My fingers have smoke billowing from them trying to catch up on my Cooking Tour recaps! I am half way through the recaps now, so hopefully I can roll the rest out this week and stop bombarding the blog with mostly cooking content. Remember, each state is saved to my highlights on Instagram if you want to see the video version of me cooking these recipes! {whitney.at.home}
New York! One of my favorite states. I've been on 5 trips to NYC, and when we lived up north we were right by the state line, so we had many adventures in New York State. Thinking back one single memory in this state is next to impossible - we had many fun times in Rochester, Buffalo, etc. But I do have one story that just sticks out in my mind because it was truly an adventure.
We had just moved to Pennsylvania and had only been there for about a month before my husband had to go on a weekend trip to Wisconsin. It was a work trip with the other sports med fellows, so the boys and I couldn't accompany him and had to stay home alone in our brand new town where we knew no one and no one knew us.
Well, that wasn't going to stop me. We were going to go on an adventure! The boys and I have a tradition where we pick blueberries every year and since the move across the country took up our summer, we hadn't yet gotten around to doing it. I searched the internet for the best blueberry farm in the area and stumbled upon the quaintest, sweetest little blueberry farm in about an hour from us in a small little New York town.
I also searched for the best ice cream so we could stop for a refreshing treat when we were done. We got up early and set out on our adventure and could not wait for the day before us. We were trekking through back roads, enjoying the beautiful scenery around us, laughing and pointing things out as we passed. Suddenly, I realized I didn't know where I was anymore. The blueberry farm wasn't where it was supposed to be (in my mind), and I was in the middle of no-mans land with no clue how to get back from where I came. We happened upon a little roadside stand and asked the gentleman manning it to point us in the right direction and thankfully he knew exactly where to send us. I breathed a sigh of relief when we found the farm and it was everything we hoped it would be. The owners could not have been nicer - we chatted about their business and where I was from/how I found them, and it was the first time I felt welcome as a southerner up north. I still to this day receive their e-mails when berry season starts and it makes me smile.
After picking our berries we made our way to the ice cream shop, but to my surprise, it wasn't just an ice cream shop. It was a teeny tiny convenience store that also sold t-shirts and flip flops. To be the top-rated ice cream shop in the area, it sure was an interesting twist. Not what I expected. We walked up to the ice cream counter, and I had read online that their hot fudge sundaes were the best thing to get. I told the boys all about it on our drive. None of us could wait! "I'll have 3 hot fudge sundaes, please." The lady kept an eye on me as she scooped our ice cream into the cups while teenagers in their bathing suits ran in and out of the store, barefoot. I saw her grab a jar and head to the microwave and the boys eyes glistened as we wondered what kind of special extra topping we were about to get.
Um. Yeah, that "special topping" from the microwave was a jar of hot fudge she pulled from the grocery side of the store and she gave it a quick stir with a spoon. She glugged the gloopy half-melted "fudge" onto our ice cream and it literally clumped up and fell over to one side. We sat down at the lone table in the corner and the three of us just stared at our "sundaes" and at each other trying to contain our laughter. You've never seen anything like it. It was the single worst hot fudge sundae I have ever had (or seen) in my entire life. I'm convinced it got such good ratings because we were in the middle of nowhere so it had to be the top rated ice cream shop in the area. Oh man, we can't eat a hot fudge sundae without thinking back to that day. What a memory. Terrible fudge sundae and all, it was one of my favorite days.
My research for New York's meal quickly led me to something I had never heard of - Chicken Riggies! Cheesecake was the dessert - no surprise there. The Chicken Riggies (a chicken & rigatoni pasta dish) were such a hit that my family has requested it several times since making it. It's the one recipe in this challenge so far that we've repeated. Also, it is the most made recipe from all of the others who are following along on my tour. So trust me when I say this recipe is one to save!
CHICKEN RIGGIES
Being from Erie County and having family just over the line in New York State, I'd love to know the name of the blueberry farm. I'm thinking of two and wondering if you visited either. Would also love to know the name of the ice cream shop, but that would be be advertising; and I don't think you'd do that!
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