Tag Archives: west chester

fireworks and the fourth of july

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I was a child born in the Society Hill section of Philadelphia.  Pre-Bicentennial, but still, I always think of Independence Hall, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, and so on when I think of the 4th of July.  I also think of water ice and fireworks and backyard BBQs.

I have not celebrated July 4th in Philadelphia for years as it is craziness meets hot and crowded is not relaxing for me.  The fireworks at the art museum are pretty cool, I must admit, but throngs of hot, sweaty people and still urban air doesn’t do it for me anymore.

As for fireworks, I love them….provided they are done by professionals. Fireworks, once you get past the over-sized sparklers and packs they sell this time of year in tents in grocery store and strip mall parking lots, should be left to the professionals.

And it has been pretty dry with a lot of heat, so I truly hope people go to see fireworks, and don’t run the risk of setting their neighbors’ roofs or trees on fire.  Besides, you know every July 4th, some firework novice hurts themselves or someone else.

We have neighbors on an adjacent street whose music I love when they pipe it out to their pool and it travels across the big back yards around here.  But when they do their fireworks?  Well they point them at the rest of us in the neighborhood, and every now and again you feel like you are ground zero.

Leave the fireworks to the professionals.  Just saying.

 

 

end of an era: genuardi’s to giant

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Today is the last day for Genuardi’s on Boot Road in West Chester.  At 6 p.m. this evening, the doors close for good as a Genuardi’s, and the conversion to Giant begins.

On June 15th, the Federal Trade Commission finally approved the sale of the 15 Genuardi’s stores to Giant.

But if we are honest with ourselves, the Genuardi’s Markets stopped being Genuardi’s when the family sold to Safeway in a transaction that was finalized in 2001.

The Boot Road store was truthfully, in my opinion, the best of the bunch.  I had mostly used the Wynnewood and St. David’s stores before, and St. David’s seemed to have issues being in a building that was rumored to have issues (you could see marks on the ceilings like there were roof leaks and stuff), and the customer service people and other staff weren’t especially helpful in a consistent way.  And the Wynnewood store ?  Well Wynnewood had haphazard service at best and that store was even more dirty than the Wynnewood Superfresh. And the parking lot in Wynnewood is a disaster. But if you live in Lower Merion, you might not notice all the potholes and surface issues in the lot because so many streets have the same issues around there.

I went to the store on Boot Road yesterday to pick up a couple of things and found the store mostly emptied out.  As per employees, the store hopes to re-open as a Giant on July 8th. It was so weird to be in an almost empty store.

One amusing thing I would like to share about being in Genuardi’s yesterday has nothing to do with the conversion.  It has to do with a pet peeve of mine – people having huge cell phone conversations loudly while shopping.

Yesterday, this chick saunters into what was left of frozen food with her cell phone on speaker and held out in her palm – à la Bravo Real Housewives of Anything.

It was one of those “I saw your man and let me tell you” conversations. It reminded me of that cell phone conversation on the commercial where the woman in the mall parking lot at first thinks the Rolls Royce is her car.  I feel bad for whomever was on the other end of that conversation as quite a few people heard most of the conversation before phone girl took it off speaker.  Definitely not a conversation you want random people to overhear, and we’ll leave it at that.

Keep cool today people!  And remember to go help East Goshen Farmers’ Market celebrate their 1st birthday this afternoon.

along 202…

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Along Route 202 towards Delaware there are so many things….billboards, abandoned old buildings, strip malls, a few farms, more billboards and abandoned old houses.

Can anyone tell me about the house above?  I think technically it may still be in West Chester.

And speaking of West Chester, the tradition that just makes you smile:

 

And here again is the billboard that is the pride of Westtown – just like the giant T.V. you would never want:

 

malvern’s mistake

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I have written before how I feel that Malvern’s super-sizing via the Eli Kahn development on King Street is a huge mistake.

In March, the Daily Local had one of its nameless editorial columns on it.  As was the case with a couple nameless, faceless editorials on West Vincent, they were off the mark on Malvern too.  And honestly, part of my problem with these editorial is that if you want to go incognito on a blog, that is one thing, but if you are writing for a large local and regional paper, sign your name.

