BeeZee

I have eaten at this Vietnamese restaurant which isn't too far from the main casino area (ie, you won't step on crack vials) Com Ga Ninh Kieu 1124 Atlantic Ave, Atlantic City, NJ 08401 I have eaten at White House Subs, it's good because they have good bread, but it's a cold sandwich after all.

Jo, it's a bit of a hike for you, but in Edgewater, NJ is Mitsuwa Marketplace, which is chock full of Japanese goods. When I had business anywhere near that area, I'd schedule a side trip to spend an hour wandering the aisles. Wegmans supermarket has a few Japanese items in their "International" aisle.

Supermarket had big sale on lobsters 1-1.5 lb and I was determined to take advantage, but it's been hot and we wanted something light/refreshing...so cold salad with lobster was the answer. Found a simple recipe online from Mario Batali which had a lemon dressing and it hit the spot...lobster, tomatoes, celery, arugula. Had a glass of vinho verde, too.

breakfast at work (per usual during the week) so no photo...whole wheat bagel with Whole Foods Greek hummus and sliced NJ garden tomato from my coworker. He left a bag of them on the table in our office kitchen so I snagged a nice ripe Roma specimen (the small slices fit nicely lined up along the bagel's borders!). I love when he starts rolling in with the garden surplus.

it was the food blogs that first drew me in...a fascinating in depth view of how other people cooked/ate, and their culture from a personal point of view (not academic).

When I cut the corn off the cobs, I did scrape them to get the "milk" into the bowl, also. I also added a bit of tarragon to the soup, it does need something or it just tastes like milky corn. I think next time I'll garnish with some cooked lobster and make it a real summertime bowl.

I just made a batch of Mark Bittman's Basic Corn Chowder (which actually winds up having an equal volume of potato and corn) and it is very clean tasting, I had nice juicy sweet bi-color corn. I added diced red pepper to the veg mix (sauteed along with the onion and potato), it adds a nice pop of color. Fresh snipped chives at the end. Made with whole milk, it's not overly rich...but it did need a fair amount of salt since you make a corn cob broth rather than using stock. I suspect it may work well as a chilled soup as well...if I add more salt.

zucchini and yellow squash from co-worker's garden. He said they grew about 3" in a matter of hours after we got rain on Saturday. They will be good receptacles for stuffing!

as it is currently "mangopalooza" at TJ's, I tried 2 new things. Mango macarons (very good, box of 12 is $4.99 I believe, which is what I'd pay for 2 cookies at the bakery) and Mango Ginger Chimes (chewy candy). I like ginger candies, these have the mango flavor up front, then as you chew the familiar heat of the ginger takes over. I believe the pack was $1.99.

love the slab-o-butter...my husband used to work with a guy who said if you don't see teethmarks when you bit into your buttered bread, you didn't use enough butter.

so it's not quite like the "Ladies who Lunch"...but I always scope out food places on the Google map when I'm going to a customer meeting...to see what might be in the area of interest. Today's destination showed a scoop shop who makes their own on the premises. For lunch today, the sun came out and I had a scoop of strawberry cheesecake ice cream. That is all.

I posted under "current deals" also...Instant Pot is on sale today on Amazon.com

Instant Pot on sale at Amazon today $67.89 (US)

well...charoset is supposed to resemble mortar...

I'm with you on that approach to the holiday, I put leftover charoset (chopped apple/walnut/dried apricot relish) on my morning oats

someone brought these in to the office. I am still recovering from flu/crap and my sense of taste is sort of off so the nuances are lost on me. But I found the honey nut and coffee nut flavors to be pleasant. The chili nut gives a little burn after you chew it up (chili extract is the last ingredient). Most people in the office considered this the "gimmick" flavor. If I had to pick one flavor to keep, it would be the coffee one. Tastes like a sweet mocha latte.

I find Aldi stores to be depressing. They are dimly lit and the produce is on the verge of going south for the most part. Very limited selection. The last thing I purchased was a package of 100-calorie almond packs and some dried fruit strips. I went there because of the TJ's link, but you'd be hard-pressed to see the connection. Not worth a special trip, and hard to believe they are serious competition for Wal-Mart because of the limited selection. I guess for those on fixed income, for whom the dollars must be watched carefully, they would pick up certain things at Aldi and get the rest elsewhere.

brought some cooked turkey in from home...quick run at lunch time to supermarket to pick up fresh wheat roll, avocado, and heirloom tomato (surprise!) and assembled sandwich in office kitchen. The tomato was an unexpected treat this time of year, had some decent flavor (it was the variety that is dark red and green with bright red flesh).

I can't stomach breakfast when I first wake up (pun intended). No appetite and no desire. The first thing consumed is a B-12 tablet (dissolved on the tongue) followed by one cup of black coffee (french roast). Then 1/2 banana (split with DH). I usually eat a small breakfast at the office (yogurt, oatmeal cup, or similar), which is about 3 hours after I've woken up. Drink 2 cups herbal tea during the morning. Haven't noticed much difference if I don't eat except for getting hungrier at lunch time.

it still makes me smile...comeuppance in spades (he was a man who MUST HAVE HIS COFFEE). To this day I wonder if the look of disbelief (as I sat across from the kitchen alcove, I witnessed the incident) was due more to the fact that it happened...or the fact that he realized his wife was correct!

Darienne, reminds me of an incident from working in a small office...it was me, another girl, and a husband and wife. The husband was always very dismissive and had a quick temper, we were all a little uneasy around him. Nobody could tell him what to do, and he didn't want to believe his wife when she warned him not to rinse the hot coffee pot with cold water...at least his mess was confined to the sink.

yes, you definitely don't want as much "gravy" in those other types. It will soften that dough as they sit.

what about thinking of something more like a Pastie or Empanada? They were designed to be portable meals, meat/veg contained within a crust?

just watching with hubby, leaning towards loaded nachos

I subscribed to the email list for when the seeds are available for a tomato that Rutgers University says is more like the "tomatoes of old" in New Jersey...my coworker is a serious gardener and I'm going to give him the seeds to plant on my behalf. And hopefully share the bounty. http://news.rutgers.edu/feature/rutgers-tomato-reinvented-even-more-flavor/20150802#.Vq69-EDnmt8