Monthly Archives: February 2020

Tell it to City Hall

Three minutes may seem like the blink of an eye or an eternity when it is your turn to speak before the Norwich City Council.

Usually when addressing the Norwich City Council I am reading a list of dates, times, places and events I would like them to attend so I don’t use a presentation system; but when I am speaking with a request or just giving my opinion I use “the 27-9-3 system.”

“The 27-9-3” system or “elevator pitch” was developed for the Vermont Legislature years ago. The average length of a sound bite to make a persuasive point is 27 words. A sound bite in broadcast media averages nine seconds and the average number of messages or points in both print and broadcast media is three.

Keeping in mind, Who is the audience? What appeals to their self-interest? What do you want them to think, understand or do? How do you want them to feel? What message do you want to get across? Here are a few suggestions to help you clearly state the problem, the vision and the goal.

Limit the number of key messages to a maximum of 3 – 5 points using as few words as possible.
Keep the language simple.
Important messages are mentioned first and last in a list.
Cite sources that are credible by the audience.
Introduce subjects with genuine empathy, listening, caring and compassion to establish trust in high-concern and stress situations.
Graphics, visual aids, analogies and narratives help people remember your points.
Use constructive, solution-oriented key messages with three or more positive points rather than negative, non-productive absolutes and indefensible phrases or absolutes.
Tell the information in summary form . Tell the high-lights of supporting information. Repeat the information in summary form.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs .

Going Bananas in 1890

Have you gone into the grocery store produce section and found yourself staring at an unfamiliar fruit or vegetable and wondered what it was? How to cook it? Serve it? Wondered what it tasted like? Well, don’t feel too lonely. You are not the first, nor the last.

Here is a little story from the Norwich Courier, January 27, 1890, titled, A New Banana Hater.

Finds a bone in his first banana and calls his second a sweet potato.

At a recent Norwich spread where fruit was liberally served, there was a man who had never eaten a banana, and did not know the name of the fruit. When he saw the fruit upon the table he determined to try it. He did not know what to call the fruit, so he said to the friend beside him.

“I would like to try one of those, “pointing to the bananas, “but I don’t know how to go to work to eat one!”

“You shall have one,” replied his friend and I will prepare it for you!”

The friend took the banana, cut off the end, and pushed into it a small china doll he had in his pocket. He then partly removed the skin and handed it to his neighbor, who made a straight bite at it; and feeling the doll in his mouth he nudged his friend and said,

“Look out when you eat them, for there is a small bone in this one!”

When he removed the doll from his mouth he became aware that he had been the victim of a joke, and throwing down the first banana he looked languishly toward the fruit dish, and in a tone marked with disgust he said so he could be heard the length of the table.

“Will some gentleman be kind enough to pass me another sweet potato!”

The laughter which followed his request nearly paralyzed the young man. In future he will know a banana when he sees it.

Don’t be too quick to laugh or judge. Have you ever purchased a bunch of plantains in place of a bunch of bananas. Both are long and yellow but bananas can be enjoyed raw or cooked but plantains are best cooked. Peel and slice diagonally in half inch pieces. Heat a frying pan with enough oil to create a sizzle. Then carefully lay in the plantain pieces and mash each a bit with a fork as they soften. Turn over only once and drain on a paper towel before sprinkling with salt or spices or cinnamon and sugar and serving.

A too Hasty Pudding

So I was reading the August 8, 1827 Norwich Courier and completely missed that the steam mill was in Providence and not Norwich until after I had a fundraising thought whirling through my head. What if one or more of the historical churches, committees, groups, or organizations had such a treat as a fundraiser or sold such historic tastes in cupcake foils.

