Detroit Is The New Hamptons

Winter finally arrived.

2012-01-24T06:53:00.000-08:00

We are obsessed with the Ice Tree and Belle Isle.

This is just too awesome.

Real live Ice-sickles!

My truck looks so happy in the snow!

The river froze over with ice!

Eventually we got sick of the whining, so we buried the kid and left her there.
Just kidding. We took her to Zeff's for hot chocolate.

Sadly, winter departed 48 hours later, leaving us with this Icky spring-like weather again.

Detroit is not a food desert - Braised Ox-Tail, accompanied by pasta and fresh beet salad.

2012-01-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

The following comes from Stone, fresh of the red-eye from Schiphol airport in the Netherlands. Enjoy!

Stone- Eating in Detroit is about the best I've experienced anywhere, as long as you include what you can cook at home. Fresh ingredients are everywhere in downtown Motown.

For dinner tonight I made braised ox-tail (cut from whole, while-you-wait, ~$6 at Gratiot Market). Here's the recipe. It was really delicious!

Tasted even better than it looked, with a beetroot salad and parsley linguine

Braised Ox-tail

Ingredients

~1.5 lb of ox-tail, cut 2 inches thick

3 Carrots, pealed & rough sliced

2 onions, same

Leek, 1/2 inch rounds

2 Spring Onions, in rough rounds

1/2 head Garlic pealed and rough chopped

1 or 2 Tomato rough chopped

XVO Olive Oil, 4 tbl,

handful of bacon fat (I keep some frozen in the freezer)

Dried Herbs: Tbl Thyme, Tbl. Sage, Bay Leaves (2-3), a few star anise, a few good doses of Worcestershire sauce, and 2 squirts of BBQ sauce

Beef stock, 2 cubes and cup water or canned

1/3 btl red wine

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300F.

Heat the Olive Oil in a dutch oven on the range and add the bacon fat. Salt and pepper the ox-tail pieces and brown on all sides, one or two at a time. Remove any bacon pieces that look like burning as you go. Put the ox-tail aside.As you do that, combine the herbs, sauces, and stock cubes with a cup of boiling water in a jug. Have a glass of the red wine.

Reheat the oil and then add the carrots, onions, spring onions, leeks and brown them vigorously on a high heat. After a few mins, add the garlic and chopped tomato. Stir often and get a good caramel smell going. Then add the wine, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan, and return to boil. Then add the stock/herb/sauce mixture. Taste and season. Go easy on the salt tho'.

Add the ox-tail pieces back in (they should be covered - add wine if they aren't) and put in the oven. Bake ~ 2 - 2.5 hrs. Take of the lid and cook another 1 hr or so.

Remove from the oven and take out the pieces of meat. Cover and rest, keeping it at ~150F. Strain the rest of the mixture into a bowl and squeeze all the juice out of the remainders. Return the juice to the dutch oven on the range, and reduce a bit, skim any fat (leave a little bit) add a bit of flour, and make a sauce for the meat. Whisk in 1tb of butter before serving.

Plate, pour sauce over meat, and serve with some side of starch and salad as you like. We had garlic/olive oil fettuccine and a raw beet julienne salad with balsamic drizzle.

The kitchen was ~~trashed~~ well used.

When Stone cooks, he really cooks. But how about those boxers, eh? -Sarah

Stone also cleans! What a man.
Don't worry, I thanked him VERY enthusiastically. -Sarah

Cheers! -Stone

The Cutest Baby in the WORLD

2012-01-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

The best thing about living in the building we do is that we have so many cool neighbours, who have been so very welcoming. It's like acquiring an extended family overnight. Almost every day, we hang out with one or more of the nieghbours, either for playtime, drinks, dinner, or a walk through Indian Village. It's a super social existence.

The hottest news in our building at the moment is that Awesome Downstairs Neighbour had the most gorgeous baby girl two weeks ago. Pebbles has basically been DYING to hold the baby since last June, when she first heard it was coming. Yesterday she finally got her wish.

I have to admire the bravery of Awesome Downstairs Neighbour for allowing my hyperactive, germ ridden wild child the opportunity to hold and feed the baby. Pebbles held and rocked the baby off and on for an hour, it was so cute that my ovaries nearly exploded. Fortunately, Stone is in Holland all week, so hopefully the desire to immediately have another dozen or so babies will have worn off by the time he returns.

Hey Stone, maybe now would be a good time to follow through on your threats to get a Vasectomy?

How to break the sound barrier using fearless toddlers and vintage sleds

2012-01-16T10:49:00.000-08:00

Our daughter is something of a risk taker. She is the kid who recently, on being offered the opportunity to roller skate for the first time, immediately climbed to the top of the nearest slide, and stood up in the hope of launching herself down at Mach III. We had to build a 12 foot climbing wall and 24 inch gravel pit in our backyard to provide an outlet for her unsafe climbing urges. She asked for, and received a Skateboard for her fifth birthday, and insists on attempting to skateboard to school once a week, even though it takes us an hour to get there that way. I cannot keep her out of trees, off the diving board, or away from the big kids waterside, and last month I caught her moments before an attempted Bungee jump off of her bunk bed.

I often find myself being lectured by friends or teachers who feel she is a bad role model to other kids because of her constant need to do things for herself, and go faster and higher. So we try to confine her risk taking behaviors to controlled situations where there are not other kids who she could influence to do dangerous stuff.

But when it's just us, we apply our own metrics to with regard to what seems like an acceptable risk, in that if the terrifying activity looks highly unlikely to kill the kid, reasonably unlikely to result in broken bones or a serious concussion, and someone present knows CPR and has a phone to dial 911, then we let her do what she wants, even if it scares us.

This last weekend, we finally got some real snowfall, in the form of about 3.5 inches of super fluffy flakes. If you are me, this means one thing: Sledding. We dropped by Busy Bee hardware to consult with the experts on how to improvise a sled. After much debate on the pros and cons of sledding with minimal snow, we were gifted two plastic trash can lids with instructions to report back on how they worked.

Sunday morning bright and early Pebbles and I headed down to the mountain by the river front and spent the next two hours sliding down the hill and crashing into the bushes at the bottom. The trash can sleds were reasonably fast, but not terrifyingly so. It was awesome.

We were completely and totally alone on the hill, watching freighter's ply the river, and observing this amazingly empty city. The kid must have gone up and down the hill 45 times in the first two hours. One of the best things about Detroit is that sometimes it is so empty that it feels like my own personal city.

Topping out

After two hours of solitude, we noticed a lone family trudging toward us from the direction of the carousel. On closer inspection, they were, of course, friends of ours. Chalk another one up for the smallest big city in the world.

Detroit, the smallest place on earth

They had one of those nifty sleds that works on runners.

Check out this awesome sled!

Despite my initial scoffing as to whether it would work on the scant amount of snow available, that thing was fast. Like, really fast. Fortunately, these friends have the same approach to toddler risk taking that we do, and after considering the possible risks, the kid marched up to the top of the mountain, jumped on the sled, shoved off, and nearly broke the sound barrier on the way down before crashing into the bushes, flipping twice, and landing in a tangled heap face down in the snow five feet beyond the bushes.

I really thought maybe I had let her take it too far, until she rolled over, gasping for air between squeals of laughter. Our friend's eldest son wanted a go as well, and so with Pebbles steering, and him clinging on behind her, they raced down the hill over and over again, sometimes wiping out in the bushes, sometimes making the gap in the underbrush and skidding across the field below. They bonked heads once, and there were a few tears, but other than that we spent an hour letting the kids scare themselves silly.

I wish I had a video of them, but I was too busy clutching my phone preparing to phone an Ambulance. When I related the reasons for a lack of a video to my downstairs neighbor later that evening, she was like "Wow, you actually ARE human, but please don't take my son sledding with you until he's 18".

As we all left the sledding hill, we got a series of low fly-by's from the Coast Guard Chopper. Looking up, they had the doors to the chopper open and were leaning out to wave at all of us.

Most Awesome Day Ever.

