Halloween = Brooklyn + Tennessee

Two summers ago we took a road trip that began simply as a long-overdue visit with my aunt and uncle. They are terrific and generously invited us down for some food (my pastry-school-trained Aunt Geri's famous cheesecake) and baseball (my Uncle Sal may possibly be the world's biggest Dodgers fan.)

Thus, before I can write of our adventures through Alabama and Mississippi (and adventures they were) or tell the tales of New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou, I must share the family fun. Particularly, since today, the first Halloween in many years in which I was to don a costume, was canceled because of the hurricane. Had Sandy behaved herself, I would have been a Brooklyn Dodger, courtesy of Sal.

Instead, I'm home, grateful that my neighborhood didn't suffer much damage, hoping that those who did will find power and peace restored quickly, and remembering the still-present sadness of what Katrina did in NoLa as I browse through my old photos. For me, a Brooklyn Halloween will happen next year. Tonight, I'll let my memory take me back to Chattanooga, and the Lookouts game we attended. Minor league ball is a special kind of fun. We went to see the Brooklyn Cyclones at Coney Island this summer and after seeing both teams I can confidently say that MLB doesn't have quite the same level of silliness.

The silliness continued at their home as we worked together to bake a cheesecake. (For those of you who don't know my personal theory on baking, the amount of fun you have is directly related to the size of the mess in the kitchen!)

This first leg of our journey wouldn't have been complete without a stop for some southern fast food. I will *not* turn this blog political. Suffice it to say, when in Tennessee...take funny pictures.

Next stop...Tuscaloosa, Alabama...

Lazarusian

It seems appropriate on Halloween, a day dedicated to zombies and the undead, to resurrect this blog that has been defunct for so long. In the past 18 months I've been trying my hand at other types of blogging, also about food, not so much about traveling for it. I've been busy. I've been baking. I've been eating. And I've been learning--that baking the food and eating the food is more fun than writing about those two things. I've also done a lot of traveling, or at least as much as my profession and budget have allowed. So the time has come to play a little catch up and post a lot of pictures. This is likely to be a slow process; however, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy's destruction, which has devastated so much of my city and caused my job to be closed until further notice, I feel compelled to produce something uplifting (other than the three batches of whoopie pies, two batches of cookies, two cakes, and macaroons I baked these past 4 days.) Let's travel back in time to Memorial Day Weekend 2011, a time when I was buying more food than I was baking. With a few days off, we decided it was the perfect time for a foodie road trip. This would serve as a sneak preview of the longer road trip we were planning to take that summer. Armed with my new book, 500 Things to Eat Before it's Too Late, we headed up through Connecticut with plans to scour Rhode Island and Massachusetts for local treats. After local law enforcement (in a random road stop - we committed no crime) recommended a restaurant for dinner, ("Why are you driving so far? We have restaurants right here.") we opted to grab ice cream for dessert at a special pizza joint. Well after midnight, we were treated to delicious milkshakes and a whole lot of entertainment.

From there our journey took us to Jigger's Diner in East Greenwich, RI.

This is the home of johnnycakes, a cornmeal pancake in this part of the world. (We subsequently learned that this same name is used for a lovely flour-based pita-like bread sold by indigenous children in Panama.) The cakes themselves were no match for regular pancakes with real maple syrup, but the sweet potato pancakes with ginger whipped cream were delicious!

As we trekked through the Portuguese town of Providence and into Massachusetts we began to wonder about dinner...you may think that's an easy choice, but for foodies who can't/don't eat shellfish, it actually poses quite a challenge. Alas, we happened upon Redbones, where my formerly vegetarian traveling companion was able to indulge his rediscovered love of ribs while I basked in the gooey goodness that is mac & cheese.

And though our gluttony certainly didn't need any more fuel, we couldn't resist a stop at Toscanini's, rightfully acknowledged by the NY Times as "the world's best ice cream." After many samples of delicious and unique flavors, we opted for kiddie size cups. (You know, to exercise some self-restraint!)

The final leg of our trip led us back through Connecticut, home of the steamed cheeseburger, a delicacy of the central part of the state. For those unfamiliar, it is described in my book as: "a handful of fresh-ground beef...mashed into a small metal tray, which slides into a steam box, where it is vapor-cooked until insanely juicy but miraculously grease-free. The meat is topped with an oozing blob of melted cheddar...it is set forth upon a fluff=centered hard roll...." We stopped at K Lamay's to sample this bit of local gastronomy.

Stay tuned as the adventures continue with our summer road trip through the USA's deep south...