Category Archives: Festivals

Simple Pleasures

08 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by in Christmas, Epicurean, Festivals, Holidays, New Jersey, Travel, Weekend

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Woefully behind in posting, I thought I’d do a write up on the various winter carnivals taking place throughout the NE. Disappointingly, however, my list was becoming more and more lame with each search. I’ve previously written about maple sugaring festivals; perhaps I should have updated that post for tonight.

My Not So Simple Salad

It’s been difficult getting back into the swing of things after the holidays, but I’m reveling in simple pleasures, one being my lunchtime salad. Definitely not a simple salad as that walnut commercial boasts about, but rather one that includes everything and the kitchen sink. Definitely refreshing, and needed, after the over-indulging of the holidays.

#Delicious

We celebrated little Christmas this past Sunday. Usually we host a brunch, but this year opted to go out to eat. The place we went, The Twisted Elm in Elmwood Park, NJ has a cozy atmosphere that includes a fire place — a definite bonus — and a menu that’s a combination of quasi-fancy fare and comfort food (literally, there’s a section on the menu entitled ‘Comfort Food’). Well, the Twisted Elm has a fantastic cheese board and its accompaniments — from fig preserves to relished cranberry to mapled walnuts — are simply scrumptious.

I’m restarting my Sunday epicurean sojourns this weekend. These are culinary pursuits I embark upon for our afternoon dinner (sometimes it’s evening, depending on the meal’s intricacy level). There’s little method behind my madness with these meals; sometimes I pick a country and do a traditional feast from the locale while other times I embark upon the season and create a meal based off the holiday du jour. Ultimately, there’s no formula that I follow.

This Sunday, I’m making a Shakshuka. I first had the dish in Montreal and assumed it was Canadian, it was so warming considering the chill in the air that weekend. Little did I know the dish hails from North Africa and the Mid-East. I’m excited, it’s made me dig out my Mediterranean Hot cookbook and has given a reason for me to create a spicy repast for the weekend. Details to follow; I’m assuming I’ll make it out of the kitchen unscathed and we’ll wind down the weekend with bellies’ full of this wonderful…err, soup, sauce, dish?

Thanks for stopping by. I wish you all safe travels, smooth sailings and, of course, bon appetite.

Lights Out!

18 Tuesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Connecticut, Festivals, Friday Night, Holidays, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New England, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Travel, Vermont

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I’ve been to Lights in the Parkway in Allentown, PA and the Christmas Light Show and Village at Skylands Stadium in Augusta, NJ. Both were pretty fantastic (albeit, I enjoyed the Allentown lights better as you literally drove through a park). I almost went to Bright Nights Springfield (MA) over Thanksgiving, but, unfortunately, time was not on our side.

Waiting to be Lit Up in Hershey, PA

With the days winding down, I am hoping that you’re able to take some time to enjoy the season. And, if that happens to be in the evening consider taking a road trip to your local “light shows.” The roster of displays I’m most familiar with is limited, so I did some legwork and gathered some favorite picks up and down the east coast as culled by people more intimately knowledgeable on the subject than myself:

Eastern PA – The folks over at The Patch identify their Top 5 light displays in the easterly part of the state. While Mommy Poppins (I love Mommy Poppins; even if you don’t have kids, she does a fabulous job curating what’s going on — for young and old alike — in the NJ area and often includes neighboring states!) details out more than 15 shows in the greater Philly area, including the burbs

Hudson Valley, NY – Our friends at Hudson Valley Magazine have gathered 12 light shows ranging from a tree lighting in Nyack to a show in Newburgh that has dancing arches.

Maryland – Chesapeake Family lists out tree lighting ceremonies and on-going displays throughout the month. Most of the ceremonies have taken place, but the static displays are still going on.

New England – Yankee Magazine details out some of the best light shows in New England. For state-specific shows, visit: Kicks 1055 for CT (good ol’ Mommy Poppins also has a list); our friends at Visit Maine present 20 sites throughout the state; in NH, the writers at NH Magazine give their selections for the best; the folks at The Globe have chosen 10 displays from MA, including Bright Nights; and WPRI Channel 12 in RI serves up their choices for the best shows in the state. I’ve left Vermont off as that turned into an expedition of hunting and pecking and, like the writers at Yankee Magazine, I’m left scratching my head.

New York – Of course the City is all all aglow this time of year (more so than usual) and has some fantastic displays as described in Time Out NY (again, Ms. Poppins also has a listing for NYC). For those North of the city, New York Upstate details list out some offerings.

