Category Archives: New Jersey

Surviving Thanksgiving

26 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by in Epicurean, Holidays, Massachusetts, New England, New Jersey, Thanksgiving, Travel

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A Thanksgiving Table

Well, we survived Thanksgiving; at least those of us who traveled during the peak Sunday travel period did.  24-hours later, the country is being assaulted by rain and snow.  In reflection, I’m glad to have gone home yesterday.  Ah, hindsight, you are indeed 20/20. 

A Thanksgiving scene from a flick that sticks in my head is Meg Ryan in The Doors (note, link to a great overview of the scene, albeit a bit light on the Meg analyzation). She performs Jim Morrison’s girl friend who has a melt down as she prepares Thanksgiving dinner, banging the duck on the ground, sobbing, “all I wanted to do was have a nice Thanksgiving” or something to that effect.

That’s usually how I feel at the beginning, mid point, and even end of each Thanksgiving we ‘host’ — OK, it’s only happened twice — like a crazy chick banging her bird on the floor wanting something just a bit better, something a bit nicer for the holiday.

The weekend was fine and I only had to deal with a meal for five; three of whom aren’t that picky.  After dinner — I swear the whole time I felt like poor Meg — we lounged about.  Saturday, my sister joined the festivities and hiked with the goats.  We walked through the woods — the cabin has about 80 acres to trudge through — and made a final meal over the fire, Bacalhau Assado.   

Bacalhau Asado 

As promised, we did take videos and I’m now figuring out how to use the software I purchased (which was to eliminate the ads among other actual needed tools — the ads are still there).  We did do a teaser video to send to his friend, included below for test purposes only.  It’s pretty good for the third video created that weekend and kind of amusing. 

For my husband, I’m including a clip I tripped upon while posting the Nor’east Epicurean video, it’s rather apropos as, indeed, the Maker’s Mark was flowing this past week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83Q-B6KepX4

I’ll posts more thoughts about Thanksgiving dinner (OMG, the acorn squash thingy was so delicious), which, thankfully, ultimately turned out really great and will update you on our adventures over the coming days/weeks.  And, as  we enter the holiday season, I’m wishing everyone safe travels and, of course, bon appetite. 

What’s A Girl To Do? Martini Edition

20 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Epicurean, Holidays, Massachusetts, New England, New Jersey, Thanksgiving, Travel

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Woodland Cabin

Here I sit, in front of a roaring fire hunkering down for what I believe is Boston’s first winter weather advisory (not sure if they had an advisory during Thursday’s ‘storm‘); they’re expecting 2 – 4 inches of the white stuff.  We’re not in the greater Boston Metro area, we’re close enough that we might get caught up in it.  And, really, 2-4 inches isn’t a lot of snow – we’re slogging around in that now; the advisory is for those traveling – and who would that be this Thanksgiving week?!? Considering its one of the first storms of the year, traveling will be less than optimal. Thankfully, I’m on top of a hill, am fully stocked with provisions for, at least, a week; and have plenty of wood.  “Let the snow come!” I exclaimed as I realized, I have no where to be and nowhere to go; a rare moment of quiet bliss.

I worked all day — Tony and I were just discussing the wonders of a personal hot spot — and the big man ran errands.  We are now completely situated to the extent that Tony is cooking over the open fire – chestnuts as an afternoon treat and a poached pear for dessert this evening.  This week, beyond being simply fabulous, will be a foray into film.  I’m hoping to take video or two – and obviously posting it – of Tony cooking over the fire.  This will be a free-flowing video so if you have anything you want him to discuss or explain about cooking over a fire, do let us know.

Other thoughts on this rainy evening (thus far, we’re only dealing with rain):

Traveling Off Peak:  As I previously mentioned, it really does eliminate stress to travel during ‘off peak’ times.  We drove up, from NJ to MA, yesterday afternoon and the 2.5 hour drive was, indeed, a 2.5 hour drive.  

#Yummy #Martini

Martinis:  I love a dirty martini.  And now, apparently, I love ‘em in the woods.  We bought ½ the ingredients of a Martini with us – the Gin.  This morning Tony got the Vermouth and Olives.  Of course, nobody considered the toothpicks. Well Tony our fearless mixologist found these tiny little forks and, voila, we had a whole Martini kit ‘picked’ olives and all.  What can I say, except ‘What’s a girl to do?’

