5 minute read
GOOD EATS
The incredible, and fraudulent, tale of a long-forgotten Lake Erie shipwreck.
The public ate it up, no questions asked. Sailing from England, Success arrived in Boston in 1912 after a long, slow 99-day transatlantic trip — after which her captain for the voyage complained, “She sails like a bale of hay.” She toured major U.S. cities along America’s east and west coasts and the Gulf of Mexico, then sailed up the Mississippi, stopping at major ports along the way. Next, making her way up the Ohio River, she visited Cincinnati, Wheeling, and Pittsburgh in 1918 and 1919. In 1923, Success entered the Great Lakes, where she toured for the next fi ve years. By 1924 — and despite protests from the Australian government about its entirely made-up history — Success was such a popular attraction at Toledo that local papers reported, “Every day since its arrival here, it has been visited by good-sized crowds.” Other Lake Erie ports included Lorain, Cleveland, and Sandusky, where she often docked for weeks at Cedar Point amusement park. Her owner in 1925, a Captain David H. Smith, described his ship as “a tremendous paying game.” A conservative estimate of the ship’s income during the 1920s was $450,000 annually, equivalent to many millions in today’s dollars. Unfortunately, the good times were not to last. With the stock market crash of 1929, the largesse of the Roaring ’20s quickly ended, ushering in the Great Depression. During the 1930s, many Americans struggled to make ends meet, let alone have money enough left over for entertainment. The crowds dwindled, then eventually stopped coming altogether, and Success fell out of popularity and into disrepair. Purchased by a businessman in Port Clinton, Ohio, in the fall of 1945, the decrepit old hulk was being towed from Cleveland to Port Clinton when she ran aground and stuck fast on a sandbar about a half-mile from shore off the Port Clinton swimming beach. There she remained mired until the evening of July 4, 1946, when vandals set her afi re just to watch her burn. More than 1,700 shipwrecks lie at the bottom of Lake Erie, only 277 of which have been located. Success is one of those that have been identifi ed, with what is left of her wooden keel, ribs, planking, and metal parts lying in just 8 to 10 feet of water. Today, divers are welcome to investigate Success and 32 other shipwrecks in Ohio’s Lake Erie waters.
Chip Gross is Ohio Cooperative Living’s outdoors editor. To learn more about ghost ships and their locations, visit www.ohioshipwrecks.org.
Spice
oflife
Cinnamon, once more valuable than gold, is still a treasured ingredient in most everyone’s kitchen.
RECIPES AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY CATHERINE MURRAY
APPLE CINNAMON MONKEY BREAD
Prep: 15 minutes | Bake: 45 minutes | Servings: 8 ½ cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon ¼ cup butter, melted 2 16.3-ounce cans buttermilk biscuits (refrigerated tubes) 2 large tart apples, peeled and chopped 1 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon milk
In a large bowl, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and add to the bowl with the cinnamon and sugar, along with the apples. Toss many times to coat. Heat oven to 350 F. Transfer coated biscuits and apples into a greased bundt pan. Pour butter evenly over top, then press down lightly on the top. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown across top and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes, then run knife around edge of pan to loosen. Place heatproof serving plate over pan and fl ip over. Slowly loosen pan from bread. Whisk together powdered sugar and milk into an icing. Drizzle icing over bread. (If icing doesn’t drizzle easily, add a little more milk.) Bread is easy to serve and eat — just pull apart into chunks with your hands!
Per serving: 556 calories, 22 grams fat (10 grams saturated fat), 15 milligrams cholesterol, 1,237 milligrams sodium, 84 grams total carbohydrates, 4 grams fi ber, 8 grams protein.
GREEK MEATBALLS
Prep: 15 minutes | Cook: 20 minutes | Servings: 6 ½ cup bread crumbs Small sweet onion, minced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon ground coriander 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon dried mint 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon black pepper 1 lemon, zested and juiced 1 pound lean ground beef or lamb 1 egg ¼ cup fl our ¼ cup olive oil 1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt 1 small cucumber, minced 1 teaspoon dill
In a large bowl, mix together breadcrumbs, onion, half of the minced garlic, coriander, cinnamon, mint, oregano, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Add in ground meat and egg, incorporating with your hands. If you have some extra time, refrigerate mixture for 30 to 60 minutes — it will help the meatballs hold their shape. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Dredge each in fl our, coating lightly then shaking off excess. Heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add some meatballs, leaving space in between them. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, rolling them around to cook evenly. Transfer meatballs to a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up excess oil. Repeat with remaining meatballs. Make Tzatziki sauce by mixing together the remaining half of the minced garlic, lemon juice, sour cream, cucumber, and dill. Dip meatballs in the accompanying Tzatziki sauce as an appetizer, or serve both on top of a pita, Greek salad, or rice bowl for a full meal.
