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Sweet Potatoes with Honey & Lime-Thanksgiving 7 Days and Counting!

November 15, 2012 by pbenjay

Sweet potatoes Ελληνικά: Γλυκοπατάτες

Sweet potatoes Ελληνικά: Γλυκοπατάτες (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well it’s a week away and I still don’t know what I’m bringing as an hors d’ouevres since that is my assignment for Thanksgiving dinner.  This year we will be sharing the annual feast  with my daughter’s in-laws and other relatives of her husband.  It’s seems like there will be  a lot of famiglia!

But I digress, this post is about delicious and not quite ordinary side dishes.  I really wish I was supposed to bring one of them instead because most appetizers don’t travel well and it’s a 2 1/2 hour trip!

Since oven space is always at a premium Thanksgiving Day, you can make this dish ahead of time and reheat covered in microwave at dinner time.  

SWEET POTATOES with HONEY and LIME

Preheat oven 450 degrees

1 TBS plus 1 tsp coarse salt

6 sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered lengthwise

6 TBS honey

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 small fresh red chile pepper, thinly sliced

2 TBS unsalted butter, melted

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

2 TBS fresh cilantro leaves

Bring a large sauce-pot of water to a boil, add 1 TBS salt.  Add sweet potatoes and boil 4 minutes.  Drain and set aside.  

In a bowl combien honey, lime juice, chile, butter and remaining teaspoon of salt and the pepper.  Add the sweet potatoes and coat with the marinade.  Put potatoes and any excess marinade in a 17″x12″ roasting pan.  Roast in oven 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally, till tender and caramelized.  Garnish with cilantro. 

Serves: 6-8  – Recipe from Martha Stewart Living

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THANKSGIVING 8 Days to go – HEALTHY Mashed Potatoes and still the BEST Side Dish

November 14, 2012 by pbenjay

With only 8 days left to Thanksgiving, I hope you have ordered your turkey already, made out your grocery lists and then gone over them again because running out on Thanksgiving morning for an ingredient is usually a good way to start a fight with your husband!

Today’s side dish is again an old favorite – like anyone would want to have Thanksgiving dinner without Mashed Potatoes! So of course we are having some and believe me no one savours the flavors of butter and cream more than me (and I have the hips to prove it) so when I found this recipe and tried it, I knew it was going to be a hit with everyone at the table including those who are always on a diet  or watching their cholesterol.  AND read the recipe thoroughly because I’m going to also list the ingredients that make it NOT SO HEALTHY and where to substitute them.  Either way, these are delicious mashed potatoes and actually I think the techniques used are probably what makes the potatoes even better than the recipe ingredients themselves.  And the best part is you can make them a day ahead!!!!

GARLIC-AND-CHIVE MASHED POTATOES

1  1/2  cups skim milk  (1  3/4 cup half & half)

2 garlic cloves smashed   (omit)

3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes  (4 lbs )

3 TBS unsalted butter (4 TBS-1/2 stick)

1/4 cup 2% or 0% Greek yogurt (omit)

1 TBS chopped fresh chives (I always use more)  (2 TBS chopped chives) and (2 TBS chopped parsley)

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Garnish: 2 tsp chopped fresh chives  (and 2 tsp chopped parsley)

Bring milk and garlic to a boil in a small saucepan; remove from heat and let stand.  Meanwhile, place potatoes in a medium pot, and cover with water by 2 inches.  Bring to a boil.  Cook until tender, 10-12 minutes.  Drain, and pass through a ricer or food mill.  Return to pot.

Heat potatoes over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until slightly dried out, about 2 minutes or less.  Strain milk mixture into pot .  Discard garlic.  Stir in butter.  Remove from heat.  Stir in yogurt, chives and 1 tsp salt;  season with pepper.  Garnish with chives. Do NOT garnish if you are storing for a day.

Serves 8 – recipe from Martha Stewart Living

Cook potatoes in cold salted water, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer till potatoes are tender 15-18 minutes. Drain, return potatoes to pot.

Stir potatoes over medium heat until dry, a film of starch will form on bottom of pot. Remove from heat.

In small saucepan, combine half & half and butter;  bring to a simmer over medium.  Pour half of hot liquid over potatoes.  Mash just until smooth, adding more liquid to reach desired consistency.  Stir in parsley and chives.  Season with salt and pepper. Garnish.  Do NOT garnish if you are storing for a day. 

