suzilightning

all the ones rosie mentions are wonderful but a expect to spend $75+ for dinner for two. some other places(you did say any and all) you might consider: Bell's Mansion- Rt 183 Stanhope - go here for a late lunch, forget about dinner Shakey Jakes - Rt. 183 Stanhope just down the road from Bell's midpriced and good ribs Francesca's - Rt. 181 Sparta upscale Italian Restaurant Il Porto at Lake Mohawk - byo and lakefront Krogh's - White Deer Plaza, Lake Mohawk - my favorite place for homebrew and a bacon blue cheese burger Perona Farms - Andover-Sparta Road - Sunday Brunch Warehouse Grille - Rt. 181 Jefferson good family place Plaza Bistro - White Deer Plaza, Lake Mohawk - byo american Village Saloon - Rt 181 Sparta - comfortable place, does basic steak, chicken pasta dishes course if you are on the lake itself you have another set of places to stop - none i would really recommend

regular, peanut , almond or peanut butter sad, isn't it?! hope you had a wonderful time

We picnic all over Minneapolis. My favorite spots are in the parkland near the Rose Garden in South Minneapolis. Karen prefers spots on the Mississippi. Someimes we'll go to this or that lake, sometimes we'll go along Minnehaha Creek. Most of the time we drive, but sometimes we bike. Bruce almost makes me sad that johnnybird doesn't trael to minneapolis for business anymore... the sausages sound heavenly. course i didn't get to eat at sofitel, famous dave's or goodfellows i love your posts - thank you

johnnybird can not be disuaded from this - when the server presents the check he puts his card down, puts down cash for the tip and when they pick it up , usually saying "do you need change?" he says "no the cash is for you but i want the card back"

why would you want to pay interest on *any* money if you don't have to? perhaps along with paying the tip in cash, one might also pay a max of 50 bucks on the card for dinner and pay the rest in cash? where is the line drawn? although now i think i'm off topic. exactly why if it is a big bill (30.00 or over)i put the principal on the card and leave a cash tip since i pay my crdit card bill in toto each month. many times i stop for a burger and beer or wings and beer in local spots and it comes with tax and tip to 20.00. when johnnybird took me to american grill or warehouse grill the bill for two with drinks, food and tax was about 60.00 which went on the card(i pay his cards in full each month, too) but the tip for bartender(american) and waitstaff(warehouse) was cash.

being the psycho librarian bitch that i am i always look at the check and add it quickly in my head. if i am using a card i NEVER include the tip. i always pay that in cash in case they have to share it out plus - though i pay my credit card bill in toto every month - why would i want to pay a percentage on a tip if i had to ?

sorry guys but growing up on the water i don' t eat tinned tuna UNLESS under extreme duress and for that i keep tiny cans of season in oil. my tuna salad is grilled or poached fresh tuna, minced shallots, fresh chopped parsley, some tarragon and dill from the window boxes, some celery salt(can't eat real celery), and miracle whip(grew up with it cannot stand the taste of hellmann's) but just enough to bind with a squeeze of lemon juice. either mix with whole wheat elbows, more binder and onion for tuna noodle salad or spread on toasted wheat and ONLY if they are good, fresh tomato slices with some iceberg lettuce leaves. crunchy, sweet, tangy, fresh - ahhhhhhhh.

Word. Say your Rosary. First you get down on your knees, Fiddle with your rosary. Bow your head with great respect and... Genuflect, Genuflect, Genuflect! whatever happens i just want the stations to show Challenger flying during our National Anthem. If you don't know the story of Challenger and George Steinbrenner's use of him during Yankee(sigh) playoff games http://www.eagles.org/challenger.html

since we had a rain day at the hawkwatch i could cook for a few days - did something john loves(please remember his mom didn't really cook and his dad is meat and potatoes) - whole wheat pasta, oven fried brocolli spears with garlic and olive oil and(shudder) chicken a la pizziola(chicken breast pounded thin, sauteed in olive oil, finished off in the oven after being topped with sauce, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes and a mix of 4 cheeses) also did a butternut squash casserole and some red flannel hash for my breakfast the next couple of days

you could have dropped the claws off at my house(just off rt 80 and nj rt 15) since it was hot a cold lobster plate would have been divine. toasted, buttered pepperidge farm top split rolls for the claw meat with a drizzle of chipotle mayo, some good slaw and potato salad, the cold tails with drawn butter and lemon........ sorry ... we finally had a rain out so i could get my egullet fix

sounds as if you have had enough sangria already being a lifelong red sox fan ( i even saw yaz play his senior year in high school - basketball as well as baseball) as most east enders tend to be i can only quote our motto we live in hope and die in despair but cubs and sox - wouldn't that be a great series to watch?

'scuse me.... don't blame the Pats - the jets lost to them? coollllll.... something to bust the bil about(he is a rabid jets fan, i'm a rational pat fan) and the Red Sox will win the wild card and beat the Yankees( the only reason i want the yankees to win is because george has challanger - the bald eagle- fly down from the rafters during the national anthem). ohhhhhh...... what kind of 'cycle? not an indian ?!

