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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Weekend Cooking- The Taco Truck & Lunch Hour NYC


This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.

My friend Esther came into the city on Thursday and we did a little sight-seeing. We started at the Strand Bookstore, a reader's paradise, and the one place I always take someone who is visiting. With eighteen miles of books, there is something for everyone's tastes.

Then we headed to the Highline, which is a former elevated freight train track that has been turned into an eighteen city block long walkway, filled with wild flowers and plants. It was the first week of school, and we ran into a large school group drawing the plants.
People enjoying the Highline


I haven't been to the Highline since they added food vendors. We stopped at the Taco Truck and tried their Chilaquiles which was absolutely delicious. They start with homemade corn chips, top that with grilled chicken, black beans (my favorite!), queso cotija, shredded lettuce, roasted red salsa and crema. I added a Mexican Coca-Cola and was in heaven.
Chilaquiles


We couldn't leave without having a small cup from L'Arte del Gelato, one of the best gelato places in the city. I had my favorite, Pistacchio del Bronte, and Esther had chocolate.

Gelato


Our next stop was a tour of the New York Public Library, where they have an exhibit titled Lunch Hour. It's all about lunch in NYC, with pizza joints, food trucks, lunch boxes, white tablecloth two hour business lunches and the highlight, an automat display.







We couldn't take photos at the exhibit, but they did have recipes available for take-away from Horn & Hardart's Automat and I'll share one with you for
Pumpkin Pie
2 cups cooked pumpkin (mashed)
3/4 tbsp. salt
1 can (14 1/2 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
2 eggs
3/4 sugar
1 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Beat all ingredients together with a rotary beater or wire whisk. Pour into a pastry-lined 9-inch pan. Bake 40-45 minutes. Insert a silver knife into the filling about one inch from the side of the pan. If the knife comes out clean, the filling is done.

There were also recipes available for Creamed Spinach, Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Baked Beans and Burgundy Sauce with Beef and Noodles.

I'm leaving with one final photo- the Children's Room at the library has the original Winnie-the-Pooh dolls on display, and it is darling. We ran into a twenty-something young man there who was filled with such joy at seeing these dolls, it touched my heart.
Winnie-the-Pooh



27 comments:

  1. The High Line wasn't open yet when I visited back in 2008 but I definitely want to check it out the next time I go - especially if they have food trucks! :)

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    1. I didn't know about the food either; I thought we'd have to leave the High Line to get food, but there they were right above 15th St. Although technically not in trucks, they were still tasty. :)

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  2. Oh yes, I love the Strand bookstore! I want to walk the Highline on our next trip, too... even more anxious to do that now that I've seen photos from the Taco Truck ;-)

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  3. I absolutely love the High Line! I haven't been there recently so I didn't know there were food trucks there.

    The exhibit at the library sounds fantastic! And to see the original Pooh animals, wow. What a great day of food and books.

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    1. I didn't realize the food was actually on the High Line, I thought it would below, but there they were.
      The Pooh animals were pretty cool, and the young guy there was so excited to see them, it was cute.

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  4. Replies
    1. The original weather report called for hot and humid, but it ended up cloudy and not so hot. We lucked out!

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  5. Sounds like so much fun. You brought back memories of childhood for me talking automats. I liked feeding copious quantities of nickles in and getting pie or sandwich. I would absolutely Love going to the nyc library!

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    1. The library tour is a must-see in NYC. It's a beautiful building and so much history is there.

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  6. Mmmm, pumpkin. I'm so glad we're finally at that time of year when we can start thinking about it again! What a great outing for you and your friend! I'll have to ask my cousin who lives in the city if she's visited the Highline before.

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    1. The High Line is a nice way to see a part of the city I don't normally visit. I hope you get to see it sometime.

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  7. Lovely day out! I just bought a pie pumpkin yesterday!

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    1. I miss going to the pumpkin farm with my boys when they were little guys.

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  8. Your post brought back happy memories of NY. Hope the storm I have been hearing about while watching the tennis doesn't cause you too many problems. Have a great week.

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    1. My son is at CitiField watching the mets- Braves game- ugh.

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  9. That sounds like an amazing tour of NYC highlights! Loved the ideas for food - I'm heading up to the city for a day later this month, and I'll have to check out the exhibit at the library.

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    1. Thanks, I hope you get to enjoy NYC while you are here!

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  10. sounds like a wonderful day. Pistachio gelato, wow, i want some.

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  12. What a fun post to read! I love posts that show and tell about the atmosphere of other countries :)

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  13. what a great idea to visit such interesting places and combine it with interesting dishes!

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    1. There is always something new and interesting to do in NYC, I am very lucky.

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  14. Chilaquiles are one of my favorite foods in the whole wide world...so yeah, I would have been in heaven, too!! And the Highline sounds amazing - I would love to walk it.

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  15. I don't even know what chilaqiles are o__O this reminds me of an exchange student from the States who I met a week or two ago and who expressed his longing for Mexican food. Of which there is a lack in The Netherlands :s

    Pumpkin pie, yum! 'Tis almost the season :D

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