Enjoying a Part of Americana (and maybe the best banana ice cream???)

Have you ever driven down a long stretch of highway, passing nothing but vast landscape - and then you see a random exit – with no sign of human existence?  As you get closer, and the sign slowly comes to view, you notice that the sign is void of the familiar symbols of food, gas, and lodging.  It only has the exit name and its corresponding number. I’ve driven by many of these exits wondering if people actually lived off of these exits?  And if so, what did they do?  What were they like?  Where did they work?  Ever since I was a child, I've been intrigued by these mysterious exits that seem to lead to nowhere..... 

Exit 42 - Lebanon, KY

Until about 8 years ago, when I had the opportunity to explore what was beyond one of these mysterious exits.  Exit 42 (Lebanon/Springfield) off of the Bluegrass Parkway.  Destination: The city of Lebanon in Marion County, Kentucky.  Since that time (8 years ago), I've been fortunate to visit Lebanon twice a year. Beyond exit 42, you will find that the residents of Lebanon, KY have funny accents, but are also warm, friendly, helpful, and welcoming. They offer up smiles easily, and comfortably start up conversations with visitors (like me – a city girl).

The city is NOT a boring city at all!  It holds an annual Ham's Day Festival (celebrating the country ham) and Tractor Show in September.  Any town that celebrates my 2nd favorite meat (pork) is okay in my book.  Marion County is also the home of Maker's Mark, a small batch bourbon distillery, well known for their marketing accolades and the dripping red wax used to seal the bottle.  It is part of the bourbon trail and is approximately 20 minutes from Lebanon.  Maker's Mark  I truly believe that a little bit of Maker's Mark runs through the veins of every Lebanon local (21 years and older of course).  It's amazing how bourbon is cleverly incorporated into their lives.  You see it in food, a 5K, chocolate, drinks, and much more.  One can even be an ambassador for Maker's Mark.

Aside from the bourbon and country ham, Lebanon is also home to the BEST Banana Ice Cream I’ve ever had.  East Main Dairy Freeze right off of - you got it - Main St. in Lebanon, KY serves the most delicious and refreshing soft serve banana ice cream I've ever had.  The ice cream has just the right amount of banana in it. You can still taste the banana even when your taste buds are half frozen from eating the large ice cream so quickly.  It is so delicious that ever since I took my first bite almost 8 years ago, I've been on a search to find something close to what I've found in Lebanon.  I have been to gelaterias in Rome, Le Glaciers in Paris, numerous ice cream parlours in the US, and ice cream shops down many boardwalks - but nothing has come close.
East Main Dairy Freeze

  

The city itself has that sleepy small town feel that one would expect from a small town. But it also has an energy that I believe comes from the simple and maybe more honest life that only a small town can offer its residents. The residents of Lebanon, KY are no different than you or me.  But, their love of sports, family, the town of Lebanon, horses, bourbon, faith, and their state of Kentucky keep them clean and simple.  

Visit Lebanon, KY

Lebanon is surrounded by farm land, dark knobs, and beautiful open spaces.  I've driven through a couple of the farms in Lebanon and am in awe of the beauty they possess.  Tobacco, corn, pumpkins, and soy beans fill the acres on St. Mary's and Goodin View Farms.  As I drive down tractor made roads in St. Mary's farm, with the 87 year old man that owns St. Mary’s farm and a few others, I shake my head as I look at him.  He tolerates my questions and many stops to capture photos of the farm's beauty on my iphone.  He offers me that easy smile I've become accustomed to in a Lebanon resident.  He sits comfortably in the passenger seat next to me.  He is comfortable in his own skin.  Comfortable knowing that he has accomplished what he wanted to accomplish in his lifetime with no regrets. Comfortable that he does not need to let anyone know, whether it's an employee, a church friend, a stranger, another farmer, who he is and what he's accomplished.  Is this man real?  Because despite his accomplishments, his successes, his legacy, he still calls himself a simple farmer.  Humble to his core.  I ask myself again - is this man real?? Because this type of man - represents the American in us, the American we strive to be.

