Tag Archives: westhampton

Building Memories

“You Have Taken Something Beautiful and Rebuilt It For The Future”

That is what my 101-year-old mother said when she saw the rebuild of our home in Westhampton NY. She is kind of amazing. When mom moved into assisted living 4 years ago, we thought about selling her house in Westhampton. The decision to keep the house was driven by our kids and their children. They had so many important memories spending summers in the  Hamptons. The old house had issues. For one, it was old. It was small. It was so small that Susan and I would have to stay at the motel down the street when we had visitors. But then again, what is the key thing about real estate: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

Mom enjoying the new house

Location is one consideration, economics is another. Picking an area that is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive in the country to live, is never a good idea. With ravages of Wall Street nearby, there is an abundance of “stupid money” in the hood.  There is also the adage of buy low, sell high that factored into our decision. Picking the peak of the market to buy and build can certainly be called stupid. Then again, I have never claimed to be the brains of the family. With both of my parents being college professors, one might think that brains ran in the family. When it came to me, it has been said that brains walked.

Susan and Paul enjoying an adult beverage on the back porch

After a two-year process of planning, spending, and spending some more, we moved into the new house in mid-August. It is still a small house, but we have a few more bedrooms and bathrooms. The floor plan is a little different. We live on Sea Breeze Avenue and no matter how hot it gets, you could sit under the arbor in the backyard and there was a delightful breeze to cool you off. No matter what my father tried to do with bay windows and fans you could never cool off the main living areas of the house. We worked with an architect, who lives down the street, and when we talked about the dilemma of the old house, he brought up a very simple solution, shift the living areas of the house to face the ocean and the prevailing breeze. That, and central air conditioning, make a world of difference.

The decision to go right or left is usually a political reference. Where we live in the Hamptons, from a food shopping standpoint, going right or left has an enormous economic impact. Going left (west) from our house I can get amazing seafood and local fresh produce at reasonable prices. Go right (east), and it can be crazy. There is a great wholesale/retail seafood place where I get great swordfish for $16/lb. and lobster for $8.99/lb. We went right (to a local market in Sag Harbor and the price for swordfish was $32/lb. and lobster was $24/lb. There is a farm stand 10 miles west of us where I bought 3 tomatoes at $3 per pound and the farmer threw in an additional 2 for free. That is versus the $7 tomato I bought last year few miles east. Living out east, brings new meaning to the saying “go west young man, go west!”

Mom asking for clippings of sage and lavender from her herb garden to take back to her apartment.

 

There are certainly culinary benefits to summers in the Hamptons. We had two wonderful salads for lunch with Mom:

  • Curry Chicken with Peaches

  • Caprese Salad with Basil Pesto

The salads were perfectly complemented with a loaf of olive bread brought by friends from Brooklyn.

Curry Chicken Salad with Peaches

Caprese Salad with Basil Pesto

At the end of the day, life is about building memories. And, taking something beautiful and rebuilding it for the future is not about location or economics, it is all about building memories

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/wine group/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are 

 

Bagels – Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

Who doesn’t love a good bagel? Maybe I should ask, who knows what a good bagel should taste like? The best way to answer this question is with a story.

When our daughter Jennifer was 10 years old, she would spend summers at her grandmother’s (Mom mom) beach house in Westhampton NY. One day when she was eating a bagel at home in Memphis she asked: Why don’t bagels taste the same at home as they do at Mom mom’s?

A good fresh New York bagel is just different. For me, a lot of the difference is texture. The crust is a perfect amount of crunchy. The inside is chewy. A fresh warm bagel in New York is heaven. A day-old bagel that has been perfectly toasted, is another version of heaven.

At this point, my guess is that some of you are thinking: Here he goes again, the elitist former New Yorker (I have lived in Memphis for 32 years and still stutter when saying I am from Memphis. Yes, I will always be a Yankee). Another story

When we first moved to Memphis we had dinner with my friend Jeff from Connecticut. Back in the early 1980’s we had moved from Bedford NY to California and Jeff and Terry had moved from Greenwich Connecticut to Australia. We were talking about the cultural difference between Sydney Australia and Memphis Tennessee. In mid-sentence Jeff says: In both places they call you a Yankee. The big difference is that in Australia, it is not an insult.

