Christmas at Karen’s

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Karen is my friend, and boss at the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society (BMSHS). She was kind enough to invite me to spend Christmas with her and her son, Robert. I had a great time.

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The table awaits.

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Festive Munchies.

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Red Tulips.

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Karen.

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Christmas meal. I made a chicken, bacon, mushroom, peas and leek pie.

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Christmas wreaths.

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Taken with a Panasonic Lumx GX85 Panasonic Lumix 20mm f1.7

In New York City – Korean Food

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Neither of us knew the area. There were lots of Korean restaurants around, but we didn’t know which ones were good and which were not. So we selected one pretty much at random. I don’t remember its name.

The food was very good, but the service less so: we had to ask for our drinks (nothing exotic. Just a Coke and a Diet-Coke) at least three times before they appeared.

Taken with an iPhone SE II.

An all day breakfast

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After my 1 1/2 hour walk in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (See: Trying out my newly acquired Pentax K10) I was hungry so I walked to P.J. Doyle’s to get something to eat.

They had what the menu referred to as “Irish Breakfast. Two Eggs any style, Irish Sausage, Rashers, Irish Pudding, Broiled Tomato. Served with Homefries and Toast”. That sounded about right so that was what I ordered.

It was pretty much what I expected except for the bacon, which was not the usual American style bacon: narrow, thin, fatty and with a pronounced smoky taste. Rather it was the kind of bacon that I remember having when I was growing up in the UK: thick and lean with a high meat to fat ratio (see picture).

While I realize that this was not haute cuisine it really hit the spot. When I was in university in the UK I used to play a lot of badminton (it’s not the backyard “sport” that’s played in the US, but rather a sport that’s very fast and strenuous when played seriously). I remember one occasion when I’d been playing with a friend and after we finished we adjourned to the nearest pub for some lunch. In those days most pubs had little or no food, but I remember that meal very well. I had a not too fresh packaged steak and kidney pie that was warmed up in the microwave. Baked beans and a beer completed this culinary extravaganza. I was tired and possibly dehydrated and I swear it was the best meal I every had. The meal I had today reminded me very much of that meal.

My apologies for the quality of the picture. It was taken in a quite dark pub with an Iphone.

Taken with an Iphone SE II.

A visit to Merestead – Lunch at Crabtrees Kittle House

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Our final stop was for lunch at the famed Crabtrees Kittle House in Chappaqua, home to Bill and Hillary Clinton and other luminaries.

According to the restaurant’s website:

The Kittle House, constructed in 1790 as a barn and working farm for John Kittle and his family, has seen much over its 200 year-old history. Over the course of the next century, it was maintained as a farm and residence for the family’s descendants. In the 1880s, the barn was converted into a grand manor house, which is our main building today.

However, at the turn of the 19th century, the house and farm was sold & various establishments occupied the property for the next fifty years. If walls could talk, they would share tales of debauchery and wild nights from its brief tenure as a roadhouse during the 1920s, hosting many parties that we can only guess did not comply with the laws of Prohibition. They would speak of lesson plans and gossip from its brief tenure as a private girls school in the 1930s, & its conversion back into a tavern and exclusive guest house and retreat for citydwellers intent on escaping the crowds and prying eyes. The Kittle House hosted celebrities, actors, and public figures in the Golden Age of Hollywood — including Henry Fonda, Margaret Sullavan and Talullah Bankhead.

In 1981, the Crabtree family purchased the property and inherited all of its stories — restoring the inn and property to its historic grandeur, and bringing the art of hospitality back into the Inn, reviving its menu to reflect its farming heritage, and developing an extensive wine program that pairs well with the local, natural products provided by nearby farmers and producers. That tradition continues today, and The Kittle House has become synonymous with delicious, elegant and refined farm-to-table cuisine.

I very much enjoyed my meal, Charlie less so.

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Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II