Talents We would like to see on the Miss America pageant

2012-01-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight we are watching the Miss America Pageant, or as it is better known, the national evening of celebrating institutionalized racism. Stone was particularly entranced by the bikini competition, though both of us wonder what people outside America must think of us for trotting out young women out in swim suits to be judged by the masses while basically naked.

Moving on, here is a list of the special talents that Stone* and I would really like to see in future Miss America Pageants.

Rock Climbing
How to change a tire
Pole dancing*
Houdini's metamorphosis
CPR demonstration
A short lecture on effective forms of birth control
Stand up comedy
How to peel a pound of garlic in under a minute
Live demonstration of five delicious things to do with pork fat
Fire eating*
A short grammar lesson on the top five misspelled / misused words in the English language
Sword swallowing*
On the fly translation of a paragraph from any language the contestant claims to be fluent in.

And how about a super sexy Winter-wear competition?

Mr.Burns Goes to Jail

2012-01-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

Detroit has its very own Mr.Burns, in the form of Aging billionaire Matty Moroun. Owner of the Ambassador Bridge, High rolling contributor to easily bought politicians, Detroit's top Slumlord, and owner of the abandoned and decrepit Detroit-Ruin-Porn-Mecca that is Michigan Central Station. Unsurprisingly, the guy is not very highly thought of in Detroit.

Thus, it was with cheers of glee and disbelief that we read in the Detroit Free Press that Matty Moroun and one of his senior Henchmen had been JAILED after being found in contempt of court.

Screen grab courtesy of the Free Press

Guess you can't buy off the justice system that easily, Mr. Burns.

Some background excerpted from this morning's Free Press Article by Matt Helms and John Gallagher :

The dispute stems from the long-delayed Gateway project at the Ambassador Bridge. In planning since the 1990s, the Gateway project is meant to connect the Ambassador Bridge directly to I-75 and I-96 through a series of new ramps and roads so that truckers and other motorists can bypass local surface streets.

Under a 2004 contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation, both the Detroit International Bridge Co. and MDOT were to carry out distinct portions of the Gateway work. But MDOT sued in 2009 after its saw that the bridge company was not building its portion according to what MDOT said was the agreed-upon design. Instead, the company built a roadway that took traffic past the company’s lucrative duty-free store and fuel pumps, and that kept thousands of trucks bound for expressways on Fort and other local surface streets.

The Free Press reported last year that the duty-free fuel pumps alone could be worth millions of dollars a year in revenue to the bridge company.

Edwards ruled against the bridge company in February 2010, ordering the company to rebuild its portion of the project even if it meant ripping out the duty-free facilities. Since then, MDOT has told Edwards repeatedly that the bridge company was stalling. Edwards agreed, finding the company in contempt of court, and last January jailing DIBC President Dan Stamper for a few hours as a way to force compliance.

Since then, MDOT continued to argue that the bridge company was still not complying, even through the bridge company said it was proceeding as fast as it could with the reconstruction. Last November, Edwards again found the company in contempt of court and said he would impose penalties on Jan. 12. He ordered both Stamper and Moroun to appear in person for the penalty hearing, which to some observers raised the possibility that Edwards might jail one or both men.

In his contempt finding in November, Edwards ruled that there was “clear and unequivocal" evidence that the company had tried to evade his Feb. 1, 2010, order to complete Gateway as ordered.

The Endorsement: Fred's Unique Furniture

2012-01-11T11:36:00.000-08:00

When we moved to America last year, we divided our furniture and other junk 50/50 between the house in Houston and our place in Detroit. We are Geniuses, No?

This brilliant planning allowed us the fun of unpacking, sorting, assembling and arranging our belongings not once, but twice in under six months. Additionally, with clever planning like ours, we experienced the joy that comes with realizing that a dining room table is worthless without legs, that a box of queen sized sheets is unlikely to fit a King sized bed, that half of the bed's components are 1,300 miles away in Houston, and that the power drill is of little use without a charger (also in Houston).

Thus, upon unpacking, it became clear that we were going to need a lot more furniture and things like curtains, art, kitchen utensils, glasses, lamps, beds, and assorted dust collectors. Unless we wanted to further bankrupt ourselves, there was no way we could afford to buy everything from department stores or Ikea and it was then that we stumbled across Fred's Unique Furniture.

Fred's is out on Eight Mile road, about half a mile west of the intersection of Gratiot and 8 mile. It's a giant two level warehouse crammed to the rafters with awesome junk. Fred's has everything; estate sale leftovers, hotel liquidation, yard sale detritus, lamps, vintage clothes, sewing and knitting supplies, kid's books, art, vases, kitchen stuff. If you can imagine it, the nice guys at Fred's probably have it, and at a great price.

Fred has been in business at that location since the 70's and has managed to turn a tiny, condemned little shop into a bustling online and retail business. Alongside Craig, who runs the IT side of the business and Al, who looks after the shop floor, Fred's keeps close to a dozen Detroiters employed while turning other people's trash into treasure. Fred himself is a fantastic guy, a great boss, an honest businessman, a dedicated son, and mostly, just a blast to be around.

This lovely red leather chair and matching ottoman look like they are straight out of the
restoration hardware catalog, except they only cost a hundred bucks.

We love this lamp. it was a little scuffed and stained, but 20 minutes with a Mr.Clean
magic eraser and it was better than new!

This stuff came from Fred's too.

In addition to what you see above, we also got three vintage dressers, two beds, two mattresses, everything for the kitchen, a bunch of vases, some original and reproduction art, a few lamps, an awesome curtain rail, a truckload of knitting equipment and yarn, and lots of books, toys, and board games for the kids.

The guys at Fred's are really really really nice guys, who treat me and the kid like family whenever we come in to shop. I can't recommend Fred's highly enough.

The Belle Isle Ice Tree

2012-01-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

The kid has a brown and white snow suit that I found in a dumpster out the back of our apartment building.

The first day of school in the New Year, we suited her up in the snow suit, packed her a tuna sandwich, and sent her back to the wonderful school she calls home for half the year. When we came back that afternoon to pick her up, her teacher pulled us aside and with great amusement related that at recess time the kid was marching around the playground, pointing to the snow suit, and asking everybody "Have you ever seen one of THESE before!?!?". Her native Detroiter classmates looked at her like she was from another planet, which in a way, she is.

This child of the desert, this child who had never seen snow fall until two weeks ago, this child who cowers under my legs every time it rains thinking that we are about to be drowned in another cyclone, this child, cannot get her head around the concept of a Snow Suit. She thinks that a snow suit is the most amazing thing ever invented, and although we cannot get her to agree to wear anything other than her pajamas to school, the mere mention of the snow suit throws her into a fit of glee. Her love of snow and ice confirm, once and for all, that this is, indeed, my daughter.

Every day that the temperature has been below freezing, we have trekked over to Belle Isle to inspect the progress of the Ice Tree. Day four, it was perfect for sliding around, getting wet, and enjoying the ice.

The Ice tree on Belle Isle.

Detroit is the smallest big town in America, and true to form, we ran into our talented friend JDG and his two kids. DJ, our eldest son, was pretty blown away by the whole Belle Isle Experience, and the fact that Detroit remains such a fantastically small town, where almost everybody really does know your name.

Tomorrow: Fred's Unique Furniture: the only reason I go the other side of Eight Mile.

A non-representative demographic sampling

2012-01-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve, I took the kid to the Playscape on Belle Isle to blow off some steam. Driving over, there was something of a traffic jam with signs indicating "Race Parking" near the old casino.

- Awesome! Maybe there is a drifting competition or a auto sprint going on today! I LOVE CAR RACING!!!! Hey kid, lets go play at the playground for an hour and then go watch the racing? OK?
- OK, Mommy!

45 minutes later, we were at the playground when these guys ran past, followed by 1,000 other people, all wearing spandex and little numbers stuck to their shorts or shirts. We walked over cheer the runners as they shuffled along, faces contorted in expressions of what looked a lot like pain. This must be the new year's eve Belle Isle "Fun Run" though nobody really looked like they were having any fun. I fear that I will never fully understand running. All of the people were White, with the exception of 5 apparently non-white people. I counted, because this was a really non-representative demographic sample of Detroit

Not the race I was expecting...

