NEW JERSEY - Pie #30 of 50 - Alex & Sean Flannery
State Fruit: Northern High Bush Blueberry
I am a frequent visitor of this great state!
In New Jersey, I hiked 20 miles of the AT with Jeffrey & Cliff over one 4th of July weekend. I visited Dave when he was doing caricatures on the boardwalk one summer with Mallory where we drank many cocktails, got henna tattoos and saw where Snooki got punched that one time.
I’ve spent lovely days with Jill at her Lake house on Lake Hopatcong where she fed me my first ever meatloaf & my first ever Jersey breakfast sandwich.
The Garden state is home to the most diners in one state in the world. (One of my most favorite things about America is diners).
NJ has gifted me things I love like Bruce Springsteen, The Gaslight Anthem, Frank Sinatra & the setting for arguably one of the best HBO shows ever The Sopranos.
The pie is a “Jersey Breakfast Sandwich” pie. A poppy seed crust with a divide down the middle. 1 side case’s pork roll & the other Taylor Ham. Both sides baked with melted American cheese, topped with fried eggs and served with salt pepper ketchup.
Pork roll was created by John Taylor of Trenton. He has named it Taylor Ham but due to some changes in regulations in the 1900’s he began calling it pork roll. I know better than to get in the middle of the debate on if it’s called Taylor Ham or pork roll so I kept em separate from each other like the divided state.
This pie is for Alex & Sean Flannery.
I went to college with Alex in Savannah.
Alex & I used to sit on the front porch of his house in Savannah, smoke many cigarettes, drink many beers, crank the tunes & shoot the shit.
I met Sean when he came down to visit Savannah fir St Patrick’s Day. We partied hard & watched many hours of Cash Cab where we got 85% of the questions right.
NJ is also dedicated too Jill, Lynsey, Kyle, Liz, Katie and Amy. The garden state sure has grown some of my most beautiful blooms of friends.
Also Bruce Springsteen for 1 of my top 10 favorite songs (Dancing in the dark).
Liberty & Prosperity for all.