After we’d discussed the conclusions of this test of Gillie’s recipe, Monica Kass Rogers updated her “Gillie’s Coney Island Chili Dogs” recipe with a small-batch version that she likes. It’s definitely worth trying. Most online recipes and recipes in-print are about as far from Abbott’s original sauce as they can possibly get. They involve ground hot […]
Home Dishwashing: A Standard Operating Procedure
“What do you mean … I have to put dinner away when I do dishes? That’s can’t be an ‘implied’ rule, I don’t see that written down anywhere.” And the pot containing cooked No. 3 spaghetti noodles mixed with sauce sat on the clean stove. The rest of the dishes were washed and air-drying while […]
My Food Bucket List Suggestion: How Many Have You Had?
Number 49 on the list, handmade Coarse Liverwurst (Liver Sausage) from Kilgus Meats in Toledo, Ohio. I just eat the stuff by itself, no sandwich required. In December 2006 shortly after starting this blog over at the Monroe News web site, I fell victim to the whole “Foodie Quiz” thing and wrote one myself. Looking […]
Re-Creating a Coney Island-Style Greek Breakfast Skillet
The Greek Breakfast Skillet at the Cozy Corner Coney Island in Monroe, MI, in August 2013; Sliced Gyro loaf, onion, tomato, feta cheese and home fries under two over-easy eggs, served with toast. Unless you live in a place like Michigan, the area north of Fort Wayne, Indiana, or northwest Ohio, you may not understand […]
Twelve Food-Related Statements That Need To Be Banned
Adam at age 15 with some camp cooking equipment from the 1950s. People in the U.S. today would likely be extremely squeamish about eating food prepared with these. When it comes to food, I don’t really like “top-ten” or “top-one-hundred” or any other kind of similar lists. Those lists are very dependant on the taste […]
Recipe: Coarse Liverwurst & Muenster Omelet
Having suffered my first sinus bleed in three years last weekend (a rather bad episode I might add, with about three pints of blood loss), I found myself once again in need of the wonderful healing properties of the Coarse Liverwurst from Kilgus Meats in Toledo. Mary picked up four pounds of the stuff on […]
In Food Writing, Northern Michigan Is …
A Beef & Pork Rutabaga Pasty from Nylund’s Pasties in Crystal Falls, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. Yes, Michigan does indeed have an Upper Peninsula. A couple of my biggest pet peeves have to do with Michigan food writing in general. There are quite a few food writers here in the state and, make no […]
Recipe: Chicken Potato Tomato Curry
In looking at this family’s obsession with the cuisine of India, I find I’ve really been focusing more on learning how it all goes together in the correct ratios than in really experimenting with techniques. My one post from a month or so ago included a recipe for a curry that was really a set […]
Recipe: Authentic Molcajete/Mortar Guacamole
One of the favorite flavors of my life for the past 30 years or so has been that green paste they call guacamole. Back in 1984 Frisch’s Big Boy out of Cincinnati started shipping #10 cans of guacamole to the restaurants in Ohio so the topping/dip could be used in a few new dishes they […]
Monster Candy, May’s Candy Shop, Mackinac Island, Michigan
The Monster Candy, about 4″ in diameter, from May’s Candy Shop on Mackinac Island in the straits between the peninsulas of Michigan. It was just over a year ago Mary and I were on Mackinac Island a few hundred miles north of here. One of the shops I had wanted to visit for a few […]