Phoodographs and Finds: Ham stars at Morscher's & Scones, Etc. at Rudy's Bakery & Cafe in Ridgewood, N.Y.

Ham is the star at Morscher's

Herbie & Larry

Larry Perusing The Weiners

Our friends, Kathleen & Larry were serving...among the many other wonderful food dishes they always serve from a diverse range of sources...a spiral cut ham for Christmas time holiday dinner. Larry had invited me a few days earlier to take a ride to Ridgewood, Queens, New York to the famous Morscher's Pork Store to pick up THE ham.

Since I had never had a spiral ham...and had heard many wonderful things about them over the years, I was quite excited about the prospect of seeing Morscher's Pork Store...famous for their big fat juicy hams.

I was also hoping I/we could taste some of the meats they made.

Not only were we able to taste many different kinds of wiener shaped tidbits and bacon, Herbie also gave us a quick tour of the smoking rooms and we saw how the hams were packaged.

Funny thing...I never got to taste the ham until the evening it was served. Kathleen made an Apricot sauce and no joke, I was in ham heaven. I must have eaten half a pound is less than ten minutes.

Ahhhh, free ham! Never mind.

To be honest, this was not the kind of store I frequented while growing up. Many of the meat products here are smoked big time and my feeling is you would have to have grown up surrounded by these types of foods in order to appreciate the huge selection they offer. The closest I got to smoked anything in my neighborhood while growing up in Great Neck, L.I.was in the fish department at Tabatchnik's or Andel's in Roslyn.

I'm not sure if it was because Larry and I had tasted some very nice Black Forest bacon, but Larry had decided he wanted to eat breakfast. One of Morscher's customers suggested we go up the street a couple of blocks and around the corner to a small and nameless breakfast spot.

I wasn't sure why, but instead, we both wound up gravitating to the bakery next door to the restaurant. Now that I think about it, we were looking for something on the sweeter side after tasting all the smoked meats...and the bakery was perfect!

My thinking was coffee, bagels and cream cheese. Larry's thoughts were similar, and we were both intrigued by the selection of baked goods in the window. It was enough to pull us inside.

There were soooo many things that looked good, it was hard to make the choice. We tasted and/ or took home one of almost everything that 'caught our fancy'.

Among our choices were Oatmeal cookie marshmallow sandwiches, fig cookies, panna cotta, chocolate covered marzipan rolls, dried fruit scones, linzer tarts, crumb cake, apricot hamantashen and jelly doughnuts.

Christina & Toni were our hostesses with the mostesses during our tasting tour of coffee and baked goods at a little table in the new cafe' section. I loved the whole scene just like the little sign says..."Coffee, Cannoli & Conversation"

Trust me...if you ever have the opportunity to find your way to Rudy's Bakery...please ask for either of these ladies and tell them Larry & Bert sent you.

A little blurb on their website states:

"Welcome To Rudy's Bakery & Café. Come in and enjoy a nice espresso in our new Espresso Bar & Café! Be surrounded by good friends, great conversations and tasty pastries. Here we offer the freshest cakes, pastries and coffee this side of Queens has ever seen! Rudy's Bakery & Café offers free Wi-Fi throughout the entire Café.

Rudy's Bakery & Cafe is a bakery with both traditional and modern day sweets and treats. We've been in the neighborhood serving customers since 1934"!

While Larry was in control of most of his emotions, I was not. I was having fun commiserating with two foodies I had never met (I got Toni's meatball recipe). It got to a point where Toni almost pushed a jelly doughnut into my mouth...but resisted the urge.

If she knew me better, she would have known it would have been just fine.

$75.00 and an hour later, we left to go home with our goodies.

Bottom line...my favorites (not necessarily in order) are as follows:

1...Dried fruit scone

2...Dark chocolate covered marzipan roll

3...Oatmeal cookie marshmallow sandwich

4...Linzer tart

5...Jelly Doughnut

Although their products satisfied, these were a standout for me and I look forward to my return visit.

When...who knows?

But...I/we will be back.

Until then ladies...Have a Fabulous 2013!!!