The morning started with a trip down memory lane … well not exactly my memory or my lane but it was my friend Eric’s memories and past. I was in charge of reading about life in the Catskills: I had done my research, I had seen the movies reminiscing the hotel life, read articles, researched all travel guides of the area at my own personal library at the local Barnes and Nobles reading room, and I was in charge of feeding snacks to the actual guest and survivor of the Brickman Hotel. Yes, a real turn of the Century Catskill Vacationer and now my own personal guide; Mr. E. W. SCHOEN. Thanks to his driving, knowledge, stories and the step by step directions of the Garmin GPS, we were able to drive through the area and find the Hotels with no problem at all.
Even though his stories were most interesting, the movie being projected in my mind was even greater… It was “Dirty Dancing”. Yep, Carrie (Eric’s sister) was learning how to dance the forbidden dance, “The Cha, Cha, Cha”, Rumba, Meringue and Mambo”, while Eric was with the guys playing shuffle board and sneaking behind the building with the cool crowd, to smoke a cigarette and drink Manischewitz! Don’t you agree…a great plot!! Now, for an Oscar award winning scene from; “Dirty Dancing”……..
Johnny was accused of stealing a wallet and Carrie …I mean BABY… I mean Carrie confronted Johnny:
Carrie/ Baby leaves the site in a rush; she needs to get ready for the final Dance competition; she enters her room to change into the latest fashion bathing attire, recently purchased from either Frishmans or Dorothy Stein. She needs to gain strength and commune with the universe before the big competition, so she goes to the pool. #@*^% …. Oops, that is a different story. Well…The hotel pool was the location where Carrie became the pool side Diva we know today, and Eric developed the taste for his short weekend travels.
Carrie/Baby: [finding out the Schumancher’s were guilty of stealing the wallets] So then – so then it’s all right!
I knew it would work out. I knew they’d have to apologize…
Johnny: [shrugs her off] I’m out, Carrie/Baby.
Carrie/Baby: [pause] They fired you anyway because of me.
Johnny: [sarcastically] And if I leave quietly, I’ll get my summer bonus.
Carrie/Baby: So I did it for nothing. I hurt my family, you lost your job anyway, I did it for “nothing” !
Johnny: No, no, not for nothin’,
Carrie/Baby: Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before.
Carrie/Baby: You were right, Johnny. You can’t win no matter what you do!
Johnny: You listen to me. I don’t wanna hear that from you. *You can!
Carrie/Baby: [pause] I used to think so.
[END SCENE]
Carrie/ Baby leaves the site in a rush; she needs to get ready for the final Dance competition; she enters her room to change into the latest fashion bathing attire, recently purchased from either Frishmans or Dorothy Stein. She needs to gain strength and commune with the universe before the big competition, so she goes to the pool. #@*^% …. Oops, that is a different story. Well…The hotel pool was the location where Carrie became the pool side Diva we know today, and Eric developed the taste for his short weekend travels.
Back to the road, and my story! So many hotels in disrepair. We stopped at the site of the former Flagler; Grossinger; Nevele; Raleigh; Browns; Pines;Monticello Country Club; and the Concord at Lake Kiamesha, this was the largest hotel in the Catskills, with more than 1,500 rooms and a dining room that seated 3,000. Golfers can still tee off at its famous “Monster” course; there are still plans to renovate this property. Hotels like The Kutsher and the Brickman have been converted into Meditation ashrams, “Shree Muktananda Ashram, Ananda Ashram, O Guru, Guru, Guru” to name a few. The place that once hosted the latest fashions, entertainment, sport activities, laughter and comradery is now silenced; the face of the area has changed completely. The lakes of “Borscht” and the rivers of “Sour Cream” do not flow through the kitchens that used to prepare the top of the line foods; the hustle and bustle of the waiters and the busboys has stopped its course in these haunted restaurants.
