colgibney

Sadly, the pork store closed last summer when Mr. Herzog retired.

So sorry to lose them, we always enjoyed that place a lot when down at the Shore!!

We've had terrific sausage (kielbasa, Italian, and German) as well as amazing liverwurst and hot dogs at Herzog's Jersey Pork Store, 232 Somerset St. in South Plainfield. They also have a killer potato salad that may involve pork fat.

Different styles, I know, but I prefer Piccolo's cheese steak sandwiches (thick meat style, local bread) up on First and Clinton in Hoboken. They are not open at night or on Sundays, but worth a shot at lunch.

I miss Joe and Tess' also. But Biggie's Clam Bar, in Hoboken, has steamers seasonally (fried the rest of the year).

I agree with the posts on Delicious Orchards--the produce is great, and their strawberry-rhubarb pies are a happy night at the shore in themselves. I live near Sobsey's market in Hoboken, (behind City Hall), and all produce is hand-picked with lots of unusual or farmers market-type produce in season, and much of it organic (this week I bought ramps, yellow beets, and a melon I've never seen before). Prices are more in the Whole Foods range, but the romance of a small store with good choices wins me over anyway, and I like to support local businesses. Tip: if you don't see it, ask--some items, such as cilantro and other herbs, are stored in the back to stay fresh. They will bring them out for you. This may be why their cilantro always has more flavor than the supermarket.

I live near the Hoboken Grimaldi's, and I would say that it's comparable to the other one, but you have to eat the pizza on site to get the effect. It loses a lot in a take-out or delivery situation. I tend to get an extra garlic pie there.

I haven't yet, and not much budget this year, but I'm trying to figure out where I might source a reasonable first flush Longjing or sencha (gyokuro is outta' my league this year!). I've been keeping an eye on the In Pursuit of Tea website, as I know they travel a lot this time of year.

I did a bake sale about a year and a half ago when the carbphobia was really getting into full swing here. I had made mini Splenda cheesecakes for diabetic customers, but they sold WAY ahead of my 'real' stuff, which was a bit disappointing to me even though I had made them. I have found that blonde bar cookies with crushed identifiable candies (Snickers works well) in little cello bags with ribbon sell pretty fast.

andiesenji wrote: >>On one show, she hosted Helen Gustafson, who had just published The Agony of the Leaves I really enjoyed Helen Gustafson's books, and heard that she was quite a character. I regret never getting to meet her before she passed away this past year or so. The Agony of the Leaves really describes the problem of trying to do tea well in a restaurant setting, even if it's Alice Waters' restaurant, and quality is imperative. To HalloweenCat's question, at one time I relied upon the the 2-pot method, which works great, but takes up valuable counterspace, but I now use the Teeli type mesh filters, using the large teapot size for most vessels to give maximum unfolding room. I use more leaf than most folks, especially for short infusions of green teas, so there's a tradeoff, but I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

When it started snowing, I was renewing my driver's license in Jersey City, so my DH and I decided that we had just enough time to swing by Cinco de Mayo Tacqueria on Central Avenue. Not only did I have a great meal, but I stocked up on their sausages (chorizo or something similar) which I find to be very lean and fresh. The sausages went into the crockpot with a mess of short ribs from the butcher across my street, olives, raisins, and other stuff to make a very nice stew. I didn't even end up spicing it much more, as the chorizo gave a rich flavor. I also made a big batch of hummus, but instead of tahini I used the spicy peanut butter from PB&Company in the Village. We ate the stew for work lunches for a whole week, but didn't get really tired of it! Blizzard magic?

Update to the above: The sign says Under New Ownership, and there as a neon sign in the window that reads, "Philly's Cheesesteaks." Saw a few boxes of commercial (didn't look like a local brand) bread on a table near the window. I would be more interested if they used our beloved local breads.

I can't wait to bring a bunch of fellow Hoboken people over to eat melty things! Colleen

There's a sign outside Jake's now that reads, 'under new management', though it hasn't been open all that long. I don't know any details. I tried a cheesesteak there once, but they didn't seem to use the good local bread, so I wasn't really impressed. I think it was also too cold. Meanwhile, I live across from Piccolo's, and I know the style there is different, and it can be slightly messy, but there's something about it that I find truly addictive. I always order mine with the fried onions. The bread is from one of Hoboken's three grandfathered coal-brick oven bakeries, possibly Marie's.

I really like Chengdu46 (or is it 44? I get confused, but it's the one with Chengdu), though I haven't been there this winter. I thought that the mapo doufu and the guo ba were great (I forget how they translate guo ba, but it's the one with the mixed things over sizzling rice). I also had a great whole fish with sauce, but it may have been a special item. The mapo doufu is the key thing for me-one of my top ten foods in life. It was lovely. Very much like the type I once had in Chengdu, from whence it originates, in Sichuan Province.