So the Daily Local said at the time:

Ok, did the nameless, faceless anonymous editorial column writers walk the site?  Or did they merely expound upon a developer feel-good press release?

I went to the site today while running errands.  I was profoundly disturbed by what I saw, and can easily envision for the future.  Yes, it is a site that should be redeveloped. But why not a park and a couple of stores?  Or something Malvern lacks? Sufficient parking?

Malvern Patch also has covered this development.   Much like The Daily Local has. The Daily Local has also covered the Kahn-ism of West Chester too.  In both cases, I feel in my heart of hearts, this will when all said and done, like letting the proverbial fox in the hen-house.

West Chester has a good formula in their downtown now, which I saw more of this morning when I went to the West Chester Grower’s Market.   Carolyn Comitta and Holly Brown better keep their heads on right, lest they  ruin a good thing.

Developers always say the right thing when they come a courting, but what happens when they leave?

Which brings me back to Malvern.  You know what I think Eli Kahn and Jack Loew’s project is going to be like when it is done?  A super-sized Charleston Greene.  And over the years, how has Toll’s Charleston Greene worked for you ,Malvern?

As I went back and forth through Malvern today, checking the streetscape, I had to wonder if they needed super-sized development anymore than Ardmore, PA does? In Ardmore, the residents wanted a new train station which may never appear in anyone’s lifetimes now, but on Monday apparently there is a press conference about the work beginning on the Paoli Transportation Center.

As I said before, as long as I can remember has had an unfortunate identity crisis – mostly stemming from local officials as opposed to residents.  The borough of Malvern has a charm that doesn’t need super-sizing with giant Tyvec wrapped buildings that will end up looking like a New Urbanism Disneyland.

Malvern will sacrifice any  charm of the area  and the traffic will be a nightmare.

I think parts of Malvern may end up looking as unattractive as parts of Eagle, another tiny community developers had a “vision” for.  When municipalities suffer an identity crisis, the residents and business owners are the ones who suffer in the end.

I sure hope I am wrong about Malvern and these plans, but I don’t think so. What I see are future buildings just sitting right on the street without sufficient setbacks like Jabba the Hutt, architecture (if you can call it that) that picks up zero cues from its surroundings, over-abundance of density abutting train tracks and an urban feel all wrong for a somewhat sleepy  and small Chester County borough town.

And mark my words, just because they build it it does not mean they will come.  And if they come, they might not be what you wanted.

But the horse is out of the barn on this one. So we’ll just wait and see.  Hopefully I won’t be able to say I told you so.  But again, honestly, I think Malvern had better enjoy Malvern before it’s gone.

sharing summer recipes: couscous and cornbread

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Yes, I am one of those crazy people who cooks even when it is hot.  I have two dead simple recipes to share with my readers today.  They are not necessarily to be served together, I just happened to be fiddling after gardening.

One is a summer salad with Israeli Couscous, and the second is my spin on cornbread.  Cornbread to me is summer and fall.

Cornbread

Oven pre-heated to 425 degrees.

  • dash of ground ginger
  • dash of cinnamon
  • 1 3/4 cup cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup sugar (white)
  • 3/4 cup flour (I use organic all-purpose)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt (if you use sea salt, make it a scant teaspoon)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2 percent today, but anything except skim will work)
  • 4 tablespoons buttermilk powder
  • 1 egg
  • 4 or 5 tablespoons of butter
  • turbinado sugar
  • 1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

Grease and flour a loaf pan.

Mix all the “wet” ingredients together.  You can do it with a whisk.  I do add the melted butter slowly and last into the wet.  You don’t want to cook your egg, after all.

Combine all the dry ingredients and whisk into the wet ingredients.  Pour in your prepared pan and top the batter with a dusting of turbinado sugar.

Pop into your pre-heated oven and  cook about 25 minutes.  Today I cooked it a couple of minutes more, other times a couple of minutes less – depends on the oven.  When the cornbread is slightly brown on top, maybe a couple of cracks on the top and a skewer or knife comes out clean, the bread is finished.  Take it out, let it cool, remove from pan.

