Socks history YES — SOCKS !!!

/0 Comments/in , , /by

(top) Me, checking to see which socks I wore today (I’m up at 4:00 AM every day and mostly get dressed in the dark); (row two) My monkey socks and my beloved Santa socks (I’ve been known to wear them in July); (row three) Abstracts (goes great with a dark suit) and Flying pigs (because I know that anything’s possible); (row four) Group sox (sorry, couldn’t resist); (row five left) Divided toe socks designed to be worn with sandals in Egypt, 300-499 AD. (Victoria and Albert Museum collection); (row six left) Can you name the owner of those famous socks? (Hint: she melted when a small girl accidentally threw water on her); (row seven left) Make your very own sock monkey. Instructions HERE; (bottom right) A Jockey sock ad from 1963. You can buy it on Etsy.com for $5.95. (I’m sure it’s still there)

Yep, it’s that time of year, when we start thinking about and heading out to get those pesky holiday gifts for our loved ones.  The merchants can’t help themselves either, with all the increased flyers, ads and messages to come and spend your money with us. Have you noticed, what used to be a on day event (Black Friday), has turned into two weeks of “Black Friday” deals. Amazon predicts this year it will process over 35% of the projected $100 billion dollars of online sales, up about 13% from last year.  So, as a follow-up to my fashion post, I wanted to share my personal Christmas morning favorite – socks.  I let Jackie and the girls know, if you get stuck on what to get me, you can skip the underwear, gloves, scarf and craft beer sampler, and just add to my collection.  For me, it’s just fun to open my drawer in the morning and ponder the socks I’m going to wear that day –serious or not for the banker meeting, moose, stars or art designs to the architect’s meeting, or just silly and fun for the staff meeting. I  now actually have special socks for various occasions.  It all started years ago when one of my daughters decided that “Dad” should be able to wear fun socks too!  Since that time socks have become my thing!  They certainly make a great conversation starter. Thanks Wikipedia for the history lesson.

The modern English word sock is derived from the Old English word socc, meaning “light slipper”. This comes from the Latin soccus, a term to describe a “light, low-heeled shoe” worn by Roman comic actors, and deriving from the Ancient Greek word sykchos.

Socks have evolved over the centuries from the earliest models, which were made from animal skins gathered up and tied around the ankles. According to the Greek poet Hesiod, in the 8th century BC, the Ancient Greeks wore socks called “piloi”, which were made from matted animal hair.  The Romans also wrapped their feet with leather or woven fabrics.

Around the 2nd century AD, the Romans started sewing the fabrics together making fitted socks called “udones”. By the 5th century AD, socks called “puttees” were worn by holy people in Europe to symbolize purity.

During the Middle Ages, the length of trousers was extended and the sock became a tight, brightly-colored cloth covering the lower part of the leg. Since socks didn’t have an elastic band, garters were placed over the top of the stockings to prevent them from falling down. When breeches became shorter, socks began to get longer and more expensive.

By 1000 AD, socks became a symbol of wealth among the nobility. From the 16th century onwards, an ornamental design on the ankle or side of a sock has been called a clock.

Footwraps, pieces of cloth that are worn wrapped around the feet, were worn with boots before socks became widely available. They remained in use by armies in Eastern Europe up until the beginning of the 21st century.

The invention of a knitting machine in 1589 meant that socks could be knitted six times faster than by hand. Nonetheless, knitting machines and hand knitters worked side by side until 1800.

The next revolution in sock production was the introduction of nylon in 1938. Until then socks were commonly made from silk, cotton and wool. Nylon was the start of blending two or more yarns in the production of socks, a process that continues today.

Socks can be created from a wide variety of materials, such as cotton, wool, nylon, acrylic, polyester, olefins, (such as polypropylene), or spandex.  To get an increased level of softness other materials that might be used during the process can be silk, bamboo, linen, cashmere, or mohair.  During the winter, there’s nothing quite like pulling on a pair of thick “fuzzy” socks.

The color variety of sock choices can be any color that the designers intend to make the sock upon its creation. Sock ‘coloring’ can come in a wide range of colors. Sometimes art is also put onto socks to increase their appearance. Colored socks may be a key part of the uniforms for sports, allowing players teams to be distinguished when only their legs are clearly visible.

The township-level district of Datang in the city of Zhuji in Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China, has become known as Sock City. The town currently produce 8 billion pairs of socks each year, a third of the world’s sock production, effectively creating two pairs of socks for every person on the planet in 2011.

Today socks are manufactured in a variety of lengths. Bare or ankle socks extend to the ankle or lower and are often worn casually or for athletic use. Bare socks are designed to create the look of “bare feet” when worn with shoes. Knee-high socks are sometimes associated with formal dress or as being part of a uniform, such as in sports (like football and baseball) or as part of a school’s dress code or youth group’s uniform. Over-the-knee socks or socks that extend higher (thigh-high socks) are today considered female garments. They were widely worn by children, both boys and girls, during the late-19th and early-20th centuries., although the popularity varied widely from country to country

A toe sock encases each toe individually the same way a finger is encased in a glove, while other socks have one compartment for the big toe and one for the rest, like a mitten; most notably Japanese tabi. Both of these allow one to wear flip-flops with the socks.  Leg warmers, which are not typically socks, may be replaced with socks in cold climates.

A business sock (boring!!) is a term for a colored sock for conservative appearance and casual footwear. The term is often used loosely to indicate a term for a conservative office setting. For instance, business socks, business shirts and business shoes are used for office and job. These socks usually have patterns and are known to be a cause for bleach stains in laundry machines due to their colored manufacturing process and dyed attributes.

Most sports will require some sort of sock, usually a tube sock to protect one’s legs from being scraped while participating in sport activities. In basketball, tube socks are worn, and in lacrosse, mid-calf socks are required. In football, knee socks are used, mostly to stop grass burns.  In soccer, socks are used to hold shin guards and to help the referee identify teams during in-close ball tackles/challenges.

Among Muslims, socks have initiated a discussion about the intricacies of wudhu, the formal washing carried out before prayer. Some Muslim clerics, mindful of possible hardship among Muslims in inhospitable circumstances, have issued Muslim edicts permitting practicing Muslims to wipe water over their sock or sprinkle their sock.  This would allow prayer where there are no seating facilities, or if there is a queue.

A sock is also used as a holiday item during Christmas. Children hang a large ceremonial sock called a Christmas stocking by a nail or hook on Christmas Eve, and then their parents fill it with small presents while the recipients are asleep. According to tradition, Santa Claus brings these presents.  (I hope your “sock” is filled to the top this year!)

So, now you know what to get me for Christmas!  🙂

 

“Honey, can you get the boxes from the attic”

/0 Comments/in , , /by

 

Decorating the house inside and out is so much fun. Sharing in this season gives me a warm feeling, too. (and I do like warm) So whether you go all out or keep it manageable, be sure to enjoy your family, friends and maybe make a donation to folks & organizations who need our help.

 

Around my neighborhood, it starts slowly, sometimes before Thanksgiving.  We see decorations and lights pop up at different houses. Of course, the stores have been at it for months, and the need to decorate the house arrives.  With us, we always start after December 2nd no exceptions!  This is one of my daughter’s birthday – Our tradition is no decorations until after her B’Day.. Before the nasty weather really hits, I like to take my cue from Jackie, who sets aside some time, usually on the weekend, and asks ( innocently of course!) if I am going to get down the boxes and plan our decorating. (Subtle!)  Like you, I struggle untangling the lights in the garage, spreading them all over the floor, trying to see which strings of lights made it through to the next season.  In years gone by I would climb onto the garage roof, hang off the side and run the lights.   For whatever reason, I am no longer allowed to do that! Once safely done on the outside we move indoors and decorate.  Jackie is always amazing with her vision for the house – me not so much.  When we decorate the trees I have to now follow the rules,  although my ornaments still tend to be found in “special “ spots!  Once all of the decorating is complete there is nothing quite like sitting back enjoying a beautiful fire with a hot cup of my favorite beverage and plate of fresh baked Christmas cookies.

