Thursday, June 2, 2016

Yooper Lunch

Yesterday we were in Michigan's Upper Peninsula where it is still chilly.  It's nearly always chilly along the shore of Lake Superior, although this year isn't as as bad as last year when ice along the cliffs near Munising didn't melt until mid-June,

We where hoping to get a tour of this modest cabin that would fit us well, but the real estate agent was not available to meet with us.

After a long morning's ride and time spent on backroads and fire trials in the Hiawatha National Forest  we were hungry and in need of hot coffee.  We passed an old Victorian style home that had a sign 'Bakery' on its picket fence.   Local places are sometimes the best and other times the worst places to stop for lunch, but nearly always interesting.  We turned around and parked.

The lunch menu had just one item:  hot, fresh pastys.   We ordered and were served piping hot pastys with cheap ketchup, the sauce of choice in the UP.


Thank you, Welsh immigrants,  Our mmmm mmm mmming while we were eating must have sounded like this.


We were the only ones in the bakery, so we struck up a conversation with the owner.   It turns out that, like me, he is a retired home builder.  And like me, he absolutely loved everything about building homes except the customers.  So he retired and bought an old house and started baking.  He had a folder with his late Italian grandmother's recipes, so he started with that.  He's good, the recipes are great.

We sampled cookies, cakes, pies and muffins.  He wouldn't stop giving us stuff to try; my wife wouldn't stop buying.  Hyperglycemia. We would up with the topcase and one saddlebag filled with pastries.  An elderly woman carrying a plastic bag filled with freshly cut rhubarb came in and offered it to the baker.  They worked out a swap - he got rhubarb for making pies, she got a half-dozen fresh donuts and some cookies for her grandchildren.  Americana at its best.

His kitchen was small, no real room to make pastys.  I asked about that and he said he didn't make them, but bought them frozen from this place, and heats them.  So we went there, and found that it's a family operation that has grown to the point where monthly volume of 40,000 pastys shipped worldwide.  Do yourself a favor and order some, especially the large traditional pasty with rutabaga.  It was the best pasty we've ever eaten in more than two decades of touring the back roads of the UP.

In fact, all I need is a Stormy Kromer hat and I could pass for a Yooper.


17 comments:

chickelit said...

Ed Gein wore Stormy Kromer!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

My clients/friends lost their 20 year old son. Missing. Gone. Vanished. No sign, no trace.
Today human remains were found in a ski boot in the melting Eldora Mountain ski resort snow. He worked there, but that is not where he went missing. Got a call early this AM from his mom saying "I don't think it's him." Prayers for Ryder.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

He went missing in January. His b-day was in March. He would be 21 now.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"Yooper" always reminds me his dad. My hero.

"Are yoo a yooper?"

Michael Haz said...

April, how awful. Just horrible for the young man's parents. Not knowing is the worst part.

Chickelit, nope, that's not a Kromer hat in the photo. It doesn't have a tie on the part that covers the frontal lobe.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

NOt knowing is the worst part.

btw- 40 million is all? I'll take 2~!

ndspinelli said...

April, With an adult, particularly adult/male, unless there is a clear sign of foul play, cops tend to ignore these cases. I see both sides of that. If I can help, please let me know. I have helped parents in this situation, and I do it gratis. I do stuff like this instead of going to church.

AllenS said...

I have/had a Facebook friend that I've known since the 60s. 2 years ago, he said: "So long, and thanks", and that's the last anyone has heard from him. His elderly mother is devastated.

ndspinelli said...

Allen, The word "closure" is overused. That said, my experience is people need to have concrete evidence, a body, remains, etc. Based on your friends statement, we can be 99.8% certain he's dead. That .02% can haunt a mother. The death of a child is the worst. I would search areas from his youth. Places he had good times. A good search dog[s] would help.

Mumpsimus said...

We used to camp summers in the UP, when I was a kid. Back then all the locals, even the radio announcers, had really thick Scandy accents; I don't know if that's still the case.

As for the pasty, the story we got was that it was a traditional Cornish dish, imported to the UP by the many Cornish miners and engineers who came to work the iron mines.

AllenS said...

He's from Minnesota, and was in MN 3 years ago for his dad's funeral. He had lived in McKinleyville CA for a long time. I can't imagine him coming back to MN.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

nd - thanks.
The cops kinda blew it in the very beginning. (what Boulder cop[s are known for) however, the local sheriff and the local investigators have been amazingly helpful. Gross reservoir has been searched, twice, with dive teams. professional searchers were used in the beginning. After that, hundreds of volunteers spent days searching the terrain in the mountains near where his car was found abandoned. It was all organized in an impressive formal fashion. Maps laid out in tables with terrain marked as searched as teams would report back. Foul play has not been ruled out., but it's unlikely. He's just gone. I think we need a psychic.

No sign of him starting over with a new life, either. None of his credit cards or money from any bank account has been touched.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Perplexing...

Methadras said...

Wow, that stormy kromer stuff is expensive and it's hipster-y.

The Dude said...

I found that my sense of humor had left the building. I bought an Elmer Fudd hat and now all is right with the world.

ndspinelli said...

Allen, I'm going under the assumption this is a suicide. It may not be, but that is the logical first choice. I had a suicide expert work for me for several years. He was a State of WI. homicide detective but was called in by rural jurisdictions not equipped to investigate suicides, that may be homicides. He taught me a lot about investigating suicides. This sounds like the situation where your friend MIGHT have gone to a secluded spot, where he has fond memories from his childhood. A place the family went for a vacation. A place he would go to fish, hunt, etc. It's a long shot, but in cases like this, it's all long shots.

ndspinelli said...

April, It sounds like folks got on the case quickly. The first few days are critical. I will pray for the young man and his parents.