My next trek was to Gloversville all the way in upstate New York. This is where my grandmother grew up and where my great Aunt and Dad’s cousin still live. They have a wonderful camp area near one of the lake’s called Caroga. I remember going up to the lake to visit her and the rest of the Curtin family in the late summer. When I arrived early evening on Thursday, the sky was dark and dreary. It had been raining all day, and nothing changed on Friday.
I decided to go on a short run up the hill. I stopped to check out the new growth on the evergreen trees. So excited for summer to be approaching. My great Aunt makes exquisite quilts and was going to head into town to go to the fabric store. I decided to accompany her and she gave a brief historical summary of the area. Gloversville is the place where they manufactured gloves and her mother and father were both in the industry. Her mother had been a sewer and her father helped with the machines. There’s a lot of intricate details about the clothing industry that came from the pioneering of these machines and fabric manufacturing technologies.
The fabric store looked like a small barn house and had an old wooden sign near the small cut out road. When we walked in the lobby, rows of sewing machines spread out across the room. The next room was stocked with shelves that were stocked with different types of patters. Polka dots, pin stripes, vibrant butterflies, and Paris illustrated patterns were spotted as I browsed the various isles. My great Aunt was working on a pillow project using leftover scraps of fabric and newly cut small pieces of patterned fabric. It was great to see that the sewing culture still held strong in the old small glove manufacturing town.
Later, we met Martha at Traver’s Diner, a country style diner with delicious home comfort foods. I highly recommend the spinach spanakopita, yummy! After dinner, we went back to their home and my great Aunt start making rice pudding. I helped her in the process and she gave me the recipe so I could replicate it for my future hosts. Check it out:
Rice Pudding Recipe
2 cups water
4 cups milk
1 cup rice –whole grain- Carolina Rice (what Martha & Donna recommended)
1 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
Put all ingredients into a pot to boil.
Cover—after boiling turn down and simmer for 45-60 minutes. Stir often until it gets thick and sticks.
In a separate bowl:
3 eggs
12 ounces of evaporated milk
2 tablespoons of vanilla
Add to rice then bring to a boil again
Stir consistently until boiling then remove from heat.
Add: 3/4th of a half-pint of heavy whipping cream (6 ounces) then mix well.
Add: 1 cup or more of raisins if desired. (It’s best to boil the raisins because they will be more soft).
Where in the World is Little Laurie? 