November 2010

November 25, 2010November 28, 2010

Adam and Carly’s for TGiving

Son Adam and Wife Carly invited us over for a Thanksgiving mini-feast with their friends Eric and Laura.

I never was any good at studio photography. I particularly avoided taking food pictures as much as possible. I didn’t have the patience to arrange everything just so.

So, these photos didn’t have any fancy lighting or placement. What I saw is what I shot.

Steam poured out of turkey

The electric knife was a Christmas present to Lila from her father nearly 40 years ago. It’s a little balky, but it’ll still slice turkey.

The bird was soaked in brine overnight, then put on the grill until the internal temperature reached 170 degrees (based on a wireless probe Adam kept monitoring).

It was unbelievably moist, based on some pieces I snatched up before they fell on the floor.

Green beans

The meal was both tasty AND colorful. Lila tells me this green bean dish by Carly contained shallots, bacon, almonds and balsamic vinegar.

When Adam saw this picture, he was distressed by the odd green bean at the bottom of the frame. It offended his sense of order.

Sweet potatoes and marshmallows

Lila does not eat this, but makes it because it’s a Steinhoff family tradition. I whined last year when she “forgot” to make it. She calls it candy, not food. It contains sweet potatoes, crushed pineapple, brown sugar and a topping of melted, toasted miniature marshmallows.

Yeast rolls and cranberry relish

Lila provided the yeast rolls and cranberry relish. The relish is made of raw cranberries, oranges, cinnamon and sugar.

NY-style cheesecake

This was Carly’s first attempt at New York-style cheesecake. It was served naked (the cheesecake, not the server) with a topping of homemade whipped cream on the side.

If this is really her first cheesecake, she should retire now. I don’t think it’s possible to make one any better.

Recipes are available

If you’re interested in how to make any of this stuff, let me know and I’ll pass your request on to the cooks.

You can be assured that the information won’t come directly from me. My recipe book is the stack of carry-out menus under the kitchen telephone.

November 24, 2010November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

I figure y’all are too busy thinking about eating, eating, recovering from eating or watching sporting events to bother to stop by, so I’ll just toss up some photos of things I’m thankful for.

I’ve never been able to master that teenage girl trick of holding out my camera to shoot a self-portrait of me and my BFF, so I thought I’d try a mirror shot just before I pulled out of Cape headed for Florida. Looks like I haven’t mastered the old photo in a mirror trick, either. Mother, at least, looks good. She’s responsible for all the festive decorations and for making Cape still feel like home.

Healthy, happy, active family

I wrote earlier about the Steinhoff Family Triathlon in August. Adam asked Matt and his mother if they’d like to do a family Olympic distance relay at the 19th Annual Huntington’s Disease Triathlon in Miami on August 1, 2010. Each did a leg of their specialty: Matt rode his bike 40 kilometers, Lila swam 1.5K and Adam ran 10K.

They let me do my specialty: standing on the sidelines shooting photos.

Lila came home last night to report that she had bested her swimming goal for the year. She was aiming for 100 miles in 2010, but she’s ten miles over that, with another month to go.

A super grandson and his mother

We won the daughter-in-law lottery with Matt’s wife Sarah and Adam’s wife Carly. Matt and Sarah live close enough to Malcolm’s school that he can ride his bike. That’s Sarah shadowing him. There’s no occasion too trivial to wear special headgear when Sarah’s around.

A birthday surprise

Adam arranged to surprise Carly on her birthday by having a new tree planted in their yard while they were at brunch. The couple surprised us earlier in the year by announcing that we’re going to be grandparents again in February. They’re gonna make great parents.

Saving the best for last

Most importantly, there’s Wife Lila, who is the one who is largely responsible for the way our two boys turned out. She’s the one who steered the canoe while I was flailing wildly with the paddle. Yep, I’m a pretty lucky guy with a lot to be thankful for every day, not just on the one turkeys dread.

November 24, 2010

St. Francis Hospital

I happened to be in Cape when the old St. Francis Hospital was reduced to a pile of rubble in September of 2000. Somewhere, filed with my Florida film, are photos I took inside the hospital after it closed, but before it was razed. They’ll surface one of these days.

St. Francis Annexation

I ran across this Missourian ad from Sept. 2, 1967 calling out the vote for the St. Francis annexation. I’m assuming that was to annex the space where the present hospital complex is near William St. and Mt. Auburn Rd.

New Hospital under construction

I shot this aerial of the new St. Francis Hospital under construction some time in the mid-70s, as best as I can guess. I had a hard time figuring out what the building was based on how it looks today.

When I called up a Google Earth shot, I could see this building buried in layer after layer of additions.

St. Francis site today

The Fort Hope Apartments occupy the old hospital’s space today.The low-income housing development was built in 2001. A Missourian story in 2004 said that single tenants at Fort Hope must make less than $23,040 a year. The income for a family of four must be no more than $32,880 a year. Monthly rents range from $240 for a single-bedroom apartment to $355 for a three-bedroom apartment.

Restricted access and no-nonsense management is credited for the complex being reasonably crime-free and well-maintained in an area known for problems.

Old St. Francis neighborhood

This aerial, shot in early November, has Good Hope St. on the left; Sprigg St. running across the top; Morgan Oak at the right; S. Ellis running acrossthe middle, and Pacific at the bottom.

The small, orange-colored building on Good Hope across from the Fort Hope Apartments is the infamous office of Dr. Herbert, the man who gave me a wooden stick phobia. It was painted white in my generation’s day. The family living there now knew nothing about the building’s past.