Essential
Our car hasn’t been in such good shape of late, so over the last few weeks, we’ve been experiencing the adventure that is living in our walkable city without motorized transportation. Today’s installment: kitchen twine and/or toothpicks. We were planning to make a dish that required one of these items. Kerrytown Market had neither, so it was on to the People’s Food Co-op, a short walk past the 40 or so vendors and five customers at the Artisans’ Market. The co-op had no kitchen twine, but they did have toothpicks, they were excited to inform us — little containers of about 15 toothpicks infused with “essential tea tree oil,” with or without cinnamon flavor.
Ann Arbor’s ideas of what constitutes “essential” do not always agree with ours.
Funny you were looking for toothpicks - I bought a pack yesterday, not for some recipe but to spear some olives for a martini. You should have just walked into some restaurant and grabbed a handful from the front. That’s what I did.
posted by DrMandrake on April 17th, 2005 at 4:32 pmA loyal reader of this blog since recently moving to AA, which I judge to be neither cesspool nor Paradiso, My curiosity has finally got the best of me, due in large part to this most recent post’s ‘voice’. AAIO - is this the royal “we” or do dual (or more) voices pen these observations? Neophytes want to know.
posted by a fan on April 17th, 2005 at 5:01 pmMain St. Market has unflavored toothpicks in boxes. Kitchen twine? Perhaps your definitions of essentials differ from mine as well as the greater Ann Arbor’s. Not only have I never had to use kitchen twine, the only time I’ve ever heard it refered to was by my girlfriend’s parents, when they confronted a pretentious recipe (though they’re in Lansing, not Ann Arbor).
posted by js on April 17th, 2005 at 5:10 pmWhat the hell IS kitchen twine? Why would you need it?
my ex-mother-law…she had this toothpick recipe you would die for…she was so great about just throwing it together whenever we visited her in new jersey..
sigh..the things you miss when you dont appreciate what you once had..
now kitchen twine…yumm..thats another relationship altogether…
posted by saa on April 17th, 2005 at 5:37 pmKitchen twine can be used for various things- tying bunches of herbs together before putting them into something, for example, or rolling a piece of meat around some sort of filling and then tying it before baking. I’ve made recipes that called for kitchen twine, but I always just used regular string. Dental floss also works in a pinch.
posted by Joy on April 17th, 2005 at 5:38 pmTrussing poultry.
posted by Eric on April 17th, 2005 at 5:41 pmThere’s only one of me. I’m just being pretentious.
Yes, I needed the twine or toothpicks for a chicken recipe. Mmmm…tea tree oil chicken.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on April 17th, 2005 at 5:52 pmof all the overrated hippy-dippy supplements one can add to one’s life, tea tree oil has got to be the worst. it tastes even nastier than flaxseed oil, another favorite among the vegan/herbalist/hypochondriac set.
posted by joy on April 17th, 2005 at 6:01 pmHey now. Tea Tree oil gets rid of all kinds of things that stink on dogs. I wouldnt eat it but if you put it in soap, it keeps the dog stink down.
posted by lynne on April 17th, 2005 at 6:11 pmyou’ve proved my point. tea tree oil’s highest and best use is evidently bathing dogs. any substance that will remove “dog stink” should not be added to toothpicks. possibly to dog biscuits, but not toothpicks.
posted by Joy on April 17th, 2005 at 6:27 pmWell, I wont argue with that point. Honestly, I have never heard of anyone *eating* tea tree oil. I have only heard of people putting it in soap or using it undiluted as an anti-fungal for feet and stuff. It smells nice but not nice to eat. nice to bathe in.
posted by lynne on April 17th, 2005 at 7:32 pmBack in the day I had a couple of vegan/herbalist/hypochondriac roommates, and one of them was very devoted to putting tea tree oil in her Nalgene bottle and her tea. She tried to convince me once that it was delicious AND nutritious, so I tried it, thinking maybe it was like adding lemon to water. Not like lemon. Not at all.
posted by Joy on April 17th, 2005 at 8:39 pmI’m totally addicted to Tea Tree oil toothpicks. But I’m the kind of guy who would actually brush his teeth four times a day if he has access to the tools. Since I’m out a lot, and since carrying dental care products around seems silly, the toothpicks really do freshen things up much better than a mint or whatnot… If you’re the kind of person who *doesn’t* find Altoids to be “curiously” strong, you might try ‘em out.