Here’s a little Christmas history and some fun facts to share with family and friends – thanks to Wikipedia and thehistoryofchristmas.com.

A Christmas decoration is any of several types of ornamentation used at Christmas time. The traditional colors of Christmas are pine green (evergreen), snow white, and heart red. Blue and white are often used to represent winter, or sometimes Hanukkah, which occurs around the same time. Gold and silver are also very common – this year metallic green and light blue, with silver is popular.

In many countries, such as Sweden, people start to set up their Advent and Christmas decorations on the first day of Advent. Liturgically, this is done in some parishes through a Hanging of the Greens ceremony.  In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days when Christmas decorations are removed are Twelfth Night and if they are not taken down on that day, Candlemas, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations.

The English-language phrase “Christmas tree” is first recorded in 1835 and represents an importation from the German language. The modern Christmas tree tradition, though, is believed to have begun in Germany in the 18th century though many argue that Martin Luther began the tradition in the 16th century. From Germany the custom was introduced to England, first via Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, and then more successfully by Prince Albert during the early reign of Queen Victoria. The influential 1840s image of the Queen’s decorated evergreen was republished in the U.S, and as the first widely circulated picture of a decorated Christmas tree in America, the custom there spread.

Popular Christmas plants include holly, mistletoe, ivy, poinsettias and Christmas trees. The interior of a home may be decorated with these plants, along with garlands and evergreen foliage. These often come with small ornaments tied to the delicate branches, and sometimes with a small light set.  Wreaths are made from real or artificial conifer branches, or sometimes other broadleaf evergreens or holly. Several types of evergreen or even deciduous branches may be used in the same wreath, along with pinecones and sprays of berries, and Christmas ornaments including jingle bells. A bow is usually used at the top or bottom, and an electric or unlit candle may be placed in the middle.

Christmas lights are often used, and they may be hung from door or windows, and sometimes walls, lampposts and light fixtures, or even statuary. In North and South America, Australia, and Europe, it is traditional to decorate the outside of houses with lights and sometimes with illuminated sleighs, snowmen, and other Christmas figures. Municipalities often sponsor decorations as well. Christmas banners may be hung from street lights and Christmas trees placed in the town square.

In the Western world, rolls of brightly colored paper with secular or religious motifs are manufactured for the purpose of giftwrapping presents. The display of Christmas villages has also become a tradition in many homes during this season. Other traditional decorations include bells, candles, candy canes, garland, stockings, wreaths, snow globes, and angels. Snow sheets are made specifically for simulating snow under a tree or village.

One of the most popular items of Christmas decorations are stockings. According to legend, Saint Nicolas would creep in through the chimney and slip gold into stockings hanging by the fireplace. Various forms of stockings are available; from simple velvet ones, to sock-shaped bags to animated ones.

In some places, Christmas decorations are traditionally taken down on Twelfth Night, the evening of January 5 or January 6. In Hispanic and other cultures, this is more like Christmas Eve, as the Three Wise Men bring gifts that night, and therefore decorations are left up longer. The same is true in Eastern Churches which often observe Christmas according to the Julian Calendar, thus making it fall 13 days later.

In England, it was customary to burn the decorations in the hearth, however this tradition has fallen out of favor as reusable and imperishable decorations made of plastics, wood, glass and metal became more popular. If a Yule Log has been kept alight since Christmas Day, it is put out and the ashes kept to include in the fire on the following Christmas Day.

A superstition exists which suggests that if decorations are kept up after Twelfth Night, they must be kept up until the following Twelfth Night, but also that if the decorations for the current Christmas are taken down before the New Year begins, bad luck shall befall the house for a whole year.

In the United States, most stores immediately remove decorations the day after Christmas, as if the holiday season were over once the gifts are bought. Nearly all Americans leave their home decorations up and lit until at least New Year’s Day, and inside decorations can often be seen in windows for several days afterward.

So, How Did We Get to Today … American Christmas History:

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated.  in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America’s new constitution. Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia.

The early 19th century was a period of class conflict and turmoil. During this time, unemployment was high and gang rioting by the disenchanted classes often occurred during the Christmas season. In 1828, the New York city council instituted the city’s first police force in response to a Christmas riot. This catalyzed certain members of the upper classes to begin to change the way Christmas was celebrated in America.

In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a series of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In Irving’s mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status.

Irving’s fictitious celebrants enjoyed “ancient customs,” including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. Irving’s book, however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended—in fact, many historians say that Irving’s account actually “invented” tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season.

Before the Civil War, The North and South were divided on the issue of Christmas, as well as on the question of slavery. Many Northerners saw sin in the celebration of Christmas; to these people the celebration of Thanksgiving was more appropriate. But in the South, Christmas was an important part of the social season. Not surprisingly, the first three states to make Christmas a legal holiday were in the South: Alabama in 1836, Louisiana and Arkansas in 1838.

In the years after the Civil War, Christmas traditions spread across the country. Children’s books played an important role in spreading the customs of celebrating Christmas, especially the tradition of trimmed trees and gifts delivered by Santa Claus. Sunday school classes encouraged the celebration of Christmas.

Women’s magazines were also very important in suggesting ways to decorate for the holidays, as well as how to make these decorations.

By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, America eagerly decorated trees, caroled, baked, and shopped for the Christmas season.

Some interesting milestones include:

  • 1600’s: The Puritans made it illegal to mention St. Nicolas’ name. People were not allowed to exchange gifts, light a candle, or sing Christmas carols.
Dutch immigrants brought with them the legend of Sinter Klaas.
  • 1773: Santa first appeared in the media as St. A Claus.
  • 1804: The New York Historical Society was founded with St. Nicolas as its patron saint. Its members engaged in the Dutch practice of gift-giving at Christmas.
  • 1809: Washington Irving, writing under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, included Saint Nicolas in his book “A History of New York.” Nicolas is described as riding into town on a horse. Later, Irving, revised his book to include Nicolas riding over the trees in a wagon.
  • 1821: William Gilley printed a poem about “Santeclaus” who was dressed in fur and drove a sleigh drawn by a single reindeer.
  • 1822: Dentist Clement Clarke Moore is believed by many to have written a poem “An Account of a Visit from Saint Nicolas,” which became better known as “The Night before Christmas.” Santa is portrayed as an elf with a miniature sleigh equipped with eight reindeer which are named in the poem as Blitzem, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donder, Prancer, and Vixen. Others attribute the poem to a contemporary, Henry Livingston, Jr. Two have since been renamed Donner and Blitzen.
  • 1841: J.W. Parkinson, a Philadelphia merchant, hired a man to dress up in a “Criscringle” outfit and climb the chimney of his store.
  • 1863: Illustrator Thomas Nast created images of Santa for the Christmas editions of Harper’s Magazine. These continued through the 1890’s.
  • 1860s: President Abraham Lincoln asked Nast to create a drawing of Santa with some Union soldiers. This image of Santa supporting the enemy had a demoralizing influence on the Confederate army — an early example of psychological warfare.
  • 1897: Francis P Church, Editor of the New York Sun, wrote an editorial in response to a letter from an eight year-old girl, Virginia O’Hanlon. She had written the paper asking whether there really was a Santa Claus. It has become known as the “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” letter.
  • 1920’s: The image of Santa had been standardized to portray a bearded, over-weight, jolly man dressed in a red suit with white trim.
  • 1931: Haddon Sundblom, illustrator for The Coca-Cola™ company drew a series of Santa images in their Christmas advertisements until 1964. The company holds the trademark for the Coca-Cola Santa design. Christmas ads including Santa continue today.
  • 1939 Copywriter Robert L. May of the Montgomery Ward Company created a poem about Rudolph, the ninth reindeer. May had been “often taunted as a child for being shy, small and slight.” He created an ostracized reindeer with a shiny red nose who became a hero one foggy Christmas eve. Santa was part-way through deliveries when the visibility started to degenerate. Santa added Rudolph to his team of reindeer to help illuminate the path and a copy of the poem was given free to Montgomery Ward customers.
  • 1949: Johnny Marks wrote the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Rudolph was relocated to the North Pole where he was initially rejected by the other reindeer who wouldn’t let him play in their reindeer games because of his strange looking nose. The song was recorded by Gene Autry and became his all-time best seller. Next to “White Christmas” it is the most popular song of all time.

Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25–Christmas Day–has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.  Whatever your traditions include, let your decorating express yours and share the spirit of the season.

 

 

 

Catwalk Kowalski

/0 Comments/in , , /by

(row by row starting at top left) Trends out of Paris starting with ELEVEN PARIS Men’s Black Padded Jacket. I like that dude’s t-shirt more; New business dress out of Paris; They’re predicting a splash of red; Not into red? Try orange; European football scarves in time for the 2018 World Cup in Russia; Hey, look! The 1970’s is sending us their track suits; Moss green comfy sweater. Hmm, I could wear that; Now this is my style! Button down shirt & jeans. Yea, even that buckle.  So, I have a question: Why is it that models look so mad? I mean, really. Don’t these people own a mirror? If you look that good, you don’t have any reason to be mad at anything. Ever.

 

We have just finished Thanksgiving and Black Friday is upon us. For those of you who “really” know me, you’ve probably figured out what a fashion animal I am. Just the other day, I was in the closet pushing my KHT “summer collection” aside, to reach for my KHT fall/winter wear.  Yep, you guessed it – long sleeve button down KHT shirt (check), khakis (check), blue (or red) sweater (check), blue (or “monkey” – this will be another blog  as I love fun socks!) socks (check), shoes Dad would wear (check), KHT windbreaker (check). Needless to say, when I got downstairs feeling all “hipster”, Jackie didn’t even notice any of my extravagance – (I went all urban with part of my shirt tail showing from under my sweater – I just forgot to tuck my shirt in).  So, to kick it up a notch, I decided to see what the latest fashion trends are for “us guys” this Fall/Winter.  I hit the internet, and realized seeing what is in this Fall, I “may” be a bit out of Vogue.  But surprisingly, some of what’s in the back of my closet may be coming back into style again. Below are just a few of my favorites – Enjoy!! (and thanks Vogue Paris for the insights).   Although I do want to thank Vogue Paris – I am really a button down and Jeans guy.  Look for me to discuss shoes in an upcoming post.  I have 5 wonderful women in my life and I actually have a decent working knowledge of shoes.  🙂

  1. Padded Jackets – (think bubble wrap) – If you only buy one piece, make it the new padded jacket, combining fashion craftsmanship with high-tech fabrics and flirting with new approaches to padding to create hybrid forms.
  2. Business Class – An undercurrent to this season’s shows, business dress is back, with a slightly sinister edge. Think Wall Street in 1985 and the glory days of Wall Street, with extra-large shirts and patterned satin neckties, worn a little long.
  3. Go Red – It’s never been as present on the runway, the color scarlet sketched the outline of an ardent new modernity that nevertheless respected the rule of elegance. It provided a burst of color that electrified the menswear wardrobe this season – (did someone say Buckeyes??).
  4. Orange Ya Glad? – If scarlet is not “you” try a blast of orange – the psychedelic comeback as clothes in a cocktail of colors were given a dose of vitamin C orange for sunny, street-ready style.
  5. GOOAALL! – Hands-down the accessory of the season has been the football scarf to style central since the collective’s early collections, with a logo fan scarf just in time for 2018’s Soccer World Cup in Russia
  6. Did you have one in the 70’s? – If anyone was wondering if fashion is becoming more street, the tracksuit’s return to the runway will be their answer. And as the MTV generation takes the reins at the biggest fashion houses, it won’t be long before we see their labels on the hip-hop scene.
  7. Green Moss – go ahead and get that new sweater – dark, lush green, thick and comfy is the answer – throw in some comfy pants and your all set for the weekend stroll.

 

And for the ladies – look for full length furs and retro hats, glitterati boots, western wear, 70’s plaid, leisure suits, big shoulders and fishnets – just to name a few trends.

 

 

 

 

There’s only one … Mom’s of course.

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Thanksgiving Day = Turkey but this blog is all about Stuffing. (Oh, and a nod to jellied cranberries) Smells sooo great right out of the oven. Tastes sooo great, too. I’ve tried different recipes and I haven’t met a stuffing I haven’t loved. Stuffing left-overs are great on a sandwich, too. So, say your Thanksgiving grace and serve plenty of stuffing.

 

Thanksgiving is coming, and with it, one of my favorites – stuffing. Hot or cold, with gravy or without, snack or meal, it’s heaven. Remember stuffing is a wonderful breakfast food also. And I’m guessing, like you, there’s nothing quite like Mom’s. I was always responsible for the “stuffing” part!  Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Jackie’s recipe, filled with goodness and smothered with her fantastic gravy!  As far as I am concerned, Turkey – Stuffing and gravy along Jellied cranberries and I am a happy man!   I can still remember my first Thanksgiving with Jackie, as a new couple just starting out and the smell of her savory dressing filling the kitchen. Since I come from a relatively large family my perspective on how much stuffing and cranberry sauce needed was slightly different from Jackie’s.  Who doesn’t buy the cans of cranberries when they were 10 for $10?  You have to buy 10 correct?

For my history buffs, here’s some great info on stuffing.  And for my fellow foodies, some great recipes from around the country.  Cornbread or white bread?  Just the crust?  Store bought cubes, or sour dough?  Have fun and ENJOY!

 

Stuffing, filling, or dressing is an edible substance or mixture, often a starch, used to fill a cavity in another food item while cooking. Many foods may be stuffed, including eggs, poultry, seafood, mammals, fruits and vegetables.

Traditionally, turkey stuffing often consists of cornbread or dried bread, in the form of croutons, cubes or breadcrumbs, mixed with onion, celery, salt, pepper, and other spices and herbs such as summer savory, sage, or a mixture like poultry seasoning. Many families add sausage, raisins, cranberries, bacon, mushrooms, kale, apples and more.  Experimenting is fun and easy to get a great complimentary flavor profile.  Popular additions in the UK include giblets, dried fruits and nuts (notably apricots and flaked almonds) and chestnuts.

Many types of vegetables are also suitable for stuffing, after their seeds or flesh has been removed. Tomatoes, capsicums (sweet or hot peppers), vegetable marrows (e.g., zucchini) may be prepared in this way. Cabbages and similar vegetables can also be stuffed or wrapped around a filling. They are usually blanched first, to make their leaves more pliable. Then, the interior may be replaced by stuffing, or small amounts of stuffing may be inserted between the individual leaves.

