For some reason, this seems like a good topic for Laura Lee to look into...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by deb:

but i still think nj is weird...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


bitch. <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

New Jersey is weird in every way, they talk funny, they have a second rate mob, their drug dealers are of low quality and they have no concept of cool.

But on the plus side, NJ, is a great place for the NY mob to dump the bodies and for NYC to send their trash, and buy cigarettes.

Has anyone else noticed that their seems to be a lot of names ending in "RY" among the NJ people?

New Jersey is just weird because of the roads, and that's more northern NJ. You just go around in circles like a dog chasing its tail. It's..weird. Other than that it's pretty much like Long Island. Well, our roads aren't great, but you can't go too far wrong cause it's narrow here and anyway, NJ's roads make ours look like they make sense.

I don't think anyone answered Ters about the knish. Ters, along with egg creams and the best pizza, knishes are the reason there's a New York City. They're kind of a pillow of dough thoroughly filled with..well, it could be a number of things, but a wonderfully seasoned mashed potato mixture is the most common. Kasha is another traditional filling and there are various new fangled modern type things that they put in them too..broccoli, spinach, stuff like that. I've heard of, but never actually met, sweet potato knishes. I'd like to try that sometime. Anyway, the whole thing is baked - making them surprisingly low fat, depending on how the filling is prepared - and the dough crust is cripsyish and the inside is soft and you eat it hot. Most people put mustard on the potato knishes. I like them plain. Whoops..lunchtime!

Ya'll are making Michigan seem almost normal (at least the lower peninsula--the UP is pretty odd, but they do make great pasties). We are unfortunately well-known for the deplorable condition of our roads--although they are constantly being repaired (rather, blocked off as though they were being repaired--actual work being done by actual workers is rarely seen).

Why do they call NJ the Garden State when the only parts ever seen on TV is less than garden-like?

Maybe Laura Lee can write a book about it...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by pamramadama:

Ya'll are making Michigan seem almost normal (at least the lower peninsula--the UP is pretty odd, but they do make great pasties). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I knew that from "The Cat Who" series of books, but you forgot to say anything about the Michigan Turn-Around Laws, they are just weird, of course in New Jersey you need to go right in order to make a left turn, I think there should be warning signs as one comes into the state.

Southern NJ is country, and actually very nice, when compared to the Northern Part.

Oh, you mean the "Michigan Left". In normal states, when a person wants to make a left turn onto another street, they simply turn onto that street when it's their designated turn, or they get into the turning lane to do it. They simply turn left. Here however, they've made it more complicated than that.

About half of the major streets here have a large grassy median in the middle. This is where the Michigan Left comes into play. You can't simply turn left onto an intersecting street. Instead, they've built several cuts through the medians where you can essentially make a U-Turn. So, in order to make a left turn, you either have to A)pass up the street you want to turn on, make a U-Turn, and then turn right onto the street, or B) turn right onto the street you want to turn left onto, then U-Turn so you can go back the direction you originally wanted to go. So essentially, one way or another, you have to turn right to turn left.

To complicate matters further, many of these turn-arounds have lights to make sure you'll eventually have a chance to pull out into the street. However, you don't HAVE to wait for these lights to turn green unless you want to drive straight through; if you want to just turn left, you can go even when it's red. So basically, left on red is legal here. But the real zinger is that on several of these same streets, making a right on red isn't.

Yeah, okay, so we're weird too.

OK, making a mental note not to try driving in Michigan. As far as construction goes..I don't think that anyone has ever been spotted actually doing roadwork anywhere in the country, unless you count the guys with the flags. Sometimes there are guys with flags. Other than that, I think "roadwork" is in actuality some kind of a huge psychological experiment gone very, very wrong.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by pamramadama:
Why do they call NJ the Garden State when the only parts ever seen on TV is less than garden-like?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, if you drive along the Garden State Parkway (for which the state was named), you'd see, well, trees and grass. Everywhere else is sorta like Arizona but with bigger houses.

We here in New Jersey just hide all the good stuff from you other folks so you don't steal it!!!

i passed the "michigan left" story on to someone nearby, and they're like, "no way..." and i'm like, "way..."

i remember one year my mom up and taking my brother and i to puerto rico for a week. one of the things i remember about the place were certain routines in traffic. the split second a red light turns green, horns sound off at once and all cars together rush through the intersection simultaneously. it was like a bugs bunny cartoon.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Larry:

We here in New Jersey just hide all the good stuff from you other folks so you don't steal it!!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

what do you want to bet that Larry is easy to find?


I learned of Michican's little oddity the hard way, driving a semi,,,speaking of which, New Mexico has signs on the streets saying NO TRUCKS, except one has to be half-way down the block before one can see the sign, it can be a nightmare, NYC, has all their signs for underpasses read 12'6" no matter how high the underpass is, the damn truck is 13'6" so every underpass is a dare.

Okay, now I don't want to drive ANYWHERE!
Here in Northeastern Ohio, we have basically 2 seasons, Winter and Road Construction. It's either Orange Barrels or black slushy snow.

Is a knish anything like a pierogi? How 'bout blintzes?

please never insult a knish by comparing it to a pierogie!
Knishes are traditionally baked, sometimes pan fried (the square ones - Gabila's - are usually served microwaved, grill fried, baked, steamed, you name it!...
The "homemade" round ones are strictly baked... I love potatoe, but have a strong fondness for the kasha, and cory goes straight for the potatoe/spinich! go figure...

now blintzes are a different matter... they are jewish crepes... baked or pan fried... stuffed with cherries, or blueberries, or potatoe or pot cheese.. served with jam/jelly or (mmmmmmm) sour cream.
Of course, due to the way my mom cooked, I went for many years thinking that blintzes were served (and eaten) burnt to a crisp!
Was that an experience the first time I ordered them at Ratners and out came these golden, steaming, tender things... "What the hell is this????" was my reaction! <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/laugh.gif" width=15 height=15>

Next time you're in new york, look for a Kosher Deli, where they're sure to have knishes... maybe blintzes too... although you might have to find a dairy restaurant for those... also many street hotdog vendors will have the Gabila knishes... but that's a different experience anyway