When I was a kid growing up in the sleepy little Village of Yellow Springs, Ohio, with a population that hovered around 3,500, I longed for more action in my life. I wasn’t a party girl or overly interested in socializing; I didn’t long to be surrounded by hoards of people. I wanted my senses to be stimulated and I wasn’t getting enough of that in my little town.
Being in the Midwest often meant going to chain restaurants with canned vegetables on the menu, located on busy roads alongside big box stores. I wanted to be exposed to new things, interesting people, and restaurants that served food late into the night. Lucky for me, I had an aunt that lived in NYC and I visited her every chance I could including long summer vacations. The summer would be split between time in Manhattan and in the Hudson Valley. Two very different locations; a blend of busy and bucolic. My aunt lived in Tribeca and stepping out of her loft apartment onto the street was to be fully immersed in all five senses. Horns beeped incessantly, the ground shook as subways rattled below, the Twin Towers cast eerie foreboding shadows, the smell of hotdogs wafted from the cart on the corner. Chinatown was a few blocks away and I loved strolling those blocks, markets overflowing with ingredients I’d never seen before, and then eating something chock full of new-to-me flavors.
When I was reading The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America by Sara B. Franklin, I was struck by how Judith Jones, who grew up in NYC, didn’t really find her passion for food until she went to France. Part of this had to do with the freedom she felt being away from her family, something we had in common, but it was also the French food and culture that really spoke to her and would have a lasting impression, and impact, on her career as an editor. Judith also spent time in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont; a bucolic countryside she was exposed to because an aunt who lived there, something else we both shared! All this to say, seeking stimulation in our lives can often be found by changing geography.
When I read Franklin’s author bio, I learned that she edited The Phoenicia Diner Cookbook: Dishes and Dispatches from the Catskill Mountains. I have fond memoires of passing the diner when we drove north out of NYC. I’m pretty sure we would eat there but my aunt couldn’t confirm. I made the Lemon Meringue Pie recipe from the cookbook and it was mouth-wateringly, lip puckeringly tart. To be honest, I would be happy just eating the lemon curd, but it was fun to try my hand at my first meringue pie. Homemade graham crackers from a King Arthur Flour recipe were used for the crust and they worked really well but you can certainly take that step out and use store bought.
Also mentioned:
Kinno Towel Co. pear towel purchased from Rock Paper Scissors in Wiscasset, Maine
Treats Bakery
Do you have a favorite diner food? I love a Greek omelette with spinach and feta.
Lemon Meringue Pie from the Phoenicia Diner Cookbook