Almost anything can serve as a stuffing or filler. Many popular Anglo-American stuffings contain bread or cereals, usually together with vegetables, herbs and spices, and eggs. Middle Eastern vegetable stuffings may be based on seasoned rice, on minced meat, or a combination thereof. Other stuffings may contain only vegetables and herbs. Some types of stuffing contain sausage meat, or forcemeat, while vegetarian stuffings sometimes contain tofu.

It is not known when stuffings were first used. The earliest documentary evidence is the Roman cookbook, Apicius De Re Coquinaria, which contains recipes for stuffed chicken, dormouse, hare, and pig. Most of the stuffings described consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (an old cereal), and frequently contain chopped liver, brains, and other animal parts.

Ancient Romans, as well as medieval chefs, cooked stuffed animals with other animals. An anonymous Andalusian cookbook from the 13th century includes a recipe for a ram stuffed with small birds. A similar recipe for a camel stuffed with sheep stuffed with bustards stuffed with carp stuffed with eggs is mentioned in T.C. Boyle’s book Water Music.  Today families enjoy “turducken” (turkey stuffed with a boned duck stuffed with a boned chicken)

Names for stuffing include “farce” (~1390), “stuffing” (1538), “forcemeat” (1688), and relatively more recently in the United States; “dressing” (1850).

Oysters are used in one traditional stuffing for Thanksgiving. These may also be combined with mashed potatoes, for a heavy stuffing. Fruits and dried fruits can be added to stuffing including apples, apricots, dried prunes, and raisins. (Although I have said I eat anything.. NOT THIS ONE!)

In addition to stuffing the body cavity of animals, including birds, fish, and mammals, various cuts of meat may be stuffed after they have been deboned or a pouch has been cut into them. Popular recipes include stuffed chicken legs or breasts, stuffed pork chops, stuffed breast of veal, fish, as well as the traditional holiday stuffed turkey or goose.

British celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has championed the ten-bird roast, calling it “one of the most spectacular and delicious roasts you can lay before your loved ones at Yuletide”. A large turkey is stuffed with a goose, duck, mallard, guinea fowl, chicken, pheasant, partridge, pigeon, and woodcock. The roast feeds approximately 30 people and, as well as the ten birds, includes stuffing made from two pounds of sausage meat and half a pound of streaky bacon, along with sage, and port and red wine.

American couples often have to reconcile competing stuffings as part of the ritual of bonding for the holidays. One Minneapolis woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid family discord, said she and her husband were so attached to their mothers’ stuffing recipes that they had to alternate years at each table. ”I hate my mother-in-law’s stuffing — she uses chestnuts — and when I have to go to her house, I always stop off at my Mother’s on the way home,” she said. ”She leaves a container of stuffing in the refrigerator for me, and I eat it in the car.”

The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish. For turkeys, for instance, the USDA recommends cooking stuffing/dressing separately from the bird and not buying pre-stuffed birds. (Stuffing is never recommended for turkeys to be fried, grilled, microwaved, or smoked).

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that cooking animals with a body cavity filled with stuffing can present potential food safety issues. These can occur because when the meat reaches a safe temperature, the stuffing inside can still harbor bacteria (and if the meat is cooked until the stuffing reaches a safe temperature, the meat may be overcooked).

 

Ok, gather your ingredients 
and let’s make stuffing!

 

TRADITIONAL STUFFING RECIPE

Time:  About an hour

½ c. margarine
5 large celery stalks
1 large onion
1 tsp. dried thyme
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. dried sage
1 can chicken broth
2 loaf sliced firm white bread
½ c. loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
(then have fun – raisins, cranberries, sausage, almonds, apples or chestnuts)

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In 12-inch skillet, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add celery and onion, and cook 15 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
  2. Stir in thyme, salt, pepper, sage, chicken broth, and 1/2 cup water; remove skillet from heat.
  3. Place bread cubes in very large bowl. Add celery mixture and parsley; toss to mix well.
  4. Spoon stuffing into 13-inch by 9-inch glass baking dish; cover with foil and bake 40 minutes or until heated through.
  5. Blend in dry or wet “fun” ingredients about half way through cooking (good to pre-cook sausage).

 

RICH CORN BREAD DRESSING 
Time: About an hour 

6 1/2 ounces butter (13 tablespoons)
6 cups crumbled corn bread
6 cups torn crusty white bread, such as a baguette
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried sage (optional)
2 teaspoons salt
Black pepper
6 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 cups turkey or chicken broth
2 dozen shucked small oysters, with their liquid (optional).

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees, and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Melt remaining butter. In a large bowl, combine corn bread, white bread, onion, celery, sage, salt and pepper to taste. Toss until well mixed. Add melted butter, eggs, cream and 1 1/2 cups broth. Toss in oysters, if using. Mix lightly but well; mixture should be very moist.
  2. Turn mixture into prepared dish. If mixture seems dry around edges, drizzle on remaining broth. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until firm and browned on top.
    Yield: 12 servings.

 

SAUSAGE STUFFING WITH SUMMER SAVORY 
Time: About an hour

2 tablespoons butter
Pinch of salt
4 medium-size russet potatoes, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large stalks celery, chopped
1 pound breakfast pork sausage meat, crumbled
2 cups cubes made from crusty white bread, such as a baguette, toasted
1 cup low-sodium or homemade chicken broth
Pepper to taste
1 to 2 teaspoons dried summer savory.

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees, and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
  2. Boil potatoes in salted water until just cooked through but still firm in center. When cool, cut into 1-inch dice. Set aside.
  3. Melt remaining butter and oil together in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and celery, and cook, stirring, until softened. Reduce heat if necessary to prevent browning.
  4. Raise heat to medium-high, add sausage and cook, stirring, using a wooden spoon to break up clumps. When sausage has browned slightly add potatoes, and continue cooking until they are incorporated and slightly browned. Add bread cubes, and mix.
  5. Add about half the broth, and mix. If needed, add more to soften bread cubes and to bind the stuffing together. Add salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon summer savory. Taste, and add more savory if desired.
  6. Turn into buttered dish. If mixture seems dry, drizzle on remaining stock. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until firm and crusty. (The stuffing is even better if mixed in advance, kept refrigerated and baked just before serving.)
    Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

 

 

 

THANKS!

/0 Comments/in , /by

 

 

Please take a minute this weekend,

in your own way,

to pray for the men and women,

living and deceased,

who have served our wonderful country with valor,

honor and a relentless belief in the inherent freedoms

our country stands for.

 

 

 

 

“Steve, stop bothering your sister and finish your lima beans”

/0 Comments/in , , /by

(top black & white photos) Thanks to the genius of Clarence Birdseye (my new hero) we can have fresh vegetables all year round.  (the rest of the images) Lima Beans: putting the suck in succotash since, well, I’d say the beginning of time.

