In 2004, Freddy and I moved to Canandaigua, New York for nearly a year. He worked in a Fleischer's Bagels in Macedon and we lived in our brand new motor home in the Canandaigua KOA. I was the office manager. We both loved the area and the people. We were embraced by the community there. We went to Canandaigua UMC. It looked like one of my Snow Village churches from Department 56.
There were a few things that we missed eating when we lived there from home, but not much. I missed Bojangle's Biscuits on Saturday mornings and would have given my eye teeth for a Zero Candy Bar sometimes! The growing season there is much shorter than ours here in NW Georgia and NE Alabama, but they had some of the most beautiful farms you've ever seen there. There were more than 100 barns in Ontario County over 100 years old that were so beautiful.
Almost every farm had a farmstand. You could pull up to the stand, and there was rarely ever anyone there. They would lay out their fruits and vegetables with a metal box locked and bolted to the stand. They would have a price list and you dropped your money into the box. Every now and then you would catch the farmer or their wife or children there replacing the stock. I loved to talk with them and talk about the difference in the varieties they grew than what we grew down here in the South. They were always friendly. Sometimes, they had a hard time understanding my deep Southern accent.
One of our favorite things to eat that we discovered in New York was Salt Potatoes. Since we moved back home, I learned through research that Salt Potatoes is a regional recipe from Syracuse. Syracuse is at the "foot" of one of the most Eastern Finger Lakes scooped out by the ice age. If you look at a map of the Finger Lakes, it looks like a bear claw. It is also home of Cornell University. Freddy and I always drove through Syracuse on our way South and back North.
Salt Potatoes sounds really strange. You put two quarts of water in a big pot and bring the water to a boil. Then, you add 1 1/2 cups of SALT to the pot. Then you add 1-2 pounds of new potatoes to the pot and boil them until the potatoes are tender. You pour the potatoes into a colander and let them dry and a crust of salt will form on the potatoes. Melt butter in a bowl, add a lot of pepper and fresh chives. You put the potatoes on your plate and either cut them in two or smash them with your fork and drizzle the butter mixture on top.
Another regional dish we loved was Spiedies. Spiedies is a marinated chicken that you grilled on a stick and then put in a sub roll. I like the really soft ones. It is a regional dish from Binghamton, New York. People cooked different versions of it in the campground all summer long. The smell of spiedies cooking on the grill would make my mouth water. I was invited to eat with many of the friends I made in the campground throughout the summer.
Spiedie Chicken Sandwiches
2-3 chicken breasts
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped or pressed)
1 TBL dried parsley
1 TBL dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
3-4 sub rolls
Cut chicken into 1" cubes. Whisk all other ingredients together to form a marinade. Set some aside for basting or sauce. Add marinade to chicken in a large zipper style bag and refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally. Thread 5 or so cubes onto metal or soaked bamboo skewers. Grill or broil in oven until chiken is lightly browned. It has already partially cooked from the marinade. Place the skewer in the roll and pull off the meat. Add reduced sauce if you wish.