From time to time in Detroit, we have moments where we feel like we are living inside of the "Stuff White People Like" Website. A good indication that we have stumbled across something that white people like is when we notice large gatherings of predominantly white people and a conspicuous absence of Black and brown people. In a city where 85% of the population is non-white, you would think that this would be a very rare thing indeed, but not so much.

In the case above, I can only assume that black people, by and large, are far too sensible to engage in something as ridiculous as a "Fun Run" in freezing temperatures on New Year's Eve. Likewise, I am pleased to note that Black people seem to share my dislike of watching live hockey games at Joe Louis Arena.

You can't discuss the situation in Detroit honestly without discussing the complex racial and economic divides between the city and the suburbs, and the unhelpful biases and prejudice on both sides of the divide.

Image grabbed from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315078/Race-maps-America.html you should read this!

Our building, for example, is pretty representative of the existing racial demographics of Detroit but it is not representative of the economic demographics if Detroit. We are a racially integrated, happy building full of mostly wealthy or upper middle class people.

Anyway, I am by no means an expert on anything related to race, and frankly, an practically a foreigner here myself. However, as we travel around Detroit and notice these sort of things I think I will blog about them, and label the posts A non-representative sampling if only because I am sort of surprised by the lack of integration within the city of Detroit itself.

Stay tuned.

Christmas Overview

2012-01-02T18:39:00.000-08:00

Oh, the merriment. We got snow on the Eve of Christmas Eve. I was nearly orgasmic with joy, this being the first proper snowfall I have personally witnessed in almost a decade. I sat out back on the river, glass of wine in hand, for over an hour just watching these giant fluffy flakes drift down.

Does My Rig not look fabulous in the snow?

Waking up the next morning, there was a pathetic half inch of snow on the ground. Not really the 4 foot monster storm I had prayed for. I'll take what I can get.

The worlds most pathetic snowman required 90% of the available snow in the back yard

Christmas Day arrived , presents were opened, and neighbors stopped by to share a cup of Cheer. Eldest Son DJ wanted a full turkey dinner for Christmas, and that is exactly what he got, followed by an hour of board games with friends and family.

So wholesome, It was like being a Norman Rockwell painting.

Best Christmas Present Ever

2012-01-02T16:49:00.000-08:00

Our Son, DJ, won the Overall award this year for best Christmas present.

Look what he got me! Hot Guys AND Baby Animals.

Yowsa. Smokin.

The moment I unwrapped it, Stone was all "Goddamn it. Why didn't I think of that?!?!"

More tomorrow, including an apparent invasion of Belle Isle by white people in colorful Spandex.

Christmas in Detroit

2011-12-21T20:27:00.000-08:00

Despite the appalling lack of snow, we are up in Detroit for the holidays. 48 hours in, it is lovely. Cold, friendly, weird, we were delighted to see the house had not burned down, and that the neighbors were still friendly, and seemingly happy to see us.

Upon retrieving the car from the garage, the junk from the storage room, and an additional child from the airport, we visited Busy Bee hardware and Gratiot Market for much needed provisions. Neighbors arrived bearing candy, cookies and wine, Late last night a heavy fog rolled in, and we slept to the dulcet sounds of massive sea freighters tooting fog horns on the Detroit river.

Because the kids are scattered all over the northern hemisphere, it is a real treat when we have more than one in residence. Poor DJ, arriving Jet-lagged and deprived of sleep, suffering from the stress of finals and university acceptance / denial letters, a hungry, exhausted teenager wishing for some sleep and some goddamn peace and quiet, has instead received a 5 year old baby sister who clings to his legs like a barnacle. I am unsure if he has had two consecutive minutes since his arrival without his baby sister attached to him.

DJ and Pebbles

It's great to have the kids home.

Halloween in Houston

2011-10-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

The leaves don't change here, but that has not prevented us from getting into the spirit of things.

I'm going as a sort of generic pirate

Stone is going as Jack Sparrow. The drunker he gets, the more authentic the costume is.

The kid is going as Medusa

So, So, So freaking Cute. How is this child related to us?

Stone bought a smoke machine, we have half a dozen Jack-o-lanterns, ample quantities of candy, and all costumes are all in order. Some good friends are coming over tonight to help us scare the pants off of any teenagers attempting trick-or-treat without costumes. I understand that chainsaws and gallons of fake blood will be involved, in addition to, I fear, possible jail time.

Wishful Thinking

2011-10-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

Clearly there is someone on the sports Desk at the NYT who wanted the Tigers to beat the Rangers as badly as I did.

If I have to listen to one more Uppity Texan brag about the Ranger's awesomeness I may die on the spot.

The lost love child of Imelda Marcos?

2011-10-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

Cleaning out the truck, I found the following.

1/4 of the kid's shoe collection

While I realize that this is a sick example of a #firstworldproblem, it is also sort of amazing that this kid is even related to me.

What Airplanes Really Need

2011-10-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

Due to a freak storm over Houston, our return flight from Detroit was diverted to Louisiana, where we spent 3.5 hours ~~trapped~~ sitting in the plane, bonding with our fellow passengers, eating granola bars and drinking water. Evidently FAA rules prohibit opening the bar on the ground if you are not attached to a Jetway, or some other such nonsense. A 2.5 hour flight became an 8 hour ~~ordeal~~ Adventure! I shall never travel without my personal minibar again.

Somewhere toward the end of hour two the kid made a list that I thought I would share:

THINGS AIRPLANES NEED

a list by pebbles *

Cupcake Sales
Giant complementary water bottles
Brussels sprouts cooked to order
A Cotton Candy machine
Bacon, hot, crispy, and served sizzling in paper cones
Ice cream sundae cart
Kittens, preferably fluffy.
Smoking lounge *
Cocktail bar *
Bathrooms that don't reek of pee
Bathrooms without pee all over the floor / seats
Ball Pit
Puppet shows
Musical dance parties
Fun slide for deplaning #
Free tranquilizers for kids *

* And Her Mother

# They already have these, but don't use them! Wouldn't that make flying way more awesome?

Original German First Aid Kit from the Bus!

2011-09-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of random photos of my super rare first aid kit for the Bus that needed a home online. Normal blogging to resume shortly

Easy Fruit Tart

2011-09-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

We have managed to scrounge a ton of food from trees and bushes in empty lots in out neighbourhood.

Clockwise from top: Apples, Plums, Pears, Apples

Like, seriously, Look at these pears!

Small wild Plums

These apples were wormy, but so delicious

Pears!

Much of it has been turned into jelly, or eaten, or gifted to neighbors and strangers but some of it has been turned into fruit tarts. A fruit tart is my Go-To recipe for any short-notice gathering. Warm from the oven, it's like heaven, and it's really easy to make, and hard to screw up.

You will need pears, apples, apricots, or peaches, a cup or two of sugar, butter, vanilla. and some ready-made puff pastry. This recipe works best in a cast iron skillet, but you can use any oven and stove top safe pot or pan. Don't be afraid of burning it, really let the caramel turn and get dark.

Peel and Core a Bunch of pears, and set them face down in a pan with a cup or two of sugar

Sprinkle a teaspoon of vanilla Over the top

Stick it on the flame, and cook those bad boys on high heat

Once the sugar begins to liquify, skewer some butter on a fork

And rub the butter around the sides of the pot. Be generous!

Realise you have left your Puff pastry out too long, and now it won't unfold. Get more puff pastry from the freezer.

Cook until all the sugar is a dark brown, and starts to smell a little bitter. You can add a teaspoon of water if you need to ensure even cooking

Cut your Puff pastry into a circle slightly larger than the surface of your pan

Use a fork to make little stripes around the edges

Tuck in your little fruits, being careful not to touch the caramel and burn the crap outta yourself.
Cut an X in the top to allow steam to escape, and stick it in a 350 Degree oven until the pastry on the top puffs and browns. Usually takes 35-50 minutes.

Remove from oven, and let it cool for ten minutes, and then flip it upside down onto a serving platter of your choice. Forget to take a picture of the finished produce in your haste to eat it. Enjoy with fresh cream, chilled fruit puree, or ice cream.

