Tomato Cobbler with Sage and Olive Oil Fried Eggs

You could call me a tomato fanatic. 
Also, Mark Bittman is a genius.

Tomato Cobbler with Sage and Olive Oil Fried Eggs
Source: Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
Yield: feeds 2-4 people since I cut the recipe in half (below is the 1/2 recipe).

Ingredients for cobbler:
oil or butter for the baking dish
1.5-2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
1/2 tbsp corn starch
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more if needed (I used whole wheat instead)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 + 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp butter, cut into large pieces and very cold
1 egg beaten (really, it should be 1/2 of 1 egg, but I messed this part up and it turned out okay)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk (I had heavy cream so I used that + a splash of vinegar)

Directions for cobbler:
1. Grease a square baking dish (or smaller) with the butter or oil.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Put the tomato wedges in a large bowl and sprinkle with the cornstarch and some salt and pepper.  Toss gently to combine.
3. Put the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and baking soda in a food processor along with a teaspoon of salt.  Add the butter and pulse a few times until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs.  Add the egg and buttermilk and pulse a few times more, until the mixture comes together in a ball.  If the mixture doesn't come together, add a spoonful or two of flour.  If the mixture is too dry, add a few drops of buttermilk.
4. Gently toss the tomato mixture again and spread it in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Drop spoonfuls of the batter on top and smooth a bit with a knife.  (Try to leave some gaps so that the steam from the tomato mixture will have a place to escape as the cobbler bakes.)  Bake for 30-45 minutes, until golden on top and bubbly underneath.  Cool to just barely warm or room temperature.  To serve, scoop servings out with a large spoon.

Notes:
I'd recommend adding some herbs to the topping and a little cheese.  Mmm.


Sage and Olive Oil Fried Eggs
Ingredients:
Sage leaves
Olive Oil
Eggs
Salt and Pepper


Directions:
1. Heat the oil in the pan on medium high.  When the oil is hot, add the eggs and sage leaves.  As soon as the egg whites turn opaque, turn the heat to low and cook until desired stage.  Season with salt and pepper.

Coffee Cupcakes with Whiskey Maple Butter Cream (a la Irish Coffee)

My friends know that if I'm not drinking beer or wine, I'm drinking whiskey.  Make that Jameson Irish Whiskey NEAT to be specific.  I love the color- golden beautiful amber.  I love the warmth it creates in my belly.  I often tell my husband that the only thing I dislike about whiskey is the fact that I can't drink very much of it; it's very powerful stuff.  On the other hand, he hates the it.
On a desperate night last winter, we were going out late to meet friends.  I was torn, being incredibly cold in our crappy apartment, between whiskey for warmth and coffee for energy.  Brent randomly decided to pour whiskey into the coffee concentrate I make and keep in the fridge for my morning iced coffee (yes, even in the winter I tend to drink my coffee iced since it's easy to make and less acidic).  The result was quite magical.  The two flavors married so well that Brent not only tolerated it, but loved it.  I know we aren't the first people to put the two together, but it was pretty awesome.
This weekend I found myself surrounded by cake ingredients that needed to be used up.  I started searching for whiskey frosting recipes and here is what I came up with:

Coffee Cupcakes with Whiskey Maple Butter Cream
Adapted from: cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart and frosting from Cupcake Rehab
Yield: around 36 mini cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons instant-espresso powder
1/4 cup whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with liners.
2. Pour water over espresso powder; let cool.  Combine espresso with milk.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and granulated and brown sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with espresso-milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour (batter may look broken).
4. Fill cups three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 10-12 minutes. Let cool; turn out cupcakes from tins.
 
Ingredients for frosting: (I used 1/2 of this recipe)
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons maple syrup or extract (room temp. if you use syrup; I used the extract- I'd use a bit less than called for since it is intense stuff)
2  tablespoons Jameson or other Irish whiskey
4-6 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:
1. Combine butter, maple syrup, Jameson and 2 cups confectioners sugar in a large bowl and beat at medium-high speed until smooth.
2. Add remaining sugar in gradually until frosting is thick enough to pipe easily. You may not use all the sugar. If icing is too dry, add additional milk until desired consistency is reached.  Frost cupcakes.

