Now You're Cooking! - Where have all the stores gone?

Where have all the stores gone?

By Jane Weston Wilson

“It’s nice to have small convenient stores you don’t get lost in,” a repeat customer of Columbus Natural Food on 95th St. and Columbus Ave. told a reporter for the May 6 edition of The West Side Spirit. Anne Cotovaz, owner of the store for 17 years, is organizing support to save four businesses that may be victims of the landlord's expansion plan.

Those of us who live in this neighborhood know this particular area well. When the four blocks between 96th and 100th Streets were torn down to make room for box stores of mall proportions, store owners and their employees lost their livelihood. We in turn lost their diversity and convenience and friendliness.

We are being asked to save small businesses between 95th and 96th Streets by simply signing a petition of protest to Board 7’s land use committee. It’s worth the small effort. As we well know, owner run businesses know the names of their customers, what there needs are and how to fill them, I say to anyone who will listen. “You can’t have community if your only concern is to save a few dollars. They are mutually exclusive."

As a Westsider for 45 years, and for 18 years, 1969 to 1985, I was founder and co-owner of a food business called The Party Box on 86th St. and Columbus Ave. Rents were reasonable, and every kind of business could, and did, flourish.

Then Mayor “how am I doing" Koch removed all commercial rent control restrictions and ever since then all neighborhood small businesses everywhere in the city face an alarming escalation of rents. We can and do take part in sustaining the humanity of our neighborhoods every time we speak out, stand up and take action.

We have always been activists on the Upper West Side especially those of us who have lived here a long time and Aging In Action UWS, the new name for our blog, says it all.

Following are two favorite recipes from my Party Box files to start you thinking about a Memorial Day picnic. Enjoy Beet and Cucumber Soup and Fusilli Salad.

As we become more and more aware of being mindful of what we eat, how we eat, and how we use more biodegradable products, the Environmental Picnic which I wrote about in an earlier column, is where we can start making plans for the upcoming picnic season. Choose colorful cotton throws, woven mats, cotton napkins, wood, glass and pottery containers to cut back on plastic, wooden forks and spoons or chopsticks and edible containers as food holders, melons to hold soups, cabbage leaves or radicchio leaves to hold salad servings.

Beet and Cucumber Soup

Serves 6

 

Ingredients:

4 medium size beets, peeled and shredded

4 medium size cucumbers, peeled and seeded
4 cups plain yogurt
1/2 tsp sugar
4 Tab fresh-snipped dill
3 melons halved

Procedure:

1.  In a blender or in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process in two batches, pulse on and off until pureed but still with small pieces of beets and cucumbers visible.
2. Pour into a large glass bowl and refrigerate until ready to pack. Serve in halved melons.

Fusilli Salad

Serves 6

 

Here’s a salad you can put together quickly often right from your pantry, ideal for a last minute picnic.

 

Ingredients:

6 oz cooked green or white fusilli, cooked according to directions on package

7 oz jar roasted red peppers, drained thoroughly, rinsed and cut in 1 inch strips

6 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts drained thoroughly, rinsed and cut in half

6 oz can pitted black olives drained, thoroughly rinsed

Cabbage or Radicchio leaves

 

Dressing:
3 Tab olive or corn oil
1 Tab rice vinegar
Juice of one lime
1 Tab freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tab fresh or 1 tsp dried oregano

Procedure:
1. In a large glass bowl, gently mix pasta with the vegetables and olives.
2. Combine dressing with salad, and refrigerate until ready to pack.
3. Serve in cabbage or Radicchio leaves.