Rick Coates

Dining Rick Coates The other day a colleague of mine was talking about making cookies for the annual “Christmas cookie exchange” she participates in with her “girl’s night out” group. Now this Christmas cookie exchange concept was a part idea that Betty Crocker probably dreamed up. In the 1963 edition of her cookbook (my birth year and a gift given to me by my grandmother when I headed to college) she references the idea: “A popular once-a-year party is the Christmas cookie swap party. Friends and neighbors gather each bringing one dozen of her holiday specialty for each woman at the party. Cookies are set out to sample and admire and coffee is served. Afterward each one takes home a wonderful variety of festive cookies.”

Features Rick Coates This year’s Festival of Trains will take on a personal meaning. The three-week exhibition of model trains in Traverse City that runs from Dec. 13 through Jan. 1 will be dedicated to Dave Walker. The popular TV 7&4 news anchor, who passed away last month, was one of the founders of the Festival and the Northern Michigan RailRoad Club (NMRRC), the organization that sponsors the event.
“Dave Walker was definitely a rail guy,” said Bill Parrish, club secretary. “Dave loved trains, he took train trips and was very instrumental in getting our organization started and played a major role in the early years of the Festival of the Trains. He will be missed greatly by our community.”
The Festival of Trains is taking place at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center on Sixth Street in Traverse City. The Center serves as the benefactor of the Festival and more than 10,000 are expected to view the trains and the elaborate track set ups.
“We are a major tourist attraction this time of the year,” said Parrish, who also volunteers at the Center. “This event also serves as the major fundraiser for Grand Traverse Heritage Center.”

Dining Rick Coates Chris “Wink” Winkelman has a lot of irons in the fire. He is the front-man for the band Soul Patch. In between gigs he operates the Home Grown Eatery in Traverse City (near the West Bay beach volleyball courts). This weekend Wink is doing something else he enjoys: organizing and promoting a music festival that is rooted in social causes involving the environment and the food we eat. The Green Winter Solstice Party will take place Friday and Saturday night at Short’s Brewery in Bellaire.
The two-night event will feature music from Wink’s band, The Fun-Dub-Mentals both nights, Luke Winslow King on Friday night and Pinky Lee on Saturday night. Offering samples of their products will be the Grain Train, Oryana Food Co-op, Home Grown Organic Eatery, Serenity Tea Bar and Cafe, Higher Grounds Coffee, Unity Fair-Trade Market Place, Paradigm Energy and Short’s Brewery. They will also have representatives on hand to talk about “how to go green” in your daily life.

Features Rick Coates This week marks the 25th anniversary of one of the greatest accomplishments in the world of exploration. On December 15, 1983, Verlen Kruger and his on-again-off-again paddling partner Steve Landick, canoed down the Grand River to Lansing, completing “The Ultimate Canoe Challenge.” For three-and-a-half years Kruger canoed 28,000 miles through North America. The expedition remains unbeaten.
A canoeing legend, Kruger passed away in 2004 at the age of 82. A collection of his canoeing artifacts are now on exhibit at the AuSable River Center in Roscommon through spring. These historical relics were gifted to the Smithsonian and will become a permanent part of the world’s largest museum sometime in the near future.
“Verlen’s wife did not want the items sitting in storage at the Smithsonian. Items sit in storage sometimes for years until they are displayed,” said Julia Borak, curator at the AuSable River Center. “So until the Smithsonian is ready, Mrs. Kruger has us displaying these items. Along with her daughter, she created this exhibition and is very thankful to have these artifacts on display in Michigan. We have no idea how long the exhibit will be here, so we are encouraging anyone interested to not delay in seeing it.”

Dining Rick Coates In The United States the “fruitcake” that makes its appearance this time of the year has become somewhat of a joke. During his heyday Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show often made fun of it, even Jay Leno has the occasional appearance from the “Fruitcake Lady.” Now the fruitcake really has no one to blame but itself for its lack of respect among holiday desserts. Most mass-produced Americanized fruitcakes are a far cry in taste and quality of their ancestors.
During Thanksgiving I found myself traveling through Grayling and noticed a sign for Goodale’s Bakery. I have a passion for neighborhood bakeries so I stopped in. They had just finished making loafs of “stollen,” the German style confection of fruit and nuts. Bakery-made fruitcakes are steeped in European tradition and are no way close to the “hockey-puck” loaf found in chain stores. Known as Christstollen or “Christmas Loaf,” this fruitcake originated in the early 1300s as a tribute to Bishop Henry of Naumberg. Legend has it that the hump shape in the bread is a tribute to the camels that brought the wise men to Bethlehem and the multi-colored candied fruits give the “stained glass” window appearance of churches.

