't think the gilding is necessary.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Start the New Year with Dancing Feet!

"You've got to go on, and you've got to give and give and give. They've got to like you. Got to. Do you understand? You can't fall down. You can't because your future's in it, my future and everything all of us have is staked on you. All right, now I'm through, but you keep your feet on the ground and your head on those shoulders of yours and go out, and Sawyer, you're going out a youngster but you've got to come back a star!" -- Director, Julian Marsh

42nd Street (1933) at The Charles Theatre. 42nd Street was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1934, and in 1998 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant". In 2006 this film ranked 13th on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals.

SHOW TIMES: Saturday, January 2 - Noon, $6; Monday, January 4 - 7 PM, $8; Thursday, January 7 - 9 PM, $8.

My favorite 42nd Street tune? Dick Powell singing I'm Young and Healthy. Or, maybe Shuffle Off to Buffalo.

A Christmas Card from 21201

 

From the Jewish Museum of Maryland. Holiday Gifts.

This afternoon, I received an email from the good folks at the Jewish Museum of Maryland. As part of their Winter Fun Break, here are a couple of events that I suggest you take advantage of:

Free Museum Admission
Friday, December 25, 2009 / 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Tours of historic Lloyd Street and B'nai Israel Synagogues at 1pm. Children's activities include scavenger hunts and activity books for exhibitions Voices of Lombard Street:  A Century of Change in East Baltimore and Drawing on Tradition: The Book of Esther.

Please call the Museum at 410.732.6400 or check our blog before coming as there is a chance for inclement weather on Friday.  

And,

The Day the Chickens Escaped, A Shadow Puppet Workshop!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 / 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

$10 per family

Discover what happened the day the chickens escaped along Baltimore's Lombard Street. Create shadow puppets of chickens in pickle barrels, acting on the Yiddish theater stage, working at sewing machines, and even on roller skates! Work with award winning organization, Nana Projects, to make the puppets and put on a show. This will be great fun for everyone! 

For reservations or questions, contact Ilene Dackman-Alon, Program Director, at 410.732.6400 x214 or idackmanalon@jewishmuseummd.org.

What's Going on at the Baltimore Sun?

A headline link on The Sun's page one this morning:

"Sots at the mall won't hurt horse racing; petition to stop them might"... The piece, in Second Opinion, had the same headline.

I sent a Tweet to @baltimoresun noting their error.

@baltimoresun "Sots at the Mall Won't Hurt Horseracing..." No, but they stumble and belch a lot.

I sent it again with a link to the piece. No response. Nada.

The Sun made the correction hours later, but not before at least one commenter laughed at the lack of proofreading talent at what, lots of years ago, was one of my top five U.S. newspapers.

I don't know what sort of effect sots have on horse racing, but I'd rather not have sots at the mall. Of course, what I'd really like is someone to proofread your headlines. Posted by Gonzai.

A couple of days ago I got on the Sun's case because of a page-one, rotating ad, large and just under the banner, selling Maryland "Style" Crab Cakes made from a Pacific mud crab. (That's just so wrong for the largest newspaper in what could be equally called The Blue Crab State or The Old Line State.) Imagine what would would happen if a Louisiana or Mississippi paper was caught advertising products on their front page that were made with Asian shrimp, or Indian shrimp...

Ad placement and rotation is one thing. I understand ad rotation. But, ad placement and internal proofreading is quite another.

Apparently, I've Been Arrested. In Texas.

Or, Why It Might Be A Good Idea to Google Yourself Now and Then, from Time to Time.

When I was in elementary school, I thought that I had a reasonably unusual name. There were a lot of guys named Steve and lots more named Steven. Not many guys I knew could claim the spelling "Stephen" ...

Combined with a surname like Brockelman, it seemed that I'd probably not be mistaken for anyone else.

Lately, there seem to be a bunch of folks named Stephen Brockelman showing up on the radar. Some are doing good things in the world. Others, well not so much.

Above, is a notice from the Tyler Morning Telegraph. The only way I learned about this Texas police blotter-entry was via a potential client. The client is in the Dallas - Ft. Worth area. I sent her a proposal and a couple of days later she responded, "Been in Tyler lately"?

The lesson is, check on your identity. Be cautious of what personal information you give out. Hope for potential clients with a sense of humor. And, watch your social networking.

People, sometimes important people, are looking you up.

Baltimore Sun: What the Hell Are You People Doing?

You'd think that a venerable publisher like The Baltimore Sun would be careful about syndicated ad placement above the fold, top right, page one. Oh, that's right, the Sun is a Tribune paper. Maybe that explains it.

This afternoon I went to the Sun's website to check on info about today's Ravens - Bears game and the local TV Listings.

What did I find? A misleading ad block that overpowered every headline on page one.

And, what was the big ad selling?

Maryland "Style" Crab Cakes.

The ad head reads, "Dinner Without the Prep" -- ad subhead, "Choose a Meal for Home Delivery" -- first product listed was, yep, you guessed it: Maryland "Style" Crab Cakes. Here's the ad link photo for the crab cakes.

But wait... Does the above look like any kind of Maryland Crab Cake that you've ever seen? To me, it doesn't look like any kind of crab cake that I've ever seen. It doesn't even look like the cart vendor crab cakes at the Maryland State Fair or from the vendors at ArtScape. That's the package the Sun is selling though. Yum, yum.

Perhaps the crab cakes, offered via the Sun, look strange because they truly are. They're a mail-order thing from the institutional food seller, Schwan's.

On closer inspection of the offering, the crab in these cakes is Blue Swimmer Crab also called a Flower Crab, or Portunus Pelagicus. They are mud crabs from the Pacific, heavily harvested in China and India.

Portunus Pelagicus, is harvested in the regions tagged in red, above. Yep, those puppies will make a true Maryland style crab cake.

When a newspaper is fighting for its very life, perhaps some due diligence is in order. Or, perhaps before adding food ads to page one, the paper should ask their food editor about the rotation.

I'm thinking that Elizabeth Large could have spotted this mess.

I try to protect the reputation of my favorite city... perhaps the Baltimore Sun should, also.

"It's the Big One, Elizabeth" Part 2

We didn't make it to the Tweeples' Huge Snowball Fight in Federal Hill this afternoon.

But, we sure made the walk around Charles Street. And this evening, to Mick O'Shea's for some serious Irish Coffee.

It was totally silent downtown today. No traffic noise. No sirens. No people talking. No bagpipe players. Just the hyper-quiet, the hush of rapidly falling snow.

I was thinking, as Jacob and I walked down the center of Charles Street with no traffic in sight, how Baltimore looks its very best in the snow -- and in the spring when the flowering trees are blooming. And, how the two views are so similar. Big white snowflakes falling in the Winter; big white petals falling in the Spring.

My wish for 2010, the New Year: May Baltimore always be this peaceful and this beautiful. 

"It's the Big One, Elizabeth"

Days and days ago, Accuweather said this would be a December to Remember. I'm a believer. Photo above, early morning view from our house. More to follow as we get closer to the 20 to 30 inches of snow expected in 21201.