The Catskills, the home of performers like Eddie Fisher, Woody Allen, Milton Berle, George Burns, Shecky Greene, Danny Kaye, Jackie Mason, Don Rickles, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hacket, Totie Fields, Red Buttons, Joan Rivers and Henny Youngman. This was the place where many performers were made. According to the Catskills Institute at Brown University, almost 1,200 hotel resorts and boarding houses, and close to 900 bungalow colonies operated in the Borscht Belt ( Catskill Mountains of Sullivan, Ulster and southern Greene counties).
Some would say that those were the good old days, paradise, the ultimate in entertainment and recreation; but for the workers at these resorts it might be a different memory and story to tell. One thing we know for sure is that even though the Catskills, as a compound of hotels, do not exist today, the talent, people, and the spirit can be found all around the United States and the world. From Florida to Atlantic City, from Las Vegas to Aruba, one will find a little piece of the Catskills. Every stage in this nation has hosted or will host a performer who directly or indirectly has been influenced by the greatness that once performed there. Remember …”Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner!” and nobody was able to put the Catskills in the corner either; The talent that was contained for the enjoyment of a few is now being enjoyed and admired by the entire World!
Fall Fruit Salad
1Teaspoon of Cinnamon (please adjust to taste and by the amount of fruit salad)
Pomegranate seeds (1 unit)
Fuji Apples chopped bite size pieces
Golden Apples chopped bite size pieces
Pear chopped bite size pieces
Toasted Almonds (Ruff Chopped)
Toasted Walnuts (Ruff Chopped)
Blue Berries (hole)
Raspberries (hole)
Dried Cranberries sweetened with apple juice
Chopped dried dates
Toss all ingredients together and serve
Honey Cake
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup honey (preferably buckwheat)
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup freshly brewed strong coffee, cooled
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons whiskey or bourbon
- 9- by 5- by 3-inch loaf pan
Preparation
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350°F. Oil loaf pan well and dust with flour, knocking out excess.
Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and ginger in a small bowl. Whisk together honey, oil, and coffee in another bowl until well combined.
Beat together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, then add honey mixture and whiskey and mix until blended, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Finish mixing batter with a rubber spatula, scraping bottom of bowl.
Pour batter into loaf pan (batter will be thin) and bake 30 minutes. Cover top loosely with foil and continue to bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes more. Cool on a rack 1 hour.
Run a knife around side of cake, then invert rack over pan and invert cake onto rack. Turn cake right side up and cool completely.
Glaze
· 1/2 cup butter
· 1/4 cup water
· 1 cup sugar
· 1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum
Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Until it has the consistency of syrup. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Note: The rum will cause steam. Be careful not to burn yourself. Glaze cake while hot.
BESITOS DE COCO (Coconut Kisses) the Puerto Rican version of coconut macaroons
Long version of the recipe
Ingredients
- 3 c coconut
- 1/2 c flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 c brown sugar
- 1/4 T butter
- 2 T coconut extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Melted chocolate for drizzling on baked cookies
How to make it
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a bowl thoroughly mix all ingredients into a dough
- Divide dough into 24 balls
- Place balls on greased cookie sheet and bake for about 35 minutes to a golden brown.
- Cool and drizzle chocolate on top
Short version of the recipe
Ingredients
- 2 / 3 cup flour (all-purpose)
- 5 ½ cup shredded coconut (bagging)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 can condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
How to make it
- Preheat oven to 325° F (170°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix in a large bowl the flour, coconut and salt
- Add milk and vanilla
- Using your hands mix the dough
- Then with a spoon to medium cookies place the mixture into the mold, besitos should remain as the size ½ lemon (lime).
- Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.
1 comment:
Ahem. Out of my back window I am looking out at the Catskills. You come to NYC and don't call me, that's one thing. You come to the catskills and don't call me? Well that's unacceptable behavior!!
We got a weekend house here (Columbia County NY) in 2004 and have been enjoying the abundance of local culinary treasures ever since. We sold the condo and moved in permanently in 2006 using some of the proceeds from the sale to renovate our home and create a wall of windows on the west side so we could revel in the unobstructed Catskill mountain view every single day.
Great recipes even if I am no longer speaking to you :-)
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