Lebanon, KY, this magical place, off of a mysterious exit, with its warm hospitality, a landscape that I’ve quickly appreciated to be one of the most beautiful I’ve seen, and delicious banana ice cream has captured my attention and heart.  This city, the land, the farms, the people – they are Americana.

So next time you see a random and mysterious exit without the familiar food, gas, lodging symbols - take a chance.  Get off the exit and explore.  You never know what you'll find. You are only a Stones Throw away from finding a piece of Americana.

The Perfect Meatball (A review of The Meatball Shop)

Chicken with Pesto, Spicy Pork with Spicy Sauce, and Chicken Cordon Bleu with Parm Cream Sauce

I never quite understood why anyone would want to dig into a big ball of ground beef/pork combo, we call a Meatball.  Spaghetti and meatballs seemed redundant.  The seasonings in the meatball would get lost in the seasonings in the sauce - right??  And how do you keep all that ground meat tender when they're as large as golf balls OR even larger!?  And you end up having to break up the meatball when eating it, so inevitably it becomes part of the sauce.  So why not order spaghetti bolognese instead.  I just didn't get it.

And then there's the meatball sandwich.  Meatballs in some kind of subway like bread, smothered with red sauce, and topped with provolone cheese.  I shuddered thinking about it.  But, because I love food - I have ordered and tried many spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and meatball sandwiches for lunch - hoping that one of these days a meatball would change my mind.  But none have UNTIL.....

I found The Meatball Shop (TMS) on Greenwich Ave in Manhattan.  Since I've discovered TMS a couple of years ago, it has been a main staple to dine at when my friends/family come to visit me (which is quite often) or when I have a hankering for a great meatball - which was twice these last 2 weeks.  2 weeks - not a big deal you say.  But, if you factor in, that I don't live in Manhattan but in Jersey, and that in those 2 weeks (14 days), I was out of town 4 of those days - eating at TMS twice is a lot.  Also, I don't live in a part of NJ that's just right across the river.  In fact, I have to get my a** on the parkway, onto 22, onto 1&9, over the Pulaski skyway (which was ranked one of the most dangerous bridge in the US), thru the Holland tunnel, down Hudson, traveling between 45 min on a good day to 2 hours to get to TMS.  Mhmmmmmm!!  But, the efforts of fighting traffic, paying $12 to go thru the tunnel, and the cost of parking in Manhattan is so worth it and ultimately puts me only a stones throw away from having the most sublime, tender, and absolutely addicting meatballs I've ever had.

The bread used at TMS comes from Il Forno bakery and is delivered daily.  It's toasted just enough that it offers a slight resistance as you bite into it, then into the pillowy softness of the untoasted part, before reaching the most tender, perfectly flavored, and well balanced meatball and sauce I've had.  A slider, if I'm in control of my hunger takes about 4 bites to consume.  If not in control (which is most of the time) - is consumed in two!

The meatballs at TMS are all delicious and can be ordered in several ways.  Each person orders by using a dry erase marker that's already on the table, ticking off what you want on your own personal menu.  I always order the meatball sliders.  One meatball in each slider.  Since you can't mix and match meatballs if you order a hero sandwich - 3 meatballs in a hero, I find that the meatball sliders are the best way to try several different types of meatballs.  You choose a meatball and a sauce to go with it.  My personal meatball favorites are :  1) spicy pork  2) chicken  3) veal.  My personal sauce favorites are: 1) spicy sauce  2) pesto  3) parm cream  My favorite combinations are: 1) spicy pork/spicy sauce  2) chix with pesto  3) chix with parm cream.  But, you really can't go wrong with any combinations.

