OK, so its not a restaurant. But it IS in the North Country This Week every week, as a little advertisement for "Fresh Seafood Thursdays". Larry's Fish Truck is "at the park" from 9:30am-1pm in Canton and parked at the corner of the Market Street bypass in Potsdam, NY from 2-5:15pm every Thursday. The bypass is a road bridge that parallels the railroad bridge over the Racquette River for traffic to go around the downtown area of the tiny village of Potsdam. Going through the historic downtown or going over the river is a quaint experience, but either way, you can get to Larry's on Thursday afternoon. Well, you have to go over the river even if you go through the historic downtown, just a different bridge (two actually, but not through the woods to grandmother's house).
The Julie/Mom Project was inspired by the Julie & Julia movie, a favorite scene of which is the cooking of the live lobsters. We also watched many episodes of the original French Chef With Julia Child and a favorite is "The Lobster Show". My daughter Julie (of this blog) and her sister MJ have both been wanting to try lobster ever since. There is the "Lobster House" just three miles away from us that is in our Spring Restaurant Guide, but I have hesitated to go there any time soon, knowing how particualry expensive lobster is in a restaurant and also knowing how particularly finicky miss Maryjane is about all sorts of foods. We may get there some day.
But in the meantime, I got a better idea while noting that "live lobsters", with a cute painting of a lobster, are advertised on the side of Larry's truck along with "fresh seafood". Its still expensive, of course, but this is a very special thing to do for our blog. Larry's Fish Truck business is up for sale, too. Don't know if it will be around much longer if nobody buys it and it is very cool to be able to get our own lobsters, support a small business and do a Julia Child thing all at the same time. I hope to go down to Larry's again before I believe he stops for the season because there are all kinds of yummy things there and Julie and Mom do loooove fish! The smoked trout pate looked especially appealing, but we are partial to salmon as well. He also has oysters and just lots of stuff. I love cod which is available, though it is ironically rare in modern times as these fisheries have collapsed.
In the past, it was believed to be impossible to over-fish cod, a staple food resource for many societies and a basic for feeding slaves in the Caribbean. The science of the day did not predict the exponential effect of human population rise and technology advancements in fishing that ultimately led to exactly that outcome. Now, even with moratoriums in the Atlantic, it appears that cod may never come back to meaningful levels. The entire ecosystem has been altered too greatly by the overkill. And I've heard that lobsters used to regularly grow quite large... like up to five feet long. I've also heard that the original pilgrims that first came to America would not have come so close to starving in the winter if their cultural food avoidance prejudices did not cause them to shun lobster! But I digress...
We watched "The Lobster Show" again on Youtube and accordingly for the simple "recipe" she did, Julie and I went down and got two 1 1/2 pound lobsters. The recipe that the Julie Powell character did in the movie appeared to be Lobster Thermidor, though, after reading the recipe, it was depicted incorrectly as the lobsters for that have to be cut in half while still alive, then baked. It is a very complex recipe and, after all, this is a restaurant blog, not a cooking blog! Its also a "no rules" blog, which allows us to take this little divergence.
We boiled a big pot of water. That took a looong time. I chased the girls around the house with the live lobsters. I felt a bit guilty for that, but considering their ultimate bondage (uh, the lobsters'), it seemed pretty harmless. They really are insects of the sea... like huge cockroaches that happen to live in the ocean. But there they are... their beady little eyes looking at you. How is this different from seeing a pig in the face before you eat your bacon or seeing a cow in the eye before your tasty burger? Hmmmm? As per Julia Child's lesson, we checked to see if they were male or female. They were both males and disturbingly enough, my girls decided that this was justification enough to kill them as individuals! Shit you not. And, yes, I DID question this concept with them!
We plunged them in head first, or as Julia Child said, where all their thoughts and feelings are, so they die immediately, which we all know they do not. Their cold bodies immediately cool the rolling boiling water to less than boiling and they stay alive just a bit until the water comes back to full boil, which Julia never mentions how long will take, which is actually some time. They kick a bit... or is that just the boiling water (oh, its not boiling though)... or "nerves"? Yeah. I'd have some "nerves" if I was being boiled alive.