Serves: 8 – recipe from Martha Stewart Every Day Food

NOW here’s the good part.  Put your mashed potatoes into a bowl that you know will sit in large pot as if it were a double boiler.  The bowl must be able to withstand some heat although it will not be in boiling water.  Cover your potatoes tightly with Saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.   On Thanksgiving Day, place the unwrapped bowl of potatoes over a pot of soft-boiling water.  Do not rush the process. Let the potatoes warm through while you go about the other hundred details of a Thanksgiving Dinner.

Martha Stewart, Whole Living, Thanksgiving dinner, mashed potatoes, garnish

Heart Healthy Mashed Potatoes

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The ITALIAN – GERMAN Thanksgiving Dinners

November 13, 2012 by pbenjay

Thanksgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving Turkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Most people think of Thanksgiving dinner as the ultimate American meal.  After all, wasn’t it first celebrated with Native Americans and the Pilgrims?  Well that’s what I was told in grammar (age-related term) school.

However, this country is a melting pot, a diverse population made up of so many different ethnicities, I wouldn’t begin to try to number them.  I grew up in an Italian family (more about the German side later).  My first husband was also from an Italian family so for the first half of my life, Thanksgiving was tweaked to keep all the paisans happy.  When we celebrated Thanksgiving with my grandparents, the cry at the table was, “When do we eat the turkey”?   I wonder how many of you had to eat your way through several courses BEFORE the turkey made it to the table?  When you walk into most homes on Thanksgiving Day, the savory odor of roasting turkey greets you, or the sweet aroma of an apple pie baking in the oven.  When you entered my grandmother’s apartment, it was the rich simmering smell of tomato sauce that assaulted your nose.  The meal started with Baccala, a dried codfish served with greens.  I think it was served like a salad.  Then we had ravioli; big fat pasta puffs filled with cheese and a bowl of meatballs and sausages on the side.  I guess at some point the turkey came out but I really don’t remember it much.  

Once I was married, the Italian Thanksgiving took on another level of ethnicity.  Now there were side dishes that only would appear on an Italian table.  The stuffing was heavily flavored with grated Parmesan cheese, parsley and garlic.  We had stuffed mushrooms and stuffed artichokes right along with candied sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and salad with Italian dressing!  

Then came the period in my life where I spent Thanksgiving with my Aunt Marian and my cousins in New Jersey.  Aunt Marian was married to Uncle Henny who was German and so Red Cabbage was always a side dish on Thanksgiving.  The creamed onions, turnips and candied sweets were there and because my cousins and myself were all adults, we made culinary contributions.  Peter insisted on a green vegetable and in those days, the only green vegetable he acknowledged was broccoli so I always steamed or sautéed some.  My cousin Marian liked to bring a lentil salad, cousin Janet baked pies.  I have five girl cousins, all with spouses and some with children.  Thanksgiving dinner was a BIG deal at Aunt Marian’s with about 20 people!

I’m actually half Italian and half German so I fit in wherever we went!  As for my own Thanksgiving meals, I often went for something different, whether it be various stuffings or the  year I tried brining the bird.  I’ve made seasonal soups and  lots of sides.  Earlier today I posted one of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes and decided that for the count down to turkey day, I’d post a recipe a day.  I hope you enjoy them and would love it if my readers would send in comments about their favorite Thanksgiving side dish or dessert or ethnic accompaniment.  

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The BEST Thanksgiving Side Dishes! A Recipe A Day Till Thanksgiving!

November 13, 2012 by pbenjay

Gone are the days of the green bean and Campbell’s soup casserole, known in my house as White Trash Green Beans.  SOOoooo politically incorrect – my kids named it, not me. 

I grew up with the usual suspects on the Thanksgiving table.  It was Mashed Potatoes, Mashed Turnips, Candied Sweet Potatoes, Stuffing, Green Bean French Onion casserole,  Creamed White Onions,canned jelled Cranberry Sauce.  Not too exciting, but oh so familiar 

I said good-bye, farewell to those dishes years ago!!  And I love side dishes so over the years I have collected a lot of recipes.  If you are making the BIG meal at home, you might find one or two to try out and if you’ve been invited to a feast, why not bring a really special dish?

Old habits die hard so here is a modernized version of the traditional Green Bean Casserole.  It is Green Beans with Carmelized Onions and Tarragon. 