posted by Scott T. on April 17th, 2005 at 8:55 pmAre these infused toothpicks exclusive to the Ann Arbor area?
posted by Pottsy Hunter on April 17th, 2005 at 9:21 pmI think everyone, regardless of where they live should be required to spend six weeks of their live carless. If at the end of that period they can still pay rent and do not have a vitamin deficancy from living off of 25 cent little debbie cakes and top raman, some one should buy them a cookie… or maybe a salad.
posted by yo mamma on April 17th, 2005 at 11:56 pmYes, well..there’s a big difference between being carless in downtown Ann Arbor and being carless in, say…Pittsfield township. It’s a lot more fun to walk past the Kerrytown Market to the people’s Food Co-op than to walk past seventeen industrial complexes to buy cheese at the liquor store.
posted by Annie on April 18th, 2005 at 12:43 amYo mama, I couldn’t agree with you more. I spent the entire winter carless after getting in an accident on MLK day. Try living up north (Plymouth Rd area) without a car. Marco’s Pizza became my four food groups. When carless, one also quickly learns that the U of M buses do not run every 10 min as advertised. Speaking of which — I am a new reader of this blog — does anyone know of a “UMIO” blog that bashes the university like this one does to Ann Arbor? I would probably have more in common with that crowd.
posted by a new reader on April 18th, 2005 at 1:52 amThis is one of the things that cheeses me about Ann Arbor. You (meaning me) can post about where to fuck or fight on the job in Ann Arbor (Dough Boys - fuck; Real Seafood - knife fight) and Mandrake is the only person to respond! But if you go out to buy toothpicks and you mention essential tree oils, there are five people who never said anything before jumping out of the woodwork!
posted by A Different Jon on April 18th, 2005 at 8:18 amIck. I was at Bursley (hahahasigh) for two years, and the first law about the UM buses was that no one talks about how the UM buses sometimes take up to an hour to arrive on the weekends, and (at least used to) spend 30 minutes driving around the more remote areas of Northwood before hitting up Central. The second year I had a car, and parked it on the commuter lot (no overnight parking, right) to save the money and hassle of trying to get into the Bursley lottery. The walk to the commuter lot behind the Space Sciences building was totally worth it.
The majority of my classes are now on North, and I honestly don’t mind taking the bus at some point nearly every day of the week as opposed to taking it on the weekends.
There are plenty of UM affiliated kids here, a new reader, and the bashing is plentiful. Take a seat, have a drink.
posted by Jen on April 18th, 2005 at 8:21 amA Different Jon-
Oh, don’t think I didn’t laugh my ass off at the Dough Boys story. But I don’t think my hijinks are unique enough to deem response on the blog. Mandrake, at the very least, has me beat by a mile.
posted by Jen on April 18th, 2005 at 8:22 amI am currently carless too … I had one but didn’t keep it when I moved here for a buncha reasons, and I am regretting it big time. AATA sucks a lot … again, small town=not a lot of routes=runs stop early=annoying.
Also, I think at least once a week I’ve watched as bus drivers drive right past a stop when someone’s pulled the bell-string. It’s sad. I’m getting a car soon … walkable city my ass. I guess the “downtown” “area” is walkable, technically.
posted by mulligatawny on April 18th, 2005 at 8:34 amI will say that with all my complaints about Ann Arbor, the “walkability” of the city isn’t one of them. When I was a student, I’d routinely make the hike from the nasty ass S Forest-area student area to the Heidelberg and back. Except during the coldest depths of winter, that’s not a bad walk at all. I mean, Main St to State St is only like 5 blocks. It’s not exactly a huge metropolis — and MOST things you’d need to get to aren’t terribly far away.
posted by Evan on April 18th, 2005 at 9:26 amI can’t believe the level of metrosexuality today on AAiO. I’m gone one evening and come back and people - men, no less - are posting about how wonderful infused tea oil toothpicks are. COME ON! Next thing you know we’re gonna have guys discussing the best place to get a facial, a manicure, and a brazilian wax.
posted by DrMandrake on April 18th, 2005 at 9:27 amIt’s not necessarily that things are far away … they’re not, and that’s cool. The problem is what someone else referred to: walking through 17 industrial complexes, etc — no sidewalks. This is especially bad in the winter.
posted by mulligatawny on April 18th, 2005 at 9:37 amI bet any liquor store in town has toothpicks. You can also use them to put olives in martinis.
