Category Archives: local business

My Black Friday

Posted on November 26, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

Subtitled Fun with Family.

You might think Mohawk Valley Girl would be out on a day like Black Friday, checking out local retailers or community events. Sorry if I disappoint you. I had plans to spend the holiday at my parents’ house in Rome (at least it was still in the Mohawk Valley).

Steven was all set to experience his first Black Friday behind the cash register at Wal-Mart. I confess to being a little worried about him. My husband is a sweet, mellow guy. He is not up to combating the dastardly behavior of bargain shoppers. At least he had Thanksgiving Day off. We had a lovely day, then he went home to recruit his energy while I stayed on to continue partying with the family (I like the use of “party” as a verb; I find it descriptive).

I went running in the morning with my nephew Tom. Tom, of course, ran the DARE 5K with me — that is, ahead of me — in August (ah ha ha, snuck in another mention of the DARE 5K!). I’ll do a running blog tomorrow, perhaps. For now, I’ll just mention that we ran across a bridge over the Mohawk River.

Later in the morning, my Mom, sister Victoria and I went to the grocery store (for some reason, I like to refer to my older sister as Victoria, although I usually call her Vicki). Vicki (see?) needed supplies for the chili she was making, and Mom needed a few things. I’ll tell you what: the grocery store is the Place to Be on Black Friday. No crowds! Everybody we encountered was polite. We had a nice conversation about lemon cake with a lady in the baking goods aisle. Next year, everybody on my list is getting groceries for Christmas. After the grocery store, we crossed the street to the drug store so I could purchase some sinus medication I had unaccountably left at home (I later found it on my living room coffee table).

York Liquors, we discovered, is handily located next to the drug store on Black River Boulevard (or The Boulevard as Rome residents tend to call it). We though we’d just peek in. York’s has a nice selection of New York State wines. We pointed out to each other all the wineries we had been to. Mom was pleased to discover she could get some of her favorites without returning to the winery. I should perhaps mention that many local liquor stores now carry New York State wines. Some excellent wines are being made close to home (well, my home; I guess I don’t know how far away some of my readers live).

And how was Steven’s Black Friday going? As it happens, not too bad. By the time he started at 8:30 a.m., it was pretty much a typical Friday. He and other cashiers actually had time to do some straightening. I understand some shoppers behaved badly at some Wal-Marts (notably in Rome, we heard), but Steven luckily did not encounter anything alarming. He was even able to make it out of the parking lot and go home for lunch. That was one of my main concerns, given my terror of parking lots, especially during the Christmas shopping season (Victoria drove on our little shopping expedition; she has no fear).

So now I guess it’s on to Christmas! Let’s see what kind of Mohawk Valley fun I can find to blog about in the next month.

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Posted in Christmas, holiday, humor, local business, Mohawk Valley, shopping. Bookmark the permalink.

Breakfast and a Movie

Posted on November 7, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

I begin this post with a plug for a local business which I have plugged before, Philly’s Breakfast House, 309 S. Caroline St., Herkimer.

Steven and I both had to work on Saturday, but our schedules were such that we were at least able to go out to breakfast together. Philly’s is a real hometown diner: friendly atmosphere, prompt service, good food. I had a Phils-a-wich — egg, cheese and sausage on a hard roll. Steven had eggs over medium with bacon and sourdough toast. It made my shift at work a little easier to get through.

Fast forward to early evening. I had a couple hours till Steven was expected home, so I decided to continue my extended Halloween by viewing a movie Steven is not overly fond of: Carnival of Souls.

The reason we even have the movie is that it is part of a two DVD set we purchased because it included The Brain that Wouldn’t Die. That is a movie we discovered back in the olden days when we were renting movies for our first VCR. I do love a cheesy horror movie (although I hate cheesy reenactments on crime shows, and I have no claims to being a Great Cheese Lady).

Carnival of Souls is a black and white low budget flick from 1962. I wouldn’t call it cheesy, although I suppose it has its moments. What it has in spades is atmosphere. It is weird and creepy.

The movie begins rather scarily with a drag race gone wrong. A car full of young girls plunges off a bridge. After hope of even finding the car “with this current and all this sand” (they mention the current and sand more than once) is fading, a lone survivor totters out of the water.

It seems she plays the kind of huge pipe organ you sometimes find in churches. Rather than take time to recover from her traumatic experience, our heroine drives through the night (with one scary little interlude) to her new job playing the organ at a church.

To her it is just a job, although her mentor at the organ factory warns her that she must put her soul into the music. When she tries the organ at the church, the minister says he believes he has hired an organist that will stir his congregation’s souls. Just so we don’t forget the title of the movie, I guess.

The movie makes copious use of organ music in maintaining the mood of weirdness and doom. I think my television needs a better sound system, because I kept upping the volume for the dialogue and lowering it during the musical interludes.

