suzilightning

Well, time for one last cocktail. Gimlet. I know you are supposed to use Rose's Lime Juice but I prefer fresh lime juice and a smidge more sugar. Spiedies ready to fire. and plated with slaw and tsziki sauce on a flat bread. You really are supposed to whack a loaf of Italian in half and then wrap it around the skewer and pull them off but I prefer pita or flatbread. For dessert figs stuffed with Maytag blue and draped with prosciutto de San Danielle then fired in a 400F oven for 5 minutes. Sweet fig, tangy cheese and salty ham. I then put a drop, just a drop of balsamic on each one.

Wharton in Morris County, New Jersey was originally called Port Oram. It was named after Robert Oram the manager for the New Jersey Iron Company who built the company store and worker's housing. It was renamed Wharton, after Joseph Wharton, who located his blast furnace complex in the town. Do you know if your Joseph might have been into iron manufacturing?

Yes, John plays guitar and bass. He also composes as well as writing songs. Here is the pinot grigio vinegar and another I am fond of. Believe it or not I get the pinot in the grocery store.

Lately our usual Friday night dinner is one of John's favorites :pizza. I have learned to like pizza and love a few. Where I grew up there was one little Italian-American restaurant, Nettie's, run by Mrs. Gallucio. She made lasagna, cannolis and pizza. Then there were those thick squares of mainly bread with some sauce and cheese on them that the cafeteria served on Friday - if it wasn't fishsticks and french fry day. When I took my first professional job the department's secretary, Joyce Lissandrello, and I became good friends and I was quickly absorbed into the family. Friday night at the Lissandrello's was pizza, salad and Scrabble. In fact when I recently went to visit on a Friday and Joyce said we were having chicken I felt...deprived? bereaved? all of the above? Conne, Joyce's mom, makes some of the best thin crust pizza I have ever eaten. I came home and dusted off my Road Food book for this recipe. Proofing yeast - is there a better smell anywhere than yeast waking up and starting to go to work?, working the dough, onto the board and after two rises. After the second rise I punch it down, scale it to 8 oz balls then usually bake off two and put two into plastic freezer baggies that I've sprayed with cooking spray. This way I have built up some 20 or so pizza crusts for use this fall. Oh, those odd flecks in the crust aren't dirt. We like to add dried basil and oregano to the crusts.

Since I wasn't sure when John was going to go to visit - Friday night? Saturday?. I put my spiedie plans off until Saturday and decided to serve Chicken Saltimbocca which is one of John's favorites. Inside the Apple Tree are three substores: Apple Tree Deli, a sushi area and A & S Meats, my usual butcher. From the deli I pick up Aurrichio Provolone which has a nice somewhat strong taste and Prosciutto de San Danielle which I much prefer to Parma. From A & S I'll get the chicken which is from Pennsylvania. Since Wharton, the town this store is in has quite a large Hispanic population I love to see what things will appear at this market. I have gotten chivo which became a goat curry and gallina to make broth. When I was there there was a beef tongue, pigs trotter and quite a bit of tripe in the case. This is where I usually get my tomatillos and poblanos to make green chili, favas and figs. Quince make their appearance as well as carambola and aloe. The raw ingredients. The chicken breast butterflied and pounded; salt and sage leaves on it. Slide into a pan and cover with the prosciutto. After about 3 minutes flip over until the chicken finishes cooking and the prosciutto is crisp. Normally I would lay the provolone on top and let the heat of the meat melt it but John now has a 4 pm golf date with 2 of his brothers and his dad. I slip the cooked chicken into a container, cover it and include the cheese and reheating/finishing directions for his mom - for the microwave.

