Allura

Looks like it was just an oversight. There's now a link to us, under the label, "My appologies to eGullet...here is the link."

I looked for, but didn't find, a "stupid baking questions" thread. We picked up a birthday cake at the local bakery, and got to talking about something we noticed. It was an all-chocolate cake - chocolate cake, fuge filling, buttercream icing. But right at the outer edge of the filling was some white butter cream. I've seen this a lot on chocolate cakes (which is about all my family gets ); a bit of white buttercream on the edge of the filling, possibly on the sides a bit, as well. We were speculating why - I'm leaning towards icing the cake first so it's easier to see the spots? Am I close? Curious!

As you may have guessed, my mother likes this place. We went to the one in Long Branch on Sunday morning, for brunch. It's in a very new area called "Pier Village" - upscale shops below condos. Nice large windows for people watching (it faces the beach, although there's parking between it & the boardwalk, and a fireplace in the room we were in. Usually I eat fairly basic things for breakfast; even my omelets are of the meat & cheese variety. But "Smoked Salmon Benedict" caught my eye - rye toast (I subbed multigrain; shoulda left it alone), cream cheese, smoked salmon, plum tomato, poached egg, asparagus, and hollandaise. Very nice mix of flavors. We all split an order of pancakes as "dessert" - again, not quite what I was expecting. They were almost cakey, but crisp on the outside, almost reminded me of a thick crepe; I don't think I'm describing them well. Mom had an egg burrito type thing, my husband had a chicken sandwich with pepper jack & ranch, Dad had a chicken/tuna/egg (?) salad, and my sister had french toast. All good, but I think I picked the winner. We walked it off along the shops & the boardwalk after, saying hi to all the dogs people had brought. DH even tried his hand at the cheesy skating rink they had set up (wasn't actually ice; weird). A nice little afternoon.

A friend of ours always hosts a party. When we were in college, it was at her parent's house (with their friends and her sibling's friends); now it's at her & her husband's new house. and some of the "kids" will be bringing kids! I have no idea what she'll make; usually a lot of hors d'ouvres, and also a buffet-style dinner - ham might be likely. She's Thai, and makes wonderful Thai food, but she doesn't usually do that for big parties. I should actually think about bringing something. New Year's Day is usually spent with my parents (and Mom & I call each other at midnight). Dinner is frequently roast pork loin, as it "walks forward."

Our Thanksgiving rarely has Italian influences anymore, so it all comes out at Christmas. Traditionaly Italian Christmas Eve (fish & pasta), but Christmas Day is VERY variable. We always have pasta first (this year it's lasagna and/or tortellin at the moment, but that's subject to change), but the second course is usually different. Most often it's beef, though. This year I think it's going to be brisket and latkes, since my Dad's Jewish & Hanukkah starts the next day. That's a new one for us. Never turkey; I don't think any of us like it enough. Pork loin or crown roast are also possibilities. Not ham to often, I think - that's usually for Easter. Yeah, I think it really depends a lot on your ethnicity.

Christmas Eve is a fairly big deal in my family. We go to my aunt's house and have an Italian "Feast of the Seven Fishes." Some years I think it's more the "Feast of a Dozen Desserts." First course, pasta: spaghetti or linguini with white clam sauce and with calamari sauce. My mother makes the calamari now; my grandmother used to. She stuffs the bodies with breadcrumbs and cooks them and the tentacles (which most of the guys fight over...) in a somewhat spicy red sauce. oh, and there's usually some spaghetti with butter, too. Second course is fish. Fried eels, shrimp, scallops. Crabcakes. Shrimp scampi. One or two steaks or filets done on the grill, salmon, flounder, halibut, something like that. Bacala (salt cod) salad usually is on the table, but rarely eaten...Veggies usually include broccolli w/cheese sauce, maybe asparagus or green beans, or mushrooms, or some combination. I prob should start looking for an idea; I tend to bring a side and/or a dessert. Third course is fruit, nuts, and raw fennel. Gives us a good chance to make room...for dessert. Fourth is dessert. We go bonkers. Everyone tends to bring something, and some people bring multiples, so we end up with close to one each. Chocolate jelly roll, cookies, and ricotta cheesecake are about the only constants. Everything else is whatever looks good at the bakery or someone feels like making. I'm thinking of making the chocolate pecan pie I made for Thanksgiving, since it was so rich and this side of the family didn't have it. A trifle's another possibility. At some point we roll home, drunk (well, except me...it's funnier that way...) and go to sleep. Christmas Day is much more casual and meals go all over the place. Some years breakfast is bagels & danishes, sometimes it's eggs to order. Depends how awake and energetic my mother's feeling. We open gifts - the "kids" still get too many - and eventually whoever's coming over comes over. This year dinner will be brisket and latkes since Hanukkah's the next day and my father is Jewish. I believe we'll be leading off with lasagna and/or tortellini alfredo, just to mix our ethnicities up. Should be fun.

First, I want to add my thanks as well. Your word choice caught my eye, "geedunk." Is that mostly a navy term, or something you picked up from someone else? Curious, bc my Father-In-Law calls it that, too, and he's retired Navy Reserves. Thanks! -edited bc I can't type....

Unusual suggestion in addition to the rest. Get a cat. In one place I lived, we had the problem, and we put up fly paper which sorta helped but it's gross. Then we ended up with a cat, and somehow the problem stopped at the same time...he's a mighty bug hunter.

Actually, I was just thinking that I really wanted to make cookies this year, but don't want to go too crazy (nor do I have the time to) by making several batches right before Christmas. What EXACTLY do I have to do to get them to freeze well? Any type that does/doesn't freeze well? Thanks!

