Okay, so my mom (who's from Brooklyn) has her 79th birthday coming up, and for the longest time I wanted to give her a gift basket of old/classic Brooklyn flavors...

I want to start off with egg cream ingredients (Fox's U-Bet, of course) and some black-and-whites, some REAL Bialys, etc... but WTF is up with online prices these days?? $40-$60 for 12 cookies? $3/bottle for U-Bet -- fine! But I added 4 different bottles to my cart for $12, but then $11 to ship them?? WTF is that about?

I'm not a cheapskate, but I don't like getting ripped off, either. I think it'd be cheaper to drive to Brooklyn myself.

Anyway, any suggestions?

U-Bet is sold in lots of supermarkets, and not just in Brooklyn. You should also be able to find it in any soda distributorship. A nice touch would be adding an old seltzer bottle (if you can find one).

I was looking into the soda bottle, but wasn't sure if it would be worth the effort (taste-wise) versus normal seltzer?

My biggest wonder was the black-and-whites... WTF is up with that?? lol If I drove to Brooklyn, how much would a dozen cost? Certainly not $40+, right!

I Don't Know if this will help, or be any cheaper but

Brooklyn Egg Cream Kit

there is also some more stuff related to them on the site

I hope I helped

I linked to that "ridiculously expensive" site already

The seltzer in those old bottles would NOT taste appreciably different from that sold in a standard soda bottle.

The black and whites are sold in any decent bakery in the area (and they wouldn't cost $3.50 each).

I might have to take a road trip in the next couple weeks then...

When is your mom's birthday??

Will she be in Jersey or are you going to your brother's house? (You may wanna consider getting her some Nathan's hot dogs... there's one in the Ocean County mall, or if she's gonna be at your brother's you can get a package of the franks in any supermarket).

How about some old Dodgers stuff? Maybe photos or shirts?

Believe it or not, my local ShopRite makes really, really good black and white cookies. And they're not very expensive at all. Want me to buy you some and overnight them?

And what are the famous cheesecakes from Brooklyn?

Geoff -

When you speak to your mom, ask her exactly where she grew up (the block or the address). I wanna try something.

SB's idea about Junior's cheesecake (you can buy it online) is another good idea.

Please excuse my ignorance but what is a black and white?

I'm not from NY, so I can't give you the details, but it is a large, spongey cookie with vanailla icing on half and dark chocolate on the other.

Oh man, now I want some.

They are really, really good. I had no idea they were a NY thing, though.

Why can't I live in a place where I can enjoy all this different kind of food that i've never had and never heard of?

Thanks, guys!

SC, they're up here in NJ for the summer, her birthday is the 25th. We had Nathans a week ago with chili. I thought Hebrew National was my favorite, but not any more. I'll try to remember to ask where exactly she lived. SB, I'll check Shop-Rite, there's a really good one close by, thanks! As for Junior's cheesecake, I sent one for Valentine's Day. I do most every year, but have yet to be in Florida to try it myself so maybe I'll get another one! lol

It's my favorite cheesecake.

I've never been a fan of the black-and-whites, but your mom would know about Chinese restaurant cookies. Back in the day in Brooklyn, you could get these after dinner (no, not fortune cookies). They are about 5" across and have a dollop of chocolate about the size of a silver dollar in the middle.

I see that some local bakeries still make them and I'll buy a few when I come across them. Ask your mom about these. I bet she remembers them.

We get them where I live, but I've always associated them with NYC. I don't know how popular they are.

In Lancaster whoopie pies (Two small discs of a spongey chocolate cake with whipped cream between them) are popular and I've heard some of the locals refer to them as a black and white. I'm not a huge fan of the whoopie pies.

Those Chinese restaurant cookies sound great, but I'm not sure that I've ever seen them. My favorite bakety cookie is the linzer (powdered jelly cookie). i haven't had one in a long time. They can get a bit messy.

We call them Linzer tarts here.

Who are you calling a tart??

Not you, cookie.

Should have known that you would outdo me.

I just want to see what he comes up with here....

Geoff,

Entenmann's sells Black and White Cookies.




You should be able to get them in New Jersey.

You can also buy them at KOSHERBYTE.COM where they are three for $5.95

And Ruby Tuesday sells "steaks" (Okay, Entenmann's is actually pretty good - just aiming for total authenticity )

But thanks, my friend, for KosherByte.com -- that could come in handy!

Damn, I got a week...

Did you ask your mom what street she lived on??

Sorry, no... forgot. Will try to remember tomorrow...

You forgot! For Mama? you forgot! That's an infamia!

Mama! Mama Mia! Imagine if she forgot to do something for you! Madone a mia!

She forgot my birthday once and still feels guilty about it after like 25 years... Of course NOW it'd be no big deal since I'm trying to forget them myself!