the very last barn of january…..
Monthly Archives: January 2012
being a good neighbor in berwyn
Berwyn is a quirky, cool place I have always liked. Much like Malvern, it has cute stores and eateries well worth exploring.
The purpose of this post is simply a props to Sweet Jazmines Bakery in Berwyn for paying it forward and being a good neighbor.
Apparently a fellow local merchant, Mr. Yang of Yang’s Market who was recently robbed and beat up pretty badly. Crime seems to increase as the economy flounders, and I know what happened to Mr. Yang is the nightmare come to life of every small business owner everywhere.
Sweet Jazmines is located at 15 Bridge Avenue in Berwyn.
Here is the story, which can be found in the Daily Local and Main Line Media News:
Berwyn bakery holds sale to benefit robbery victim
Published: Friday, January 27, 2012
Sweet Jazmines Bakery is holding a sale of batter and donating 100% of the proceeds to Mr. Yang of Yang’s Farmers Market in Berwyn as he recovers from a robbery and brutal attack last week….The owner of the Sweet Jazmines, Kim Cuthbert, decided to do the fundraising for Mr. Yang. She has been a patron of his store ever since she opened her bakery 13 years ago.
Sweet Jazmines started selling brownie batter earlier in the week, and will probably continue the fund-raising with some other types of batter next week.
The bakers started with 90-pounds of batter on Friday and by early afternoon had sold over 2/3 of it.
Anyway, I just think what they are doing is awesome.
End note: The photograph is not a Sweet Jazmines product, incidentally. I have never photographed their baked goods. In the efforts of full disclosure, the cupcakes are from Carlino’s (Ardmore and West Chester) – I felt I needed a cool baked good photo, and prefer to use my own work. Carlino’s incidentally, will be joining DiBruno Brothers and many more at a non-profit friendraiser for First Friday Main Line I am working on later this week – Foodapalooza.
one of the last barns of january
a good thing in chester county
I discovered courtesy of a friend, something in Chester County I find very cool – a non-profit called the Chester County Fund For Women and Girls.
It is never too early to empower the next generation of women. I also believe in true philanthropy, and teaching anyone how to pay it forward.
Being strong is not something women and girls all know from jump. Neither is learning to give back just because it is the right thing to do.
Anyway, check them out – Chester County Fund For Women and Girls helps fund things like Chester County Food Bank , Domestic Violence Center of Chester County , Home of the Sparrow .
Sounds pretty cool to me.
fight potential billboard blight in chester county
A blog post on the Phoenixville Patch over the past few days (they used a photo from Save Ardmore Coalition) reminds me that yes, the billboard issues that have been plaguing the Main Line, Delaware, and Montgomery County is trying to encroach on Chester County too.
And trust me, since I have been at many, many Main Line/Haverford Township billboard hearings, I can tell you it may get nasty.
The guy is Thaddeus Bartkowski. He’s young and affectionately known to billboard activists as Mr. B.I.G. (BIG is the acronym for one of his corporate entities so it’s a play on words, not truly a reference to Sex In The City.)
Anyway, this guy thinks it is his First Amendment right to litter communities with billboards.
I have noticed Chester County has it’s fair share of billboards and do you want more? I know people in Phoenixville are very upset at this prospect in the town. But then again what does a Classic Town designation and a billboard have in common? The answer is not much.
Here is the recent Phoenixville Patch Blog Post:
Local Voices
Blog: Billboard Bully Strikes Again Posted on January 19, 2012 at 10:51 pm
East Pikeland joins at least 18 other local communities targeted by Thaddeus J. Bartkowski, CEO of Chester County Outdoor, and his legal counsel, the law firm of Kaplin Stewart, in their game of corporate bullying.
Those communities have said, emphatically, that they don’t want digital billboards. As a result, they’ve been subjected to appeals, litigation and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars spent in legal fees.
Bartkowski and Kaplin’s first appeal tactic is to object to the exclusionary nature of local sign ordinances….Communities, not the billboard industry, should have the right to determine appropriate limits for billboard size, and according to a chart of standard billboard sizes, Phoenixville’s and East Pikeland’s ordinances approved sizes for free-standing signs would accommodate at least half of the industry-approved sizes of billboards.
Even in the case of an exclusionary ordinance, though, as Mr. Bartkowski and his legal counsel are aware, communities have the right to ban digital billboards outright if they can show that they are a detriment to local aesthetics or citizen safety.
A recent study by Philadelphia urban planner Jonathan Snyder demonstrates that billboards have a detrimental impact on local property value: In Philadelphia, properties purchased within 500 feet of billboards have a decrease in sale price of $30,826. For each additional billboard in a census tract, there is an average $947 drop in home value, throughout the entire census tract.
On the safety issue: The website of a prominent billboard company boasts that its signs are “virtually impossible to avoid.” Another company’s website promises that “outdoor boards are unavoidable, unstoppable.”
