Slow morning here. Had big, wet flakes piling up all last night and the trees that had shed the heavy ice are now laden with snow, pushing their branches down, down down to the ground. The scavenging deer adore this as they don't have to struggle to eat all of the evergreens (that are promoted to be deer resistant. Do not believe this deer resistant thing. The only resistance/ hindrance for this monsters is a jolt of clean and unadulterated electricity. And even that, they forget over time. Hello Reddy Kilowatt( one of my all time favorite characters. I need to go find one for those of you that were not raised with him!). Meet the Bucholic Deer Family. Deer meet Reddy--he's unforgettable. I need to stop. I may launch into a rant. The deer family is not top of my hit parade (or maybe they are). I did hit one....
I had a nice meeting at the Lab of O Library. Amazing, luxurious place. First off, the building is nice--situated on a piece of property that is soggy and attracts birds (part of Sapsucker Woods). There are handmade chairs in the lobby with scopes on wheels that one can use while viewing the wildlife in the yard/pond in front of the building or all over the plethora of feeders they have suspended artfully. There is a lovely bird shop from smart books to baseball caps to anything avian. Hung throughout the lobbies are bird paintings and prints galore with a focus on Audubon, Fuertez (the avian pride of Ithaca), Charlie Harper. As an aside, Fuertes spent his summers in the playhouse (behind the Luckystone Lodge) in Sheldrake. He is (I think) buried in the tiny, messy cemetery in Sheldrake as well. So...its a bit personal with me.
As you wend your way to the second floor, there is a charming library with windows overlooking the protected pond and feeders, a fireplace, more Audubons (each with a story), and books galore. What a resource! I have got to get there and spend time. The Librarian and my pal Matt, inspired Registrar at the Johnson Museum chatted about all these new worlds like the ephemera collection at the Krock Library and the Uris and and and. Matt hopes to be a bit entrepeneurial in mounting tiny little shows in the niches and corners of Cornell to share the work and collection for the Johnson and other libraries and collections throughout Cornell. There is a tremendous wealth of work, art, words, documents...I feel a frisson emerging! More to discover. There is hope that I may have a little show at the Library in October linking it to the Ithaca Art Trail..but we will see. There was also interest in my avian flu pix. We'll see.
On the way home, my stomach started eating itself. I had to stop. I had to eat. I had an epiphany. I would eat a hot truck sandwich--celebrated in Gourmet Magazine...the Primanti's of Ithaca. I had to have this--and really get down to what helps to define Ithaca. Jane and Michael Stern, the wonderful food writers say:
The wildly popular Hot Truck mobile eatery in Ithaca, New York has a language all its own that's used when ordering one of their fantastic French bread pizza subs. Order yours "high carbon, G and G" and it will come extra crispy with mayo and lettuce (grease and garden.)
While the Hot Truck itself appears on the campus of Cornell University only during the school year (it arrives every night at 10:30 weekdays, 11:00 on weekends), you can get the subs year round at the Shortstop Deli, an establishment given the thumbs up by the Hot Truck itself.
Hot Truck
Parks at 635 Stewart Avenue
West Campus, Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
607-273-1111
Shortstop Deli
204 West Seneca Street
Ithaca, NY
607-273-1030
You can listen to their feature here>>
It was luscious. Delicious. Hot and crunchy--it was a big messy experience that kept getting better and better. How have I not discovered this? Why have I satisfied myself with healthy salads, whole wheat confections and sprouts when there was this local delicacy available either at the Truck or Shortstop. I had only, until yesterday, had ordered coffee at Shortstop. Never again. I am going to be going to Shortstop for their pizza subs. How can I make it stylish enough to take my clients? Buy them in advance and take the goods to their offices? There is no "dining experience" at the home of the hot truck. It was too cold to sit outside on the window ledge as Short Stop as there is only standing space with no seating...just manic sandwich ordering and coffees, sodas, ice cream treats.
It was very much a coded experience. You know, the gettoni experience (the whole deal in Italy that every food experience has some sort of code around ordering and around making change...particularly in the bar/tabbaci set ups--you know, you buy a ticket for the coffee and paste that you want and then wait in line to fullfill your order--or they make change and give you candy instead of money--and this code is surprising or sometimes shocking unless you know it) The gettoni refers to change made with the coin one uses to make phone calls with--and are not easy to acquire. Don't get me going about how hard it used to be to make phone calls in Europe in the good old days...Back to the code-- The code for hot truck sandwiches is the orderform--orange, red or blue. Sauces, Veggies and Meats? Name? cheaper soda? You can fill out your order either on paper or computers in the place. So, I rushed to the warmth of the new and improved Wonderbus and scarfed a small size wgg...and could have gone back in for another 10. But the Wonderbus insisted there was work to do--but promised another visit. We have guests coming soon---maybe a platter of SUI subs? SS does do platters. Makes a girl dream....
Megan and Judson, two Cornell PhDs, on their wedding blog references the Shortstop as a place for their guests to get good eats, They explain the names...and the essence of the wonderfulness. They recommend:
The Shortstop Deli is the only place where you can get world-famous Hot Truck pizza subs at a decent hour. These subs have been featured in Gourmet Magazine, and there's just something addictive about them. Megan's parents insist that we give people insider information about the pizza subs, so here it comes. You want the "sui" (short for suicide). You want to add truck sauce. I cannot under-emphasize the importance of the truck sauce. This delicious, mysterious orange substance is what makes the pizza sub really special. Pizza subs are extremely addictive! Consider yourself warned. If you can look past the pizza subs, the deli also offers a variety of standard cold- and hot-subs. And we have recently discovered that their breakfast selection is also delicious. The Shortstop is a bit of an Ithacan institution, so you should do your best to have a sub there. They are quite proud of their "Ithaca-style" sandwiches. This is a good place to get a relatively inexpensive, filling meal. Ordering subs at the Shortstop is based on a color-coded order slip system. You want a slip with red text for pizza subs; orange for regular subs; and blue (I think) for breakfast/bagel subs. Fill out the slip, separate the parts, and hand the top (white) slip to the guys making the sandwiches. Then get your $0.10 or $0.25 drink and bring that and your remaining (yellow) slip to the cash register to pay. Subs cost around $5. The Shortstop can be found on Rte. 79W (Seneca St.).
Need to get back to reality. The cat picture is "up"--and the new CD needs sketches.
More later>>