1 TBS plus 1 Tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 large sweet onions such as Vidalia, thinly sliced

coarse salt and ground pepper

2 lbs green beans trimmed

4 tsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 TBS oil over medium-high.  Add onions and season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring often, until softened and just beginning to brown, 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are deep golden brown and very soft, 30 minutes.  (Refrigerate in an air-tight container, up to 1 day.  Bring to room temperature before using).

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook green beans until crisp-tender and bright green, about 6 minutes.  Drain and toss with tarragon and 1 tsp oil; season with salt and pepper.  Transfer beans to a platter and top with onions.

Recipe from Martha Stewart‘s Every Day Food

Green Bean Casserole with French Onions

The OLD Green Bean Casserole with French Onions (Photo credit: Moomettes)

martha stewart, every day food, white trash casserole,

The NEW Green Bean Casserole – Martha Stewart Every Day Food

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“Hail The Conquering Hero” ……..Veteran’s Day 2012

November 11, 2012 by pbenjay

Book given to U.S. veterans in 1919 to help th...

Book given to U.S. veterans in 1919 to help them readjust to civilian life (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Or for that matter, the hundreds of thousands of U.S. Veterans we hail JUST for returning.  We salute the Veterans of all wars; today the oldest living veterans are from World War II, The Big One, as my parents generation referred to the war that shaped and altered their lives.  That war brought about many changes in life as they knew it.  My father and his friends grew up in an America that was growing industrially and agriculturally and with an ever-expanding middle class. Most were raised by frugal parents (my grandparents) who remembered all too clearly the sufferings of the Great Depression.  However, their lives were not overshadowed by nuclear threat and they were the children of a people who were thrilled and excited to be in the United States and imbued their children with a love of their newly-adopted country.  And so their sons went to war.  Most of those remaining veterans are now in their 80’s.  My dad died a few years ago and I remember vividly how in the last ten to fifteen years, he spent hours reminiscing about his days aboard a destroyer, how scared he was in the Battle of Leyte, how he and his buddies got drunk in Hawaii and all got tattoos.  I never understood this almost-obsession with the war days.  His life was certainly more than the years he spent in the Navy, but as he got older, he just wanted to talk about the 1940’s.

We also honor the Veterans of the Korean War and the Vietnamese War today.  Those veterans are in my age group; I don’t know any in my present circle of friends so not sure if as we age, they’re going to spend hours discussing those days in Asia.  My brother served in Vietnam as a tail gunner on helicopters, a very hairy position.  He returned home in one piece, at least physically.  However, when they came home, there were no ticker tape parades, there was no big fanfare – I think the best they got was a chance for a VA mortgage.  In the end, although serving your country is always a noble deed, the war itself was not popular and many who were honorably discharged, returned home feeling dishonored.  BUT today, you too are celebrated for your service to our country.

Now we are winding down not one but two wars and our veterans are coming home and many not all in one piece. It is important that we support a government that welcomes these servicemen and women home, that we offer them continuing education and the opportunity to find decent jobs.  Hopefully we have elected a President who will honor these moral obligations and a Congress and Senate that will enact the necessary legislation to make it happen!

I always used to call my Dad on Veteran’s Day because I knew that call was as important to him as one on his birthday.  If you know a veteran, call him or her and thank them!

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THE MANHATTAN – A Classic Cocktail

November 9, 2012 by pbenjay

Manhattan

Manhattan (Photo credit: fpaulus)

Now this IS a rare occasion – I was walking around the liquor store with Peter today and our purpose was to buy Gin for him and some red wine for my Mah Jongg group.  All of sudden, I turned to him and said, “Mmmm I think it would be nice to have a Manhattan this evening” – that’s the rare occasion. Then I had to try to remember what exactly went into a Manhattan.  I had a vague recollection that it had whiskey in it, sweet vermouth and of all things, a maraschino cherry.  

After suffering from sticker shock over the price of Jack Daniels, Maker’s Mark and the like, I finally accosted a store clerk and inquired as to exactly what alcohol went into a Manhattan.  Well apparently it began with Canadian whiskey which was actually a Rye but Canadian  whisky (that’s the way they spell it) is no longer rye-based. There are Manhattans made with Bourbon, Rye or Whiskey.  I finally opted for Black Velvet Canadian Whisky and the reason – it was among the least expensive.    After all I wasn’t sure I would really like the drink after all these years and besides, once in the house, who else would drink it?  Peter made me an excellent Manhattan even though we didn’t have the bitters or the cherries.

