On the Side

R.I.P. Greg Miller

Visitors from across the country used to flock to Miller's Luncheonette on South Main Street, and why wouldn't they? It was one of those great greasy spoons that you could settle comfortably into without worrying too much about your waistline - everyone else was also partaking of the sausage gravy and buscuits, so no big deal. That's what I had when I interviewed Eric Fingerhut there for a failed congressional run against Oxley. The smell of fried hamburgers and eggs would smack you in the face the second you opened the door. It was pure Americana and inherently blue-collar Findlay.

Whenever it flooded, Greg Miller would inevitably get a call from one of us at the paper, wondering how he and his place were fareing. By the time the August 2007 monster hit, everyone knew the river's basic flood pattern - if anything downtown is going to get soaked, the block north of the Main Street bridge usually gets it. And so I remember calling Greg a few times before a few floods, interrupting him as he moved stuff on top of tables and did his usual rearranging routine that all downtown business owners have down pat now. Greg would always take the time to tell me what he was up to at that moment. I'd ask him a few quick questions, making sure not to keep him on the phone for too long. Then he'd sigh with resignation, tell me it was all getting pretty old, and return to damage control.

When Miller's didn't open back up after The Big One, it sucked. I think we all missed the little place, its atmosphere, the warmth on a cold day. I didn't know Greg personally, but I suspect he'll be missed even more. 

Greg's illness, although terrible, seemed to bring out the best in the community. So many fundraisers. So much money and giving. I thought it served as a testament not only to his cooking skills, but to what kind of person he was, that so many people cared.

Slowly but Surely

It's cold out there. Really cold. Winter doesn't officially begin until Monday, but so what? I feel like hibernating for the next five months. And eating while I'm at it, of course. Lately, my evening hibernation routine has consisted of giant bowls of popcorn and hot cocoa, that, while you're watching "Elf" and "Blades of Glory" and therefore not really paying much attention, will leave your tongue good and burned throughout the next day. The spouse fixes a mean mug of hot chocolate that melt the stalest of stale marshmellows.

I'm not the greatest hot drink maker, even though the basics are really very simple. But what I am good at, so far, is slow cooking. I'm talking crockpot mania that will make tender the toughest of the toughest cuts of meat, that will infuse the blandest of bland with deep, flavorful goodness. We received two crockpots as wedding presents and previous to last week, they'd only been used to keep work carry-in goodies warm. But an old college friend convinced me that such devices are really the way to go when the weather turns all ice princess and you don't feel like doing much of anything else after you've put in a full day's work.

So I picked out this spicy steak recipe, and as Cousin Eddie would say, it was goooood. Like Clark W. Griswold's scorched pussycat chair, it was a high quality item. A cheap cut of cow, some chopped canned 'maters, cumin and chili powder, and a dousing with red sweet pepper and pinto beans near the end made for a hearty meal. Ten minutes tops were spend the night before with prep work like veggy chopping and spice mixing. It was almost too easy, and enough was left over for next-day lunch.

Have any of you already discovered the wonder of crockpotting? Do you have any favorite recipes or tips?