This list is by no means exhaustive, just some thought starters for those of you looking to fill time between now and the new year. If you can’t find what you’re looking for or are traveling outside the Northeast, Travel + Leisure has a list of Christmas light shows in every state.

It’s time for to start thinking about turning out the lights here at Casa Rivera; and, with that, I’m wishing you all safe travels, smooth sailings and, of course, bon appetite.

Cookies, Cookies; Cookie Monster!

05 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Cookies, Epicurean, Festivals, Holidays, New York, Recipes, Travel, Weekend

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As I was saying, there really is a day for everything; apparently, for cookies, it’s an entire week.  Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest are laden with posts about #NationalCookieWeek and the hundred upon hundreds of recipes are mind boggling. 

The Fruit of My Labor

While technically I’m probably done baking, I have this nagging feeling I didn’t make enough cookies. This is a feeling I’m well used to as it occurs most every year.  Last year, that was an unnervingly accurate feeling.  Recovering from an operation, my heart wasn’t really into the whole Christmas season and I thought I could get away making the bear minimum amount of cookies needed.  Big mistake as that was never really enough. Inevitably, every few days, I found myself making more and more cookies.  I wasn’t a happy camper. 

In an effort to alleviate that nagging feeling, this evening I made what should be the last batch of cookies this year — gingersnaps.  Out of the oven, they’re OK; give them a few days and #todiefor! 

Gingersnaps; Not Monster Cookies

In honor of #NationalCookieWeek, I’m sharing that one staple recipe that receives rave reviews and makes quite literally, hundreds of cookies.  I made a 1/2 batch over the weekend and ended up with north of 250 cookies.  I was convinced this was a secret family recipe handed down for at least one generation and something that only us Stifter’s knew about; then I got on Pinterest. Apparently, it’s most everyone’s secret family recipe, sigh.  With that, I give you the coveted Monster Cookie recipe:

  • 12 Eggs 
  • 2 Pounds Brown Sugar 
  • 4 Cups Granulated Sugar 
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla 
  • 8 Teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 Pound Margarine (I always use butter and I melt it) 
  • 3 Pounds Peanut Butter (I get the super chunky) 
  • 18 Cups Oatmeal (It doesn’t indicate quick or regular — I use quick)
  • 1 Pound Chocolate Chips 
  • 1 Pound M&Ms (if I use peanut M&Ms then I won’t use the super Chunky peanut butter)
  • 1 Tablespoon Corn Syrup 

Mix the ingredients in order given. Drop by Tablespoon onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 – 12 minutes.  This makes a large, chewy cookie. If you start lifting weights in September, mixing this in December won’t be so painful…oy. 

 I’m looking forward to the weekend; I’m trying to squeeze in a trip to Sugar Loaf, NY for the town’s annual holiday celebration on Saturday.  Saturday night we’re entertaining friends and on Sunday we’ll be attending a Christmas concert #Fun. 

On that #Yummy note, I wish everyone safe travels, smooth sailings and, of course, bon appetite. 

 

Christkindlmarkt

03 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Connecticut, Epicurean, Festivals, Holidays, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Travel, Washington DC, Weekend

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nutcrackerWe made it!  In my book, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.  As I was updating my ‘What to Do’ list, I decided to expand my roster of German Christmas Markets.  Last year, Tony and I visited the Lake Mohawk market in Sparta, NJ and prior to that, we strolled the streets of downtown historic Bethlehem, PA.  And, while there’s a proper market somewhere in Bethlehem (noted below), with a proper admission fee, we only made our through downtown and its smattering of outdoor stalls.

In searching for the ultimate list of German Markets in the Nor’east, I relied heavily on two sites:  Germanfoods.org and GermangirlinAmerica.com; both worth checking out.  They, along with some serious google searching, enabled me to create this fantastic, non-exhaustive list of Christkindlmarkts in the Nor’east:

November 9 – 11

Canandaigua Christkindl Market, Canandaigua, NY – Set in Western New York’s Finger Lakes region, this festival features traditional German food and “Gideon’s Grog” along with local food and wine. Held outside the Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum, each year a Christkindl Angel reigns over the event. For the little ones, there’s an Elf School where kids can create holiday ornaments, make their own reindeer food, and fashion a paper lantern to use in the town’s Lantern Parade.

November 10     

Bavarian Club Edelweiss Westchester Christkindlmarkt, Valhalla, NY – Featuring more than 20 vendors the Club’s Christkindlmarkt offers up fabulous German foods, imported candies, handmade crafts and wonderfully delicious German cookies, breads, and stolen. And, of course, a visit from St Nikolaus and live music rounds out the festivities.

