Hi Linda, Welcome to our list. I am Pat from Warren Co, in NW Jersey. My family ties go back to the 1600's/1700's in NJ. A couple of days ago I had a major break through on my gggrandfather. He has been one of my brick walls. You have Steelman and Creamer. I have Stillman and Cramer. Close, but not close enough. We have a great and supportive list of natives of NJ. We are like an internet family. Always happy to have new comers and new memories. I left NJ in 1963 and have lived in SC, NC and many years in La. Last year we moved to the country for retirement and I now have very slow internet access. So...not on as much. As soon as I get one of my children to come over and get me connected to hi speed internet, I may be on more. One of my favorite memories of Atlantic City was going to see Ricky Nelson. It had that old town feeling with the boarding houses, etc. I think it lost something, when the glitter and glitz arrived. But...times change, as everyone seems to tell me. Not always for the better. All of us not still in NJ can relate to not being able to find good subs, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, etc. You failed to mention Taylor ham which always gets us going. LOL I miss the real Italian pizza shops, Italian food and Polish/Hungarian type foods. Impossible to find real Kielbasi down here. I always buy a few and bring them back with me. We all share a love of NJ type foods. Whenever we approach holidays that always becomes a good topic. Maybe you have some good family recipes you would like to share for the holidays or some you would like to find. Jump in and let us know. Share some more of your memories and get us going. Pat

Thanks, Pat, for the welcome. You mentioned Taylor ham. Is that the infamous Taylor pork roll? Yum! You also mentioned recipes. It's hard to tell what's unique to the area and what food is just handed down through families. Some of the food from my childhood may have even come from England with my great grandparents. I've always loved what our family called "Christmas potatoes", which was half mashed potatoes and half mashed rutabagas. I had a heck of a time finding rutabagas here in the south when I first got here, but I've noticed that changing some in the past few years. I also have fond memories of ham and cabbage, which was ham, cabbage and potatoes, basically combined and stewed together. I consider food like this comfort food now. Anymore, with all the processed food available, anything home cooked is comfort food! We have one Italian restaurant in Williamsburg, which, being a tourist town, has a ton of restaurants. They do okay in the pizza department but there's nothing like NJ pizza. The pizza chains are taking over and highly lacking. Maybe it's the cheese. Or maybe it's the sauce. And where's the grease that's supposed to roll down you're arm when you fold your pizza to eat it? When traveling we can always tell when we're getting close to home. Every corner has a pizza or sub shop. Ahhh, the good old days. It's funny how homesick I've gotten as I've aged. You would think that it would have happened when I was young and left the area. I want to go home more often now than when I was younger. It's harder for me to make the "power trips" home, leaving Friday after work and returning to Virginia Sunday afternoon. Now I need at least a week, and having a child still in school, makes it difficult. Is there anyone on the list that still lives in the area? Linda ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2004 3:15 PM Subject: Re: Linda > Hi Linda, > > Welcome to our list. I am Pat from Warren Co, in NW Jersey. My family ties > go back to the 1600's/1700's in NJ. A couple of days ago I had a major break > through on my gggrandfather. He has been one of my brick walls. You have > Steelman and Creamer. I have Stillman and Cramer. Close, but not close enough. > > We have a great and supportive list of natives of NJ. We are like an > internet family. Always happy to have new comers and new memories. > > I left NJ in 1963 and have lived in SC, NC and many years in La. Last year > we moved to the country for retirement and I now have very slow internet > access. So...not on as much. As soon as I get one of my children to come over and > get me connected to hi speed internet, I may be on more. > > One of my favorite memories of Atlantic City was going to see Ricky Nelson. > It had that old town feeling with the boarding houses, etc. I think it lost > something, when the glitter and glitz arrived. But...times change, as everyone > seems to tell me. Not always for the better. > > All of us not still in NJ can relate to not being able to find good subs, > Philly cheese steak sandwiches, etc. You failed to mention Taylor ham which > always gets us going. LOL I miss the real Italian pizza shops, Italian food and > Polish/Hungarian type foods. Impossible to find real Kielbasi down here. I > always buy a few and bring them back with me. We all share a love of NJ type > foods. Whenever we approach holidays that always becomes a good topic. Maybe > you have some good family recipes you would like to share for the holidays or > some you would like to find. Jump in and let us know. > > Share some more of your memories and get us going. > > Pat >