When I got home from work last night John had the following waiting for me. We drank the Piper-Heidsieck and I cellared the Roderer for after the Hawkwatch. I particularly like this Brut Divin. It is not as toasty as some others but the mousse is exquisitly fine it is smooth on the palate and at 25.00 USD not a bad value. There was an incident in our neighborhood last night so we didn't get to open cards and wine till almost 10 pm. Consequently we slept in later than normal(for me) and just right(for John). Since John is off for a 4 day weekend we had breakfast together. I made an old camping standby: eggy potatoes. Now if we were camping I would have used bacon to get the fat to cook everything in but since we were at home I simply cooked the onion in some olive oil then added the potatoes, eggs, some parsley, salt and white pepper. One thing about my eggs. I buy them from a young lady who raises them as her 4-H project. She has had many prize winning fowl at the Sussex County Horse and Farm Show, now the New Jersey State Fair. They are truly free ranging birds and I can tell the difference in the taste. The only problem is I have to keep a few industrial farmed eggs around so I can make hard boiled eggs! John had his accented with the last of the smoked salmon. I finished off the Westphalian ham. When we were up in Vermont on vacation last month my I had found Dutch Loaf in a local supermarket deli. That set her off remembering the cold cuts her mother used to get at Karl Ehemer's shop in Poughkeepsie, especially the suelze. Well, we have a German butcher in our area so I was pretty sure that Schwind's carried it. I told John I would go and get some for him to take up to his mom...along with a few other things for here. Those are bauerenwurst, weiswurst, chorizo, andouille and quark which I will use to make tzatziki to go with the spiedie later. I also picked up Westphalian ham and Black Forest ham for sandwiches.

As is the way with all things dealing with Poughkeepsie up until last night John was/wasn't going. Wednesday I figured he probably would be so did a set of Portugese sweet bread for him to bring up. He eats it and his mom likes it as well. Then of course there is the Cookie Monster, his brother Michael, who will eat anything not nailed down. Since it was going to be pretty hot and humid I got up and got going early. The wet ingredients. That's 3/4 cup milk, 1 stick butter(margarine), 2 tsp salt and 1 cup sugar minus 1 Tbsp. As I was afraid it took all 7 cups of bread flour to get to this condition. I use bread flour for the loafs but that's AP flour in the cup as my bench flour. Ready for the final rise. The final cool after what turned out to be 40 minutes at 350F.

Ah, yes. The beer and wine stash. John could never understand the guys he grew up with in Poughkeepsie. On a Friday night they would buy a 6 pack or maybe a 12pack of beer. Then, along about 11 pm, someone a collection would be taken up and someone would have to do a beer run or as his friend says "additonal purchases for medicinal purposes". John's favorite method of operation is buy in bulk and you don't have to risk a DUI. Last year he was a favorite of Sheri, the manager of our local Bottle King. He went in to buy me some champagne/sparkling wines as a gift, decided he should drink more red wine, got a Bottle King card and proceeded to buy 4 mixed cases of red wine, 1 case of sparkling wine(to be portioned out to me over various holidays) and a few bottles of sherry. That certainly helped her bottom line. The same for the beer. Actually what you see there is a summer/fall transition set up with the Coronas and Newcastles in the front. In about 3 months it will switch to Newcastles and Guinesses for the fall/winter. John rotates his beer stock like a woman rotates her wardrobe. Me? An occasional beer, an glass of wine matched to my food but I do love my bubbles.

While we are downstairs we have a dry bar with a smallish drinks fridge behind it. I'd like to do something with this space but the kitchen needs work first. Our wine racks. John bought the top set of racks for me for Christmas two years ago. Except for 5 bottles or so all the rest of the wine is his. The second picture was a birthday present several years ago. John paid $1.00 for it at our local Rescue Squad's garage sale. I actually have two of the racks from the last picture. One upstairs and this one downstairs. The picture on top is of my last cat, Allie, whose domain was this entire lower level. In the back room the pantry John promises to clean up the basement this winter/spring. What you don't see are two racks with empty beer bottles and about 6 - 5 gallon carboys for brewing. When he decides on a hobby he jumps in feet first.

If anyone is interested you can find the geese and other assorted and scary animals by typing the following search into a browser bar: "home grown" enesco The cauliflower sheep and the lemon goat are quite cute.

I'm not sure what John's was but he said there was butter in it so he had to take a lactaid pill. Mine was a mapley vinegar reduction. I can't be more specific than that because I didn't copy it down and it wasn't on the website's menu link. Yeah, I have learned what you mean about that joker in the pack.