Easy and delicious.

This bread is yummy plain, with butter, with jams or preserves, or honey.  I like cornbread with honey.  Right now the honey I have is from right here in West Chester – Carmen B’s.

Summer Salad With Israeli Couscous 

 

  • 1 cup Israeli Couscous
  • Spring onions
  • Parsley (fresh flat leaf Italian – I grow it in my garden)
  • Mint (I grow peppermint and curly mint which is a spearmint)
  • 5 or 6 ounces of crumbled Queso Fresco
  • Jayshree Kosher Salt Garden Seasoning (from Florida, their stuff is terrific)
  • olive oil
  • wine vinegar
  • one fresh lemon, juiced
  • fresh radishes
  • pine nuts (optional)
  • salt, pepper to taste
  • garlic powder

Boil the dry Israeli Couscous in about 3 cups of water according to directions on package of whatever brand you buy (around 12 minutes.)  Drain it and shock it with a quick dash of cold water and toss into a bowl.  Israeli Couscous is larger, and looks like little wheat colored pearls.  You can’t substitute regular couscous for this recipe.  It is specifically designed for the Israeli Couscous.

Chop up a few spring onions (or a bunch of scallions), one or two tomatoes, small bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley, small bunch of fresh mint (you CAN’T substitute dried mint, it will taste gross, so don’t even try), fresh radishes.  Season with Jayshree Kosher Salt Garden Seasoning and fresh ground pepper OR Season with regular salt and pepper. The Jayshree Kosher Salt Garden Seasoning is well worth ordering, or Jane’s Crazy Mixed Up Salt would work too.  Not Lowry’s Seasoned Salt – ick.  Plain salt and pepper might be too bland, but it is entirely up to you.

Toss ingredients lightly and create a simple dressing from the lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic.  Whisk the vinaigrette together and pour over salad mixture.   Add crumbled Queso and pine nuts if you so choose.  Toss again and refrigerate.

Easy and delicious.

All the veggies I put in my summer salad with Israeli Couscous today came from the East Goshen Farmers Market.  I would love to share recipes with the market, but apparently, I am too different a person for  the market manager to handle, or I am not politically correct enough, or both.  She had contacted me , wanting to link my blog to the EGFM blog, but then changed her mind.  I was fine with that (and felt bad at the time that she was obviously so uncomfortable having to tell me “oops”).  You see, Birchrun Hills Farms is a producer at this market, I am not changing my mind on how I feel about Farmer-Supervisor Miller and his part in the attempted eminent domain for private gain of Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Grounds, or the dubious shenanigans in West Vincent.  This is why yesterday, when I had a lunch meeting at White Dog Cafe in Wayne, I passed over a couple of luncheon dishes that were advertised as being made with Birchrun Hills Farm products.

I do however, love the East Goshen Farmers Market even if Madam Market was so impossibly rude last week to me it was embarrassing and hurtful at the same time.  Which given her perky PTA mom persona the rest of the time I have seen her (which is only at the market), was somewhat shocking. It was last week’s behavior that has made me mention the drama a second and last time on this blog.

I am new to this community, so a lot of people are getting to know me.  I totally get that.  But I believe in being active and helpful in one’s community (paying things forward), and last week the EGFM said they were looking for input on gluten-free bakeries and products.  So I stopped to give feedback.  The conversation kind of  came to a screeching halt when she snapped at me how she was a nutritionist.  I am a breast cancer survivor, but I don’t go around snapping that at people when they talk about the disease and possibly use incorrect buzz words and such.  And if I am working on a community event and someone is kind enough  to offer feedback when I solicit it, I am always glad to listen.  After all, you never know where the next great idea will come from.  And well, heck, I know people who have started these farm markets and hired bakeries in this area for organic and gluten free.  I also have friends who live utterly gluten free lives and have to bake on their own because the variety of what they find at gluten free bakeries doesn’t suit their allergies.

Whatever.

