Brent Baughman, Weekend Edition

Benedictine monks immigrated from Bavaria in 1846 to establish a monastery and college in the foothills of Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountains. They chose the tiny town of Latrobe, about an hour east of Pittsburgh, to establish Saint Vincent Archabbey.

By 1854 the monastery had already grown considerably -- and along with it, the number of monks in residence.

That's when Saint Vincent constructed its own gristmill. In keeping with Benedictine tradition, the monks did the construction work. They made the bricks by hand and used Chestnut -- harvested from the surrounding forests -- to construct the mill. Their choice of materials, and their craftsmanship, were expert -- more than 150 years later, the mill is still operating, providing flour for Saint Vincent Archabbey's daily bread.

Hear the Gristmill's story.

Bounty of Liane Hansen's trip to the Archabbey, here in our DC studio. That's a bag of Saint Vincent flour, along with a locally-roasted bag of Saint Lazarus Coffee. See exactly where it came from, and how it was made, in the slideshow below.

 

Slideshow best viewed in full-screen for added detail -- click the four divergent arrows in the righthand corner.

Queena Kim, guest blogger from Cyberfrequencies.com

It's truly amazing what kids can do on the web these days. My 3-year-old niece can turn on an iPod Touch and flip through to find her game. My friend's six-year-old, Lola, wants to be a star on the Web.

And her cousin Ocelotl loves to go to the Jackson Pollack site where he can make his own paint-splattered homage. But still, every parent I know is conflicted. Should my kid go online? Is it safe? Maria Knee says it's our responsibility to teach kids how to be safe online. She's a kindergarten teacher who blogs with her students, and we asked her: aren't kindergarteners too young to be on the Internet? Mrs. Knee says that unlike TV, the Internet isn't just a source of entertainment. It's becoming our primary source of information. So... What do you think? Do you have any questions about your kid and the 'Net? Post your questions below and we'll pass them onto Mrs. Knee and let you know what she says! To listen to the complete interviews of Lola and Ocelotl -- iOla! (TM) -- and Mrs. Knee, go to www.cyberfrequencies.com or sign up for our podcast.

Gemma Watters, Production Assistant

When I first saw British micro-sculptor Willard Wigan's creations, I was stunned. His art is so small that it has to be viewed through a microscope. I peered into one and studied his art for nearly a half-hour. When I lifted my head - my eye stuck in a squint after having stared into the lens for so long - I was speechless. Next to Wigan's creations was his biography, with my eye still in squint position, I read about his influences and why he creates these amazing minuscule sculptures. That's when I started crying.

Continue reading "All Things Great and Small" >

Kimberly Adams, Production Assistant

Sarah Palin will step down as governor of Alaska on Sunday. Her replacement is Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who spoke this week with Weekend Edition host Liane Hansen.

The full interview airs Sunday on Weekend Edition. We'd like to hear your thoughts.... What kind of lasting impact, if any, do you think Sarah Palin's national spotlight will have on the state of Alaska?

The White House went a little bit country this week with a visit from Brad Paisley, Alison Krauss and Charley Pride. The songsters held a workshop for middle and high school students during the day, and performed for President Obama in the evening. NPR White House Correspondent Don Gonyea was there humming along; he reports on the shindig for this morning's show and sent along some pictures.

Country music star Charley Pride performs at the White House.Chuck Kennedy/White House

 

More photos after the jump.

Continue reading "Country Lovin' At The White House" >

Thomas Pierce, Weekend Edition

We knead your pizza recipes. Bah-duh-duhm. Flickr user 7-how-7

If pressed to name a favorite pizza, I might say a deep-dish overloaded with sausage, black olives, and sometimes mushrooms, with cheese a half-inch thick over a light red sauce. But the truth is: I'm not really a discriminating pizza consumer. I like thin crust, too, and I can appreciate experiments with exotic toppings. I'm not loyal to any particular restaurant or type of oven. Actually, the only kind of pizza I won't eat is the cardboard variety they used to serve up in my elementary school cafeteria.