Like js, I had never heard of kitchen twine.
I’m crying foul on this gripe.
posted by Chris on April 18th, 2005 at 10:15 amYes, I agree, anyone who wants to actually try to follow a reciple without resorting to theft, going to a liquor store, a hardware store, in addition to People’s Food Coop, White Market and Kerrytown is obviously spoiled and over-indulged.
posted by Anna on April 18th, 2005 at 10:56 amWell, this was after my dinner plans already had to be altered substantially because the co-op didn’t have any breadcrumbs that I could find and the only asparagus it had was $5.39 a pound.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on April 18th, 2005 at 10:56 am- Also, I think at least once a week I’ve watched as bus drivers drive right past a stop when someone’s pulled the bell-string. It’s sad.
See, this is where you have to move beyond the sheep-to-the-slaughter mode of the average AATA passenger, leap to your feet, and scream “STOP PLEASE!!!” Then hang on to something, because the drivers will stop, and fast.
I can’t blame the drivers too much - if I drove those routes over and over every day, I’d zone out too.
posted by Lehigh Valley Refugee on April 18th, 2005 at 11:01 amUh, well, I didn’t say that the people who pulled the bell-stop do yell out when the drivers go past the stop, I just figured it was implied.
posted by mulligatawny on April 18th, 2005 at 11:07 amI was in a store in Chapel Hill NC a month ago. Called “Southern Seasons.” Crap was outrageously priced. Even more so than AA. The item that won the obscene prize: 30 plastic toothpicks with fake plastic colored jewels on one end. Arranged in a circular plastic holder to set a plate of cheese on. 10 fuckin 99. For 1 cent of chinese plastic. There appears to be other towns that are also overrated.
posted by yd on April 18th, 2005 at 11:10 amDon’t forget the Acme Mercantile.
posted by LL on April 18th, 2005 at 11:19 amHey Mandrake,
I also love Tea Tree Oil shampoo. I’m not too manly to say it, just too cheap to actually ever buy it. Manicures, however, are for girls.
posted by Scott T. on April 18th, 2005 at 11:20 amSorry Mulligatawny,
Since I always seem to ride the bus with the quiet folk, I did assume that there was no yelling. Some of them will ride 1/2 mile out of their way without saying anything.
posted by Lehigh Valley Refugee on April 18th, 2005 at 11:52 amMandrake - Couldn’t tell you where to get a Brazillan Wax anymore, not since electrolysis.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 11:57 amI saw a line of men’s “grooming products” that had these very result-driven labels –not on the back, like lather-rinse-repeat, but as the design… you know, like:
“Objective: to clean out pores, Strategy: clean skin” etc … like the way a project manager puts together a report, for chrissakes.
I just looked it up … www.anthony.com
I don’t know if this is supposed to win over non-metrosexuals, or what.
posted by mulligatawny on April 18th, 2005 at 12:06 pmAAiO, you are too passive, ASK Bob Sparrow or Monahan for some FREE twine and toothpicks (at K-Town) and they will GIVE it to you. They also have breadcrumbs and asparagus for much less than the organic stuff at the co-op.
posted by OFWinsurgent on April 18th, 2005 at 12:51 pmWell, I asked the girl behind the counter at Kerrytown Market, and she just said they didn’t have any. I got some free from Zingerman’s, although they had the little plastic decorations, so I had to break them off.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on April 18th, 2005 at 12:55 pmAnna- PFC is a specialty grocery store. If AAiO had walked to White Market, she could have had toothpicks there. I just figured that Main Street Market was closer. I know that you just wanna get your sarcasm out, but Christ, kitchen twine? I hardly think the lack of kitchen twine makes an area over-rated.
posted by js on April 18th, 2005 at 1:16 pm“But the recipe calls specifically for Andean goat sphincters! And Zingerman’s only has the Angolan goat sphincters! This town is sure hard to live in!”
Oh, and asparagus is out of season right now. You’re gonna get totally screwed on it.