 

Lima beans.  A tough vegetable. Growing up, I had my share of questionable veggies that I’d eat. But, in my family of 17 brothers and sisters, I have come to realize that we were foodies before it became fashionable. Dad and Mom were always “creating” eclectic dishes. So I ate, and learned to pretty much eat everything.  For all of you who know me, I love food with a few exceptions. Lima beans (they should be used as filler in bean bags only), maple frosting and sweet potatoes. Now other than that I am pretty much good to go with all kinds of food.  Now you see why my posts reference running!  This past weekend I was doing some shopping, I love shopping on Saturday mornings for the samples and wandered into the frozen food aisle.  I was amazed at all the things that are frozen – breakfast sandwiches, chicken, desserts, and Mexican foods.  And there it was – Birdseye brand. I grabbed my frozen corn, and headed home. My curious brain had me on the internet when I got home, and sure enough, I got reading about Clarence Frank Birdseye II, born Dec 1886, considered the founder of the frozen food industry.  Being a man crazed with temperatures, thermal processing, and PIA Jobs, I met a new hero (minus the lima beans).  Here’s some fun facts from Wikipedia – enjoy.

  1. Clarence Frank Birdseye II(December 9, 1886 – October 7, 1956) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and naturalist, and is considered to be the founder of the modern frozen food
  2. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, the sixth of nine children of Clarence Frank Birdseye I and Ada Jane Underwood – (nine kids – he gets it – eat or go hungry).
  3. Birdseye attended Montclair High Schoolin New Jersey, and due to financial difficulties completed only two years at Amherst College, where his father and elder brother had earned degrees.  He subsequently moved west working for the United States Agriculture Department.
  4. Birdseye began his career as a taxidermist. He also worked in New Mexico and Arizona as an “assistant naturalist”, a job that involved killing off coyotes.  While in Montana, he captured several hundred small mammals, removing several thousand ticks for research, and isolated them as the cause of Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
  5. Birdseye’s next field assignment, was in Labradorin the Dominion of Newfoundland (now part of Canada), where he became further interested in food preservation.  He was taught by the Inuithow to ice fish under very thick ice. In -40 °C weather, he discovered that the fish he caught froze almost instantly, and, when thawed, tasted fresh. He recognized immediately that the frozen seafood sold in New York was of lower quality than the frozen fish of Labrador, and saw that applying this knowledge would be lucrative. (His journals from this period, which record these observations, are held in the Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College).
  6. Conventional freezing methods of the time were commonly done at higher temperatures, and thus the freezing occurred much more slowly, giving ice crystals more time to grow. It is now known that fast freezing produces smaller ice crystals, which cause less damage to the tissue structure. When ‘slow’ frozen foods thaw, cellular fluids leak from the ice crystal-damaged tissue, giving the resulting food a mushy or dry consistency upon preparation. Birdseye solved this problem.
  7. In 1922, Birdseye conducted fish-freezing experiments at the Clothel Refrigerating Company, and then established his own company, Birdseye Seafoods Inc., to freeze fish fillets with chilled air at -43 °C (-45 °F). In 1924, his company went bankrupt for lack of consumer interest in the product. That same year he developed an entirely new process for commercially viable quick-freezing: packing fish in cartons, then freezing the contents between two refrigerated surfaces under pressure. Birdseye created a new company, General Seafood Corporation, to promote this method.
  8. In 1925, his General Seafood Corporation moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts, where it employed Birdseye’s newest invention, the double belt freezer, in which cold brine chilled a pair of stainless steel belts carrying packaged fish, freezing the fish quickly. His invention was subsequently issued as US Patent #1,773,079, marking the beginning of today’s frozen foods industry. Birdseye took out patents on other machinery, which cooled even more quickly, so that only small ice crystals could form and cell membranes were not damaged. In 1927, he began to extend the process beyond fish to quick-freezing of meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetables.
  9. In 1929, Birdseye sold his company and patentsfor $22 million to Goldman Sachs and the Postum Company, which eventually became General Foods Corporation, and which founded the Birds Eye Frozen Food Company. Birdseye continued to work with the company, further developing frozen food technology.
  10. In 1930, the company began sales experiments in 18 retail stores around Springfield, Massachusetts, to test consumer acceptance of quick-frozen foods. The initial product line featured 26 items, including 18 cuts of frozen meat, spinach and peas, a variety of fruits and berries, blue point oysters, and fish fillets. Consumers liked the new products and today this is considered the birth of retail frozen foods. The “Birds Eye” name remains a leading frozen-food brand.
  11. On Nov 3, 1952, Birdseye officially sells its first official bag of frozen peas (likely much to the delight of my young mother – too bad they learned how to freeze lima beans.)
  12. In 2005, Birdseye was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
  13. Today, Birds Eyeis an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Pinnacle Foods in North America and by Nomad Foods in Europe.  Moms across America continue to give their kids lima beans – thanks Clarence!

 

 

 

2,642 pounds.

/0 Comments/in , , /by

(top) For the second time in 3 years, Mathia Willemijn won the world record for his behemoth pumpkin weighing 2,624.6 pounds. (all the rest) Carving pumpkins is really fun. Simple to complex there are some very creative people out there. And no matter how old you are Halloween is as fun as it is tiring.

While driving down to Heat Treat 2017 in Columbus, Ohio this year (GO BUCYEYES), I started thinking about our plans for Halloween, decorating, pumpkin pie (of course), and getting our pumpkins for carving with the girls.  Growing up, we would all have a pumpkin to carve and once completed we would place then on a long piece of wood in the from yard supported on two saw horses.  Now having 20 pumpkins in a row was quite a sight!  As I got older and had a family of my own, Jackie, the girls and I would go to our favorite pumpkin farm where they had a great deal!  All the pumpkins you could pick up at one time for $10.00. So…. any of you who know me most likely know what would happen next.  I needed to pick up 6 pumpkins and they all had to be the same size – carvable!  I am happy to say – Success!  Over the years I had to sadly give up that tradition.  Now, I am only allowed to carve pumpkins if I promise to be good and minimize the use of power tools! (Spade drills work really well!) I digress, now with time to wander, I was wondering what the world’s largest pumpkin is these days, who holds the record, and where it sits.  So, at a rest stop, I typed into my phone, and found – Ready – Mathias Willemijns, from Belgium, at the 2017 Giant Pumpkin European championship in Ludwigsburg, Germany on October 9th, weighed in at 2,624.6 pounds. WHAT??? Here’s some more fun history and trivia to go along with the newest record – Good luck carving.

  1. Mathias Willemijns grew a pumpkin of proportions not seen until this year. The Belgian man set a world record last week with a super squash that weighed 2,624.6 pounds.  Guinness World Records has yet to confirm it.
  2. The previous world-record pumpkin was 2,323 pounds. Swiss grower Beni Meier set that record in 2014 at a weigh-off at the same event.
  3. The first European settlers were stunned by our Native American’s ample crop of squash, which they mistook for melon.  Centuries later Irish immigrants abandoned the turnips they carved for jack-o-lanterns on All Hallows Eve, and replaced them with pumpkins, giving us our doorstep decorating traditions we still use today.
  4. For many years, record-setting pumpkins – a variety of Cucurbita maxima, bred in Nova Scotia, was the standard, raised in cool-weather New England, where summer days are in the mid 80’s, maximizing photosynthesis without desiccating the bloated fruit, along with bonus sunlight throughout the growing season.
  5. In the US, during June, giant pumpkins are growing exponentially, and by August, they’re packing on one to two pounds per hour, while guzzling about 100 gallons of water per day.
  6. Many pumpkins are raised by amateur growers, who keep daily diaries filled with secrets.  Genetic lines include Pleasure Dome and Freak 2, with individual seeds we’d normally bake, salt and eat, selling at auction for almost $2,000.
  7. The shift to European champions is rather recent, with the first German gourd-baking championship and pumpkin expo in 2001.  Since then, old world growers are clustering in northern Europe, using high tech greenhouses, heating, air conditioning, irrigation systems, and automatic fertilization.
  8. The current winner, Mathias Willemijns, is the lead technician at a large vegetable research center, and uses his own 130 foot poly tunnel to handle only four large pumpkins. Soil nutrient nanotechnology and genetic technologies lead to bigger crops and faster growth.
  9. Matt DeBacco of Rocky Hill, Connecticut has developed special blends that has excited the growers, and been a boom for the cannabis industry as well.
  10. In the madcap world of competitive horticulture, the record holders are: Carrot: 20 pounds, Zucchini: 64.49 pounds, Radish: 68.9 pounds, Green cabbage: 138.25 pounds, Watermelon: 350.5 pounds.
  11. Thank you Pintrest – here’s a link to the top carving designs – have fun!!  (and send me photos)

 

 

 

MMMMMMMMMMMM

/0 Comments/in , , /by

There’s no shortage of coffee love in the world and I’m a big supporter of that love. (bottom left) I just had to share this unusual, fun, hand-made mug. Get yours HERE. (bottom right) I love my guest mugs. I use them in customer meetings and when friends stop by. If you’re really, really nice to me I’ll give you one to take home.

