Central Market site chosen for downtown Cleveland, Mule Trekking comes to Cleveland

As all of us civic minded souls realize , within the web of any city worth it's salt in the world a vibrant central market exists. Cleveland , Ohio had in it's downtown design such an area for over two hundred years , until it was spirited away in a shady election fueled by the ignorant local fish wrap propaganda mill , da p.d. , and replaced by a faux intimate baseball stadium and indoor sports arena. All over the world , markets similar to the late Cleveland Central Market are being celebrated and given the dignity that they deserve. See Mimi Sheraton's New York Times article of November 18, 2007 " Markets as both Feast and Spectacle" , for an idea of the reverence and acclaim that public markets are in receipt of throughout the civilized world today. A tiny public space exists today between the corporate arena and corporate baseball stadium , comprised of a bench illustrated with some art works that commemorate the Central Market. A small insignificant homage to a rather large piece of Cleveland history. The powers that ran Cleveland into the current sad state of affairs that it is today from their cozy suburban digs , did not like the colorful Central Market , and made it their dire business to first run into the ground and then finish off by choosing it's grounds as the site for their corporate welfare plans involving publicly financed sports stadiums. Our loss as citizens , turned into a major gain for the vested powers that be , and those they serve. The Central Market and it's vendors were shipped east to George Forbes Glenville neighborhood , and existed in a diminished form at a new location at East 105Th and Saint Clair Avenue until closing for good in 2007.... Time has come to build a new Central Market in downtown Cleveland , Ohio. A legal end run was committed in the haste to destroy the old Central Market , and build the stadiums. Part of the land that the current baseball stadium is built upon had been donated in perpetuity as a site for a public market by it's previous owners who donated this space to the City of Cleveland with this proviso. Some foot gazing , gee whizzing , and shuffling of papers done , with the result being the ignorance of the benefactors wishes for a permanent Central Market in downtown Cleveland near the intersection of Carnegie and Ontario Streets. It seems that today in the year 2008 , just such a parcel of unused land exists in a triangular fashion at that very intersection of Carnegie and Ontario Streets. Perfect for a small Central Market to serve the burgeoning aesthetic tastes of new downtown citizens , chuckle loudly here, and the visitors to the baseball stadium alike.Just imagine the healthy alternatives of fresh fruits and vegetables that could be carried into the baseball stadium by the sack full , to augment the current slew of greasy meats and nacho cheese dishes served currently to the customers indulging in our National Game. Not to mention the ultimate end usage of these perishable fruits and vegetables in case the home team receives a bad call from an umpire , or a visiting teams player becomes obstreperous. Fresh barrel roasted truly hot peanuts , a variety of smoked meats , and fresh cheeses would be available as well. The honorable city of Baltimore , Maryland has six public markets that are City run and managed , and prove an integral part of the old world charm that graces that City. These markets are dotted throughout Baltimore and are open six days per week. A larger privately run market the historic Lexington market exists in downtown Baltimore and is the comparative size of our West Side Market. The Lexington Market has a great number of prepared food stands as well If you visit the Lexington Market be certain to visit the J.W. Faidley Seafood Company , faidleyscrabcakes.com, and sample their stupendous homemade lump crab cakes. One taste of this crab cake and you will be spoiled for life when ordering a similar knock off in any other City. The proof is in the crab cakes simple fresh preparation using Maryland shore blue crab backfin meat , and Faidley's does it best. Faidley's for local raw oysters as well. Just ask my pal Slipsy JR , who is a first class gourmand and trencherman of some repute. Visit the Baltimore Public Markets Internet home page at bpmarkets/markets.html , for a better view of these proud facilities and a glimpse of what could be in a truly , sic , progressive , Cleveland.....And what could possibly be more awarding than a nice vacation to Cleveland , Ohio and the opportunity to take your family mule - trekking around our fair city ? I have heard from a reliable source that the currently vacant East Ninth Street Pier , former home of the ultra fabulous Captain Frank's Seafood Restaurant, will be developed as a state of the arts stable building for a herd of mules to be used in our tourist trade sometime in early 2009. Some arguement is being tossed about by the adjoining tourist activities , rock and roll hall of fame , and Cleveland oranges football stadium. Seems that they are fighting over the scraps left over from the mule stalls. As if they do not have enough of their own! Mule trekking is quite the international rage , and acknowledged as a great family tourism event , why should we be denied of such a progressive activity here on the south shore of Lake Erie? Currently the mule trekking stable plans are tied into the potential jet boat pavilion and customs house planned to house the water ferry to Canada, and we will avail you of more information concerning