Chicken with Pesto 

So, if you are like me (before TMS and I became an item) and you don't understand the meatball, check out The Meatball Shop and order a meatball slider or two or three (I dare you to only order two - almost impossible).  It may answer many of your questions as it did mine.

 

Making the Perfect Peach and Blueberry Crisp

Peach and Blueberry Crisp

If I had to choose - Savory or Sweet.  Hands down I'd choose savory.  There's something about cutting into a med-rare, salt crusted, well peppered, butter drizzled cowboy ribeye steak that just never gets old.  With that being said.  I can have the best cowboy ribeye steak for dinner, but if I don't end the meal with the perfect dessert, I leave the table feeling unsatisfied.  So what does that say about me?  That when it really came down to it, I'd choose sweet over savory????  Nahhhh - impossible!  No way could I have been wrong about myself all these years.  So, I'm going to just believe that this is the same dilemma we are faced with when we ask ourselves the question, "What comes first?  The chicken or the egg?  NEITHER!!  Both savory and sweet complement each other - without both, I leave the table unsatisfied.

Right now, the peaches and blueberries are at their best.  According to Ruth Reichl, the blueberries this year are absolutely spectacular.  And the New Jersey yellow OR white peaches are amazingly juicy.  What a better time to visit your local farmer and be a stone's throw away from making the perfect peach and blueberry crisp.

NJ Peaches and Blueberries

Peach and Blueberry Crisp
(Makes enough for two in 4-5oz ramekins)
Prep time: 30 min
Bake time: 30-40 minutes
Eat time: < 10 minutes because you don't want to burn your tongue.....

Ingredients:

Filling
3 over-ripe medium peaches
Handful of blueberries
1 TB cornstarch
1/8 C of granulated sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon
dash of salt
1 tsp of salted butter

Crisp
1/4 C light brown sugar
1/2 C all purpose flour
1/8 C of rolled oats (not instant)
dash of salt
sprinkle of cinnamon
1/4 C cold salted butter (1/2 stick) I use French butter

Directions:

1. Preheat convection oven at 325F or 350F
2. Slice up the peaches into 1/2" segments (I dont peel mine)
3. Combine all filling ingredients together (except for the butter) and mix thoroughly in a non-reactive bowl
4. Set aside
5. Butter your ramekins with the remaining butter
6. In another bowl, mix all of the crisp ingredients together except for the butter
7. Once thoroughly mixed, using your fingers, work in the butter into the dry ingredients until it forms into small clumps
8. Spoon your filling into the ramekins until evenly distributed, making sure the juices from the fruit are drizzled in with the fruit.  Should be right at lip level.
9. Top with crumb picture until it forms a mound, fully covering the fruit
10. Bake for 30-40 minutes until topping is golden brown
11. Cool slightly 
12. Serve with vanilla bean ice cream/gelato and ENJOY!

Donut peaches

Pint of Blues

Bordier Butter and Crisp

1/2 NJ white and yellow peaches

Ready to be baked

The first bite is ALWAYS the best!

ALL GONE!!!  YUM!!

Shaking off my wobbly legs!

I'm new to blogging.  And actually, other than Facebook, I'm new to social media.  Shaking off my wobbly legs represents a few things:  1) starting my blog  2) starting my catering business  3) starting to "tweet"  4) starting to train (again) for a Spartan race  5) starting a "different" home life (to be discussed in future blogs).

If I think about it too much, walls start caving in and wobbly legs start to crumble.  But, there are three things that have always stabilized me and been a constant for me - my Faith, my family (you close friends are part of family), and my love of food!!

So this is what this blog is about.  It's about me and food.  It's about you and food.  It's about us and food.  And - it's about how we are just a Stones Throw Away from shaking off whatever caused us to have wobbly legs with..... COME ON, you know what's next!  You know what I'm going to say!!  Say it out loud with me!  F** it - I'm screaming it out loud - You SCREAM it out loud too!  .....WITH FOOD!!!!!  

Welcome and let's get started.......