I recently visited my brother and his wife who are living in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. The first thing I learned was locals referred to outsiders like me as a Benny, whereas they identify as Shoobis. Other education included an introduction to their subtle differentiation between food products like Taylor Ham.  Locals (or Shoobis) call it  Pork Roll.  Why’s it matter? Who knows but it was kind of interesting.

More interesting to me was visiting the local ShopRite Supermarket which had an amazing assortment of world class oysters. Fresh local shoobi oysters. Mmmmmm. Besides the shellfish, I enjoyed my brothers’ glorious Boeuf Bourginon.  And we totally enjoyed a breakfast of Pork Roll, eggs and cheese, which reminded me a bit of Spam (from my Army days) but nevertheless hit good spots. Alright all you Bennys, now you can go forth and visit your Shoobi relatives. Happy New Years.