birder53

So true!

We also allowed the birthday celebrant to choose the meal at home. My favorite was always roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy followed by Mom's angel foodcake with coffee flavored, homemade fresh whipped cream Mom was unhappy when my new favorite became paella valencia - a lot more work for her! We also moved on to haagen-dazs icecream cakes for dessert. We celebrated my big 50 at Stage House Inn. We invited my sister and her husband to join us for the seven course tasting menu with wines. It was wonderful! My husband celebrated his 50th with a family dinner and asked me to cook all his favorites. However you decide to celebrate - enjoy and congratulations!

Thanks for all the great suggestions. We ended up with the following menu: Grilled salt & pepper shrimp with a lemony horseradish cocktail sauce/ Prosecco Grilled pork tenderloin with an orange/rosemary glaze and an orange rosemary balsamic sauce. A Trimbach Reisling and an unidentified New Zealand red wine( contributed by our guests). Pineapple, mango, peach salsa w/ lime juice, scallions and cilantro. Warm salad of couscous w/ grilled zucchini & red onion dressed with fresh orange juice & zest & cilantro. The zucchini were coated with a cumin, cinnamon, brown sugar spice mix prior to grilling. A mix of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, red raspberries in a vanilla infused sugar sauce. Unfortunately I requested your expert assistance the evening before the meal was to take place which left me with precious little time to do much prep work or attempt anything too new. As it was, I left all the work until Saturday and was still rinsing off all the berries for dessert when our guests arrived. Even though I have learned that everything will take longer than I thought it would, I still don't allow myself enough time. Anyway, the meal was a big hit, with guests asking for recipes for everything! I brined the tenderloins prior to cooking which made them absolutely tender and juicy. Even those who feared dry pork asked for seconds. No leftovers. I will use some of your suggestions for future menu planning. I'll have to try the fritters soon to see how I can easily make them without making too much of a greasy mess in the kitchen. I remember my mother making fritters each summer, corn and peach. They were scrumptious!

The fritter suggestions sound wonderful but they are a bit more labor intensive than I can handle. I'm trying to prepare as much as possible before my guests arrive. The saffron basmati rice sounds like a good fit. Keep 'em coming!

I was afraid rice would be too heavy. I did consider a brown basmati rice (isn't basmati rice lighter than long/short grain rice) with cinnamon and dried currants but thought I needed to get something green in there. The zucchini/couscous salad has orange zest and cinnamon which I thought might compliment the pork and salsa. I wish every recipe came with suggestions of what to serve with it!

I'm serving grilled pork tenderloin with an orange balsamic glaze and sauce along with a fruit salsa (mango, pineapple, peach). What should I serve with this? A green salad, corn (too heavy - right?), how about a salad of grilled zucchini and couscous? First course is grilled salt & pepper shrimp with a lemony horseradish cocktail sauce. Dessert will probably be grilled pineapple with a butter rum sauce over vanilla ice cream and maybe pound cake. Any suggestions???

Another vote for Fine Cooking.

Count another vote for Dock's! Also, be sure to call ahead for reservations for the Friday night seafood buffet at the Marriott in Absecon. It is very popular.

We had the best lobster stew in Lincolnville Beach last year. It wasn't a lobster pound, but a restaurant right on the beach by the ferry - The Lincolnville Inn?. The Maine coast is just a wonderful place to eat and view the incredibly beautiful scenery. We bought a map of Maine lighthouses and use that as our guide. We have lots of great lighthouse photos and wonderful meals to remember our many Maine trips. Two spots we enjoyed for breakfast in Bar Harbor are Cafe This Way and 2 Cats Inn. Unfortunately they are very crowded this time of year as Bar Harbor has become increasingly popular. The cruise ships in the harbor have added to the congestion in the shops by the waterfront. We spent a week in Maine last year at the beginning of September. Bar Harbor is a pleasure once the peak vacation season is over. The weather is still good and you can enjoy yourself without the crowds. Just one of the perks of not having to travel when the schools are closed!

Went to a party at a co-workers apartment in Greenwich Village about 20 years ago. The apartment was over a bar/restaurant. Roaches were crawling in and out and over the various boxes of cereal, crackers, etc in their kitchen. We left immediately. Run for your lives!

Aargh!

It's nice to know she still has hopes of finding Mr. Right!

I like their vodka sauce, black licorice, oatmeal cranberry cookies, and ginger altoids.

Aren't all egulleteers obsessed with food? Why else would we spend so much time here living vicariously through others' adventures and sharing our own? My food obsession has shifted from just eating good food to preparing it as well. My husband still asks "Who are you?" as I read new recipes out loud to him and continue to fill the kitchen with new gadgets and more pots. I'm truly dissappointed when he wants to eat out instead of allowing me to cook. I'll have to retire that magnet on my refrigerator that says "My favorite thing to make for dinner is reservations." Between egullet, Fine Cooking magazine and the opening of Wegmans nearby, my life has changed and I can truly say I am a better person for it.

Wow! Didn't expect to find such passionate writing here. I've been to Carrabba's once in NJ. Friends who had eaten at one in FL suggested we try it as they enjoyed it very much. My parents also enjoyed it in FL. We went with all of them and the reactions were mixed. Friends and parents liked the FL site better than NJ. They thought the food was better than what we had that evening. Nothing was considered to be bad, just not worth a return trip. I thought the quality of the food was not equal to the prices, although the portions were very large. Service was pleasant. We also did not have to wait for a table. I guess I am lucky to have "indies" in my neighborhood that can provide better food and lower or comparable prices without the large chain atmosphere. Places like Carrabba's serve a large audience and they will continue to prosper and multiply. It's good to have some feedback on them as you never know when you will end up without other dining alternatives - particularly when travelling.

