@JtC

Iowa farm food too.

I didn't understand how completely fabulous it was until I grew up, moved away, and came back home. Then I understood I couldn't find better in the most expensive restaurant.

#6
are generally smaller but I remember the ones along the tracks as large, juicy and delicious. Could have been because all things seem larger and better through the eyes of a child though.

Grandma's specialties as I remember them were fresh fried chicken straight from the chicken pen, that was most excellent. And roast beef. Of course they were always served with the best mashed potatoes that I have ever eaten, piles of sweetcorn, sliced tomatoes and every kind of vegetable that a little boy could possibly want. Her gravy was heaven also. She also canned so the garden goodies were present for most of the year. Damn, now I'm hungry.

Thanks zb.

@lotlizard

Mahalo, Loti.

*evil grin*

#7  
At the end of the show, “Cisco” and “Pancho” would then — still in character — plug a couple of local dairy products made right on Oahu — pronouncing the names very carefully and distinctly.

“Moanalua Milk! And Rico Ice Cream! You get some too, eh?”

I was so impressed! Big time radio stars knew about us! Local in Hawaii could often feel a lot like what everyone would later refer to as the “Third World.”

It wasn’t until the 1990s, reminiscing, that my brother and I realized how this must have been done. Of course the voice actors hadn’t come to Hawaii and talked to Moanalua Dairy. A business agent at wherever the studio was in North America just handed “Cisco” and “Pancho” a list of stations, products, and businesses who had paid for an ad, with the lines they were supposed to say.

No doubt someone had carefully written “moh ah nah loo ah“ out phonetically.

“Cisco” and “Pancho” then read the whole thing off into — well, into whatever the setup was being used to record the show and, in this era before communication satellites, produce a physical copy that could be mailed off to the radio station in Hawaii.

@lotlizard @lotlizard

Given the time that Cisco was on, were you in Hawaii when it became a state?

Lol, nvm...answered by 50s and 60s. That must have been an interesting time!

#7  
At the end of the show, “Cisco” and “Pancho” would then — still in character — plug a couple of local dairy products made right on Oahu — pronouncing the names very carefully and distinctly.

“Moanalua Milk! And Rico Ice Cream! You get some too, eh?”

I was so impressed! Big time radio stars knew about us! Local in Hawaii could often feel a lot like what everyone would later refer to as the “Third World.”

It wasn’t until the 1990s, reminiscing, that my brother and I realized how this must have been done. Of course the voice actors hadn’t come to Hawaii and talked to Moanalua Dairy. A business agent at wherever the studio was in North America just handed “Cisco” and “Pancho” a list of stations, products, and businesses who had paid for an ad, with the lines they were supposed to say.

No doubt someone had carefully written “moh ah nah loo ah“ out phonetically.

“Cisco” and “Pancho” then read the whole thing off into — well, into whatever the setup was being used to record the show and, in this era before communication satellites, produce a physical copy that could be mailed off to the radio station in Hawaii.

@JtC

It's a long state. In the northern third you'll hear the typical midwestern dialect, below that and you'll hear a southern drawl, and the drawl gets thicker the further south you travel.

I'd say Peoria is probably the North/South line, while everywhere south of Vandalia could easily be mistaken for somewhere in Dixie.

Big Klan presence there once upon a time as I understand it.

#11
is much much different than the Chicago metropolitan area. Take Chicago out of the equation and the state would probably trend red, I know I'm smack dab in the middle of its redness.

It's a long state. In the northern third you'll hear the typical midwestern dialect, below that and you'll hear a southern drawl, and the drawl gets thicker the further south you travel.

And you're right, a common expression from the downstaters is "All Illinoisans come from Kentucky".

Thanks Night Owl.

@janis b  
Probably the latter, since the FDP already turned Jamaica down once.

“Jamaica” and “Kenya“ coalitions are called that because the colors symbolizing the parties match the color combinations on those nations’ respective flags: black, green, and yellow for Jamaica; black, red, and green for Kenya.

However, unless Merkel loses a vote of confidence or the Social Democrats end their current coalition with the Christian Democrats, new elections don’t have to be called until 2021.

#12

What coalition parties do you think Merkel would be most satisfied with?

@janis b
is still comfortable with Merkel and who of them accuse her for being the reason that the extreme right AfD is rising. There seems to be an internal revolt against Merkel within the CDU/CSU. Criticism of Merkel from the SPD, Linke or FDP is viewed by most voters a matter of profiteering from her troubles the CDU rebels caused her when they did not vote again for her confidant and longterm chairman of the CDU parliamentary group (party whip?), Mr. Kauder. That was unexpected and seen as Merkel not understanding the base of her party's voters wishes and expectations.

The CDU discusses now, if they should move more to the right to satisfy the populist right as to take those voters, who voted for the AfD, back from them.

Merkel was too human and liberal and centrist for them with regards to the refugees and asylum seekers.

Everything is open and if I understand it correctly, Merkel will have to call for a vote of confidence, before she can go on. The SPD is weak and may be seen as elitist and arrogant as well by many voters. A bit like the Democrats in the US. Lost all touch with real people's expectations. All talk, no walk, and if there was walk, they walked in the opposite direction than their talk would have made you believe.

