Thursday, July 29, 2010

Summer's lease hath all too short a date

I was reminded of the Bard's words by Harry Eyres in Saturday's FT Weekend, and, while his solution for putting these fleeting days in context involved going to a festival in the Orkney Islands, my way of dealing with the end of summer usually includes attending a baseball game. This month, Heather and I had the pleasure of attending one American League and one National League game, the latter having occured last Thursday evening at Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine.



The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958. I have always been fascinated by this event, and its accompanying tragedy (if you are from New York) of the Giants moving to San Francisco that same year. The moves were both a reflection of the population shift in the United States in the postwar era and the profit-making concerns of baseball team owners. Anyone who remembers the short-lived television show Brooklyn Bridge may share my regret that this sad episode in New York history was not included, because the show ended with the announcement that the Soviet Union launched Sputnik (which, conicidentally, occured during the 1957 World Series between the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Braves-- quiz: where did the Braves play before moving to the Midwest?).


The view from the parking lot. It is a nice setting, very different from a crowded street corner in Flatbush (Ebbets field was demolished in 1960).


We had really good seats, courtesy of a Travelzoo special.


After the Giants' and Dodgers' departures, the National League expanded and added the New York Mets in 1962. The Mets played at the old Polo Grounds, former home of the Giants. Ah, the good ol' days of non-corporate stadium names! (... Wrigley Field is an exception but gets a pass because it is so old).


Jetsons-era architecture.




Thursday night game in mid-July.


Who's paying attention to the action on the field?


Unlike Detroit a few weeks ago, summer evenings in L.A. are cool.










The stadium's renovation includes this uniform script for all concession stands, signs, and staff shirts. Yet another reason why design-wise California is the Japan of America.


A victory wave! The Dodgers won 2-0.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Aberdeen sausage

Hello again. Heather and I have returned to Nashville after a 9-day trip to Michigan and Ohio. Unfortunately, many of those pics are on Heather's laptop, which is not here, so I will briefly post on an interesting meal we had before we left town two weeks ago.
In Nashville at least, Whole Foods is the place to go for quality in-house sausage. The selection is wide and evenly distributed between pork and other meats, except for lamb, which is one of a few reasons why the Whole Foods in Omaha is quite a bit better than the store in Nashville (this may surprise some, but Omaha is full of surprises). Regardless, I recentlly bought something called Aberdeen sausage, which I had never heard of, and which I now hope will become a regular item.


Beautiful links. The sausage is Scottish in origin and is made mostly of beef. Interesting additional ingredients are bacon and oats! This is hearty stuff.


Green and yellow string beans were in season at the market, which provided the perfect side dish. An easy bean side dish begins with sauteing onions in olive oil, then adding chopped tomatoes/sauce, a little broth, herbs (not necessary) and the beans.


I browned these in an enameled cast-iron skillet and cooked them in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. It's o.k. if they're a bit over-done as long as they are not pierced before cooking, which would render them too dry.


A good pairing. In the winter, these would go well with root vegetables.


This meal reminded us of the typical "gastropub" fare that we experienced in England five years ago. Instead of offering the usual fish and chips, gastropubs, which are to England what bistros are to France, often serve platters of local sausage accompanied by whatever is in season at the time.


Woodland Wine Merchant does it again!
The go-to red for the summer has been Notro (Sangiovese from Mendoza), which sells for $8, but two weeks ago the best wine value in Nashville was this Spanish red, selling at $7.
More "filler" posts tomorrow-Friday, ahead of our 9-day trip to Los Angeles!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Detroit Tigers, Fourth of July

Posting from WATERFORD, MICHIGAN.
Good morning... not a lot of time to write, but here are some pics from Comerica Park yesterday. Tigers lost 8-1 in the smoggy Detroit heat.


Modern friendly confines.


With Liam Bennett (aka Lou Grant).


Napkin in the heat.


Kind of like the old school Tigers, down by 6 runs.


Strike!

RIP, Ernie Harwell.


Ray Liotta?


The Georgia Peach.