Time flies and summer is gone! Finito! 86’d! (Okay, not technically until Sept. 22, but still…)
Ironically, the first week of September brought our first real heat wave of the summer with high humidity to match temperatures in the high eighties-90° range. UGH! The better weather today made me feel like a kid out of school, since I’d cowered inside for two days to wait it out after my 5 minutes of glory at the PPL’s Literacy Readathon on Thursday. I also visited the Princeton Farmers Market (finally!) that day, enjoying my first crepe from Jammin’ Crepes, which – they promise – should be open by October 15, maybe a little earlier. I tweeted a shot of my crepe, but will put a photo up with my September best bites later on.
I was lucky to get out and about quite a bit (thank you retirement) to try new places during the summer. Here are some of the things I enjoyed in August, lots of treats and a couple of experiments. That gorgeous savory tart (okay, a shallow quiche) I made? For the recipe, see my upcoming Sept. 19 In The Kitchen column in the Packet. That southwestern pizza from TJ’s? Flavorful but kinda dry for me. The sour cherry preserves and house made mushroom dumplings from Halinka Polish Deli – both very good! Be sure to check them out in Hillsborough and also pay a visit to Little Island Cuisine, either at their Hillsborough restaurant or at the Montgomery Farmers Market most Saturdays. (BTW, that market goes until October 25.)
Also at the Monty Market, Judith’s Dessert Boutique – her caramel pecan pound cake was fabulous, and I only wish she had a regular storefront or retail outlet in the area…but this is how fledgling businesses get their start, so hopefully she’ll grow into a regular retail outlet nearby. Meanwhile, of course she’ll deliver your order, or bring it to the market – one way or the other, we shall have cake!
I still love the spicy food at Shanghai Bun and on a recent visit a friend and I ordered several appetizers and just one entrée, a special of Mongolian Lamb (i.e. cumin lamb). And Ricky’s Thai is just as good as ever, the skewered shrimp on a bed of mango was an appetizer special one evening. Their specials are usually pricey but $11.95 for the generous serving you see here was worth it.
I’ve started making my own yogurt again, and I’m loving it. I don’t have a pilot light or a reliably warm spot, so I’m glad I kept my yogurt maker when I did my big clean/clear-out in my apartment a couple years ago!
In the morning I just open one of those little jars and drop in a little spoonful of whatever jam or marmalade I have going and there’s breakfast! I don’t always want thick Greek-style yogurt, sometimes finding it (if store-bought) too pasty and heavy. Plus, it’s concentrated calories, fat, etc. I grew up with plain ol’ yogurt made on the back of my Grandma’s stove over the pilot light and she never strained it to my knowledge. But I was quite interested to hear one of my Twitter friends, @esipos, mention that her Grandma used to hang her freshly-made yogurt off a tree branch outside to drain – I love that!
NJ SPICE 
Faith, Judith’s Dessert Boutique is also at the Pennington Farmer’s Market–which has developed into a great market, BTW—Thought I’d let you know that last year Judith made a wonderful honey cake for the Jewish Holidays–
Right, and She does several other markets, too, as I can see on her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Judiths-Dessert-Boutique/520153398001368?sk=timeline. I would check with her to be sure she’s at the one someone is planning on attending, though, as vendors often vary the schedule from week to week.