POSTING #153

WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN

In the last Posting (#152) I spoke about the potato peeler and the “Pete-the-Peeler” salespeople who persuaded us to give up the paring knife.

In this Posting I would like to talk about another kitchen gadget that our family had when I was growing up.

But first, I need to set the stage a little.

I like honey, especially the delicious wild flower variety produced by brother Jim and sister-in-law Fannie. When I am lucky enough to get some of Jim and Fannie’s honey I decant it into recycled plastic containers, with a screw top cap. (See the photo)

But honey is sticky stuff and no matter how carefully I pour the honey I get spillage down the side. I have to wash the plastic container under the hot water tap every few times I use it.

Something else you need to know is that I like honey in my Starbucks decaf latté. Most of the Starbucks stores have offered plastic honey containers of the kind shown in the photo on the right.

But Starbucks cafes have been doing away with honey because, I suspect, of the stickiness of the containers. Instead they have been offering Demerara sugar, which is a fine, noble product but definitely not a substitute for honey.

And then this past week I found a Starbucks that was once again offering honey, not in a plastic container, but in a glass jar with a spring-mounted blade that opens to let the honey out and then closes---with no mess, and no stickiness.  (See the photo below.)

I asked one of the staff (I guess they call them ‘Baristas’) about the new honey jars. She was young and enthusiastic, “Aren’t they amazing!”

I agreed but added that when I was growing up---before the wheel was invented---we had a similar container that we used to dispense corn syrup (Beehive, as I recall).

She looked at me sceptically, as though I was having her on. I could tell that as far as she was concerned this was a brand new product of the very latest 21st century technology.

Instead of arguing with her, I asked her where the store had bought it. She called over the manager and explained my query. “Aren’t they wonderful!” , the manager enthused.

It turned out that they had purchased them from a restaurant supply company, but the manager suggested I check out Williams-Sonoma or some other high-end kitchen store.

I found that Bed Bath and Beyond had a stock of them and bought two---one for wildflower honey, and the other for buckwheat honey, which I also like. They work beautifully with nary a drop of sticky honey.

I’m puzzled about why we forgot about these glass dispensers. Did they get left behind in our mindless dash toward everything plastic?

I don’t know but I’m glad that something that was old is new again.


THE BATTLE OF QUEENSTON HEIGHTS IS FINALLY HERE!!

After several years of planning we are about to experience the re-enactment of the Battle of Queenston Heights. A thousand Canadian, American and First Nation volunteers will be firing muskets and cannons on Saturday, October 13th.  The following day, October 14th, there will be the re-enactment of the burial of General Brock who was killed leading his troops into battle at Queenston Heights.

It promises to be a spectacular event, probably the largest military re-enactment ever staged in Canada. Just in case you are interested in attending here is a fact sheet prepared by The Friends of Fort George:

“Next weekend, 1000 volunteer reenactors will descend upon Queenston Heights.
There is educational programming on the Heights Friday and some great events in Lewiston, New York Friday night including Fireworks and Cannons at 7pm. (which can be viewed from the Canadian side in the village of Queenston). The action really gets underway on the morning of the battle anniversary, October 13th. On Saturday morning at 10am, a plaque honouring the home that held General Brock’s body during the battle, after he was fatally wounded, will be marked in a ceremony on Queenston Street in the village of Queenston.
At 11am on the Heights, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board will unveil a plaque honouring Major General Sir Isaac Brock as a person of National Significance. There will be tours of the battlefield and you can climb the Monument. Period entertainers like Muddy York, Gin Lane and the Queenston Ladies Choir will perform during the day.
Starting out @ 9:30 a.m. the troops will be marching from Fort George to Queenston as the cannons boom from the Heights. There will be warm, tasty food and beverages available at General Brock’s Store and historic merchants offering their unique wares at Queenston Heights.  At 3pm, the battle re-enactment will take place in the park and it will be followed at 4:30pm by a commemorative service at Brock’s Monument.
Spectacular Fireworks, framing Brock's Monument, will end the day at 7:15pm.
Dress for mid-October weather and bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on. Rain or shine, the battle goes on.
If you plan on attending, the only parking cost is $5.00 to park on the Heights. A better alternative will be to park for free at other locations along the Parkway, from the rear lot of the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory all the way to Fort George National Historic Site, and ride the new WEGO buses for free. The buses will run from 9am to 9pm with pick-ups every 20 minutes at six stops along the North Parkway.
On Sunday October 14th, the funeral of Isaac Brock and his Canadian aide de camp John Macdonell will be recreated in old town Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort George.  The procession leaves Fort George at noon, arriving at the Old Court House on Queen Street at 12:30 pm. Following a short commemoration, the caskets of Brock and Macdonell will be placed on horse-drawn wagons and the procession continues to St. Mark's Church, where Carilloneur Richard M. Watson from Georgetown, Ohio, will play “Onguiaarha”, by Canadian Composer Michel Allard, an original piece commissioned by St. Mark’s to commemorate the bicentennial. The procession will then proceed to Fort George where a Drumhead service will take place at the bastion, where Brock was buried in October 1812. Cannons will be fired from both Fort George and Fort Niagara
‘Come all you brave Canadians’ - as the song from 1812 proclaimed, and mark this important date in the story of our Canada.”

For more information see the Niagara-on-the-Lake 1812 Bicentennial website 

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The Battle and the Burial are the last major Bicentennial events for Niagara-on-the-Lake for 2012 so after the coming weekend I should be able to get back to my old schedule of a new blog Posting every Sunday morning.

Next year there will be more events that may interfere with my schedule of Postings. For example, there will be the capture of Fort George and of the Town by the Americans in June, the occupation of the Town until December; and then the burning of the Town in December.

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The US Presidential Election is heating up and the Icewine Guru offers his views on the VP debate in Posting #13, uploaded on October 12, 2012: Icewine Guru blog.