We took one of the lobsters to eat immediately and cooled and put the other in the refrigerator. Following "The Lobster Show" we cut the thing in half with scisssors. We had cooled it a bit anyway, so we scooped out the greenish guts for the "sauce" and the removed the leg and thoracic cavity meat. The guts get mixed with mayonnaise, dijon mustard and green onions (fresh from grandma's garden) as sauce to the rest of the meat. I find that sauce goes best with the thoracic cavity meat, that still has some guts clinging to it. I dip the tail and pitiful but delicisous leg meat into melted butter and also the huge bounty of big claw meat... possibly more delicious than the tail meat.
It was all delicious... MJ hated it. Julie and I savored it over the course of that night and a few evenings later when we did the same to the other chilled, cooked cockroach... I mean lobster. Yum.
Post Script: Julia Child's Lobster Show included a segment where you remove the "sand sack"... the stomach... of the lobster after you cut it in half. This is one of the things you doooo when you follow a Julia Child show. The firsrt (male) lobster we executed on his death row had a piece of rubber in his sac we could see before we cut the transparent stomach open. I speculate this is something that happens in lobster tankes where the only thing you might eat is a bit of rubber band off your fellow mate's claws as you starve yourself (?) cleaning out your intestinal tract much like a human awaiting their colonoscopy... don't want folks seeing the filled GIT... or culinary gods forbid... EATING a filled GI tube?!?! Anyway... after you cut open the stomach, you can see an image of a "madonna".. a woman's dressed figure with the transparent/translucent stomach lining as a gown... awe-inspiring.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Subway
Though the Spring Restaurant Guide in the North Country This Week only lists two locations for Subway (180 Market Street in Potsdam and University Shopping Center in Canton), we're counting our stop at the Walmart in-store location for the Project.
It was late August and time to get some new sneakers for the girls for the start of the school year. So, it was off to our only real option locally... Walmart... as it would not really be worth the gasoline money to head to a store in Massena or Ogdensburg for similar cheap shoes made in China.
As we checked out with our booty from the Walmart in Potsdam, NY, the smell of pepperoni pizza wafted into our hungry nostrils from the deli counter in the front of the store. Our stomachs grumbled and our mouths salivated as we walked past the Subway nook looking for the source of the tantalizing odor. We could not find any pizza counter though I was certain I'd seen it right there on previous trips. By this time, I was too hungry to wait the five minute drive back home to get something to eat and the girls are always ready to suggest dining at the first place they see. Subway, it was! Well, it's a good follow-up to our last Julie/Mom Project blog of another famous submarine sandwich chain.
Julie and MJ ordered half subs this time and both decided to get ham and cheese. I didn't have my blog notebook with me and I forgot which kind of cheese they got. I forgot to make them get it on wheat, so white rolls again. This is plain Maryjane's standby order for a sandwich, but I was surprised Julie got it, too. Julie does like everything, though. It was still late summer hot outside and a cold ham and cheese seemed seasonal. MJ got chopped pickles and lettuce on hers and Julie got black olives and lettuce... hold any dressing on both. The "meal deal" came with either chips or cookies on the side and a drink. They both got cookies, chocolate chip for MJ, M&M for Julie. Root beer and fruit punch filled out their late lunch meals.
We have already covered in this blog how I like to really go for it when it comes to sandwiches... no plain maryjane for me! I still had the pepperoni smell enticement going in my head, so I ordered a whole italian sub (pepperoni and genoa salami) on wheat. After choosing provolone for my cheese duh... its an italian sub), I was asked if I wanted it toasted. Why YES! Perfect choice to satisfy the craving brought on by the heated pepperoni smell that brought us to this place after all. I think this is the main difference I can think of between Subway and Jrecks as toasting is not an option at the latter. Well that and black olives as a topping, which I got as well as lettuce, tomato, onion, hot pepper relish, italian oil, herb sprinkles and parmesan. Side bag of potato chips and a lemonade made up my meal, both of which I took home after being quite satisfied consuming my whole sub.
Yum. The whole trend of submarine sandwiches as an alternative fast food to hamburgers is a great trend in our popular culture I think. I like chain restaurant burgers well enough, but its nice to have these options.