November 16, 2018

Deutscher Club, Clark NJ – Known to be an “Oasis for German-Americans in New Jersey” this appears to be a quasi-exclusive club.  Periodically, throughout the year, the Club plays hosts to a variety of events which are open to the public, their Christkindlmarkt being one such event.  While I don’t know much about the market itself, knowing Germans and knowing people from New Jersey, I’m placing my bets and saying this is probably one of the more authentic and festive markets in the region.

November 16 – December 23 (weekends)

Christkindlmarkt, Bethlehem, PA – Located in the heart of the Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem is a dynamic city filled with world-class events and festivals, a rich history, and some of the best Christmas celebrations in the world.  Bethlehem’s Christkindlmarket features live holiday music, great food, children’s rides and St. Nicholas.  The market begins on Friday, November 16th and runs weekends until December 23rd.

November 22 – December 24

Christmas Village Philadelphia and Christmas Village Baltimore – Running daily from Thanksgiving through Christmas, with a preview weekend on November 17th and 18th, Christmas Village in Philadelphia and Baltimore brings the charm of an authentic German Christmas market to each city.  Fashioned after a traditional German Christmas Market, there are more than 80 wooden booths with vendors selling European foods, sweets, drinks, arts and crafts and a ‘rich variety of holiday gifts.’ In Baltimore, the market commences on Saturday, November 24th and, in Philadelphia, on Sunday November 25th by the Nuremberg Christkind.  Coming across the pond for these two stops only, the Nuremberg Christkind recites a traditional prologue to open each Market.

November 23 – December 23

Downtown DC Holiday Market – Depending on which site you read, this may, or may not be fashioned after a German Christmas Market.  Germanfoods.org will be on hand with hard-to-find, authentic German Christmas confectioneries, baking ingredients, gift baskets, hand-made pretzels, stollen, glueh-cider and more. Located on the F Street sidewalk in front of the Smithsonian American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery between 7th & 9th Streets, NW, the Market is open from Noon – 8 pm and features approximately 200 regional artisans, crafters and boutique businesses.

December 1

Weihnachts Markt, Potomac, MD – Celebrating its 50th year, the Friends of the German International School’s, the nation’s largest German School, annual Christmas bazaar offers homemade authentic Christmas cookies and cakes, German and Swiss style sausages and meat products, handmade Christmas decorations, original wood carvings from the Erzgebirge region of Saxony, Christmas Carols sung by the German International School Choir, and a host of activities for the little ones.

December 1 & 2

The Lake Mohawk Weihnachtsmarkt, Sparta, NJ – Ranked “One of the Top Ten Things to Do in December in the State” – Lake Mohawk’s magical German Christmas Market beckons all with beautifully crafted and unique gifts from vendors near and afar. The authentic wooden huts attract approximately 20,000 visitors to the area each year the Market is now recognized as the largest Annual Christmas Market in the State.  “Tantalizing smells dance among the vendors set along the picturesque lakefront, as traditional items from sizzling German sausages, sumptuous soups, goulash and sauerbraten to hand warming hot chocolate, apple struedel, linzer tarts, and gingerbread men and warmed mulled spice wine (gluhwein) are prepared among the festive chorus’ of local school choirs and entertainers.”

December 13 – 15  

Mifflinburg Christkindl Market, Mifflinburg, PA – What started, back in 1987, as one man’s dream (and his wife), has grown into a market that claims to be the oldest, outdoor Christmas market in the US. It’s also lauded as being more authentic than most German Christmas markets. The Market features more than 100 vendors and the local air is filled, for the weekend, with the aroma of Bratwurst, Apfelstrudel, Hungarian goulash, and Glühwein (hot mulled wine).

Possible, yet to be determined markets, held in the last week of November/early December:

Some Markets, supposedly long-standing traditions, have yet to announce their 2018 dates.  Below are some of the more popular Markets that may/may not be happening this year:

Christkindlmarkt at Zion Church, Baltimore, MD – Feast on authentic German foods, stock your pockets with imported holiday goodies including Stollen, Lebkuchen, Advent calendars and Glühwein, and buy your loved one’s unique crafts including handmade snowflakes, Santas and elves, floral arrangements, along with real Erzgebirge figurines, smokers and steins. Note, their website is woefully out of date, but they do post frequent updates to their Facebook page.