The Flue:  It needs to be primed, there’s no getting around it.  After coming home from dinner last evening,  we quickly started a fire and immediately the alarms went asunder — annoying for about 10 minutes or so.  Yup, while the flue was open, it wasn’t properly primed and the smoke couldn’t deal with itself.  This morning, the opposite tactic proved the point of the post — prime the bloody flue.

Assuming we’re able to get off the ‘hill’, prior to the big day, we plan to go to a local orchard to pick up some apples and a farm for some fresh cut meat; we’ll also be nibbling on MJ’s ginger snaps (so #yummy) over the coming days and will be messing around with video…All good stuff.

Until then, we wish you safe travels and, or course, bon appetite.  

Winter Wonderland…in November

15 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by in New England, New Jersey, Travel, Uncategorized

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This isn’t a big surprise, as, apparently the eastern side of the country, from south to north either has had or is having whacked out weather.  I just got in from shoveling ~ 6″ of snow, breaking most of my shoveling rules. 

We have a small house, with a small drive way.  Hailing from Boston I really don’t mind shoveling (excluding those random years where it either snows every day or every time it snows it’s a major event).  I wasn’t prepared to shovel today as I assumed we’d get 3 – 4″ of powder and then it would melt as the weekend is supposed to be sunny and in the 40s. 

Foolishly,  I decided to do a quick once over of the walk and drive ways…an hour later I was still shoveling, in inappropriate shoes, a fall coat, and gloves that aren’t meant to do anything but look cute.  That’s where rule #1 was thrown aside — the first shovel of the season has got to be good basically down to the black top.  If this simple, but crucial step is not done your driveway is going to be crap all winter long. fingers crossed that won’t be the case this season. 

Any whoo, I ran out this morning to pick up the rest of my baking supplies which are sitting on the counter as I’m exhausted and baking is the last thing I’m doing this evening.  With that said, I’m sharing Yankee Magazine’s Best Christmas Celebrations in New England. On this snowy evening, a bit of escapism — and travel inspiration — is in order. 

Happy, snowy trails to you; for those on the road, be safe traveling and, of course, bon appetite. 

Sunday, Sunday

11 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Holidays, New Jersey, Travel, Yeast

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Here I sit, watching a Christmas movie — this one with Dogs and Kids, always a winning combination. I’ve yet to bake for Thanksgiving (in a nod to Ms. Scarlet, ‘I’ll worry about that tomorrow’).  Unfortunately, while I  cross referenced my baking list with the ingredients in the pantry, I forgot one key item — wax paper.  While I don’t mind being adventurous, making a pumpkin roll without wax paper isn’t high on that list. My husband and I did make bread dough, however.

NYC From Lambert CastleYes, we make our own bread.  Tony adheres to a Paleo diet which prohibits processed food, essentially eliminating flour and sugar from his diet.  While I’m not completely on the bandwagon, by default I’m also following a Paleo lifestyle. Tired of being breadless, a sad and unacceptable state, my husband started researching for, quite literally, ‘low carb bread that doesn’t suck.’  That, coupled with a few recommendations from his nutritionist, lead us to ‘Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.’ And, what do you know?  Following the book, its gluten free flour mixtures and master dough recipes churn out some darn good bread, that is actually pretty easy to make.  This is our second go-around making the dough and as I become more familiar with the wonders of yeast (I still haven’t figured that one out), we’ll dive deeper into the book as it has a fair amount of recipes — everything from white sandwich bread, to brioche and even flat bread and pizza doughs. #yummy.

Lambert CastleEarlier in the day we went to Lambert Castle in Patterson, NJ.  Yes there is a castle in Patterson of all places.  Home to the Passaic County Historical Society, their annual fundraiser is a holiday craft fair held throughout the month of November.  Driving up the side of Garret Mountain, we came upon what truly is a castle, built back in the late 1800s by a local silk baron (Patterson used to be known as the silk capital of the world). Walking into the castle itself, we were quickly submerged into all things Christmas as the building was stuffed to the rafters with all kinds of goodies — from provisions to ornaments and festive holiday decorations, to clothes for the kids and on and on and on — three floors of ‘on’ to be precise.

It was a fun day.  Not as productive as it could have been, but fun none-the-less.

At some point this week, I”ll bake.  Until then, happy trails and bon appetite!

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.