On Graeter the Greatest

Yes – my bowl!

Do you like chocolate? Do you like chocolate chips in your ice cream? How would you react if you found a piece of solid chocolate in your ice cream that easily covers the center of your palm?

Welcome to Graeter’s – an ice cream treasure in Cincinnati – and a worthy participant in my Chocolate and Wine Week.

Cincinnatians smile at the mere mention of Graeter’s. When out-of-town friends visit, a trip to this tasty treat is mandatory. Convention attendees discover our local jewel at Fountain Square as they stroll the streets of city center.

Graeter’s is about ice cream. Sure, they also produce candy and baked good, but their ice cream is truly one of our area’s golden nuggets.

Louis Graeter started the business in 1870. Because he died in a 1919 accident, Regina (his wife) is the one who led the business’s growth throughout the Cincinnati area. Today, the fourth generation of the family leads a distribution system reaching 4,000 grocery stores in 41 states.

Ingredients and technique are the secrets to producing this creamy, gastronomic delight. Graeter’s blend fresh cream and egg custard together in a chilled French Pot Process. Meanwhile, a large paddle prevents air from mixing into the delight in order to deliver a smooth, rich taste of creamy treasure. Oddly enough, each copper pot only produces 2 gallons of frozen bliss at a time.

Although Graeter’s offers many flavors (flavors here with pictures), including seasonal treats, the chip flavors are the favorites in our house because of the possibility of chunks of chocolate. My wife favors black raspberry chocolate chip. We share appreciation for peanut butter chocolate chip. For me, it’s mint chocolate chip – especially after eating Skyline Chili!

Oh my my – time is running out and I haven’t even mentioned the delicious sodas and scrumptious sundaes! (menu here for description of sundaes)

For those now desiring this rich, creamy taste of high-caloric Nirvana, go to their website, and locate the Find Graeter’s tool on the right, which only needs your zip code. Others can order online because they ship. To Sylvia in Paradise, tell your son and check your zip code for your time in the US.

For the record, it’s not cheap, but it is that the best and “the way ice cream is supposed to be.” Consider a pint for an evening of Graeter’s and a movie at home.

Enjoy the videos, and a few more resources below. Meanwhile, my mouth is watering, so I’m off to a Graeter’s location nearest to me. Meanwhile, fess up – who is going to look for it?

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Resources
New York Times
Forbes
A Philadelphia blogger
The Ice Cream Informant
Chicago Bites
Graeter’s on The View
CBS Early Show

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On Wine in America: Abridged

This is an abridged version of a story because they were many more events than these.

(The people) didn’t consume many of the beverages we drink regularly today. Not only were there few nonalcoholic juices (citrus fruits being unavailable and other fruits fermenting like grapes), but coffee and tea were expensive, milk spoiled quickly, and water frequently was brackish and disease-ridden. Ironically, health and safety constituted the primary advantage of alcohol. American Vintage: The Rise of American Wine, Paul Lukacs, p 24

These were the typical conditions in the US for the early 1800s, thus what a young man from New Jersey encountered when he headed west in 1803 to start a new life in a frontier town known as Cincinnati, Ohio. Arriving full of hope and optimism, Nicholas Longworth became a lawyer and a real estate mogul – and given Cincinnati’s location in the westward movement, he became wealthy as the city grew.

Longworth was also a man of temperance, but saw wine as a beverage of moderation that would improve life for the commoners. Keep in mind that wine wasn’t in the picture because supply was limited to imported European wines and mainly drank by the elite – and yes, banishing wine was not part of the temperance movement at that time.

Thomas Jefferson, the US President at the time and early spokesperson for wine in American, not only loved European wines, he believed America could also make great wine. His enthusiasm drove him to try cultivating European varietals in Virginia, but he was unsuccessful Native American varietals grew in the wild, but made poor wines. As other were unsuccessful throughout the east, the curious began hybridizing American and European varietals.

Nicholas Longworth made his first wine in 1813, but it was a fortified wine that was over 20% alcohol, thus far from the 12% dry table wine he wanted to make. Therefore, in 1825 he purchased a little known hybrid from Maryland called Catawba.

Experimenting with separating skins from the juice, Longworth produced a sweet wine that Cincinnati’s growing German population enjoyed. He kept trying with different grapes and techniques, and in 1842 accidentally discovered a second fermentation producing a sparkling, which led to a new problem – exploding bottles.

Fortunately, Nicholas Longworth had deep pockets to fund his passion, so he kept trying. By the 1845, his wines were getting national attention, thus production was around 300,000 gallons (over 1.1 million liters) per year. By the end of the decade, grapes covered over 2,000 acres in the Cincinnati region. The wine even inspired this poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: The Ode to Catawba Wine.

Image from Wikipedia

In 1860, a disease (blight) hit the region’s grapes – and the grapes suddenly vanished. Longworth died in 1863 at age 80, but his son was unsuccessful at revitalizing Cincinnati’s wine industry.

Longworth’s dream lived on through others (including former employees) as growing grapes moved west to Missouri and eventually California – all building on Longworth’s knowledge. This is why Nicholas Longworth – the one who came to Cincinnati for a new beginning, earned his title: the Father of the American Wine Industry.

