Bruce's Smorsasborg

 By Bruce Shawkey Found this interesting book on the Internet archive. It's a 240-age book on the joys of Crisco shortening. Crisco is an American brand of shortening that is produced by B&G Foods. Introduced in June 1911 by Procter & Gamble, it was the first shortening to be made entirely of vegetable oil. Here is part of the introduction:  The Story of Crisco  culinary world is revising its entire cookbook on account of the advent of Crisco, a new and altogether different cooking fat. Many wonder that any product could gain the favor of cooking experts so quickly. A few months after the first package was marketed, practically every grocer of the better class in the United States was supplying women with the new product. This was largely because four classes of people: housewives chefs, doctors, and  dietitians were glad to be shown a product which at once would make for more digestible foods, more economical foods, and better tasting foods. Cooking and...

 By Bruce Shawkey Of all the electronic organs, the Hammond B3 paired with the Leslie speaker is arguably the most famous. There were many varieties of the Hammond organ, but the most popular variety, and the one still commonly used today (if you can find one that isn’t too beat up) is the Hammond B-3. This organ has two 61 note keyboards, a variety of built-in special effects, (including "percussion" effects, several different chorus and vibrato effects, and adjustable attack and decay effects), 9 preset keys for both manuals, (the inversely white and black keys on the bottom octave of each manual), two sets of nine stops (drawbars) for each manual, a full two octave set of foot pedals with two pedal drawbars built in to the console, a volume pedal (expression pedal) built into the base, a solid walnut body with 4 legs and base, a built-in stool, and it weighs at over 400 pounds. Also, it needed to be run through a separate speaker called a Leslie, which also came in many va...

 By Bruce Shawkey There have been hundreds and perhaps thousands of books written over the years and decades about cats. But perhaps none so exhaustive than "The Book of the Cat" with 422 published in 1903 and authored by Frances Simpson, (ca. 1857 – 1926) an English writer, journalist, cat show judge, and cat breeder. The book chronicles the love of cats, from ancient Egyptian times to then current day. She was a fervent supporter of blue Persians. Here are a few pages from her book.

By Bruce Shawkey The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relatively low price was partly the result of Ford's efficient fabrication, including assembly line production instead of individual handcrafting. The savings from mass production allowed the price to decline from $780 in 1910 (equivalent to $26,322 in 2024) to $290 in 1924 ($5,321 in 2024 dollars. The Model T was colloquially known as the "Tin Lizzie". The Ford Model T was named the most influential car of the 20th century. Ford's Model T was successful not only because it provided inexpensive transportation on a massive scale, but also because the car signified innovation for the rising middle class and became a powerful symbol of the United States' age of modernization.With over 15 million sold, it was ...

 Hey everyone! Well, this bitch of a winter has really put a damper on my road trips in search of Bargains and Binges. But trips to Aldi grocery stores are a fairly regular occurrence for me, regardless of the weather. So I'm reporting my latest trip there, and revealing how Aldi is an essential component of the "Bargains" part of my lifestyle. I shop mostly at the Aldi store in Janesville, Wis., but have also shopped at the Madison West store (by Watts Road and Highway M), and the one in Monroe. The Aldi store in Janesville, WI For those who aren't familiar with Aldi, they are owned by a German company, which also owns the Trader Joe's grocery chain. Which is sort of an odd combination since TJ's is an upscale grocer, while Aldi is a discount, no frills operation. In fact, if you haven't shopped at Aldi, you may be in for a little culture shock. First, you pay 25 cents to use a shopping cart, and get the quarter back when you return the cart to the queue ...