Well, we are looking for YOUR homemade pizza recipes. We don't want reproductions of store-bought or restaurant creations. This is DIY pizza. We want YOUR recipe. What makes the perfect slice -- what kind of crust, what toppings, what cheese, what sauce? Is there a secret to the ideal homemade pizza? An ideal oven temperature?

Be as specific as possible. The Weekend Edition staff will pick the top three most creative/interesting/inspired/promising recipes. Then NPR's David Greene -- our guest-host for a weekend in August -- will try all three with a pizza chef in New York City. Together, they'll decide on a winner.

You can submit your recipes to recipes@npr.org.

Aaaaand... while we're on the subject of perfect pizzas, I took the opportunity to conduct an informal poll here among our staff. After the jump: leftover takeout pies, tuna pies, and pies on the pavement.

Continue reading "Feed Us Your Pizza (Recipes)" >

Marilyn Geewax, Contributing Senior Editor

Each Sunday, I try to bring listeners a bit of news about the economy -- and explain how it might affect average Americans. Now I thought I'd ask YOU to tell me what YOU'D like to hear us discuss, whether it's economic fallout or personal finance tips. Just post your suggestions right here!

Brian Reed, Weekend Edition

Fifty years ago, Clyde and Betty Jackson took their '56 T-bird to Daytona Beach, Fla., on their honeymoon. They drove, they doted, they danced. But not long into the Jacksons' married life, their T-bird was parked in a shed and forgotten, subject to a rusty fate.

It was so lost to memory that Clyde Jackson didn't even notice when his daughter recently snuck the car out of the shed to restore it for a Father's Day surprise. Now the Jacksons are riding down memory lane in style -- they've taken the T-bird back to Daytona on a second honeymoon. And they were kind enough to spare a few moments away from the beach to talk (and even sing!) to Scott -- a romance story writ true.

After the jump, some family photos of the T-bird -- on honeymoon #1, then after the years of forgetfullness, and then restored to its former glory.

Continue reading "Even More Summer Love" >

Gemma Watters, Production Assistant

Temperatures are soaring in Washington, D.C., and the intense summer sun isn't the sole cause. The city is playing host to the Romance Writers of America Conference and NPR's Scott Simon paid a visit, to find out why romance is one of the hottest selling genres in the book industry.

Scott even attempted his own love story - it definitely steamed up the windows at NPR. Please read it and let us know what you think - all comments, naughty and nice, are welcome.

Continue reading "Summer of Love " >

The original puzzlers, circa 1989: Liane Hansen, Will Shortz, and Susan Stamberg NPR

As we noted earlier on the blog, this November Liane Hansen marks her 20th year as host of Weekend Edition Sunday. That's why we taped and filmed -- check out the video! -- our puzzle segment in front of an audience last week. But in the Q&A that followed the puzzle, we realized that we were participating in what was perhaps the largest ever unintentional gathering of New York Times Crossword answers in a single room. Actor Stacy Keach, who was in the studio to read next week's puzzle, even admitted that his mother didn't think he'd truly "made it" until his name first appeared in the crossword puzzle:

Continue reading "More Puzzle Love" >

Davar Iran Ardalan, Senior Producer

This November, Liane Hansen will celebrate 20 years as host of Weekend Edition Sunday. We started the celebrations early with a multimedia taping of our popular puzzle segment in front of a live audience! New York Times crossword puzzle editor and NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz joined Liane in studio 4A to present the audience with a quiz before turning to the regular on-air quiz.

(video production credits: Thomas Pierce, Sarah Beyer Kelly, Kimberly Adams, Patrick De Oliveira, and Brian Reed)

Continue reading "Puzzle in Person" >

Brian Reed, Weekend Edition

The first time we had Mark Malkoff on the show, he was sleeping in an Ikea while exterminators fumigated his New York apartment of roaches.

Well Malkoff recently fumigated himself of something else -- a fear of flying. His method: living on an airplane for 30 days straight. On today's show Scott talks with the comedian about his latest challenge, which earned him a world record for taking the most scheduled flights in a month -- 135.

