Tag Archives: food

Return to the Tavern

Posted on July 14, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I confess to knowing an impulse to make this blog All Monster Movies All The Time, but then I wouldn’t really be Mohawk Valley Girl, would I?  With that in mind, I give a shout-out to Gerber’s 1933 Tavern in Utica, NY, a really wonderful place for drinks, food and fun.

I first went to Gerber’s a few months ago, for a Prohibition Party (perhaps you read my blog post about it).   I had been wanting to take Steven there ever since.  When we met our friends Phyllis and Jim to celebrate their anniversary, we discovered they had never been there either.  We went and had a blast.

The tavern used to be a speakeasy during prohibition.  It still looks old-fashioned and cozy, with a tin ceiling and beautiful woodwork.  We found a table and perused the menus.

You can see the beautiful ceiling.

I had my Tablet with me so took a few pictures.

This is the happy couple.

Naturally I had to get one of the anniversary couple.  Phyllis and Jim are two of the all-time coolest people ever.  Jim has been in a number of theatrical endeavors with me and/or Steven.  In fact, we met them through Ilion Little Theatre.  Let’s hear it for community theatre!

Me and Phyllis, toasting friendship.

I had been looking at the red chairs while we ate, then asked Steven to take a picture of me and Phyllis in them.

Steven and Jim with our bartender, Larry.

Of course, I also wanted a picture of the guys.  I included our bartender, Larry, who I declared to be our New Best Friend.  Yes, I had consumed a couple of glasses if Pinot Grigio when I made the declaration.  Don’t judge me.  Incidentally, it was Thirsty Owl Pinot Grigio, a Finger Lakes wine.  I have to love a tavern that serves New York State wines.

Gerber’s 1933 Tavern is located at 16 Liberty St., Utica.  For more information you can visit their website at gerbers1933tavern.com.

 

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Scattered Saturday Before the Boilermaker

Posted on July 9, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I confess, I didn’t have a whole lot of scatter, because I mostly hydrated and rested before tomorrow’s 15K run (it’s really a road race, but since I will be far back in the pack and more interested in making silly jokes than getting a fast time, I can’t say I’ll be racing).  For those of you just tuning in, it is the Utica Boilermaker Road Race, a pretty damn exciting event in the Mohawk Valley.

My plan was to go for at least one walk, so I was disappointed to hear thunder followed by torrential rain this morning.  Then it stopped.  Cool.  I wrote some post cards and walked to the post office, taking the long way back.  It has continued to thunder, rain, then stop for most of the day.  I may go for an evening walk during one of the stops but no promises.  I got a little more exercise walking from the second floor down to the basement and back doing laundry.  It is so pleasant to have most of my clothes clean so that I have a choice of what to wear (of course the perfect thing to wear in an given situation is usually the one thing that is still dirty, but you’ll have that).

In addition to doing laundry, I read an Agatha Christie book (I adore Agatha Christie), worked on my lines for The Tempest, futzed around on Facebook, and wrote a very little on my novel.

I left the house one other time so far, to get my hair cut at the Hot Spot Salon and Spa in Herkimer.  My stylist, Claire, nicely got me in, even though I did not call till yesterday afternoon.  She is way cool.  She did my hair the same as last time, very short.  She said it seems my hair likes to be short.  I thought that was a good way of putting it.  I like it short, because it is easy that way.  As another hairdresser once observed about me, I am the sort of person who cannot be bothered spending too much time on my hair (for another reason, however much time I take, I never seem to get the good results others do).  I would post a selfie of me and my new hair, but I’ve taken off my earrings, and I don’t like to appear in public without earrings.

Back home, I started dinner early, because we intend to go to bed early.  I had put eggplant in the crock pot this morning (ought I to have mentioned that earlier?  Oh well).  Now I made pesto, grated parmesan cheese, sauteed asparagus, and cooked angel hair pasta (my favorite).  My pesto is perhaps not real pesto (I don’t use a recipe), but I call it pesto, because it is fun to say “pesto pasta” (try it).  I put garlic, fresh basil, grated parmesan (I grated enough to put some in the pesto as well as some over the pasta), and oil in the blender and blend.  It turned out pretty good.

And that brings us to the present moment.  My stomach still continues knotty from Boilermaker nerves.  These will continue, no doubt, until the race actually starts.  More specifically, when I cross the starting line and am on my way.  Then it’s run for the beer!  Go me!  Happy Saturday, everyone!

