The Party’s Over...

...and a fine time was had by all! We gathered down at my Mom’s condominium in Rhode Island Sunday for my sister Gail’s going away party. Gail’s daughters, Carrie and Kate, had asked her what she would like us to serve at the party and she half-jokingly replied New York System Wieners! Ask and it shall be given! New York System is unique to Rhode Island and has no connection to New York. There are several locations in Little Rhody where one can get the real thing. But most of them are closed on Sunday days. So Carrie and Kate managed to whip up an excellent homemade version using the genuine Olneyville Secret Spice Mix!

Basically, NY System are hot dogs served in a steamed bun with a meat sauce on top. For “all the way” you first put yellow mustard on the roll, then add the dog, then the meat sauce, then top with chopped raw onions and a quick sprinkle of celery salt over all. The meat sauce is made with onions, ground beef and some scary fat. The seasoning is a blend of allspice, garlic powder and chili powder. The keys to making it involve patience, making sure the beef is very finely broken up, and excellent ventilation!

Here’s the meat sauce and the wieners, just before “service”.

I’m sorry to say we were so busy devouring the wieners, I never snapped a picture of one “all the way” - or any other way for that matter! We also had tossed salad, shrimp cocktail and my Mom’s chicken salad rolls. The chicken salad recipe goes back to Mom’s mother, our Gagee, and is a family tradition. About the only uniquely Rhode Island items we left out were clam cakes, coffee milk and cabinets! (I’ll explain in a future post!)

Here’s the table before we fell upon it!
Mom baked an angel food cake for Chuck’s birthday, so we doubled the celebration. And our sister Karen called from Arizona to join in the fun. We (Mom, Gail, Carrie and her sweetie Al, Kate and her husband Phil, Carrie’s dear friend Sheri and her new sweetie Jay, Chuck and me) talked and laughed so much and for so long that we’re still a little hoarse today! We had a wonderful time sending Gail off with some food faves and lots of love, laughter and future memories.