On any beach day here in Rockaway we can enjoy Peruvian specialties at La Ceviche, exotic Hawaiian poke bowls from Edible Island. Also at Lowtide (Beach 97th) we can indulge in the deliciously rich pulled pork sandwiches from Breezy’s BBQ. If you want something lighter, have a fresh fruit smoothie from La Fruteria, among other tasty beach delights. They have the best burgers at Rippers (Beach 87th) and what about the decadent arepas at Caracas (Beach 106th)! In Far Rock on Beach 17th there’s Dreadsurfer. Oh that spicy Jerk Chicken! We can enjoy our local favorite, Cuisine By Claudette and other beach grub uptown at Riis Park too. It feels like overnight we were afforded gourmet beach eats steps away from our beautiful sandy shore.
But what did people eat at the beach before Rockaway got “cool”? It’s well known that the locals ordered (and still do) pizzas, delivered straight to the sand. The concessions were around in the 80’s and 90s but they served basic burgers and no frills fries.
The conversation came up and I asked my extended Rockaway family what they ate on those long summer days on the beach, as kids. “Mostly families packed coolers.” Cousin John said. “Sandwiches were made but they would always get smooshed up and the bread would get soggy” my brother-in-law Chris added. My mother-in-law Maureen and her sisters knew that dragging all the kids down to 116th for lunch was more effort than it was worth and eating out was expensive for their large families.
A cooler with ice was heavy to tow with 4 kids, the cousins, chairs, towels and toys. As a resourceful young mother, Maureen tried to consolidate and make her daily beach excursions as simple as possible. She didn’t remember exactly when, but one day she saw the extra thermos lying on the kitchen counter and thought… hot dogs. She filled the thermos with the dogs, added a package of sauerkraut and poured in boiling water. BOOM.. in the late 80’s, the Rockaway Dirty Water Dog was born.
The trend took off and numerous families in Rockaway Park started making and bringing the hotdog filled thermoses to the beach. Mothers were thrilled for sheer convenience, this meal feed many people and prep took all of 10 minutes. The hot dogs were easier to eat on the beach, you didn’t even need plates. And no more soggie sandy-sandwiches.
Want to eat like the locals, old school style? Here’s the recipe for the Rockaway Dirty Water Dog
Ingredients:
6-12 hot dogs, depending on the size of your thermos.
1 package of sauerkraut
Boiling water
Buns/Mustard/Ketchup
A fork
Directions
1. Fill a thermos with as many hot dogs as you can fit.
2. Open and add in a large package of sauerkraut. Pour in the boiling water.
3. Tightly screw the top back on the thermos
5. Pack up your condiments, buns and fork (the fork is essential) and your ready for the beach!
By the time you get hungry after swimming, the hotdogs are hot and ready to eat. Bring an additional thermos for water or iced tea – still so much less to lug than bringing a big cooler weighted with ice.
I spotted this vintage thermos at Zingara (202 Beach 91st St, Rockaway Beach, ). It would be perfect for Rockaway Dirty Water Dogs!
For me, the best part of summer is the opportunity to plant and harvest my own produce. This year, I’m growing purple and sweet basil, mint, thyme and horseradish. I bought the basil; the mint and thyme are perennials– they came back from last year. And my mother-in-law gave me the horseradish.
I also planted heirloom tomatoes, yellow squash and oregano from seed.
I’m particularly excited about those. When you grow something from nothing, you become invested. It’s always exciting every step of the way, tending to the plants and watching them mature. In a way, the whole process is kind of unbelievable. When it’s finally time to pick the ripe tomatoes off the vine and cut back the oregano, I’m so careful not to waste even one bit of the precious harvest.
We have the luxury of going to the supermarket and choosing from the aisles so many varieties of fruits and vegetables. It’s easy to lose perspective on where it all came from. Growing my own vegetables makes me think twice about the value of our food.
My oregano is ready to harvest. For best potency, it should be cut back right before it begins to flower. Dry that harvest and have the aromatic herb all year round. Cutting the plant back encourages new growth, so it continues to produce throughout the summer.