Hartford Saengerbund in Newington, CT holds its traditional Christkindlmarkt showcasing handmade crafts and works of art by the finest artisans, the heart-warming sounds and sights of live Christmas music and pageantry, delicious German food specialties.

Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten, Asbury Park, NJ – Not sure if this is a weekly or weekend only thing.  Last year, the Christkindmarkt began the last weekend of November.  Festhalle & Biergarten is ‘an authentic biergarten experience’ welcoming guests and inviting them to ‘join in the centuries-old European tradition – communal tables where friends and soon-to-be-new-friends mingle in a lively, friendly atmosphere energized by a regular schedule of live & local music.’  It sounds fun and I had it on last year’s ‘Things To Do’ list.  Check it out if you’re in the area. And, if the market isn’t in the cards, check out the ‘Women Who Whiskey’ event on November 15th…that might just be more up my alley.

As I continue planning and plotting and giddily look upon the holiday season, I wish you and your loved one’s happy trails and bon appetite…

For a Stinking Good Time

22 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Connecticut, Festivals, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Travel, Vermont, Weekend

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As I reflect upon last weekend’s jaunt to the rolling hills of the Battenkill Valley region of upstate New York, I can’t help but smile at the number of farmers’ markets and road side stalls, with trust boxes, selling everything from zucchinis and tomatoes to bulbs of pungently aromatic garlic. And while some find the end of summer to be bittersweet, I look forward to the warm afternoons and crisp evenings of fall. But,

Purchased at the Cambridge, NY Farmers’ Market

before the apple and harvest festivals kick in, the lag time between mid/end of summer and early October is garlic festival season and here in the northeast there are plenty to choose from. The Garlic Seed Foundation has a complete list; however, for those traversing the countryside of the northeast, a condensed list follows:

September 1 – 2
The Pocono Garlic & Harvest Festival (Shawnee, PA) – celebrating its 24th year, Shawnee Mountain Inn hosts food and craft vendors that offer everything from garlic vinegar and garlic ice cream to garlic-themed pottery and paintings.

The Garlic & Herb Festival (Bennington, VT) – Celebrating it’s 23rd year, this festival has been featured in Yankee Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and Reuters. Garlic lovers flock to this picturesque town to sample garlic and herb inspired food and crafts from hundreds of vendors.

September 15 – 16
Long Island Garlic Festival (Riverhead, NY) – Long Island’s only garlic festival, featuring the wonders of ‘Garliciana’ with vendors showcasing a wide variety of garlic inspired foods, crafts and music. The festival will feature a garlic eating contest as well as a Junior Iron Chef competition for the kids.

The Garlic Festival at Olde Mistick Village (Mystic, CT) – In its 11th year, this award-winning festival will showcase all things garlic with local restaurants, merchants, artisans, authors and artists as well as village merchants who will offer garlic-related activities and products at their stores. Note, this is one of the few festivals that is free.

September 22
Susquehanna Valley Garlic Festival (Milford, NY) – With garlic varieties from around the world, all grown locally, the Susquehanna Garlic Festival features braiding demonstrations, growing tips and other educational sessions, and live entertainment for young and old alike.

September 29 – 30
Hudson Valley Garlic Festival (Saugerties, NY) – A local tradition, this festival hosts tens of thousands of visitors each year.  The event is a “fun celebration of the harvest of what garlic aficionados lovingly refer to as the ‘stinking rose’.”

The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival (Orange, MA) – “The Festival that Stinks” is celebrating 20 years of ‘Peace, love and garlic’ and is held on a beautiful historic farm amidst the rolling Massachusetts countryside.

October 6 – 7
Easton Garlic Fest (Easton, PA) – Festivities include the Gastric Garlic People’s Choice Contest, Dangerous Dessert Contest, Farm to Table Iron Chef Cook-Off, over the top 3 Mayors Cook-Off and the exciting First Responders Cook-Off.

Connecticut Garlic & Harvest Festival (Bethlehem, CT) – In its 14th year, the Connecticut Garlic & Harvest Festival will showcase cooking demonstrations and lectures, and will have a variety of garlic and fall provisions available for purchase.

Our friends at the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival include a fantastic listing of the varieties of garlic on their webite as well as what to look for when shopping for garlic, check it out.

The festivals listed above feature educational lectures and demonstrations, vendors selling garlic and a selection of arts, crafts and games for the little ones. Most have an admission fee that, in the grand scheme of fees, appear to be reasonable.

So, with the summertime waning, I encourage you to hit the road and check out a not-so-typical festival for those who love the stink, and the taste, of garlic!