Farsighted Fly Girl

(Warning, do not read an empty stomach.)  My first visit to Harlem featured the sights and tastes of this legendary neighborhood during the Taste Harlem food and culture tour and I had to re-visit the experience with my husband.  The tour includes two and half hours of eating, sight-seeing and historical facts provided by owner Jackie Orange and it is not for the faint-hearted.  So many flavors, visions and sounds are packed into the tour that you need a few hours afterwards just to process it all.  It kicks off with Amy Ruth's Soul Food restaurant and the requisite chicken and waffles, a dish created in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. Next, we sampled Senegalese cuisine at Les Ambassades, a chic and popular eatery in the Little Senegal area of Harlem. Grilled tillapia and couscous was the taste treat and as you can see, it was a whole lot more than just a taste. Senegalese food is one of my personal favorites so while my husband scarfed down the til...

This is a new one on me. I know people love their pig. Give them bacon, pork chops, sausage and bellies but I didn't know pig feet were quite so beloved.  But I know now.  I did a piece on the wonderful Taste Harlem Food Tour for Relish Magazine and it came out last week.  I wrote the article on the details of the three-hour, high energy tour which serves up heaping doses of Harlem food and culture in the form of soul food dishes, Dominican delicacies and Senegalese samplings. In between the food, owner Jackie Orange illustrates with historical tidbits and cultural facts. Well, the story was severely edited, focusing on Jackie's favorite Harlem food fact, which happens to be Pig Foot Mary.   A legendary Harlem figure,  Pig Foot Mary's real name was Lillian Harris and she migrated from the Mississippi Delta to New York in 1901. She sold pig feet from an old baby buggy to Southern -born Harlemnites until she had acquired enough money to amass a fortune in N...

One of my favorite things about New York city is the vibrant art scene. You don't even have to step foot into an art gallery, art surrounds you everywhere.  I snapped these public art displays during my long strolls though Harlem. The first two murals were painted by school children and the next to last mural graces the subway. The stately bronze sculpture is of legendary freedom fighter Harriet Tubman, casting her protection over Harlem streets.

I adore rugelach. Actually, anything drenched in sugar, cinnamon and butter enthralls me but that's not the point. The point is that I have sampled authentic, oven-warmed rugelach in Austrian cafes. I have munched on kosher rugelach from Jewish bakeries. I've even tried generic rugelach from big chain grocery stores. But none of them have managed to inspire the buttery heaven that Mr. Lee's rugelach from Lee Lee's Baked Goods, conjures within me. Ensconced on a West Harlem side street, Lee Lee's store window proclaims "rugelach by a brother." It's not exactly the phrase you'd expect for a traditional Eastern European treat but Mr. Lee was trained by a Rabbi to create perfect rugelach. Mr. Lee's secret it seems, is that unlike most bakers, he skips cheap vegetable shortening and creates handmade butter dough for his rugelach. The flaky dough literally melts in your mouth and the generous sprinkling of raisins and nuts make them seriously addicti...

Today marks the first day for the Passports With A Purpose fundraiser. Four Seattle travel bloggers decided to rally the travel blogging community to raise money and awareness for Heifer International, which is a charity that combats hunger by teaching sustainable farming methods and donating livestock. I couldn't pass up a chance to help so thanks to a generous donation from A Taste of Harlem founder Jacqueline Orange, my raffle prize is two tickets to the Taste of Harlem Food and Cultural Tour . This three hour tour features six restaurants, tours of an art gallery, a historic bed and breakfast, shops and landmarks that reflect Harlem's storied history. I grabbed a chance to experience this whirlwind excursion last year and it opened my eyes and taste buds to parts of New York history that I never knew. Nestled in the Manhattan borough, Harlem holds some cultural tidbits that might fascinate you. The neighborhood hosts a huge Dominican population, for instance. I sampled sa...