Features Rick Coates Winter festivals and events in Northern Michigan have been challenged by Mother Nature in recent years. Some communities, businesses and organizations have been getting creative with wintertime events. Northern Michigan seems to be getting a jumpstart on winter this year, so there is plenty of renewed interest and optimism for winter festivals and events.
Just about every community in the North has some sort of winter celebration. Travel Michigan’s website (Michigan.org) has the most comprehensive listing of winter events and festivals throughout Michigan.
Here is a quick look at some long-standing and new winter festivals in the region:

Features Rick Coates Michigan’s economic future may hang in the balance of what is fast replacing oil as the world’s most important commodity. “Freshwater” is the “gold rush” of the 21st century. Michigan is finding itself at the heart of the discussion with 20 percent of the world’s fresh water supply within the Great Lakes basin.

Books Rick Coates The buildings of the former Traverse City State Hospital (Northern Michigan Asylum) are among the most photographed in the region. The stunning architecture captures the eye of the professional and amateur photographer alike. For Geoffrey Vail Brown, just moments after setting foot inside one of the buildings yet to be restored, he visualized a photographic project of capturing “the ruins” by contrasting the gradual decay against the beauty of the nude body.
“I walked through a section of Building 50 a year ago and I was immediately struck by how the building’s architecture was such that it captured optimal lighting,” said Brown. “I saw an opportunity showcase the contrasts in the architecture by using nudes, so I have described this work as a celebration of the beauty within the ruin.”
That celebration will come this Friday night as Brown will host an opening reception at the Inside Out Gallery, located in the Warehouse District of downtown Traverse City. The evening will feature 20 originals from Brown’s collection as well as a book launch of Beauty in Ruin – The Asylum Nudes.
This is Brown’s first book of photography, which he self-published. His decision to publish a collection of photographs was driven in part by economics.
My thought with this project is that people are more likely to buy a book than go out and spend $800 to $1,200 on a print,” said Brown. “So essentially, I am testing that theory.”
As for choosing nudes versus clothed models, Brown sees it this way:
“Most of my photographic work is figurative. Had I used models with flowing dresses, that would have been a fashion shoot ,and that is something I do not do. What I wanted to accomplish was to show the contrasts, and with nudes I am able to do that. The bodies flow with the architecture and the lighting showcases the contrasts, whereas with clothed models, the focus would end up being on the fashion.”

Dining Rick Coates If you asked Skip Telgard, proprietor of The Bluebird Restaurant in Leland, his favorite time of the year, he will tell you right now. Sure, summers in Leland are hard to beat, but this is “Ethnic Night Season.” The Ethnic Night dinners have become a wintertime tradition at The Bluebird and they resume again this week with food from Greece on December 3-4. Next week the focus is on Italy.
Dinners are served on Wednesday and Thursday nights until spring (with a “Greatest Hits” dinner served at the end of April). One exception to the dates is the “Christmas in Santa Fe” menu, which will be served on Sunday and Monday December 21-22.

Dining Rick Coates The holiday season is here and for most of us, we willbe entertaining guests or taking a dish to a party in the coming weeks. During a conversation with a chef at this past Epicurean Classic, she told me that “Americans over-spice their foods.” We ended up having a long conversation about the “art of seasoning.”
When you take meat, seafood or a vegetable and add spices, ultimately you are doing one of two things: You are either “seasoning” or “flavoring” it. The art of seasoning is to enhance and bring out the natural flavors. Flavoring is an attempt to change to true flavor of the item you are preparing. Here is an example: if you lightly coat a piece of salmon with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt, you are seasoning the salmon and bringing out its true flavor. If you coat the salmon with Cajun spices and blacken it, then you have changed the flavor of the salmon.
The “art” of this starts with making a quality selection of whatever it is you are going to prepare. If you seek out the best beef, poultry, seafood etc. from your local market, then you want to be careful not to over season. instead, you want to celebrate the natural flavors. The second step in the process is preparation. In order to enjoy the natural flavors, make sure you have properly prepared the item by not over or under cooking it. The best person to ask is the butcher for preparation ideas.

Features Rick Coates Media headlines are predicting this year as one of the worst for holiday retail sales. But several Northern Michigan businesses are showing growth and success despite the downturn in the economy. So as you search for gifts this season, consider buying local to help the Northern Michigan economy. Here are a few homegrown gifts from around the region.