Fridge and freezer shots It took me 4, count them 4, tries to get usable pictures. I don't think I was meant to post these. Let's see if they post or self destruct. First the upstairs fridge. The freezer The downstairs freezer that I can't live without. Along with John's beer stash Finally is how I keep track of what is in them. The big list is for the downstairs freezer, the two little lists are front and reverse of the upstairs freezer.

Breakfasts tend to be the same for me. This morning was cottage cheese and fresh Jersey peaches. I love this time of year. Actually I think the peaches are even better than the corn and tomatoes in indicating summer in this part of the state. I was able to use a gift card at Bed, Bath and Beyond that my mother-in-law gave me to get a new toaster after the old one self destructed so I could make John's breakfast. Really hot and humid here so today was my day to stop at Smart World Coffee for a Chocolate Raspberry Swirl. Lunch was a small salad.

Birthday Resolutions I don't make New Year's resolutions. For the last 15 years or so I have spent the 2 weeks before my birthday thinking about the last year - what I feel I did well, where I need improvement, what I could do differently. Most of the time I try to take on something positive. That is how I started going to the gym on a regular basis. This year, at the age of 53, I have now outlived my grandmother. Only 11 more years and it will be my mother. This year I am going to try to change a behavior I have had forever. I am going to try to stop biting my fingernails. As an incentive I designed and had made a right hand ring for myself At work I also received from Diane something that speaks to two of my passions. Here are the garlic geese, the newest additon to my kitchen. When I opened this up I laughed myself silly. Deanna, another coworker, just gave me a box of mixed vegetables from her garden. Time to create.

Birthday Dinner atZoe's by the Lake , our favorite, local special dinner or lunch spot. This also is supposed to be a former speakeasy and I believe it because if you would not, in a hundred years, find this place on your own. It truly is in the back of beyond. The second set of pictures shows Seneca Lake. It is remarkable that this Lake is back. On August 16, 2000 a thunderstorm cell settled over the Sparta/Lake Hopatcong border. We had already had 7" of rain but in the next 8 hours we had 16" of rain for total of 23" in 24 hours. The dam in the bottom picture burst wiping out the lake. The dam was rebuilt and the lake refilled about 1 1/2 years ago. Dinner always begins with the bread basket. Rosemary rolls, roasted garlic bread, French country white and both herbed and regular butter. The amuse was a chicken salad. John ordered from the bistro menu and I chose the a la carte. John had a mixed baby green salad, cod and fresh fruit with sorbet. I had the pork loin with carmelized apples and a potato blue cheese croquette. The cheese board was dessert. A margarita for John and a glass of wine for each of us completed the evening.

The difference between the Fredonia and Buffalo weck is this: Buffalo - hot roast beef with au jus Fredonia - cold roast beef, swiss cheese, lettuce and Thousand Island dressing Which style did you get in Olean?

Living in Morristown (formerly in Sparta by way of Australia) here's a few places for you: Stonefire Grill on Rte 10W in Randolph http://www.stonefire1.homestead.com/menu.html East Tokyo on Rte 10E in Randolph (almost directly across from Stonefire) An American Grill even though Lou's no longer there There's just some to get you going Tom ← I was goint to say Tom would be a good choice to pm. Unless Stonefire has moved as of today it is gohn and an Italian - American plece in it's stead. You could also head to Chester if you're on the Mount Olive end of town. Redwoods is very reliable and I've heard some good things about several places in Hackettstown. About the only time I ventue into Morristown is every 5 years to be sworn in a Notary Public. I am a country girl and that is too much city for me. PM me which side of Randolph you are moving to and I may be able to come up with some other suggestions.

Binghamton? Spiedies, perhaps? MelissaH ← DING! DING! DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!!

