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Our TownBY DAVID HABENSTREITHot dogs, orange drink and smiling youngsters dominated the scene on South Elliot Place in Fort Greene last Saturday as block residents christened a magical pirate ship%u2014the first piece of equipment in what will be %u201c a very unique playground.%u201d The ship now stands in a lot which for many years was filled mainly with debris.Four years ago, the South Elliot Place Block Association, noting that several children had been hurt playing in the garbage strewn lot at 35 South Elliot Place, decided to %u2018 %u2018take action. %u2019 %u2019 They tried to find out who owned the lot and were at first told that it belonged to the city. Later they found out that it was actually owned by a Bronx podiatrist, who eventually gave them permission to build the playground.The residents then started the long, hard, process of clearing out the estimated 30 tons of junk that had accumulated over countless years. After that, grass was planted, fencing built, and plants sown. Money for the project was raised in three block parties, and $800 was awarded by the Citizen%u2019s Committee for New York.But it took much more than money to build this playground. Block resident Natasha Harsh attributed the project%u2019s success to %u201c people donating their time and effort.\%u201cgreat improvement%u201d in the spirit of the block in the time that he has lived there%u2014due in large part to the collective playground effort.The pirate ship was originally a 21-foot motorboat, which the block association purchased for $25. The transformation from motorboat to pirate ship%u2014complete with captain%u2019s cabin, bridge, mast, boom and crow%u2019s nest%u2014took place over the last two months. The naming of the boat was left to the neighborhood children, who were invited to participate in a contest, with the submittor of the best name winning a Captain Kidd spyglass. Out ofthe 33 entries the winning suggestion was %u201c Puddleduck,%u201d the brainchild of two year-old Amy Harsh. In addition to winning the spyglass, Amy, with help from her father, won the privilege of painting on the boat%u2019s new name.Saturday%u2019s christening saw the people of South Elliot Place virtually beaming with well-earned satisfaction. Everyone, child and adult alike, seemed to have a very good time in the warm but overcast afternoon%u2014the most serious complaint was that the orange drink wasn%u2019t sweet enough. It was truly a day of celebration.Saturday may have been a day for relaxation and celebration, but the people of South Elliot Place will soon return to the hard work they have become so used to. Their plans for the future include swings, seesaws, and a sandbox, as well as benches for adults. When they are finished, this former eyesore will be a full-fledged playground, thanks to the residents of this most unusual block.The Association works on a pirate ship[above]; and youngsters enjoy the completedeffort [left]. [Marianne Engberg, Photo]Pirate Ship in Ft. Greene--A Playground Sets SailInterviewGimme a Little Quiche-Straight From Mom%u2019s KitchenWxmw/, W/ffli,BY JEANNETTE E. WALLSRuth%u2019s fingers move nimbly as she bumps the knife in up and down chopping motions. When she beats a liquid mixture, her hands become a blurred movement of swirling beaters. She combines the ingredients in a bowl and carefully, with restrained excitement, begins to cook it. But to her it%u2019s not really cooking%u2014it%u2019s creating.Cooking is heating up food to make it edible, but Ruth Hammer, an exceptional young native New Yorker, views her culinary process as art. She even goes so far as to call it %u201c a combination of all forms of art.%u201d So how does a single woman whose life centers around the kitchen make %u201c a go%u201d of it? Ruth Hammer says she%u2019s been cooking since she can remember%u2014 what little girl hasn%u2019t helped her mother in the kitchen%u2014 but now, she%u2019s carried through to adolescence and beyond. So when it came time to choose a career, it seemed only natural for Hammer to stay in the kitchen. Not only a kitchen, but her kitchen.Hammer makes her living in her home, taking orders from a menu of health and gourmet foods and delivering the meal to the customer. She calls her franchise %u201c Mom%u2019s Traveling Kitchen,%u201d and-1%u2014 ------ :~i:-----D i l l * O p U C l U J W . V O 1 1 1 U V i l V i U U Oquiches, carrot cake and spinach pie.And being as conscientious as she is about food, Hammer strictly refuses to use anything but the best ingredients. %u201cOnly the freshest!%u201d she emphatically says. Not a single canned or frozen vegetable will ever touch any of her dishes%u2014she Ruth Hammerbuys fresh fruits and vegetables straight from the produce markets.And the really amazing part of this deal is that %u2018Mom%u2019s%u2019 charges minimal prices for these very tasty dishes%u2014one of these home-baked meals comes for a mere $3.50. A ham and cheddar cheese quiche, light and crusty, goes for $6.50. Mom%u2019s Traveling Kitchen caters as well, with Hammer promising to work out a price that will beat just%u201cCooking fo rsom eon e iscreatingfor them. %u201dabout any established franchise%u2019s.Not surprisingly, it%u2019s been a pretty rough, though fulfilling, road for Hammer thus far. She works frantically in her kitchen, or is busy making deliveries, seven days a week for the bulk of each day.%u201c Business has been going exceptionally well,%u201d she smiled. Ham m er recently took a break from her cooking. Relaxing on her living room couch, clad in a long peasant-style dress and surrounded by her oil paintings, Hammer chatted about her life and about her Brooklyn Heights neighborhood.In addition to her paintings, Ruth is a practicer and lover of %u201cjustabout all the arts.%u201d She enjoys frequenting galleries, ballet and opera and feels that she lives in a great place to do just that. %u201c The people here are really great,%u201d she mused. %u201c I mean they%u2019ve received my business quite well and have been very co-operative when it%u2019s been needed. I just love the people here and their attitudes.%u201d Then, becoming quite serious, %u201c You know, I really don%u2019t think that I could carry on this type of operation with anyone but this type of people.%u2019%u2019 Most of %u201c these people%u201d have been delighted with the concoctions from Hammer%u2019s kitchen, and the orders are usually as much as Ruth can keep up with. In fact, this one-woman business is usually %u201copen%u201d into the wee hours of the morning, whipping up dishes for tomorrow%u2019s customers.But, as Ruth says, \of love. I just can%u2019t imagine myself doing anything else. Cooking is a very important part of my life. I wouldn%u2019t cook anything if I didn%u2019t think it was good.%u201d (With most customers, it%u2019s a unanimous agreement that hers is the best quiche they%u2019ve eaten.) %u201c For me cooking for someone is creating for them,%u201d Hammer continued. %u201c And when you create something for someone%u2014well, it%u2019s sort of anAnri ItovSn n fViicexperience, in the way that I am, with these people%u2014it%u2019s really just great.%u201dYou can get in touch with Hammer at Mom%u2019s Traveling Kitchen by calling 855-0324, all day, seven days a week.Page 22, THE PHOENIX, July 20,1978