Marketing blogger Andrea Atkins, in a blog post promoting Mr. Bartkowski’s Outdoor Advertising wrote: “Qhat is the No. 1 best feature of outdoor advertising? That customers are basically prisoners; outdoor advertising is difficult to get away from … Is Victoria Secret bringing us new bras? I was staring into space during the commercial, but its hard to miss a gorgeous, half-naked model on a 50-foot digital billboard during rush hour!”
This issue of fighting billboards has been going on in Bryn Mawr and Haverford Township for a few years now. I mean can you imagine giant, I-95 sized billboards in Bryn Mawr? Or in Phoenixville? Why in town centers? Why not leave them on highways or better yet, not have them at all? Why do communities need billboards and why can’t they say no?
One of the proposed Bryn Mawr Locations is across the street from a church. Can you imagine a GIANT condom ad or say a Victoria’s Secret ad across from a church? Because I don’t believe you can dictate billboard content – whatever ad space that is sold on a billboard is ad space, correct?
At many of the hearings we were scoffed at when we said “what if one fell?” Apparently, that query is not so odd after all given recent events out of New York:
In spite of personally being singled out by the billboard guy’s attorney – apparently my First Amendment rights are very optional – he can claim it’s his right to put them in communities, but I am not supposed to be able to say I hate the idea of billboards in communities I care about and why – I still say if you don’t want billboards in your communities you should have a say in the matter. As a matter of fact, four states have banned billboards for years: Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska, and Maine. In England and the UK billboards are controlled via planning and the fines for not following the rules are stiff. And in Toronto, Canada since around 2010 they have been taxed and part of the tax collected goes towards public art and stuff like that.
Yet here, for this guy Mr. B.I.G., all communities are just supposed to roll over? What I still don’t get is why one person seems to be on a mission to billboard SPAM Southeastern PA?
Haverford Township Fire Truck Extends Ladder to Show Residents How High Billboards Would Be (May 2009)
So yeah, a lot of us are real familiar with Mr. B.I.G. and his Billboardquest.
YUCK.
Groups that are fighting billboards in this area are SCRUB and No Billboards – both groups are full of awesome people.
These blue tarps were stretched out at a Haverford Twp. Billboard Hearing So All Could See How Big The Billboards Would Be (May 2009)
On Christmas Day, the Phoenixville billboard issue made the Inquirer and was even picked up by the AP:
Posted: Sun, Dec. 25, 2011, 3:01 AM
Borough preps for billboard battle
Phoenixville will likely wind up in court in its fight to keep three 40-foot-wide electronic signs out of town.
By Anthony Campisi Inquirer Staff Writer
And more on Chester Co billboard issues:
Editor’s Note: This is the first of two articles on Wednesday’s hearing. This one will deal with the legal aspects of the case, while the follow-up goes into the statements made by the public following the testimony.
After people came forward to offer emotional appeals to stop the process that may allow 40-foot wide, 43-foot tall electronic billboards along the Nutt Road corridor, the zoning hearing for Chester County Outdoor came to a close Wednesday evening.
Speakers Voice Emotional Appeals Against Potential Billboards in Phoenixville
A public comment period was held following a zoning hearing Wednesday evening.
- By Lynn Jusinski December 16, 2011
Carol Kuniholm paced within the area of a few square blocks on the floor, her voice cracking at times as she spoke.
Though not from Phoenixville, Kuniholm has tracked the work of billboard advertising firm Chester County Outdoor and she’s part of Occupy Phoenixville. She called the opposition to three 43-foot tall electronic billboards proposed for the Nutt Road corridor a perfect example of what the Occupy movement is about, calling the bids to put billboards around southeastern Pennsylvania “corporate harassment.”
“You ought to be embarrassed,” Kuniholm told Patrick Wolfington, the lone employee of Chester County Outdoor on hand at Wednesday’s hearing.
Phoenixville Area Municipalities Brace for Billboard Challenges
- By Lynn Jusinski January 19, 2012
As Phoenixville Borough faces its own billboard challenge, East Pikeland Township will face one soon and Schuylkill Township is trying to protect itself from similar action.
Chester County Outdoor posed a substantive validity challenge in front of the Phoenixville Zoning Hearing Board.
The challenge states that the borough’s sign ordinance does not allow for freestanding offsite billboards. Several residents and business representatives spoke at a recent hearing, and a decision from the zoning board is expected by Feb. 27.
Anyway, if you live in Chester County and where you live doesn’t have zoning to address billboards, or has zoning with holes like the holes in swiss cheese on the books, you had better sit up and pay some mind to this issue.
Trust me, these people are like ants at the proverbial picnic. Or mold. Take your pick.
eyes rolling in chester county
I love it when things get cute , don’t you? Why else would Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Grounds now be having an environmental dance of some sort with the state over skeet shooting?
