chocolatiers (chocolatieri?)

What jumpstarted my long-lost musings was some maple crunch milk chocolate, or as they call it "sucre d'erable, chocolat au lait", from Jelina in Montreal. Milk chocolate doesn't tug at the strongest emotions in my chocolate fantasy files, but a good milk can go a long ways. This bar -that appears to be a seasonal offering - is amazing. It will tempt me right on over to some of their other offerings. Yes, I would rather go up to Quebec and tour the factory and buy out the shop, but that's not possible these days.

Since this is a plural entry I intend to add a few more favorites. So intend that here they are:

Lake Champlain Chocolates: For some reason I think of them as bigger than boutique, but I have no reason to say that. It's not like microbreweries that have some established limit of 50,000 kegs in order to qualify for small batch. You can find Lake Champlain's wares down in NoVa so I must have assumed that being available 500 miles away makes something larger than an indie operation. The 51 has been on at least three tours of the factory in Burlington, and I'm pretty sure I've paid at least a month of their mortgage over the years. Every single thing they makes is really good. If I had to push you in one direction, go with the Five-Star Bars. They do everything from straight milk to very dark across all the bars. (Okay, I might also say that their milk chocolate peanut butter bar is one of my all-time favorites.)

Our local place, Tavarnier, is also aces. They are a bit more exotic with nuts and edible flowers, but their chocolate taste and consistency is so good. Across the inventory you'll certainly find tons of stuff you'll like. They operate out of a small space in the Old Mill here in town and with them you feel like you are really in the midst of the operation. I wonder if I can get an internship down there? I'll work for free. 

I came across Xocolatl during my travels in/out of Atlanta over the years. Their storefront is in the Krog Street Market near(ish) to Little Five Points. As with the others, everything is really good, but I'm really keen on the Mint Chocolate Bars. I have a pretty deep affinity for mint chocolate (or mint chip / mint ice cream) which probably comes from the days when 'travelers' would bring you mint chocolate bars from Ghiridelli when they'd return from S.F. along with some pictures of Alcatraz, some tie dye, and a loaf of sourdough. Back in the '70s we didn't have nice things in the Midwest and there was no way to ship - it was all so exotic. 

Baker's Chocolate: Now we are beating off the beaten path. Headquartered in Greenwood, Nebraska they make what they call 'meltaways' that are simply the best noshing chocolate out there. Multiple flavors to choose from and if you buy at the factory you can fistful whatever you choose and just hit the scale on the way out. Or, order the 5 lb. Sampler online. If you don't like them, I'll pay for the shipping to my house.

return of the prodigal son

Test test test. Sibilance. Sibilance. Check. 1, 2. 1, 2. Check. Check. Check.

The Paddle will return the first of the the year. Bookmark it. 

the check is in the mail

The NCAA has long outlived its usefulness, if it were ever useful. The list of malfeasance is nearly endless: recruiting scandals, inability to actually investigate anything, useless bans and suspensions, moneymaking skills on par with FIFA, shit leadership, and general incompetence. I have way too many thoughts on the NCAA to come to some clear conclusion and you blame that on my life long love of sport. I want it to be good and fair but I know it's not.

Paying athletes has long been an issue across major moneymaking sports at major universities. Right of the bat we should bear in mind this first fact - most major university athletic departments don't operate at a profit.(here's a link to a great site with mid-tier University of Iowa chosen). Undoubtedly, the massive programs (Texas, Alabama, Ohio St.) have football programs that pull the entire department over the line but the vast majority of departments lose money. Paying athletes, on top of the losing financial proposition in place, doesn't make financial sense. Football players at the major programs are now essentially 'paid' to study their chose profession - a year of tuition, room and board at USC is allegedly $72K. For a football player when you consider travel, equipment, special training, medical, additional facilities, special diet/food/training meals, etc, you can add something like 40% to that number, so we are talking about $100K per year, $400K over four years to study your chosen profession at a level that even academic scholarship students studying the likes of medicine, science, or English will never see. And, post-graduation, who donates more back to major universities, athletes or other alumni? Maybe the donations come because the football program is doing well. I don't know, but I suspect that non-athletes contribute to the endowment number more than athletes. I could go deeper into other stuff I ponder in this particular area, but I won't.

I won't go further because I'm more on the players' side than the universities and the NCAA. Even though I know that USC was USC before Reggie Bush, and USC will be USC after Reggie Bush, they did benefit from his name and likeness during his time there. Yes, USC made Reggie Bush, not vice versa (anyone think Reggie Bush at North Dakota St. would have had the same career?). It wouldn't be a reach to see schools begin to pay athletes but eliminate athletic scholarships and tell athletes that "we'll pay you $150K per year, but you owe us $100K for your training and facilities." Might not work out as well as one thought.

What else? Well, how about we do away with college athletics as we know it and move all the athletics to the Art Department? (Hat tip to anonymous source on that one.) How about the NCAA tries to get with the game and figure out how to move forward in athlete compensation. How about they work hard on details and methods to ensure that athletes whose names and likenesses earn money are compensated in some way.

How about the professional sports leagues who make billions of dollars fund minor leagues along the lines of MLB and junior hockey in Canada? I'm not sure why we still think that universities and colleges should be in the business of profit and sport on the level we currently see.

I'd like to think that the downfall of the NCAA might foretell the end of college sports but it will more likely bring more money and graft into colleges and universities.

Oh, what started this? What made you read all this junk? It's this article on California deciding to allow college athletes to be paid.

be there or be ...

