I walked into the classroom on my first day of kindergarten, and all I could hear was screaming. Several kids clung to their parents’ legs and begged them not to leave. Some stood and sobbed in place. At the center of the room was the real show—a girl writhing on the floor and screeching loud enough to drown out the…
It’s a summer party, and everyone has a beer in their hand as they sit around the picnic table. This is great for some, but others want something a little different. That’s where sangria comes in. This simple punch with chunky pieces of fresh fruit soaked in a boozy brew of wine and spirits makes any seasonal event a little…
Coyote with sour cream, salsa, melted cheddar and jalapeños; Greek Stray with tzatziki, a marinated medley of tomatoes, onions, kalamata olives, pepperoncini, topped with feta cheese As if the bright red exterior and sign with a cartoon wiener dog holding a red hot three times the size of his body isn’t prominent enough, the sound of customer chit chat is:…
My daughter’s strawberry-blond waves bounced to the melody of “This Must Be the Place” as she twirled in front of an oversized mirror. The four women seated beside her chuckled at the show they were getting “for free.” I shot the table a nervous smile as I spooned silky hummus into my nine-month-old’s mouth. I couldn’t believe my luck. It’s…
When it comes to tourism, the days of rushing through a checklist of must-see attractions are being replaced with “slow travel.” People are choosing to spend more time in one place, experiencing a destination through meaningful moments—and that includes where they stay. I recently had the opportunity to embrace this approach while visiting several distinctive bed-and-breakfasts in Penn Yan, just…
The population of Rochester surged in the 1920s, fueled by a rapidly expanding industrial base that spanned industries from optics to photography and precision engineering. People came to the area for work and stayed to raise their families, lured by the promise of a comfortable, upwardly mobile middle-class life. The city’s building pace doubled between 1920 and 1923 to keep…
In Western New York in the 1790s, food was not simply what people ate. It is how they survived and how they made meaning in an unstable world. The familiar image of the colonial table: simple bread, a roast, a pot left to simmer, does not hold for long once you look closely. At living history sites like Genesee Country…
The Rochester Red Wings has a mouth-watering philosophy when it comes to the endless list of food offerings at ESL Ballpark. “Food is fun,” says Jeff DeSantis, the Triple-A baseball team’s general manager of food and beverage. “People love the experience of coming to the ballpark and trying a variety of excellent food.” Red Wings general manager Dan Mason has…
Coffee has kept us together. Dave, Grant, and I, professors at RIT, had for many years met regularly for coffee breaks on campus when, in winter 2020, COVID arrived and the world screeched to a halt. We were confined to home and teaching online. We decided, since everything else was happening on Zoom, we would have virtual morning get-togethers over…