I stopped by one of our local coffee shops this morning to visit with a business partner, and enjoyed a fresh cup of delicious coffee.  Wow.  The aroma, taste, color, temperature and texture was amazing.  Being the senior “PIA Job” solver at the company, I of course was wondering “how do they do it”?  Was it the beans, the water, the brewing temperature, the cup, the artisans, the setting, or the time of day … just what were the ingredients that made it taste so good.  Of course, when I got back to the office, I had a cup of my KHT Mr. Coffee “drip-drip” special coffee … and it was just not the same (by a long shot!). Now, don’t ask my staff how I make mine at the office, they have been judging me for years! So instead, I went digging online and found a detailed, “scientific” article from Smithsonian called – The Chemistry and Physics Behind the Perfect Cup of Coffee – How science helps your barista brew your espresso perfectly every time, (personally, I would have tried for a shorter title!) and just had to share the highlights with you.  Thanks to Smithsonian.com and writer Christopher Hendon for the bulk of the article!  Enjoy.

  • Coffee is unique among artisanal beverages in that the brewer plays a significant role in its quality or lack thereof at the point of consumption. In contrast, as drinkers of different preferred beverages we buy, for example, milk (whole, 1%, 2%), juice (pulp, no-pulp), draft beer (spiced, hoppy, light, heavy) and wine (red, white, sweet, silky) as finished products, the only consumer-controlled variable is temperature at which we drink them. So, why is it that coffee produced by a barista at a cafe always tastes different than the same beans brewed at home?
  • According to scientists, the variables of temperature, water chemistry, particle size distribution, ratio of water to coffee, filter/soak time and, perhaps most importantly, the quality of the green coffee all play crucial roles in producing a tasty cup. It’s how we control these variables that allows for that cup to be reproducible.

Brew Method:

  • We humans seem to like drinks that contain coffee constituents (organic acids, Maillard products, esters and heterocycles, to name a few) at 1.2 to 1.5 percent by mass (as in filtered coffee), and favor drinks containing 8 to 10 percent by mass (as in espresso). Concentrations outside of these ranges are challenging to execute. There are a limited number of technologies that achieve 8 to 10 percent concentrations, the espresso machine being the most familiar. Many Middle Eastern countries brew their coffee even denser/stronger, and serve less of it in tiny cups (think turbo-charged caffeine).
  • There are many ways, though, to achieve a drink containing 1.2 to 1.5 percent coffee. Purists prefer using a “pour-over”, a Turkish, Arabic, Aeropress, French press, siphon or a batch brew (that is, regular drip) apparatus – each producing coffee that tastes good around these concentrations. These brew methods also boast an advantage over their espresso counterpart: They are cheap.

When coffee meets water:

  • There are two families of brewing device within the low-concentration methods – those that fully immerse the coffee in the brew water and those that flow the water through the coffee bed. From a physical perspective, the major difference is that the temperature of the coffee particulates is higher in the full immersion system. The slowest part of coffee extraction is not the rate at which compounds dissolve from the particulate surface. Rather, it’s the speed at which coffee flavor moves through the solid particle to the water-coffee interface.  Surprising, this speed is increased with a rise in temperature. (just like heat treating!)
  • A higher particulate temperature means that more of the tasty compounds trapped within the coffee particulates will be extracted. But higher temperature also lets more of the unwanted compounds dissolve in the water, too. The Specialty Coffee Association presents a flavor wheel to help us talk about these flavors – from green/vegetative or papery/musty through to brown sugar or dried fruit.
  • Pour-overs and other flow-through systems are more complex. Unlike full immersion methods where time is controlled, flow-through brew times depend on the grind size since the grounds control the flow rate. (Just like grain size for my metallurgist friends!)
  • Also, the water-to-coffee ratio matters, too, in the brew time. Simply grinding the coffee more finely to increase the extraction invariably changes the brew time, as the water seeps more slowly through finer grounds. One can increase the water-to-coffee ratio by using less coffee, but as the mass of coffee is reduced, the brew time also decreases. Optimization of filter coffee brewing is hence multidimensional and more tricky than full immersion methods.

Other variables to try to control:

  • Even if you can optimize your brew method and apparatus to precisely mimic your favorite barista, there is still a near-certain chance that your home or work brew will taste different from the cafe’s. There are three subtleties that have tremendous impact on the coffee quality: water chemistry, particle size distribution produced by the grinder and coffee freshness.
  • First, water chemistry: Given that coffee is an acidic beverage, the acidity of your brew water can have a big effect. Brew water containing low levels of both calcium ions and bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻) – that is, soft water – will result in a highly acidic cup, sometimes described as sour. Brew water containing high levels of HCO₃⁻ – typically, hard water – will produce a chalky cup, as the bicarbonate has neutralized most of the flavorsome acids in the coffee. Ideally we want to brew coffee with water containing chemistry somewhere in the middle. But there’s a good chance you don’t know the bicarbonate concentration in your own tap water, and a small change makes a big difference. To taste the impact, try brewing coffee with Evian – one of the highest bicarbonate concentration bottled waters, at 360 mg/L.
  • Second, particle size: The particle size distribution your grinder produces is critical, too. Every coffee enthusiast will rightly tell you that blade grinders are disfavored because they produce a seemingly random particle size distribution; there can be both powder and essentially whole coffee beans coexisting. The alternative, a burr grinder, features two pieces of metal with teeth that cut the coffee into progressively smaller pieces. They allow ground particulates through an aperture only once they are small enough.  Of course, there is contention over how to optimize grind settings when using a burr grinder.  One school of thought supports grinding the coffee as fine as possible to maximize the surface area, which lets you extract the most delicious flavors in higher concentrations. The rival school advocates grinding as coarse as possible to minimize the production of fine particles that impart negative flavors. Perhaps the most useful advice here is to determine what you like best based on your taste preference.
  • Finally, the freshness of the coffee itself is crucial. Roasted coffee contains a significant amount of CO₂ and other volatiles trapped within the solid coffee matrix: Over time these gaseous organic molecules will escape the bean. Fewer volatiles means a less flavorful cup of coffee. Most cafes will not serve coffee more than four weeks out from the roast date, emphasizing the importance of using freshly roasted beans. One can mitigate the rate of staling by cooling the coffee, as described by the Arrhenius equation. While you shouldn’t chill your coffee in an open vessel (unless you want fish finger brews), storing coffee in an airtight container in the freezer will significantly prolong freshness.  You can always invest in a vacuum container to keep your coffee fresh!
  • So, don’t feel bad that your carefully brewed cup of coffee at home never stacks up to what you buy at the café. There are a lot of variables – scientific and otherwise – that must be wrangled to produce a single superlative cup. Take comfort that most of these variables are not optimized by some mathematical algorithm, but rather by somebody’s tongue. What’s most important is that your coffee tastes good to you… brew after brew.