Getting back to bagels. The truth is that people tend to like the foods they grew up with. New Yorkers like New York Pizza. People from Chicago like Chicago Pizza. People from Memphis like BBQ on their pizza. This former New Yorker likes a good New York Bagel.

You can find some great bagels outside of the New York Metropolitan area. We used to be able get an excellent bagel in Memphis. Then my favorite bagel place went out of business. Someone bought the business and refurbished the building. We were very excited for the reopening, but when they refurbished, they changed their process. The new process made a lousy product. The bagel crust was not crunchy. The inside texture was like Wonder Bread White Bread.

Making bagels has been on the list for a long time. I once read an article that basically said, homemade bagels are ok, but you cannot compete with a good bagel shop bagel. Given the demise of my favorite Memphis bagel shop and the promise of a good winter ice storm, I decided to give homemade bagels a try.

Homemade bagels fresh out of the oven

Recipe modified from the NY Times article

SOMETIMES YOU WILL AMAZE YOURSELF HOW GOOD A PRODUCT YOU CAN MAKE.

Following is a youtube video demonstrating how to make bagels

 

My homemade bagels were pretty darn good. The crust, taste and texture were excellent. Was the bagel as good as Mom Mom’s bagel shop in Westhampton? Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but these bagels are pretty good.

 

Toast up a section of bagel crust and you have a wonderful platform for an amazing array of appetizers: Bagel Crust with:

The toasted bagel wedge, a perfect base for a broad range of appetizers

  • Salami, Cream Cheese, Onion, Capers
  • Ham, Cream Cheese, Red Onion, Dill pickle
  • Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Spread with Horseradish and Dill
  • Lox with Cream Cheese and Red Onion
  • Steak with Boursin

One can go on and on. The truth is that a bagel crust is as good as any canape or crostini crust. Proving, Bagels are not just for breakfast anymore.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/wine group/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

 

 

 

 

A House In The Hamptons Is Like Having A Lake House

If you tell someone that you are going your mother’s house in Westhampton, you usually get asked if you are going to “The Hamptons”.  As in where the rich and famous spend their summers. It is true that there is a lot of stupid money, and stupid people, in the Hamptons during the summer. However, there are lots of normal, very nice people there as well. And yes, you might have seen Shaquille O.Neil eating an ice cream cone in Bridgehampton last week.

I try to explain to my friends in Memphis that having a house in the Hamptons is a lot like having a lake house in Iuka Mississippi. The more you try to explain this, the worse it gets. Then I try to explain that my mom lives in Westhampton which is the “Poor man’s Hampton”.

The story that I think categorizes this fact the best is told by Ina Gartner the Barefoot Contessa. Ina opened her first Barefoot Contessa shop in Westhampton. After a few years she decided to move to Easthampton. Early on in Easthampton she noticed a customer hemming and hawing over her Lobster Salad. Her initial reaction was that her (then) price of $40 per pound was too high. She asked the man if she could help him and he said: I am just not sure if I need 5 or 8 pounds. She knew then that she was in the right Hampton. There is lots of stupid money in Easthampton.

So maybe you can’t buy $40/lb. lobster salad in Iuka Mississippi. My buddy has a  lake house in Iuka and he loves the practice where when you come to a four way stop in the road, drivers exchange finger waves by raising their index finger off the steering wheel. In New York a finger wave usually involves the middle finger, but that is different story.

Another, itty bitty difference between Iuka and Westhampton is the weather. As I write this, it is a bright sunny July day and the temperature is 75 degrees with a cool breeze off the bay in Westhampton. It takes pretty good air-conditioning to get to 75 degrees at mid-day in July in Iuka. OK, so maybe there is a difference.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

Dinner under the arbor in Westhampton

Brian and Lauren enjoying a cool breeze on Moriches Bay.