Sunday, November 22, 2009

Costco in Harlem!

Here it is, finally, now that Uptown Mom's kids are (fingers crossed) nearly out of diapers. Still very happy to have it. Apparently (relying on reports from the husband -- I was not available to make the trip), parking is about $4.75-ish after tax -- still acceptable when one considers the cost of gas to get to any location coupled with the fact that my time is not valueless (and the opportunities for traffic are way fewer when one doesn't have to leave Harlem, let alone Manhattan!).

Disappointed to report, however, that the bakery at the Manhattan Costco is (rather surprisingly) not kosher. Of course they still sell plenty of kosher bread products made elsewhere, but Uptown Mom is bummed not to be able to stock her freezer with 12-packs of croissants unless she happens to find herself in the New Rochelle, Brooklyn or Hackensack stores.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Voting in small town Harlem

I like the fact that when I go to vote in Harlem, one of the pollworkers asks after my family. Apparently she knows us by sight and by name, even though we don't actually know one another personally, because she used to do the USPS route that delivered packages to our address. In any event, my husband and I took turns voting tonight, and she noticed that neither of us had brought the kids.

(Yes, I know it can be a civics lesson for them, and sometimes we do bring them, but this is the THIRD time we've voted this fall -- tonight we had other things we had to get done with the kids before they went to sleep.)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Kosher cupcakes in Harlem, revisited

I am late with my report back about the cupcakes because the party for which I had ordered them had to be postponed a week due to illness.

So now I can tell you: Tonnie's cupcakes are absolutely lovely. They were giving out samples when I arrived so I got to try a chocolate one, although I didn't succeed in getting a chocolate from the party assortment (a guest got there first). Based on what I saw with the samples and with my baker's dozen, it appears that they don't put the frosting on until the moment of sale. They were absolutely delicious. Uptown Mom is a happy camper.

I also inquired about the kashrut while I was there. The man behind the counter, who seemed to be either the owner or manager, seemed quite knowledgeable about the status. Although the letter evidencing the hashgacha is not yet there, it seems that he is aware of the steps he needs to take to get it, and just hasn't gotten around to it because they've only been open a few weeks. Since the other location is already supervised and he readily recited to me (correctly) the website where I can find information about the supervision of that location (Kosher-NY), I think he knows his stuff and we'll see the letter soon. Will report back when I actually see it (let me know if you see it first!).