Just another day at the beach

2011-09-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

Back at Belle Isle beach today. Got to see the lifeguards actually do their thing, I was really impressed.

When not watching lifeguards, we found one of these guys! It's an Eastern Spiny Softshell turtle!

Eastern Spiny Softshell turtle on the banks of the Detroit river

Just another day in paradise.

Belle Isle Beach

2011-09-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

I took the kid for a swim in the Detroit river today, at the Belle Isle Beach just across from our house. There were lots of other kids to play with, the beach was meticulously groomed, and the vibe was chilled.

The beach is staffed with a number of friendly, adult lifeguards, who were competent and highly experienced, but sadly, were not using best practices for life-guarding. So watch you own kids, alright?

I would definitely add it to any list of things to do in Detroit with kids. We had a great afternoon, and plan on returning tomorrow.

Drowning in Pickles

2011-08-30T01:50:00.000-07:00

I Offered to take care of the Garden at Pebble's Detroit School over the summer break. Basically I water it daily, and pick the stuff that's ripe. we planted a few too many Cucumbers, and so I'm now hauling home ten pounds of cucumbers each day. It's insane.

This represents a single day's haul from the school garden

On the bright side, I am learning how to can, pickle, and preserve foods as a result, and I have to tell you, I find the work deeply satisfying. My Fridge and cupboards overflow with the bounty of Michigan summer. We are eating really well here these days.

Spicy Pickles, devoured by my awesome and very pregnant downstairs neighbor

That's preserved lemons on the left, and Pickled radishes on the far right

I'm trying to save all the jars of pickles to give to the school when school starts, but I'm running out of space. Sadly, Stone and Pebbles HATE pickles, so it's up to me and Awesome Pregnant Downstairs Neighbor.

You can also use cucumbers to make gazpacho by the half gallon! The grape leaves we picked growing wild in the alleys of our neighbourhood. Can't wait to stuff them!

Upcoming pickling and Canning projects include:

Another 5 lbs of Basil Pesto, (MUCH less salty this time)
Homemade Tabasco Sauce
Putting up 4 half-Gallons of Kim-Chi!
Crab-apple Jelly made from wild Detroit crab-apple trees!
Pickled sweet onions
Sauerkraut
Roasted Red and Yellow Peppers
Roasted Tomatillo sauce
And a few dozen pints of rich Italian tomato sauce
Roasted Red Chile Enchilada sauce

Life is good.

Weekend Fun

2011-08-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we dropped by the African World Festival downtown in Hart Plaza.

I'm really sad to report that is should have been called "Cheap Chinese Sun Dresses and a Metric Ton of Shea Butter Festival". I don't want to sound like an asshole, but really, there was absolutely nothing remotely authentic or genuinely African about anything at the festival. It was a rather depressing marketing ploy to suck the dollars from the hands of Detroit's significant, but disproportionately poor and under-served, black community. *

Despite this, the scene was lovely, the music was good, and the crowd was super friendly and fun. We did drop by the Detroit public schools booth and ask a few questions about a possible public school for the kid should we move here permanently, we listened to some Christian Rap, (which was actually pretty good!?!) we sat in on a drumming session (more american than authentically African, but cool nonetheless), we had a sample of MacDonald's new mango Slurpee, and we ran into a few friends from the Kid's current school.

But the best thing we did was let the kid run around in the fountain in the center of the Plaza with another girl her age. They played in that thing for over an hour while we listened to music and chatted with passing friends.

* And listen, who am I to pass judgement on the festival? Everyone was having a good time, which is really all that matters, eh?

Stone & Sarah's Slow Braised Lamb Shanks recipe

2011-08-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

Although this isn't a food blog, our second favorite thing to do in the whole world is cook and eat. So I thought I'd share the recipe we used for those Gratiot Market lamb shanks. We made it up after looking at a bunch of different versions via Chef Google and seeing what we had available in the fridge and larder. So here's one more to add to the 1000s of others on-line. This recipe is really easy, and results in a wonderful meat dish with a built-in sauce that'll wow anyone. It's good for dinner parties too because all the 'work' is long gone by the time guests arrive, and it will hold for hours if someone's late.

Stone & Sarah's Slow Braised Lamb Shanks recipe (for two)
Ingredients
2 lamb shanks
1 large white onion, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 head of Garlic, peeled and smashed
handful of rough chopped celery leaves and stalks (rinsed)*
cup of peeled baby carrots, rough chopped
big sprig of sage
a few sprigs fresh rosemary
2 tblsp olive oil
about 1 cup cheap Merlot
1 cup beef stock (I used a can of the stuff)
1 small can tomato puree
1 small can tomato juice
1/2 tsp celery seeds
tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Salt and black pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 325F. Salt & pepper the shanks. In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil on the range top until it's smoking and brown the shanks on all sides on high heat (about 10 min). Remove the shanks and put to one side. In the remaining oil, toss in the onion, carrots, garlic, celery leaves/stalks and the herbs (make sure the celery leaves aren't too bitter - they need to be really fresh). Brown these on a high heat stirring constantly until starting to brown and fragrant (about 5 min). Put in the tomato paste, tomato juice, balsamic, wine and beef stock. Stir all together and put the shanks back in. If the fluid doesn't cover them, add wine/water until covered. Bring back to a simmer and then put into the oven.

Have a glass of wine and tidy up any mess from the prep.

After 1 hr, uncover the dutch oven and stir. Cook uncovered at 325F for another 2-3 hrs, turning the shanks every half hour or so as the liquid level falls. After 2 hrs you can turn the oven down to 300F.

The lamb shanks during cooking. Yum.

The meat should almost be falling off the bone. Don't let the thing get too low on liquids! (just throw in hot water if required). If you're also roasting some celeriac root (or carrots, or parsnips) peel them, slice into 1/2 inch slices, drizzle generously with XVO and grind a bit of salt and pepper on top, put in a shallow roasting dish and toss in the oven when the lamb is about an hour and a half away from finishing. See pic above. I added a few tiny onions too.

Have some more of that wine. (It's probably not good enough to have with the actual dinner anyhow. The one I used was some totally acceptable Californian "3 bottles for $10" Merlot plonk. But no point wasting it.)

Remove the lamb to a plate, cover with foil and set aside. Strain the rest of the mix through a fine sieve into a bowl, squeezing out all the lovely juices from the mix, and then discard the solids - they have done their duty.

While you are at it, use every single pot, bowl, and plate in the entire house - Sarah

The sauce after straining - Damn, that looks goooood.

If the sauce is not already as thick as cream, reduce on the stove until it is. Place the lamb on whatever starch you fancy (we used sweet potato mash, but buttery tagliatelle, orzo, rice or polenta works too) and pour over the sauce.

Plating up

Eat.

Suggested sides: salad greens, ripe tomato & cucumber salad with XVO and balsamic reduction dressing, plus oven roasted celeriac root.

All salad ingredients from the School Garden, except the heirloom tomato

Grown in Detroit, Baby!

If you want, you can make this a day or two in advance. Go all the way to the end, but refrigerate the sauce and shanks separately. Reheat the sauce and lamb slowly before serving. It will actually taste even better this way.

In hindsight, I'd drop the can of tomato puree - it made the sauce a tad too 'tomato-y' in texture at these smaller volumes at least. I quibble.

*Note I used some of the tops and stems of the celeriac (aka celery root), augmented with the dried celery seeds, instead of the standard 'celery' ingredient, and that worked great. In fact, the touch of bitterness from the leaves and stems offsets the sweetness elsewhere. And standard celery is so damn expensive, when all you need it for is the underlying stock contribution anyway.

The roasted celeriac was tremendous BTW - it had the texture of a firm mushroom, which is maybe because it was so fresh? Recommended.

The People's Arts Festival!

2011-08-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

Lest you think all we do is eat around here, today we took the kid to the People's Arts Festival at the Russell Industrial Center. The Russell looks, from the outside, like just another one of Detroit's many abandoned buildings, designed in 1915 by architect Albert Kahn it was once home to the Murry Body Company. Following a Bare-Bones renovation, it is now home to more than 150 artists and creative types. It's someplace I want to get back to, and eventually have a studio of my own if I ever figure out what the hell I'm going to do with my life.

