Maido Meh

I've been meaning to post this since Thursday night when it happened... Maido is this terrific local restaurant and after many a hem and haw, we settled on it for dinner on Thursday. I walked in and was promptly told by the bartender (this restaurant has wonderful sushi but no sushi bar, when you walk in you are looking at a bar-bar), that "Nancy" (names have been changed to protect the guilt), would be right with me. Nancy was not right with me, in fact, another server asked if I had been helped and the aforementioned bartender told her Nancy would be with me when she came inside.

So, we get seated outside and the weather is lovely and eventually our server asks if we would like something to drink. The water arrives promptly, but "I have to go all the way back to the kitchen to get your ice tea." We're now 15 minutes into this visit. The ice tea finally arrives and we place our order. Everything raw. This shouldn't be a big deal. You shouldn't have to fish before the prep. I also made it clear that I would be ordering more as the night wore merrily forward. We sat down at 8 PM, the food arrived at 8:50 PM. A plate of sashimi, and some sort of roll with avocado on the outside, which had been sitting so long it had kind of melted to the top of the roll.

In their defense: it was some of the best frickin' sashimi I ever put in my face, but when we weren't done, it was clear another hour of waiting was not an option. We went down the street to Osaka where our food was produced in a few minutes and where the waitress and all the staff were solicitous and polite. Oddly enough, that always makes the food taste better. Osaka has always been my go-to sushi bar and now I know why. I won't be making the same mistake again.

Ted

I was sitting in a cafe in Kinsale when I learned that Ted Kennedy had brain cancer. I didn't really understand how the Irish felt about the Kennedys until I saw an eight page story about Senator Kennedy and his diagnosis. Today, I can only imagine what the papers look like.

His was not a career I followed closely, and to be honest, when I hear his name I think "Chappaquiddick" but I guess if anyone worked to make up for a horrible mistake it was him. Listening to his grandkids speaking, it's clear they will follow in the family's political footsteps, but perhaps without his style. Few would have the balls to use their own funeral as a political gesture, and I think holding his funeral at a church that has been a home for every immigrant population is definitely a political gesture. A gesture that won't get him anything, but shows that he stood behind what he said.

He gave us a lot of bad punchlines, but he actually worked and asked other politicians some tough questions. Good work.

Damn You Foodies

OK, I do it. Some of you do it. You see a restaurant on TV and have to try it. All I will say is the last time I was in KC, the line at Oklahoma Joe's actually went around the shop and out the door. I couldn't wait, had to get home, but the smell made me tear up as I turned around and walked out.

Like flatiron steak, or your favorite band, it's wonderful to get there first but bittersweet when it makes it big. Recognition is good, but shouldn't there be some sort of wristband for the people who were there first?

Chicago

Ok, so this is quite a bit later, but let me tell you something most of you already know. Chicago rocks! The ALA conference in July was a real success on every level except comfortable footwear (which was fixed with a two dollar pair of flip flops from Walgreens). Their public transportation is great and I never had to wait more than a few minutes for a bus. Also, drivers there do not seem to run "pink" lights the way we do in Louisville. When I got home that was my resolution to myself--stop when the light is changing. You can guess how well that lasted...

Anyway, as for the conference, highlights were listening to Michael Connelly and Ari Weinzweig speak. I can hear you saying, "Michael Connelly I've heard of but who is this Ari fellow?" He runs a conglomerate of businesses up in Ann Arbor and has written a book about good bacon. Of the six producers he recommends, three are in Kentucky. Darnit, this state is starting to suck me in with the pork!

Connelly was great because he didn't talk about the writing until people asked questions about it, instead he focused on how libraries have been important in his life. A really refreshing approach and it became a mutual appreciation society--him explaining our value and we returning the favor with questions about his writing.

The other conference highlight was definitely the scholarship bash at the Chicago Art Institute. Holy moly! That place has everything! American Gothic? Check. Nighthawks? Check. Terrific small pen and paint by Pollock? Check. You get the idea. When I arrived I thought there was absolutely no way I could spend four hours, especially after a full day of events. Four hours flew by. If you haven't gone. Go. I plan on going back and giving it a full day. One complaint here. While this was a catered affair (simple sandwiches, cheese and fruit) and the bar was "open" if you had collected some "bash cash" earlier in the day, it was slightly embarrassing to see a herd of librarians muscle through the collections and straight to the food. It was more embarrassing to see most people were not tipping the bartenders. Doh! You're representing here, cough up a buck and pretend you care about culture a bit.

The final note is about a little bar I found by the hotel. OK, this place has no signage outside and while I was told it had a name, I can't remember what it was. It used to be a funeral home and still has a casket they trot out for special occasions or when someone needs to sleep it off. So there I am in this old funeral home, having a beer with the locals (hi everyone!) when several well-dressed women come in and proceed to hold a "candle party," you know, where they sell candles and knick-knacks out of a catalog. Surreal.

Everyone in town was wonderfully friendly and I can't wait to go back.

Ohio Libraries

Here's my rant to the Ohio Governor, whose new budget cuts public library spending by 50%:

Closing libraries is a downward spiral. In a few years when there is more crime and gang activity, and more money has to be spent on prisons, libraries will lose again.

Only by thinking in the long term and realizing the value of a safe place for children, teenagers, immigrants, and people from all walks of life to congregate in a positive atmosphere that engenders understanding and good will, will you do a service to your state.

Paying a corporation to open a Chuck E.Cheese? Kroger needs your money? or the NFL? You can find these funds.

You don't have to be a resident to voice your opinion. Think of what your library has done for you. Here's how to contact Gov. Strickland. And here's a nice article for another good cause which explains where those funds can be found.

Public education, a tenant of this democracy, is going the way of the dodo bird. Don't let them take away the last place we can all obtain an equal education if we want to--and if you've been to your local library, you know we do. If you haven't been recently--Go!

Happy Sunday

Cooking unknown greens from Mr. Brodbeck's garden, which I think are going to be fabulous.

Another burner is working on the German potato salad. Never having made it before--I didn't think I would ever say these words--there is such a thing as too much bacon fat. I'm removing extra grease in increments, adding flour to some of it in a slury and then reintroducing. Keeping my fingers crossed.

If you're intrested in breaking into my house, I'll be leaving for Kansas City on Thursday, back on Sunday and then off to Chicago the 9th to the 12th of July. If you decide to break in, please clean up my work area as it is a mess. I think I need another filing cabinet. Cookie dough is in the freezer, the jacuzzi bathtub is working and there's plenty of music on the harddrive. You know what they say, leave it cleaner than you found it, or something like that.

I'm seriously considering a new smart phone and plan so I can keep up with everything while away.

Betty Crocker, Scaring Kids Since 1936

I don't know what started me down my Betty Crocker hunt today, but hunt I did, and this Web site with its images of the "official" Betty Crocker scared the bejeezus out of me. I think I started because it was about one of the first cookbooks I owned as a teenager and while basic, it served a good introductory purpose, but if someone had put this lady on the cover, I would have thought twice. No I wouldn't have needed twice to walk away from this Arsenic and Old Lace school of cookery.

The chick from 1955...maybe I would have let her cook for me, or even write a recipe, but the others look like Nazi dominatrixes or Stepford Wives. Vould you like your beating now or avter the peach melba?

But overall, my favorite is the 1996 "subtely multiethnic" Betty...what I like to think of as "Botox Betty."

Oh yes, you can darken her brows and eyes, and take away that Teutonic I vill cook for you but I vill never enjoy it!-look, but it seems that every Betty embodies the shame of her generation. Even here you can see her wanting to frown, or possibly drop a brow, but alas, it is not to be.