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On Opening Day Monday

As a holiday weekend for many, I hope you had an enjoyable one in whatever you did. How did you spend your weekend? We had  wide variety of things as an evening on the ballroom floor, working in the yard, playing handbells, and hosting my in-laws.

Meanwhile, although Saturday was sunny and warm, cool temperatures have come to Cincinnati for Monday’s Opening Day. This is always been a special day for Reds fans, so the weather will not dampen spirits.

To celebrate Opening Day in the spirit of Monday Morning Entertainment, here are four of my favorite short pitching videos.  Even though the longest is only 90 seconds, (three are less than a minute), I’ve included a short description to help guide your choices 0 but watch as many as you want. Enjoy and have a great week!

On Opening Day 2010 in Cincinnati, the mayor delivered the worst “throwing out the first ball” ever.

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Enjoy this crazy pitch of a ceremonial first pitch.

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This one from a Japanese League is awesome. The umpire called it a strike probably for the effort.

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Movie buffs may remember this scene from Bull Durham.

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Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 171

On Politics
There’s no doubt that President Obama’s inaugural address is more to the left. Although the GOP squawking about it is not surprising, I remind them that they spent four years focusing on the goal of “making sure he would be a one-term president” – so what the heck to they expect. Sorry GOP, reconciliation is in your court, not his.

Wow – House Republicans backing down from the debt ceiling fight is a huge surprise. Here’s an interesting read.

I’m still amazed to hear references as Fascism, Hitler, etc regarding the Obama administration. This time it was the CEO of Whole Foods.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) isn’t much better:

I think my role is to uphold support and defend our Constitution, … The Constitution I uphold and defend is the one I carry in my pocket all the time, the U.S. Constitution. I don’t know what Constitution that other members of Congress uphold, but it’s not this one. I think the only Constitution that Barack Obama upholds is the Soviet constitution, not this one. He has no concept of this one, though he claimed to be a constitutional lawyer.

Regardless of the topic and the administration, here’s one thing that we can count on during Congressional hearings: one side is generally soft while the others proudly declare, “I am an ass.”

All the hubbub about Beyonce’s singing at the inauguration is a sad commentary in itself.

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion

• Nation descends into utter chaos following Dear Abby’s death
• Lance Armstrong plan return to cycling as fan-hating villain
• Russell Crowe praised for man who cannot sing in Les Mis’
• List of politically achievable reforms down to just three minor changes to traffic code
• Romney makes desperate last-ditch bid for presidency
• Biden working through scratch-off tickets during Obama’s swearing in
• Michelle Obama is not keen on President’s new bangs

Interesting Reads

• Columnists David Brooks and Gail Collins about budgets, deficits, and politics 
• The Lights and Nights in Reykjavik
• Marketing and the naughty statue slideshow (to read about this, click the Article tab)
• Science, theology, and the sense of awe
• Martin Luther King’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech
• See a very interesting set of sculptures
• National Geographic picture collection of small wonders 

On Potpourri
While Super Bowl XLVII is the first with two brothers as head coaching opponents – but here is the tie to me. Their father, a long-time NFL assistant coach, graduated from the same college as me – Bowling Green State University.

I have often said that biology teachers are in three categories regarding teaching evolution: Those teaching it well, those teaching it poorly, and those not teaching it at all. It seems this article supports my claim.

Cheers to my Cincinnati getting baseball’s 2015 All-Star Game. Too bad that Commission Bud Selig came to town for the announcement. I must say that I may like idiotic politicians more than him.

Check out the interactive Census Dotmap created by a MIT graduate student.

Yesterday’s post was about Word(s) – coincidentally, Harmonique and LouAnn at On the Homefront also posted about the topic – so give them a visit and tell them I sent you.

Good news – I will post a classic cartoon post on Saturday.

Bad news – I’m taking a short break after Saturday’s post.

To send you into the weekend, enjoy these images of the wonder of creation from deep space to the fitting music by Vangelis. Have a good weekend! In the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

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On Ohio: The Musical

Most realize that Ohio is pivotal in the upcoming election. This post earlier in the week provided information that you don’t hear on the news. Because I realize my readers have a variety of interesting and musical preferences, and in the spirit of the election season, A Frank Angle Productions present Ohio: The Musical – a historical journey through music.

Enjoy … hope you found some gems! Alright, which fit your interests today?

1700s: Banks of the Ohio (First recorded 1927, eventually a Monroe Brothers hit (Olivia Newton John, 1972)

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1854: Down by the Ohio (OSU Marching Band version)

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Date unknown, but it fits here: Rollin’ Down the Ohio

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1918: Beautiful Ohio

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1965: Hang on Sloopy by Ohio’s own The McCoys, thus the state’s Official Rock Song

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1970: Ohio about a sad day in our history by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

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1978: Theme to WKRP in Cincinnati (with scenes of my city)

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1983: My Town by Michael Stanley Band

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1986: Cuyahoga by R.E.M

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1995: Youngstown by Bruce Springsteen

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1996: Drew Carey Show’s Theme Song – Cleveland Rocks by Ian Hunter

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2003: Ohio by Over the Rhine

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