Milan Melon Festival Grand Parade 2008

Of all the festivals and events that belong to the Ohio Festival & Events Association (http://www.ofea.org/index.php), the Milan Melon Festival Grand Parade is recognized as the best parade in the state. Much of the credit needs to go to Art Dickman, who has been organizing the parade since 1971, and Doris Weiss, who has been in charge of the queens since the festival started in 1959. There are many other types of festivals in Ohio, but festivals featuring food are the most prominent. Although parades are not a significant area of my research, I am interested in the ways that food is presented at these parades. This year, the parade lasted an hour and 15 minutes. Here are just a few photos:

Milan Melon Festival 2008

Sam & Dayna are coming over for dinner tonight (Labor Day) and Michelle gently suggested that I refrain from talking about my food festival research; I think she fears that, after three years of researching the SAME THING, I'm quickly becoming a one-trick pony. So, I'm only posting a few of my favorite pics from our trip to Thomas Alva Edison's boyhood home in the Connecticut Western Reserve village of Milan, Ohio with short captions, not a drawn out discussion. I hope you enjoy the 50^th year of Milan Melon Festival, I did.

http://www.milanmelonfestival.org/index.html

Toft's Dairy in Sandusky produces some of the best ice cream I have eaten in the USA (yes, I also love Cincinnati's Graeter's http://www.graeters.com/) and churns two PREMIUM flavors exclusively for the Milan Melon Festival: muskmelon and watermelon ice cream. The Edison High Athletic Boosters offer both flavors in cups or cones, but many people come out for a half of a locally grown Milan Melon with their choice of Toft's vanilla, muskmelon, of watermelon in it:

Festival-goers seated around the American Civil War monument enjoying hand-scooped Toft's Ice Cream in a half muskmelon grown by David Weilnau:

Weilnau (back to the camera) helping a customer choose a melon:
The Edison Cheerleaders have exclusive rights to sell muskmelon soft serve and Jessica et. all finds it delicious:The festival typically draws 150,000 to 200,000 festival-goers to this village of under 1500 residents.

More food. Emily has that don't-even-think-about-asking-for-a-taste-of-my-fried-Swiss-cheese look in her eye. Jessica and her ear of Edison Music Boosters' butter-drippin' corn:
Shredded chicken sandwich from the Milan Friends Church Youth Group. A NW Ohio staple:

Potato Pancakes from one of the regional vendors:
Jess with her jumbo onion rings from another regional vendor:

Interlude

Non-festival-related pics of Milan -or- Just enjoying a saunter.

The Four Seasons

Urban Renewal

NC

In the Shadow of the Vermillion Light

After the Melon Fest, we took the short drive out to Vermillion, Ohio to sit back and relax with a Lake Erie view.

Here are two of my favorite pics from a trip we took a month ago to the same beach. We were there during the "golden hour."

Twinkie Sushi

Hi folks,

Do you have plain old twinkies lying around and the kiddies or the husband just wont eat them anymore? Cue the sound of kids moaning, "ahhgh, twinkies are just not hip anymore" (as if kids today use the word "hip"). Well then, run--don't walk--to the kitchen and ask your mom (as if mom is conveniently in the kitchen, think Joan Allen in Pleasantville) to help you turn those dusty old Twinkies into TWINKIE SUSHI! Now if your mom is challenged in the kitchen, or lacks creativity, or is just ambivalent about presentation, the good folks at Hostess have written this recipe and many more here: http://www.hostesscakes.com/recipe_view12.htm

"Hey ma, will you pass the wasabi?"

Related note: Best line in a film referring to the Hostess Twinkie goes to Nick Reve (Steve Buscemi) to Chad Palomino (James LeGros) in Tom DiCillo's film about filmmaking Living in Oblivion (1995): "You Hostess Twinkie mother f*****...."

DO IT NOW and ENJOY! NC

Another culinary curiosity

After spending the day at Oval beach, Lake Michigan, we bummed around Saugatuck. We all wanted to ride the chain ferry, but it was closed due to high winds, which causes me to ask what high winds? Anyway, here's a pic of Jessica and Emily wishing they could ride the chain ferry.

While looking into the shops in town, we came across Kilwin's Old Fashioned Chocolates, Fudge, Ice Cream Est. 1947 and decided to go in.

To my surprise, in amongst the over-sized nut-caramel-chocolate patties, I found the most pedestrian/ unique item in their candy case...a chocolate covered TWINKIE!

This kind of stuff causes me to abruptly shift into academic gear and describe/ analyze what I see going on here. I'll spare the blog the gory details, but here is the condensed version: (1) Twinkies have been around since 1933 and can be purchased at finer gas stations nation-wide. (2)Virtually anyone who grew up with any measure of affluence in the US has consumed or is at least aware of this "delicious" cream-filled snack cake, but here, (3)the good folks at Kilwin's have taken the "beloved" snack cake and ramped up the presentation with a liberal--not Democratic--dipping in milk chocolate, then is drizzled with both dark and white chocolate. (4)One may purchase this triple chocolate bomb for a just $6.50 each. If you are wondering if I bought one? The answer is NO.

When looking at the points above, One may see that Twinkies--an industrial food, common across the nation--can be personalized/ presented in a way that capitalizes on the nostalgia of eating this food while increasing the desirability/ visual appeal by adding value, here multiple layers of chocolate, that raises the price and makes the "Striped Twinkie" significantly less affordable than the original product and may be seen as more exclusive. Unlike the common Twinkie, a staple of lunch boxes across the nation, this Twinkie is only available at Kilwin's and is made uncommon by what Kilwin's does to it--in the same way that adding a signature to a document communicates authorship--Kilwin's adds their identity to a mass-produced food.

Happy eatin' NC

Last weekend before semester starts

Title says it all but could also be titled: last weekend before the craziness starts. I'm looking forward to teaching Cultural Anthropology and Minority groups, but needed one last fling with the family before the "real" work starts. Se we went to visit Neil & Erica in Grand Rapids and then back out to Saugatuck and Lake Michigan for a day. I caught some interesting bird pics (below) and invite you to vote on YOUR favorite. (1)"Drunk Bird Walking" (2)"podiatric self-diagnosis" (3)"I dare ya..." or (4)"hop-d-wash"

First day of school

Jessica survived her first day of junior high...

But she sure looks tired:

Emily is happy to be in fifth grade and is looking forward to earning her way to camp by selling candy bars...would any readers care to buy one, or ten?

Best, NC