This is the article that spurred my thoughts, “The proprietors of a Steam Mill, lately erected in Providence, last week gave a public supper of Hasty Pudding and Milk, of which about 150 of the inhabitants, including doctors, professors, students, manufacturers, mechanics, editors and printers, partook to their hearts content. The knights of the quill give a very amusing account of the performances at table, & of the quantity devoured, and appear to be in much better writing order for being full fed on wholesome food. One of them remarks that, agreeable to the prevalent fashion of the town, no ardent spirits were introduced-no china nor fingers were burnt-no milk nor molasses spilt, and no one was seen either on or under the table from the commencement to the close of the festival. “

So what exactly is Hasty-Pudding? The description reminded me an awful lot of a fancy pancake breakfast. Recipe books and the internet gave me a variety from raisins to other dried fruit, cranberries, blueberries, candied fruit, candied ginger, diced peppers, maple syrup, caramel, molasses, dustings of cocoa, fruit powders and powdered sugar. But, with tremendous gratitude I found the following from Preservation Maryland 10/09/2016 with only the suggestion you adjust the recipe to suit your own and your family tastes. I am a bit heavier handed with the spices and added a little chili powder to the mix of one batch and 5 spice powder for a different punch on a third. My favorite was the five spice with maple syrup and butter but it did go well with lemon marmalade too.

Hasty Pudding was first described in England around 1599, and appeared in numerous recipes from the American colonies throughout the 18th century. When Hasty Pudding came to America, the recipe changed to incorporate cornmeal, then also known as Indian meal, which was cheaper and more abundant than the English flour that the original recipe called for. Because of this substitution as well as the similarity between a native dish, Hasty Pudding became alternately known as Indian Pudding. The recipe was anything but hasty, since the pudding could take up to a few hours for colonists to cook!

In 1796, Amelia Simmons of Hartford, CT wrote a recipe for “Hasty Pudding” in the first American recipe book, American Cookery, with the instructions:

“3 pints scalded milk, 7 spoons of fine Indian meal, stir together while hot, let stand till cooled; add 7 eggs, half pound of raisins, 4 ounces butter, spice and sugar; bake one and a half hour.”

Here, is a modernized version of a Hasty Pudding in the spirit of Amelia Simmons, as it captures what was popular among colonists and captures the adaptation that sometimes must take place in a new environment.

Ingredients

2-3 pints Milk (or cream, depending on desired thickness)
1 ½ cups Cornmeal
1 ½ cups Melted Butter
1 cup Sugar
2-3 Eggs
¼ tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Nutmeg
¼ tsp Ginger
¼ tsp Cloves
¼ tsp Pumpkin Pie Seasoning (optional, good for flavor!)
¾ cup Raisins (optional)

Directions

Scald the milk in a pan, and stir in cornmeal while still hot. Continue stirring on the heat until the mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Stir together melted butter, sugar, and eggs in a separate bowl, and mix it in.
Add in spices and raisins as needed according to the taste.
Pour into cupcake tins or a pie tin and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

The above modernized method of cooking yielded a light, cinnamon-flavored bread, which was delicious with a pat of butter and a bit of jam.

The Maryland Preservation posts were prepared and written by Miranda Villesvik, one of Preservation Maryland’s Waxter Interns.

Connecticut resources were not so generous to include old or updated recipes while listing the Connecticut connections such as the following from Amy Nawrocki and Eric D. Lehman who teach creative writing and literature at the University of Bridgeport.

The first Connecticut colonists found corn-based dishes practically inedible. The niece of Governor John Winthrop wrote to him from Stamford in 1649, happily declaring that her generous husband ate corn, so that she could eat wheat. Not only did their European stomachs find the gritty grain hard to digest, their initial prejudices singled out corn as a Native American food, which they considered sinful and “tainted with savagery.” However, since wheat grew poorly in our rocky soil, they had few other choices, so they learned how to plant and cook this “turkey wheat.”

Corn in colonial New England was tough to chew, so Native Americans combined it with beans and squash or ground it into cornmeal, soaked it in water, and fried it. The colonists adapted their methods, using animals’ intestines or cloth bags to slowly simmer the cornmeal into what they called a “pudding.” This “hasty” or “Indian” pudding became a staple of early Connecticut diets, but even mixed with other foods like fruit, meat, or nuts, it was a decidedly unpopular dish, receiving little but scorn for the next 100 years.

However, as European stomachs adjusted, hasty pudding became a healthy and tasty part of the meal and was often served as a side dish, like a traditional English pudding, or fried for breakfast. There were three versions alone in our country’s first cookbook, American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, published in Hartford in 1796. Simmons and others suggested scalded milk instead of water, eggs, molasses, and spice. All agreed that “the preparation of this pudding cannot be hurried.” The cornmeal needs to absorb liquid and thicken slowly, or it “will be spoiled.”