Bumpy Cake Cupcakes

My wonderful neighbor Lisa had a birthday this weekend.  She's from Detroit, home to a culinary delight known as Bumpy Cake.  I really wonder how this cake developed; it is quite bizarre yet familiar.  The original Bumpy Cake came from a company in Michigan called Sanders.  Basically, it's a rich chocolate cake topped with rows of butter cream icing "bumps" and a layer of ganache over that. 
(Warning: I must emphasize here that I strayed incredibly far from my pseudo-vegan/health conscious roots here.  I even bought corn syrup....which is kind of magical.) Shh...don't tell.  I've never had good success with vegan ganache, but this vegan one was pretty great.

Here's my cupcake take:

Pre-ganache

Bumpy Cake Cupcakes
Source: lovestoeat.wordpress.com
Yield: 11 cupcakes

Ingredients for cake:
11/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
11/4 cups granulated sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Ingredients for buttercream:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Ingredients for ganache topping:
4 T cocoa
2 T oil
2 T + 4 t water
2 T dark corn syrup
2 C powdered sugar

Directions for the cake:
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350. Place paper liners in a cupcake pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Bring the sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Pour into a large bowl; add the chocolate and butter and let sit, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture has cooled slightly.
4. Stir in the vanilla. Using a mixer, beat in the eggs, then mix in the dry ingredients.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans (about 1/4 cup batter per cupcake) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for about 25 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to a rack to cool completely.

Directions for the butter cream:
Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Using a mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon heavy cream; beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons heavy cream in batches, alternating after each addition. Fill pastry bag and  set aside.

Directions for the ganache:
1. Mix all except sugar in a saucepan and heat, stirring, until hot. Mix in sugar and stir until smooth.

To assemble:
After cupcakes cool, pipe strips of butter cream on each cupcake. Freeze for at least 30 mins. Make ganache and once frozen, dip the cupcakes into the ganache. Refridgerate until set. Enjoy with a large glass of cold (almond or soy) milk!

Grilled figs with ricotta and honey

I have always loved dried fruit.  Fairly recently in life, I discovered I love dried figs.  Trader Joe's carries several varieties, all of which I have tried.  However, it wasn't until this weekend that I tasted the pure deliciousness of fresh figs.  One bonus of having a husband employed by Whole Foods' produce department is knowing what's available and in season.  Fresh figs come in to season in late summer and early fall.  Our local Whole Foods has several varieties right now... I went with the ones on sale: black mission figs.

A few of my favorite cookbooks have fresh fig recipes that call for grilliing.  Some have LOTS of specialty ingredients, but I wanted to keep it simple.  Simplicity is my number one rule for trying a new food.  If you bury the new flavors in lots of other exotic ingredients, how are you ever going to know if you like it?  So, I came up with this recipe on my own after consulting my books.  It is highly recommended, even if you think it sounds weird.

Grilled Figs on Bread with Ricotta and Honey
Yield: 2-4 servings

Ingredients:
8 slices of a french baguette
8 or so small figs or fewer larger figs (this recipe should work for any variety), washed and halved
1/2 cup fresh ricotta
1-2 tbsp honey
Olive oil for drizzling + a dash of vegetable oil to prevent burning
Good balsamic vinegar for drizzling (see note)

Directions:
1. Preheat grill (ours set near 300 degrees worked well).
2. Place figs in a bowl and toss with oil to coat.
3. Place figs, cut side down, onto grill.  Grill for about 4 minutes, until figs are soft but not completely mushy.  Large figs may take longer.  I recommend flipping them at the very end for about a minute to soften the backsides.
4. While figs are on the grill, mix ricotta and honey and then smear it onto the bread pieces.
5. Top with grilled figs and drizzle with a small amount of balsamic vinegar to serve.  Enjoy!

Notes:
- I recommend having two types of balsamic vinegar in your kitchen.  First, keep a cheaper bottle for making reductions and sauces.  Second, keep a bottle of really good balsamic for drizzling on salads and other foods, like the recipe above.  Avoid balsamic vinegar with caramel color, as this is a sign of low quality, cheap vinegar.  Our cheap balsamic vinegar comes from Trader Joe's and is the real thing while carrying a not-so-hefty price tag.  Our good balsamic vinegar comes from a specialty shop (The Oilerie in Fish Creek, Wisconsin) and is a 25 year aged balsamic.  It is a good investment to make because it is amazing and a little goes a very, very long way.  This is especially true if you keep a second, cheaper bottle in your kitchen.  We even put it on ice cream- it is that good!
- Look for figs that are firm to the touch and have a nice teardrop shape.  Avoid figs that smell fermented, are mushy, or have any other signs of rot. 

