Snacking in the Upstate
On every trip I take, I have a few common goals. Assuming it's a trip long enough to warrant a meal, I want to find something local - something unique to the area, or something they are famous for. But there are also other things to seek- snacks for in between meals and desserts for afterwards (or whenever it's convenient.)
One of the first things we were offered upon our arrival in upstate New York was a basket of smallish strawberries that Maw-inlaw had procured from the local Amish community. Down here in the state of Miss-is-sweaty, strawberry season is long past, but up there they must have been in prime season, as these were some of the sweetest strawberries I've had in a while. I ate them all kinds of ways - straight out of the basket, cut and piled up on a piece of thick French toast, and in a bowl of Blueberry Cheerios. That's another new food I tried that week - though I could probably buy said Cheerios locally, I just don't. Cereal, though I love it, is not often on my breakfast list. But this was vacation, and blueberry cereal topped with strawberries at their peak seemed like a good idea. (It was.)
A trip to the local grocery provided two very interesting treats - variations on a theme, if you will. I'm a big fan of all things Reese's, as is widely known, so my eyes tend to connect with similar types of candy in the peanut-butterish world. On this trip, I spotted a Boyer's Smoothie, which is a peanut butter cup coated in butterscotch instead of chocolate. If you bite into one of these expecting the same flavor and experience as a Reese's cup, you may be disappointed. Sure, the bar is high. But I like butterscotch, and I like variety, and the Smoothie was well worth the try.
The other variation, ironically, was another example of replacing something traditionally chocolatey with an unorthodox flavor of sorts. We all know what a Tootsie Pop is, or what it's supposed be be: a big sucker (mostly fruit flavors) with a chocolate Tootsie Roll center. These pops followed the same pattern for the most part, but instead of chocolate inside, they were filled with the Tootsie Fruit Chews. I was so excited, and not disappointed. They came four ways: strawberry with a lemon chew center (sadly, there was only one of those in my bag - I ate it first and didn't share), lemon-lime with orange center, orange with lime center, and blue raspberry with cherry center. All were good, and I even worked really hard to not bite down after only three licks, despite what the wise old owl said. Truth be told, my favorite fruit chew is not actually a fruit flavor at all - it's the vanilla one - but who am I to argue with Tootsie? However, vanilla would have been absolutely perfect inside the orange sucker. Dreamsicle, anyone? So I guess I am arguing with Tootsie a little.
It will also come as no surprise that we ate a lot of ice cream on this trip. Our first night we went to Colossal Ice Cream, which served Perry's brand. I got a scoop of Red Velvet (with cream cheese swirls), and a scoop of Study Break (mocha ice cream with peanut butter and brownie bits.) Why settle for one? It's vacation.
The next night we went just down the street a bit to Taylor Marie's Ice Cream Parlor, which featured homemade ice cream. I'm embarrassed to say that I did not record the flavor I chose! Blasphemy, I know. Silly me for just enjoying a cone of ice cream and not recording the details for posterity.
A few nights later, in Alexandria Bay, we found The Whole Scoop. They also had Perry's, and in memory of Paw-in-law, who attended graduate school at Syracuse, I got a scoop of ‘Cuse 44. I don't know if the Orangemen have an official flavor, but they are certainly known for their bright orange. This ice cream was a salted caramel base with crushed “creme-filled” cookies (think Oreo or Hydrox) and orange-colored pretzel balls. If that's not a local flavor, I don't know what is.
On our last full day in the upstate, we continued our quest. We were in Clayton, NY, looking for a shop recommended by friends of Sis-in-law, which we didn't find until on the way home and already full of ice cream. Because we did find The Scoop, which had Hershey's brand, and we settled there for our first cone as well as some baked goods. (Also not documented…i'm ashamed.) Down the street was the Clayton Popcorn Company. I'm not a big popcorn eater, so I wandered elsewhere while others in our party went inside. However, they reported an ice cream sighting that I couldn't ignore: Gifford's Maine Wild Blueberry, with legit blueberries from Maine. Perhaps my favorite of the week - a nice scoop to end on.
Last but not least, we flew back with a layover in Philadelphia, so I really needed to find a Philly cheesesteak. I knew it wouldn't necessarily be the same as the famous ones in town like Pat's King of Steaks or Geno's, but neither of those had a stand in the airport. Tony Luke's, which also made a Top 10 list I found online, did. It was simple: the roll, the steak, the onions, and the Cheese Whiz. And it was a good amount of greasy, as I suppose it should be. I won't say that bucket list item has been checked off indefinitely, but should I die before I wake…i now can say I had a true Philly cheesesteak. Amen.
(Photos by Ryan Phillips, SDN)