Grilled Eggplant ~ recipe ~

This is a fabulous summer side dish or appetizer. We make it every summer on our grill.

2 firm medium sized eggplants
2 T kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar + 1 T
2 cloves minced fresh garlic cloves
a few grinds fresh black pepper
provolone cheese slices (about 4)
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted (optional)
handful fresh basil leaves, washed and chopped


Slice eggplant into thick slices, discarding stem and ends.
Sprinkle generously with salt and allow to drain in a colander for about 20 minutes.
Rinse well with water.
Whisk together 1/2 cup vinegar, oil, garlic and pepper. Pour over eggplant slices and toss to coat evenly.

Heat grill to medium hot.
Grill eggplant slices, turning once they are browned on first side.
When browned on both sides (but not burnt) add 1/4 slice of provolone cheese atop each slice and close grill to melt cheese.
When cheese is bubbling, remove eggplant slices to a platter.
Drizzle with remaining tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.
Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and toasted pine nuts.
Serve warm or at room temperature. Great with grilled fish or chicken.
Delicious next day served cold or hot over pasta.

Also good with lemon juice instead of final sprinkling of vinegar...and with sliced tomatoes.

Skull Jewelry

In Melbourne, Australia a few weeks ago, I happened upon this piece in a shop window.
No idea what is going on here.
Apparently an actual animal skull of some sort, about the size of a dog (or a Dingo?) fitted with an elaborate piece of metalwork. The stone looks to be a huge Labradorite I think.
(Australia is known for their opals.....they were everywhere in shops, and not cheap, I might add.)
Interesting...but what would you do with it?

A handy SToNZ Ring Sizing Guide!

Here's a helpful ring sizing guide which you can print out and use to determine your ring size before purchasing or ordering a SToNZ ring.
Make sure you print it out at 100% and check the size against an American quarter for accuracy.
(Click on the image below) to link to a downloadable printable pdf file of the guide.

An Exciting Beach Find!

Lida & Maurice Weidenthal at Euclid Beach July 1911

In the early 1900’s my great grandfather Maurice and his beloved wife Lida spent many of their summer days on the shores of Lake Erie. (Guess the love for Lake Erie and the beach goes way back in my family!) We have pictures of them at Euclid Beach, where there was a popular amusement park and bathing beach. Gotta love those bathing costumes!

Maurice with two unidentified friends and Annie Firth, an aunt, Euclid Beach 1911

Grandfather William's sister Babette Weidenthal Newman, kneeling back row left, with friends - Euclid Beach, 1911

We don't know if the Weidenthals knew what they were going to see at the beach that August day in 1911, but we have pictures of my grandfather with the famous Atwood Biplane, which landed there for a short time.

William Weidenthal posing with Atwood's famous Biplane  - August 1911 Collection:Weidenthal Family

By then, Harry Nelson Atwood, (1884-1967) a student of the Wright brothers, had become one of America's most celebrated aviators.  An exhibition flyer, he stunned New Yorkers with his daredevil flight among Manhattan's skyscrapers and thrilled the country when he landed his biplane on the South Lawn of the White House.

Harry N. Atwood in flight over the south lawn of the White House in a Wright Model B biplane, July 14,1911 (Smithsonian Institution)

Atwood's 1911 record-setting  flights from Boston to Washington and from St. Louis to New York (1265 miles) August 14 to 25, 1911 brought him international fame.  According to newspaper reports of the time, Atwood landed his Wright biplane on Euclid Beach, in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, August 17th, during his cross-country flight from St. Louis to New York City.

