NJ SPICE

It’s so nice to have some cooler weather, it makes being out and about much more pleasant.

I will be judging home baked apple pies at the West Windsor Community Farmer’s Market on Saturday, at 11:00am with two esteemed colleagues, Pat Tanner and baker Karen Child – see my previous post for details on that!

Now, for a September recap:

I was pleased to be invited to read at the Literacy NJ Readathon at the Princeton Public Library early in September, and while there visited the Princeton Farmers Market. The photo of delicata and spaghetti squash from Chickadee Creek Farm, and the vegetable crepe from Jammin’ Crêpes are from that day. Jammin’ Crêpes is about to open at 20 Nassau Street, so now you can indulge any old time!

I also visited two of my favorite pizza places in September, first Conte’s where my friend’s “Special Pizza” (an almost everything version) was quite good, just enough, not too much of good things. I had my usual roasted red pepper and added sausage plus -on half- anchovies, which was also quite good. A week or so after, I visited DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies in Robbinsville where another friend’s red clam pie stole the show – I usually prefer a white sauce or white pie with seafood, but in this case the excellent clam flavor shined right through. Now I have to have a fix from my other favorite pizza place, Osteria Procaccini – saw them at Dorothea’s House Cent-Anni celebration last weekend, and boy did it look good. I go to the Kingston branch, and am way overdue for a visit.

I always combine a trip to DeLorenzo’s with a visit to Dolce & Clemente Italian market next door, and that’s where I got some of the goodies pictured below. That mortadella was fabulous. I hated that when I was young, but now I love it. Don’t tell my doctor.

Those cookies from the Asian Food Market in Plainsboro – amazingly good, and made from what seem to be very few ingredients. So much of the packaged foods in Asian markets have a lot of processed ingredients, but these listed simple things like flour, egg, butter, etc. Both have almonds. There are several markets in this small chain, I don’t know if the cookies are sold at all of them, but they are excellent.

The pretty green and orange salad was served at a fantastic dinner to benefit HomeFront, held at the Trenton Farmer’s Market in late September. Thanks to Pat Tanner for taking me with her, the whole meal was delicious, but the salad, with agrodolce carrots (sour-sweet), Terhune lettuce, and other goodies kind of stole the show for me. But the whole meal was great! See the menu preview on Pat’s blog.

I finished out September by attending the second of two tasting events with elements chefs Scott Anderson and Mike Ryan, held at Z Food Farm in Lawrence and using their wonderful produce. The long table pictured here held a constantly changing selection of creative and delicious dishes prepared “ad hoc” by Scott and Mike, including a beautiful pumpkin soup served in a big ol’ hollowed out pumpkin. It was a lovely sunny, low-humidity late afternoon, and just a really nice time with a very mellow crowd, probably helped along by the pretty pink gin cocktail bartender Jamie Dodge had created – I restrained myself, but it sure looked good!