Liz and I are city girls can’t say we were born and raised, in the city, but raised we were. I spent my first 20 years of my life in Manhattan, got married, left the city lights, and moved far away to the suburbs, Astoria, a 20 minute drive from Manhattan.
My husband is also from Manhattan and he lived on 33rd and 3rd. Yes, turdy,turd and turd. Our roots were strongly planted on 29th Street between 1st and 2nd avenue.
Here we created memories, our lives were enriched growing up on 29th Street.
New York City was simply called the ‘CITY‘. When asked where do you live the answer was the ‘CITY‘ and everyone knew what that meant. It did not mean Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx and certainly not Staten Island, these boroughs were considered the country, there were trees and wide open spaces in the boroughs.
Here is the funny part, at least I think, now we go into the ‘CITY’ and it is like stepping into another world.
We recently spent a day in the ‘CITY’ and the changes are amazing. So much has changed. We took the train to 23rd Street and 5th and laughed when we saw the station decorated with hats.
Doesn’t Liz look like a school girl.
We had lunch out ( out on the street), we have not done this in years, to many years.
Who says you have to spend a lot of money to eat in the ‘CITY’.
I had a hot dog and Liz had a chicken souvlaki.
We stood on the corner and watched all the people go by. Interesting people in the ‘City’. As soon as we came out of the train, we eyed a woman who had a hat on. Nothing strange about wearing a hat, of course, but this hat looked like it belong to her doll, it was that small.
In spite of the change, we still feel at home.
I love the ethnicity in the ‘CITY’.
We grow up with all kinds of people, all kinds of faces, and all kinds of stories.
So, I guess, all in all the
‘CITY has not really changed.
Chicken Souvlaki Recipe:
- 3 T fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 t dried oregano (or 1 1/2 t chopped fresh)
- 2 t olive oil
- 1/2 t salt
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 lb skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
- tzatziki Sauce (recipe follows)
- 1/2 c cucumber (peeled, seeded & Shredded)
- 1/2 c plain yogurt
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/4 t salt
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- package whole grain pitas, shredded lettuce,chopped tomatoes and chopped red onions to serve
How to make it
- Combine first 5 ingredients in zip-loc bag, add chicken pieces, shake to coat with marinade. Seal and refrigerate for 30 minutes, turning once.
- Remove chicken from bag, discard marinade. Thread chicken onto skewers, with spaces between chicken to speed cooking.
- Place skewers on grill, turning occasionally, until chicken is cooked through.
- Prepare tzatziki sauce, set aside.
- Remove cooked chicken chunks from skewers.
- Serve chicken wrapped in pita dressed with veggies and a dollop of sauce.
- Enjoy!
PS – you don’t have to make tzatziki sauce you can buy it in your supermarket.