Atwood's Biplane 2 minutes after landing at Euclid Beach  Collection:Weidenthal Family

Flying in from Sandusky, Ohio, he first landed at Edgewater Park, in Cleveland, by mistake, but took off, right away, for Euclid Beach, which was his scheduled stop. Immediately after landing on Euclid Beach, around 5:00 p.m., his manager, Leo Stevens, was served with a claim, by the Standard Oil Company, for an unpaid oil and gasoline bill, which resulted in his biplane being held by the police. However, Atwood was able to fly his biplane out of Cleveland, the next day, at 4:03 p.m., after a bond was given for the claim. Though his intended stop was Erie, Pennsylvania, he decided to land, in a cornfield, near Swanville, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Erie, due to approaching darkness and a loose brace on his biplane.

The noted aviator, was the guest of honor at a dinner in New York, and on the occasion his eloquent reply to a toast on aviation terminated neatly with these words:

"The aeroplane has come at last, but it was a long time coming. We can imagine Necessity, the mother of invention, looking up at a sky all criss-crossed with flying machines, and then saying, with a shake of her old head and with a contented smile: "'Of all my family, the aeroplane has been the hardest to raise.'"

Click here for the NYTimes article about the St Louis-New York flight

Click here to see The Cleveland Memory Project where there are more photos of the Atwood Biplane at Euclid Beach.

Alien Life Form?

Nope.  Just a crazy big Giant Puffball Mushroom found in my front yard this morning.

If you google Calvatia Gigantea you'll see even larger ones than ours, and that folks even eat them. But I just don't have the courage to eat something this scary looking found growing wild in my woods!

Have experience with these? Let me know. Maybe next year you can come over and we'll make this Giant Puffball Pizza.

Cleveland Nostalgia

Hey Clevelanders....a friend sent me these images this morning...recognize any of your old haunts?

Royal Castle. Our favorite one was on the corner of Cedar and Lee in Cleveland Heights.

(No idea where this particular store was located, but it's not the Cedar Lee store.)

Severance Center Mall. Did they EVER have water in that fountain?
I worked at Jean Nicole summer of 1977.

Rapid Transit

Mawby's . The BEST burgers with onions.

Center Mayfield Movie Theater . Always a bargain

Ghoulardi

Bob's Big Boy . This statue terrified me.

The May Company bell at Warrensville and Cedar

The Alcazar . It's still beautiful. Sometimes my NY grandparents stayed there when they came to visit.

Euclid Beach Park front gate

Ghoulardi

Manners Big Boy

Captain Frank's on the Lake

Davis Bakery, Fisher Foods  back in the day

A perfect spider web

I discovered the most perfect spider web in my hosta patch this morning. I am afraid my photos just don't do it justice.  But I tried.

Focus on the Garden

My Grandmother's Wedding Dress

I remember the first time I saw it. It was 1985 and I was engaged to be married. Grandma Evelyn went to the back of her closet and took out her treasured wedding dress, thinking I might like to wear it for my special day.

Eve Kolinsky engagement portrait 1923
by Standford Studios

Although I adored the idea, (and the dress) it was discolored and fragile, and would never hold up to an evening of dancing and revelry. (Or even a gentle cleaning, for that matter.)

But she gave it to me that day and I have kept it safely stored away. 

Today I took out the dress and photographed it. Only one image survives of her wearing the dress. You can just make out the big pale pink silk satin bow at the hip.

Photo: Standford Studios

The date was June 24, 1924. It was the roaring twenties, and Eve wore the tea length dress and forehead hugging headpiece in true flapper style. The headpiece and veil are long gone. (I have a vague memory that she told me they were borrowed for the occasion.)

I believe she said that it was handmade of French lace. There are machine stitches holding it together, but every tiny snap up the side is hand sewn in place. It's so lovely.

Eve was 26 years old on her wedding day. She married a man named Bill (just like me) and she'd go on to have twins (just like me) but her life took a horrible turn when she became a widow when her children were just 5. She did not marry again for 32 years.

For her second wedding, she chose a tailored look. And gloves, of course.

Photo: Michael Nalley

She approved of my wedding gown even though I hadn't chosen to wear hers.

And can you guess what color her dress was that day? 

Yep. Pink.

Missing you, Grandma.

 ♥