It was late August and time to get some new sneakers for the girls for the start of the school year. So, it was off to our only real option locally... Walmart... as it would not really be worth the gasoline money to head to a store in Massena or Ogdensburg for similar cheap shoes made in China.
As we checked out with our booty from the Walmart in Potsdam, NY, the smell of pepperoni pizza wafted into our hungry nostrils from the deli counter in the front of the store. Our stomachs grumbled and our mouths salivated as we walked past the Subway nook looking for the source of the tantalizing odor. We could not find any pizza counter though I was certain I'd seen it right there on previous trips. By this time, I was too hungry to wait the five minute drive back home to get something to eat and the girls are always ready to suggest dining at the first place they see. Subway, it was! Well, it's a good follow-up to our last Julie/Mom Project blog of another famous submarine sandwich chain.
Julie and MJ ordered half subs this time and both decided to get ham and cheese. I didn't have my blog notebook with me and I forgot which kind of cheese they got. I forgot to make them get it on wheat, so white rolls again. This is plain Maryjane's standby order for a sandwich, but I was surprised Julie got it, too. Julie does like everything, though. It was still late summer hot outside and a cold ham and cheese seemed seasonal. MJ got chopped pickles and lettuce on hers and Julie got black olives and lettuce... hold any dressing on both. The "meal deal" came with either chips or cookies on the side and a drink. They both got cookies, chocolate chip for MJ, M&M for Julie. Root beer and fruit punch filled out their late lunch meals.
We have already covered in this blog how I like to really go for it when it comes to sandwiches... no plain maryjane for me! I still had the pepperoni smell enticement going in my head, so I ordered a whole italian sub (pepperoni and genoa salami) on wheat. After choosing provolone for my cheese duh... its an italian sub), I was asked if I wanted it toasted. Why YES! Perfect choice to satisfy the craving brought on by the heated pepperoni smell that brought us to this place after all. I think this is the main difference I can think of between Subway and Jrecks as toasting is not an option at the latter. Well that and black olives as a topping, which I got as well as lettuce, tomato, onion, hot pepper relish, italian oil, herb sprinkles and parmesan. Side bag of potato chips and a lemonade made up my meal, both of which I took home after being quite satisfied consuming my whole sub.
Yum. The whole trend of submarine sandwiches as an alternative fast food to hamburgers is a great trend in our popular culture I think. I like chain restaurant burgers well enough, but its nice to have these options.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Jreck Subs
Jreck Subs is an old standby, especially for me at the location we are writing up for the Julie/MomProject at 61 Market St., Potsdam NY. It was here over twenty years ago when I was attending college and its still here, though most other business offices adjacent to it have switched hands or are unoccupied now.
This popular chain has locations listed in the North Country This Week's Spring Restaurant Guide for Canton, Massena, Ogdensburg, Gouverneur and Malone. As I see these other towns listed, I note that the Guide's listings are all in St Lawrence County (New York State's largest) but certainly is not inclusive of all restaurants in the county. This is a good thing for the Project, because we really can't go tooling off to Gouverneur all the time to eat out. Thankfully, most of the places are in reasonable distance to, or in Potsdam, where we live.
It was early in August and I had taken my girls out shopping for dresses for them to wear for the upsoming season of weddings and bridal showers. We walked the two blocks to downtown from our house to the used clothing stores, Kidz Closet and the CORC, then hit the Isle of You's summer sale. Though we passed Jreck Subs along the way, we still had to drive to Walmart as we had only found one dress, no shoes and there are no other options for clothes in town. After successfully completing our shopping, we were hungry and Jreck's was calling. It was about 7:30 PM and the long summer daylight was still with us for the pleasant stroll back downtown.
Its a pretty good place for fast food. The rolls, cold cuts, cheeses and toppings are fresh while there is still the selection for greasy fried hot food as well. MJ and Julie both got the "meal deal" that gets you a drink and side with your submarine sandwhich. Both got the curly fries side, a personal favorite of mine which they shared with me, thus reducing the overall fat and salt content of their meals.
