Avon Meat Land
I picked up Peter at Union yesterday. Schenectady is interesting. Initially it seemed a hopeless kind of place, but like all Northeastern post-industrial cities, there is much to be appreciated. He and I have driven past Avon Meat Land on a few occasions, and I knew sooner or later we would check it out. For the longest time we remembered it as Amos’ Meat Shack, and in fact this time we drove past thinking that this place and Amos’ just had similar names and were competitors. So not finding the Meat Shack, we did a u-turn and went here. Apparently it has been in business for 70 years. I bought about a pound of Italian sausages (made in Schenectady) and was amazed when the guy at the counter rang me up and said it would be $3.00. Cooked ’em up tonight with some peppers and onions. Very tasty.
Chicken
My brother and I drove to South Carolina yesterday. It was a great drive and beautiful weather the whole time. / I knew we had crossed the IHOP/Waffle House line when I saw this sign in Virginia. Too bad it wasn’t Tuesday; I could have had an extra crispy gizzard for lunch.
Albanese Meats & Poultry
This block of Elizabeth Street runs just south of Houston, and I know it really well because my good friend Herman Boykin started living there in 1979. Before I moved to the City in 1986 and while I was living there I would spend a lot of time in the neighborhood. There were many more shops like Albanese’s back then, but the area is really different now.
Moe
I took the train into New York City on Tuesday and met Craig Williams at City Hall Park. He took me over to One Liberty Plaza to meet some of the September 11 Memorial folks and have a peek at the WTC site. We then went over to Engine Company 6 which is just an amazing place. / The main purpose of the trip was to photograph the Albanese Meats & Poultry shop on Elizabeth Street. The history is a bit too involved to get into, but Moe has been cutting meat here for a very long time. He worked with his mom, Mary for almost 50 years until she died in 2002 at the age of 97. He is an amazingly nice guy. I’ll post more soon.
Honey
Cris really likes honey in her tea in the mornings. Usually we buy the cheap organic stuff at Trader Joe’s, which is pretty good, but this stall at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market had a really nice selection of flavors. The guy selling it said that the wildflower variety would be good in her Earl Gray, so I bought a 2 lb. jar.
Peter at Antonios
Peter Carroll came up for the weekend and as always, his visit involved multiple visits to Antonios. Today he had a fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil, then a salad slice. I had the special which was melanzana (eggplant, feta, roasted red pepper, and spinach).
Water
It is always a good idea to have a healthy respect for mother nature and her ability to cause havoc with the human digestive tract. I have become over-cautious with regards to consuming anything that hasn’t been run through some sort of system for sale to the general public. When I see water running out of a hillside through a piece of pvc pipe, my usual inclination is to just keep driving. But I have known about this spring on Route 79 near Lisle, New York since I lived in Ithaca in the seventies. The water is cold and very refreshing. John Hoeffel and I used to drive here with empty 5 gallon carboys to get water to make beer.
Oyster Bar
Without a doubt, one of my favorite places in the world in the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station. Had some Cotuits and Blue Points and then a great pan roast before getting on the train to come home.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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