Week 30 Menu

Already time to plan another menu? Time is flying by too fast...before I know it I'll have another baby! Here goes...and please share your menus - remember, it doesn't need to be fancy!

MONDAY:
- Chili
- Corn chips
- Salad

TUESDAY:
- Chicken Salad sandwiches
- Fresh fruit salad

WEDNESDAY:
- Leftovers

THURSDAY:
- Dinner with family in town

FRIDAY:
- Eat out?

SATURDAY:
- Hamburgers on the grill
- Stuff to go with it...maybe potato salad? fruit? we shall see...

SUNDAY:
- Pork chops
- Rice or potato
- Veggie

Roadtrip! Buongiorno from NJ!

One thing in which New Jersey is not lacking is diners. I didn't get a chance to eat at a diner this trip, not that there wasn't opportunity - practically every town has a diner. The only thing more plentiful than diners, however, is Italian food. I can't believe how much Italian food I ate in the week I was out there. All GREAT, of course - I was probably a walking garlic clove. This is one genre of food that the East coast definitely has the West coast beat at. I'll give good Mexican food to the West, but really, East coast food in general can't be beat. (Hopefully I don't start some East coast-West coast, Tupac-Biggie battle here.)


So, I went into Long Valley (my humble hometown) to prove to you the abundance of Italian and pizza joints. I clocked the mileage from Long Valley Pizza (Italian restaurant #1) to Salerno's (Italian restaurant #4 and home to AWESOME garlic bread knots)...1/10 of a mile. That's right FOUR Italian/pizza restaurants in 1/10 of a mile. If I expanded the mileage to about 3/10 of a mile, it would have been five!


The funniest part is THIS is the view across the street. Okay, so there are more than just fields in Long Valley, but the 15,000 or so people who live in this town have kept these restaurants open for years. If you took away the Italian restaurants, the better part of NJ would starve. And my town isn't the only one - we drove west through some VERY small NJ towns, and even THEN we passed Italian restaurant after Italian restaurant....out in the middle of NOWHERE.

There MAY be a reason for the overabundance of diners and Italian restaurants...but I don't want Tony Soprano coming after me, so I'll just stop here.

Roadtrip! Picking Peaches in the Garden State

Our last stop on the East Coast tour was New Jersey. New Jersey gets a bad rap, but it is, after all, the 'Garden State,' and if you can get yourself beyond the Turnpike and the Newark Airport, you'll realize the nickname really does apply!


Cate loves peaches. Luckily it's peach season in NJ, so our first day we went to a local farm for Cate's first venture into the world of harvesting food. I have to tell you, the town where I grew up is in beautiful country, especially the spot where my parents live now and where we went peach picking. Picturesque farmland and trees as far as the eye can see. Cate had a blast picking the peaches, and picked all kinds of unripe beauties for us to (not) enjoy. :)

Roadtrip! Sweet Tomatoes Pizza

Cate and I are HOME. After a crazy morning in JFK airport, our first flight on JetBlue went great...gotta love the TVs and the fact that Cate slept for 2 1/2 hours. Our trip East was loads of fun and I'm so glad we went, but it is nice to unpack and settle back home.

I still have a bunch of Roadtrip posts for you, which is a good thing since my cooking this week won't be very spectacular. Today is the last Cape Cod spot and probably one of my favorite places we go every year.


Our Cape weeks always start on Saturday...we generally go down, get the key to the cottage, then pick up some pizza at Sweet Tomatoes. Oh man, this pizza is GOOD. VERY thin, awesome tomato sauce, so tasty. This year we got hawaiian (my favorite) and greek (also great). Cate beat everyone and ate FIVE slices. No one has ever accused that girl of being a bad eater.

I would like to link to their website, but it looks like individual Sweet Tomatoes restaurants have their own sites, like this one and this one. I'm not even entirely sure of all their locations. If you live in Mass, check out the links and see if you can't track one down near your home. The one we visit is in Sandwich, Mass - they don't seem to have a website. This post is making me really miss this pizza...

Roadtrip! A&W on the Cape

So, we definitely did some eating out on Cape Cod and one of the spots we hit was an A&W...not one of those A&Ws that are attached to KFC or whatever it is they're doing nowadays, but an honest-to-goodness A&W with the awesome root beer. The root beer just tastes so different than bottled or canned...yum. Which makes me wonder why I didn't take any pictures of it!! But I did take a picture of the hot dog so you can see even A&W knows what kind of hot dog buns we should all be using...

Week 29 Menu

I am STILL on the road, but Cate and I do arrive home this week so I'm going to attempt a menu here. :) Thanks for all your menus the last few weeks! Please keep them coming, especially since my menu this week ain't so great.


My sis-in-law Jess made this delicious caprese salad for lunch one day down the Cape. Isn't it purty?