Oregano is a purple flowering perennial herb plant in the mint family. It’s native to western and southwestern Eurasia and the Mediterranean. It can grow up to 30 inches tall! The herb thrives in a hot dry climate but is versatile and will do well in other conditions. There are many varieties of oregano with flavors that are spicy, sharp and even sweet.
Some people choose to hang dry their herbs. You need to place the cuttings in a dry, warm well-ventilated room for one week. I don’t have a room with such conditions so I oven dry herbs. While you loose a little flavor oven drying, it’s a time saver and you can be sure the herb is free from contaminants.
Directions for oven drying oregano:
- Set the oven to 150 degrees
- Cut two thirds of the oregano plant
- Thoroughly wash the herbs and place it on a cookie sheet.
- Place the oregano in the oven. It should take 30 minutes to dry but check often. You don’t want it to burn.
- Remove from the oven and let it sit for 10 min.
- Over the tray, crumble the leaves by running your hand down the stems. The leaves should fall off very easily. Transfer into a tight seal herb container.
Simple as that!
by Paula D.
on July 9, 2018 12:55 pm in Instagram
Here’s a recap of the best instagrams of last week. If you want the day to day follow me here!
There’s so much fun happening like BBQ’s and beach days that I haven’t been keeping up with my grams of the week. This past weekend my friends Keith and Naomi had an awesome party… with tons of food! I brought a macaroni salad which seemed to be a hit because all of it went. Summer is great!
Someone needs and oil change.
The garden is thriving and I often see people taking photos of it. You have know idea how much pleasure that brings me, lol! Since the heat wave I’ve been watering a lot. I guess I can’t complain because before that I barely had too. Keep your plants and trees hydrated!
This shot is from two weeks ago but I had to include!!! I got fan mail!
by Paula D.
on July 9, 2018 12:42 pm in Community
It’s official. I graduated and I’m now a New York City Citizen Tree Pruner! I have the authority to prune any tree in NYC that’s been planted by the parks department after two years of its installation and any tree outside of a conservatory. So, If you see me in front of your house with a pole-saw cutting your tree, please don’t call the cops.
Since I last wrote about the class, I’ve learned extensively about the importance of street trees, the many dangers facing trees in our city and how to recognize and remedy those problems. I learned the basic biology of a tree and how to identify the 16 different trees that are planted in our five boroughs. We were taught how to report a problem
with a tree, request a new tree or petition for a tree pit expansion on the parks website. You don’t need a citizen pruner license to submit requests. If you know of a damaged or dead tree, report it here.
Session three, tree biology and identification was the most interesting to me. I find myself walking around town on the way home from the gym or the supermarket staring at trees; alternate buds, simple leaf form with an oval shape, little ridges, glossy leaves, showy flowers… it’s a Callery Pear! My obsession with tree identification as turned a new corner. My husband and I be in the car and play “name that tree”. With only a minute or so at a red light it becomes a challenge to identify the correct species… unless it’s a London Plane tree. It’s unique “camo” bark is a dead giveaway! I have
to remember to bring my trusty citizen pruner manual with me in the car. If I can’t identify a tree on the road, it drives me nuts. And in turn, annoying Matt. He’ll tell me I’m not allowed to talk anymore until we get home – tree enthusiast gag order.
I received a letter from Rockaway Park resident Herbert Coles and learned he too is a citizen tree pruner! In fact, there are at least three of us. Clare Hilger, Secretary of the Rockaway Beach Civic association graduated this summer as well! We’ll all have to get together for a tree pruning excursion. There are so many trees in
Rockaway that are in great need of some pruning TLC.
If you have a passion for pruning, value our urban forest, and want to contribute to the betterment of our community, consider becoming a citizen tree pruner! Visit treesny.org/citizen-pruners-stewardship/ for the next course schedule. In addition to the Citizen Tree Pruner course, Trees New York hosts many volunteer outings for adults and children. Some include: Tree bed clean up and soil cultivation; a tree watering outing; a mulching day; and join the Trees New York group for tree pit gardening events which they host in various locations around the city.
For more information about Trees New York and their volunteer programs vist treesny.org. Find them on facebook.com/TreesNewYork/ or follow oninstagram @treesny.
Commissioner Mitchell Silver was the special guest speaker at our rooftop graduation ceremony which was held at the The Arsenal Rooftop garden in Central Park.