Anyway, on to the Arts Festival. We had a pretty good time.

There are fantastic murals all over Detroit, but this one is really something spectacular.

Sailor Jerry Rum was selling cocktails for 2 bucks. They were really, really Dangerous.

There were about a billion local artists selling everything from knitting to metalwork to funky t-shirts, to beer-cap earrings. Pottery, clothes, used TV's, ten dollar haircuts, perogies, bad art, good art, baffling art and art so good it held the power to take your breath away.

A few observations about the scene, in no particular order:

The amount of raw creative talent in Detroit is absolutely staggering.
The enthusiasm, love and passion for Detroit as a city almost brought me to tears. I have never seen such a beloved, yet maligned city before, anywhere in the world.
Goth Chicks make terrible art. Maybe this is why they are so sad?
(from Stone) When did all the Goth chicks get so fat?
It seemed like almost everyone who owns a dog brought their respective Dogs to the festival. I hate most dogs with the passion of a thousand fiery suns, but it was cool to be able to let the kid test drive like 40 different types and breeds of dogs. We think we will get a Great Dane/Lab mix eventually.
Again, what is it with Detroiters and Pit Bulls / Rottweilers / Dobermans? Really, guys, you are already from Detroit and that makes you Hard-Core enough to own a Poodle and still roll with swagger.
And on a related note, can I tell you that it scares the shit outta me that two separate Pit Bull owners told me earnestly that Pit Bulls are fantastic with children? Really?

I could have spent thousands of dollars on amazing art, and not regretted a single purchase, except we are kind of broke right now. Despite our brokeness, we did manage to spend a couple hundred bucks on some stuff we decided we couldn't live without.

Stone bought this for the Kid's Room: 2' x 3'

I bought this, because I Love it. It's just 12" x 12"

This artist is Laura Macintyre. She had a lot of other stuff I want to buy, but can't afford. She does amazing pottery, and fantastic super realistic paintings. her website is www.detroitgroundzero.com Go buy some stuff I can't afford!

Stone bought this 10"x12" photograph of street art because it resonated with him, and was only 12 bucks.

More tomorrow. Stone is working on a post about how we cooked the Lamb Shanks!

Eastern Market rocks

2011-08-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

Stone here. I thought it more than time for an update on life in the New Hamptons.

Before we even visited Detroit for the first time, back in 2009, we'd read Jim's reports of Eastern Market's awesomeness on his blog Sweet Juniper. (BTW, Jim's erudite reports on Detroit were one of the reasons we knew Detroit was the place for us.)

Today we made one of our bi-weekly pilgrimages to Eastern Market, and I wanted to share the results of our hunting and gathering. There is just something about market shopping that satisfies some primordial receptor deep inside my brain. Being about to exchange a few almost meaningless pieces of printed paper (aka the US Dollar) for actual sustenance seems too good to be true.

Plus, the market isn't just produce, it represents the whole myriad of delicious dishes that can be made. As I walk around I experience a constant flow of images from cookbooks and meals I've eaten.

OK, from the top:
- a few spring onions, some Basil, 2 radishes and 3 cucumbers: free, picked from Pebbles' school garden, which Sarah is looking after while the teachers are on vacation. We stopped by to water it on our way to the market.

- 3 lemons: $1
- Some early Michigan apples, $3
- 1 lb imported bananas: $0.50
- Strawberries: $1
- 3 fresh celery root: $1.50
- bunch of fresh mint: $1
- Detroit grown fresh baby beets: $1.50
- 3 huge jewel sweet potatoes: $1
- baby potatoes: $1
- 3 fresh garlic: $2
- 3 corn on the cob: $1
- 1 super-big sweet smelling cantaloop: $1
- Detroit Heirloom tomatoes: $5 (a bit pricey, I'll admit)
- the handful of cherry tomatoes: free (also from the school garden)

So, total cost for the haul: US$20.50

Then we went across the street, past the piles of Shea Butter, incense, earrings and cheap imported sundresses of the guerrilla vendors on the bridge (note: 1 guy was selling cute photoshopped photos of President Obama sitting in the Oval office with Martin Luther King), and across to Gratiot Market to get some meat. Hmmmm.

Here we scored, from our favourite meat purveyors RJ Meats:
(clockwise from top left)
- 2 huge beef shank 'steaks', $3.95/lb: $8.26
- 2 lamb shanks, $4.95/lb: $8.81
- just over a pound of fresh ground sirloin: $3.75
- 2 smoked pork hocks $1.49/lb: $1.65
So total meat: about $23.

The lamb will be for slow braised shanks tomorrow. The mince (ground beef) for some lasagna later this week. The ham hocks will go into a Brazilian feijoada of ham, black beans and rice. The beef shanks will be the basis for a yummy osso bucco (I prefer Anthony Bourdain's red wine based recipe). We'll probably pick up the required celery on Tuesday. The guy at RJ's was kind enough to sort through the shank steaks to get the two with the biggest marrow. Oh yes.

That marrow is about an inch and a half across. We decided to put off buying some chicken thighs for a marinated oriental chicken dish until next week, as the local supermarket is out of Mirin, and that is the secret ingredient. Although the Amish Capons at just $2/lb were very tempting. I see an oriental glazed capon in our menu next week.

The celeriac will probably go towards the braised lamb shanks, sliced and roasted with a drizzle of olive oil. The mint was required for Sarah's stuffed vine leaves on the menu for lunch tomorrow.

The garlic will go into pretty much everything...

At $5 the heirloom tomatoes were an extravagance. But they are vine ripened and so totally flavourful I wish blogger had scratch and sniff so you could experience it. They will be headed for a tomato and cucumber salad. Plus maybe a few slices for a sandwich for Pebbles: she loves plain tomato sandwiches with some mayo & a touch of ground salt & pepper. And finely chopped with coriander leaves as a side dish for the feijoada.

Can you tell I like food?

The week in pictures

2011-07-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

We bought this piece of art. We are not sure if we love it or hate it.

We spent a lot of time with my awesome downstairs neighbours.

I worked on one of these

It's not summer until you run around in the sprinkler in your underwear.

Copsicles

2011-07-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

After school for the last few days we have dropped by the children's fountain on the Riverwalk. It's a giant fountain designed for kids to play in, right on the river. You can just see her in the photo below, streaking through the children's fountain at roughly the speed of light. She's the one in the white underwear.

Nothing makes a kid happier than a fountain to play in

There are usually lots of other kids to play with there, and the vibe is social and family friendly.

These police officers never stopped smiling the whole time we were there

When you are 4, anytime is a good time to hug somebody random

Tonight, I was sitting watching the kid and chatting with a tourist from New York, when two of the bicycle cops came flying through the plaza and skidded to a halt in front of another police officer standing nearby. They jumped off the bikes, and grabbed some kind of boxes off the back, handing one off to the other officer. The three of them jogged to strategic corners of the fountain, whipped open the boxes, and let rip.

With popsicles, that is. The cops just started handing out free popsicles to all the kids there. It was the coolest thing I've seen in ages.

That is sort of a hunky police officer, no?

Look at how cute that is!

Cherry

Grape

Blue raspberry, whatever the hell that is.
(And look at the smile on that kid's face!)

How is that for outstanding Grassroots PR for a beleaguered police force?
(this police officer is also rather handsome)

I nearly died watching it all go down. The tourist from New York was struck speechless. Detroit is truly like nowhere else.

How to install a window mounted AC unit

2011-07-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

We have been productive around here lately. Yesterday I repaired the malfunctioning horn on my VW bus all by myself. It kept randomly honking and pissing off people and drivers around me. not only was it embarrassing as hell to drive all over town honking like a frat-boy, It had the potential to be dangerous should I to piss off the wrong driver and get myself shot.

Riding on my wave of confidence from yesterday's efforts, today I installed a window mounted AC unit in our apartment. I did this all by myself, as well. I thought you all might be interested in a how-to guide so you can be sure to install your AC unit as professionally as I did.