State investigates contamination complaint at Ludwig’s Corner
Published: Wednesday, January 25, 2012
By SARA MOSQUEDA- FERNANDEZ, smfernandez@dailylocal.com
WEST VINCENT — The state Department of Environmental Protection is investigating complaints concerning the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Grounds.
The investigations are the result of a neighbor of the grounds filing separate complaints with the state about possible lead contamination and with the Chester County Conservation District regarding stormwater runoff.
“The DEP is looking into whether the debris from the (skeet) shooting constitutes a waste and whether or not the debris presents an environmental concern,” said Deborah Fries, community relations supervisor for the DEP’s southeastern regional office.
According to Fries, the state is investigating both the plastic and clay pigeons and the increased runoff from the newly constructed horse ring….According to John Jacobs, president of the association’s board…..the state is mistaken in thinking that there might be contamination from the skeet shooting’s pigeons, and he said the sport was unpopular with the site’s neighbors.
“They don’t like it from a noise standpoint,” he said.
Does West Vincent have anything quiet to do with this because they want to kill the things that happen at Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Grounds to try to use that as a back door angle to get paws on land after that eminent domain for private gain gig failed at the end of 2011? (And oh, yes, I can indeed ask that question – funny thing about inalienable rights.)
Or is this complaint just the end result of some new McMansion dweller in Chester County who doesn’t want to hear skeet shooting or smell horse manure? If that is the case, why did you move out to Chester County with your giant luxury SUVs?
It seems to me that some of the very ways of life that made Chester County so appealing are constantly being threatened. What is next? Outlaw farming, country fairs, antique shows, and horseback riding? Lordy are these the same people who have issue with deer culling even though Chester County is starting to look like parts of Long Island it is so overrun with deer?
Now circling back to farming and the DEP, it seems to me I recall seeing something on the Chickenman’s site about some groady violations having to do with stockpiling manure and Birchrun Hills Farm? Just curious but was this covered with as much fanfare in The Daily Local? If it was, could someone post a link to the corresponding article?
I am sorry but wow, Chester County sure has some happy horse manure going on.
I personally have been in close proximity to skeet shooting. It’s not THAT noisy and most places hardly go ALL day. Geez. I think the sounds of cars whirring by on a highway are more annoying and find the sounds of video games far more offensive. And of course that is the irony, isn’t it? People see no problem with all the fake weapons noises on video games, some of which are quite violent, yet they yammer on about skeet shooting. This cracks me up as much as seeing people in riding togs who don’t actually ride, it’s just an outfit.
Eyes rolling.
Now – back to Birchrun Hills Farm Cheese for a minute and a question. My question is this: Birchrun Hills Farms appear at all these Farm to City Markets and other places sitting side by side with organic food, are they certified organic? Or are their products just raw? I did purchase their products in the past because I wanted to support the Bryn Mawr Farmers Market, but after the whole Ludwig’s Corner Eminent Domain thing, I will look to other farms. No matter how folksy that supervisor sounds in those PBS videos loaded on their website. I won’t boycott the markets they appear at, because that is unfair, but I do choose to buy other Chester County cheese, dairy, meat, and poultry now.
I passed through Ludwig’s Corner and Birchrunville a few days ago and noticed looming in the back off roads some pretty icky development. It reminded me of certain places I pass on the Main Line where horses and cattle used to graze, and now there are planted McMansions and more.
I don’t get it.
And every year more and more land gets gobbled up. Once it’s gone, it’s not coming back, and neither is the life and customs surrounding it. It’s the country, not Disney Land, people. If you want Disney Land, then by all means go to Disney Land. But please, let some of the integrity of Chester County remain…or seriously, it will become something you won’t appreciate in 20 years.
UPDATE:
In order to be fair and to try to be a good citizen journalist, I feel I should post this comment I received from someone who shoots regularly (I don’t know that they have ever gone skeet shooting at Ludwig’s Corner, however) – but fair is fair, and this is not anti-Ludwig’s Corner:
Not to put too fine a point on this but there is no way the DEP would be investigating this over the clay pigeons. The real issue with any skeet shooting range is the tremendous amount of lead shot that accumulates over a period of time on the ground surface. Any shooting range should be aware that this is an issue and there are companies that come in and vacuum the shot off the ground surface. I’m not sure but I believe there’s a specific schedule for the cleanings and the gun club in question has to provide number of shooters times number of days shot for just this reason. If that shooting range hasn’t been cleaning they are screwed…
just sitting there in the snow…
snowy sunday road
barn in snow – chester county, pa
snow day recipes…
One of the joys about having your own blog is you get to set the content. You can yack it up over politics, lifestyle, social commentary…and even post recipes. I have decided to share a couple of comfort food winter recipes. A breakfast and a dinner one.