By the 1800s, the people of Connecticut felt a keen nostalgia for this meal. While touring Europe, author and diplomat Joel Barlow wrote the famous, mock-heroic poem, The Hasty-Pudding, after a meal of the Italian variation of this dish, polenta.

I sing the sweets I know, the charms I feel,
My morning incense, and my evening meal,
The sweets of Hasty Pudding. Come, dear bowl,
Glide o’er my palate, and inspire my soul.
A half century later, Harriet Beecher Stowe spoke of the Indian puddings of her youth with the same longing. But by then, the dish was already shifting from a breakfast food to a dessert. This was due to the growing availability of wheat from huge Midwestern farms and sugar cane from the Caribbean. As American taste buds became accustomed to sweeter dishes, more sugary recipes were created. A recipe from Torrington in 1904 even suggested putting layers of “boiled frosting” between tiers of Indian pudding to make a “layer cake.”
Into the 20^th century, Indian pudding remained a common dish, featured in such places as Connecticut Magazine. As corn itself became sweeter, though, cooks turned to fritters, chowder, flap jacks, and roasted ears as the best ways to prepare this vegetable. As cornmeal faded from the northeast in the mid-20^th century, Indian pudding, unfortunately, disappeared from restaurant menus, remaining primarily in inns and taverns as a nostalgic throwback.
Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs .

Whiskey Pickles

All I have been experimenting in the kitchen with is soup lately and the truth is, none of the soups were worth mentioning. BUT, I was perusing the August 1, 1827 Norwich Courier and happened upon this recipe by The Farmer for Pickling Cucumbers. Now I just have to keep track of it until next August. Anyway, “A correspondent of the American Farmer gives the following as a new process for pickling cucumbers, by substituting whiskey when vinegar is scarce.

I gathered the cucumbers from the vines, and without any other preparation then washing them clean, dropped them into a stand containing a mixture of whiskey and water, one part of the former to three parts of the latter. I secured them against gnats, flies and eternal air, by tying a flannel close over the top, and laying over this a board or stone, and neither moved or examined them until Christmas, when I found them not merely equal, but decidedly superior to any pickles I have ever tasted. They were hard and of a very fine flavor, and what has been particularly admired in them, they retained the original color of the cucumber, not exhibiting the green, poisonous appearance of pickles that had been salted and scalded in copper. My whiskey and water (no salt having been used or heat employed) is now an excellent vinegar for the table.”

Now I just have to stop thinking about a whiskey dressing on my salad.

Summer in Winter 1890

Today was the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count 2020. I have had a strange relationship with the birds this year. Usually by now I have been filling my birdfeeders on a daily basis due to a covering of ice and snow on the grass, trees and bushes. This year however, all the growth is exposed and truth be told I am staring at my lawn thinking I will be mowing it in March.

What all that means is that I have not been feeding my birds seed, millet and corn. I did put out a few cakes of suet when we had a chilly spell but my ground has not been frozen for long and so the birds have had plenty of food to forage.

So what will all this mean to which birds I see and hear. I don’t know. The hawks are still circling. The doves are still sitting on the phone wires. The sparrows are hiding in the green bushes. The cardinal couples are still pecking at the ground below where the feeders hung. The robins are a sprightly bunch that are pecking at something in my lawn.

To be a citizen scientist just takes 15 minutes of your time counting the birds and reporting the numbers you count at www.birdcount.org No one will ask for dues, membership, donations. There are no age limits. It does matter not just where the birds are, but where the birds are not.

But of course I have to add a bit of history from the January 2, 1890 Norwich Bulletin article titled, “Summer In Winter.”

Anyone who has kept a list of the appearances of birds, flowers, etc., this winter which have been noted by the newspapers, must have by this time a collection which will be well worth showing to his grandchildren, – if he ever lives to have any, which seems to depend in large measure upon the changing of our climate back to its old style.

Butterflies and even common flies have been caught during the entire month of December. South Griswald has reported black snakes out in force from the 13^th to the 25^th of the same month. North Stonington has reported garden and field flowers in bloom. Almost every town in the county has reported blue-birds visible on Christmas day, and dandelions in full flower have been picked since that date in the open air.

