Bringing NY Home

I had just enough time before leaving for the airport to make a quick run through Manhattan's Lower East Side to grab some treats to bring home to James and share with our friends. I dashed into Russ and Daughters, home of the world's most delicious lox and cream cheese. I picked up two flavors of their delicious spread -- a goat cheese version I hadn't seen before and the tofu scallion which I love but can't explain why, along with an assortment of delicious fish -- super salty cured (not smoked) belly lox, cold smoked western nova lox made with lean king salmon, and the king of them all, buttery smooth salmon loin with the sweet smokey flavor of cherry wood.

My second stop was one of our favorites -- Katz's Deli. I gathered up some of their delicious pastrami, turkey breast, half sour pickles, and pickled tomatoes. I added a cinnamon babka, a sweet yeast cake, and a package of mini black and white cookies to my growing box.

I wanted to get a package of the best bagels in New York from Kossar's Bialys, but -- as one of the last of the old school LES outposts Kossar's is closed on Saturdays. I was planning our NY spread for Sunday morning -- that just seemed to long for bagels to wait for us. So, I made a batch of homemade bagels Sunday morning -- salt, sesame, and poppy seed warm from the oven.