Heroes Live Forever

 (My tribute to these fallen heroes, written on April 4, 2009)

If you believe that good exists, then you have to believe evil exists. On April 4, 2009, evil reared its ugly head in the form of a 22-year-old man, Richard Poplawski, when he killed three police officers and wounded two others. These were the first city of Pittsburgh police officers killed in 18 years. The day began early when the police officers said goodbye to their families. No one ever expected that they would not be coming home. A domestic call came in from the mother of Poplawski resulting from an argument between the two. She wanted the officers to remove her son from the home.

The shootout occurred in the Stanton Heights Neighborhood of Pittsburgh at 7:11 a.m., where Poplawski was wearing a bulletproof vest in the home, lying in wait for the officers. He shot Officer Paul Sciullo, 37, in the head, and then Officer Stephen Mayhle, 29, in the head. Officer Eric Kelly, 41, was on his way home from his night shift when he heard the call for help on his radio. He arrived at the scene to help both officers, and Officer Kelly was shot and killed. Two other police officers were injured at the scene. Poplawski was armed with a semi-automatic AK-47 style rifle and two other guns. While Poplawski silenced and destroyed the lives of those three policemen, he is alive, he is in jail, and as of yet, he hasn't been tried.

Yet, the three police officers are dead. Two leave wives and a total of five children. The other officer leaves a fiancee. All three policemen leave parents, siblings, and friends. Life will never be he same for the families. Kelly and Mayhle will never see their children grow up. They will miss out on all the important days of their lives. They will never see their grandchildren or grow old with their spouses. Sciullo will never get married; he will never have children or grandchildren. Poplawski stole those dreams away from the three officers when he killed them. In an outpouring from the city and suburbs of Pittsburgh an other areas and states a fund was set up for the three families and the total keeps growing. The city and suburbs stood as one.

Maybe the people of Pittsburgh will become gentler from this tragedy? I don't know?
Everyday men and women put on their uniforms and answer calls for help. The most dangerous calls are the domestic violence calls. One never knows what waits on the other side of the door. Usually the officer tries to help and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When the domestic incident is over, sometimes the officer finds himself or herself in danger or on the defensive, injured or maybe dead.

We expect more from the police, from the ones who wear the blue uniforms and the badges and the guns. But there are good and bad police men and women, just like there are good and bad doctors, good and bad lawyers, good and bad teachers, good and bad people in general.

I have a soft spot for the police. My son is one and I am proud of him. I worry about him and pray for him, as does his wife. I try not to think about the dangers that he faces. But I know on April 4, 2009, he was at Stanton Heights, Police Zone 5. He also volunteered to take duty for the officers from Zone 5, so that they could attend Officer Mayhle's burial.

For whatever it is worth, I have kept Officers Kelly, Mayhle, Sciullo and their families in my prayers along with my son and all those who don the blue uniforms.

Savory Cornmeal Muffins

The two months leading up to Christmas were busy ones with making extra cookies for catering events and specialty pastries for the Deli. Now I can relax and go back to finding different recipes and adding them to the Deli baked goods menu.

Yesterday, I pulled out my recipe for Cornmeal Muffins. This one called for chopped red peppers, green peppers, and onions. I decided to try out the recipe before doubling it to see how the muffins would sell at the Deli.

I chopped and sautéed the peppers and onions, until they were tender. Then I melted butter and added it to a bowl with milk and eggs and mixed it. In another bowl, I measured out the dry ingredients and whisked them: cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. I added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mixed it well, and folded in the peppers and onions. I filled 12 muffin cups, baked them in the oven for 20 minutes until they were golden brown.

The muffins were perfect…nicely golden brown and the red and green peppers added to the muffin. The savory Cornmeal Muffins will make a tempting invite for the customers who are tired of the usual holiday sweet treats!

Pumpkin...Pumpkin...Pumpkin

    

It’s that time of the year…Pumpkin time. With the leaves turning colors and dropping to the ground, pumpkins are making their appearance inside and out. Halloween will be here in a matter of weeks and so will pumpkin bakery treats.

Coming to the Deli…treat your-self with a scrumptious Pumpkin Loaf Cake with raisins, nuts, and delicious spicy frosting, Pumpkin cupcakes with pumpkin mousse filling, and a buttered brown sugar icing, frosted soft pumpkin drop cookies, and pumpkin scones, drizzled with a spicy vanilla icing.