Honey and Ricotta before mixing

Figs on the grill

Heaven.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles (Vegan)

I was searching for a birthday treat recipe when I stumbled on this gem.  I've made them twice in the last couple of weeks.  It is normally really hard to find a crowd pleasing, chewy, easy-to-make cookie, especially a vegan recipe, but this is definitely one!
Be careful if you don't like spicy foods.  These cookies are great and kid-friendly if you leave the cayenne out.  However, I suggest taking the risk and leaving it in, just don't feed them to kids!  You won't even taste the spice right away.  It is just a wave of warmth on the finish- perfect for warming you up on a cold day!

 

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles (Vegan)

By: IsaChandra from the Post Punk Kitchen

Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients: 

For the topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cookies:

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons almond milk (Or your preferred non-dairy milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon chocolate extract (or more vanilla extract if you have no chocolate)

1 2/3 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

 1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix the topping ingredients together on a flat plate. Set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil,  sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix in extracts.
4. Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a pliable dough.
5. Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Pat into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2 inch discs. Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread). This should be easy as the the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet. 
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit spread and crackly on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Flatten the dough into the sugar mixture.

Perfect and beautiful chewy cookies!

Mocha Meringue Cookies

I did it!  I finally got to use my KitchenAid mixer to make meringues!  Most importantly, I succeeded!

Whipping egg whites into meringue is one of the few things that I had to put off making until I had some type of electric mixer again.  It's just too tough to do it well by hand.  With a stand mixer, it was actually pretty easy.  I always thought it would be much more difficult to get right.  I read and reread several cookbook sections on proper technique.  Finally, I gave it a go.

The result:

Not bad for a first try!

Mocha Meringue Cookies
Source: I followed the guide in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and improvised my own flavorings.
Yield: roughly 4 dozen 1-2 inch cookies

Ingredients:
4 egg whites at room temperature.  It is very important that no yolk made it into the egg whites.
4 pinches of cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup superfine sugar or regular sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder (I used natural)
1 tbsp espresso powder

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees F.  Using a stand mixer or an electric mixer and a metal or glass bowl, beat the whites, cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt until they begin to hold peaks.  Gradually add the sugar a bit at a time, and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.  Gently fold in the cocoa and espresso powder.  It is fine if some streaks remain.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Use a pastry bag or a resealable bag with the corner snipped off to pipe mounds of meringue, each a couple of tablespoons.  These cookies do not rise, so they can be fairly close together.
3. Bake until the cookies are hard and until they release easily from the parchment, about 2 hours.  Turn off the oven and leave the door slightly ajar.  Our oven closes on its own, so I put an oven mitt in the door to prop it open a bit.  Let the meringues cool in the oven for at least another hour.  When they have cooled, place the meringues in an airtight container immediately.  If you leave them out, they will pull in moisture and before you know it, they will be incredibly sticky.  If this happens, pop them back in the oven at 200 degrees F for a few minutes, until they are dry to the touch.  Cool again, and seal them up.

Notes:
1. Make sure not to use a plastic bowl.  Plastic is closely related to fat and can harbor even the slightest amount that will deflate your eggs.
2. My meringues had pretty streaks of the cocoa and espresso powder throughout.  It is much more important not to over mix your meringue mixer than to get rid of these streaks.
3.  I highly recommend looking at videos, pictures, and recipes online to get a sense of what your whites are supposed to look like.  But, don't get discouraged by horror stories.  These cookies were a lot easier to make than most things led me to believe.  I have come to the conclusion that some people just don't belong in the kitchen.
4.  Save this recipe for a day that isn't really humid.  Or, just make sure the AC is on.
5.  The more fine your sugar is, the better the meringues will be.  I used regular white sugar and my meringues were good, but the texture just improves with finer sugar.  I've read that you can just pulse regular sugar in a food processor, but I didn't try it.

Beginning to beat the whites.

Close enough to stiff peaks.

Folding in the cocoa and espresso powder.

Before baking.

Post baking...mmm!

