lamb

Fluffernutter Made with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff on wonder white bread A staple sandwich growing up in the 60's sing along with me now.... "Oh you need fluff, fluff, fluff to make a fluffer nutter, Marshmallow fluff and lots of peanut butter. First you spread, spread, spread your bread with peanut butter, Add marshmallow fluff and have a fluffernutter. When you enjoy, joy, joy your fluff and peanut butter, You're glad you have enough for another fluffernutter. "

I'll go outside of the area you designated above, all the way down to Ocean County. Joe Leone's in Point Pleasant Beach bakes the best breads. Good enough to throw me off any no-carb diet that comes my way. See Joe's Breads

see the roasted cauliflower thread cauliflower It goes with almost everything, and is very simple to make. As an added plus, my kids love it. Tell Daniel it's like French Fries!

I was just thinking of sweet potato fries. Martell's Tiki Bar at Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, makes the best sp fries. I haven't been down there in about a month or so, and tried to make them at home. Sliced the potatoes and attempted to deep fry them. They came out terrible; can't figure out what I did wrong. Any thoughts? They were dry and hard, not all all like to moist, flavorful fries on the n.j. boardwalk.

Rachel, I use this to chop, since I am a little challenged when it comes to using a knife I have, no matter how much I've tried to be careful, cut my fingers (or a nail) too many times. So, I use this Chopper It's only a 3 cup, and I know you neeed 4 cups of onions, but it's pretty speedy and you can do it in two batches. I have a smaller Black and Decker one too. Good luck - and I've eaten breakfast before blood tests too. Ugh - had to reschedule.

Rachel, I'm looking forward to reading your blog! I hope you do let us know of your son's menu as I have dealt with a picky eater for 16 years now (since the day my son stopped formula and baby food and went onto solids, it has been an adventure). Believe me, one day he will wake up and decide to eat what the rest of the family is chowing down on. While it doesn't seem like it now, you won't be able to shovel the food in front of him fast enough!

Can't we make Kris the permanent "Blogrina"? I for one have enjoyed her week immensely. I will miss her daily chronicles of life that she shared with us.

Rosie, You may have no control over the content layout in openings and closings, but it might be easier to read if each months openings/closings were grouped together instead of under the category of opening and closing. I find my self reading the current months openings, and then having to scroll down the entire page to find the current months closings. Just a suggestion

That's the place I was trying to think of!!! It's not a members only establishment, though, is it? Maybe it's just the private dining rooms that are members only.

Kris, I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed your New Year's blog and how I am enjoying this one as well. As the mom to two teenagers on a different continent, I look forward to hearing what you are preparing for your kids. I laughed when you said that they demanded snacks at 3 pm. I can certainly empathize with that! My kids are like bottomless pits, my 17 year old son eats EVERYTHING and my 14 year old athlethically inclined daughter gives him a run for his money. By the way, I have the same cereal bowl!! Corny the Rooster is at the bottom of mine

So, Katie... will you be the egulleter to try the new Cheesesteak? I'd be willing to start a collection for this important endeavor.

You might be hard-pressed to fnd a place with entertainment in the area. I know for certain that Joe & Maggie's in Long Branch does not have entertainment - but the food and wine selection are great. They have an upstairs area that would accomodate your group. Not lively, though. Some places in Red Bank might be better suited to your needs - unfortunately, I'm drawing a blank right now. Will post again if the light bulb goes off over my head.

Cheesesteak Story Any Philly egulleters willing to try it?

laurence fishburne at rue 57. He is such a cool guy. dreamy

I second that one. My daughter attended a BM there last year and proclaimed it "The Best Party EVER".

As many have said before me, it is not the food itself that can make "morning sickness" worse, but the smell of food. In my case, morning, afternoon and evening sickness was made worse by smells, not always food related. Perfume on the person next to me while commuting, the NYC subway system (gack-that can make anyone sick!!), but by far the smell of chicken sent me over the edge. I lived on saltine crackers, and actually lost weight during my pregnancies during the first three months. Doctors were worried and monitored me closely, but I was able to escape being hospitalized. Fortunately, I woke up one day during the fourth month during both pregs, and VOILA - no more sickness. In short, trying to find an acceptable menu during this time probably is a futile effort. Deal with it now, it will pass and then watch out - the feeding frenzy will probably begin !!