And Julie could use some reducing... she ordered the fried chicken on a white roll with nothing else on it, no lettuce or tomato or cheese, nothing. I guess it could've been worse since she didn't have mayo either, but wow. White bread around batter fried chicken just seems like a bland, fiber-free, carbohydrate/fat calories, bludgeon of doom. She got a lemonade. MJ always gets the same thing here, ham and swiss on a white roll with lettuce and diced pickle. She got a root beer, always her beverage of choice when allowed to have a soda pop eating out. I usually force the girls to at least get their subs on a wheat roll, but I didn't think in time before they ordered.
I went with the sandwich du jour - Turkey Bacon Ranch. Oh yes. All ya gotta say is BACON to me! I had it put on the roll du mois, garlic and dill... WITH some extra Thousand Island dressing to go with the Ranch dressing. It turns out they will actually put on ALL of the dressings if you really want and I was tempted to just slap some mayo on there too, but thought better of it. My waistline has paid the worst price of a year away from the physical work I am accustomed to doing, though at this point the extra mayo could hardly make that much of a difference. Especially since I was helping to reduce Julie's fat calorie load by eating most of her curly fries. I chose provolone cheese to go with the usual suspects, lettuce, onion, tomato, and hot pepper.
I was thinking there should be more toppings, like bell pepper and black olives, but I guess it is one of the those smaller versions of Jreck's. They still have the grill for all the hot sub variteies. I usually get the "Philly" steak and cheese with grilled onions and peppers... dripping greasy goodness! Julie has done the hot meatball sub, too. (MJ always gets the plain ham and cheese.) But, it was a hot August night and cold subs were the way to go. The hot bacon I got on mine quickly cooled off in the bath of cold fat dressings.
We all ordered whole subs and I wondered "what the heck was I thinking?" as we went to sit down with this massive tray of food. As it turns out, MJ and Julie ate their whole subs and I took most of one half of mine home. It was delicious the next day, Homer Simpson's voice in my head saying, "mmmmmm... saaandwiiich".
This popular chain has locations listed in the North Country This Week's Spring Restaurant Guide for Canton, Massena, Ogdensburg, Gouverneur and Malone. As I see these other towns listed, I note that the Guide's listings are all in St Lawrence County (New York State's largest) but certainly is not inclusive of all restaurants in the county. This is a good thing for the Project, because we really can't go tooling off to Gouverneur all the time to eat out. Thankfully, most of the places are in reasonable distance to, or in Potsdam, where we live.
It was early in August and I had taken my girls out shopping for dresses for them to wear for the upsoming season of weddings and bridal showers. We walked the two blocks to downtown from our house to the used clothing stores, Kidz Closet and the CORC, then hit the Isle of You's summer sale. Though we passed Jreck Subs along the way, we still had to drive to Walmart as we had only found one dress, no shoes and there are no other options for clothes in town. After successfully completing our shopping, we were hungry and Jreck's was calling. It was about 7:30 PM and the long summer daylight was still with us for the pleasant stroll back downtown.
Its a pretty good place for fast food. The rolls, cold cuts, cheeses and toppings are fresh while there is still the selection for greasy fried hot food as well. MJ and Julie both got the "meal deal" that gets you a drink and side with your submarine sandwhich. Both got the curly fries side, a personal favorite of mine which they shared with me, thus reducing the overall fat and salt content of their meals.
And Julie could use some reducing... she ordered the fried chicken on a white roll with nothing else on it, no lettuce or tomato or cheese, nothing. I guess it could've been worse since she didn't have mayo either, but wow. White bread around batter fried chicken just seems like a bland, fiber-free, carbohydrate/fat calories, bludgeon of doom. She got a lemonade. MJ always gets the same thing here, ham and swiss on a white roll with lettuce and diced pickle. She got a root beer, always her beverage of choice when allowed to have a soda pop eating out. I usually force the girls to at least get their subs on a wheat roll, but I didn't think in time before they ordered.
I went with the sandwich du jour - Turkey Bacon Ranch. Oh yes. All ya gotta say is BACON to me! I had it put on the roll du mois, garlic and dill... WITH some extra Thousand Island dressing to go with the Ranch dressing. It turns out they will actually put on ALL of the dressings if you really want and I was tempted to just slap some mayo on there too, but thought better of it. My waistline has paid the worst price of a year away from the physical work I am accustomed to doing, though at this point the extra mayo could hardly make that much of a difference. Especially since I was helping to reduce Julie's fat calorie load by eating most of her curly fries. I chose provolone cheese to go with the usual suspects, lettuce, onion, tomato, and hot pepper.
