Category Archives: Holidays

Don’t Take My Word For It

11 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by in Holidays, Massachusetts, New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Thanksgiving, Travel, Uncategorized, Weekend

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Don’t take my word for it, but I’m pretty darn good at finding fun and unique things to do no matter where I am.  One of the first rule of thumbs is knowing who you’re catering to — is it just yourself, your family, a persnickety friend — and their interests.  From there, planning a 1/2 day, day or even week-long adventure becomes a relatively easy task.

Flight 93 MemorialI did this on a recent trip to Pennsylvania. We took an extended weekend — we usually do a get-away for our anniversary — to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, PA.  My interests were fulfilled; but what about my husband?  What would I do for him?  For him, with a bit of legwork, I found the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, our ‘hub’ for the weekend, and a fantastic hat shop, Killer Hats, in Lancaster County where he bought his first Stetson (yes, Tony is a hat guy).

Last night, as we were figuring out what to do today (he typically works on Sundays, so spending the day together is an oddity); I mentioned a craft fair from my Christmas ‘Things to Do’ list.  He didn’t completely puke all over the idea and begrudgingly committed to going.  That’s when the conversation got interesting.

“I usually find really good things for us to do,” I exclaimed at his lame-ass “OK.” He conceded, “Yes, actually you do; you do find great things to do.”  How do I do this?  How do I know that a Shakespeare in the Park performance at some random park in some small town in the middle of Maine is taking place?   Well, I’ll tell you:

  1.  I dissect where I’m going, who I’m going with, why I’m going and how long I will be somewhere.
  2. I head to the state, county/region, and city tourism sites — some little towns don’t have a proper tourism bureau and that’s OK.
  3. I check out the local chamber of commerce, specifically their events page .
  4. I peruse the Arts and Entertainment calendars of the local papers.

While this isn’t an exhaustive list of what I do, this is the foundation and it’s a solid foundation.  I actually did this for our Thanksgiving trip to Warren, MA.  Last year, we kind of just went there — my thought being ‘cabin in the woods, fire place, goats…this is going to be great.’  We had nothing to do anyway and I was recovering from an operation so sitting by a fire was just fine.  This year, however, is a different story and I’m anticipating at least one afternoon of antiquing, a meal or two at the Salem Cross Inn, and perhaps checking out Bright Nights at Forest Park in Springfield — all things I found using the simple steps noted above.

Tomorrow, I’ll be checking out the holiday boutique at Lambert Castle (Patterson, NJ), shopping and making my desserts — I must bake tomorrow; I must bake tomorrow; I must bake tomorrow…Oy.

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Random Musings…

10 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Cookies, Epicurean, Friday Night, Holidays, Italian, Very Best Baking

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Here I sit, in the kitchen, awaiting the arrival of my sister-in-law and niece, watching My Cousin Vinnie which is the perfect elixir as I do need to laugh. Prior to putting fingers to keyboard, I spent a good 3 hours cleaning out my 20-year-old email account as I’m switching ISPs.  A blast from the past, I tripped across a few tidbits worth sharing:

Zingerman'sZingerman’s: With the holiday’s coming up, we all need that trusty, go-to-source for food stuff; one of mine is Zingerman’s. A ‘community of businesses,’ Zingerman’s is a family of small, food-related companies located in the Ann Arbor, MI area.  Zingermans.com is ‘The Online Shop for Food Lovers’ featuring hearth baked breads, handmade cheeses, varietal coffee, estate bottled olive oils and customized presents. For me, the best part of visiting Zingermans.com are the cartoon pigs strategically placed throughout the site (I’m sure it’s some sort of ‘thing’).  At the bottom of each page is a flying pig with a quippy ‘Great food just flew to…’ and the city and state of the most recent shipment listed.  Absolutely brilliant, fun marketing.

Old Fashioned Pumpkin Cookies:  We don’t have kids, but that doesn’t mean I’ve escaped the ‘yeah, I need cookies for tomorrow’ plea.  Years ago, that very lament came my way at a time when I had limited supplies — sugar, a can of pumpkin, butter, and eggs. Muttering about the lack of ingredients, I googled pumpkin and found a recipe for Old Fashioned Pumpkin Cookies which are now a mainstay that I trot out throughout the fall and winter seasons (giving very little credit to Libby’s, of course).  Even if you’re unsure about a pumpkin cookie, you must try these; they are delicious and easy to make — what could be better?!?

