Oma Visits New York

I had the pleasure of hosting my grandmother, who I call Oma, for two weeks at the end of June. After giving here a day or two to recover from traveling from Phoenix to NY, my mission was to make sure that I got as many cooking lessons out of her as possible, while in return showing her as much of the Hudson Valley as we could squeeze in. Conclusion: mission complete.

Relaxing on the deck and making friends with the cats.

Cooking 101
At this point we had already made a roast, and then somehow got to talking about blintzes and how to avoid making inferior pancakes (or crepes). There was also a German potato salad lesson, a one night potato pancake factory, and a brief demonstration on making Matzo-Ball-Soup-Minus-the-Matzo.

Olana State Historic Site, Hudson, NY

It's a bird! It's a plane! No none of those, but there are gold tiles on the roof.



After lunch at Aroi Thai Restaurant where we enjoyed pad thai and red curry, we grabbed some "sinful" (Oma's adjective of choice) desserts from Calico bakery in Rhinebeck, NY.

Mills Mansion in Staatsburgh, NY

One of the many mansions I own... yeah right!

The Home and Presidential Library of FDR, Hyde Park, NY

FDR's home.

The rose garden where FDR is buried.

The first Presidential LibraryFrom left to right: Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Oma

Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie, NY

Oma's purchase from the farm store.

Walkway Over The Hudson
We started on the Highland, NY side this time, because you don't have to walk as far in order to get out over the Hudson.

Your trip the Poughkeepsie area is not complete unless you've walked the bridge.