by table wine do you mean house wine? i can't imagine their house wines being even decent (chardonnay, wine zin, etc, according to the website). but i've never had them. I was speaking survival mode. Go with the flow. Brain in neutral. Last I saw, diners poured themselves mass quantities of table wine into tumblers, working on the honor system. I don't think their food even goes with wine, YMMV, probably a mixed drink would be better. Or several. Now I doubt you would be happy with this, since you seem to have concerns. But it would anesthetize me while I enjoyed the hot bread and waited for my dining companions to finish their meals, at which point we could probably split one of those desserts that's large enough for a table. Undoubtedly they owe it to me, as they would have had to be treating me in the first place for me to go to Macaroni Grill. Here in NJ, the MG's are not allowed to let the wine sit on the table to let the owners pour their own ala the honor system. The MG by me in Holmdel has told me that state law prevents them from doing so. So the servers pour by the glass upon request. I've gotten bottles of Cakebread Chard at a reasonable price from MG. I was impressed. When my kids were younger my hubby and I visited it frequently. Still stop in every now and then. Decent food at decent price.

I'm glad I am reading this in my office, with my monitor pointed away from my door. My staff thinks I'm nuts to beging with, I really don't want to explain that I'm crying over Julia Child. I am not a very adventurous cook, and her recipies were easy for me to follow. She never appeared condescending, and she was truly a great lady. I am also thinking of the Saturday Night Live skit with Dan Ackroyd playing her. Makes me smile.

I think that FRIENDS is the key word here, not so much the LDS affiliation. Friends certainly would not mind if you had wine with your meals, while they had another type of beverage. Since the party has since come and gone, I would be interested to hear how it turned out. As a side note, a colleague and I entertained some clients last year in NYC. They are on the Finance Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. My colleague and I are not SB. We met them in our offices, then they departed to their hotels to freshen up for dinner and a play. We met them at a restaurant in NYC, and my colleague and I had arrived early and ordered a glass of wine each before our guests arrived. They arrived and ordered iced tea, but in no way made us feel uncomfortable for ordering wine. The play was another story. One of our clients, after I offered to get tickets for them while they were in the Big Apple, requested to see The Producers. I had never seen it before, and neither had my colleague. We got great seats - fourth row or so - center. Into the first 20 minutes of the play I realized that it could be horribly offensive to them. The person who wanted to see the play saw that we were concerned, and leaned over to say to me "I'm having the time of my life, thanks so much for taking us here!" It put me somewhat at ease, but I have to admit I did flinch at several points during the play.

Like birder53 my hubby and I are regulars at our local Italian cafe. We frequent it about 6 times a month. Husband usually orders a cappucino and most of the time it is comp'd. We really don't expect it to be, and are pleasantly surprised when the owners do it. Our most appreciated effort, however, is when the owners will make something for us that is off the menu or not a special for the evening. Sometimes when they do that another diner will see our plate and ask for the same meal. I don't know if it's a pain for them to do this, so it's not often that we'll ask for a special dish.

For what it's worth, Andrea Clurfeld review Baypoint Prime, Foy's new steakhouse in Point Pleasant Beach. Review here

I've noticed in some of the threads such as this one that box persons or baggers are mentioned. I have seen them in Florida, and they often escort my mom out to her car and load the bags in her trunk, and won't accept a tip. Here in good ole New Jersey, that job just doesn't exist. There are even very few shoppers who have the checkers bag their groceries. Most shoppers here bag their own. I prefer to bag my own anyway. I tend to bag like items together, this way I am organized when I go home and have to unload. I hate putting groceries away There are a few self serve checkouts in my local supermarkets. I almost never have just a few items to justify self checkout for myself, but usually see a person or two at that checkout. It seems to work if you have just a few items to checkout.

a few minutes away in Cape May is the Peter Shields Inn. Website here for dining Peter Shields Dining It's been a few years since I've been there, but I always enjoyed dining as well as staying there.

I thought they did a nice Risotto at Fresco - off Madison and 52nd?/51st.

Dennis Foy recently opened a new steak place on Ocean Avenue in PPB - Bayside or something like that. I've haven't been there yet so can't report; but if it's anything like his namesake restaurant on Arnold Avenue I won't be going. I'll wait to hear what some of my neighbors have to say about it.