Breakfast recipe: German Pancake
Dinner recipe: Mac and Cheese
Full disclosure is I have a bad habit of recipes going along in my head for years, so I don’t always write things down. So you may have to tweak….which is why you won’t see my gnocchi recipe online – it’s all in my head and ever-changing. I do have a few other recipes uniquely my own loaded on Scribd. [CLICK HERE] – I will note the Sunday Pasta Sauce recipe won me a ver nice prize from Epicurious.com a few years ago….
I will start with the German Pancake. It seems to be perfect for winter mornings in Chester County. I had a Pennsylvania German Grandmother and an Italian Grandmother and Great Aunts and a father whom I definitely inherited a cooking gene from , but the bones of this recipe comes courtesy of Cristofer Malloy at Bon Apetit / Conde Nast – the recipe is from 1984 – where I changed it is I added cinnamon and cardamom and 3 tablespoons of sugar to my batter and I do not flip it. (so the flipping thing is NOT in this recipe) Here it is tweaked to how I like it:
German Pancake:
4 eggs,
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
cinnamon and cardamom to tastepinch salt
three tablespoons sugar
Whisk all together.
Melt two tablespoons butter in cast iron or oven proof heavy fry pan, (oven at 425 degrees), after butter melts and is slightly brown in pan and the pan is really hot, pour in batter and bake approx 12 minutes – it will puff up like a hat three to five inches above pan – dust with powdered sugar and cut into wedges and serve like that or with maple syrup or even a warm fruit compote (apples simmered in cinnamon, ginger, simple syrup)- so easy….so delicious.
And now…Mac and Cheese. This is my base recipe. I will turn leftovers into things like tuna noodle casserole, or I will add things to my basic recipe – pancetta, diced ham, crumbled bacon, peas, hot dogs, turkey kielbasa, those chicken sausages at Trader Joe’s, jalapenos…whatever hits me – not all at once, however (ick). It’s just if I am feeling cheesy and spicy for example, I might stir in jalapenos. Or if I have left over ham or some bacon open, might cook that up and add it. Or I might sautee and drain ground beef or turkey and make it that way. You get the picture. It does not take much time to do, so why not try scratch and leave the boxed stuff on the shelf in the grocery store?
Here is the base (and it is approximate because it’s mostly in my head):
Mac and Cheese Base:
1 14.5 oz box of the Barilla enriched elbow whole wheat macaroni (I really like this pasta) cooked according to box directions and drained and ….
cheese sauce:
carmelize 1/3 to 1/2 DICED sweet onion in 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter.
After carmelized (brown, cooked down, sweet),
add 1 tablespoon more butter and when melted whisk in 3 tablespoons flour until cooked in and smooth.
Add a pinch of salt and slowly add 1 1/2 cups of milk (any kind but skim), bring up to heat but not quite a boil
and add a pinch of nutmeg and
whisk in 2 cups of cheese slowly – sharp cheddar and second cup of mixed cheeses like colby jack or even that five cheese shredded Italian works. I choose not to use all cheddar, because sometimes cheddar just separates.Whisk around until smooth and add 4 oz of cream cheese. Yes, cream cheese. Not whipped cream cheese, incidentally. If you want to dress up the cheese more, you can add 4 oz goat cheese instead of cream cheese.
When all combined and smooth balance out salt and pepper to taste and if sauce is too thick for you, add a little more milk and keep stirring over moderate to low heat until you find a consistency you like. I caution you to only add more milk in small increments like 1/4 cup at a time. Watery cheese sauce is disgusting.
Pour over cooked 14.5 oz box of elbows which has been drained but not rinsed and returned to pot.Mix, let pasta sit with lid on a few minutes and serve hot.
The onion adds another layer and because it is carmelized and diced it disappears into the cheese sauce. You get a great flavor that provides a subtle layer of flavor.
The funny thing is I now see professional chefs jazzing up Mac & Cheese with carmelized onion, but I have been doing it for a long time that way – I just like onion and garlic so if I can work it in, it gets worked in.
Also, I prefer my Mac & Cheese stove top, but some people like to make it and add toasted and seasoned breadcrumbs or croutons and bake it a little – if you do that, I suggest making half as much again cheese sauce because Mac & Cheese in the oven can dry out and you might need more cheese sauce when it comes out of the oven. Baking it is mostly just heating it through for like 15 minutes at 350 in a buttered baking dish with this recipe once assembled.
Garlic however is not for Mac & Cheese in case you are wondering.
But it does fit with the things I serve with the base Mac & Cheese – things like a mixed green and baby spinach salad in a vinaigrette and baked parmesan crusted chicken with smoked paprika and garlic. If I serve the Mac & Cheese with ground beef or kielbasa or something in it, then it moves from side to main course.
Happy Sunday all!