Yeah, i figure White Market would have toothpicks.
posted by Brandon on April 18th, 2005 at 1:29 pmActually, some early asparagus coming in from out of state can be cheap around now. Whole Foods had it for $2.99/lb. a couple weeks ago. Probably Californian or Mexican… Mmmm, asparagus pee smell…
posted by Scott T. on April 18th, 2005 at 1:29 pmScoff all you want — I still think the number of options that have been suggested as totally reasonable alternatives to buying them at a real grocery store is pretty funny.
posted by Anna on April 18th, 2005 at 1:49 pmI live just within the city limits (Ann Arbor-Saline and Eisenhower) and I take a hybrid approach to transportation. My employer has a small satellite office downtown, but > 99% of the time I work from home. My car takes me to Meijer for groceries and not much else. In the summer, I take my bike into town to do what I need to do in the office and otherwise take in the summer sun.
In order to go totally carless, you need to be making a small fortune to afford housing and food so close to downtown or make a lot of compromises. (Of course I was carless for most of my time in EECS, but I’m not referring to living as a student.)
posted by John Gotts on April 18th, 2005 at 2:09 pmTwo questions … Is there anywhere in the city to get a really good martini? Isn’t it odd that if you order a glass of vodka or gin people think you’re an alcoholic but if you order a martini suddenly you’re trendy?
posted by Andrew on April 18th, 2005 at 4:56 pmI dunno about martinis, but most of Bab’s other mixed drinks are good and strong.
posted by Brandon on April 18th, 2005 at 4:57 pmJen, the red head bartender at Zola, makes a great martini. Also, the West End Grill makes great martinis too. They even hand stuff the olives. I’m getting thirsty.
posted by Eric on April 18th, 2005 at 5:16 pmI live carless in this town, and have done so for over two years, God help me. That said, I’ve always made sure to live within walking distance of downtown. Mind you, I’ve never needed kitchen twine. One of the more ridiculous components of the greenway proposal (which I think I posted about on Arbor Update) was the need to make downtown more “walkable.” Only someone with a car could have made that remark.
posted by Lazaro on April 18th, 2005 at 5:20 pmAlthough I did just leave my car parked most of the time when I had one, my year in town without a car was fairly miserable. It wasn’t the errands that were the problem, the problem was that all I wanted to do with my free time was to get the hell out of AA.
posted by Anna on April 18th, 2005 at 5:29 pmObservations:
Yes, the AATA drivers do ignore the bells when they’re rung, and they do step on the brakes with full intent to make you fly off balance if you’re not holding on for dear life.
I’m also carless, for the most part, mostly because I hate driving here. It’s easier and less stressful to walk or bike. Although the attitude you get from drivers when you’re a pedestrian anywhere but the center of town (where there’s safety in numbers) is like nothing I’ve ever seen, and I’m originally from California, supposedly the vehicular capital of the world.
I’d also agree that there’s not much you can get to that’s worth getting to outside of the center of town without a car. And the paradox is that anything essential (groceries, for example) is far away from the center.
posted by Frank on April 18th, 2005 at 7:36 pmAndrew - Bab’s can mix most things, they know how to make a Manhattan, my tipple of choice, plus a few other strange concoctions. They are willing to break open champaign and make a French 75 (champaign, contreau, cognac, lemon) , for which they get my fervent patronage.
Otherwise, it’s hard to come by much beyond LIIT, Cosmos, and Martinis, all made with flavorless Vodka.
Ah, but four years ago, that fancy pants bar next to the Chop House would make anything, and make it well. They’d light a Blue Blazer, the entertainment made it worth the price. They had the mint for Mojtos.
I can’t afford such entertainment these days, so Bab’s.
Otherwise, dollar PBRs at Circus on Sunday, two dollar pints at Leopold’s on Sundays, happy hour all day at ABC on Mondays.
posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 18th, 2005 at 8:28 pmI’ll step up to defend the ride here…the AATA bus service certainly has flaws but personally I think we are lucky to have it. It has helped me out lots of times. Think if it wasn’t there at all. Obviously it doesn’t compare to public transportation in a “real” city but it’s better than nothing.
posted by sheldon on April 18th, 2005 at 8:40 pmYes, I am griping about certain minor aspects of AATA but at the same time I would be completely SOL without it. So, I agree. It is definitely a lifeline (for me, anyway).
posted by Frank on April 18th, 2005 at 8:52 pmWhen I did my two years of downtown carless living, I found it pretty damn easy, actually. What broke my back was when I moved out to Ypsi.
posted by js on April 18th, 2005 at 10:48 pmBut, to be fair, for a lot of that I was working at PFC (meaning groceries weren’t a huge thing) or my housemate had a car and we’d go get groceries together.