I was thinking there should be more toppings, like bell pepper and black olives, but I guess it is one of the those smaller versions of Jreck's. They still have the grill for all the hot sub variteies. I usually get the "Philly" steak and cheese with grilled onions and peppers... dripping greasy goodness! Julie has done the hot meatball sub, too. (MJ always gets the plain ham and cheese.) But, it was a hot August night and cold subs were the way to go. The hot bacon I got on mine quickly cooled off in the bath of cold fat dressings.
We all ordered whole subs and I wondered "what the heck was I thinking?" as we went to sit down with this massive tray of food. As it turns out, MJ and Julie ate their whole subs and I took most of one half of mine home. It was delicious the next day, Homer Simpson's voice in my head saying, "mmmmmm... saaandwiiich".
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The Bagelry
When I lived in Wyoming for years, I once had my visiting mother-in-law from the Potsdam area bring me garlic bagels from The Bagelry on the airplane. Though quadruple bagged, the garlic fumes of her carry-on baggage turned heads on the plane. I was sooo grateful for her sacrifice. Even three day old bagels from the Bagelry are a Godsend in the wasteland of Wyoming, where we bought bready "bagels"at the grocery store to serve as hamburger buns.
A perfect, delicate crispness to the exterior coupled with a softly dense interior is just pure culinary artistic mastery. Though I now miss many types of regional cuisine from my travels, there was nothing I missed more than being away from a proper bagel for the last twenty plus years. And now, I am back! And The Bagelry is more than just dear to my heart, it is NEAR again.
As readers of this blog know, I lost my camera. I had planned to take a picture of the lovely bins of seasoned and other variety bagels to post with this. (Edit: my friend took a picture recently and I have now added it, YAY!) There are plain, wheat, sesame, onion, garlic, cinnamon raisin, italian, salt, poppy seed, everything, oh... Then, of course, you have the toppings or sandwich selections to be made. All sorts of tuna melt, breakfast egg, Gobble (deli turkey), Nova Lox (with cream cheese, onion and capers), Fresser (piles of different deli meats with cheese), Reuben, ham-n-cheese, etc. That list is huge and I can't possibly remember them all.
Back in town, we come here often now, almost always just to get a half or baker's dozen to bring home to make up ourselves. This day in early June, Julie and I decided to have breakfast here before school as a treat. Julie had never tried the lox spread (lox mixed with cream cheese) and I had a feeling she would like it, fond as she is of cream cheese and also has a taste for fishy stuff, as do I. We were picking up a half dozen to go (wheat, cin-raisin, garlic) and then got a prepared toasted garlic bagel with lox spread to eat in, split between us. I got onion and tomato on my half and we each got a pickle slice. Nice breakfast... I sent her to school with garlic, salmon and pickle on her breath!
We sat at the outdoor tables on the sidewalk of old downtown. It was a beautiful morning, still cool at the street corner by the Raquette River. There was a light breeze and long shadows of the morning to escape into, but you could tell it was going to get hot this day. When we were finished, I sent Julie to school on her bicycle from there. It is nice to be back in Potsdam!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Foxy Roxy
Foxy Roxy is a little diner open for breakfast and lunch at 124 Market St, Potsdam, NY. It was early June, school was still in session winding down Julie's last year in elementary (4th grade) and she had a science exam to take. Her teacher had told the students to eat a good, high protein breakfast to prepare their brains best for the test. So, we decided to knock this place off the list and make test preparation a little more fun at the same time.
Its a cozy, clean, little place with small booths in addition to the tables. The decor is hunting and fishing theme with outdoor scene pictures on the walls. The menu is typical breakfast and lunch diner fare. I noted something called "stuffed french toast" that didn't describe what it was, and also blueberry bagels that sounded good. I'm very particular about my bagels and we have a bagel restaurant in town (coming up next blog), so I am wary of the quality of this particular item since The Bagelry doesn't make blueberry bagels. I would be sadly disappointed if it was of the "Lender's" style mass produced drudgery. I will ask first before I decide to try this in the future. Should ask about the stuffed french toast, too. I also noted grilled cheese and bacon as well as the Foxy Roxy Sandwich: a grilled swiss, bacon and turkey. Mmmmmm... bacon.
