SUNDAY – HARRISBURG

We pulled into Harrisburg Sunday evening after a five-hour drive, en route to visit with family and friends in the Mid Ohio Valley. Harrisburg is the half-way point, so we break up the drive by staying there each way. We make this journey annually, so we’ve become pretty familiar with the restaurants, museums, and local theater.

But nothing ever stays the same, and the changes since COVID are stark. Char’s Tracy Mansion, once the star of the Susquehanna dining scene, is permanently closed. Rubicon and Cafe Fresco are closed on Sundays. Home 231 and Note Bistro both close at 2:30 on Sundays. The streets of this Pennsylvania capital city were empty.

We did consider eating supper out of our cooler – we had packed sourdough, Jarlsberg, apples, and wine. But instead, we opted for a neighborhood joint in Mechanicsburg, not far from our hotel, Black and Bleu. My fried oysters were appropriately “crunch, squish” and Ron’s steak was beautiful. His buttered carrots had a perfect bite and my salad was fresh – nothing cloying, but not much of an adventure either.

MONDAY AT MOM AND DAD’S

We made it – the Mid-Ohio Valley, MOV for short. We took Route 81, driving south from Harrisburg. This is the land of mega warehouses, which was chilling, especially given what we’re dealing with here in Ashford. The mega warehouses are lined up along both sides of the highway for miles and miles, filling up what once was bucolic farmland stretched out between rolling hills. Ruined. We exited at Route 70, which spills into Route 68, the Scenic Byway that climbs up and over the Eastern Continental Divide, which is so incredibly beautiful. Then the final leg of our journey through West Virginia, picking up Route 50 West at Clarksburg.

We arrived at my parents’ in record time. Dad had a really bad cold and we tried to keep our distance. Mom doesn’t cook much any more, but she put out a spread of comfort food that didn’t disappoint. We ate it for breakfast and lunch for the next three days! My dad has been dealing with some health problems, but we were relieved to find both of them in great spirits, albeit smaller in stature and less spry than they were just last June, when we saw them last.

Mom and Dad are great hosts. In years past they’ve always planned some sort of adventure for the four of us – we’ve visited The Wilds, a wildlife sanctuary in central Ohio, the Blennerhassett Mansion where Aaron Burr trained his troups, Henderson Hall, the Oil and Gas Museum, the Campus Martius Museum – it’s a long list. But they both have mobility issues these days and aren’t up for those types of excursions any longer.

My mother had something else in store. She told me she had found a cookbook written by my second cousins, the Buffington girls, that she wanted to share with me when we visited. It was a family cookbook, intended to preserve not only the recipes that they had all shared and loved, but also their memories. The Buffington girls are the daughters of my mother’s Uncle Lissie, my maternal grandfather’s step-brother. Mom and I went through every recipe and the accompanying stories over the three days that Ron and I were there. I began to understand how we are all related and to connect names and stories I’d heard over the years. This was the greatest adventure of all. Just like that, I had a bigger family than I realized!

I plan to complete the family tree of that side of the family and then I’m going to try to track down the Buffington girls, Melissa, Suzanne, and Jody. I haven’t seen them since the Buffington family reunion in Clarksburg circa 1966. I was six. It’s funny that their cookbook is similar to what I’m attempting to accomplish with this blog. I loved their cookbook. Maybe they’ll enjoy my blog too.

Mom warned me that she’s not sure how she’s going to top this one when we visit again in October. I’m sure she’ll think of something.

TUESDAY AT THE BLENNY WITH TERRY

We had planned to meet Terry at Wine Down on Market Street, but they only offered an $85 prix fixe menu Tuesday evening, and none of us were confident that we could eat that much, so we went to The Blennerhassett instead. The MOV has a very rich history and The Blennerhasset Hotel is a notable landmark, but it had started to go downhill in recent years. One iteration converted the lovely dining room into a sports bar with dozens of TVs. I wrote a scathing Yelp review that year. It has since been taken down, which is entirely appropriate because the new owners of the Blennerhasset have restored it to it’s former splendor. If you ever visit the MOV, you must eat there and ask for Scott. He’s a wonderfully attentive waiter.

But I digress. Terry and I have been chatting on the phone, so it wasn’t like we were catching up entirely, but we haven’t seen each other in many, many years, and each of us have lived through a number of chapters, so the catching up is ongoing. Ron was happy to meet Terry because he had heard so much about her, but he quickly realized that despite his wanting to politely and warmly participate in the conversation, we were on a roll. We were glad that he was there, but we had so much to chat about. Finally, he pulled out his phone. “Do you mind if I surf?” We laughed; he surfed. It was a fun night.

Oh, and the food! It was wonderful. We started with Prosecco and shrimp cocktail – it was a special occasion! Terry and I both ordered the crab cake (oh, so crabby), and Ron ordered the pork chop (nicely sauced, and oh, so tender). Despite our non-stop conversation, there were a few moments of silence as we enjoyed our perfectly prepared dishes.

We hope that Terry can visit us in CT sometime. You have an open invitation, my friend!