Bit of thread resurrection here, but it seems the appropriate place to ask: I'm trying to determine how much sodum actually ends up in the meat, particularly for someone on a low-salt diet. My father is now limited in his salt intake, so I'm wondering if brining is acceptable for his diet? Generally, he tries to keep it down to 200mg per serving (2000mg / day is his limit, and he tries to eat much less), although a bit more is acceptable at dinner, his main meal. Thanks for any help.

This has me wondering - is there any guarantee that store labeled meat is, well, meat, without additives? It's sad when you have to read the ingredients on your MEAT, whether it's beef, pork or chicken.

Just making two simple ones this year to bring: apple crisp and chocolate pecan pie. I believe my sister-in-law's making a pumpkin cheesecake and either pumpkin or sweet potato pie. I think my father-in-law's fiance said something about a pumpking creme brulee, too. Should be good.

We made chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, yeah, I know...) sprinkled with some oregano, s&p, then laid some sliced onions on top, then slices of granny smith apple. Drizzled a bit of honey mixed with water on top, dotted with butter, and baked. Not bad. I'm starting to get the hang of this fruit-with-meat concept. It was slightly sweet, but not dessert sweet. Oh, and "cheesy potatoes"...from a box...I let DH pick....

This year we're going to my Father-In-Law's house, and I have NO idea what's on the menu, really. He's not very helpful, except to say there'll be a turkey and "some kind of pork". His fiancee wants to make some Puero Rican-style "comfort foods", but I'm not sure what that is. So I'm trying to figure out what to bring...except I have to travel 4-5 hours (central NJ to northern VA). So far I've thought of apple crisp, the spiced sweet potato cake I made last year, or some sort of side dish. This family keeps things a bit too laid back; my mother started setting her menu a few weeks ago!

Sounds like a great price to me! Mind sharing where you got it?

And this is why I don't use my debit card to reserve a hotel room anymore. For me, if I'm pulling the debit card out to pay a restaurant, I'm also putting the tip on it, and it's usually 20% (or close to it), so it's not a big deal. But when the hotel starts holding an extra $50-$100, it's a little more annoying. Then again, I've been using a debit card (and online banking) practically since they were created.

They all sound good, but Dad loves apples, so the apple cake sounds great. I need to get myself an ovenproof skillet at some point, though, unless my Calphalon "everyday" is ovenproof - which, it turns out, it is.

Thanks!

My father just had a stent put in to remove a blocked artery. Needless to say, the family's now trying to eat "heart healthy", which is both low salt and low fat. I'm a beginner baker, but I do bake from scratch occasionally, which is more then my mother does...if it comes in a package, she'll buy it. Anyway, I'd like to make the occasional sweet treat for them, but I really don't have enough skill to beging to adapt recipes myself. Hence, I turn to egullet. Does anyone have a recommendation for a low fat pastry cookbook? Thanks!

Actually, they do deliver, but it's an additional $5.95 on top of the initial $10 charge. They use scripting on the site, so I can't link directly to it, so here's the list of town's the Clark Shoprite delivers to, and the zip codes: 07001 Avenel 07016 Cranford 07023 Fanwood 07027 Garwood 07033 Kenilworth 07036 Linden 07060 Plainfield 07065 Rahway 07066 Clark 07067 Colonia 07076 Scotch Plains 07083 Union 07090 Westfield 07091 Westfield 07092 Mountanside 07095 Woodbridge 07203 Roselle 07204 Roselle Park 08820 Edison 08830 Iselin Also, there's multiple Shoprite's that have this program. The link is here.

The Stage House has had a big banner up lately saying "The Tavern in the Barn: Coming Soon." I finally got an email explaining. They're calling it an "every day alternative to the commonly frequented chain restaurants and taverns in the area." The menu can be found here. Grand opening Sunday Aug 29, soft opening by reservation (50% off prices in exchange for feedback) Mon Aug 22-Aug 29. Menu sounds yummy...

Last week was extremely crazy, so I took the opportunity (read: excuse) to try out Shoprite in Clark's "Shop at Home" service. It worked out better then I expected, honestly. I paid an additional $10, but it was worth it to have someone else do the shopping, and help load it in my car. They picked out similiar quality to what I would have chosen, and I didn't have any dissapointments. Oh, and they through in a few samples, one of their pudding cakes, a bottle of a new organic green tea, and some new mini candies. Later I was sent a followup email that said every 5th use of the service would have a free service charge. I'd probably use it again.

Lessee.... Yes, it's possible that Diner Girl has some sort of connection to the restaurant; the comments about the BoH are suspicious. However, does anyone have an actual critique of the restaurant to follow up with? Not every new member's a troll; It's possible she's just very earnest & finally decided to delurk. It's happened before. I'm also noting that her other post is about pizza and such in the area, and doesn't even mention this restaurant.

Two things come to mind because they were frequenently requested: meat tortellini alfredo (frozen tortellini, but still good), and corn fritters. Couldn't get her to make the latter too often, since she hates frying, unless someone else is cleaning her stove after... Oh, and when I was 5ish, my dad made a meatloaf train for my birthday that I still remember. He rarely cooks, so putting all that work into it still makes me smile.

Today's dinner was "teriyaki" style hamburgers. Ground beef, soy sauce (a bit too much), a bit of ginger, ground black pepper, and a large clove of garlic. Pan-fried and served on whole wheat mini pitas, with a bit of ketchip and pickle, and tater tots on the side. One of the Jacques Torres dark chocolate covered marshmellows (maybe two...) for dessert.