Well here’s some history on this very classic cocktail which was named for a very classic city.  By the way, there are five cocktails named after the boroughs of New York.  The five cocktails I’m referring to are: The Manhattan, The Bronx, The Brooklyn, The Queens and The Knickerbocker.  Staten Island often referred to as the orphan sister of the boroughs does not have a cocktail for its namesake!!

But back to to the Manhattan and I have to concentrate here because Peter made me a Manhattan and there is only about an inch left in my glass!  By the way, my Manhattan is not pure.  It doesn’t follow  the classic recipe because I no longer have Angostura Bitters or maraschino cherries  in my  cottage. And would you believe that last week when I was emptying  the refrigerator the maraschino cherries actually made it to the third cut!  I could only take so much home to my New York refrigerator and finally deemed the cherries would not make the journey! Who knew 10 days later I would be wanting a Manhattan, a drink that actually calls for a maraschino cherry as the garnish?

In the early 1870’s, Dr. Iain Marshall is credited for creating this cocktail for a fete hosted by Jennie Jerome (Lady RandolphChurchill, Winston’s mother) to honor presidential candidate, Samuel Tildien.  Apparently the success of the banquet fueled the popularity of the drink.  People began asking for the drink that was served at the club by the name of The Manhattan. That’s a popular version of history that is probably fictional since Lady Randolph was pregnant at the time and in France. 

The original Manhattan recipe called for American Whiskey, Angostura Bitters and Italian Vermouth.  There are prior references to a recipe for a drink similar to the Manhattan including one from the 1860’s.  By one account it was invented in the 1860s by a bartender named Black at a bar on Broadway near Houston Street.  

An early record of the cocktail can be found in William Schmidt’s “The Flowing Bowl”, published in 1891. In it, he details a drink containing 2 dashes of gum, 2 dashes of bitters, 1 dash of absinthe, 2/3 portion of whiskey and 1/3 portion of vermouth. Wikipedia.

The same cocktail appears listed as a “Tennessee Cocktail” in Shake ’em Up! by V. Elliott and P. Strong, copyright 1930 (p. 39): “Two parts of whiskey, one part of Italian Vermouth and a dash of bitters poured over ice and stirred vigorously.”

The standard recipe calls for 2 parts whiskey, 1/4 part Sweet Vermouth, a dash of Angostura Bitters and garnished if you wish, with a maraschino cherry. Ahhh but there are always variations!  Nowadays, it is more likely that a Manhattan will be made with bourbon, Maker’s Mark of Jack Daniels.  Today, you may find a Manhattan made with orange bitters or Peychaud bitters, a lemon peel instead of a cherry. You can order it straight up cold in a Martini glass or over ice in an Old Fashion glass.  Some people add some of maraschino cherry juice for added sweetness and color, some actually omit any bitters.  So many different ways to the end result…. This must be America or at the very least New York City.

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ELECTION DAY 2012 – FINALLY!!!

November 6, 2012 by pbenjay

voting day in a small town

voting day in a small town (Photo credit: Muffet)

It has been a long time coming, 18 months to be exact.  18 months, about 77.5 weeks and approximately 542.5 days AND 13,020 hours!!!! That’s how long we’ve been listening to ads on the radio, reading columns in the newspaper, watching tv commercials, accosted by pamphlet-bearing party workers on the sidewalks, harassed  by  repeated robo calls, invited to rallies and fund-raisers, bombarded by daily emails from political organizations, and lastly not to mention the postcards, newsletters and solicitation fund-raising letters – ALL in the name of democracy, all in the pursuit of the most powerful office in the country.  Oh yeah, I was only referring to the presidential campaign you can quadruple the intensity when you factor in the local representatives, state senators, sheriffs and on infinitum.