Some of the favorite Places in Cleveland for a Great Cup of Coffee:

  1. Rising Star Coffee Roasters – 1455 W. 29th Street or 2187 Murray Hill Rd (Edgehill)
  2. Erie Island Coffee – 2057 E. 4th Street or 19300 Detroit Rd (Rocky River)
  3. Phoenix Coffee – 3000 Bridge Avenue, (W. 30th)
  4. Loop Coffee – 2180 W 11th Street or 1700 E 9th Street
  5. Pour Cleveland – 530 Euclid (E. 6th Street)
  6. Dewey’s Coffee – 13201 Shaker Square
  7. Gypsy Beans & Baking Co. – 6425 Detroit Avenue
  8. Algebra Tea House – 2136 Murray Hill Road

 

 

 

STEEEEEEEEEEE – RIKE ! ! !

/0 Comments/in , , /by

I just love baseball!! Organized leagues or pick-up games with friends or family what a great sport of skill and comradery. And it’s definitely not just for boys! (bottom) Check out this super slo-mo of a ball hitting the bat HERE. More video links below.

 

Sad. Lethargic. Just not right today.  My beloved Indians are no longer in the hunt this year.  Like you, I was hanging on to every pitch, every at bat, every move by the managers – hoping for a hit, or wishing for a swing and a miss.  What an amazing game.  Through all the data, and pontificators, as the experts will say, most believe in the playoffs, it all comes down to pitching.  And, with the best pitcher in the American League this year, and the best bullpen and closer, I really thought we were headed to the big show again.  But alas, “maybe next year.”  On the “fun” side, watching the games, it did get me a thinkin’… just how do those guys throw those pitches and make the ball move the way it does.  So, I went to discover some cool facts for you, and some interesting trivia, “just because”.  Enjoy, and thanks to Mentalfloss.com and factretriver.com.

When watching from home, or listening in on the radio, we hear a lot of talk about what kind of pitch was just thrown, will be thrown, should be thrown, might be thrown, or, perhaps, shouldn’t have been thrown at all. Cutters, sliders, sinkers and more.  Here’s how they work:

  1. Fastball – This is the basic, most important pitch in baseball. The first two fingers rest just on (or inside) the seams and the pitcher releases the pitch with the palm pretty much facing the batter, producing maximum velocity. How fast are we talking? Generally, in the 90-95 mph range, though some pitchers have been known to easily hurl over 100 mph. Technically, what most pitchers throw is called a two-seam fastball and produces a sidespin that causes the ball to cut in as it approaches the batter. There are other varieties, like the 4-seam fastball, which is thrown by holding the ball with the seams horizontal, rather than vertical. This produces backspin, which creates high pressure under the ball and low pressure on top resulting in the illusion of the ball rising (actually the ball isn’t rising, just falling more slowly than it would normally). There’s also a split-finger fastball where the first two fingers split, or straddle the seams, which causes the ball to drop a little as it approaches the plate. Despite the movement, the basic idea of a fastball is to overpower the batter, so he swings late and misses.
  2. Sinker – If you’ve ever played wiffle ball, you know the ball rises, falls, and curves in and away from a batter depending on where you position the air holes in the ball. Likewise, in baseball, a pitcher can create movement and variation in speed depending on how he releases the ball, or how he spins the ball. Off-speed pitches, like the sinker, are pitches that are released with the palm of the hand facing away from the pitcher. This causes the ball to sink as it approaches the batter. The idea here is to either get him to swing over the ball and miss, or, if he connects with the pitch, to produce a ground ball, rather than a line drive.
  3. Changeup – A changeup is like a sinker, in that it’s an off-speed pitch, only the palm is turned even further out. All off-speed pitches are similar in that they’re thrown with less velocity than the fastball. But the batter doesn’t know when one is coming because a good pitcher is able to use the same arm speed as he does for the fastball. So to throw it with less velocity, the pitcher presses the baseball deep into his palm. Less finger contact means less torque and less velocity. If a batter is expecting a fastball, slowing down, or “changing up” the speed to, say, 87 mph can trip him up and he’ll swing ahead of the ball. Great pitchers can build an entire career on the changeup because they’re able to slow it down all the way to around 80 mph. If they can throw a fastball around 95 mph, that’s a whopping 15 mph slower and really confuses the batter.
  4. Screwball – This is another off-speed pitch that not only sinks, but moves from the pitcher’s left side to the right as it approaches the batter (opposite for lefties). The palm is again pronated away from the pitcher, even further than the sinker and changeup. As the pitcher releases the ball, he twists the ball like a corkscrew. A left-handed batter will see the ball break away from him and a right-handed batter will experience the opposite, as the ball breaks in on him (the reverse is true if the pitcher is left-handed, of course).
  5. Cutter – Turning the palm in the opposite direction produces a series of pitches known as breaking pitches. The first stop over from the fastball is the cutter, which is like a fastball, only it breaks in ever so slightly and is generally thrown a few mphs slower than a fastball.  The further the palm is rotated toward the pitcher, the more movement (in most cases, but not all).  Major league pitchers can create amazing movement in and out from a batter, disguising the pitch to look like a fastball, but then it “cuts” away.
  6. Slider – Basically the same thing as a cutter, a slider is thrown with less velocity than the former and the palm is rotated further toward the pitcher. The slower speed means there’s more time for the ball to move, or slide, from one side of the plate to the other.
  7. Curveball (my favorite) – A good curveball can be devastating, and also fun to watch. These are the pitches that appear to arc up toward the batter’s chest (or even head) before dropping into the strike zone like a bomb as they reach the plate. Of course, not every successful curveball pitcher throws the large arc variety and they need not be so dramatic. Even a small arc keeps the hitter off balance. The pitcher turns his palm in so far that his hand looks like the letter “C.” He then flicks his wrist as he releases the ball (the opposite direction from the screwball) creating topspin. The more topspin, the greater the air pressure difference between the top and bottom of the ball, and the greater the break.

 

And some “I didn’t know that” fun trivia:

  1. The unofficial anthem of American baseball, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” is traditionally sung during the middle of the 7th inning. It was written in 1908 by Jack Norworth and Albert von Tilzer, both of whom had never been to a baseball game.
  2. The life span of a major league baseball is 5–7 pitches. During a typical game, approximately 70 balls are used
  3. A “can of corn” is an easy fly ball. The term comes from when old-time grocers used their aprons to catch cans knocked from a high shelf.
  4. “Soaking” was a very early baseball rule that allowed a runner who was off base to be put out by throwing a ball at him.
  5. The most innings ever played in a major League baseball game was 26 innings on May 1, 1920, when the Brooklyn Dodgers played the Boston Braves.
  6. The longest game on record was between the Chicago White Sox and the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on May 9, 1984. The game lasted 8 hours 6 minutes and went 25 innings.
  7. A big-league player can hit a 90-mph pitch with more than 8,000 pounds during the millisecond that the bat is in contact with the baseball. The ball leaves the bat at a speed of 110 -125 mph.
  8. A player increases his chance of hitting a home run if he hits the baseball at the bat’s “sweet spot.” This spot is an area between 5 and 7 inches from the barrel end of the bat. When a player hits the sweet spot, there is less vibration, and the bat makes a satisfying “crack” sound.
  9. The probable MLBrecord is Leon Cadore of the Brooklyn Dodgers who pitched every inning of a 26-inning game in 1920. It is estimated that he threw 360 pitches over the course of the game. His opponent on the mound, Joe Oeschger of the Boston Braves, also pitched all 26 innings and threw an estimated 319 pitches.
  10. While no records formally exist, it is believed Steve Kowalski can “out eat” most fans in a nine- inning game. This includes peanuts, popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, and the burger of the day.

