Scape Envy

I am so glad the Montgomery Friends Farmers Market has switched from Thursdays to Saturdays, so weekday working folks like me can enjoy it.  Their location has changed, too, to the Village Shopper, right across Route 206 from ShopRite.  There were not a lot of vendors out this first week, but more will be there … Continue reading →

Pie Mania

You’ve heard about “List mania”?  Well, I have had a bad case of pie mania for quite a few years now, sparked by my discovery of Penza’s Pies, on Route 206 South in Hammonton.  I had my “pie ephiphany,” as I called it at the time, after happening upon Evelyn Penza’s Red Barn Cafe about eight years … Continue reading →

Cole Slaw for a Hot Day

Fathers Day at my brother and sister-in-law’s home.  They are two of the finest home cooks I know, keepers of the culinary flame for family holidays.  Our dinner today of Italian sausage with onions and orange and red peppers was no exception, right down to the gorgeous fruit salad with cinnamon-yogurt topping we had for dessert. … Continue reading →

Sweet dreams

Bakeries are bustin’ out all over the central NJ area, with sugar + sunshine in Plainsboro Village Center leading the pack.   (Other new bakeries are coming to Princeton and Cranbury according to my In The Kitchen colleague Pat Tanner; our alternating columns run Fridays in the Princeton Packet).  I happened upon sugar + sunshine recently, … Continue reading →

Fried Green Tomatoes

Dinner Friday night with a friend. We headed to Main Street Bistro at the Princeton Shopping Center.  This place thrives because their food is consistently very tasty.  Our dinners were excellent, but our appetizer of fried green tomatoes was especially noteworthy.  

Now That’s Italian!

If you havenʼt already been, do visit the A&G Italian Fine Foods store and restaurant in the Plainsboro Village Center that opened about seven months ago.  But donʼt go too hungry, or youʼll want one of everything you see.

Sea Air and Sunshine

A glorious sunny day on the boardwalk at Ocean City with my cousin.  The smell of salt air mixes with the that of pizza, hot dogs, and French fries.  Cups of lemonade await, half a lemon on the bottom of each one.  But what am I hoping to find?  Fralinger’s salt water taffy, of course, whose … Continue reading →

Ode to Szechuan

Whether you spell it Szechuan or Sichuan, this spicy cuisine from an earthquake-ravaged province of China is one of my favorites.  I finally got to Szechuan House restaurant in Hamilton the other night, and I have to say I was wowed by the food!  This is the real deal folks, right down to the beef tendon, … Continue reading →

Summer snack

Memorial Day marks the informal start to summertime.  My culinary mind turns to cookouts, hot dogs, potato salad, lobster rolls…and bhelpuri.  Yes, bhelpuri, the popular Indian chaat (street food snack) made from crunchy puffs of wheat, rice, and chickpea flours, spices, sugar, and potato, usually bound together with a tangy tamarind sauce.

Cardamom-yum!

Next time you make a fruit crisp or crumble at home, why not spice it up a bit differently?  When I recently made a rhubarb/strawberry crisp, the recipe called for cinnamon in the topping.  But I’m not a big cinnamon fan (almost un-American, I know).  So I thought of using cardamom instead, which I have grown … Continue reading →