I found out moving from Bergen County to Morris County.. I am a pizza snob.. the pizza here is no where near as good as where I grew up.. we will on occasion go and buy the good stuff from where my mom & his mom live.. but I know my bad pizza is still head over heels better than most of the country .. we have a big list of things we pick up for my sister in OH when she comes to visit.. bagels, taylor ham, pierogies, kielbasa, Italian bread, rye bread, chocolate cake from her fav bakery.. and the list seems go grow every year.. LOL we were fortunate to grow up in a 1/2 Polish and 1/2 Italian town.. and lots of good German places as well .. and those restaurants, delis, and shops are worth driving 40 mins for

>> I am a pizza snob

I know whacha mean. Most of NJ has the edge over most of CT in pizza quality, but New Haven is a real pizza haven.

A friend from Nantucket is also a pizza snob, having lived in new Haven and gone to some excellent Nantucket restaurants, but then he visited me in NJ. "Kinchley's Tavern in Ramsey, New Jersey had excellent thin-crust pies.

He warned me and warned me that NO pizza outside of New Haven or "off-island" could come up to HIS standards, but his eyebrows went up at the first bite. Then we had to wrestle for slices and he added "Kinchley's" to his list of three unbeatable pizza locations.

(I guess this is off-topic.)

been there and it rocks!!!.. there is a south jersey stop in Neptune.. Pete & Elda's Tavern.. even better than Kinchley's... so thin I can almost eat a whole pie myself.. fold it and it cracks!!!

>> so thin I can almost eat a whole pie myself.. fold it and it cracks!!!

MMM-MMM!

Some weekends, I would go to Kinchley's, order a large pie and a pticher of beer, then try to waddle out to my car.

NOW I'm homesick!

There's a sub shop near new advertises "NJ-style Subs". I wonder, if I go in, will they be horribly rude and also massacre the English language?

(sniff - I almost miss it!)

want me to freeze and mail one to you?

Naw, I should come visit to update my accent, rudeness and extreme-driving skills.

well let me know.. will go have a pizza & a beer!

I grew up in Pittsburgh. It's those pierogies I miss. Nobody here even knows what they are.

Pittsburgh is a very ethnic city. We had Italian neighborhoods, Irish, slovak, polish. (there's a neighborhood in Pittsburgh known as "polish hill").

Karen

OK--I"ll join this off-topic thread. I grew up in a Polish & Italian neighborhood in Chicago. I was up there this weekend, and brought back 2 coolers full of everyone's requests from our favorite Polish deli. Pierogi, polish sausage, stuffed cabbage, dumplings.....yum!

Nothing like that in Indy.....

Yum! Nothing like that in Cincinnati, either, Linda.

Karen

the best corn bread I ever had was in Ohio.. in Wooster.. the barn salad bar.. sweet honey butter too!!.. could eat a whole plate!!

I'm actually headed back to Pittsburgh in a few weeks for a business trip. I was there in April, and loved the fact you could find pierogi there. The area we were staying in was predominately Italian, so we also got to have some great Italian food.

love it!

I'm a little late chiming in here about the coco coir, but I had a terrible experience with some this year. Like many others, I started purchasing coir a few years ago from a seller on DG...it was great stuff. When he went out of business last year, I found a small amount that I purchased locally (Coco-Tek brand) that was also really good. This year, I purchased a different brand (Sun Leaves) that was the worst stuff imaginable. Of the 4 bales I purchased, 2 wouldn't even break down in water without massive amounts of time and effort. When I finally planted some new EBs and planters with it, everything either died or failed to grow. I finally realized it was probably due to the salt content, so was able to rinse my EB as well as I could--literally just flooded them with water for about 20 minutes at at time, and repeated several times. Well, the boxes did a little better, but I plan on dumping the coir in those planters before next season. I just couldn't believe the difference in the brands.

ANother friend of mine had a similar experience when she switched from one brand to another. It definitely makes a difference!!!

good to know.. thanks

Count me among those who tried coir but didn't like the results at all. I don't remember which brands they were but I'm unlikely to try it again. Honestly, I can grow coleus cuttings so easily and so well in potting mix, and grow them on to big plants in big pots, with little effort. But I had miserable results with coir.I had similar results using it for seeds. Since Pro-Mix works so well for me, I'm sticking to that. It's one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" things for me.

Chances are it was user error, but I'm not planning to repeat the process any time in the near future.

Karen

I do like pro mix... but it's not affordable here

My other choice is Metro-Mix. It's similar in cost-effectiveness to coir, but I have to travel about 60 miles to get it. Fortunately, a friend of mine lives near there, so I can couple my trip with having lunch with a friend.

Yes, I've used and liked both Metro Mix and Fafard's. Both have worked well for me, too.

Karen

I came across an article about coir. The studies were by Utah State. At least I'm in good company in my failure with coir. Be sure to see the photos.
http://www.usu.edu/cpl/PDF/Coc...

Karen