Ginger Lemonade

Ugh. That's 43°C outside, 26°C inside.

Healthy Chef Alex's Sweet Ginger Lemonade (Serves 4)

4 cups filtered water
4 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed ginger juice
2 Tbsp. raw honey

You're supposed to make the ginger juice by grating fresh ginger and squeezing the pulp with your hand. Then you're supposed to simmer everything together until the honey is melted. Of course this makes warm lemonade, and if you want cool lemonade like most rational people, you have to wait for it to chill.

I'm glad to have gotten the recipe from Healthy Chef Alex, but this is how I really make it:

Karen's Quick and Dirty Ginger Lemonade (Serves 1)
(When you're in a hurry and don't have time to worry with all that)

2 Tbsp bottled lemon juice
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup tap water
Small amount (to taste) bottled minced ginger

Stir it all up, and plunk in a few ice cubes. No waiting.

The amount of ginger you have to use is miniscule. The ginger I linked to is so fine that it practically dissolves.

My talent in life

White clover, Trifolium repens.

Finding 4-leaf clovers... it seems to be my one natural talent. Other people's natural talents often lead to fame or fortune, if they are born with a nice singing voice, say, or the ability to draw. Mine, not so much, although it can sometimes impress people at picnics.

Certain clover patches seem to contain more than others. I haven't found too many here, so I usually don't pick them, on the off chance that it will make the patch produce more. (I have no idea how they are produced, and google searches have proven unsatisfying.)

I wish that I had picked this one, and dried it to send to my nephew. He should have arrived in Afghanistan by now, and could probably use some luck.

Happy New Year

Last night we stayed here at Thousand Trails to ring in the New Year. They had music and dancing in the parking lot. Nathan was tired from the tournament, and so we considered leaving early a few times. At Austin's insistence, we stayed until after midnight. We had so much fun.



We were able to spend some time gabbing with another FOTR that we just met. I first read about Greg on Rich and Donna's blog Florida Picklers, and asked Nathan who Greg was because I suspected they might be another FOTR. In typical male fashion, he didn't know.



As soon as I met Greg, I asked if he was the homeschooling dad and it was him. He has been down at the pickleball courts with us for the past week so I had some time to get to know him a bit. I met Cheryl and their three children Shayna, Josiah and JJ the next day and had lots of fun getting to know Cheryl.



Sadly, they headed out today so we will probably not see them for some time. You can read about their journey here: The Kalers



The moon had a beautiful ring around it and apparently it was a blue moon also. It was nice to have that special touch from nature to watch over us as we were spending time celebrating an event of something new.



Wishing our friends and family a Happy New Year!



May bring as much peace and joy to our lives as this past year has.



Living the life in Florida!

Fury

In the late 1950's there was a TV show about a little boy and his big black horse called Fury. I saw a model of him and of course wanted it. Both my sister and I got one for Christmas that year. This is mine.

H Street Revisited

Now that H Street is coming back into its own, I wanted to pick my father’s brain about what it was like back in his day, in the 1920s. I decided we ought to take a tour, and see what was left, so we climbed into my pollen laden car and went back in time.

Our first hurdle was driving down H Street from Northwest to Northeast Everywhere we went the streets are being ripped up or there is new construction. Plus Dad couldn’t see through all the green funk on the windshield so that was a handicap, but we finally found the block where my grandfather, Peter Cokinos, had his candy shop at 1103 H Street. There’s a convenience store and an empty space there now, but back then he used to make candy and ice-cream in the basement. He made a very good living at it, too, and retired in about 1926.

I asked Dad if there were any other Greeks around back then, and it sounds like you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting a half dozen families - including branches of our own clan. Jim Cokinos, a first cousin, to Papou, had a deli at 10th and K, and the Kendros family lived nearby. There was the Kavakos Grill at 8th and H which became a nightclub during World War II, plus The Rendezvous which the Kalevas family ran. The Chaconas Bar and Grill was at 10th and H, and the Bacchus Grill was at H and 15th ( owned by the Bachhus family not the god)
He also remembers the Paramount Grill was run by two Greek brothers. It was "a blue collar sort of breakfast place". (Imagine that.)

Besides all the Greeks ,there was also Whall's Department Store which was 2 stories high and carried everything. There were three movie theaters- the Apollo, the Empire and the Princess - all of them gone now. (The Atlas which is now a performing arts center
didn’t open until the late thirties.) There were lots of beauty shops and barbershops- altogether a thriving business community.

Our next stop was 919 11th Street, the house Dad and his older sister, Catherine were born in. Peter Cokinos bought this house brand new probably in 1914. The block is a little worn down now, the fluted columns on the houses have been replaced, but it's still standing. Our family moved from here to Macomb Street around 1927.



We nabbed a mail person and continued down memory lane.
A few blocks away, at the corner of Montello and Neal, we found
Samuel Wheatley Elementary. Dad didn't recognize it at first as it had gained two large additions since he went there, but the whole school is empty now. This is where Dad and Aunt Catherine walked to school,
and where they learned to speak English for the first time.

Next it was over to the DC Farmer's Market. ( not to be confused with Eastern Market) A lot of the stalls are boarded up now. Of course, Dad remembers when it was all going full force, though it took us a while to find Litteri's Italian market. The paint has faded, but little else has. changed, and Mom thought she even recognized one of the countermen. After waiting a couple of years for a couple of sandwiches which were actually worth the wait, we picnicked with the carpenter bees at my son Kit’s school, Hardy which is being housed in a building that was the Hamilton School. The school is located on Brentwood Parkway just off Florida Avenue, within walking distance of his grandfather's childhood.

Tin Tray

This was a tin tray that belonged to my mom before she met my dad. It has tulips in the design and the handle had other flowers on it. It says it is made by Rodney Kent. Apparently he made a lot of beaten tin items back in the 1920' and 30's. I also have a round plate by him with no design. I found lots of his work on the internet.

Sometimes ya just strike out!

And you have to wonder, What were “they” thinking when this was filmed? It's not the first time I've come across something like this. And I'm sure it won't be the last! [big sigh] Somewhere on this page is the guy I'm looking for...





Index to Deeds, Union County, Ohio for the “A” surname and “W” given name.Family History Library film 571773 accessed February 24, ..