 If you are old enough to remember when just about every neighborhood had a butcher shop (or meat market), then you know they are a disappearing enterprise. What a pity. Shopping for meat today in a supermarket is about as personal experience as going through airport security. Fortunately, we in southern Wisconsin are blessed with several fantastic meat markets and sausage factories (oftentimes both on the same premises!), where the person behind the counter is versed in the subtleties of beef, pork, lamb, and veal. Who knows the difference between Kalberwurst and Knockwurst and are happy to tell you. Where you can have your steak or roast cut the way you want it. And, if it's not too busy, exchange a little chit-chat about the weather, where you're from, or -- the perennial favorite -- how the Packers are doing. I was in New Glarus the other day, and this little town of about 2,200 permanent residents, is blessed with not one, but two meat markets/sausage manufacturers, Ruef...

 My recent B&B adventure along the Watertown Loop found me at Bismarck's (yes, with a "ck") Main Street Bar & Grill for lunch. This is a favorite spot of mine, and one that was found quite by accident while looking for a pizza place in downtown Watertown a couple of years ago with my friend, Amy. Sometimes, these "stumble-upon" places turn out to the best, though I've certainly encountered my share of duds along the way, too. I'm sure they have many other tasty things on the menu, but my absolute "go-to" item is their prime rib sandwich. Unlike the usual "sliced-thin-piled-high" varieties (and sometimes piled low) this place serves a single, artery-choking 8-ounce-plus slab of prime rib on a bakery hoagie bun (no "Wonder-rolls" here). The sandwich must either be cut in half, or handled with two hands, with feet and arms inside the booth at all times. The chef cuts the slab off of a roast that has already been cooked,...

 Yesterday (Thurs. Nov.7) I drove one of my favorite "loops" along Highway 26, with stops in Fort Atkinson, Johnson Creek, and Watertown. This is a drive that presents numerous potential encounters with bargains, and always several choices to binge. There's so much, in fact, that I can't cover it all in one blog entry of reasonable length, especially when I score a jackpot of "B&Bs" like I did yesterday. So I'll break this trip into several entries for easier and less tiring reading on your part. Fort Atkinson is home to several bargain venues, the most reliable one being the   Jones Dairy Farm  retail store, which almost never fails to disappoint. It's often the focal point of driving this whole loop, especially when I am running low on one of my most favorite pork products ... ham. The store almost always has it in great quantity, and at a fantastic price. First, a little background, The name Jones Dairy Farm is a misnomer. It's not a dairy...

 Here's one I just discovered via the little "loopholes" that exist within the maze of  McDonald's cost accounting methods of its ala carte items. This one has to do with the sausage McMuffin with egg, or it will work with the sausage  biscuit  with egg. Either one is normally $2,89, at least in my geographic area. But here's what happens when you order a sausage McMuffin or biscuit (without egg) from their "Value Menu" and then add an ala carte folded egg (or round egg will work, too): Voila , you get $1 off the price of the sausage/egg sandwich, which is enough left over to buy a small coffee or soda off the Value Menu ($1) or in my case a senior coffee for 69 cents. In my case with the senior coffee, I put 31 cents in my pocket versus ordering the sandwich at full price, with no beverage. Yeah, I know, big whoop on the 31 cents. But for me, the joy is in fucking with the corporate machine, and I'll admit I get a sinister thrill from messing with t...

 On my recent "dent and bent" trip to Monroe, I was going to have lunch at "Cafe Claudeen" on the courthouse square. This has been one of my favorites spots for perhaps the last five years or so. Run by a mother-and-daughter team, the menu was a bit on the "fru-fru" side, catering heavily to the female crowd (quiches, lots of salads, etc.) but I always loved their approach to cooking. Everything made from scratch, using local ingredients whenever possible. Every entree came with a soft yeast roll (usually still warm from the oven), and they had killer desserts. I also loved the fact that their booths were salvaged from the old Badger Candy Kitchen, on Madison's Capitol Square. For those of you of a certain age that remember this little gem of an eatery, you can perhaps appreciate how cool I thought this was that a little piece of my childhood had been preserved here in Monroe. So imagine my dismay to find Cafe Claudeen permanently closed, with a sign t...