 

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Soup and Post on the Light Side

Posted on May 10, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Here is a cooking post.  At least, I’m going to call it a cooking post, but perhaps I am stepping up in class.  No matter. It is Tired Tuesday, I fixed something for dinner that did NOT involve the telephone and a credit card, and I’m going to write about it.

First I poured myself a small glass of Chardonnay, because I wanted to cook with wine.

I had an open box of chicken broth in the refrigerator (I drank one mug of it recently when my stomach was bothering me) (you see, I DON’T write a blog post about every little ache and pain, although it sometimes feels that way).  I also had some leftover brown rice.  I put them both in a pot on the stove and turned on the burner.  I went to the freezer and pulled out broccoli and spinach, which I also added to the pot.

Then I went out the the living room, sat on the couch and looked a Facebook.  I feel that is an important part of the recipe.  After a while I went back out the the kitchen and added garlic powder, parsley, basil and oregano to the pot.  When it started boiling, I lowered the heat and let it simmer for a while.

Steven and I ate the soup with bread and butter.  Steven said it was very good, not too heavy, just what his stomach needed.  I hope this modest little post is just what my blog needed.  As for me, I may have another small glass of Chardonnay.  Happy Tuesday, everyone.

 

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Beer over Exercise

Posted on April 26, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yum!

When I was running on Friday afternoon, I ran by the Endzone Pub & Grub on Main Street in Herkimer.  Two guys were sitting at a table on the sidewalk out front, sipping beer.

“That’s where I want to be!”  I said.   Yesterday, I was.

Steven and I had meant to walk to the post office, which we did, then take a long(ish) way home, so it would be good exercise.  Our steps took us by the Endzone and I suggested, not very seriously, that we go in and have a beer.  Much to my surprise, Steven agreed.  I guess when it comes to a choice between beer and exercise, beer wins.  We went in and sat at the bar.

When I asked what was on draft, the bartender told us they had just tapped the Sam Adams Seasonal Ale.  That sounded good to us.  It was!  Very light and flavorful, an excellent summer drink.  Yesterday was such a lovely sunny day, we enjoyed the brew quite a bit.  Towards the end of the beer, Steven said he was hungry.  Obviously the sensible thing to do would be to go home and cook supper, but I said I thought they served food at the Endzone.

“Yes, they have food here,” said a young lady who had just entered and was about to take her drink to one of the tables outside.

We got hot dogs and macaroni salad, with another draft.  Yum!  After we finished eating, we went and sat outside to finish our beers.  A young man went jogging by, and I shared my story of running by and envying the beer drinkers on Friday.  The lady who had told us they had food applauded my better decision to sit and drink beer.  It was a very enjoyable interlude.

The Endzone Pub & Grub is located at 129 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-219-5796.  They are open Monday from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 2 a.m., and Sunday from noon to midnight.  You can Like them on Facebook.  I did.

 

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Souper Sunday

Posted on February 13, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Imagine my delight just now when I searched and found that I have not used “Souper Sunday” as a headline.  I don’t like to repeat headlines.  I know I predicted a Wrist to Forehead Sunday, but I think Sunday Supper post might be nice.  I guess technically it was lunch, but you know how I love alliteration.

I had planned to make soup earlier in the week.  I had a big piece of beef in the freezer (I don’t remember what the cut was; it was on sale and it looked good).  I thought I would cook it in the crock pot on Saturday, then make soup with the leftovers on Sunday.  I find it is a good idea for me to plan menus for the weekend, to lessen the temptation to send out for pizza or Chinese food.  I confess that it only lessens the temptation.  That little devil on my shoulder will whisper, “That meat will be perfectly good to cook on Monday!”  However, this weekend, the devil was silent and I crock potted the beef.

I put Worcestershire sauce garlic powder, minced onions, Salt-Free Essential Spice Blend (from the So Sweet Candy Cafe in Utica, NY), and a small can of mushrooms in the crock pot with the meat, plus a little water.  It cooked for maybe nine hours.  Yum!  Steven nicely put the leftovers away.

I started the soup around 12:30 today.  As usual, I crushed up some garlic and set the timer for 15 minutes so it could “breathe” (I put breathe in quotations, because garlic does not have lungs).  I chopped up an onion and put it in a pot.  Ooh, here’s where I changed things up:  I did NOT cook it in olive or canola oil as per my usual method.  I used red wine.  Yes, I cooked with wine and I actually put it in the food!  You see, I impulsively purchased a cheap bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon the other day at Ilion Wine and Spirits.

