Monday, November 29, 2010

Nothing's finer than [fill in the blank] diner

Deltiology is the study and collection of postcards. Not that I had any idea what the word meant when I went to my first The Rhode Island Post Card Club (RIPCC) meeting. All I could see were hundreds of thousands of postcards ... and think that maybe, just maybe, the one card I was looking for was there, waiting for me to find it. Of course, while looking for that one card, I found a few others I liked along the way.

I now have a small collection of postcards. Topics include Large Letters (Greetings from:), Lucy The Elephant, Wigwam Villages, Motels, New England towns, various Roadside Attractions, Coney Island and of course Diners.

During the early 1900s, when stamps were just a penny, generic postcards were used by lunch cart owners to help advertise their diner. They would buy these sassy cards in bulk, stamp them with their diner's name and mail them out! There's no manufacturing info on the back of the card, but they're listed as part of Series No. 243. I know of 11 different cards and have six.
Lunch Wagon postcards
circa early 1900s
Does anyone have any further info?

Friday, November 19, 2010

Bruce Springsteen ...

(Apologies, I'm not sure who took
 this photo. Sadly, it wasn't me!)

Before you raise an eyebrow, this really is a diner post!
 
Without gushing too much, Bruce Springsteen is one of my all time fav musicians.

I was researching an idea for a post when I came across this black & white photo of Springsteen.  It reminded me roadside landmarks often show up in his videos.

Image taken from The Roadside Diner
website
Most recently, the music video for "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" was partially filmed in The Roadside Diner, Wall, NJ. The Roadside was manufactured by the Silk City company in either the 40s or the 50s. Does anyone know for sure?

Either way, it looks to be a "must stop at" the next time you're in Jersey.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

And so it continues ...

I started this blog as an assignment for a writing seminar. My class wraps up this week and I’m looking forward to maintaining Dishin’ About Diners. I’ve decide to treat the blog as my virtual scrapbook until I can sort out 20 years of paraphernalia and turn it into the ‘coffee table’ scrapbook that I’ve been dreaming of making.

That being said, now I wish I’d taken better notes – marking down all manufacturing info, history and details of where the diners are today. Luckily, Randy Garbin’s Diner Finder is a premium resource. I’m sure you’ll see a few posts ask for your help in remembering. Especially since some of the diners I’ve photographed are no longer in operation or (gasp) “updated” with mansard roofs, “retro” pink & black color schemes and Velvet Elvis paintings … what could be worse??

So thanks for coming along for the ride. I hope along the way my posts will make you smile, bring back a memory or inspire you to take the next exit when looking for a meal instead of rushing down the interstate, buzzing through a drive thru.

Look for Wordless Wednesdays to showcase some of my fav photos. Mondays and Fridays will have a story, a recipe, maybe even a question or two. 

Enjoy!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Eveready's Mac 'n Cheese

There's no way around it a diner must have good food at a good value.  Although I do love a good neon sign or a nice porcelain exterior ... and a friendly waitress will help compensate for a not so "over easy" egg ...  but, back to the food.  There are a lot of diners serving up yummy, trendy and in some cases even gourmet food. 

I recently made the Eveready Diner’s Three Cheese Mac and Cheese. Built in 1995 by Paramount (currently known as Modular Concepts, Inc.) the Eveready is a "newer" diner located in New York's Hudson Valley.


1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for the pasta water
1 pound elbow macaroni
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons flour
3 cups cold milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 pound white cheddar cheese – shredded
4 ounces Romano cheese – shredded
4 ounces Asiago cheese – shredded
1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper (suggest cutting that in half)
2 cups panko
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley for garnish

1)       Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2)       Bring a large pot of water to a boil to for the macaroni. Cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain.
3)       Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and cook, whisking to make a paste/roux about 2 minutes. Add the milk and whisk vigorously until smooth. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, whisking occasionally, until the sauce is thick and bubbly. Add a heavy cream, all three cheeses, the 1 tablespoon salt, and the pepper. Cook, stirring, until the cheeses are fully melted.
4)       Add the cooked macaroni to the cheese sauce and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a 9x13-inch baking dish and to with the panko crumbs. Bake until hot and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Top with the fresh parsley.
4 to 6 servings (Yeah, right – try 8! This is a hearty dish.) This recipe can be found in the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives cookbook.


Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Wordless Wednesday


Eveready Diner, Hyde Park, NY, 1997
Denise and I .. and  "Ed" at the diner!
More about the Eveready on Friday.


Monday, November 8, 2010

Twistee Treats

No, not diners - but also pre-fabricated and similar in spirit! Twistee Treat was a chain of ice cream restaurants founded in 1983. They started off with 23 locations in Florida.  The awesome thing is... they’re actually shaped like a giant ice cream cones.  A 28 foot tall, 20 foot wide soft serve ice cream come to be exact!

From what I’ve read, over 90 cones were manufactured over the years.  I have no idea how many still exist, although Florida still seems to be the hot spot. Additional locations were added in Missouri and Canada when a new Twistee Treat company took over the bankrupt existing company. Sadly the company ceased to exist in 2000.

Twistee Treats should stand proud along other cool 1980s innovations, including the Apple Mac computer, legwarmers, Transformers and glam rock hair bands.

I’ve only been to two .. so far.  There are a few I want to check out on our next family visit to Orlando. The Kissimmee one is right down the street from Orange World!  Check out AgilityNut.com for a list of locations .. and buildings for sale.

Twist of the Mist (Niagra Falls, NY 2006) / Twistee Treet (Jacksonville, FL 2010)
 

Wednesday, November 3, 2010