Monday, July 5, 2010

Fourth of July Weekend

Happy Fifth of July! 

What a weekend. I'm back in Virginia, sitting at the dining room table with the workweek ahead and a wonderful few days behind. I think I'll have to divide this weekend into a couple posts because I don't like too much information in all, so be patient, please! I know you've been anxiously awaiting my return to the blogging world.

For me, it's true. I come back from a weekend and check out all of my favorite blogs and feel like I'm so behind. And then I don't update mine...and then Real Housewives of New Jersey comes on....and then I'm toast. So, in an attempt to beat Bravo, here goes my weekend.

The live music... and the homeless crowd. 
Seriously. The homeless and I.

I went back to New Jersey, but this time came prepared with my camera. Last week I mentioned this adorable restaurant/gourmet foods shop called Old Man Rafferty's Gourmet, remember? Well, on Friday, after a leisurely walk downtown including some live music, a crossword, a mug of coffee and the local homeless folk, I stole some shots (and went shopping) in the place.
Oh my goodness the cakes. I want to make and eat every single one of these.
Maples, jams, jellies, everything under the sun.
 Pasta sauces, salsas, marinades.
And a deli, prepared foods section, which all looked great. I ended up buying Rao's Homemade Tomato Basil pasta sauce and Castellana Trecce Dell Orto colored pasta. It was too cute! And I had Alex's credit card; I made him dinner (recipe coming tomorrow), it's all even. So, I bought all this and wandered into the next store a few blocks away.
Thomas Sweet Ice Cream and Chocolate is this cute little store front that sells basically everything I love. I browsed the store for a few minutes and out of everything, I bought some Peanut Butter Chocolate covered Pretzel pieces...delish. I'm trying not to pop them like tic tacs, but it's proving difficult.
These chocolate covered berries almost stole my heart but I figured they might melt in my trek.  
Cute, no? Well, I left downtown and headed back home, where I found some more "historic" food joints and figured I'd show you. By some I mean one. RU Hungry, a legend in many college towns, and possibly one of the grossest menus I've ever seen, holds down the fort in a large parking lot a few minutes away from the main drag. The menu, though disturbing, attracts scores of people from early afternoon to the wee hours of the night.
Choices such as the fat beach (cheese steak, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, lettuce, ketchup and french fries) or the fat buddah (cheeseburger, pork roll, egg, fries, lettuce, tomato, mayo and ketchup) are standard, and no, those fries are not on the side. 
 No, I did not order a sandwich, nor could I ever ever eat more than a couple bites of it, but Alex did offer going late night one night, and I almost took him up on it... just to see! They did have one at Penn State, but this one was the real thing.
Speaking of Penn State, check out what I found in New Jersey; WE ARE!!!
Anyway, enough exploring. I headed home and Alex got out of work early. We hit up a happy hour at a local bar that is apparently where the scene is at. Stuff Yer Face is another New Brunswick hot spot, and after a long hot day in the sun, I was really excited to try some of the beer they had. By some I mean one. By one I mean Sea Dog Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale, which is not your typical beer, but I wanted to try it.

The night ended with a delicious chicken rollatini that I whipped up (for the first time). Alex was in charge of the camera, so prepare to be bombarded by photos tomorrow. 

The fun began again at 6 in the morning where we set off for a day at the beach. Turns out, no one goes to the beach at 8 a.m., so we had the beach to ourselves... for a whole 30 minutes before it went from empty to packed. 
Seven hours in the sun, a burnt couple, and a dolphin, jellyfish and $4.00 water bottle later, we hit the happy trail back to New Brunswick, where I was treated to the ultimate masculine delicacy: Manwich. To be honest, it was wonderful. Not a culinary masterpiece, but I was exhausted and Alex offered to cook so I was so okay with that.

Sunday morning, we headed out again, this time to Philly, where Alex's family lives. We spent a lazy hot fourth of July hanging out, relaxing and visiting with the fam. Oh, and baking an insane cherry pie (recipe and photos coming tomorrow). Alex's mom had a real tasty spread that was oh-so-American: burgers, potato salad, fruit salad, shrimp salad, and sweet corn. All those salads and not a lettuce leaf in sight. Well, maybe on the burgers. So yummy. My pictures were horrible, so I won't even bother.

Anyway, today I headed home, blessed with good traffic and decent weather. It's back to work, work outs, and little sleep, fabulous! 

How was everyone's holiday? Check back tomorrow for all the recipes!


1 comment:

Monet said...

Jessie...it looks like it was a great trip! I loved seeing all of that artisan food.