Back to the emails.  A digital heavyweight is being lifted off my shoulders and it feels great.  Within the next month, my junk email will be virtually non-existent (until my new address gets sold). As I skim through the various mailboxes I created to see what I might want to keep, I’m finding all kinds of sites I may/may not want to revisit; in particular:

Very Best Baking: Apparently a Nestle website, it’s where I found the Pumpkin Cookie recipe.  Back in the day it was a ‘go to’ and extremely engaging site (of course the constant giveaways and contests didn’t hurt).  I’m not sure if Nestle owned the site then, but it was a fun, informative site you should consider checking out.  I’ll give a deeper report (more in depth than, ‘hey this used to be a cool site’) after I check it out.

TV Food Network:  Another site to revisit.  I love the station (OK, 1/2 the station, some programs drive me nuts; others, like the Baking Championship series I can’t get enough of).  I don’t visit the site frequently, I tend to default to my trusty cookbooks, however when I do need a recipe or am looking for something a bit different, that’s where I go.  If you haven’t visited, you should.

Avocados: A parting tip.  My husband loves his avocados (I could do without them), but they are a weird purchase — they either aren’t ripe or they are borderline ready to rot.  After a few shopping mishaps, I discovered what to do:  buy them by ripeness — a brown-skin soft sucker to be consumed immediately, light brown/green ‘cado to be eaten within the coming few days and the shiny, hard green avocados to be used a good week out.  Such a simple trick that brings satisfaction to those who eat them on a regular basis.

Before I part, I just have to squeal — OMG, Meg Ryan and John Mellencamp are engaged…what?!?

With that, enjoy the weekend. I’m wishing you happy trails and bon appetite — Now I need to go bake.

 

Caroling at the Cathedral

07 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Holidays, New Jersey, New York, Travel, Winter Solstice

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HandelsMessiah-TileMy Christmas ‘Things to Do’ list has been updated and I’m plotting.  One consistent woven throughout the next month and a half are the holiday concerts and community caroling events hosted by the churches and cathedrals sprinkled throughout the NJ/NY area.  While I’m sure most every church in most every town has a performance of sorts, I do have a ‘must go to’ list that I try to attend (try being the operative word; I’ve only caroled at the Basilica in Newark, which is a fantastic experience).  The events that made there way onto my ‘Things to Do’ list are below. It’s not an exhaustive list and is only focused on my local area; however I would love to hear about concerts in your area worth checking out.

Thursday, December 6th (8 pm): St Luke’s in the Field (Hudson Street, NYC) A Baroque Christmas in Rome

Saturday, December 8th (7 pm): St John the Divine (Amsterdam Ave @112th St NYC) Christmas Concert

Sunday, December 9th (2 pm): St. John the Baptist (Hillsdale, NJ) Fa La La Sing-a-long

Thursday, December 13th (5:30 pm): St. Thomas Church (NYC 53rd & 5th) A Ceremony of Carols

December 12th and 13th (8 pm): Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Newark, NJ) Christmas Singalong

December 15th (7:30 pm), 16th (2 pm), 23rd (2 pm), and 25th (2 and 5 pm), – St John the Divine Early Music New York:  Colonial Christmas

December 20th (7:30 pm), 21st (7:30 pm), and 22nd (2 pm and 7:30 pm),  – St. John the Divine Winter Solstice Concert (OK, not Christmas, but ’tis the season)

December 22nd (7:30 pm) and 23rd (3 pm) – Trinity Church Wall Street (Broadway at Wall St NYC) Community Carol Sing

Trinity Church does a yearly performance of Handel’s Messiah (as does St. Thomas and the Basilica in Newark) which I’ve always wanted to go to. The church presented one of the first performances of the work in North America in 1770 and, last year, the New York Times described Trinity’s performance as “perhaps the essential New York ‘Messiah.’” I’ve yet to go, however, did listen to it last year on WQXR, disappointingly arriving at the conclusion that I just don’t have the inner fortitude to sit through it (holy noise with one or two fabulous pieces spritzed throughout).

