4/13/08- I awoke to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes. My brother-in-law was making them for my niece as today is her birthday. I helped myself to two plates of them and they were absolutely delicious. They are darker than I am normally used to, but cooking them a bit longer added a wonderful flavor than complemented the chocolate chips perfectly and they were light with a slight chew to them. Man, I really wish I could make pancakes like those at home! The sausage link was a standard Jimmy Dean/Jones style.
Sis and I went to Mattydale to pick up the balloons for the party and I found my stash of Peanut Butter & Co. on sale at the Christmas Tree Shop in Northern Lights Plaza in Mattydale, NY (part of Syracuse). The address is: 132 Northern Lights Shopping Center Syracuse, NY 13212. Phone # (315) 454-9223. They have PB & Co. jars for $2.99!! I picked up The Heat Is On (spicy), The Bee's Knees (with honey) and Mighty Maple. I had already gotten 4 other flavors at Wegmans for $3.99 a jar. Now I know. They usually retail in NYC for $5.00 for the smooth/crunchy and $6.00 for the specialty flavors. Their website is
www.christmastreeshops.com. They have locations in CT, DE, ME, NH, MA, NJ, NY, PA, RI and VT.
Also of interest, Hofmann's hot dogs has a hot dog stand called Hofmann Hot Haus in the same plaza as the Christmas Tree Shop. It's at 401 Nothern Lights Plaza and the website is
www.hofmannhothaus.com. Hofmann's are a Central NY classic and they are the makers of some really tasty coneys and franks. I took the photo below on the fly as we were driving out of the plaza. Some of the menus items include white coneys, Texas Hots (with their own chile sauce), german potato salad and Harrison Bakery cookies for dessert. Harrison Bakery is a Syracuse favorite and they are at 1306 W. Genesse Street Syracuse, NY 13204. Phone # (315) 422-1468. No website available. I've never been there, but have heard many good things about it from my family and friends up there.
We made our way over to Wegmans to get a few last minute things for the party. I saw these in the meat case and couldn't resist taking these photos. Hofmann's have been a CNY favorite since 1879 and they have a pretty straightforward website, although it sounds like shipping can be costly if you order online from them. The website is
www.hofmannsausage.com I think many stores carry their products.
I saw this train suspended above the sweets section and just thought it was a nice touch.
I was really hankering for a "beef on weck" sandwich and I have gotten them at Wegmans before. I went to the sandwich counter and asked the girl if they had beef on weck and she looked at me as though I had just spoken sanskrit to her. I explained what the sandwich was and that it was served on a Kummelweck roll. She was really lost by this point. Another person came over and said they didn't have them at this particular store. I opted for the half size (which was pretty big, IMHO) Danny's Favorite (named by Danny Wegman, I presume. I had them put lettuce, tomato, onion, a little bit of mayo and some oil on it. They had a few bread options and my eyes lit up when they said a seeded roll, which I chose. their bread is pretty good. Unfortunately, when we got back to my sister's house, there was much cooking to be done for the party and I totally forgot about it. I hope that my sister or brother-in-law got around to eating it. I wouldn't want it to go to waste as it sounded pretty good.
I picked up a few bags of my Sahale Nut Blends snacks that I love. I can get them online, but it's cheaper if I just buy them on my visits upstate. These two are my favorites along with the pecans and the macadamia blends. The website is
www.sahalesnacks.com 
To go back in time for a moment, my sister and I began prepping the night before she pulled out the pork shoulders and showed me the the Gianelli sausage for flavoring the beans.
Gianelli is another Syracuse favorite that has been around since 1946 and I think their sweet and hot sausages make the best sausage, pepper and onion sandwiches I have ever tasted. They paired up with Dinosaur Bar-B-Que at the NY State Fair a number of years ago and they cleared around 50 large on the first day! Not bad. The site says their products are carried in a number of large retail supermarkets in the east. The website is :
www.gianellisausage.com As they say, "Get Gianelli in your belly!"
The thread with a pic of the Gianelli tent and my sausage, pepper and onion sandwich from the NY State Fair in 2006.
http://roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15142 So, we made the cornbread the night before and prepped the deviled eggs and I trimmed the pork, which was a bad idea as I'm not a butcher and I ended up cutting my thumb and it still smarts. We put the chunks of pork in the slow cooker on high with some water around 7 am and checked on them periodically, then drained them around 12 noon, shredded the pork and put it back in at a low setting for another 4 hours. We added about a bottle and a half of the Dinosaur BBQ sauce and I had skimmed the fat out of the pork juice and put a couple of cups back in and added more as i saw fit. Don't throw it away, that's flavor, baby!! Here are some of the pics from the party:
Her is the pork prior to shredding...
Add a couple of these...
..simmer for 4 hours more and presto!
The slaw. A quickie mayo based slaw using some Dole bagged slaw and the recipe on the back of the bag. I'm, more of a vinegar slaw man myself, but this was just fine on top of my sandwich.
My plate of BBQ goodness. Pile some pork on a soft white bun, top it with some slaw and sauce and I was good to go!
Grandma's potato salad. My sis does her proud every time!
Kelly's mac & cheese with sharp cheddar and bread crumbs. Creamy and delicious!
Dinosaur's deviled eggs. I remembered the paprika this year!!
Dinosaur BBQ beans with Gianelli sausage.
Dino Honey Hush Cornbread. I like mine with jalapenos, but we left them out this time.
The veggie tray and hummus, fruit platter, cheese and crackers and pickles.
Maddie's DORA the Explorer balloons. It's her favorite show.
And her DORA cake from Wegmans. Her birthday was just about an all-out DORA day: streamers, gifts, plates, you name it.
We all had a really good time and the kids liked the food too. It was great to spend some QT with my family.
The last installment (I promise) is the trip to HEIDS!!
