What's better, 18-month old Parmigiano Reggiano or 36-month old Parmigiano Reggiano Stravechhio?  The younger Parmigiano had a nutty flavor with somewhat of an acidic bite to it.  To me the flavor of the younger cheese was stronger than that of the older Parmigiano.  The younger cheese was sharper, as well.  The Stravecchio was more mellow in taste, but also much more complex at the same time.  The taste was fuller, and didn't have the same acidic bite that younger cheese had.  Both cheeses had the crunchy amino acid crystals, but the older cheese had much more.  I enjoyed the crystals as it made the texture more interesting.  The older cheese was also more crumbly and you could feel that in your mouth as you bit down on it.  I tried the cheeses by themselves and also with balsamic vinegar.  I had never tried cheese with vinegar before, and was pleasantly surprised by how well I like it.  I was also surprised that the younger cheese tasted much different than the older cheese with balsamic vinegar.  The younger cheese drizzled with balsamic vinegar had a fruity taste to it.  The older Parmigiano had a sweet taste with balsamic vinegar.  I liked the fruity taste of the younger cheese with balsamic vinegar more than I liked the sweet taste of the older cheese with balsamic vinegar.  Read more, link to recipes, sign up for newsletter, and see pictures at http://itscheese.com/reviews/parmigiano

The Hotel Pennsylvania is a hotel located at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City.  The Hotel Pennsylvania was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad and operated by Ellsworth Statler.  It opened on January 25, 1919 and was designed by William Symmes Richardson of the firm of McKim, Mead & White, which also designed the original Pennsylvania Station located across the street.  Statler Hotels, which had managed the Pennsylvania since its construction, acquired the property outright from the Pennsylvania Railroad on June 30, 1948 and renamed it the Hotel Statler on January 1, 1949.  Following the sale of all 17 Statler hotels to Conrad Hilton in 1954, the hotel became the Statler Hilton.  It operated under this name until 1979, when Hilton sold the hotel to developer William Zeckendorf, Jr., for $24 million.  The hotel was renamed the New York Statler and was operated by Dunfey hotels, a division of Aer Lingus.  The hotel was sold again for $46 million in August 1983.  A 50% interest was bought by Abelco, an investment group consisting of developers Elie Hirschfeld, Abraham Hirschfeld, and Arthur G. Cohen, with the other 50% bought by the Penta Hotels chain, a joint-venture of British Airways, Lufthansa, and Swissair.  The new owners renamed the hotel the New York Penta and undertook a massive renovation.  In 1991, Penta's partners bought out the chain's stake in the hotel and returned it to its original name, Hotel Pennsylvania.  The hotel has the distinction of having the New York phone number in longest continuous use.  The number, Pennsylvania 6-5000 (212-736-5000), is the inspiration for the Jerry Gray composition of the same name (with lyrics later added by Carl Sigman).  The most popular version was performed by Glenn Miller, with the Andrews Sisters' version not far behind.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Pennsylvania

"Walking With Giants" is a youtube channel where a regular sized person cooks food in a tiny kitchen (with tiny appliances that actually work) and makes adorable meals out of it that are so small they look like they were made for a hamster or a doll to eat.  Walking With Giants was created by a man named Jay who identifies himself as an artist.  He takes all the videos he makes seriously and you can see how talented he is based on the tiny details he puts into each video.  Link to seven videos at https://turbofuture.com/internet/Why-Do-People-Love-The-Youtube-Channel-Walking-With-Giants

January 1, 2018  “East of Vienna, the Orient begins,” the famous dictum of 19th century Austrian statesman Metternich has been associated by generations of writers with Bratislava, the Slovak capital 35 miles to the east.  Visiting in 1933, Patrick Leigh Fermor described an exotic mix of Slav, Hungarian, Jewish and German:  “A different cast had streamed on stage and the whole plot had changed.”  But 25 years ago, Bratislava found itself thrust into a new role as capital of newly independent Slovakia.  Since then it has carved its own niche in Central Europe, refusing to ape or be overshadowed by its neighbours, and shaking off its dour Communist-era reputation to rediscover a wealth of historic architecture and its enviable location on the Danube.  From the second half of the 18^th century, Bratislava developed as a musical centre, benefiting from its geographical location, its role as capital of Royal Hungary, and the patronage of noble families.  It was into this environment that composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel was born in 1778.  He was taught by Mozart and Haydn, became a friend of Beethoven, and was an important influence on Chopin.  He is primarily known for his piano works and his stirring trumpet concerto.   Hummel’s birthplace, a pretty ochre house off Klobucnicka Street, is preserved as a modest museum.  Andrew MacDowall  Link to 3:44 music video of Hummell's Rondo Trumpet Concerto in Eb at https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jan/01/bratislava-spotlight-slovakia-25-years-capital