Along with the pumpkin flavored treats there will be other types of scones, cookies and bar cookies to tickle your palate!

LMS on Wagner Road

Same name with a new twist, LMS on Wagner Road. The greenhouse is located on its original site, and has re-opened under new ownership and new management, Jane Getsey. Getsey, the new owner is not a stranger to the greenhouse. She was employed there for a number of years, as an employee and manager. She has also worked at a number of other garden centers as well.

Getsey’s knowledge and expertise in gardening and in greenhouse work has led to a number of changes at LMS. The biggest one is that the greenhouse will specialize in native perennials to the Pennsylvania area.

Stop in at LMS and shop for annuals, perennials, herbs, succulents, house plants, bushes, and trees. The main store has a number of interesting gardening ideas, pots, garden statues, fairy garden needs, and a number of gardening necessities. With Christmas slowly creeping up, the greenhouse will carry Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands. One can have a wreath made to order or come in and decorate one’s own wreath.

Make LMS your garden destination. The greenhouse is located at 3312 Wagner Road in Allison Park. The hours of operation are Tuesdays – Saturdays 9 am to 6pm. The greenhouse is closed on Sundays and Mondays.  Check out LMS's website for more information and directions.

While browsing around, add your email to LMS mailings for the latest news. Stop in to shop, look around, or just say “Hi” to its new owner, Jane!

Halfmoon Cookies

You can call them Halfmoon Cookies or Black and White Cookies…they are still a cookie. The large cookie with half chocolate icing and half vanilla icing gives the cookie its name. The basic cookie itself can be chocolate or vanilla.

The cookie itself has the consistency of cake. The cookie is large, soft, and chewy. Eating the chocolate frosting or vanilla frosting is one's personal choice. My total belief is to take your first bite from the center and get both the chocolate icing and vanilla icing in one bite!

The Halfmoon Cookies originated in Utica, New York. This happens to be my hometown and I am proud of that fact!!! The cookie had its origins in 1920, thanks to Harry Hemstrought. Today the bakery is still in Utica.

The Halfmoons are definitely a big mainstay in the New York region. The cookies also have made its way out of the area thanks to chefs and bakers who have introduced them to other areas and states.

Every time that I would go back to my hometown, Utica, I would have to go and grab a few Halfmoon Cookies to eat or take back to my kids. I’ll be honest…sometimes the  cookies never made their way home…(:

I was given the recipe from my cousin and after all these years, I finally tried my hand at making them. Hopefully, I did a good job.

If you are interested in a Halfmoon Cookie, one can drive up to Utica and buy the cookie. Or one can access the Hemstrought’s web site and order cookies to be shipped. But my thought is that it would be a whole lot easier to drive to Erin’s Deli and buy one!

Rosie's Workshop

This past Sunday, I ran up to the Ross Park Mall with my granddaughter, Bayleigh. While we were walking through the mall, both of us were caught, pleasantly, off guard by one of the shops window's displays. There were old cameras with elongated bulbs attached to them. There were other interesting displays that were fashioned into eclectic lamps. There was no doubt in my mind that I had to go into this store called, Rosie’s Workshop.

We walked around the store, admiring all the different displays. There were old fashioned film projectors that reminded me of the one my dad owned. The projectors and the storage film tins, also reminded me of the Prime series, Man in the High Castle.

Inside, I saw some Brownie cameras and remembered when I was in grade school. Some of the other cameras reminded me of my old Yashica camera that I used in college for my photography classes. The store was a sweet nostalgic trip down memory lane for me.

There was also a wall dedicated to Rosie the Riveter, along with a brief history of her. Rosie the Riveter was a cultural icon representing the women, who worked in the factories and shipyards in world War II. For me, Rosie was the 'I can do it' woman and prototype for all women. On a table in front of the display were Rosie buttons and the customers were encouraged to take one. I thought this was a great PR idea, and I took two. I also knew that I would come back into the store whenever I went up to the mall, and I would tell others about it.  

My granddaughter and I ended up talking to the two sales people, who were pleasant and informative. We talked about the cameras, film tins and of course the series, the Man in the High Castle that has popularized the film projector and cameras again.

I wrote my name on a list because the store offers workshops as how to make over your camera of projector, or just about anything into a lamp.

I suggest that if you are up at the Ross Park Mall, head to the upper level, look at the window displays and head into Rosie’s Workshop. The store is cool and the ideas are great. It is like walking into a mini museum filled with history.