Takes to long to wash and there hell to retune so you can play them after you slice onions. What you need is a mandoline. Okay - I'll take one of those too!

I need a mandolin!

The suggestion to improve one's knife skills is great. I did take the eg knife course and it did reduce my onion cutting woes. However, I still can't keep my fingers tucked back away from the blade, which keeps the nails on my left hand shorter than those on my right. I need to go through that course again and then practice, practice, practice! My husband has the same complaint about my cooking - I take too long. I'd be very embarrassed to let anyone watch me wield a knife - it is painfully slow and inefficient. It adds lots of extra time to my cooking Good luck s'kat! I know what you're going through!

Enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Fascino on Saturday. Started with orders of calamari, squash blossoms stuffed with lump crabmeat and the ravioli of the day - wild mushroom with a cheese I was unfamiliar with in a truffle sauce. All were excellent and my father, who did not want an appetizer at all, couldn't stop eating the calamari! Entrees were hazelnut crusted salmon over wilted spinach with mussels, porcini dusted sea scallops over 'farro risotto' and a pork tenderloin dish that I've forgotten the details of. We also had and enjoyed the mascarpone polenta fries! Desserts were the molten center chocolate cake with hazelnut gelato, a bread pudding, a blueberry crostata and something else with strawberries. Good coffee and espresso rounded out this wonderful meal. Service was excellent, the room is lovely and we now have a reason to trek a bit farther than usual for this gem of a place. As we left the restaurant, a young man who works there was standing outside and asked how we enjoyed the meal. He then commented that we were the first to use Open Table to book a reservation. In fact, he said they had not been on line with the service for even an hour when our reservation came through. I felt fortunate to be able to get a reservation so quickly - Thursday afternoon for Saturday evening. However, the 5:00PM seating was the only one available and fit the rest of our day's schedule perfectly. We will return!

Going to Fascino tomorrow night. Can't wait!

I've always meant to try David Rosengarten's G&T recipe. It calls for 3:4 gin to Schweppes Tonic Water... but the interesting twist is that the ice cubes are made with frozen Schweppes Tonic Water. He says he prefers Plymouth, though, which doesn't make much sense to me. I'd rather have a more strongly juniper-flavored (and more alcoholic) gin in a G&T. Something like Junipero. And here I thought Plymouth was very aromatic! What is the flavor I taste if not juniper? The only other gins I have tried is Smirnoff (barely any taste to me) and Bombay Sapphire (lots of flavor!)

We have borage growing in the herb garden and had no idea what to do with it! The blossoms are beautiful. I'll have to remember to add it to my next Pimm's.

I have to wonder how they decided to allow BYO one night only. It seems like a big hit just from the number of tables who brought their own, but it was a bit disconcerting to see the large numbers of assorted bottle carriers that were arriving. It looked like people toting lots of beach bags into the dining room. Maybe it was too popular and they decided to limit it. I would avoid dining there on a Tuesday unless I planned on bringing my own wine.

Hubby and I dined at Stage House last night. We were anxious to see if there were any noticeable changes since David Drake sold the establishment to a corporation( whose name escapes me.) We were last there is January of this year. I recognized some of the staff from previous visits but the server we have had for the last three years was not there. While the food was excellent, the service was not up to par. They were extremely busy for a Tuesday night, IMHO. There were two large groups in the outer rooms and all but two tables in the main dining room were filled. Our server seemed inexperienced and overworked. We ordered from the Market Menu - three courses for $35. Two tasting menus and an a la carte menu were also available. We ordered glasses of champagne to begin our meal. When asked if we wanted to see the wine menu, I declined but said we would order by the glass with our entrees. We both started with pea soup that tasted like spring! I don't recall ever having pea soup that did not taste either of salt or was overwhelmed by a smoked ham hock. No ham hock here! The presentation included crabmeat and caviar atop a large crouton and creme fraiche swirled lightly atop the soup. Entrees were hanger steak and chicken, both simply prepared but well done. Our server had not returned at this point, but a gentleman , possible the maitre'd?, came by to ask if all was well. I asked for a wine suggestion for my dish. He returned with the wine menu and helped to select a wonderful California cabernet sauvignon. When dessert arrived, molten lava cake for himself and the cheese selection for me, I was able to flag down our server to ask for the names of the cheeses and a wine suggestion. She deferred to the sommelier who had prepared the cheese plate. The sommelier suggested a wonderful sauterne, but it must have been the end of their last bottle and since not a full pour, was served wihout charge. She also gave a wonderful cheese by cheese tour of the goodies she had selected for me. They were served with an apricot compote and slices of warm raisin/nut bread. That was my first cheese plate which I tried after reading all the egullet reviews of how wonderful they could be. I liked it alot! Now, the BYO reference - I think David Drake began waiving the corkage charge during the summer two years ago on weekdays. I just checked their website and it seems that every Tuesday is now BYO. They took each table's wine and labled it and served it. It wasn't left on your table for you to pour, they treated it as one of their own. I'd say that 85% of the tables last night in the main dining room had brought their own wine. I guess that explains the big crowd on a Tuesday night. The total experience last night wasn't as wonderful as our previous ones had been. I've never seen it so crowded and noisy. The staff was gracious but stretched thin. It will be inetresting to see how the new owner does in bringing the new staff up to par with the prior level ovf service we had come to expect. One note - there is a lovely garden patio with several tables set up - but no diners last night. There were two trellises overflowing with beautiful pink roses and the herb gardens look lovely. I don't know if I'd want to eat my meal outside, but it would be a nice spot for coffee, dessert and an afterdinner drink.

I cut the recipe out of today's paper. Ginger is soooo good! I'd try it today but it needs some advance prep. To bad, it's so hot humid here today that this would really hit the spot. (It's not supposed to be 91 and humid in May in NJ!!!)