We both got the special, 3 eggs, home fries, choice of meat, toast and coffee. I ordered my meal with bacon, eggs poached hard, and hold the toast. I always order my eggs cooked hard to be sure that the white is thoroughly cooked and not because I don't like soft yolks. I just hate it when the white is still runny. These eggs had a slightly soft yolk, which was just fine. The home fries are large size potato chunks. Julie ordered hers with sausage patties, scrambled, and hold the coffee! She got a glass of orange juice to go with her meal and I got a glass of water for thirst quenching purposes.
It was a big breakfast and Julie couldn't finish hers, so we put the remains in a box and I brought it back home to her Dad, who doesn't eat meat (I finished her sausage) but has an insatiable desire for fried potatoes.
We did our ongoing lessons of percentages to figure out the tip. I make Julie do it, having showed her how easy it is to calculate ten percent then add another half of that to get fifteen or double it to get twenty. We usually always leave twenty and never leave only ten percent. Part of the tip lesson is the reality of waiting tables as a very low-paying job premised on the expectation of tips. Food is life and so is making a living serving it. The gratuity is all about the gratitude we have for our blessings.
Its a cozy, clean, little place with small booths in addition to the tables. The decor is hunting and fishing theme with outdoor scene pictures on the walls. The menu is typical breakfast and lunch diner fare. I noted something called "stuffed french toast" that didn't describe what it was, and also blueberry bagels that sounded good. I'm very particular about my bagels and we have a bagel restaurant in town (coming up next blog), so I am wary of the quality of this particular item since The Bagelry doesn't make blueberry bagels. I would be sadly disappointed if it was of the "Lender's" style mass produced drudgery. I will ask first before I decide to try this in the future. Should ask about the stuffed french toast, too. I also noted grilled cheese and bacon as well as the Foxy Roxy Sandwich: a grilled swiss, bacon and turkey. Mmmmmm... bacon.
We both got the special, 3 eggs, home fries, choice of meat, toast and coffee. I ordered my meal with bacon, eggs poached hard, and hold the toast. I always order my eggs cooked hard to be sure that the white is thoroughly cooked and not because I don't like soft yolks. I just hate it when the white is still runny. These eggs had a slightly soft yolk, which was just fine. The home fries are large size potato chunks. Julie ordered hers with sausage patties, scrambled, and hold the coffee! She got a glass of orange juice to go with her meal and I got a glass of water for thirst quenching purposes.
It was a big breakfast and Julie couldn't finish hers, so we put the remains in a box and I brought it back home to her Dad, who doesn't eat meat (I finished her sausage) but has an insatiable desire for fried potatoes.
We did our ongoing lessons of percentages to figure out the tip. I make Julie do it, having showed her how easy it is to calculate ten percent then add another half of that to get fifteen or double it to get twenty. We usually always leave twenty and never leave only ten percent. Part of the tip lesson is the reality of waiting tables as a very low-paying job premised on the expectation of tips. Food is life and so is making a living serving it. The gratuity is all about the gratitude we have for our blessings.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Billy's Deli
Billy's Deli isn't actually in the North Country This Week Spring Restaurant Guide that is the basis for this blog. It just opened after the guide was published, but this is a "no rules" blog, so we decided to include it in our little adventure anyway. I had planned on us going to the grand opening on May 1st, but I completely spaced it. These things happen. We lose cameras and forget dates of events we wanted to attend. But we can't give up. We just have to keep moving on through life.
It was May 28th when I dropped off MJ and Julie at the Roxy Theater in downtown Potsdam, NY to see "Kung Fu Panda II" while I went to Ton's Sports Bar (a future destination for this blog) to catch some Wimbledon tennis action instead of seeing the movie. MJ and I texted each other at the end of the movie so I would know exactly when to pick them up. They had a small ice cream at the little stand next to the theater that bought me some time to see the end of a match.
When I parked in the lot across the street to pick them up, however, they declared they were hungry and wanted to go to Billy's Deli, which was just a couple doors down from the theater at 2 Main Street. Oh well, wanted to check it out some time and I was hungry for a cold sandwich. I love deli sandwiches.