Over in Meriden two young men taking a walk up Wintergreen hill on December 31^st found upon a southerly slope such quantities of trailing arbutus that they returned with a hatful of the fragrant pink and white flowers, all in full blossom.

If Pilgrim Fathers had landed on the “stern and rock-bound coast” any such winter as this, they wouldn’t have been troubled by the severity of the winter. They might have brought their hammocks ashore, slung them between two trees after the fashion of those White Rock adventurers spoken of yesterday morning who disported themselves on Christmas day, and gone to sleep with nothing more to trouble them than the fear that they had missed their reckoning by a couple of thousand miles and landed somewhere in the tropics.

Starting Friday Feb 14

This coming weekend is by far and away my most favorite weekend of the year. It is President’s Day Weekend February 14 – 17, 2020. No it’s not my birthday or anniversary, although it is a Friday Valentines Day, its the start of the Great Backyard Bird Count. I get to sit with a cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa and depending on the weather sometimes inside and sometimes outside and some times in my car. (I am not certain where the car fits as its outside but I am inside a car and sitting down.)

For 15 minutes at a time. Sometimes longer. I just sit and watch nature and count birds and write down where I was, the time, the date, and how many of what I saw. Then usually after dark, instead of my usual boring computer routine I go to the website and fill in my numbers. Then I check to see I anyone else filled in their numbers of what they saw in my area. Sometimes I check to see what is going on in my friends area in another part of the country and sometimes in another country. What was once a count just in North America is now a global event.

A dear, dear friend and I who live in separate countries used to arrange to bird watch at the same time wherever we were as a way to do something together even though we were miles, and on occasion a continent apart.

There are no age limits. You can do it with small children, students, adults, senior citizens, a special someone, or alone. Many of us do it with realizing it. “Look there are three cardinals in the yard!” No one will follow up asking for donations or asking you to join something. At work, you are not on a break but are doing your part as a citizen scientist. Honest. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Create a free GBBC account if you have never participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count or any other Cornell Lab citizen-science project, or have not participated in the GBBC since 2013. If you already created an account for the GBBC in the past, or if you’re already registered with eBird or another Cornell Lab citizen-science project, you can use your existing user name and password.

2. Count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the GBBC. You can count for longer than that if you wish! Count birds in as many places and on as many days as you like—one day, two days, or all four days. Submit a separate checklist for each new day, for each new location, or for the same location if you counted at a different time of day. Estimate the number of individuals of each species you saw during your count period.

Enter your results on the GBBC website by clicking the “Submit Observations” tab on the home page. You may also download the free eBird Mobile app to enter data on a mobile device. If you already participate in the eBird citizen-science project, please use eBird to submit your sightings during the GBBC. Your checklists will count toward the GBBC.

Norwich was twice the most reported city in Connecticut and by your participating in the count can be again this year. YOU can even watch the counts grow on line! Without ever having to attend a boring and meaningless meeting, or make a donation, YOU can be a community activist.

GBBC.org will take you where you need to begin.

Fairytale Parks

I hate reading things on Facebook because I never write down the interesting things that have caught my attention and then can never find it again.

What caught my attention this time was an article about a new fairy trail opening somewhere out west. I tried looking it up with Google but all I found were articles about Fairystone Park in Patrick County, Virginia.

Fairystone Park is a great park with all sorts of physical things to do like hike trails, horseback riding, and searching for a particular type of stone they have built a story about.

Then there is the Fairy Forest near Heber City, Utah. They took a one mile heavily trafficked trail and invited the public to paint large rocks and build and hang wind-chimes, fairy houses and troll homes , for the toddlers to find.

The Breckenridge, Colorado Forest is very large and there are trails for burros, and horses, Alpine Lakes and installations such as a sawmill but areas have been reserved for trolls, fairies and elves. Nothing elaborate but very simple, charming, natural and amusing.