HOW TO INSTALL YOUR A/C UNIT

Wait until your city is in the midst of the worst heat wave in decades. Forward planning is for wimps.
Go to your local hardware store, 2 Lowe's, 2 Home Depot's, 1 Target, and 1 K-Mart to compare prices, brands and BTU's
Fail to compare any prices whatsoever because they are all completely sold out of A/C units.
Wander into a nearby Sears to console yourself with jewelry. Discover that Sears sells A/C units.
Throw yourself at the feet of the salesman, offer to have his babies.
Purchase your 10,000 BTU A/C from bewildered salesman

Go home and unpack your shiny new AC. Cut yourself twice with the box cutter unpacking it.
Read the instructions

So Simple! I'll just ignore these.

Ignore the instructions.
Heave A/C unit up and into the window you want to place it in. discover that it doesn't fit.
Search for tape measure, fail to find it.
Move A/C around until you find a window that it will fit in. Strain your back.
Position A/C in window, search for power drill to drill safety brackets into place.
Discover that power drill's battery is dead, remember that charger is in Houston.
Apply duct tape (optional, but highly recommended) and slam window shut super tight so there is no way that sucker is ever coming out again.
Carefully unwrap plug from protective covering.
Fail to remove protective covering.
Pull hard on the protective covering until it suddenly gives way, causing you to punch yourself in the face.
Repeat step 18 twice.
Look for hidden cameras, because clearly you are trapped in a reality TV program.
Plug in your Awesome A/C Unit, and prepare to feel the cool!!!
Realize you can't plug in your A/C because it has a three pin plug, and your house only has two prong plugs.
Marvel at the fact that you moved halfway around the world from a developing country, specifically to avoid issues such as buying household appliances with plugs that don't fit your house.

Three prongs?

Swear. Kick something. Stub your toe. Swear again.
Contemplate hacking off ground prong.
Hmmm... this warning looks serious

What a ~~Useless~~ fancy plug I have here.
Find three pronged outlet in the kitchen, estimate the length of extension cord needed to reach bedroom
Find Tape measure in bedroom, on bed.
Swear
Measure distance from kitchen outlet to bedroom using Measuring tape (70 feet +/-)
Go to Busy Bee hardware on Gratiot and share your tale of woe with amused and appropriately sympathetic staff.
Buy one of these for a buck

Rejoice!
Go home, Plug in your AC, and have a beer. Sarah, you are one hell of a handyman!

Feels Like Heaven!

Tune in later in the week for my expert guide to applying heat resistant window film!

Sunday Afternoon

2011-07-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

Part of Sunday was spent playing Cowgirls and Squirt Guns with friends on an otherwise abandoned alley.

Detroit Badass

2011-07-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

Since we are in the city with the toughest reputation in America, it's only fitting that I get myself a tough, Badass habit. I thought about joining a gang, but I'm not cool enough. Then I thought about developing a crack addiction, but Stone says that's expensive, and would make me weird(er) I could deal in illegal guns, but that market seems saturated, and anyway I don't like guns. Same for dogfighting. So what's a girl to do?

Knitting, Motherfucker.

Awwww Yeeeeahhhh.... Photo From http://verypink.com

Two friends showed me how to Knit a couple of days ago, and I'm addicted. All I can think about is Knitting, and all I want to do is Knit, all the time. The housework is suffering

Knitting is the perfect hobby for people with ADD, because it allows you to do something boring or tedius while being distracted and challenged by whatever it is you are knitting. Like, watching golf or tennis? Boring No More. a trip to the playground? Boring No More. Watching the kid ride her bike around and around and around and around and around the parking lot? Boring No More.

So far I have made a few little cuff bracelets for the kid, and a couple of headbands and necklaces, and some other shit that is just rows and rows of practice. I'm going to a knitting group on Wednesday night to see some people who are really good knitters do their thing, and hopefully learn how to do a purl stitch.

I Posted this photo on Facebook, and a friend said it looked like a penis.

But the kid likes it.

Where have you been?

2011-07-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

Mostly letting my neighbors get me drunk, thanks for asking!

There were boat races all weekend on the river, and our building makes a big deal out of them, with everyone coming down to the riverfront to BBQ, socialize, and pour tequila down the throats of new arrivals. Nobody watches the actual boat races.

The races are preceded all three days by an airplane stunt show by a local lady pilot and with a series of really loud and impressive stunts by Navy F-18's. They flew right between our building and the next building over. Having the sound barrier broken like 50 feet above your head is a really awesome way to start a weekend.

Sure, it's a small BBQ. Stone doesn't need to compensate for anything.

Chess on the riverfront

This would eventually prove to be my downfall on Saturday night.

It was all Andre's fault. I blame him entirely.

A few of the folks from the building hanging out and not watching boats.

Our house is finally coming together. We had a party for neighbors and friends last Thursday, and it was a blast. I spent the whole party Amazed and the fact that we already know so many impossibly cool people.

And lastly, the kid got her hair braided at a local salon.

To answer your questions:

It took 5.5 hours
It was entirely the kid's idea. We had nothing to do with it.
It cost $80 when all was said and done
Keisha, the Magnificent stylist at Golden Godess managed to complete the project with her sanity still intact
if Pebbles wants to do it again, she's paying for it herself.

More tomorrow

Lemonade Stand

2011-07-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Pebbles came home from school talking about having a lemonade stand. So on Sunday, that's exactly what we did.

We made Pebbles do as much of the work as she was capable of. So she painted the signs, squeezed the lemons, measured the sugar, etc... She helped carry the stuff down, and then stood in the baking hot sun shouting at passing cars and waving a sign.

We sold 33 cups of Lemonade in an hour and a half, and had the opportunity to meet a really great cross-section of metropolitan Detroit. We had families, couples, a member of law enforcement, people walking their dogs, old men, a woman in a wheelchair, and three guys who were brown bagging liquor, and just wanted to give the kid a quarter. Half the people who bought a 25 cent Lemonade paid with a dollar, and wouldn't accept any change. Almost everyone who drove past us smiled.

The kid would like you to know that she is going to use her earnings to buy a doll, or a nutcracker, or some stick-on nails.

Biking Detroit, and a trip to Big Boy

2011-06-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

I Love my bike. It's not as nice as the one I have in Houston, but it does the job, and I feel really cool cruising around on it.

Awesome, No?

The kid loves her trolley in the back, and waves at people as we go around. Yesterday as we cruised to school, We passed a guy walking a giant, not very friendly looking Pit Bull on a chain. as we rolled past him the kid leaned out the side of the bike and shouted "Nice Dog!" Can anyone enlighten me on why the dog of choice on the streets of Detroit is a Pit Bull? Are we really that hard core that a Black Lab wouldn't do the trick?

Sunday Afternoon we rode the Bikes to Belle Isle and let the kid tear it up on the playground for a while. She had another one of those disgusting Sponge Bob Popsicles. How can a Popsicle taste so greasy? Remind me to blog the ingredients list sometime.

Stone and Pebbles enjoy some Quality time with an inedible Sponge Bob Popsicle.

On a related note, why does my daughter love Sponge Bob so much? I Just don't get it.

Sunday morning I let Stone sleep in and rode down Jefferson Ave to an outlet of the iconic restaurant chain "Big Boy" I had never been in one, and sort of expected it to be like a White Castle Hamburgers or something. It was actually more like a Denny's and really nice! They even have a real Big Boy Statue inside!

Fulfilling a Life-Long dream of posing next to a Big Boy statue

I don't even want to think about the germs on that thing.

Not that any of you give a shit what I had for lunch yesterday, but here you go. Mushroom and Basil pizza from Supino Pizza in Eastern Market. I don't know how they do their crusts, but the crust is So, So, So, So, Good.

I want to eat this every day for lunch and dinner.

More tomorrow, I'm working on a post about Arabs, Sunni Islam, and the Nation of Islam in Detroit. Don't expect anything profound though, OK?

Detroit Miscellaneous

2011-06-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie today, in Bullet point form.

