Saturday, June 02, 2007
Hungry for Hungarian?
I was. So I dragged Lucky to the Hungarian festival in New Brunswick. last year, I had gone with my mom and it was pretty empty; we figured it was because of the rain. But this year no rain, and the attendance was still pretty sparse. If they would listen to a little ol' Deutsch-y Pole, they would make the area a bit smaller.
We ate in the Hungarian Boy Scout Hall. Food was good, especially the spicy Gulyas (Also in the photo are stuffed cabbage rolls with rye bread). But no A/C made it a bit stuffy... we should have had dinner at the new Athletic Hall. We did have dessert there. Palacsinta (apricot jam smeared on a crepe) and walnut cake (which tasted just like the walnut cake at the Greek Festival).Labels: festival, food, new brunswick, nj
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Going Greek
Today, Lucky and I ventured to the 34th annual Greek Festival in Piscataway. My family had been wanting to go for over 30 years and so last year, we finally went.
This year, it was just the two of us venturing there. And honestly, it probably will be the last time. Not that I hate people; it's just that I hate lots of people. You have to park in the Rutgers Stadium lot and get bussed over, pay the $2 each to get in, wait in a long line to get the tickets for the food you want, wait in line to get that food, wait for a table to open up, and then forget about having a conversation because it's so loud.
Yes, the food is good... Lucky had a massive brick of pastitsio (a sort of baked macaroni and beef with cheesy egg stuff on top) and I had a gyro (I know, original but I already had tried the mousaka, pastitsio, and spanakopita last year along with ever single dessert they had available... most of them dripping with honey). We shared a glass of Greek sweet wine that seemed to have a touch of clove, and watched the Greek School's dancers perform.
We finished the meal with some Loukoumades. Having tried many different ethnic cuisines, I start to see a pattern of foods emerge. One of them being sweet deepfried dough. Doughnuts, beignets, zeppoles, Berliners... These ones happen to be "Greek." What makes them Greek, you ask? They are made by Greek parishioners , dipped in a thin honey sauce, dusted with cinnamon and sesame seeds, and are called "louloumades." Apparently, a more advanced version has them filled with custard.
Here's a recipe:
jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=13659Labels: every day in may, food, nj
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Cinco de Mayo
This May 5th, Lucky spent the day down the shore with his friend SuperMarc. So I celebrated Cinco de Mayo with my mom at the local Mexican restaurant. Because... it's an excuse to eat good food.
Since it's a REAL Mexican restaurant, they weren't really celebrating the day. Mexicans celebrate September 16 (Mexican Independence Day) instead. The place was filled with families having an evening out. So instead of drinking Margaritas at the Chili's or Friday's, we ate delicious Oaxacan styled dishes. There's no gooey cheeses or deepfried puffy chimichangas, but lots of fresh flavors and crumbled soft cheese.
On the way back, I took this photo of the rescue squad building. I always liked the weird paint pattern that the vines (now removed) had created on the side wall. The siren on top used to sound every night at 6PM. We would use it as a reminder that we needed to come inside for the night. The weird sky was created by solarizing the photo (NJ doesn't really have red skys).Labels: ethnic, every day in may, food
Monday, May 07, 2007
Louka's Last American Diner
I will be adding more to this entry regarding my review of Louka's L.A> Diner. To sum up... it's basic diner food. Slow service by college kids. A diner that is wanting people to know it's a "diner."Labels: diner, every day in may, food, nj
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Shad Fest
What do you do the day after gorging yourself on turkey, pie, and laughter? You go to Shad Fest!
Shad Fest is an annual event in Lambertville, a Jersey hamlet located right across the Delaware from New Hope, PA. It's filled with lots of small antique shops and NYC tourists who want to go to the country for the day.
We had read about Shad Fest for years, friends raved about it.... heck, it was selected as a "nationally recognized, award winning festival," we had to go! So Lucky lashed the bikes to the Saturn and off we went.
We parked by the Golden Nugget (about 2 miles away) and biked down the D&R Canal path to downtown Lambertville. Gave us a chance to use the bikes and save the $7-$15 in parking (plus the hassle of FINDING parking).
The festival itself wasn't really anything special. Some of the town's stores had special displays in the window for the festival, bands were taking turns playing from the second floor balcony of a store ala New Orleans, and there were some special events (like learning how to cook with shad roe) going on, but basically it's a typical NJ street fair. Tons of handbeaded jewelry stands using $5 earrings as a draw to look more, the typical photography of Asbury Park and Bruce Springsteen (with some stuff of Philly as well), local organization booths, deepfried Oreos, and shad... Ok, that might be a little different.
Considering it IS called ShadFest, there were about three places making shadchowder. We tried the River House Brewery's version of it... not bad for fish chowder (cream not tomato based). Part of the reason for the scarcity of shad on the festival menu is because there isn't much shad in NJ to begin with. Although finally in the last two years, there has been an increase of shad in Delaware, the shad that was in the chowders actually come from Florida.
It was a fun time, but not all that it was made out to be... it's more of something for the locals, similar to the Punkin' Chunkin' in DE. At least we didn't have to drive for hours to get there!Labels: every day in may, food, nj
Saturday, May 05, 2007
And then there was pie!
Last Saturday, Lilo and Stitch had a party because they had gotten a free 26 pound turkey and needed to get rid of it. It was like a Spring Thanksgiving... a Springsgiving.
About 20 or so people (including a 6 week-old) sat in the living room and ate, and ate, and ate. Everyone brought something to the table: indian bread pudding, broccoli casserole (which apparently was good), ginger-ale ham, and of course the TURKEY!
We ate and chit-chatted, seeing how the babies grew, what was new. It was nice, since we usually have this type of event the second Saturday in December. Stitch was especially pleased on how it turned out and decided (with a nod from Lilo) to make it an annual fete.
And then there was pie... and cake, and cookies... To be exact: 3 coconut cream pies, 2 banana cream pies, 2 pumpkin pies, one raspberry jello pie, one cheesecake pie, plate of italian pastries, one bag of biscotti, various nuts and chocolate, and a cake from Mendoker's Suffice it to say, we all went home with leftovers and L&S ate cream pies for breakfast the entire week.Labels: every day in may, food, nj
