FORT SCHUYLER, MUSEUM AND MARITIME COLLEGE, BRONX,NY

Tucked under the Bronx side of the Throggs Neck Bridge stands Fort Schuyler a Civil War era structure which has been repurposed as the State University of New York’s Maritime College. The grounds contain a modern campus and inside the actual fort is an interesting museum. Most of the the museums artifacts and models relate to the merchant navy and is a fascinating piece of history.

http://www.sunymaritime.edu/Maritime%20Museum/index.aspx

 

Here is a vintage  aerial view of the fort  used under a  creative commons license 

You can view more vintage image here http://www.fortwiki.com/Fort_Schuyler_(1)

Mike’s Miscellaneous Mondays Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo is only a short bus ride from my apartment so it is one of my favorite places to go and give my camera a work out. I always stop off at New York’s Real Little Italy on Arthur Avenue to make a packed lunch.

 

 

Have you checked out my link up and giveaway ?  http://www.theculinarylens.com/2012/10/i-need-little-with-pasta-from-you-and.html. Please drop by and leave a link or comment.

Mikes Miscellaneous Mondays: Orchid Show at NYBG

The Orchid Show at The New York Botanic Gardens is such an enjoyable annual springtime event. It runs until April 22nd so if you are in New York you still have some time to visit. I live in The Bronx and am a member of the garden and make frequent visits. Even after many visits the gardens still have the ability to amaze me by their beauty.

As I approach 1,000 followers on Facebook and in Celebration of Spring I have a giveaway planned in conjunction with Muir Glen Organics so watch out for a post tomorrow.

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Bronx Bread Baker ,Telling It Like It Is and Getting it Right

Some time ago I posted about my experience with a bread machine. Most people responded very well and were impressed by what I had produced but there was an exception. My new found food blog friend Barbara from Sunday at Giacometti's was not happy. Barbara is originally from The Bronx and although she is now living in The South it has not made her any less direct. “Dump that machine and use your hands” and in fact said she was going to make me dumping the machine a goal.  She then generously shared some of her no knead bread recipes. I decided to try her olive rolls. The key to this way of making bread is patience but the pay off is worth it. I did not have the type of olives recommended (I know Barbara I Know!!!) but I used the green olives I had on hand so I can only imagine the improvement using better quality olives. This experiment was more about the process than anything else.

She was of  course  correct they are truly delicious and incredibly easy to make. I recommend you give them a try. When you visit Sunday at Giacometti's tell Barbara I sent you.

I am sure  my next batch will be even better. I probably needed to rise a little longer for the final rise and Barbara also suggested I use fresh rosemary.
I grew up in Ireland but now live in The Bronx where there is a hidden gem Barbara and I share a love for. It is  the Arthur Avenue area fondly known as The Real Little Italy. There are many wonderful stores and restaurants to explore.

                     

http://www.theculinarylens.com/2011/07/real-little-italy-bronx-new-york.html




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City and Farm: Finding a CSA in The Bronx

My blogging schedule is a little messed up this week as I did some interesting things over the weekend I wanted to share.
I live in a large apartment complex with a population of more than 50,000 people, I guess I should have said huge. Given it’s size there really is not to much access to straight from the farm produce. I have watched with envy as many of my fellow food bloggers have posted about being members of a CSA. Community Supported Agriculture is a concept whereby a group of individuals pay upfront for a share in the production of a farm. The share is subject to the vagaries of small time farming. Being subject to crop failures or just a very poor season but also sharing in the bounty of a good season.
I always imagined CSAs to be in suburban neighborhoods a little closer to farmland. Somebody suggested I should do a search on Justfood.org to see if there was one nearby. Much to my surprise there was one right in my neighborhood.

Turf CSA, Bronx, NY

Unexpected Bronx….

Growing up in Ireland my only exposure to The Bronx was movies like “Fort Apache,The Bronx” which to say the least did not portray it in the best light.Back then I never imagined I would be living in The Bronx. The borough is quite large and has quite a mix of housing. While things have improved greatly there are still some rough and tumble inner city neighborhoods but what always amazes are the hidden gems.
I posted recently about the Real Little Italy. The same day I was there I also visited the nearby New York Botanic Gardens. I know it is only tenuously food related but I wanted to share one of my favorite places.
They were in the midst of The Gardens of The Alhambra exhibit which explored the medieval gardens of Spain. I played a game of spot the edible, which of course turned out to be citrus heavy.
Without attending one of the special exhibits the grounds alone are worth a visit. There is even some wildlife.

The Real Little Italy? Bronx, New York

Manhattan has a fairly well known Little Italy around Mulberry Street which is quite popular with tourists but not so much with locals. Amazingly enough the last census could not find a single Italian born resident in the neighborhood. But up in The Bronx there is still a vibrant Little Italy around Arthur Avenue in the Belmont Area. The neighborhood is changing and becoming a little more diverse but still very much has that old world Italian feel to it.
I had decided to visit the New York Botanical Garden and followed it with a walk around what the locals call “Real Little Italy”.

    
There are plenty of places to do your food shopping butchers, bakers, mozzarella makers. I don’t know how well having whole suckling pigs in a store window would go over in Manhattan.
I really wanted to take some pictures of some of the old guard drinking their espressos outside the cafes but was not sure how well it would go over.There was certainly plenty of Italian being spoken and quite a few English swear words in the mix .
 
 
So I just had to make do with photographing the food and some of the housewares you can purchase.
I almost passed The Arthur Avenue Market which would have been  a shame because it was brimming with stuff to see and eat.
 
I had never seen cigars being hand rolled and these guys were so good at it. I love watching artisans at work.

I of course just had to try a gelato. I had tiramisu flavor an it was almost as good as what I had in Rome last year.
I actually need to visit this place again and do an entire blog post on it. An amazing amount of great food.The butcher stand was amazing. None of my photos through the glass came out well so I will return when it is less busy and I can play with my angles little.
I hope you enjoyed my little tour of one of New York's hidden gems.

I will share the photos from The Botanic Gardens in a post in the next few days.


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