Like millions of Americans, I traveled to my hometown this past Thanksgiving to visit friends and indulge in the foods of my youth. Growing up in the former steel town of New Castle, Penn., I was raised on the cuisines of the immigrants who had staffed the now-defunct, suburban Pittsburgh mills. Italian wedding soup, cheese-stuffed ravioli and spumoni ice cream. Polish pierogies, ham and cabbage and nut-filled kolache. A tad naive as a child, I assumed that everyone in the nation consumed these foods.
My assumptions about cuisine extended to some unusual, local offerings. With a name like “city chicken,” I guessed that these bread crumb-coated squares of meat were served in every major urban center. After all, this meal featured city-dwelling poultry. A junior high school trip to New York dispelled that notion. Not once did city chicken appear on a restaurant menu, a sure sign that I had been duped on the origins of this entree. An article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette ended my belief that the dish contained any chicken. City chicken is, in fact, made from cubed pork and/or veal. Talk about false advertising!
Then there were the MP Coney Island hot dogs. Who would name his restaurant Coney Island if he hadn’t opened the first one on the boardwalk in Brooklyn? (Yes, my initial trip to New York resulted in many shattered dreams and dispelled myths. And then I moved there . . ..) I later learned that dozens of unrelated Coney Islands exist across the country. Like the others, the one down the street from my parents’ house, with its slender, ketchup-drenched hot dogs and greasy chili fries, did not have a flagship restaurant in NY. Founded in 1923 by Greek immigrants John Mitsos and George Papazekos — hence “MP” – this Coney Island was a New Castle original.
Despite these early disappointments I continue to crave the culinary concoctions of my childhood. The salty-sweet, garlic-infused sauce on Keneve’s pizza. Butter cream-iced birthday cakes from New Model Bakery, custard-based peanut butter sundaes from Forbush’s and soft, glazed donuts from May’s. So many decadent treats.
At Thanksgiving my roommate from college, Ann, stopped at Rachel’s Roadhouse in Mercer, Penn. for one of her favorites, a deep-fried pretzel, and at Quaker Steak and Lube in nearby Sharon for chicken wings. Another friend, Marilee, packed a cooler in her car and made pilgrimages to such New Castle institutions as Pizza Joe’s and, of course, Coney Island. At Pizza Joe’s she stocked up on pepperoni rolls and at Coney’s, chili. Meanwhile, I sprung for an extra-large take-out spaghetti from Ladies of the Dukes. After paying $11 and providing my own dish for transporting, I walked away with a pound of mushy spaghetti and a splash of watery red sauce. Unfortunately, not all foods, or restaurants, have retained their luster.
After Thanksgiving I realized that what I miss most about New Castle are the home cooked meals. Holidays just aren’t the same without my late mother’s lime Jell-O salad and homemade chicken noodle soup or my friend Nickie’s mom’s powdered sugar cookies. While not the most exotic, they are the highly cherished foods of my youth.
Patricia Hunt’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves 6 to 10
3 skinless chicken breasts
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped carrots
1 teaspoon salt, add more if needed
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
egg noodles, amount to be determined by cook
Boil chicken in a large sauce pan or stock pot for about 40 minutes.
Remove chicken, reserving the broth.
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces then set aside.
Add the onion, celery, carrot and salt to the chicken broth. At this point add more water if necessary then bring to a boil. Cook for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables have softened.
Add the 2 undiluted cans of Campbell’s cream of chicken soup. Stir and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the chicken pieces to the pot.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles for 3 minutes. Drain then add to the soup. The noodles will finish cooking in the soup.
Add more water if needed to make enough broth. Remove from heat and serve.
Patricia Hunt’s Holiday Jello Salad
Serves Many
1 large box of lime jello
1 cup sugar
2 cups hot water
1 cup orange juice
dash of salt
large container of Cool Whip
large can of crushed pineapple, drained
shredded coconut, optional garnish
chopped walnuts, optional garnish
Dump the contents of the jello box along with the sugar, water, orange juice and dash of salt into a large glass baking dish. Stir together to dissolve the jello and sugar. Place the dish in the refrigerator to chill.
When the jello has partially set, remove from the refrigerator and add the Cool Whip and pineapple, stirring to combine. Return to the refrigerator and allow to jell completely.
Once the jello has solidified, garnish with either shredded coconut or chopped walnuts then cut into squares and serve.
Vasiliki Kolovos’s Kourambiedes
Makes 4 dozen
½ pound unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing baking sheets
¼ cup sugar
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon vanilla
2½ tablespoons ouzo (anise-flavored liqueur)
About 2 cups flour, sifted, divided
½ teaspoon baking powder
Confectioners’ sugar
Grease two baking sheets and set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat ½ pound butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and egg yolk and continue beating until well blended. Add vanilla and ouzo and beat until combined.
Mix 1 cup flour with baking powder and add to butter mixture. Add about another 1 cup flour, a little at a time. (Depending on temperature conditions, you may need a little more or less flour to make a dough that is supple but not sticky.)
Place dough on a flat, flour-dusted work surface and roll out ½-inch thick. To make crescent shaped cookies, use either a crescent-shaped cookie cutter or the lip of a water glass. If using a glass, place roughly half of lip onto dough and press downward. Repeat to create the crescent shape. Alternatively, use the glass to make circles or with your hands roll dough into small balls.
Put cookies 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets and bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tops are light brown. Cool for 5 minutes, then remove from sheets, place on cooling rack and generously sift confectioners’ sugar over.