I’ll be baking for Thanksgiving over the weekend, making a pumpkin roll, #yummy, and apple pie, and ordering our food for the week in Massachusetts.  Yes, we vacillate between Amazon Fresh (a service I’m growing to love as it’s uber convenient) and the ‘old fashioned’ grocery store.

Until my next musings, I wish you and your loved one’s happy trails and bon appetite…

Acorns & Acorn Squash…

05 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by in Epicurean, Holidays, Recipes, Travel, Vegetables

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Here in the Rivera household, we’re all aflutter for Thanksgiving.  I’m not sure if it’s the time away, Tony’s cooking over an open fire, or spending the week in the Massachusetts’ countryside. While we don’t have a standard menu, my brother and his family usually come with the entire dinner in tow and its epicurean creativity is less than stimulating.  So, for the ‘traditional fare’ we’ll nibble on their reheated canned goods; however, we’ll also make a few more adventurous sides of our own which I curated from one of my more trusty cookbooks, Gatherings & Celebrations by Burt Wolf. Wolf picture

Recipient of the first James Beard Award ever given for Best Television Food Journalism, Wolf has made television programs and written, edited and published books among his many successful pursuits. He’s produced segments for CNN, ABC, The Discovery Channel, and for Public Broadcasting in the United States. And that, Public Broadcasting, is where Gatherings & Celebrations comes in.  First published in 1996, the book is a ‘companion to Burt’s first prime-time documentary television series’ and features 20 ‘occasions for celebrations’ throughout the world.

The recipes I’m using, and which we’re hoping will turn into must haves are Stuffed Acorn Squash with Apple, Onion, & Spinach from ’Thanksgiving in Colonial Williamsburg’ and Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon & Pepper featured in the ‘Formal Dinner in the Loire Valley’ sections of the book.   I’m including the recipes below with full credit going to the folks at Colonial Williamsburg and to, I believe, the Chateau du Nozet and the family of Baron Patrick de Ladoucette, and, of course, Burt Wolf himself for securing and publishing them.

Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Pepper (Chateau du Nozet; again, I believe):

1 lb small brussels sprouts, out leaves and bases trimmed

1.5 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons water

Pinch of sugar

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • Cut the sprouts in half, through their base and keeping leaves intact. Boil until tender, not mushy, in a pot of water (obviously, boiling water) with approximately 1 teaspoon of salt, approximately 5 minutes.
  • When ready to serve, heat the sprouts in a medium pan with the butter, lemon juice, water, sugar, remaining salt and pepper. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes, turning gently until the sprouts are lightly glazed and heated through.  Serve immediately.

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Apple, Onion, & Spinach (Colonial Williamsburg):

2 cups pearl or small boiling onions.

2 acorn squash

1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt

1/3 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ cup apple cider

½ cup water

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 golden delicious apple, peeled and diced

1 ½ pounds spinach, stems trimmed, washed and drained.

Preheat oven to 350

  • Peel onions; bring medium pot of water to boil, trim the ends of the onions, make a small X in the root end and boil for 5 minutes to loosen the skins and partially cook them; drain and set aside. When cool, press the onions out of their skins.
  • Quarter the acorn squash, scrape the seeds out. Season the flesh of the squash with ½ teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of pepper, and the coriander.  Pour the cider and water into a roasting pan.  Place squash, cut side down, in the pan and scatter the onions around the squash.  Dot with 1 ½ tablespoons of the butter.  Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove foil and continue to bake, basting with the juices for 30 to 40 minutes, until the onions and squash are tender.
  • When ready to service, heat the remaining butter in a skillet and saute the diced apple until golden, about 5 minutes. Add the pan juices from the squash, the spinach leaves and remining salt and pepper.  Cover over medium-high heat for 3 – 4 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and tender.
  • Arrange the squash on a platter and spoon equal portions of the spinach mixture into each section of the squash, top with the roasted onions and serve.

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…