I recently enjoyed an afternoon in the Sergeantsville area including lunch at the The Café in Rosemont. (Their Wednesday Global Dinners always sound wonderful to me, when I read the menus.) The excursion started with a desire to finally visit Maresca’s butcher shop, which I’d heard and read about for years. My friend and I stopped … Continue reading
Dine Out New Jersey!
Hundreds of restaurants throughout New Jersey will offer incentives to consumers who dine out during New Jersey Restaurant Week taking place September 19 – 25. The week-long promotion is sponsored by the New Jersey Restaurant Association (NJRA). For a list of participating restaurants (by county), visit the Dine Out NJ website. Just the Mercer County participants … Continue reading
From Honey Cake to Maple Syrup
Picked up this cute maple syrup sampler at Marshall’s last weekend. At $7.99 (a total of 6.8 oz), this kit is “a replica of the old Vermont grading sample kits used by sugarmakers for generations.” It would make an ideal small gift (so I bought two). I’ve had great luck with Marshall’s gourmet food items, and … Continue reading
Honey Cake for a Happy New Year
I am such a fan of Joan Nathan, so wanted to share a recipe from one of her cookbooks for Rosh Hashanah. She has wonderful stories to go along with her recipes, so be sure to get your own copy and enjoy browsing through it, reading and planning your next meal. It’s like poring over … Continue reading
Chinese Buffet
There were fourteen dishes, plus assorted desserts at a recent buffet dinner at my friends the Changs. It felt as if we were celebrating Chinese New Year in August! We started with steamed buns with braised duck and apple slices, out on the patio. Then at the buffet set up inside, we enjoyed mini tofu spring rolls, red cabbage … Continue reading
Bockwurst
I’m so predictable. As I started this post on bockwurst, I got the idea to see if I’d written about it last summer. As I suspected, I had, and – get this – on the very same day, September 2. I have to laugh, but it is indeed true that I love these pale chubby … Continue reading
Toad in the Hole
I’ve never been sure just what toad in the hole was, so made a point of reading a recent post about it in the New York Times Diner’s Journal blog. Clearly, mine is not nearly so attractive (too much batter?) as Mr. Schneider’s! And I rushed through the measurements, resorting to my Joy of Cooking, since … Continue reading
Masala Salmon
This was another easy and delicious dinner. Or two, since that piece of fish was pretty big and I only ate half this evening. I like the meatiness of a steak cut instead of a fillet occasionally, when it comes to salmon. I know I sound like a broken record about this, but having those bones … Continue reading
Tasty Gradoo
What have we here? Strange to say, it is the leavings at the bottom of a tin of very good honey-roasted mixed nuts from Walgreen’s. Some would call it “gradoo.” It’s detritus, and usually tossed in the garbage. Now, it might seem ridiculous, but the last time I finished a tin of these nuts, I … Continue reading
And now a few words on tartar sauce
I love tartar sauce. Don’t get me wrong, this mahi mahi had plenty going on of its own. It was liberally coated with spices (Cajun, Mexican, Indian, darned if I can remember!) and benefited from a squeeze of lemon, too. I even tore up the leftovers and used them in a Thai soup, shown in a previous … Continue reading
NJ SPICE 