A Step Back in Time

On Mother's Day we took a self-guided "foodie" tour in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was prompted by one of my all time favorite books from childhood. All of A Kind Family by Sidney Taylor.

I recently bought a copy and started to read it with my son. Foolishly I was concerned about it being too "girly" for him, and was quickly ashamed at myself for gender stereotyping. He absolutely loves the story. It turned out that my husband ended up being captivated by it as well. There is something about the book that transports you to a different place and time, the descriptions make you feel as if you are right there in the tenement with the family in 1912. Much like the way the Little House on the Prairie series took you along in the covered wagon with the Ingalls family. We read it together in bed when there's enough time, and each chapter is a little short story within itself.

One chapter in particular has always been a favorite of mine, and as soon as I read it to Jake it quickly became his. It is a very descriptive passage of a shopping trip to prepare for Friday night dinner. Each of the five sisters had a penny to spend. I remember being shocked that you could buy anything for a penny...and 30 years later Jake as just as surprised. The author so vividly portrayed the streets of the Lower East Side, with its pushcarts and peddlers. You could practically smell the pickles, or feel the heat from the baked sweet potato peddler's cart. The two youngest sisters went into the candy shop and one spent her penny on chocolate babies. The other bought a bagful of broken crackers. It wasn't until I read it again as an adult that I realized the crackers were really ginger, chocolate, and lemon snaps. They must have called them crackers back then.

Before they went to sleep, they had hidden the paper bags under their pillow in the bed that they shared in order to play a game. They would put their hand into the bag without peeking, and then make up a rule about whatever it was that they pulled out. If it was a chocolate baby, they had to bite off just the head. If it was a cracker, they had to take little nibbles around the edges until it was all gone. They created all kinds of rules until the bag was empty.

After reading the chapter to Jake, he was full of questions about the various foods they girls had bought. He had no interest in the wax-paper cone full of hot chickpeas that one sister bought, or the sweet potato, but was curious as to what chocolate babies were. I showed him a picture of them, and then made a plan to take him to the exact neighborhood where Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie bought their candy.

Mother's Day seemed like the perfect day to indulge my All of A Kind Family obsession. We drove into Manhattan and luck was with us as we found a street parking spot directly across from the Tenement Museum! No paying to park! Happy Mother's Day to me!

I know all of Manhattan is full of history, but there was something about this area that felt like home to me. I've always been fascinated with old New York, in books like Up From Orchard Street, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Gangs of New York and the All of A Kind Family series.

Wouldn't you know, the Tenement Museum tickets were sold out, so we promised to come back another day when we were sure to pre-purchase our tickets online. We made do with exploring the shop, and it was full of great books, prints, and other great items.

Our hungry child prompted us to hurry up, so we made our way down Orchard Street, crossed Delancy and headed toward Katz's Deli.

Katz's Deli is approaching its 125th anniversary, and is THE place to get hot pastrami. I've seen it in various shows including Man vs. Food and Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations and its been on my foodie bucket list for some time. I was really excited to check it out.

I've been in plenty of New York delis in my life and Katz's looks no different from the others. Busted up linoleum floors, rickety wood tables and a huge counter. Packed with people.

When you enter, you are handed a ticket. You are warned that you have to hold onto that ticket, and if you lose it there is a $50 charge per ticket. It turns out that as you go to the counter to order, the person filling the order writes what you had on the ticket. It is then carried to the beverage section, and they write on it too. When you leave, it has to be handed in at the register. A little weird, but it is the Katz's tradition.

There wasn't a question as to what we were eating. Pastrami and Corned Beef. Both are sliced to order and served hot. While you wait, the carver puts a couple of bits on a little plate so you can pick at them until your sandwich is ready. The proper way to do it is with mustard and rye, but they do have rolls and other breads. They even have cheese, as this is kosher-style and not authentically kosher. But really...if you put cheese on pastrami you shouldn't be let in the door. Feh. A knish, pickles, and some Dr. Browns and we were in business.

It was fun to look at the hundreds of photos on the wall of celebrities who visited Katz's. It was NOT fun to go to the bathroom, where the stall seemed even smaller than an airplane bathroom. Oy vey. The pastrami in particular was out of this world. They also have their own brew made by Brooklyn Brewery...a hit with my husband.

Our next stop was Economy Candy. This was located on Rivington Street. It is another business that has been around for a long time....since 1937.

This place was PACKED to the rafters with candy. They have bulk and individual items, nuts, dried fruit, and everything you could ever think of. Except chocolate babies. Which was why we went there in the first place. They had them on the website, and we were excited to try out the same candy that Gertie and Charlotte had bought for just a penny in All of A Kind Family. When we asked, they told us that chocolate babies were only made at certain times of the year. I didn't really press for more information, and we were consoled with Happy Hippos, Harry Potter's Chocolate Frogs, Goldenberg's Peanut Chews, and another assorted goodies.

After loading up on goodies here we made our way over to Grand, to find Kossar's Bialys. For those that don't know what a bialy is, it is a bread roll that is shaped somewhat like a bagel, but with an indentation instead of a hole. The hole is usually filled with onion or garlic. It is baked, not boiled like a traditional bagel. 