Camp
Board games are making a big comeback. As families seek more quality time together, “old-fashioned” board games are regaining their popularity. So are new ones, and one of the hottest in North America is Camp. What is cool is that Camp was developed by Education Outdoors Inc, in Eastport (between Elk Rapids and Charlevoix).
Both children and adults learn fun facts about the great outdoors by playing Camp. The game is designed to grow with the player, starting at Level One questions, which primarily involve the identification of animals. As the players increase their knowledge of the outdoors, they grow into the higher level questions. Parents and children can play against each other to see who gets to “Camp first.”
Created and developed by outdoor Tim Paczensy, Education Outdoors Inc. is showing tremendous growth since opening in 2005.
“As young professionals my wife and I almost moved back downstate a few years ago to look for greener financial pastures,” said Jesse DenHerder, vice president of marketing and product design. “Then Education Outdoors came along and we stayed. The growth has been phenomenal and we are having an amazing fourth quarter.”
Their board game is sold all over North America (available in Northern Michigan at toy stores and most outdoor shops). For more information about Camp, locations to purchase or Education Outdoors Inc. check out campboardgame.com

Music Rick Coates It is that time of the year when the music scene in the region begins to heat up. This weekend is loaded with several shows worth checking out (for a complete listing see Hot Dates and Nightlife). Here is a look at four of those shows.

Resa.P
Traverse City based hip-hop band Resa. P will perform Thursday November 20 at Union Street Station. This threesome made up of emcee’s Jadrian and Skin Grafik along with DJ Fungus has been making a name for themselves across the states. They recently released their debut CD Food For Thought and now the major labels are taking notice as several of their songs on MySpace, have received more than 250,000 plays.
Here is how Skin Grafik describes what they are up to: “We fulfill what hip-hop has been lacking since the clock rolled over to the 2 triple zeros, the fundamentals of rap, mixed with complex thought. The type of music that will remind a motha f---a, we are not human beings living a spiritual experience, yet spiritual beings living a human experience.”
Resa.P will perform at Hip Hop For A Cause (because that is who we are) show and will be joined by Dante. For a sampling of their new CD and to hear what all the buzz is about go to myspace.com/resadotp.

Dining Rick Coates The students in the Hospitality, Retail and Entrepreneurship program at the Wexford-Missaukee Career Technical Center (CTC) have one of Northern Michigan’s best kept secrets, a great place to have lunch. The 13th Street Café (located at the CTC) has been around for 20 years; offering lunches to the public prepared by the students who run all aspects of the operation.
Several years ago, I was asked to visit the Center and put the students through a food and beverage job interview, reviewing resumes and asking questions that they would expect from a potential employer. Part of that visit included dining at the 13th Street Café, and I was very impressed.

Books Rick Coates Ever wonder what it is like to journey around the world? Planet Backpacker is a new release that chronicles the nearly five-month journey Bob Downes took last year at this time -- mountain biking, backpacking and hiking through Europe, Egypt, India and Southeast Asia. Downes, a first-time author, will host a book release party this Thursday, November 13 at the Right Brain Brewery in Traverse City.
Now, on the surface, some may call into question on two accounts the Express publishing this article. First, Downes is my boss and my “endorsing” comments are published on the first page of his book. So that might call into question my ability to be objective. Second, Downes is the editor and co-publisher of this paper, and so an article on his book might seem somewhat self-serving.
I’ll address the latter first. At the Northern Express we have always focused on “all things local.” Since the inception of the Express 17 years ago the paper has published numerous articles on local authors and musicians and their works of art. That has included from time to time writing about friends and colleagues. I have always disclosed my connection to my subject as have other writers here at the paper.
So with that in mind, Downes should not be overlooked because of his obvious connection with the paper. He is a local author, who coincidently owns the paper, and I am almost positive the Detroit Free Press has written with great pride about their columnist Mitch Albom’s books. Many readers of the Express followed with great interest Downes travels last year (we know from the several letters to the editor received) as he chronicled it in his columns and also on his web-blog. Now he has captured it all in book form for your enjoyment.

Books Rick Coates Louis “Studs” Terkel passed away on Halloween, a fitting day for one of the great characters of the 20th century. Studs was a celebrated author, journalist, actor, activist and radio show host. For many a journalist, myself included, Studs was an inspiration.
He died at the age of 96, still enjoying his daily cigar and at least one martini. Up to his last days he continued what he enjoyed doing most in life: “Working.” He once wrote: “I took a vacation once - it involved a beach - and to tell you the truth, I had no idea what to do with myself. It was torture. Work is life. Without it, there is no life.”
Studs built a name for himself by seeking out the ordinary people of our world and showing them as extraordinary, and certainly seeking out the famous and making them appear ordinary.
“I have, after a fashion, been celebrated for having celebrated the lives of the uncelebrated among us; for lending voice to the face in the crowd,” he wrote in the opening line of his memoir “Touch and Go.”
He had a journalistic style like no other and scoffed at the notion of the most sacred word in journalism: “objectivity.”