Page 50 - WhyAsInY

Why (as in yaverbaum)
hotel in the Catskill Mountains, I ran out of the vast dining room and, when finally found, refused to return until I had been assured that the sour cream would be removed from sight.
Beets and sour cream were blended in the Osterizer, a blender the only proper use of which seemed to me to be the making of chocolate malteds. Of course, there were also numerous hamburgers and a good deal of take-home food: pizza, Chinese food (which was never referred to simply as “Chinese” or, worse, “Chinks,” which was the habit of other, less refined, people in the community), and, on very special occasions, clam chowder, shrimp cocktail, steamed clams, lobster, biscuits, and blueberry pie served with vanilla ice cream.
All of the food itemized in the foregoing sentence, starting with clam chowder, would be available as the “Shore Dinner,” which was served at Lundy’s, a restaurant having at least 2,400 seats, which was located on the southwest corner of Ocean and Emmons Avenues, across the street from Sheepshead Bay. When I graduated from Midwood High School in 1961, I celebrated by taking my girlfriend, Lesley, to Lundy’s for Shore Dinners. That wasn’t too hard for me. At that time, a complete Shore Dinner cost an incredible $4.75! Lundy’s was actually called “F.W.I.L. Lundy Brothers.” It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned that “F.W.I.L.” does not stand for Freddy, Willy, Izzy, and Louie, as my father had jokingly made me believe. (He was actually half-right, but Freddy was Frederick, Willy was William, the I was for Irving, and the L was for Lundy.)
When I was pretty young, Chinese food, eaten in or out, would be limited to wonton soup, egg rolls, perhaps spare ribs, and chicken chow mein. It would also be limited to Saturday or Sunday night, because my mother was convinced that the food was prepared on the weekend and held until sold. Accordingly, Friday night was to be avoided. When my parents finally decided to try something more exotic than chow mein at Joy Fong, shrimp and lobster sauce was attempted at the new New China Inn and soon became a staple.
One other staple, purchased after a visit to Aunt Rose, was a potato knish that seemed to weigh about a pound; it would be purchased at
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