“If it’s not good to drink, I can always cook with it,”  I said, quoting a bit of wisdom given me by another wine aficionado.  Turns out it wasn’t so good to drink.

After things had cooked for some time, I added a can of diced tomatoes.  Then I chopped up a small eggplant I had purchased specifically for the soup.  I love eggplant.  This was when I realized I had picked too small of a pot.  Damn! I put everything in a bigger pot.  After letting the eggplant cook for a while, I put in the leftover drippings and chopped up the leftover beef.  Stirring everything up, I added parsley, more Salt-Free Essential and a little cumin.

It was quite a tasty soup, and there was a goodly amount left over.  Steven put it in the freezer, for future consumption.  Now how could I have a Wrist to Forehead Sunday after such a delicious meal?

 

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Why I’m Fat

Posted on January 24, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

In lieu of my usual Middle-aged Musings Monday (or Monday Mental Meanderings, I guess), I would like to give a brief shout-out to a local business.  Yesterday, Steven, our friend Kim and I had a good meal at Asteroga Ale House in Herkimer, NY.

We had just left Little Falls, where we met with other members of LiFT Theatre Company to brainstorm about the interactive murder mystery we are doing at the Overlook Mansion in February.  I’ll write more about that later!  Theatre stuff always makes me work up an appetite.  OK, any little thing, including the mere passage of time, works up an appetite for me.  Be that as it may, I wanted to eat and dragged Steven and Kim along with me.

It was shortly before five p.m. when we walked in and easily found seats at the bar.  I like to sit at the bar.  We ordered drinks and perused the menu.  I got the special of 1/4 pound cheeseburger with curly fries.  Steven got a BLT sandwich with chips.  Kim, who generally eats light, ordered sweet potato fries.  While we waited for the food, we looked at a football game on the television and chatted about our upcoming theatre projects.

The food tasted really good.  I shared my fries with Steven but still chowed down on a lot of them myself.   This is why I have such trouble meeting my weight-loss goals.

The Asteroga Ale house is located at 122 W. Albany Street, Herkimer, New York, phone number (315) 219-5578.  You can Like them on Facebook.

 

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Shepherds We Have Heard on a Pie

Posted on December 21, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a Tasty Tuesday post regarding a dinner Steven made?  I don’t know why I’m asking; it’s what I’m going to do.  I have to post it fast, too, because Steven wants my help finishing up our Christmas cards.  This is the latest we’ve ever sent them!  I blame myself.  My entire life is a case of Operator Error.  Be that as it may, here is my blog post.

I had gotten burger out of the freezer on Sunday, but after making bruschetta (perhaps you read my blog post about it), we didn’t want it.  Tonight, Steven decided to make an old favorite of his he had not made in a long time: Shepherd’s Pie.  I sat in the living room, looking at Facebook and email, then took a shower, while he was cooking, but I pretty much know how he did it.  Also he’s sitting right here, so I can ask him about parts I’m not sure of.

First he boiled the potatoes and cooked the hamburger in a  frying pan, adding Worcestershire sauce and spices.  When they were cooked he mashed the potatoes, then layered them and the burger in a casserole dish with frozen corn.  He put the dish in a 350 degree oven for about a half hour.  Just to add a personal note, he paused in the layering step to come upstairs and put lotion on my back after my shower.

I put grated cheese on mine.  I pronounced it a hearty and satisfying dinner.  I pronounce this an adequate blog post as a change from Tired Tuesday.  I hope to see you all on Wednesday, when I will probably Wuss Out.

 

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Not a Wrist to Forehead Appetizer

Posted on December 19, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

So today was my day to get stuff done that I did not get done on Scattered Saturday.  That, I felt, was just setting myself up for Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  At least I got a couple of things done.  Then I made a delightful appetizer for Steven and me without a recipe, and I thought that would make a good blog post.

I had gotten the tomatoes on the vine at Hannaford yesterday (on sale This Week Only!) and some in-store bakery Italian bread.  I had it in mind to make bruschetta (my computer thinks that is misspelled, but Facebook seems to think it is correct) (my dictionary is upstairs, that’s too far for me on Wrist to Forehead Sunday).  Naturally the first thing I did was to crush up some garlic and set the timer for 15 minutes (so it could reach its full cancer-fighting qualities).  While it breathed, I cut some very thin slices of onion and started to chop up some rainbow peppers which had also been on sale at Hannaford (This Week Only!).  I also opened a can of black olives.  Somewhere during these activities I also set the oven to pre-heat to 400 degrees.