A hurricane and lots of treats

Within the last week, Brent and I experienced our first hurricane and our first earthquake.  Well, we pretty much missed the earthquake because our apartment complex is under construction so there is a constant rumble. 
Luckily, we survived Hurricane Irene with minimal damage.  Princeton experienced quite a bit of flooding and lots of trees down.

 In the week leading up to the expected landfall on Sunday morning, Brent and I watched as everyone around us scrambled to stock up on water, food, and apparently everything and anything from Trader Joe's.  Having never been threatened by a hurricane, we were fairly ignorant about how to prepare.  After the large branch pictured above fell in front of our porch Saturday night, we put some cardboard over the windows above our bed and filled the bathtub with water.... That's about all we did.

Well, that and lots of baking!

Over the course of the weekend, I made four different goodies.

Mocha Meringues (Really, really not-vegan)

Lemon Curd (Very not-vegan)

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies (Vegan)

Green tea cupcakes (vegan)

 I'm 2 days away from my Hebrew final, which is kind of all consuming at the moment.  But, I will be posting these recipes shortly :)

Turtle! Turtle! (aka Brent and I go for a walk and meet loads of turtles)

I have now completed 5 weeks of summer Hebrew.  We got thrown a curveball this past week by getting a new professor.  Our first professor, Dr. Jeremy Hutton, has departed for UW Madison.  How weird is that?
Our new professor is the polar opposite of Prof. Hutton, which isn't bad, just another thing to get used to.  It's not like I ever know what's going on in lecture anyway.  Okay, there is one bad thing.  The new professor will be our preceptor once a week or so since our preceptors are now going to be leading lecture once a week.  Precept is more of a group therapy session most days than a classroom (though we do learn a lot).  So, taking our "therapist" away once a week and letting a new one grade our quizzes is just not cool- especially when the new one is our professor so we can't complain at all and are slightly intimidated (or a lot intimidated). 

Needless to say, by Friday, I was losing it.  I almost skipped lecture because I was so frusterated after precept (mainly with myself).  First we got the quizzes back that the professor graded (a 14 out of 20 for me), then I completely blanked on the new quiz and was so frazzled I just gave up and turned it in with several blanks.  It doesn't help that I picked last week to quit coffee cold turkey after waking up with a caffeine headache over the weekend.  Also, I was wearing my new glasses, which made me feel woozy the whole day.

New glasses. (and junk...we are still unpacking).

I was in a terrible mood.  Then, lecture ended up being fine, especially since our neighbor was leading it and before I knew it I was free!!

Brent and I really made the most of this weekend.  Friday after class we took the campus connector downtown, checked out a record shop, a coffee shop, and some other neat stores.

On Saturday, we slept in, went for a walk (more on that in a minute) and finally, FINALLY, saw the last Harry Potter.

Our walk down by the canal ended up being the highlight of the weekend.  Why?
Because we saw a ridiculous amount of turtles.  Apparently that is all it takes to entertain me!  They were all in one small area, which made it even more strange, like all of them decided to have a sunbathing party.

We watched them for quite awhile.  Okay, Brent watched and I took loads of photos.

Some were about a foot long, others were babies!

There was also this cool monument.

The D & R Canal was to one side and this nature reserve was on the other.

Turtle-y cool.  Eh?

Weekend Whirlwind to Wisconsin

AKA The trip from Hell.

All I wanted to do was get home for a couple of days to see my husband for the first time in several weeks and to help my grandpa celebrate his 90th birthday.  Silly me.  It hadn't rained in New Jersey since I moved here, so of course the weather was dreadful the day I flew out.  Make that the day I was supposed to fly out, because even though I boarded a plane, we never left the ground.  Multiple delays, lots of tears, a cancellation, an awful sketchy shuttle ride through NYC, another airport, a hotel room for 4 hours... Finally I got to Wisconsin, only to face the same ridiculousness on the way home.  Never flying American Airlines again.  While I understand they have no control over the weather, they should have control over their customer service, which was worse than bad.  On the way home, my flight was first delayed over a broken seat that had not been written up properly.  So much incompetence!  Plus, nothing makes you feel safer than a plane that is literally falling to pieces on the inside. 
And you know that new law about stranding passengers on the tarmac and how they have to let you off after 3 hours?  Well, they don't have to let you back on.  What is the point?

