Reposting in honor of a revisit to the Lincoln Diner today, setting right what once went wrong - sat in the actual diner thanks to Pennsylvania's new no smoking law. Great grilled cheese.
Maven, connoisseur, aficionado - all terms that could be used to describe me when it comes to best sandwich ever, the grilled cheese. If I were to request a last meal (which I recently read is being eliminated from some prisons due to cost cutting) I would have a grilled cheese sandwich. I have travelled far and wide in search of the best, and believe to have found it in Red Hook, New York at the Village "Half-Way" Diner. First, let me say that the visit there was part of a week long road trip of diners from Michigan, through Pennsylvania and into New York and back, so a lot of sandwiches were consumed. Along the way, we stopped at Doc's Little Gem Diner, which was anything but, in Syracuse. The Chief Martindale Diner in Craryville, New York, the West Taghkanic Diner (guess where it is?), which had a very decent grilled cheese. The Cooperstown Diner, which was just a little brick building across from the Baseball Hall of Fame that looked like it had been there since time began. The Lincoln Diner, in Gettyburg, Pennsylvania which was most unfortunate because they had added on to the original "diner" and that is where the non-smokers were seated. I guess the smokers have less time on our earth and deserve a better view. I was pregnant at the time, so sadly we couldn't grin and bare it to enjoy the diner kitsch. Good food was had at all (except Doc's, which was also in such a bad neighborhood we weren't sure our vintage sports car would be in the parking lot when we returned). But heaven on earth was found in Red Hook. Apparently, the diner has had several incarnations, thus leading to it's quirky name. It is now known as the Historic Village Diner, but the building actually says "Half-Way Diner" on the side, it's previous name. We ate there more than once to partake not only in the grilled cheese (on the east coast they make them with white American cheese, which has a slightly higher fat content - thus the luscious creaminess of each savory bite). They also serve real carved turkey and the hot turkey sandwich is what dreams are made of. Back on earth, here in Michigan, my fav is Don's of Traverse City, original location or the one in Novi (which at least looks like a diner). Mmmmmm.
Truer than the red, white and blue. Love, American Style - one of those shows I am sure my parents, had they been home or sober, would never have let me watch. But, oh how I loved it - even though I barely got the entendres, let alone the double entendres. Behind the back drop of the groovy theme song and giant heart and fireworks, the show was basically made up of a series of vignettes highlighting the hip, swinging '70s culture in the good old U.S. of A. Most were about sex, as it now turns out - little did I know. Others were about relationships in general and family, like the Happy Days pilot that Gary Marshall could not sell to a network, but aired on L, A.S. It was about the Cunningham family and their first television set and featured Harold Gould (aka Rhoda's father) as Mr. Cunningham. It was such a hit, ABC finally bought the series. But most of the vignettes were titled in the same manner: "Love and the (fill in the blank)" and ran the gamut from nudist colonies, to birth control to marriage and divorce. It also highlighted some of the best character actors of the day (ie, Joey Heatherton, Wally Cox and Schecky Greene), as well very young, yet to be stars like Harrison Ford. The show, in many ways, was like a precursor to "The Love Boat" both for it's "racy" story lines and as a vehicle for has-been actors. But, we know the Love Boat was "exciting and new" so the comparisons must end there. Love. American Style... that's me and you.
The Recipe:
Good sliced bread, some cheese (try it with the white American - you'll thank me), a fat source, and a hot griddle (yes, don't do it in a pan). You do the math.
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