  Easy Cheesy The first is a product called  "Toastabags" which I ran across at the Roelli Cheese Haus on Highway 11, outside Shullsburg, on one of my recent trips to Dubuque, IA. They cost $9.99 for three bags; they are probably cheaper bought on the Internet, but I bought them on impulse because I was so intrigued by the idea. What they are is basically bags made out of some type of heat-resistant material.  You slide a cheese sandwich inside the bag, then put the whole bag into your toaster. About a minute and a half later ... voila ... you have yourself a toasted cheese sandwich. I tried this, and the sandwiches turn out pretty darn good. This only works with the newer "wide mouth" toasters. The sandwiches turn out best with American (processed) cheese slices, which melt quickly. "Real" cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss, Muenster, etc., don't work well because the bread burns before the cheese melts. The other thing to be aware of is that what you end...

 Today's entry finds me in Dubuque, Iowa, a medium-priced binge. I am at my fave place, the Hotel Julien, where I procured a room for $85 for the night, $99 with taxes. The normal website price on the room is $147. I booked through a website called hoteltonight.com, saving me $48. The site works best on a smart phone and, of course, there's an app. I mostly use hoteltonight for spur of the moment getaways to Dubuque and LaCrosse, but it would be a great app if you're just vagabonding your way across the state or the country and don't want to be confined by pre-arranged lodging reservations (I know that's redundant, but you know what I mean). I have to say that little spontaneous "retreats" like this are often just the ticket for curing the blahs and rejuvenating the mind/body/soul. My friend, Mario, says that I don't need retreats because my whole life is one big retreat. But I do need to get away from time to time, especially to reward myself for a bi...

 This blog entry isn't about a bargain or a binge, per se, but rather a "quality of experience " issue when it comes to travel by automobile. In my business as a vintage watch dealer, and in my leisure as a vagabond, I do a fair amount of driving. That's about 20,000 miles a year, including my semi-annual trek to Florida and back for winter hiatus. Lately I've been re-evaluating the efficiency and general headache factor of taking the Interstate highway system, versus the old U.S., state, and even county roads. And lately, the latter has been winning out as my choice of conveyance from point A to point B. When I first got my driver's license in 1972, the Interstate was the clear, no-brainer choice. They were a miracle of modern American ingenuity. They would whisk you along at 65 mph with no stop signs, with limited entrances and exits to worry about merging. And before you knew it, you were at your destination. Never mind that the I system systematically euth...

 Thursday, July 5, (sister) Dawn and I took a ride on Highway 26 along what I affectionately call the "North Loop." It's about an 80-mile round trip that takes us alongside Milton, Ft. Atkinson, Jefferson, Johnson Creek and, finally, Watertown, at which point we turn around and come back after several stops for provisions and/or just nosing around. This was certainly a "provisions" run as we had exhausted our supply of several pork products, so a stop at the Jones Dairy Farm "Palace of Pork" retail store was a must. This place has changed quite a bit since the last time I wrote about it in this in November of 2013. They have expanded, more than doubling in size, adding a lunch counter and ice cream parlor, and a fairly large section of "freezer closets" with glass doors.  All things pork The ham ends which I wrote about earlier have doubled in price to $2.20/pound, but sometimes you can find them in the freezer section tagged at $1.20/pound f...

I was off onone of my "scratch-and-dent" adventures on Thursday, October 24. I chose the "Monroe Loop," which takes me from Evansville, through Brodhead via Highway 104 to 11, then through Monroe, and then back on Highway 59 through Albany and back to Evansville. It's a very pretty drive, through some of Wisconsin's "driftless" area when you cross into Green County. It also affords several stops at various merchants and outlets (the "bargain" part), and there are several good restaurants in Monroe to have a nice meal (the "binges" part). My first stop was  a t  Detweiler's Bent and Dent ,    which is off Highway 104 on Atkinson Road. This is a marvelous surplus grocery outlet, run by the Amish. It is not only well stocked and the inventory changes often, but it has another store nearby called Detweiler's Bulk Baking Supplies. There, you can buy all sorts of flours, grainmeals, sugars, spices, etc., all in bulk. A thrivin...