Suzi - you were there in spirit. I noticed a big flock of migrating birds (doubt they were hawks) and said, "Hey look at the big flock of migrating birds, everybody!" (everybody being the 5 or so people sitting near me) "Suzi told us we should keep an eye out for some kind of migrating bird, didn't she?" I said, in between sips of powerfully good sangria ala Rock. we did have some good migration on sunday. hope you saw something(probably black and turkey vultures but you never know) ohhhh... thanks rachel - was it white or red sangria. i could have used some. i sooooooooo wanted to be with all of you especially after seeing the rainbow coalition mold you did rachael. something i can't do at all - jello and it was a truly inspirational piece. happy holidays to you, jason and sandy

i wish i could have made it too. i sent a fat-headed prick in my place, apparently. No, that was you. tommy- you look sooooo different from the front. sorry i didn't get to see/meet you. was counting migrating hawks glad all had a wonderful time. maybe the next get together? after 1 dec? jason - all that food porn made me hungry....but it is now too late for me to eat :

try not only vintage but wine as well at local "upscale" italian restaurant. i asked the waiter which wines were to be had by the glass. he said red and white. i asked again were they pinot grigio, barbera, barbaresco? he said red or white? i said the white ones - he said yes. finally i asked for the wine list, made my selection and he brought me a bottle. it was a) the wrong vintage and b) the wrong wine. when i pointed it out to him he said they were out of the one i asked for. i said then i would like X. his comment to me was before he went down to the cellar again would i like to make another choice in case that one was out as well. yes, i said, a glass of water and forget the wine. perhaps, since i am female, he thought it wouldn't matter?

well, all - looks like sunday will be a beautiful day so.... will not see you since we are expecting the final push of broadwing hawks beginning to go through once the rain clears new england. keep looking up and if you see what looks like a tornado of birds you are experiencing the migration. also look real well at those kettles(anything over 5 birds that use a thermal updraft to rise - like water boiling in a kettle) to see if you have any osprey or bald eagles migrating with the smaller broadwings. suzilightning and johnnybird

katie - if they are offering it try the zardetto prosecco brut - it is affordable and might go down in cape may as a glass...i've started to use it up here in north jersey since it doesn't taste like most italian sparkling wines

Jason, Nicely put I am not sure that many "label drinkers" would quite go as far as commercial swill. Also agree that you are probably better putting the money into Bollinger vintage. My personal favourite along these lines is Billecart Salmon 1989. Also I would seriously consider getting a good NV and keeping it for 7-10 years (and remember to keep buying to replace the stock you drink).

salon is what i would ultimately love to have but this wine merchant doesn't have any so i am asking based on his inventory. you might note that in my original post that this was my really, really want to have wine

jason- i already read this thread. price is not the object here and this wine shop has no bollinger.

no stewart's only dairy queen (his father-in-law owns the mickey d's franchise),carafello's which used to be something else, francesca's that was blue water and something else italian before that, of course there is always krogh's , il porte on the lake and we do have another cia grad running a byo place in the plaza though nazarro's and the central are still there if that helps. vernon now has a really cool dairy where you can buy homemade cheeses and home baked breads. but walpack inn is still there

how about croatian girl thing and NOT just in Philly but here in NJ, too. great blog... unfortunately now i am sitting at work craving chinese...hot and sour soup, garlic beans, chicken with orange flavor and i have to work till 3:sad:

well, got my meat pounder and some hideous top-heavy red and clear flutes for the birthday. the meat poounder is great and it has been put to use including, when the potatoes weren't suitably soft, being used as a potato masher - something it handled tremendously. now for christmas.....

not the mother(gone 13 years later this month) but the mother - in- law who is DO really like but whose culinary skills are nonextinant. she used to send home food with her son(canned tuna, wonder bread, mayo, etc.) that i used to get really pissed at. i had cooked professionally to earn money to get my graduate degree and she was amazed at the fact the roast i prepared came out moist( i seared it off and roasted it with some veg and wine instead of plopping it in a pan in a 350 degree oven and salting the shit out of it). the conversation "mother, isn't this a wonderful roast? you would never believe how susan did it!!!!" from grandma who graduated from a german cooking academy " oh, yes , i would". she never taught her daughter how to cook. and my sister-in-law still comes into the kitchen at the last minute saying "is there anything i can do?" but since she has now idea how to cook anything including boiling water we give her the same answer we do her brothers - ugh, no but your timing is impeccibl3. though in all fairness my mil never seemed to want to learn and , after she had to get married she, my fil , husband and his older brother lived with her mother and father. since grandma cooked and the mil worked she never had to learn to cook. once she and her husband were out on their own the idea of meat and potatoes( no rabbit food) and all veg were in cans arranged alphabetically in the cabinets continued to be the norm till i got my paws on the Johnnybird. i was raised with a quarter acre garden and we ate fresh veg everyday we could,sharing it with aunt belle who actually owned the land we farmed. fresh veg were the norm and i still can NOT abide canned spinach. when i go up to pok i bring my own knives, seasonings( i know there is no olive oil or kosher salt), salad makings and even cutting boards. while food is important to me and has become something to enjoy for my husband, my mother-in-law finds it an annoyance and my sister-in-law can't understand why she has problems with her stomach/intestine when her idea of a dinner is half a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese(lament from the mil - i stopped drinking - alcohol- but drinking 8- 12 glasses of paul newman lemonade, eating 1/4 of a danish ring, cheese and crackers and a sandwich(roll, ham and cheese hold the lettuce and cheese), then finishing off wiith more crackers and cheese)

sorry, since i only spent a year in northwest tejas i guess i got the wrong idea about the salsa. i do know alll onions vary in strength guess the ones we used to make our pico di gallo were realy yellows therefore more mellow?