Tag Archives: New Jersey

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.

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…

Random Musings for a Friday Night…Rabbit Edition

26 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by in Epicurean, Friday Night, Holidays, Massachusetts, Recipes, Travel, Uncategorized, Weekend

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I need to be better in marking down the meals I create and recipes I’m riffing off of (I’m sure there’s an app for that, any suggestions?).  I go through phases where I’ll create a meal completely out of my culinary comfort zone.  These meals are cobbled together from the numerous cookbooks gracing my shelves, focus on a particular region of the world, and often call for about $100 worth of ingredients that I most likely will never use again — turmeric powder for a Mexican meal; fenugreek seeds for my Mediterranean meal.  Past highlight include a random rabbit recipe and a wonderfully flavorful Italian soup.  The reality is I wanted to make both this weekend but, for the life of me, I can’t find the recipes.  Other random thoughts for this Friday evening:

woodland cabin

Woodland Cabin, Warren, MA

Thanksgiving with Marley & Co: Last year Tony and I realized, on Nov 1st, that we had no plans for Thanksgiving.  With some fancy, yet furious, finger work (OK, Airbnb has eliminated that last minute booking panic), I found and secured a cabin in Warren, MA for the holiday and am tickled that we’ll be returning this year (I think we’ll be doing this for as long as Mary Jane will have us).  Woodland Cabin is a fabulous get-away in the southwest region of Worcester County, MA that serves up freshly laid  eggs from the on-site hens each morning; has three wonderful goats, Marley being the most playful, that will go on walks with you; and offers up approximately 80 acres of hiking trails for one’s enjoyment.  Tony is salivating at the prospect of cooking our meals over the open fire — they have a fireplace that’s large enough for me to walk into. We’ll blog throughout the weekend providing blow-by-blow run downs on Tony’s open-fire cooking.

Seasonal Things to Do:  I have two master “Things to Do” lists that I update annually with current year dates (another app I need). The lists — one for summer and another for the holiday season.  I need to update the Christmas list which will, of course, commence with the Cabin.  I’m feeling giving this year and will share some of my favorite must do’s throughout the season.

German Christmas Markets:  Speaking of a favorite thing to do…the market at Lake Mohawk in Sparta, NJ is worth the drive.  To be fair, last year was the first year I attended and I’ve only seen one other advert, just this year, for another local market.  But, one of my bucket list items is to do the whole, proper German/European Christmas Market thing. Until then, I’ll be satisfied with the Northeast’s markets.

Boozy Burbs: This is fun.  Thanks to my good friend Nancy, I’m now hip to Boozy Burbs, Greater Bergen County’s ‘not-so-secret ingredient’ to discovering all things culinary in the area, including Rockland, Hudson, Essex and Passaic county bordering towns. Check it out, it’s well curated and will answer most of your ‘where am I going; what am I eating this weekend?’ questions.

Restaurant Week:  Featuring Hudson Valley – Sometimes they’re in the spring, sometimes the fall.  In NYC, I believe, it’s in the dead of winter. But Hudson Valley’s Restaurant Week kicks off on Sunday.  I like these weeks, wherever they may fall, as they give you the opportunity to experience a new restaurant or revisit a perennial favorite at a rate tolerable for most pocketbooks.  Featuring both lunch and dinner meus, restaurants can be booked in advance on OpenTable (another great site that answers the ‘what’s going on?’ question). 

Chicken Stock Ice Cubes: And, for a Fun Tip, when making chicken stock, freeze cubes of the stock.  This will enable you to grab as many as you might need for smaller batch cooking — i.e. replacing water when making rice, using broth vs. water to steam vegetables, or to enhance the flavor of a canned soup.  Whatever your desire having cubes to work with is an easily wonderful way to pretend you’re an epicurean maven.

This weekend’s adventures may or may not entail a rabbit, if it’s to be Peter, we’ll definitely make note as to where the recipes are housed and will let you know all about our culinary adventures. Until then, happy trails and bon appetite …

 

 

Christmas Festivities…Part I

24 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by in Cookies, Epicurean, Fannie Farmer, Holidays, New Jersey, Polish, Winter Solstice

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Today commences, what I believe to be, the beginning of the true Christmas season.  Tony and I do the gift giving thing on Little Christmas, January 6, and since we started this tradition, Christmas has been less stressful and more enjoyable, helped, immensely, by my December schedule at work, which usually entails having at least the last two weeks of the year off.   Yesterday was spent in Pennsylvania, dining at a little gem of a restaurant, A Taste of Portugal on Route 209 in East Stroudsburg.  Typical Portuguese fare, the prices are right and the ambience as homey as one could want.   The late afternoon drive home was capped off with billowy pink clouds and the mountains of the Delaware reflecting the rays of the setting sun.

Thursday, in honor of the Winter Solstice, we had a down and out Polish feast for dinner.  My theory is that there are two secular, non-patriotic days that should be celebrated each year in the company of good friends — the Winter and Summer Solstice.  Our friend, Brian, was kind enough to bring a selection of sausages and pierogies, as well as authentic sauerkraut, mustard and mayonnaise for dinner.   Himself a Pole, he picked everything up in Wallington, a town that has remained predominately Polish over the years.  In fact, the town is so steeped in its heritage that preference is given to those of Polish decent, no matter how much money others are offering, to homebuyers in Wallington.