We bought matching his and her bikes, and a bike trailer for the kid. I ride the kid to school every morning! Its fantastic, everyone we pass says hello.
Last night was the fireworks on the riverfront. Estimates say close to 1,000,000 people came out for them. Downtown, Belle Isle, and the surrounding miles of Jefferson and Lafayette streets were heaving with happy people, and little kids.
We are eating lunch at Supino Pizza once a week. The crust on the pizza is the best I have ever tasted.
Mom and Dad, and anyone else who knows Stone personally will find the following amusing: Not 20 miles after I had mentioned to Stone that we should think about filling the bus up with gas, and he said "No way! We've got plenty of gas!" We ran out of Gas. Major violation of our Always Listen To Your Wife policy.
Detroit, as it turns out, is a nice place to run out of gas! Less than a minute after we sputtered to a halt, a good Samaritan stopped and drove Stone to a gas station. During the five minutes Stone was gone, 3 different people stopped and asked me if I was OK, and did I need help with the Bus. Seriously, How nice is that???
There are some truly amazing custom cars around here, and the American tradition of Cruising is alive and well on Belle Isle every Friday and Saturday night.
Motorcycles are also surprisingly big in Detroit. They are everywhere, flocks of them ridden my Men, Women, everybody. It's wonderful to see.
My only complaint so far: What is up with the Trash Detroiters? You guys just throw all your trash EVERYFUCKINGWHERE! How hard is it to carry your trash to any one of the bazillions of trash cans available on Belle Isle or downtown? Really, I'm asking. Detroiters, You are the messiest bunch of people I have ever encountered.

My Favorite Butcher Guy at Gratiot Market. He already recognizes me!

And that sums it up for today. More adventures to report on tomorrow.

So How is the Food in Detroit?

2011-06-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

Fantastic, thanks for asking!

Tonight we had super thick cut lamb chops (Gratiot Market) with Creamy Parmesan and Sage (Grown In Detroit) Orzo, and sauteed wild Michigan Morels, in a California chardonnay and Michigan shallot sauce. (all other ingredients from Detroit Eastern Market)

It was, as the butcher who cut the meat for me said, "Some really fucking tasty shit".

Look at these Morels!!!

No, Really. Look at these incredible Morels!!!

Fresh Sage, Grown on one of Detroit's Urban Farms. 2 bucks!

The Lamb Chops, from Gratiot Market.
You can't see it from this angle, but I had the butcher cut them 2.5 inches thick!

The finished product. It was wicked good.

Tomorrow we are having Eggplant Lasagna, made entirely with Michigan and Detroit grown produce. Tomatoes, Cheese, Eggplants, Shallots, Garlic, Leeks, Rosemary, Curly Basil and Fresh Green Salad. Everything except the lasagna noodles is from Michigan!

On the River

2011-06-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Fun and Games at the Detroit River Festival yesterday. We rode the rides, grooved to the music, ate hot dogs, and generally enjoyed the scene. The festival continues through Monday, with a giant Slap-Up fireworks show along the river Monday Night.

You can tour a Giant US Coast Guard ship!

The advances in Ketchup Distribution Devices in recent years is simply staggering.
I'm considering buying one of these for my Step-Son.

Sand Castle Sculpting Competition

The Ultimate Air Dog Competition.
Waaay more awesome than I expected.

Dumpster Diving is the new Shopping?

2011-06-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

We went down to the dumpsters this morning with yet another load of card board and other detritus from the unpacking. We do this twice a day, filling one of the Old-School elevators to brimming with our cardboard and other shit, slamming the mesh grate, and descending on the creaky-freaky lift to the sub basement level of our building, lugging the crap through three fire doors, out the loading dock, and heaving it into the dumpsters in the rain. It's my least favorite part of an otherwise perfect day.

Today, in one of the dumpsters, was a small box that caught my eye. there were a few gorgeous silk scarves, some old photographs, and some lovely leather gloves tucked inside. And looking into the dumpster further, there were all these clothes for little kids, with the tags still on them. These were nice clothes, tags from all the top New York Department stores, like stumbling into a time capsule from the 1960's.

Then I looked into the other dumpsters. 4 dumpsters full of vintage designer clothes. WTF?

Stone had long since headed back to the apartment, incredulous that I was considering hauling a load of garbage back INTO his house. So I asked my gay neighbours what they thought we should do, and they were like "Let's get the fuck into those dumpsters!" They didn't have to tell me twice.

A small sampling of the treasures retrieved from the dumpster

It turned out that the clothes were from a storage unit in our building that had been untouched since the lady who owned it moved away in 1984. Efforts to trace her went in vain, and so finally the management decided to clear out the storage unit.

Here are some of the highlights. Please excuse the fact that I am ugly and gormless looking. Even nice clothes can't help that. I hope to love these clothes as much as the original owner did.

The top makes me think of Mad men, the suede skirt makes me think hippie Love fest.

Full length leather jacket thingy over an short flirty knitted dress

This jacket is the bomb. Made of the softest leather in the world, with inside pockets.

I Freaking LOVE this jacket.

I took a few pairs of long opera length gloves in various colors.

This fur lined LBD is totally Mad men. I LOVE it and it fits like a glove.

And a couple of the many things we scored for the kid. She didn't want to put on a fashion show!

Brand new, with the tags still on it, a fuzzy snow suit.

Look at this cute little mechanic Jump suit. I Die.

More Meat

2011-06-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

We went back to Gratiot Central Market Yesterday. Our Friend Bo, Texas Butcher Extraordinaire would have been impressed, we think.

It's like the Mecca of Meat! The Taj-Mahal of Tripe! The Pyramids of Pork!

They will custom butcher anything you can imagine, to your exact specifications

Earlier in the week we bought matching his and her 3 speed cruiser bikes to use as transportation when we are in town. We found them on Craig's list, and they set us back $100 for the pair. They are really neat, and deliciously vintage.Today we are searching for a bike trailer so we can transport the kid on our bikes while the Bus is in the shop for a much needed tune up.

The weather today is expected to hit a glorious 70 degrees, with intermittent rain and soothing cloud cover. It's a far cry from the hellish confines of Houston, I tell you.

Detroit supermarkets are so hardcore, even the veggies get graffiti.

Milk and Meat

2011-06-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

We wandered into the Gratiot Central Market yesterday, pretty much by accident.

Photo Credit: Randy's Sausage

It was Meat heaven. Awesome butchery, everywhere. Every cut of meat you can imagine, butchered to order. Amish Chicken, Seafood, a million different cuts of pork, beef, lamb, goat. It was pretty awe inspiring. I'm going back today to get some photos.

We also stopped by a dairy store that sells milk in Glass bottles, just like we used to have growing up! I know it's all in my head, but I'm telling you, milk tastes better from a glass bottle.

On the Riverfront

2011-06-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Still unpacking! We managed to get the kid into a really great summer camp, which she LOVES. After school yesterday we went down to the Riverwalk for an Ice cream and a few carousel rides.

This blog will be a lot less boring soon, I promise.

Hello Detroit!

2011-06-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

We arrived late Friday night, and Detroit feels like heaven on earth. Just a few photos today to give you guys a sneak peak at out house up here, and a few of the things we have been doing.

Headquarters of GM on Jefferson Ave

The view from our back yard, looking over the Detroit river towards Belle Isle, a massive public park located on an island in the river. This morning we saw 28 swans!

This is part of my Kitchen.
The marble Counter tops are salvaged from a Detroit high school that was being torn down.
Don't they look Sexy?

I Love My Kitchen!

This is the Chandelier in the dining room. I love it!

This is one of many children's playscapes on Belle Isle.

Stone relaxing while watching the kid go bonkers on the playground.

One of the many beautiful old buildings on Belle Isle

More Playscape

Making friends at the playground

Shopping for furnishings really sucks

We have met a half dozen or so of our neighbors, all of whom are astonishingly friendly and welcoming. They have helped us carry stuff in, invited us over for drinks, offered hospitality and assistance, provided great advice, and overall have been exactly the neighbors I have always dreamed of! We are really looking forward to a social summer, filled with Boats, BBQ, friends and food.