#12

What coalition parties do you think Merkel would be most satisfied with?

@Mark from Queens
Thank you for all of this. Sigh. More than words, I can just sigh. Very recently I made my very first trip to New York City, kind of reluctantly, and to my surprise I just loved it. It seems like a gargantuan small town. And I was aware while I was there that my having read your writing here at c99 over the years was part of what made it so fun, so friendly, and so meaningful. Thank you for all that you do.

#13 #13
Imagining your parents meeting in SF at turn of the century is enchanting, as well as the completely different scenario of other family members being among the first to settle in Tennessee. (Ever read Mark Twain's descriptions of his time in SF in the 1860's, or Jack London's, an Oakland native, of the Earthquake? The latter was one of the only times the vivacious writer seemed too stunned to report in his usual way).

But the part about the festive Italian-American custom of family dinners resonates most for me.

I experienced something similar in the Bronx apartment of my grandmother. Same kinds of things I remember as a young boy: the anticipation of the feast as we drove from Long Island over the Throggs Neck Bridge, the aroma that wafted down four floors to elevator door in the foyer, then the gurgle in my stomach and beginning to salivate as we opened the door and piled into the welcoming plate full of proscuitto wrapped around Stella D'oro breadsticks.

Her sauce (or "gravy" as it was known to my father's generation) was legendary in the family. She was the eldest of 10 or 12 kids I think and was pretty much the mother to most of them, taking on the major duties at a young age. Man, she could cook. Always homemade ravioli, or manicotti, gnochi, etc - all laid out across a few ironing boards in the small apartment. During a sleepover when I was young I remember that morning having a feeling of slight nervousness that maybe her genius was just limited to Italian cooking. Not a chance. Her pancakes made my mother's seem comparatively like cardboard.

Part of her family/neighbors-wide famous sauce (which I later learned and can now duplicate, though with a slight change) was the use of lard for richness. Later when my Dad and Mom got more health conscious that was jettisoned. But the rest of the recipe mostly relied on some select browning of meat (sliced pepperoni stick) and using tomato puree and paste. Like the Southern Italians that most Americans are (though I also have family from the furthest Northern point on the Austrian border in the Alps), the sauces we make are similar and can be found all over NYC and I'm sure other notable enclaves everywhere from Boston to Philly, Chicago to Pittsburgh, N'awlins to SF. In a general sense they're heavier than in the North because they rely on meat.

I only make hers on special occasions, and would for friends who would be delighted. But that aroma...Sometimes I think I like to cook so much just for the strong evocations that stir up connection to my ancestors. Anyway, it's also as simple and powerful as just heating up some olive oil and throwing in a handful of chopped garlic or thinly chopped onions and everyone entering has the same exact reaction, bar none: "what are you cooking? It smells so good in here!" Heh.

Now I prefer to make a puttanesca (another S. Italian invention, "puttana" (sp?) being a derogatory word for a loose or "spicy" woman). Mine isn't so much spicy asit is really robust in the rich flavor combinations of the onions/garlic, capers, chopped Greek olives, anchovies, and to really send it over the top, sundried tomatoes and smoked paprika.

But my family is scattered around a bit and for the past two decades have had nothing even remotely close to those wonderful festive Sunday dinners at my grandmother's (though my Aunt would do similarly, but it's a shame there's been such a family fallout). That doesn't stop me from finding any reason to make her sauce on the occasion and be transported back in time. Like with music, food (and by extension sense of smell) have uncanny powers to set one back inside a memory closer than perhaps anything in life.

This whole thing is making me want to visit North Beach again. Too long since I've been on the West Coast. I hope it hasn't changed as much as the Italian marketplace enclave my grandmother took me to in the Arthur Ave. section of the Bronx.

I'm about due for another big Grandma's sauce now that the season has changed and we can hunker down all together here. Nothing better than cooking inside on a cold day and basking in the aroma, warmth and closeness. Want to pass this onto to my little ones someday, though including a relativity to appreciating other cultures' food and customs that we've introduced too.

@JtC

figuring he must have had an interesting future. Here he is with Emmylou Harris …

[video:https://youtu.be/FO4jZ3pvgNU]

Your Kentucky roots took you in a whole other creative direction. Lucky for us dear Johnny.

#16
Johnny Cakes it is.

Loved the video, thank you, did you catch the name of the young artist? He went on to be one of the great pickers. Ricky Skaggs. That was awesome, I can only wish I'd have that kind of talent.

Thank you my kind friend.

@JtC

You hinted at that when you once told me the story of going back to the doctor demanding he cut off the rest of the cast you personally started to do yourself! What a lot of nerve you have ; ).

[video:https://youtu.be/NwFiWCUkk4M]

#20
that song touched me from the first moment I heard it. Clapton covered it in 1974 on his 461 Ocean Boulevard album:

Tommy Talton and Scott Boyer and their band Cowboy wrote the song and included it in their 1971 Album 5"ll Getcha Ten. I much prefer the original Cowboy track, I mean, Duane Allman on acoustic slide guitar, it doesn't get any better than that.

Yep, our 43rd anniversary next Wednesday, my wife deserves a medal for putting up with me all these years, I was a handful in my younger days.

Thank you very much.