these exciting downtown tourist attractions as it becomes available to us. Mule trekking routes are in their nascent planning stages , with routes to historic League Park via Superior Avenue and Payne Avenue onto Chinatown slated as a logical first choice. Future plans include 20 mule team wagons for the longer journey to University Circle , and our cultural institutions on Cleveland's east side , including a luxurious hay and straw station planned for the corner of East 18th and Superior. For more information concerning current mule trekking events visit www.muletrekking.com. Oh boy I can't wait for the mules to return to the street level in Cleveland , and crawl down from those lofty peaks they currently occupy. Book Selling Time! All this talk about mules , crabs ,and Baltimore , maketh me hungry. We offer today a copy of a famous cook book entitled MARYLAND'S WAY , The Hammond Harwood House Cook Book. A bargain at $5.90 , exactly .90 more than it was sold for when published in 1963. I will throw in my recipe for crab cakes for free. The first and most difficult task for cooking up qualitry crab cakes is to locate native blue crab meat these days. Living in Cleveland , Ohio presents a problem , so if you know any person travelling to our East Coast who can procur a few pounds please have them pick you up a pound or two of lump backfin meat , or claw meat if the lump is not available. The current one pound cans of fresh crab meat are rather oxymoronic in that they originate from southeast Asia , and are pasturized for safety purpouse , and lack any real flavor. When I resided in North Carolina thirty years ago , we would often take our crab traps , wire trap baskets with a long piece of rope attached , and find a piece of costal water and trap our own blue crabs for dinner. A fairly easy way of fetching your dinner> Using a mullet ,or other cheap fish attached to the traps bottom with fish line , merely drop the trap into the water , where the trap opens , wait for a crab[ s] to scurry and crawl into the trap and pull the rope up , closing the wire basket around the crabs. Heave ho , repeat process until a basket is filled, boil water with crab seasoning and a little vinegar , cook a few minutes and go to work with nut pick and hands , bib around your neck of course. Cold beverage optional but recommended. Natty Bo was our fave back in the day. Lets get back to the crab cakes at hand. I have found Asian markets to carry fresh blue crabs when they are in season , and it is work , but picking over three or four pounds of blue steamed crabs will provide a pound or so of meat for cakes , if you can stay focused on the task at hand , and not eat the catch prior to the cakes.Recipe on! Take a pound of native crab meat and combine it with a shot of Worcestershire sauce , salt and pepper , paprika , and dry mustard , old bay seasoning , to taste and a few slices of torn and lightly oven toasted commercial soft white bread that you have removed the crusts from and soaked in a quarter cup of whole cream or half and half. Combine all of these ingredients along with some melted butter and a small dab of commercial mayonnaise in a mixing bowl , and form by hand lightly into cakes. You should have mostly crab meat and spices staring back at you , not the dry bread crumb cakes that you are familiar with at your local restaurant. Take these cakes and place one or two to a low pie tin , and after dotting with a bit more butter place under your pre heated broiler for a maximum of two minutes or less.By using buttermilk or whole cream instead of the ubiquitous egg , you are able to taste more of the crab in the crab cake , not the egg flavor that requires frying the cake. If you have steamed and picked the crabs yourself , the meat is already prepared , so reheating it in cake form is merely introducing the crab meat to its natural friends butter and cream and spices. It has been a good many years since I have visited Baltimore , Maryland and the Chesapeake shore , yet I have amazing fond memories of this old and wise American country. Reading Shirley Povich baseball and sports columns in The Washington Post , spoiled me for life in that department. So di the great flavors of Baltimore, Maryland. Life provides kind moments , and it was not that many years ago , perhaps twelve or so, when a stunningly beautiful fair young woman wandered into this Book store and within the course of conversation mentioned that she was native to the Chesapeake shore . She also mentioned that her Father was an oysters man , and that by my description were the very oysters that I had purchased in previous trips to Baltimore at Faidley's market. How could I tell , you might ask? The oysters that this Maryland gentleman sold were tonged out by his very hands in ages old fashion and were the last to be received at Faidley's put up fresh in glass mason jars. Wouldn't you know it , but later that spring she returned bearing a glass jar that her Father had tonged the very day and sent her back to Cleveland with to give me as a present. I about broke into tears for the beauty of that moment , and it is that very sort of human kindness that now seems so rare and distant in this modern Internet age. Those very oysters came from this man's private beds , and he made for me the greatest of all gifts. Wild food , hand harvested , and no more process than sliding them into a cool glass jar , and sending them my way with his strikingly petite and gorgeous daughter. That my friends is life at it's best , and a true story to boot!

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