And tonight it will FINALLY  be over – or will it?  Ohhhh,  I think the results of this year’s election will be immediately called into question!  Accusations of voter fraud are just waiting behind the curtain, recounts ordered and then further analyzed.  Absentee ballots scrutinized and possibly discarded;  Remember the hanging chads in Florida!  This year a secondary campaign was waged, to disenfranchise thousands of voters and prevent them from exercising their constitutional right.  In New Jersey, a state crippled by Hurricane Sandy, throwing the means to conduct proper voting in to chaos and confusion has instituted (can you believe this?) voting by fax!  Where states like Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Georgia passed highly restrictive voter ID laws, New Jersey went all out in trying to encourage voter participation where their residents lacking heat, electricity and water are understandably  disheartened  and dissuaded from making the effort to get out and vote.  This puts another nuance on the state’s unofficial slogan “Jersey Strong”.

Personally, I will be beyond thrilled to have it over.  I hope, I pray my man wins because I don’t like the person I’ve become when the other guy is on TV.  The defaming, the libel, the lies, the slander, it has got to STOP.  Fact-checkers be damned?  Are you kidding me?  I’m living in a world where the word Christian has taken on a new meaning and certainly not one that I care for or can espouse.  Let it be over please!

The polls close in my state at 9:00 – I hope everyone gets to vote. I waited about an hour and a half this morning – they said the scanners weren’t working.  I really liked the old voting machines and wish they would bring them back. If you haven’t voted yet – PLEASE DO SO NOW!

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Hurricane Sandy Swallowed Up Ralph! Ocean Grove Landmark Damaged

November 2, 2012 by pbenjay

Ocean Grove, NJ is so peaceful.

Ocean Grove, NJ is so peaceful. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of quaintest things in Ocean Grove was the Fishing Pier with its Fishing Shack and of course Ralph, the resident (dummy) fisherman who perpetually cast his line in hopes of snagging the big one.

Ralph has been a fixture on the pier off and on since 1993.  He was created by Carol Boniello and Bob Borders as a symbol of hope for the future of the pier which was in the process of being rebuilt.  In December of 1992 a nor’easter took the fishing shack and part of the pier down.  Ralph has been a bit of a transient.  He fell into the ocean in 1994 only to be rescued by two Grovers.  He lived for a while on Carol’s porch, he even marched in a local parade. He’s been the subject of paintings, sketches and hundreds of photographs.  Children loved Ralph, giggling and pointing at him from the beach below.

Well that was then and this is now.  Hurricane Sandy wiped out the Fishing Shack, part of the pier and alas, Ralph disappeared into the angry swirling sea.  Perhaps he heard a mermaid calling his name.

Losing the Fishing Shack isn’t the worst thing that happened to Ocean Grove during Sandy, the Frankenstorm.  BUT, now looking at the ruptured landmark breaks my heart.  It’s almost like “Serioulsy? You had to take the shack and Ralph AGAIN?” “Isn’t destroying the boardwalk enough? Didn’t tossing the lamp posts and benches across the road and down side streets enough” ?  “Wasn’t flooding basements, depositing tons of sand along Abbott Avenue and Broadway enough”? “Isn’t the fact that we’re 5 days without power and cold enough”?  “And we had to throw out all the food we couldn’t eat in 48 hours bad enough”?  Guess Not!

Watch the videos; Short one shot during the Hurricane and then post Sandy. 

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Hurricane Sandy Wrecks Havoc on the Jersey Shore!

November 2, 2012 by pbenjay

I felt I had to write something more about what I saw two days when we finally got to the shore to check out our cottage and the town of Ocean Grove.  You’ve heard ALL the words on the news (that is if you have power to get the news) UNPRECEDENTED-UNBELIEVABLE-UNREAL-DISASTROUS-MIND-BOGGLING and on and on and on.

YES all adjectives apply.  Trying to keep things in perspective is actually easy this time around;  When I think of the food I lost, I think of the people who lost their homes.  When I think of the damage in my yard, I think of the people watched an angry sea surge over their yards and swallow them out and spit out sand where their lawns had been.  When I think of the shingles flown off my roof, I think of the residents of Breezy Point and Mantolooking whose homes were engulfed in fire.  When I was concerned about the slimy mud on the side of the house and windows, I only had to walk over to The Lillagaard Hotel where the tea room I ran is/was located and saw the layer of mud left in the kitchen and dining room left behind by the two feet of water that broke through the door and flooded the lower level.

YES, things are put in perspective, sometimes unfortunately at the expense of another’s loss and pain.

Yesterday we drove to the shore with our friends, Joe and Michael.  They were kind enough to drive us to Ocean Grove as they were going to check on their cottage.  My camera battery was dead and I had no power in NJ to recharge. Joe took a lot of photos and graciously forwarded them to me so I could post them on my blog.  This is what we saw in Ocean Grove on Wednesday!