Gorgeous, right? 

I love bialys. I grew up with them on Long Island. They have them here, but it just isn't as good as what you can get in New York. People say it has something to do with the water that they make them with. I have no idea. What I do know is that these bialys from Kossar's are RIDICULOUS. We picked up a half dozen and added them to our packages.

Right down the street from Kossar's we found Jake's idea of heaven. Possibly even more than the candy store. We found The Pickle Guys.

Barrels full of pickles. Sour, half, 3/4, pickled mango, pineapple, tomato, okra, etc. A great bunch of boisterous men chatted with us and gave us tastes of their wares. Modern day peddlers. Too bad a penny won't get you anything! Still, we got ourselves some proper pickles, Jake charmed his way into the back for some pickle tattoos, and we were off.

Back to Orchard Street and the Tenement Museum, and our sweet parking spot.

I can't wait to go back. There is so much more to see and do! I highly recommend a trip to the Lower East Side. It's such a refreshing change from the typical tourist spots in NYC. We were able to see the new spire on One World Trade that was nearby and pledged to make a stop at the memorial on our next trip. The South Street Seaport is also close. 

I've got to thank my husband and son for indulging me on Mother's Day. I also have to thank Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie for inspiring my love for my culture, history, and reading. They were such a gift to me when I was young and I am so glad to have them back in my life and to be able to share them with the next generation.

I've Gone Bananas

A few posts ago I told you about the ham that I made in Florida. And the Indonesian Chicken. And the Crash Hot Potatoes. Well, you KNOW there had to be dessert to go with all of that goodness. Even though I strayed from the original Barefoot Contessa cookbook that I am making my way through, I stuck with Auntie and baked up something from one of her later books, How Easy is That? No, really. I'm not asking you that question. How Easy is That? is the name of the book. But really, it should be called "How Easy is Thaaaaaat?" If you know Auntie, you can just hear her voice right now...

I had also recently written about the episode that I saw when I was on an airplane, where Ina visits a classroom of special needs children and bakes with them. One of the things that she made really stood out. Partly because it looked super easy, but mostly because when I saw it I knew that it was right up my dad's alley. Old Fashioned Banana Cake. Daddy is a big fan of banana. And peanut butter. And no, he isn't Elvis.

Well, Auntie was right about this recipe being in the "easy" cookbook, because it was super simple to throw together and took no skill to present. It has one layer, so no need to have two cake pans. It isn't even frosted traditionally, and just has the cream cheese icing on the top of the cake...no sides involved!

Since I was dealing with a non-baking friendly kitchen I had to grab a disposable cake pan from Publix. My mom DID bake many moons ago, but I have a feeling most of her bakeware was quietly disposed of once my parents left New York for Florida. One thing about Auntie is that she loves her 9-inch pans. Unfortunately, if you're in a hurry and without a pan your only option is the 8-inch pans that they sell in the grocery store. This could be an issue if you aren't careful! More on that later...

While my parents do own a Kitchen Aid mixer, a staple of every one of Auntie's baking recipes, it lives in the garage. I am not really sure why they have it, or if they have ever used it, but there it is....on the shelf next to the pool noodles.

Great, I've got access to a mixer....right?

No. I don't. Apparently removing the mixer from its home in the garage is too much of a "potchka." For those who don't know what that means, it is a Yiddish word for something "that requires a lot of fussing." So the gleaming, white Kitchen Aid stayed put in the hot Florida garage, next to its friends the pool noodles. Fortunately there was an electric hand mixer in the kitchen cabinet, and I was able to use that. I haven't used one of those since I was a little kid! I remember watching my mother mixing some sort of batter and waiting (im)patiently to lick one or both of the beaters when she popped them off of the mixer. I guess no one was concerned about Salmonella back in the olden days.

The electric hand beater was perfectly serviceable, and the cake was mixed and in the pan in less than five minutes. Fortunately my parents had most of the ingredients in the house....Costco-sized. They must be hiding a pet monkey, because they had not one, but two huge bunches of banana. For people that rarely bake, they manage to have a giant Costco bottle of vanilla. For greasing those pans....no less than SIX cans of PAM in the cabinet. I wonder if that stuff can double as suntan lotion? Maybe I'l try that next time I visit...

To solve the problem of the 8 inch pan, I ended up filling it with only part of the batter so I did not overflow and spill into the oven. I would not be allowed in my parent's  kitchen anymore if I did that. I already had one strike against me when I caught a pot of oil on fire in their old house. The rest of the batter went into a mini-loaf pan.

I washed the beaters and whipped up the frosting. Cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Upon doing a taste test I have to say that I like the frosting that Auntie makes for the Coconut Cupcakes better. The only change is almond extract instead of vanilla, but it makes a significant difference in my opinion.

Fortunately things went off without a hitch, the house smelled fantastic, and the cake was a HUGE hit! So much so, that I had to make another one three days later for the next batch of company. Notice that while my parents may be lacking in culinary tools, they make up for in fabulous granite counters and gleaming white serving dishes.

A slice (of heaven)

You need to make this cake. Throw your box mixes out the window and whip one of these babies up!

Old Fashioned Banana Cake