 

Some Cool Video Links:

Fun – Grips and crazy ball movements:

 

University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Baseball Research Center:

 

Video of a pitch in super duper slow motion:

 

The science and physics of a baseball pitch:

 

A lighter video. Fun ceremonial first pitches:

 

 

 

I have a solution…

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

(row one) rough drawing of the drinking tube, Joseph B. Friedman and his more refined patent drawing; (row two) The Flex-Straw was first marketed to hospitals; In the early 1950’s, Roy Rogers endorsed the Flex-Straw in an ad aimed at kids; (row three) The Flex-Straw infused with strawberry, chocolate and coffee (for mom?); 1940s – 1950s packaging. (other images) These straws were totally made for sharing a beverage with your BFF…or not.

 

Problem solving and ideas – the “backbone and spirit” of Kowalski Heat Treating – it’s what keeps us on “our game” every single day and what our customers expect from us – solving your pesky PIA (Pain In The @#$) Jobs.  As the guy at the top, like most leaders, I get such a charge when my folks come in and say “Steve, we’ve worked on a bunch of different solutions, and we’re pretty sure we got it.”  BAM.  Just like that, problem solved.  And the best part for me is when I get to pick up the phone and call my customers and say – “yep, we figured it out”.

Recently I was reading an article about an inventor who was born in Cleveland back in 1900, and invented, to this day, one of my all-time favorites – the bendy straw.  Like so many inventors, he saw a problem (this one happened to be with his daughter and sitting at a soda shop), experimented, came up with a solution, and then went on to prototyping, a patent and manufacturing.  So, to fully enjoy this post, make yourself a yummy root beer and ice cream float, (oh yea, one of my favorites), put in a flexible straw, sit back and enjoy the read.  I’m not sure about you all, but one of my favorite things is to blow bubbles in the glass – certainly takes me back and Jackie will just shake her head, again!  Special thanks to Smithsonian, Wikipedia and the Atlantic Magazine for confirming the facts for me.  And thanks Joe for your problem-solving solution – KHT salutes you!

  1. Historians don’t know what civilization first came up with the idea of sticking tubes into cups and slurping, but the earliest evidence of straws comes from a seal found in a Sumerian tomb dated 3,000 B.C. It shows two men using what appear to be straws taking beer from a jar. (BRILLIANT!) In the same tomb, archeologists also found history’s first known straw – a tube made from gold and the precious blue stone lapis lazuli.
  2. In the 1880’s, gentlemen sipped their whiskey through long tubes made of natural rye that lent a grassy flavor to whatever drink they plopped in. For many centuries, it was not uncommon to order a gin and tonic and wind up drinking it infused with natural grass flavors. Marvin Chester Stone didn’t have much patience when it came to non-mint plants floating around in his mint julep, and did something. He reinvented the straw.
  3. In his first try, he wound paper around a pencil to make a thin tube, slid out the pencil from one end, and applied glue between the strips. Voila: paper straw! Also: glue? Stone refined it by building a machine to wind paper into a tube and coat the outside with a paraffin wax to keep it from melting in bourbon. He patented the product in 1888. Today, Marvin Chester Stone is considered the godfather of the paper straw.
  4. Joseph B. Friedman, born October 9, 1900 in Cleveland, Ohio, was a first generation American and the fifth of eight children. An independent American inventor with a broad range of interests and ideas, Friedman is credited with inventing the flexible straw.
  5. By the age of fourteen, Friedman conceptualized his first invention, the lighted pencil, which he deemed the “pencilite,” and was attempting to market his idea. Over the course of his inventing career, he would experiment with ideas ranging from writingimplements to engine improvements, and household products to sound and optic
  6. In the 1920s, Friedman began his education in real estateand optometry. He would use both of these careers at different points in his life to supplement his income while improving his invention concepts. Although he was working as a realtor in San Francisco, California, ]the 1930s proved to be his most prolific patenting period, with six of his nine U.S. patents being issued then.
  7. While sitting in his younger brother Albert’s fountain parlor, the Varsity Sweet Shop in San Francisco, Friedman observed his young daughter Judith at the counter, struggling to drink out of a straight straw. Sitting on the stool, the cool beverage was too high on the counter to reach. Afterwards back home, he took a paper straight straw, inserted a screw and using dental floss, he wrapped the paper into the screw threads, creating corrugations in the straw barrel. After removing the screw, the altered paper straw could now bend conveniently over the edge of the glass, allowing small children to better reach their beverages.
  8. After fine tuning his approach, U.S. patent #2,094,268 was issued for this new invention under the title Drinking Tube. Friedman would later file and be issued two additional U.S. patents and three foreign patents in the 1950s relating to its formation and construction. In his application, he wrote:

“Applicant has met a problem long existing in the art. A view of any soda fountain on a hot day, with the glasses showing innumerable limp and broken straws drooping over the edges thereof, will immediately show that this problem has long existed.  Where we have the conditions where certainly the straw is old, where corrugated tubing is old, and where no inventor, during those years, has seen fit or has been able to solve this problem, whereas applicant did, that situation alone is prima facie evidence of invention.”

–courtesy of the Joseph B. Friedman Papers, 1915 – 2000, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

  1. Friedman attempted to sell his straw patent to several existing straw manufacturers beginning in 1937 without success, so after completing his straw machine, he began to produce the straw himself. Friedman’s younger English relative, Michael Fabricant, would later write that his great uncle’s invention was “arguably the most significant technological achievement of the twentieth century”
  2. On April 24, 1939, The Flexible Straw Corporationwas incorporated. However, World War II interrupted Friedman’s efforts to construct his straw manufacturing machine. During the war, he managed the optometry practice of Arthur Euler, O.D., in Capwells’ Department Store in Oakland, California, and continued to sell real estate and insurance to support his growing family.
  3. Friedman obtained financial backing for his flexible straw machine from two of his brothers-in-law, Harry Zavin and David Light, as well as from Bert Klein, a family associate. With their financial help, and the business advice of his sister Betty, Friedman completed the first flexible straw manufacturing machine in the late 1940s. Although his original concept had come from the observation of his daughter, the flexible straw was initially marketed to hospitals, with the first sale made in 1947.
  4. Betty Friedman played a crucial role in the development of the Flexible Straw Corporation. While still living in Cleveland and working at the Tarbonis Company, she corresponded regularly with her brother and directed all of the sales and distribution of the straw. In 1950 Friedman moved his family and company to Santa Monica, California. Now doing business as the Flex-Straw Co., sales continued to increase and the marketing direction expanded to focus more strongly on the home and child markets. Betty Friedman moved west in 1954 to assume her formal leadership role in the corporation.
  5. On June 20, 1969, the Flexible Straw Corporation sold its United States and foreign patents, United States and Canadiantrademarks, and licensing agreements to the Maryland Cup Corporation, and the Flexible Straw Corporation dissolved in August 1969.