Once Brian got settled in the kitchen, it’s not uncommon for friends to come over and man handle our kitchen, I demonstrated my cooking prowess in a manner that was borderline embarrassing.  ‘Help yourself to whatever you need, I’m no good in there,’ was my bold proclamation.  Kind of funny considering that the only culinary skills needed were the ability to boil water and toss some pierogi’s around in a frying pan.  The pierogi’s were delightful (not that I’m a connseiure of the pierogi).  

Super Deli

Coming from Super Deli, the lovely little suckers had a very subtle crunch on the outside; the insides were soft with a warm, almost creamy, texture of potato that left behind a surprising hint, actually the perfect tasting, of pepper.  The kielbasa and kabanos, purchased at Adams’ Deli, stuffed and smoked on premises, were also tasty.  Eaten on Polish rye bread, the sausages were accentuated by Bacik Musztarda and Polonaise Horseradish; delightful on their own, but even better when combined.  The meal was complemented with homemade apple sauce (from the ‘bible,’ aka the Fannie Farmer Cookbook), and clam dip (old family recipe) and wonderful Polish pastries that were made and delivered by one of Tony’s students. 

Earlier in the day, I had the pleasure of dining at the award winning Saddle River Inn where I had the most wonderful of tarts — truffle mushroom and onion.  The Inn, appropriately enough situated in the quaint town of Saddle River (yes, Jersey has some quaint towns), is a century old barn that is consistently ranked as a favorite by Zagats. 

Italian Cookies...Yummy!

Wednesday was spent at the Portuguese Club and, on Tuesday, I finished making my cookies.  Monday was spent in the good company of friends — both for lunch and dinner.  Dinner was a Portugese classic — the mixed grill (essentially a lot of meat on a plate) and, for lunch, we had Manny C Burgers.  Made by our good friend Manny C, it is perhaps the best burger I ever had.

Having recently received the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) newsletter, I’ve begun plotting out 2012.  Am also preparing for the second half of my holiday with a trip to Massachusetts on the agenda as well as some more dinners with a motley assortment of characters.

My Italian Grandma’s Cookies…

18 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by in Cookies, Epicurean, Holidays, Italian, New Jersey, Recipes

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I’m not Italian and have no right headlining this post as ‘My Italian Grandma’s’ anything.  However, I think it fair to say that we all have that one little ole Italian lady that strikes a sweet chord within us.  Mine is Annie, a lady, at least 75 years old, that I worked with for ~ 9 years.  She truly believed that she was the glue that kept her department together and that no one else could figure out the computer system.  She was always ready with a kind word, a random pill from the bottom of her purse, and, the wonders of home-made Italian food — whether it be a main meal or a random selection of desserts.

Smiling right back at yah...Annie's Cookies

Without fail, Annie would make her Italian cookies at Christmas and, after the first bite, I believe it fair to say that I was addicted.  It took me many years to work up the courage to ask her about them, and a few additional years before I became so bold as to ask for the recipe; something she more than happily gave up.   I’ve probably had the recipe for 5 years or so, and this is the first year I pulled it out in an effort to liven up my holiday selection, of, well nothing but monster cookies (when a recipe makes ~ 400 cookies, do you really need any other?). Annie’s cookies have been yanked from the oven and will be frosted/sprinkled tomorrow, but according to the look on my Italian husband’s face, I believe, I found something good.    I have no idea as to where Annie got this recipe, I fantasize that it’s been handed down from generation to generation, and, for all I know, it could be from a book or the back of a bag of flour, but it is with the most heartfelt and warmest of thoughts that I share it with you today:

Annie’s Italian Cookies:

Melt 3 sticks of margarine; add one cup of sugar and cream together (Note, I, personally, use butter).

Add three eggs, mix thoroughly and then add 4 teaspoons of baking powder to mixture, one teaspoon of flavoring — organe, anisette or whatever you prefer, mix again.

Add 3.5 cups of flour or more and mix again (I wound up using about 5 cups of flour).

The doug should be pliable, not stiff.  If too soft, add more flour until the dough can be worked and is not sticky but very, very soft.  Make round balls, about 1 inch round, bake at 375 for about 15 minutes or until you see that the cookie looks whole and not soft.

Icing:

After the cookies have cooled, make a mixture of 1.5 cups of confectionery sugar, add 1 teaspoon of flavoring (to complement the flavoring used earlier, if not the same one); and 1 teaspoon of water to the sugar.  Mix together ( it should be thick, like cream.  If too loose, add more sugar), then dip the cookie into mixture and put round, colored sprinkles on top.

I also made pumpkin cookies tonight (a favorite), but alas, feel woefully inadequate as my aunt had a cookie party recently and wound up with ~1200 cookies.  I think I made all of 100 cookies today…oh well, c’est la vie.

Monster cookies to follow tomorrow (a half batch…) in between stuffing sausages…