A Taste of America

The Travel's Channel's TV, A Taste of America, ran a segment about Taylor Ham the other night. People called in who haven't thought of it in 30 and more years. Comfort food, memories of Grandma, walking along the hot boards of Atlantic City, Asbury Park and so many other places in New Jersey come to mind when they hear the words "Pork Roll."

Younger folks tend to remember trips to a local diner at 3:00 after a night in a club, and a Pork Roll Egg and Cheese as the ultimate cure for a hangover.

It's always been a part of our family life as the big Sunday breakfast with eggs, rye bread, hard rolls, bacon, and Grandma's cinnamon toast.

Road Tripping

Five people crammed into a sub-compact car for 48 hours touring through New England during an August heat-wave is my kinda vacation. We logged 604 miles in 47.5 hours. We slept, we ate, and spent a lot of time in the car. Mom had Taylor Ham business to attend to, and the rest came along for the ride. And ride they did.

Since eating seems to be the tie that binds this family, I checked Roadfood.com before leaving home and found a great place along the road, Rein's in Vernon, CT off of I 84. The members of Roadfood had suggestions for us within minutes of posting a request for recommendations. If you can't stand eating at the chain restaurants along our highways, go to the site and get some good advice before you hit the road.

Only I could head to New England dying for fresh lobster at a road side stand and end up in a New York Style Deli. The sandwiches were great, the bowl of pickles on the table were like the ones they used to, and might still serve in Katz' in NY City.

We enjoyed an hour or two at the Oakwood Farm Christmas Barn on Route 31 in Spencer, MA. We met the owner, Jim, and his wonderful Irish Setter, Clancy. In a barn full of breakables, Clancy glides gracefully from room to room following his friend, Jim, occassionally curling up for a nap on on one of the oval braided carpets and watching the activity. The selection of Christmas items in the barn is amazing with literally thousands of things to choose from. This sounds like a commercial but we really did find this store a truly special place to shop.