More than 130 years after construction first began, Barcelona’s towering Sagrada Familia cathedral is finally to get a building permit, the city council and the monument’s official blog said.  Cranes and scaffolding still flank the ornate spires of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi’s most famous monument, which draws some 20 million visitors a year.  Stained-glass windows had to be installed at the last minute before a papal visit in 2010.  The basilica will pay city authorities 36 million euros ($41 million) to help fund Barcelona’s public transport system and to revamp nearby streets, ending a dispute over the building’s legality.  Isla Binnie  See pictures at  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-culture-sagrada-familia/sagrada-familia-cathedral-gets-building-license-130-years-after-work-began-idUSKCN1MT285

Tarragon was made for chicken and mushrooms.  Its muted aniseed flavour is somehow both bold and gentle; the sponginess of the mushrooms just soaks up the tarragon and their earthiness marries with it beautifully.  The second wonder of this dish is its simplicity--just throw everything into the pan, place the chicken on top and roast.  See recipe for One-Pot Tarragon Chicken, Mushrooms and Rice by John Whaite at https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/one-pot-tarragon-chicken-mushrooms-rice

maelstrom  noun   mael·strom | \ ˈmāl-strəm ,  -ˌsträm \  1:  a powerful often violent whirlpool sucking in objects within a given  2:  something resembling a maelstrom in turbulence   first known use of Maelstrom 1659, in the meaning defined at sense 1  History and Etymology for Maelstrom obsolete Dutch (now maalstroom), from malen to grind + strom stream

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maelstrom  NOTE that the second syllable is strom, not storm.

Freight bicycles, carrier cycles, freight tricycles, cargo bikes, box bikes, or cycletrucks are human powered vehicles designed and constructed specifically for transporting loads.  Vehicle designs include a cargo area consisting of an open or enclosed box, a flat platform, or a wire basket, usually mounted over one or both wheels, low behind the front wheel, or between parallel wheels at either the front or rear of the vehicle.  The frame and drivetrain must be constructed to handle loads larger than those on an ordinary bicycle.  The first freight bicycles were used by tradesmen to deliver mail, bread and milk amongst other things.  Early freight bicycles were heavy-duty standard bicycles, with heavy carriers at front or rear, sometimes with a smaller front wheel to accommodate a large front carrier.  During the early part of the 20th century these were commonly used by tradesmen for local deliveries.  In the UK this style is still sometimes known as a butcher's bike or delibike, although the Post Office have by far the largest fleet.  With the domination of the internal combustion engine in the industrialized countries after World War II, freight bikes became less popular.  In the rest of the world, however, they continued to be manufactured and heavily used.  In the 1980s in Europe, and the 1990s in the US, ecologically-minded designers and small-scale manufacturers initiated a revival of the freight bike manufacturing sector.  Read more and see many graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freight_bicycle

Authors! with Jose Antonio Vargas  Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist and Human Rights Activist (T) Oct. 30 | 7 p.m. | Kent Branch Library  3101 Collingwood Boulevard  Toledo, Ohio  Tickets: $25 (includes a copy of Dear America)  Jose Antonio Vargas won a Pulitzer Prize for his work with the Washington Post team covering the Virginia Tech shooting.  While at the Post, Vargas also covered the 2008 presidential election, the video game boom and the AIDS epidemic in Washington D.C., for which he received another Pulitzer Prize nomination.  In addition to his work with the Post, he has served as a journalist with the San Francisco Chronicle and the Huffington Post as technology and innovations editor.  For questions about TLCPL's Authors! series, call 419.259.5196.

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1974  October 23, 2018  296th day of the year