I hope my posting in bursts isn't bothering anyone but with the antiquated cow right now I have to upload pictures at work and do any photo manipulation here. My day off and I'm sitting among the crowd waiting to get dressed and go to dinner. In the meantime sometimes a recipe box isn't Whenever I am reading - period- if I see something interesting I fill out a form for myself and file it by subject. Food, Clothing and Jewelry, Wine, History, Biography, Birds... Every few weeks or so I pull an assortment out that appeal to me and give to Nancy, our Inter-Librarian Loan person. Here is writing from 3 of the 4 generations of women in my family. On top is the inscription my great-grandmother did in the cookbook she copied for my grandmother in 1934. The second one is the 2nd grade teacher's perfect printing of the family white fruitcake recipe. The third is the recipe I still use till this day.

susan, if you cover it, it probably won't rust out like mine did. See the picture of the back of the house? See that huge tan bulk? THAT is the monstrosity John picked up at the Home Depot. His rational was that with propane we could cook on a moment's notice. I do use it, occasionally, especially in hot weather and I do both hot and cold smoke on it. Last year, one of the hottest, most humid days, my neighbors could have seen me out there at 6 am in my baby doll pjs hot smoking some salmon for john's lunch.

korbel brut rose? NICE! ← Thought you might like THAT, Tommy. 10.99 at my local Bottle King.

Absolutely. Notice the lovely blue covered Tupperware on the right side of the table.

Jen mentioned the book Road Food, one of the books you could see in my teaser photo. That one is very special to me. I, like my mother, am a graduate of The State University College at Fredonia. Unlike her, I am a theatre graduate, not a zippy(music major). Going to school in western New York we used to avail ourselves of the advantages such as visiting Niagra Falls at least every other month(if you have never seen the Falls in the winter do go. It is spectacular), hitting up the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, rock shows at Rich Stadium or the Aud, performing at Kleinhans Music Hall with the Buffalo Philharmoic(Harry John Brown conducting), Schwabl's and Anchor Bar. The recipes of course are for Unlike the Buffalo version of Beef on Weck I make it Fredonia style like they used to serve it at the late Dickinson's Restaurnt. Cold with thin roast beef, swiss cheese, lettuce and Thousand Island dressing. Another favorite from the book will make it's appearance Friday. Road food of the best kind from Binghampton.

This was an interesting summer for us. The 47 year old septic system original to the house died. Behold my $12,000.00 USD new front yard. 95% of that front lawn is new. John rebuilt the front wall and put in a second rows of stones so we could do some plantings. We also had two trees removed earlier in the year so now we get sun and can grow something other than moss in the front yard. I lied about killing everything I plant. These seem to be doing well in the whiskey barrel. Can't say as much about the back porch plants but if you look closely you can see one Juliet tomato. The patio out back where we eat. And watch the stars - from the hot tub. The future perennial garden with a pink and white scheme. Oh and there on the lower left is what is left of my beloved Weber kettle grill. When the legs fell off I buried the bottom half there, filled it with good dirt and those are John's mint plants. The work on our small rooms is at an end for this summer but ... to be continued next spring.

Eating at the Bar Due to slightly limited funds and a limited amount of time due to work I won't get to show you all the places I visit on a semi-rotating basis. I love to eat out with my husband, I truly enjoy eating out with my friend, Michelle aka Dangerous Dining Companion but I also enjoy eating alone, many times while running errands. At those times I prefer to eat at the bar. Here are a few of the places I enjoy around the area. In Wharton, NJ is Hot Rod's BBQ. Even before you open the door you can smell the wood smoke. This is a hybrid BBQ but I will take the brisket wrap with wasabi mayo any day. Closer to home - oh, maybe 1/2 mile as the crow flies - is the Warehouse Grille here in Lake Hopatcong. For me this is like Cheers, the neighborhood joint you can walk home from if you have one too many - though I never have. Steaks and martinis are their specialties but if they have the Buffalo chicken wrap on the menu that is what I go for - along with a good pulled pint of something interesting. Since I am not heading down into Morris County as much as I did, I'm less of a fixture at this bar. An American Grill. I like the relaxed atmosphere here for lunch when I can order an appetizer and a salad and not feel like a stuffed sausage. If you're in the area look me up and I'll meet you for lunch.