Boar's Head meats and quality breads from a local bakery are billed for this deli and so it was. We all ordered 8" subs. MJ got cooked salami with pickles and swiss cheese. Julie got the "Pastrami-rama" with swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato, hold the mayo. Actually there is some confusion as to whether she said to hold the tomato as well as the mayo because when it came out with diced tomato on it, she picked it all off. I couldn't remember if she had said that or not so I'll withhold judgement on who's error it was. I ate her tomato along with my sub, cajun turkey (which was very well-spiced and yummy) with horseradish cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, cherry pepper rings and mayo. You can tell who is the most adventurous of our little trio here! I used to work in a deli many moons ago and have a great appreciation for specialty meats and lots of additions and dressing.
We shared a small bag of Block and Barrel brand BBQ potato chips and MJ and Julie got raspberry ice teas while I drank water. I ended up spilling my water all over the table, but managed to miss anything that might've been damaged, including my notebook we were taking notes in. I actually got Julie to write down some of the notes for "our" blog this time. I was busy with my laptop on the window sill, getting my e-mail because I could get an internet hit there. We were still in transition between houses at this time. Julie couldn't finish all of her sandwich so I took it home and ate the rest the next day. I knew the ice cream before the meal was a bad idea. Oh well, no harm done. The sandwich saved well with no mayo or tomato on it.
It was May 28th when I dropped off MJ and Julie at the Roxy Theater in downtown Potsdam, NY to see "Kung Fu Panda II" while I went to Ton's Sports Bar (a future destination for this blog) to catch some Wimbledon tennis action instead of seeing the movie. MJ and I texted each other at the end of the movie so I would know exactly when to pick them up. They had a small ice cream at the little stand next to the theater that bought me some time to see the end of a match.
When I parked in the lot across the street to pick them up, however, they declared they were hungry and wanted to go to Billy's Deli, which was just a couple doors down from the theater at 2 Main Street. Oh well, wanted to check it out some time and I was hungry for a cold sandwich. I love deli sandwiches.
Boar's Head meats and quality breads from a local bakery are billed for this deli and so it was. We all ordered 8" subs. MJ got cooked salami with pickles and swiss cheese. Julie got the "Pastrami-rama" with swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato, hold the mayo. Actually there is some confusion as to whether she said to hold the tomato as well as the mayo because when it came out with diced tomato on it, she picked it all off. I couldn't remember if she had said that or not so I'll withhold judgement on who's error it was. I ate her tomato along with my sub, cajun turkey (which was very well-spiced and yummy) with horseradish cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, cherry pepper rings and mayo. You can tell who is the most adventurous of our little trio here! I used to work in a deli many moons ago and have a great appreciation for specialty meats and lots of additions and dressing.
We shared a small bag of Block and Barrel brand BBQ potato chips and MJ and Julie got raspberry ice teas while I drank water. I ended up spilling my water all over the table, but managed to miss anything that might've been damaged, including my notebook we were taking notes in. I actually got Julie to write down some of the notes for "our" blog this time. I was busy with my laptop on the window sill, getting my e-mail because I could get an internet hit there. We were still in transition between houses at this time. Julie couldn't finish all of her sandwich so I took it home and ate the rest the next day. I knew the ice cream before the meal was a bad idea. Oh well, no harm done. The sandwich saved well with no mayo or tomato on it.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Mom's Schoolhouse Diner
Happy birthday to me! Well, back in May it was my birthday and that is when I visited "Mom's" with my kids for the Julie/Mom Project because I had never been there and, well, it was my birthday! We were in transition from one house to another and temporarily staying in West Potsdam, where Mom's Schoolhouse Diner is located at a rural crossroads next to the volunteer fire fighter's station... "The Minutemen".
It was a Saturday and "Mom" has a constant ad in the North Country This Week that says "sing-along-with-Mom" on Saturdays. I figured we could catch some old time style fun and might get a favorite north country treat I always loved and had been telling my kids about... french fries with gravy.
As we walked into the the quaint little diner, I spied the old piano in the corner... just what I had imagined "sing-along-with-Mom" would involve. It's a pretty small place with 1950's theme decor, old 45 records, old pictures, old advertisements and some Norman Rockwells.