If the only thing that the AATA has to recommend it is that it’s better than nothing, that’s pretty sad, don’t you think?
posted by mulligatawny on April 19th, 2005 at 10:03 amHave you ever found a bus line that really had much to recommend it past being better than not having a bus line?
posted by js on April 19th, 2005 at 10:37 am(And Leopold’s has good liquors, and will make you a martini. Even though their gin is good enough that it should be sipped straight.)
Yeah, um … not really. The bus pretty much sucks all the way around, no matter where I’ve lived. There you go again, js, being reasonable and shit.
posted by mulligatawny on April 19th, 2005 at 10:57 amI have never found the bus system here to be less than stellar. The buses arrive on time in the appointed locations and follow the published routes, making trip planning easy. I have lived carless for extended periods in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo and found both their bus systems more than adequate for employment and food; in both cases I lived within a mile or so of the university campus.
Anyone who complains about the buses, their routes, or their riders is a pansy. Period.
posted by Dale on April 19th, 2005 at 11:05 amAgreed. AATA serves me well every day, getting me to class right on time and indeed always stopping when I pull the bell. For a city of this size we have a damned great transit system. I can only dream of the days when it will run until 2 AM on weekends so I can drink more when I go to Ypsi.
posted by Brandon on April 19th, 2005 at 12:20 pmI can’t wait till it runs until 2 am on weekends so I can actually visit the Elbow Room.
At the risk of sounding like a pansy (and there are a whole lot of other factors that put me pretty close, so I don’t care), they could improve the #14 route a little more. The bus drove straight past me at a stop twice–the one at the crosswalk on Geddes by the cemetery. This may be due to the fact that the stop sign is partially obscured by a tree, but if that’s the case, they should either cut the tree down or remove the stop.
That’s actually my only complaint–I doubt there’s much financial incentive for extending the run time past 11 or so even on weekends (more’s the pity). It’s too bad they don’t take a leaf out of Akron’s book and run until 1. Overall, though, the AATA is a definite boon for the city, and I’m all in favor.
posted by Wendell on April 19th, 2005 at 3:46 pmthe 14 is the only route that has passed me when i was waiting for the bus. i ran down the street waving my arms, and they stopped. i wish that route ran on weekends, since for me it is the most convienient.
posted by sheldon on April 19th, 2005 at 11:22 pmMy complaint is not about bus service in general; it’s specific to U of M’s service. They publicly post routes with specified time intervals and schedules, and they make no attempt to follow them. Anyone who pays tuition to the university is by definition a customer, which means that they are paying for that bus service as advertised. I waited 40 minutes for a North Commuter bus last month. I called the transpo services from my cell phone to inquire. Their reply? “Well, yeah… we’ve had some problems hiring bus drivers lately, so the routes are a little scarce right now.” Can you imagine your phone company shutting down your service for a couple days because they were short on switch operators?
posted by disgruntled rider on April 20th, 2005 at 1:25 amThe bus driver went right past you???? I and my seven-year-old son biked to the mall (6 miles, a good ride for a guy his age…and a tired-out old spinner my age). It was Saturday; we waited for the bus. The driver pulled up with one bike on the front already and a relatively empty bus. For three years, drivers allowed us to take the kid’s bike on-board.
No chance at the mall, with night coming, cold and buses running every hour. The shithead driver slammed the door in my face and drove away. Customer service at its very best.
Shortly thereafter, I spent a week in Philly and took the bus everywhere. Without exception, drivers said hello when I boarded. Once, a driver asked me where I was going (I was the last one on the bus), and took me to a corner three blocks closer to my hotel than the last stop on the route. Every time I got off, the drivers wished me good day. It was a revelation of what getting on a bus could be like.
AATA bus drivers can be incredibly snotty and unhelpful. Don’t get me started about a driver who got the bright idea that I needed to fold up my 1-year-old’s stroller to take it on the bus….
Sheldon, you have my sympathies. Maybe if you threw yourself in front of the bus.
Lifer
posted by Anonymous on April 21st, 2005 at 4:12 pm