NYC at home: Black and White Egg Cream

I'm not going to lie, New York City is probably my least favorite summer destinations.  I have been through too many sticky, muggy, hot and humid New York trips, pressed up against other wet and sticky bodies for one lifetime. 

But when I saw that Broadway HD was doing a free 7-day trial back in the beginning days of the quarantine, I thought it would be a great "pandemic adventure."  Everything we love about New York, without the humidity or the subway! 


I jumped on Goldbelly and ordered some of our favorite New York foods to keep the day authentic.  Like bagels.  Because no one makes bagels like they do in NYC.  Trust me, I've tried to find similar in other states AND other countries and there's no comparison.

After breakfast we headed out to create our own souvenirs.

One of our favorite things about New York is the museums, and Thatkid's favorite museum is the Museum of Natural History (the Nat is his favorite museum in San Diego also).  We did a virtual tour of the museum, visiting some of his favorite exhibits.

Thatkid's ideal New York trip would be to see every Broadway show there is - he'd do a matinee and evening performance each day if he could.   So we tried.

We started with Jekyll and Hyde.  One of my favorites, and which I saw with the Original Broadway Cast back when it first came out.

Then it was a quick trip to Nathan's for a hot dog with fries.  

Then a couple more virtual museum tours.

Our post-nap Broadway show was Kinky Boots.

And then we had dinner.  Know what New York food we were missing?  PIZZA!

My boys have been VERY into opera this pandemic.  Entirely due to The Met Opera's free streaming program and Met Opera Camp.    So when I saw that the nightly streaming opera was Cendrillon (or Cinderella) I thought it would be a great way to round out our day in New York.

And one last treat - black and white cookies!

I've tried to make my own black and white cookies and they just don't turn out the same.  Thatmom and I speculate that there's something about the New York water that just makes the chocolate taste better.

Instead, when I want a little shot of a New York black and white I go to a much easier recipe - the Black and White egg cream.  The egg cream is a New York staple - as much a part of their legacy as the bagel and the pizza.  It dates back to the Jews of Brooklyn to the late 1800s or early 1900s depending on which origin story you care to believe.  The original is just chocolate syrup (U-BET!), seltzer, and milk.  The black and white version also has a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Black and White Egg Cream

1/2 cup whole milk

4 Tbsp U-Bet chocolate syrup

seltzer

vanilla ice cream

1.  Divide milk between 2 glasses.
2. Place 2 Tbsp chocolate syrup into each glass and stir with a fork.
3. Continue vigorously stirring as you slowly pour in the seltzer until the glass is almost full.
4. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.