There is no place like home
Every time I visit my friends and relatives on the East Coast the question I am being asked the most is “when will you finally move here”. I have to admit that it’s a pretty tempting idea that ocasionally visits me since I moved to Kansas City almost 16 years ago.
After all they have things like:
Broadway
Nathan’s Hot Dogs and PotatoE Balls:
Skyline, Empire State Building and The Statue of Liberty
Astroland at Coney Island
Ocean with $2,000,000 condos facing it.
Mermaids
Russian Stores and Restaurants
People who mastered parallel parking
So why do I come home every time to the city that doesn’t have any of it? Maybe that’s the reason – it doesn’t have any of it.
Continue reading →Russian Gourmet: Candy
One of the reasons I visit the Russian store so rarely is my complete inability to stay away from Russian candy. They have chocolates, boxed and bulk, non-chocolate candy and other sweets. No matter how much I buy, they are gone within few days and no gimmicks or rationing tricks work to keep me from eating handfuls of chocolates until they are all gone. The only souvenir I brought from my last trip to New York was a suitcase full of Russian chocolates. Russian chocolates are tastier and more creative than their American mass-produced counterparts, they seem to use real chocolate and at $5.69/lb are a bargain. At the store you can grab a few pieces out of every bin, they are all conveniently priced the same.
Another favorite of mine is Zefir. Calling it a marshmallow is a blasphemy but there is no better English word to describe this airy, light, sweet and slightly tart dessert, which doesn’t need to be melted, burned or otherwise abused to make it edible.
There are two Russian stores in the area: European Delights and Taste of Russia. Note that European Delights moved to the shopping center on the Southwest corner of the 95th street and Antioch, pretty much across the Antioch street from where it used to be and Google maps may not be current.
UPDATE: DLC, the eating force behind Kansas City Lunch Spots, visited one of the stores in this post and bravely ate lunch there. Please read his review and my comments there.
Continue reading →That’s The Ticket:A Prequel
Recently my friend EmawKC (I struggled for years to figure out what it stands for and gave up) happily helped out the City of Overland Park with his almost voluntary donation.
Through the miracle of modern forensic science I was ably to recreate the events leading up to the event. I believe it started something like this:
This is a live reenactment of what happened just prior to the act of the donation itself:httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPx20Gb5Jro
*At this point of my research another policeman pulled up behind me and ruined the cinematographic moment. Although I wasn’t doing anything wrong being on public street filming a public employee, I didn’t feel like hanging out there any longer. Maybe next time time I will do a better job of blending in.
Continue reading →Old Newspapers: A Geographical Conundrum
In the late 1987 even the show Jeopardy fell victim to the confusion between the two Kansas City’s:
Continue reading →Russian Gourmet:Pickled Tomatoes
Russians pickle everything that grows:cucumbers,tomatoes,apples, watermelons, cabbage,eggplants and whatever else can fit in a jar, can, bucket, barrel and taste good 6 months later. There is nothing more simple and delicious than pickled tomatoes.
Cold shot of vodka, pickled tomato,
Continue reading →
Inhale through the nose, repeat.
Life makes sense.