I don’t need this gal as a BFF (and since I am blogging about it, a precisely made voodoo doll may be in the process of being crafted or the Welcome Wagon might run me over, I simply don’t know), but I will tell you what, being a newcomer into an area versus being part of the established community has shown me again why you shouldn’t judge before you get to know someone.  Live and let live, and her loss.   I will never be rude to this person, and I will be happy to support the market because it is truly fabulous and with the exception of one farm, full of wonderful vendors.  In that regard she has done a marvelous job.  She can’t help the rest of it.  Just her nature.

To the rest of you, my readers and the people I am meeting here and there as I settle into Chester County, thank you for the warm and friendly welcome.  I look forward to sharing more with you on this blog as the spirit moves me.

Happy cooking!

her name is gussie and she will be going home (owner located)

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A knock on my door five minutes ago, and now my lost pal having a spa day at the Chester County SPCA has a name and a home.

Her name is Gussie.

The owner ‘s name is Pam and she is a local Zumba teacher in East Goshen and will be coming to Chester County SPCA tomorrow to pick up Gussie .

I have never been so happy to meet a neighbor in my life.

I warned her that Gussie’s photo was everywhere.

I am so happy that Gussie is loved and just got out and will go home.  She has a brother dog named Chubbs who is so unbelievably cute (he’s a little fella).

Pam, the owner, adopted her many years ago from the Delaware County SPCA, and the chip in her is not Pam’s.  I guess it was the owner that originally surrendered her.

See what paying it forward does?  You put something positive out there and look what happens?  Dogs like Gussie find their way home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

exploring west chester

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Last week my friend Teri and I played touristas.  We took a staycation day to West Chester.  Wel walked the streets in town, and had lunch (al fresco!) at Limoncello.

Limoncello is a wonderful restaurant, and lunch was delicious (if you are a homemade bread junkie, do not under any circumstances try the bread they bring to the table in a basket. It is the best bread ever tasted.)

For Limoncello, not that they will listen to me a blogger, I have two suggestions: (1)The tables inside are definitely TOO CLOSE TOGETHER, and outside they are bordering on the same issue.

and

(2) They offer unsweetened iced tea and sweet tea.  The sweet tea is a mix.  The five minutes you take to brew real iced tea might add less than another 30 seconds for the time it takes to brew real iced tea with sugar and/or sugar and mint. That is all you need for sweet tea.

We then took in the streets and their merchants are town proud.  Flowers in planters everywhere, and what is really neat, is there is almost a uniformity to the outside dining options as far as plants, flowers, and ambiance.

We also discovered a couple of the little boutiques and antiques places.  West Chester has a walkability that a lot of other Main Street-oriented towns do not.  And that includes traffic calming done creatively.  My only reservation is what will happen to this when Eli Kahn does his supersizing and developing right around the center of town in I guess old county buildings.  (Don’t forget that height discussion thing.)

Eli Kahn and Jack Loew bear watching.  As in closely.  I can’t see what they will do from my windows, but I would hate to see West Chester’s charm obliterated by ill-fitting downtown development. I already think their plans for Malvern are ghastly.

West Chester, the borough, should pay more attention to this in my humble opinion than constantly fighting the sex shop lady….even if her proposed new sign shown in The Daily Local is a bit of a nose wrinkle/bad taste in my opinion.  But then again, I think the X marks the spot of the heart in the women’s figure line drawing’s crotch area is just too obvious.    (I do not care if the store is there, however, I just think she could do a more tasteful sign.  But she gets such a hard time all the time for every little thing, can’t say I blame her.)

LOST DOG FOUND IN WEST CHESTER!!

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**UPDATE** I spoke to Chester County SPCA.  The dog is still there and did have a microchip….which led to a disconnected cell phone from New York.  I asked if I could come see her and maybe walk her while she is in their care, and they regretfully told me no.  The Chester County SPCA will keep her for three days.  As per the comment below, Collie Rescue of SEPA has offered to help them if they need it.  PLEASE, if you know where this dog lives, know a family who recently relocated from New York to the West Chester/Malvern area, please call the Chester County SPCA.

*****************************************************************************************************

HI! I found a dog, or she found me this morning.  I don’t know her name, but she responded to Sweetie…probably because she is so sweet.  Found  North Chester Road (352).  She is very sweet, elderly, possibly collie/shepherd or collie/husky mix.  Either has severe hip dysplasia or was injured.  Dirty, but obviously not out that long.  No collar, no tags.