Monday:
- Still in New Jersey

Tuesday:
- The day we get home...pick something up somewhere

Wednesday:
- Spaghetti with meat sauce
- Veggie or salad
- Rolls or garlic bread

Thursday:
- Chicken Cordon Bleu (you know, those frozen ones)
- Rice
- Veggie

Friday:
- Hot dogs or hamburgers
- Fresh fruit
- Carrots and dip

Saturday:
- Chili

Sunday:
- Chili leftovers

Roadtrip! Brown Bread

My mother-in-law Pat introduced me to a uniquely New England product this trip that I feel I should share with you all. Interestingly, Nate's never even heard of it, even though his mama loves the stuff. One day as we're making lunch Pat says, "Have you had brown bread?" I was confused, couldn't figure out what she was talking about...then she said, "You know, in a can?" Then I got REALLY confused. Pat disappeared only to walk into the kitchen 10 minutes later with a can of Brown Bread, yes, a can. She ran to the store so I could try it right away. She says the best way to eat it is to slice it, put butter between the slices, then bake in the oven until warm.


The verdict? Well...it's alright. Pat loves it, she grew up on it, and various New England grandparents love it as well. Nate's sister hates it. Cate decided to show some granddaughterly support and couldn't stop eating it...she thought her discs of brown bread were cookies. It was pretty cute, actually. So there you go, a little more New England food education for you.

Roadtrip! Cottage Kitchen

Nate's family has been going to the same summer cottage in Sandwich, MA (Cape Cod) for somewhere around 15 years. Due to some logistical issues, we ended up in a different cottage this year, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.


This year's cottage was a beautiful place to stay. Recently renovated and full of light, one of the best features was the kitchen. The cottage is located on the beach, with a marsh out back. The kitchen has a huge corner window overlooking the marsh and for most of the week, there was a breeze blowing in through the windows. The view was lovely and peaceful. Normally I don't look forward to our assigned night to cook, but this year I welcomed it (imagine the cooking I'd do if this was my kitchen at home). I didn't even mind chopping a bag of potatoes with a terrible knife! We found these huge sunflowers at a local farm, which made the already bright kitchen that much cheerier. Aaaahhhh.... :)

Thanks to Nate's family for a wonderful week, and, while I'm glad we had such a great place to stay this year, it sure made it hard to leave! Cate called the cottage "my new house" all week...if only...

Roadtrip! French Memories

Nate's family is from a town called Cohasset in Massachusetts. Cohasset is a seaside town 20 miles south of Boston, complete with a beautiful harbor, town green and cute main street (not to mention AWESOME houses that I'll never be able to afford but can always dream about!). Nate and I spent a lot of time there in our early years and I love it so much.


One of our favorite little spots in Cohasset is a bakery called "French Memories." It's on Main Street (no website) and is full of the best pastries, tarts, bread and cheeses. Their nut twists and raspberry croissants are my FAVORITES. This place is authentic (the owner is French) and apparently they have live music there once a week or something now. Anyhow, I was able to get over to French Memories one morning while we were in town. It was just as wonderful as ever!

Week 28 Menu

Okay, I promise this is the last week where I'm not doing ANY planning! Thanks to all those who posted menus and recipes last week - so great! :) Can't wait to see what you're eating this week!

We are back from Cape Cod, but I still have 1 more week of fun...off to New Jersey to visit my family. Anyhow, I have some fun food reports to give to you from the trip...once my laptop is online I will post! Until then, I need you all to share your menus once again so there's some inspiration here on the blog!

Roadtrip! Gone to the beach...

In a few short moments we're all packing in the very full car and heading down to the Cape! I am SO EXCITED. I'm pretty sure I won't have Internet access, which I have to admit I am really looking forward to...but that means I'll miss you all for a week! Please come back next Saturday (8/4) for a report on the vacation...I've already snapped some GREAT food pictures and can't wait to share all my culinary finds from the Cape with you. Have a wonderful week and don't forget to post your menu here.

Week 27 Menu

Please post your menus! I'm on vacation! :)

Roadtrip! New England Hot Dog Buns & Relish

Moving away from New England meant moving away from the ability to make the best hot dogs. There are 2 ingredients that make this possible - New England hot dog buns (aka lobster roll buns) and Piccalilli.


First, the buns: well, you can see what they look like in the picture. It's KINDA like a piece of white bread folded, but better. To really make 'em good, you grill them with butter in the pan.


Second, Piccalilli. This is the best relish ever. They have green tomato relish and red pepper relish, but I think the green tomato is perfect for my perfect hot dog. Do I sound a little crazy?

I complete the masterpiece with mustard. I sure love coming out every summer.

Okay, have to give credit to Nate or he'll get mad at me. :) He introduced me to all this hot dog goodness when we got married.

Boy or Girl?

It's official...Cate will have a little sister! Cate didn't believe the ultrasound tech and told her "No, it's a brother." Later when she admitted it's a sister, Cate told us her name is "little brother."

We made it safely to NH and I had a great steak & cheese for lunch yesterday...you just can't get good subs in CA like you can out here...the food binge has begun. Stay tuned!

Head Country BBQ Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner for the Head Country Barbecue giveaway!

Leslie, who said: I've been wanting to try this since your ribs post. I hope I win!

Now you can go rib crazy, Leslie! Thanks to all who entered and definitely get yourself a bottle of Head Country!

Leslie, please email weeklydinners@gmail.com.