When the garlic was done breathing, I put it in the blender with olive oil, basil, oregano, and the Salt Free Essential Spice Blend from So Sweet Candy Cafe that is my new favorite seasoning.  I sliced the Italian bread and brushed it with the olive oil mixture, then topped it with onion, diced peppers, black olive slices, and pieces of tomato.  I put them in the oven for ten minutes. Yum!

With such a good — and labor intensive — appetizer, I no longer felt like cooking dinner.  We put the burger I had taken out of the freezer this morning into the refrigerator.  I’ll do something fun with that Monday or Tuesday.  I may even write another blog post about it.  I think these cooking posts are a little more interesting than my usual schtick, but perhaps I flatter myself.  In any case, I hope you are all having a lovely Sunday.

 

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Crock Pot Cooking with Steve

Posted on November 30, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a cooking post on Tired Tuesday?  It involves a crock pot and my dear husband, Steven. Full disclosure: I have not eaten the meal in question yet, because I want to get my blog post done.  However, it smells pretty damn good, and I have no reason to think it will not taste good as well.

The dinner started yesterday, when Steven took some sausage out of the freezer.  He thought we had a jar of Paul Newman sauce in the pantry then remembered we ate it last week.  I had some peppers and onions in the refrigerator that I had been thinking, in a vague sort of way, of putting in the crock pot with some canned tomato sauce, which is practically always on hand.  So we ate leftovers yesterday and planned for the crock pot today.

I must confess, Steven was the main mover and shaker behind our creation.  Last night he said, “What can I do to get this crock pot thing going?  Cut up the sausage?”  It was in links.  I was at that point trying to get my blog post together, having already done a load of laundry, and feeling my usual Monday tiredness.  Steven pointed out that I get up really early in the morning with not a lot of time before leaving for work.  I knew I must bestir myself so, following his good example, I chopped up a half an onion (they were big onions) and two green peppers. I put them in a container in the refrigerator.

This morning, I was prepared to put the ingredients in the crock pot, but Steven graciously offered to do so.  I instructed him to put the onion and peppers on the bottom, then the sausage, then four cans of tomato sauce (they’re kind of small).  I explained how the crock pot must be filled to a certain amount in order to cook properly, and that vegetables cook best on the bottom or sides of the pot.  I am not an expert at crock pot cookery, but I have some experience.  I said eight or nine o’clock would be an OK time to turn it on.

When I talked to Steven during the day (I was at work; he had the day off), I told him not to stir it yet.  We stirred it when I got home.  Ooh, it was smelling good.   We took a teeny taste. I added a small can of tomato paste for thickening.  Steven sprinkled in some garlic powder, basil and oregano.  I turned the pot on high.

Now the water is on for the rotini, and I am very hungry.  If this is not the delicious meal I am expecting, I shall edit this post to say so.  But I don’t think I will have to.  Happy Tuesday, everyone.

 

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Lame Post While Cooking

Posted on November 12, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is Lame Post Friday and I am just not up to writing much yet.  Also, I have not done much to write about.  Cut me a break, I’m still convalescent!  It has reached the point where I have kind of given up on feeling better and am determined to start going about my business as usual.  This is usually the time in any illness or injury where, perhaps not surprisingly, I begin to actually feel better.  I’ll keep you posted on when that happens.  In the meantime, I need a post.

I ventured out of the house three times today.  Twice to take a short walk with the dog (that is all he seems to want) and once to buy yarn.  I finished the afghan I was working on and since the last afghan I finished was an end cuts one, I had not much yarn to begin a new project.  I waffled back and forth, because there were one or two things I could have done.  Then I said, oh hell, just do it.

So I’ve been sitting here knitting a prayer shawl and watching Snapped, when I looked at the clock and thought, Hmmm.  Dinner.  I shall pause while I go start it.

That didn’t take long.  I just put two pieces of chicken in the oven after putting spices on them.  It is Steven’s recipe.  I don’t know what spices he uses (it may vary), but I used garlic powder, salt-free lemon pepper, onion flakes and Salt Free Essential Spice from the So Sweet Candy Cafe in Utica, NY (couldn’t resist given them another shout-out).  I set the timer for 20 minutes, when I will flip the pieces.

Later on, I’ll cook some potatoes to mash.  Mmmmmm…  mashed potatoes.  Sounds wonderful.

So that’s my lame post for today.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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