My Word with Douglas E. Welch

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Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine, Milano, Italia

Rosanne and I had stumbled upon this 1446 church a few days earlier on our wandering, but I returned on my way to a second visit to the Orto Botanico (Botanical Garden) in Brera.

This morning, though, I took the opportunity to stop, order a caffé (espresso) and a chocolate croissant, and just sit people watching and taking in the architecture of the church and the art in the piazza.

I was on my own on this visit, but it is one of my favorite memories of the trip. Even alone I found Milano to be friendly, welcoming and very livable. I felt more comfortable there than perhaps any other European city I have visited besides, perhaps, Bath and Leeds in the UK. London is fun but can be a bit too much after a few days.

When out on my own — and not looking a bit Italian in any way — I found it fun to joke with the wait staff at restaurants and museums. They would always start out in English and then expressed surprise and pleasure when I spoke Italian — even my first-grade version of it. Just another way I came to feel comfortable. Joking with everyone and generally having a great time.

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Where are your favorite hidden discoveries? Share in the comments!

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Learn more about black and white photography

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Archive.org has a host of old cookery books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. I happened across a few in my Pinterest feed and gone completely down the rabbit hole in this treasure trove of information. Sure some ideas might be out of date, but you never know what you might find when you explore these books. I’ll be sharing more books as I find them in the coming weeks. –Douglas

Historical Cooking Books: Twenty-five cent dinners for families of six (1879) by Corson, Juliet – 23 in a series

What might you find in these old cookbooks? What special recipes have been handed down to you? Share in the Comments!

Available in PDF, Text, JPG formats, and more

PREFACE TO THE REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION.

DURING the time that this little book has been a candidate for public favor, it has attained a success far beyond the expectations of its most sanguine advocates ; and in issuing this revised and enlarged edition the author returns her sincere thanks to both press and public, who have so substantially seconded her efforts for culinary reform. In this edition an additional chapter has been devoted to the preparation of fruit for dessert, withspecial reference to the needs of American housewives. Most American ladies prepare fruit for table use either by canning it, or making it into rich and expensive preserves; while both of these methods are palatable, and available for winter use, the receipts given in the closing chapter will provide a welcome variety for serving fresh fruits at the table, and will tend to increase the healthy consumption of those abundant and excellent domestic productions, while they cannot fail to decrease the deplorable prevalence of that objectionable national compound, the pie. Recent investigations concerning retail prices in different sections of the country confirm the author in the estimate of cost given in this work ; in certain localities some of the articles quoted are more expensive, while others are cheaper ; but the average is about equal.

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Where are your favorite travel surprises? Share in the comments!

Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine, Milano, Italia

While the exterior of this 1446 church is fairly plain, the interior is amazing. The light and shadows effect on the architecture are so dramatic is almost, literally, takes your breath away. We stepped in from the bright sun on a hot afternoon and it was like entering an entirely different world. The temperature dropped 10 degrees and it took several minutes for our eyes to adjust. We had entered from a side door, so we didn’t get the full effect until we moved up the enter aisle and took in this view. 

This is one of those photos that you easily remember taking. Unlike some, I believe that photography doesn’t take me out of the moment when I am Travelling, but rather makes my memories more vibrant and concrete when I return home. 

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Learn more about Milan

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Send a letter! Send a postcard!

Wandering Rodeo Drive with family a few weeks ago and we HAD to go into the Lobby of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. After all, this was the hotel portrayed in Pretty Woman and countless other films and tv shows.

For me, though, it wasn’t about the fancy shops or exceedingly rich or famous guests. I was more interested in the design and architecture of the hotel, first built in 1928. 

This gleaming mail chute shines brightly in the elevator lobby and I stopped to take a photo despite the odd looks I received from staff and guests. What can I say? I love things that are well-designed in a style that isn’t seen much anymore. I am sure I have countless other photos like this in my photo collection. 