Perthshire in Scotland goes all out! You take a train from either Edinburgh or Glasgow to a special bus being certain to bring warm coats, mittens, scarves and boots or you can stay in nearby Fonab Castle. It is only during the month of October and it is entirely outside. Every day is a different magical experience with sounds, light shows, fire shows, storytelling yurts, wandering characters and different themes. Scottish foods and drinks are available on site and special menus are available at participating locations throughout the town and area. This is a celebration for all ages not just the toddlers. You choose the events and the stories to be heard as they have a selection to tell that entertain from toddler, to tweens, to teens, adults and seniors.

So why am I going on about all these places? Because I would like there to be a one half mile toddler trail in Mohegan Park. A simple, relatively smooth path wide enough for two strollers lined with large brightly colored stones, maybe some tiny Flintstone-esque fairy houses for toddlers to find, ideally, (when something is a concept you should always shoot for the moon.) interchangeable storybook kiosks that the child or adult can read as they go along the trail. That is my dream anyway.

As residents of Norwich, CT we cannot depend on the City leadership to take action. We must take the actions upon ourselves to create the city that we want to see. That we want to live in and raise our families.

Later this spring I will be looking for help to build a Storytelling Trellis for Morning Glories to grow on so that children can sit beneath the trellis and hear stories of the past of Norwich as documented by the Norwich Bulletin. Watch this blog for details!

A March Wind

I like to look forward to what is going to be happening next. In two weeks is the Great Back Yard Bird Count. It can be outside or inside, alone or with a group, with coffee or without. Sorry. Got a little lost in thought for a moment. So what comes after that? What can we, in Norwich, CT, be looking forward to in March? March winds?

In 1984 I was pushing the idea of a Wind Festival in Norwich. Outdoor events such as flying kites and discs. I thought it would be fun to have amateurs and experts and demonstrations on how to fly as well as how to make them.

Does anyone besides me recall the hot air balloons that would float across the Norwich skies on Saturday and Sunday mornings? How about a tethered ride in a balloon? Just up and down would be a treat for many and what a spectacular and new view of the city could be seen.

Lower Pond is a contained area for small sized water activities. Spaulding Pond Swim area could be used for the raft race to the other side.

Then there are all the vendors who could sell wind products. The things that we think of easily and the ones that require more thought. Glass blowers, wind chimes, whistles, flute and other instrument makers, wind socks, kites, weather vanes and whirling birds and pin wheels.

What about a movie or two about wind and breezes – Gone with the wind, Inherit the Wind, or Wind in the willows and I bet there are a whole host I can’t list. The book clubs could even participate.

Maybe there could even be a display of March-ing bands? I never claimed I would tell good jokes or that I was not full of hot air!

Cost plays a huge part in everything in the City of Norwich, CT, well we have plenty of fields in Mohegan Park. Certainly a group could sign up to use one of them. Another group could sign up for another and so on. I am not certain if vendors with and without food are treated the same and require permits. We have a Department of Recreation that should be able to help with the coordination.

Maybe the City Council could agree to waive the permit fees for the day? Just once, as an experiment for the vendors to test their wares in the waters of Norwich and whether it would be financially worth it to them to pay to be a vendor at Norwich events.

Remember blowing bubbles and how they floated away on a breeze? Did you ever make a giant bubble the size of one you could step in? Have you watched a feather float on the wind? Wouldn’t it be fun to sponsor a bubble or a feather blow for little kids?

Do they still have the balsa wood plane kits? How far and how fast can you fly yours?

There could be races on land and water for wind powered rafts.

With the new found emphasis in Norwich on mental and physical health perhaps a few of the organizations could meet on common ground and sponsor a citywide event, on one day, in fields all over the city, including the dog park dedicated to wind. That’s right. An outdoor event without alcohol. The adults could demonstrate to their children that fun can be had without alcohol. That would be very different for Norwich but it can be done.

No expensive bouncy houses but lots of walking, running, leaping, laughing and playing in fresh air and sunshine.

In the mean time March 29^th is Good Deeds Day in Mohegan Park. Come and help with a clean-up, Take a hike on a Mohegan Park Trail on Earth Day April 22 or 26^th. May 3^rd is a Plant Swap. June 13 is National Garden Exercise Day in the Rose Garden and National Trails Day. June 28^th will be CT Historic Gardens Day in the Rose Garden. September 26^th is National Public Lands Day in Mohegan Park.

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