A Question

The apple orchards are closed for the year, but you can still see fruit on the trees as you drive past. Why is the local grocery store inviting me to buy a holiday meal for needy families in the area - a meal made up of canned and processed meat, starch and sweets, all of which have been trucked in from who knows where - while fresh local apples are rotting on the trees?

Post-Turkey

One of the things I love about the Hamptons in the holiday season is the decorations. Now, back home in Kentucky, there's always the traditional drive around town to look at the Christmas lights on the houses. We have a lot less of that here, as the uber-riche in the estate district really discourage people from gawking at their homes, no matter what the time of year. But the Town puts up Christmas trees covered with colored lights, lining the downtown streets in each little village. It's quite pretty, especially at night.

Escape to New York

One of the very best things about living in the Hamptons is that NYC is a mere 100 miles away, so I get to visit frequently. Much as I love life out here, the sight of the Empire State Building as the Jitney approaches the Queens-Midtown Tunnel always melts my heart, and something in the hum, the smells, the buzz and the life of the streets of New York still says "now you're home" to me, just as it did the very first time I set foot there.

Now, if you know me at all, you know there are some things that many people in the world consider minor indulgences that I take very, very seriously. These are the little pleasures that can brighten most any day. The list includes things like raincoats and lobsters. Another one is chocolate - not a Hershey's bar, mind you - fine artisan chocolate with high cacoa content and unexpected flavor blends. So, this weekend, my Hamptons To-Do list got put on hold in favor of my annual pilgrimage to one of my favorite New York events - the New York Chocolate Show.

This is a candy marketer's dream and a chocolate addict's nightmare. Where else would one buy a ticket - a $28 ticket, the price went up, mind you! - for the privilege of crowding into the Metropolitan Pavillion with thousands of New Yorkers, elbowing your way to the booths for claim sliver-sized samples of fine chocolates from around the world? But it gets better - the samples are the lure, of course. This thing is the biggest culinary flea market you've ever been to - in a chocolate-induced stupor, you're surrounded by piles of chocolate to purchase! It's diabolical.

We sampled many things from the mundane to the glorious to the just plain weird (sometimes all at once). The bleu cheese chocolate truffle was interesting though not enough to purchase. I always enjoy comparing the single origin chocolates - several vendors offer an array of varietals from Madagascar, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and others. Then there were the vendors with the French truffles who chastised us for chewing - "No chewing! No! Let it melt!"

I was somewhat disappointed by the prevalence of large manufacturers (though the Green and Black's Cherry bar was one of the delights of the show). My memory of this show is of many smaller independent producers creating unusual blends and tastes. There are still some of those to be found, but Lindt, Dagoba (now a unit of Hershey), Guittard and the like seemed to dominate more and more. M&M/Mars was even there handing out Twix Java samples.

Teababe accompanied me on this trek, and like others I've taken with me on this pilgrimage before, was put off by the mobs of the faithful. She stuck it out for two full hours with me, which speaks highly of her friendship, perseverance, and affection for me, and for which I thanked her most inadequately with dinner at an incredibly yummy French place. Combat pay. She earned it.

The balance of the day - two wonderful meals, the new Joe Strummer documentary at IFC Cinema, a truly awesome Lucky Brand Jeans find at Filene's Basement, running into friends of Teababe's on the street at Union Square, a cup of tea at Tavalon, and a hair-raising taxi ride back to the bus stop - lived up to my best memories of New York City. Yeah, I remember, I did get burned out on the noise, dirt, and cockroaches, and I'm very happy in my new seaside home. But there are so many wonderful experiences to be had here, and I still love New York.