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Learn more about mail chutes and their design

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Cutler Mail Chute Company at Smithsonian.edu

New York City’s Mail Chutes Are Lovely, Ingenious, and Almost Entirely Ignored

What is your favorite season? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Autumn Color on a Historic Campus

Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri

There is always something special for me about walking a college campus — whether is is old and historic lime @stephenscollege or fairly modern one like Cal Poly Pomona — where my son attends and my wife teaches.

College campuses always carry a sense of growth and opportunity for me. The energy, and often, lack of aged cynicism, reminds me of the younger person I once was. There can be a bit of melancholy too, though, as I am confronted with all those plans that didn’t quite work out and this I abandoned for more life-necessary work. 

Of course, I am sure some of my rose-colored memories come from the fact that college is where I met @drrosannewelch on the first night of my Fall Semester. Events like that are sure to color your thoughts for a lifetime. 

Still, no matter how young the students start to appear — (When did colleges start accepting junior high aged students? 🤪) — or how old it makes me feel, I’ll still carry a special feeling for college campuses and the hope they carry. 

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How does it feel to be surrounded by history every day? Share in the comments!

Piazza Mercanti, Milano, Italia

From our September 2018 trip to see family and attend the SRN Conference.

Even with some buildings covered in scaffold and sheeting, this Piazza carries the weight and grandeur of its medieval origins.

After visiting Milano for a week, I wonder what it would feel like to be constantly reminded of history as you go about your normal life? Would you begin to ignore it or come to see it as something commonplace like so many of us do in our home cities. I would hope not, but I can guess they treat historic sculptures and buildings much like I treat the Hollywood Sign, film studios and Rodeo Drive. These are simply places that were always “there” and don’t cause or require any great contemplation.

We’ll be visiting another historic town in April — Oxford, England — and I’ll think more about this as I wander streets, churches and colleges that have hundreds of years of history. How do I see them differently than the locals? Or in similar ways? We shall see. 

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Learn more about Milan

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

What do you want to see in Italy? Share in the comments!

Hmm. A hidden message?

Piazza Affari, Milano, Italia

More information this sculpture

From our September 2018 trip to see family and attend the SRN Conference.

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Join me on Douglas E. Welch Photography on Facebook

Learn more about Milan

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Archive.org has a host of old cookery books (from mid-19th to mid-20th Century) available in many formats and on a host of topics. I happened across a few in my Pinterest feed and gone completely down the rabbit hole in this treasure trove of information. Sure some ideas might be out of date, but you never know what you might find when you explore these books. I’ll be sharing more books as I find them in the coming weeks. –Douglas

Historical Cooking Books: The century cook book, with a new supplement of one hundred receipts of especial excellence by Arnold, Augusta (Foote) (1922, originally 1895) – 22 in a series

What might you find in these old cookbooks? What special recipes have been handed down to you? Share in the Comments!

Available in PDF, Text, JPG formats, and more

WASTEFULNESS

As a rule the family life of America does not represent opulence, yet it has become a familiar saying that a French family could live on what an American family throws away. Again, it is said that in American kitchens half the provisions are spoiled and the” other half wasted. There is no need to-day of being open to such accusations. At small expense a woman can have the benefit of lessons in cooking-schools, and should not be accepted as a cook until she has some knowledge of the duties, and is qualified to bear that name. The gage of a woman’s rank in her profession can be definitely determined by what she wastes or utilizes, and the high wages paid a first-class cook are often saved by the intelligent use she makes of all her materials. Many of her best entr6es are but a combination of odds and ends which another cook would throw away. Her delicious sauce, which gives a very ordinary dish that requisite something which makes it highly esteemed, may be but the blending of many flavors obtained from little scraps.

The waste in foods need be so small as practically to have no waste material ; not a crumb of bread, a grain of sugar, a bit of butter, a scrap of meat or fat, a piece of vegetable or leaf of salad, but can be utilized with profit.

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library