Malkoff documented the adventure on his Web site, MarkOnAirTran.com (AirTran was his benefactor and sponsor). Here are a couple of the video highlights -- including a highly scientific airborne pastime (ever heard of the Toilet Paper Experiment?) and a desperate pursuit of cleanliness.

We have a winner in our grilled desserts recipe contest: Cheryl Bryant of Winter Park, Fl. Her banana and Nutella napoleon will be a featured item for the next few weeks at Willow, a restaurant in Arlington, Va.

Thanks to all who submitted! We had plenty of interesting/creative/innovative/strange/wonderful entries. A pastry chef named Susan Lindeborg sifted through all of them and picked her favorite three. She passed those on to our panel of judges: NPR food essayist Bonny Wolf, NPR correspondent Daniel Zwerdling, and Kate Jansen, owner and pastry chef at Willow. They gathered around the grill at Bonny's house to prepare and taste all three.

They had a little trouble with a recipe for grilled ice cream. But try it out and let us know if you can get it to work. You can find all three recipes here.

And if you missed the chance to participate this time around, don't worry about it: we're doing it again! This time around, we're looking for the perfect pizza. What sauce? Deep dish or thin crust? And what about those toppings? Pepperoni, pineapple, asparagus... pickled pig's feet? What makes the best pizza pie? You can submit your recipes here.

Gemma Watters, Production Assistant

My teenage crush, rock God Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora have teamed up with Andy Madadian, known to some as the Prince of Persian Pop, to record a song for the people of Iran who are protesting the results of their presidential election. The musicians wanted to spread a message of peace and solidarity, so they have recorded a cover of Ben E. King's classic, Stand by Me.

Continue reading "Protest Songs" >

NPR's Graham Smith is in the Helmand River valley of south-central Afghanistan. It's now day three of the U.S.-led offensive there. Smith accompanied the 2/8 Marine Battalion (that's 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines) as it moved into the village of Sorhodoz. He filed a report for today's show, and he also sent along these pictures of Fox Company.

Captain John Sun meets with elders in the village of Sorhodez, Helmand Province. On the right is the village's religious leader, Mullah Zae Nudin. Graham Smith/NPR

 

Members of Fox Company take positions in a field as they move towards Sorhodoz.Graham Smith/NPR

 

More photos after the jump.

Continue reading "Pictures From Afghanistan's Helmand River Valley" >

Charla Bear, Weekend Edition

Scott Simon and I recently took a trip to the Los Angeles Farmers Market as it celebrates its 75th anniversary. On the show today you'll hear about a group of guys -- and the occasional woman -- who meet there every weekday for a leisurely breakfast. They started the tradition 25 years ago.

Tourists often flock to this market in hopes of spotting a celebrity sorting through the cucumbers or weighing the tomatoes. But our interns, Patrick De Oliveira and Brent Baughman, have put together a slideshow of some of the market's less famous characters.

Davar Iran Ardalan, Senior Producer

In early June, the State Department instructed U.S. embassies to invite Iranian diplomats to July 4th festivities around the world. But after the violent crackdown on Iranian protestors, the so-called "hotdog diplomacy" is off the table and the invitations have been withdrawn.

The international press was thrown out of Tehran after the election, and government leaders have been refusing interviews. But this week, we were able to reach Marzieh Hashemi in Tehran. She reports for Iran's English-language Press TV, and supports President Ahmadinejad. She was born in New Orleans and says that she moved to Iran last year. She believes that much of the world has a distorted view of popular opinion in Iran. Below is a partial transcript of the interview. A shorter version airs on Weekend Edition today.

Continue reading "Another View From Iran" >

Marilyn Geewax, Contributing Senior Editor

Each Sunday, I try to bring listeners a bit of news about the economy -- and explain how it might affect average Americans. Now I thought I'd ask YOU to tell me what YOU'D like to hear us discuss, whether it's economic fallout or personal finance tips. Just post your suggestions right here!