I have a weird interest in traffic and civil planning (is that the phrase? City planning?) Having grown up on Omaha, all square aside from crazy Leavenworth St., and someone who enjoys walking in Manhattan (hello squares), this article piqued my interest. What more do you need then an economist, city/urban planning, and Burning Man? It reminded me of a once monthly visit/episode called "Shaping the City" that Kojo Nnamdi used to host with the architect Roger Lewis on WAMU in DC. I don't think the "Shaping" series is still ongoing but it was easily my favorite episode every month because Lewis had a way of talking about planning, architecture, memorial planning (it is DC, afterall), and all aspects of human economy. Having zero life experience how these things actually work I enjoyed reading how true experts understand and plan the human experience - obviously, some good and some bad.

The Burning Man event is human gathering that allows these folks to actually plan, create, inhabit, disassemble, and walk way every single year only to do it again in twelve months with added corporate (funny, right?) knowledge. Not only is this of interest for the caching of details for future city planners, but it should be of interest into how we can plan for tens of thousands of people needed immediate in disasters and migration (forced or otherwise).

Anyway, here's the article in the NYTimes. Enjoy.

the game

 

It's been a long and very enjoyable summer of baseball. Our primary source of sports entertainment was the Keene Swamp Bats who won the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) championship this season. The league consists of still active college players from across the country who spent the (short) summer league living in local homes and playing about 45 games throughout a chunk of New England. We also had a chance to see the Portland Sea Dogs host the Reading Fighin' Phils while on vacation (p.s. Portland's Hadlock Field is a very nice stadium). What brought this to the fore was following the Nationals v Mets game online last night. It was one of those games you rarely see where it gets totally crazy in the late innings. The gist: First, the Mets suck. Second, the game was to be a pitching dual between the last three Cy Young holders: Max Scherzer and Jacob de Grom. Scherzer exited first, de Grom went long, but all we need to know is the Nats closed to 5-4 at the end of the eight. I figured they'll get a shot in the 9th, right? Well, the bullpen gave up five in the top of the 9th, three unearned., and staring at a 10-4 deficit was rough. In quite a turn, the Nats rallied in the bottom of the 9th for...wait on it...seven runs. It all happened like this.

I've been following the Nats very closely this year, and it all seemed lost early on; lost for a really good team (if one overlooks a struggling bullpen, which every team seems to have this year). They started 19-31 (.380 ball on pace for 100 losses) that ended with an awful four-game (losing) sweep at CitiField in New York. Since then they've gone a MLB-best 59-28 (.678) and have both a MVP leader in Anthony Rendon (.338/32/112/1.054) and an outside shot at a Cy Young with Stephen Strasburg. They won't catch the Braves for the division, but they have just about locked up the #1 wild card slot. Granted, a one-game wild card playoff won't be my favorite, but it's what you get.

the north

Along with any number of things I'd like to 'work' on in my near years I'd like to blog some more. I'm bringing sexy back, right?

The Eleven abandoned the issues (issuances?) down South and moved to Vermont about two months ago. Much like the scene in Fletch (you only need to watch to the 1:30 mark), it was so sudden, you know, at the very end.We'd planned to move up eventually - to build, clear the land, tap some trees, live off the our wilderness skills - but our standing lease in Virginia, work, houses for sale, and whatnot conspired with/against us and off we went in two U-Hauls (one towing a car), and a CR-V containing X and two cats. The drive was amazingly easy considering we were rigging it up I-95 for much of the journey and hitting the GW Bridge to cross Manhattan. By the way, a 20" U-Haul with a Nissan Versa on a dolly in tow will run you $84 at the bridge. The three of us ended up running differing routes from Manhattan to the house but all arrived safe and sound.

The first Vermont entry is going to be about the 40th annual Putney Craft Tour over Thanksgiving weekend. This was probably the fifth time The 51 has done it, with others popping in and out over the years, and it's the best thing. Putney, even though it has a 'center' of town, is really just a big, open patch of country littered with artists and their studios. The best part of the tour is driving to these tucked away gems where you get to see houses with satellite studios hidden away in hills, forests, and valleys, most often near a running brook or stream. The artists open up the studios to visitors and you get to see the creativity, tools, and products they make for a living. It doesn't hurt that it's usually cold and the studios are woodstove-heated with hot cider and snacks. You can take time to chat with the artists since no single place is overrun at any given time, at least not in the mornings. We saw a lot of the usual places, but even they seem different every year. And, unlike two years ago I didn't buy at every stop...just half of them. My favorites?

Fiona Morehouse at Alchemy Arts

Julia Brandis at Julia Brandis Glassworks (I'll be getting a stained glass once I get X in tow...)

Ken Pick at Ken Pick Pottery

The cheese (as always) at the amazing Parish Hill Creamery

and, Dena Moses at Vermont Weaving School where I have a 3-day class in February

Now if I can just get around to chickens, cheesemaking,weaving, and mandolin playing.

truths

I’d say I have a current issue with sandwiches, but it’s really a long, long campaign in my head. It’s not really the sandwiches that are the problem, it’s the makers. I think the two greatest sandwiches of all time, in order, are the Reuben and egg salad. I haven’t had a good Rueben in forever; I had a great egg salad sandwich in Indianapolis in November 2014.

There’s some debate on the origin of the Rueben, but I still hold to the idea that it was first created Omaha (shout out!). Rueben: corned beef, Swiss, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, rye bread. I’m guilty of ordering the portobello Rueben, in hopes of just finding any Rueben worth its weight, and have regretted it every single time. Generally, it wasn’t the mushroom-in-place-of-corned beef thing, it was either the lack of quality of the remainder of ingredients, or hateful construction ignorance. You cannot call anything a Reuben that doesn’t have a good half inch of quality sauerkraut – the main issue that is most likely to be missing. Actual construction is often pathetic and that combined with some weak spread of ‘kraut damns these sandwiches to hell. Hell. If I get up to no good this weekend I may finally gather the forces and do a proper Reuben. Dare to dream.

I’ll leave egg salad for later chat.