RubberBuzz || Akron Unleashed: Strange Things are afoot at The BJ

8.17.2005

Strange Things are afoot at The BJ

Has anyone checked the core temperature of the Earth lately? I think hell might have frozen over. Or maybe I'm in some kind of time warp where Wednesdays don't exist and I've been transported directly to Thursday. It could be that all the clocks that I've come in contact with and I were hit by some sort of sleeping potion that allows us to sleep for exactly 32 hours, wake up and think that only a night has passed. In any case, it's a Wednesday (at least in my mind) and there is a David Giffels article in The BJ.

Idella Butts can tell you a lot of things about the care and feeding of golfers. The 73-year-old has been cooking in the clubhouse kitchen for 45 years, nearly as long as championship golf has been played at Firestone Country Club.

She's been cooking there long enough to count Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino as friends.

Long enough to have an item on the Firestone clubhouse menu named after her: Idella's Potato Pancakes.

For the record, potato pancakes sound really good. I'm really digging on the Irish version called boxty. Boxty are a lot bigger then the potato pancakes we're used to; they are also stuffed with sauted veggies and whatnot. Anyway back to the story...

Butts became an icon among the golf stars thanks in part to a large opening between the kitchen and dining room, where diners could see her working at the grill. She used to sing there, mostly church songs, and her voice and warm smile became part of the Firestone experience for the pros.

When the country club was remodeled 15 years ago, a wide window was installed in front of the grill, specifically so diners could continue to enjoy Butts' presence.

If I were cooking at the club, they would have bricked up the window. Between me dropping things and swearing at inanimate objects, it would not be a pleasant experience for the diners... or for anyone else on staff... or for the pan that I'd inevitably throw across the room when it caught on fire. Moral of the story: Don't let me in your kitchen.

The BJ :: Mama's main course

(joe :: Strange Things are afoot at The BJ)

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