The Chester County SPCA is coming to pick her up within the hour.  Please, please, please if you know who she belongs to, please contact either East Goshen Police or the Chester County SPCA.  The Chester County SPCA will have a vet check her.

This is the kind of stuff that breaks my heart, so I would like to find her home.  Her teeth look old, but not the worst shape, but her nails need a trim.  She is very overweight.

Again, this is a sweet dog, not aggressive in the least.

Chester County SPCA can be reached at Phone Number: 610-692-6113

East Goshen Police Department can be reached at 610-692-5100.

She will be going with Chester County SPCA, because I can’t keep her.  And my instinct says she needs a vet to look at her.  Main Line Rescue doesn’t have any dogs missing meeting her description, and the same goes for all the vets I have called.

Please, if this is your dog, come forward.  I do not want this sweet girl to end her days in a shelter. She reminds me of a dog I used to have and loved very much named Mattie.

Thank you for reading, please cross-post and please, please, please call Chester County SPCA ASAP if you recognize her.

real housewife of new jersey meets real housewives of chester county…

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So tonight I went to a book signing at Chester County Books and Records.  It was for Teresa Giudice and her Fast & Fit cookbook.  Teresa is part of the Bravo Real Housewives franchise and she is on of the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Now the last time I photographed a housewife it was Bethenny Frankel at Skirt in Bryn Mawr a couple of years ago. Bethenny was very nice and totally fun to photograph. And if you look at my photos you will see a couple of her now husband Jason – it was when they were dating, and before her RHONY spin-off.

But back to Teresa Giudice.  She was actually very sweet, and stopped mid signing to speak about a charity she is hot on, Nephcure.org.  There was a young woman there with Nephrotic Syndrome, and the whole thing was really very touching.  I believe Teresa said it was the charity she played for on Donald Trump and NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice.  Incidentally, Chester County’s own Congressman Jim Gerlach is an ambassador for Neph Cure.

I had a totally fun evening and met women from as far away as York and Lancaster, PA who made the drive to meet Teresa Giudice.   Teresa, incidentally is quite a knock out in person.  And again,  was completely pleasant and dow to earth, very different then the snippets of television persona viewers see on Bravo.  I think Bravo shoots something crazy like over 80 hours of tape to distill down to a 1 hour segment.

Some women I met are hardcore Real Housewife fans and told me about in essence a convention they went to – apparently the “wives” go on tour and these gals were showing me photos from Atlantic City.

Now let’s talk about Chester County Books and Records.  It is in the shopping center with the K-Mart and ACME.  That shopping center is the West Goshen Shopping Center on Paoli Pike. Now that shopping center has some good businesses and a wonderful ACME, too bad whomever is responsible for the property doesn’t give the exterior a facelift.

But back to Chester County Books and Music.  I love books, I love bookstores…and this is a giant independent bookstore.  I can’t wait to go back and explore!  Many thanks to Thea from the bookstore who does the events for letting me come in and take photos!  I hope to check out more book signings in the near future and just get lost in the books for a while.

If you were at this signing and want a photo, check out the set on flickr and message me via this blog or the Simple Shots Photography page on Facebook.

another new plant haven to check out!

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This week I had a chance to check out another new nursery.  I like giving indie plant folks business.  It grows the local economy and it’s far more personal than Home Depot or Lowes or other large big box/chain stores.

The name of the place I checked out is on Rte 352/ North Chester Road not so far off Paoli Pike.  It’s called Del Vacchio Landscape and Garden Center and the exact address is 922 North Chester Road in West Chester.

Prices aren’t bad, plant material is in nice shape and the staff is friendly and helpful.  I bought some bedding and potting plants.  You can like them on Facebook too!

A few years ago I coined a phrase for Ardmore called “Be Vocal, Shop Local”.  It applies here, too.  Support your small businesses, they are your neighbors.  Big box stores will never be neighbors, they merely suck revenue away from independent, small businesses.

Happy gardening!