More in a couple of days when we are fully unpacked!

Engineer's Report from Stone

2011-06-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

The bus was in really good condition when we bought it, considering it was built way back in 1973 (in Germany). The main killer of old VWs - rust - was only present in a few inconsequential surface areas on the body, which we figure we'll fix in Detroit when we do a respray. The engine ran smoothly (it was rebuilt 20k before we got it), with the main niggle being a difficult to get 2nd gear, especially changing down. Double clutching whilst braking remains a skill we both have to get a handle on. The bus of course also leaked a bit of oil and 'marks its spot' when parked.

Handling
But, when we started driving it on our initial 1 night exploratory camping adventures near Houston, we noticed how bad the thing handled on the highway. Top speed was effectively 55mph max while constantly struggling to keep the thing on the road. With even a mild cross wind this dropped to 45mph (at most) because the bus would be pushed around sideways several feet and it was waaay too scary to go any faster, for fear of suddenly being sent into either on-coming traffic or the ditch by the side of the road. Several times we had to get off the freeway, because being passed by everything else on the road while struggling to keep 45 mph was too dangerous.

A search of the Samba and other on-line resources suggested new shocks and heavy duty anti-sway bars were the key and offered hope of ensuring we could actually get from Houston to Detroit faster than it would take to walk it. So that's what we did.

We decided if we were going to go to the effort we'd do it properly, and so opted for a new set of Koni dampeners (aka shock absorbers) we got from the Bus Depot, and they sure ain't cheap at $500 for a set of 4 (but they are made in The Netherlands). Plus a set of EMPI heavy duty anti-sway bars from The Bus Boys at a reasonable $200 for both front and rear.

A local garage installed 3 of the 4 shocks, but sheared the lower bolt removing the fourth. Oops. The guys at another shop drilled out the sheared bolt and installed the final Koni, plus the front anti-sway. The rear will have to wait til Detroit.

But the result on the handling has been... amazing. Incredible.

We can now cruise comfortably at 65mph (about all the little 1.7L engine can handle), even with a mild cross wind. The buffeting now shifts the bus inches rather than feet and it's easy to stay in the lane. Also the ride is wonderfully smooth yet reassuringly firm when required. Even in a strong gusting side wind, like we experienced in a thunder storm somewhere in Arkansas, I only had to drop the speed down to 55mph to feel safe. It's a totally different driving experience now. Wonderful.

Although by doing both jobs at the same time makes it difficult to know with certainty, I suspect the biggest improvement was from those beautiful Koni shocks. Would just putting new (and much cheaper) OEM shocks have been as good? Maybe, who knows? I didn't want to take the risk of always thinking later 'imaybe if I'd spent the extra $200 for Konis this would be better'. When we put the rear anti-sway bar on and drive it back home in August I'll report on what difference that made, because you can still feel a very slight sway when sitting in the back seat when cruising at top speed, and maybe that'll go too!

Oil & gas mileage
Not too much to report here. We're running 87 unleaded (remember the engine is low compression and was made for standard fuel) and getting an average of 18.4 MPG (ranging from 20 to 17). The better mileage is when Sarah was driving! I've been pleasantly surprised by the oil - it's only used about half a quart of oil so far (roughly 800 miles or so), which I take as a good sign. I'd be more concerned if it wasn't using any oil at all.

Other niggles
Second gear is still a total bitch. Sometimes it's easy on the way up, but just when you think you've cracked it, especially when you've got a pile of traffic behind you, it refuses to go into second making you go back to first and then straight to third. Ah well. If possible, double clutching will get it in on the way down, and shifting up as soon as possible helps on the way up.

more later... got to get ship-shape for the final push to Motown!!!

The Best Burger in the world

2011-06-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

Is Located in Brownsville, TN at Brownsville family restaurant and Catering.

Look at that Burger!

It cost a mere $2.99, featured a hand formed seasoned patty, two slices of cheese, all the veggies, a cornmeal bun, and a slathering of salty-sweet mayonnaise. It was as big as my head. The restaurant is a massive space, tucked inside one of Brownsville's many historic buildings. Brownsville is a gorgeous little town.

Inside at the front of the restaurant they have pictures and memorials to the town's citizens who have served in the US armed forces.

The sting and unreality of slavery is still painfully present in America, where blacks remain economically disadvantaged, and suffering from institutionalized racism. (In my opinion, anyway)

On the wall of the restaurant, was this Obituary, dating from the mid 50's

Read this. It's so sad / happy it's unreal

After finishing our lunch (Hamburger-me, Fried chicken and eggs-Stone, and Eggy sandwich-Pebbles) we all got hugs from the chef and the waitresses. we will definitely be back through Brownsville again.

King of the Dogs!

2011-06-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Meet Riley, a Great Pyrenees / Lab Cross. Riley belongs to a lovely couple we met at our campground near Paris, TN.

Pebbles made a crown for Riley, and declared him King of the Dogs.

We also made a hopscotch court at the campground in Hot Springs, AK. It was awesome.

Free Palestine!

2011-06-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

Palestine, AK

There are literally hundreds of towns in America called Palestine. We intend to free any and all that we come across.

Travelling Scrub Technicians, Flat batteries, No sleep for Stone

2011-06-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

The Texarkana KOA is not a place I would choose to patronize again. Located at the intersection of Interstate 30, State Line Road, and a very busy train track, and populated by long term/semi permanent residents with loud motorcycles, things were a bit loud, and as a result, Stone got not a single wink of sleep last night. He was one cranky Motherfucker this morning, I can assure you.

While Stone was brewing a second pot of coffee I took the girl on a walk around the campgrounds.

The kid saw this and shouted "There's a Fungus Among Us!" I Love that kid.

The camp is comprised of mostly Long term residents, living out of motorhomes.

This morning when we woke up, there was this dude just passed out on a blanket, right out in the open, near our bus. When we got back from out Ticky tour of the camp, there he was, chatting to Stone.

Turns out his name is Kevin, and he is a Travelling Surgical Technician / Inventor / Artist / Sculptor / Philosopher! He borrowed our daughter to create an art project.

After casting the kid's hand in some sort of Gel, he poured in the plaster of Paris, and this is the result!

After some pool time in the KOA pool, we hit the road, and headed for Hope, AR, Birthplace of Former President Bill Clinton. We went to Bill Clinton's Wal-Mart.

People of Wal-Mart, Beware.

The horsey ride on the way out of Walmart came with the following instructions. I think that's a little over the top, frankly.

And now, we are at the Much nicer, totally fantastic, Hot Springs AR KOA!

So far, So good.

Day One, Houston to Texarkana, TX

2011-06-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Boring post, but today was the longest day of driving for this trip. 8 Hours, 400 something miles, one breakfast at IHOP, two potty stops, and two stops for gas. Pebbles did great.

All set up at the Texarkana KOA, Like the tent on the side?

They Have WIFI ! In the campground! How cool is that?

Our Sat Nav, "Kyle" kindly took us to part of our home state via two other states. I can report that the little bit we saw of Louisiana was very pretty indeed.

Pebbles may not be feeling so thumbs up when she realizes that dinner is just Pasta.

More later tonight, with a review of the KONI shocks, and Overheard in KOA, White trash edition. It's wild out here.

We are off!

2011-06-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Detroit is the New Hamptons, a Blog about our summer home in Detroit, and our adventures getting there and back in our 1973 VW camper bus.

Jude, our 1973 VW Westy

We are Sarah and Stone, travelling with our daughter Pebbles. This morning we leave, following a hellish week of trying to upgrade the suspension on the Bus. The bus handles exactly like a 38 year old bread box on casters, which, basically, is what it is. We have added Koni shocks on all four corners, and a heavy duty Sway Bar to the front end. The rear sway bar will have to wait until we get to Detroit.

Many thanks to the Max and Joe at Joe's Garage, and to Ken, at My Mechanic for persevering on a tricky fix after the pins securing the shocks to the lower torque arms Sheared off.

This is Ken, he spent two full days drilling out pins. Ken never wants to see us again.

So, I need to feed pebbles some breakfast, and then we are off! More news tonight!