Soon strange things are happening to our heroine, ranging from the unsettling — as when suddenly nobody can see or hear her — to the frightening — when she keeps seeing this strange man. He looks a little like Bill Murray in Goth make up. I wouldn’t want to meet up with him. Things get more confusing — for her and for us — as the movie wends toward its creepy conclusion. Naturally I won’t tell you anything about that.

I’ve heard that the movie has something of a cult following. That could be. I admire its unsettling quality, and how they are able to do a lot with a little to create mood. It unsettled me. When it was over, I looked for an episode of “World’s Dumbest” to cleanse my mental palate.

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Posted in Halloween, local business, movies, Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Lots of Local, with Wine

Posted on October 29, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

Friday I was delighted to have a Wine Tasting to attend at Vintage Spirits, 246 Mohawk St., Herkimer.

The tasting ran from four to seven. We arrived shortly after 4:30 when the event was in full swing. The Jones Family Farm was also there with goat cheese samples. I am not very familiar with goat cheese and I am happy to report: it’s yummy!

The Jones Family Farm is located at 753 Caldwell Rd., Herkimer. I intend to go there one day soon for a whole blog post about them. For now I’ll tell you the cheeses I tasted were delicious. I told the lady about my blog and how I’d say there was Great Cheese Lady at the tasting. She suggested I capitalize it.

Also present at the tasting was Domnhall Vineyards, also of Herkimer. I had met them at the Crusaders Wine Tasting Fundraiser at Herkimer County Community College in the spring (alas, pre-blog days, because that would have made a great post). They are located at 531 Shells Bush Rd. I asked the guy when he would have a tasting room available. I confess, I was hoping for today, because I have a couple of sisters coming over later who would love to go to a winery for a tasting. He said probably by spring. I’ll be on the look-out for that. For now, I tasted the semi-dry Vignoles and Baco Noir he was offering. Both were very tasty.

Bronson of Vintage Spirits was offering a number of reds and whites. I tried a Prosecco, a lightly oaked Chardonnay (I don’t like the heavily oaked ones), and two blends. I learned how to pronounce Dogajola, an Italian winery from which we sampled a red and a white (the j sounds like y, as opposed to h in Spanish, or, you know, j).

I decided on the Prosecco, which is bubbly, because I’m having a party tonight. I think a few of my guests would like to mimose, as we say. Bronson also told me I could add peach nectar and make bellinis. That sounded good too, but I forgot to look for the peach nectar when I was at the store this morning. I also purchased the Domnhall Vineyards Baco Noir, because I was fairly sure I would be more in the mood for a dry red. Steven had already purchased a dill cheese spread. Very good choice.

When we got to the front of the store, a lady asked us did we want to sample some vodka. I told her I was not much of a vodka drinker.

“Have you ever tried flavored?” she asked.

“I have.”

“How about some rum?”

I do like rum. One of the men at the register took the wine bottles I was carrying. “Wise man,” I said. “Don’t let me hold the bottles while I’m tasting the rum.”

It was Sailor Jerry spiced rum. Quite yummy. I sampled it straight, but I think I’d also like it in a cup of coffee.

As I was paying for the wine, the man at the register showed me a pomegranate liqueur which he said would be good in the Prosecco. I impulse bought an airplane sized bottle. In case somebody at the party feels adventurous.

We left with our wine and cheese, and headed to Ilion for the Farmers Market. Lots of local purchases! And stay tuned for future posts about the Jones Family Farm and Domnhall Vineyards.

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Posted in cheese, Herkimer, Ilion, local business, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Tripple’s Revisited

Posted on October 14, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

Wednesday Steven and I took the scenic route to Tripple’s Produce, 2987 State Route 5, Frankfort, NY. I wanted an excuse to drive down 5S while the fall foliage is at peak. At least, I don’t know how they judge peak or near peak, but the mountains look pretty colorful to me.

We left Herkimer on 5S West and drove to the Dyke Road exit. What views! The day was a little gloomy, so the colors were not as vivid as they are in bright sunlight, but still well worth the drive. This time of year I really feel I should spend all my time looking around and marveling, because the foliage lasts such a short time. I feel so fortunate to live in an area with seasons. You can drive the exact same road and still enjoy various scenery.

Tripple’s has a huge selection of pumpkins. We walked into the building to check out the produce. Mostly we checked out the Halloween decor. There is a big Frankenstein that dances to “Thriller” and a skeleton that sings “Super Freak.”

We purchased some cheese curds by River Rat Cheese in Alexandria Bay and some garlic and herb spread made by Adirondack Cheese Co. in Barneveld. We ate some of the cheese curds on the way home. We drove home up State Route 5, which is of course the more direct way back to Herkimer. We enjoyed seeing Halloween decorations on a number of houses. I used some of the garlic and herb spread this morning on an egg sandwich (pronounced “sammich”). Very tasty.

We will possibly return to Tripple’s for our Halloween pumpkin, unless we check out a pumpkin farm. I hear Cackleberry Castle is back in business. Goody!

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Posted in Autumn, Frankfort, local business, scenery. Bookmark the permalink.
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