Unfortunately we were immediately informed that "Mom's" daughter was getting married tomorrow and she was too busy with preparations to play the piano tonight. Also, the usual Saturday special of Shepherd's Pie was not available due to wedding prep. The soup du jour was sold out (we went in late to catch the hour of sing-along). Also, the frier was broken, so no french fries! On the bright side, I told them it was my birthday and I got 15% off my dinner, or a free small Sundae. I went with the 15% as I am not a big dessert fan.
Julie ordered the basil and lemon chicken breast platter with her two sides being applesauce and cottage cheese (because no soup). I got the breaded cod fillet with red potato salad and cole slaw. Actually, it may have been a sole fillet... its hard to tell and fish is routinely served under false species ID. Cod is fairly rare these days thanks to the overfishing in the Atlantic, but the reason I speculate isn't because I'm a great expert, its because the waitress wasn't sure what it was. Well, it was fish and I liked it, so that's all that matters. MJ enjoyed a healthy meal of a vanilla frappe (thick local style milkshake) and plain cheeseburger. "Plain Maryjane" is what she is with her cheeseburgers... nothing else but pickle is allowed. Apparently sesame seed buns are now acceptable, though that was an annoying issue for years. Once again, that's why this is the Julie/Mom Project and not the MJ/Mom Project.
The main portions are not huge, sort of bare looking on the large oval platter with the side orders in little, fancy, clear plastic cups. Simple fare as is to be expected from such a remote little corner place. Julie ordered a chocolate frappe for dessert while I finished the last 1/8 of MJ's burger.
I noted the place seemed to serve as a tiny grocery store, as well. There is a four door cooler with milk, OJ and whipped cream (which the diner probably uses) and a shelf area with a few cans of SPAM, Campbell's soup, chips, ketchup, bread, loose candy jars, and stuffed animals(?).
We need to come back when Mom is singin'.
It was a Saturday and "Mom" has a constant ad in the North Country This Week that says "sing-along-with-Mom" on Saturdays. I figured we could catch some old time style fun and might get a favorite north country treat I always loved and had been telling my kids about... french fries with gravy.
As we walked into the the quaint little diner, I spied the old piano in the corner... just what I had imagined "sing-along-with-Mom" would involve. It's a pretty small place with 1950's theme decor, old 45 records, old pictures, old advertisements and some Norman Rockwells.
Unfortunately we were immediately informed that "Mom's" daughter was getting married tomorrow and she was too busy with preparations to play the piano tonight. Also, the usual Saturday special of Shepherd's Pie was not available due to wedding prep. The soup du jour was sold out (we went in late to catch the hour of sing-along). Also, the frier was broken, so no french fries! On the bright side, I told them it was my birthday and I got 15% off my dinner, or a free small Sundae. I went with the 15% as I am not a big dessert fan.
Julie ordered the basil and lemon chicken breast platter with her two sides being applesauce and cottage cheese (because no soup). I got the breaded cod fillet with red potato salad and cole slaw. Actually, it may have been a sole fillet... its hard to tell and fish is routinely served under false species ID. Cod is fairly rare these days thanks to the overfishing in the Atlantic, but the reason I speculate isn't because I'm a great expert, its because the waitress wasn't sure what it was. Well, it was fish and I liked it, so that's all that matters. MJ enjoyed a healthy meal of a vanilla frappe (thick local style milkshake) and plain cheeseburger. "Plain Maryjane" is what she is with her cheeseburgers... nothing else but pickle is allowed. Apparently sesame seed buns are now acceptable, though that was an annoying issue for years. Once again, that's why this is the Julie/Mom Project and not the MJ/Mom Project.
The main portions are not huge, sort of bare looking on the large oval platter with the side orders in little, fancy, clear plastic cups. Simple fare as is to be expected from such a remote little corner place. Julie ordered a chocolate frappe for dessert while I finished the last 1/8 of MJ's burger.
I noted the place seemed to serve as a tiny grocery store, as well. There is a four door cooler with milk, OJ and whipped cream (which the diner probably uses) and a shelf area with a few cans of SPAM, Campbell's soup, chips, ketchup, bread, loose candy jars, and stuffed animals(?).
We need to come back when Mom is singin'.
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