NOT a rare sight around town

Storm surge deposited lamp post and debris across Ocean Ave

A boardwalk buried in sand

Ocean Grove NJ, fishing pier, fishing shack

Where there was once a Fishing Shack at the end of this pier!

sand piles, Ocean Grove, Ocean Ave

Mounds of sand left background-Had been on Abbott Avenue and was plowed to beach to open up the street!!!!

Ocean Grove, Jersey shore, boardwalk

Twisted railings, Note the sand is now level with the boardwalk!

Ocean Grove, Hurricane Sandy, Jersey shore,

View from the boardwalk-the piles of sand are from the streets to the west NOT washed and deposited over the boardwalk.

The Camp Meeting Association is holding a massive clean-up tomorrow (Saturday).  Our dear friends Dick and Jane who own The Lillagaard need our help to empty out the Tea Room and salvage what we can.  BUT we don’t have enough gas to get there and back and none to be had in New Jersey.  And we can’t get back into the City unless we have 3 people in the car! Do two cats counts as one person?

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Hurricane Sandy – DAY 2 – The Aftermath

October 31, 2012 by pbenjay

After a night of howling wind, slashing rain and rattling windows, I woke up this morning to a new world.  The sidewalks of the Upper East Side were covered with leaves, large branches and in some cases whole trees were on the street.  People were out in huge numbers as the result of yet another day with no public transportation and most non-essential businesses closed!  Going out for breakfast in New York on the weekend or in this case a day off is practically a national pastime.  This morning we joined our friend, Gail for a late breakfast/lunch at Gracie’s, a coffee shop across the street.  The line to get in was out the door and to the end of the block!  Luckily Gail had gotten there before us and we were able to go right in and get a table.  I ordered one of my usual breakfast.  I said, “I’ll have scrambled egg whites on a toasted bialy with one slice of turkey bacon”.  The waiter said, “Just white or rye”.  I said, “Ok, I’ll have two poached eggs in a cup and…” at which point he interrupted me and said, “we only have scrambled eggs”.  So I laughed and said perhaps he ought to just write out the order himself!!!  So scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, rye toast and home fries was breakfast du jour.

Walked over to 87th St to watch the trees being fed into an automated garbage truck, not something you see around town.

Once back home an online, the horrors wrought by Sandy the night before began to reveal themselves.  Between fielding phone calls from friends around the country who were checking in on our safety and well-being and trying to access the internet to see what was written on Blogfinger, I watched the news.  Switching from NBC to ABC to CNN I was horrified by what I saw.  Massive destruction of the Jersey Shore!  Subway tunnels flooded and our own Eastside #6 line under water.  The crane still dangling over West 57th St.  My cousin Marian called me and asked if they could stay at our apartment on Wednesday as she is still banned from her building due to the threatening crane.

Extel, Billionaires building, Manhattan, W. 57th sT

How ONE Crane Ate A Neighborhood

Another telling photo, this one from Hoboken, NJ

Hoboken, NJ, fleet of taxis, Hurricane Sandy

The Yellow Submarines

Every borough was severely affected by Sandy. Below is a freak incident brought about by high winds and a stupendous storm surge.

Sandy took a wrong turn on Staten Island

Photo courtesy of (AP Photo/Sean Sweeney)

Late in the afternoon, I was able to go online at a friend’s house and view Blogfinger – THE DAY AFTER: Assessing the Damage

The following photos are from Blogfinger, a great source of community information.  If you read the comments, you will see how many home-owners such as myself rely heavily on the blog to find out what is happening in the town when we’re not there.  The bad news was right there in black and white. No power, more trees down, the board walk a twisted and buckled wreck, a former restaurant ripped open by the sea.

Ocean Grove NJ, boardwalk, Hurricane Sandy

Ocean Grove boardwalk covered in sand, benches strewn around like toys,

Photo by Paul Goldfinger

And then I called Jane at the Lillagaard to find out what damage had been done.  The news was NOT GOOD.  The storm surge broke the entry door to the Tea Room, not only pushing the door open but also bending the door frame.  Can you imagine the forces of nature at play with this ferocious Frankenstorm?  As of tonight the kitchen was still flooded and the Tea Room is closed till further notice 😦

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