WEDNESDAY WITH JUNE AND CHRIS

Jump to Recipe

June vacationed with Ron and me last year at Hocking Hills, but neither June nor I had seen Chris in years. Chris migrated to Upstate New York after college, and returned to the MOV a couple of years ago to care for his ailing parents. They have since passed and he’s now living in his childhood home. He’s taking his time settling in and making sense of things. He volunteers at the Belpre Historical Society, which he first joined in high school, so Chris is one of their longest standing members.

June, Ron, and I met at Chris’s mid-afternoon. June came bearing sumptuous gifts – wine from the local winery in Athens, Ohio, sushi, chopsticks, assorted condiments, and egg rolls she had made from her mother’s recipe. She even brought her air fryer to crisp them up! Food was prepared and wine was poured, and we giddily settled into conversation and laughter on Chris’s front porch.

It’s funny, reuniting with old friends. It truly is like no time has passed even though it’s been a lifetime. So many candid questions were asked and answered with no hedging or judgement. Just love. Ron had fun too.

When we first settled down on the porch, which faces due west, it was 85 degrees and the sun was blazing. In the early evening the wind whipped up as we continued to chat. The wind eventually brought rain and the sun dropped low in the sky. It was only when we were soaked that we called it a night. We’ve each weathered a lot in our lifetimes, and will likely weather more, but we will always have each other. (I think I have something in my eye.)

THURSDAY – BACK TO HARRISBURG

We checked into our hotel around 3:00 and were hungry for our first real meal of the day. We got cleaned up, then drove to the heart of downtown without reservations. We parked near Rubicon which didn’t open until 5:00, so we decided to walk the streets. The town was so, so quiet; clearly the legislature wasn’t in session. A couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses started to approach us but somehow recognized that it was a lost cause and backed off, but not before the woman flashed a gorgeous smile at us and said, “You two make a beautiful couple!” Ron responded in kind, with a smile and a nod. We walked for blocks and blocks, noting all of the places that were once bustling, but are now shuttered. Cafe Fresco used to be our favorite, and it was open! But we walked in, and it felt tired, so we left and took a round-about way back to Rubicon, admiring the architecture, the cherry blossoms, the Capitol building. The City is still lovely, but feels sad.

Rubicon is still exquisite, however. We were the first patrons but it filled up quickly, so we were lucky to get a table near the window. People watching was fun, but our waitress Alexandra was so engaging and the food was so fabulous that I didn’t spend much time gazing around. We started with a glass of Prosecco each, a perfect accompaniment for Black Magic oysters from Thunder Bay on PEI. Then a second appetizer course of Polpo alla Griglia – grilled Spanish octopus, pickled red pearl onions, and mini cucumber with a lime and chile vinaigrette. For his entree, Ron chose Anatra – seared duck magret, huckleberries, and white polenta with herbs and Parmigiano. I chose Rigatoni – maitaki mushrooms, asparagus, white truffle oil, chives, light cream and Parmigiano. It was the last meal of our journey, and it was so nice to slow down and share a special meal, just us.

FRIDAY – HOME AGAIN.

BODY, HEART, AND SOUL ALL NOURISHED

We got an early start Friday morning, and made it home before noon. It’s nice to be back in Ashford – kitties and comfort (food), except that I did manage to catch my dad’s cold. I had planned to cook Easter dinner for Ron, Heather, Angie, Timmy, Alex, Jaylen, Janiyah and Jayce, but we’ve postponed until next weekend.

Print Recipe

Tomoko’s Egg Roll’s

Servings: 45 pieces

Author: Tomoko Yokochi Terashima, Junko’s mother

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground pork
• 12 medium shrimp (minced)
• 5 medium shiitake mushrooms (de-stemmed and minced)
• 1 head Napa cabbage (cored, sliced 1/4" wide, and chopped)
• 1/2 cup green onion (minced)
• 1/2 T ginger (minced)
• 1 T garlic (minced)
• soy sauce (properly?) (or tamari for gluten-free)
• 1 T sake
• salt and pepper
• 2 pieces chicken bouillon (crumbled)

Instructions

• Season ground pork with 1 T sake, 1/2 t salt, pepper and 2 T cornstarch. Mix well.
• Season shrimp with 1/2 T sake and 1/2 T cornstarch. Mix well.
• Stir-fry season ground pork in oil and garlic. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Stir-fry shrimp in the remaining oil. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Str-fry the cabbage, shiitake, green onion and ginger, then add salt, pepper, soy sauce (or tamari), and chicken bouillon, stirring to dissolve the bouillon.
• Add the pork and shrimp back into the pan. Mix, then strain.
• Cool well, then wrap. Seal the ends with glue made from 2T flour mixed with 2T water.
• Deep fry at 350℉ oil until golden brown.

Notes

June makes these egg rolls and freezes them.  She thaws them in the microwave then throws them in the air fryer and they come out perfectly crispy.  I found some gluten-free egg roll wrappers on Amazon, so I’ll be trying my hand at them soon.  Stay tuned.