Anyway, here are some highlights from my brief and harrowing trip home:

After a 1.5 hour (not exaggerating) nap from 1:30 AM to 3:00 AM and a shower at the hotel in Queens I never planned on staying at, I thought I should at least glimpse out the window to see my view of the city.  Ahahaha.  Gravestones as far as I could see (which wasn't exceptionally far, given the hour).  No wonder this was the only room available around La Guardia. 

This is the cabin we stayed at in Bailey's Harbor.  1/2 the price of the hotel in Queens and much more to my liking.  Brent and I could live in a place like this someday with a few changes.  I think we'd need a full size refrigerator :) 

Chels, Neen, Amber, Me

We closed out the AC Tap on Saturday night.  It was a bad idea considering none of us have gotten much sleep lately.  Between Chelsea and Dan moving, Brent packing up our place, and my airport nightmare, we had all pulled (near) all nighters within the last week.  It was worth it though!  I got to hang out with some of my favorite people.

Amber and Josh strummed out some tunes.  At least some of us Alleys are continuing the family tradition...

This made me miss WI.  Can you guess why?

Despite everything I went through to get there, if you asked me Sunday, I would have said it was worth it.  Then there was the deja vu nightmare on Monday and the mental breakdown before Hebrew this morning...
I'd like to say it was worth it still, but honestly, I'm not sure.  I was crazy stressed before the trip and looking forward to it so much that I was a total basket case when it began to unravel.  It left me more frazzled than I ever thought I could be and unable to remember any of the studying I did at the airport.  I have a midterm on Friday and I'm in bad shape.  It was nice to see Brent and some family, but I think I've learned several lessons.
1. Listen to people when they tell you Newark cancels flights at the drop of a hat.
2. Never fly American Airlines, even if they have the cheapest flights.  Once you add up the unnecessary cab fare, hotel, time wasted, and nerves fried, you could have flown first class.
3. Moving away means missing out on things and it sucks.  Deal with it.
4. Next time you find yourself at the airport bar waiting out a delay, have at least 2 more drinks :)  You'll thank yourself once you are stranded on the tarmac with no air conditioning and no beverage service.
5.  Never think to yourself, "This can't get any worse..."

Thank-you to everyone who helped me deal.  I am truly appreciative.  All the calls, texts and Facebook notes really helped me feel not quite so alone.  Now off to study for 3 quizzes and a midterm :)

Hebrew, Week 3: Day 1 (Ft. Best Grilled Cheese in NJ)

Woke up this AM convinced I would fail my quiz. Wouldn't you know it, I got an 97.5%.  I'm noticing a trend here.  I don't seem to ever know what is going on, but somehow I am awesome at vocabulary.  Here's hoping the exams are closer to the quizzes than anything else. 
This weekend it was all about participles (sorry my beloved high school English teacher, but I didn't even know what "participle" meant).  Today, we've moved on to pronouns.  Hey, at least I know what those are!  We are moving forward everyday, but also circling back to pick up things we left along the way.  It is very fluid, which one just has to accept. 
At the first lunch for new students 2 weeks ago, the chapel chaplain Jan warned us of what she calls "Impostor Syndrome."  Basically, one with Impostor Syndrome sits through lecture feeling as though they are a total fake and that sooner or later others will notice.  Jan told us that we all feel this way and are NOT impostors...  I try to believe her, but I have a very bad case of this syndrome.  My precept-mates will tell you that I come to precept everyday convinced I don't understand.  The ones that sit close have also noticed that I've been getting okay grades when the quizzes come back.  Some may gather I'm faking my lack of understanding...
Here lies the problem: the quizzes are mostly based on vocabulary.  Ever since my days of acing French exams in high school, I've been really good at memorizing vocab.  I even got a perfect score on a final exam one year, only to be accused of cheating by some mean-girl classmates.  But in Hebrew, we are learning new concepts everyday and that is the part that is lost on me.  So, I can do well on quizzes and still have no idea what's up.  In the end, I won't be writing papers in Biblical Hebrew.  I'll be examining words that are already there... so hopefully it's okay that I struggle with sentence structure.  

Anyway, I promised the best grilled cheese in NJ.  Rather, it's a very good grilled cheese I made in NJ.

Garlicky Grilled Cheese on Sourdough

Ingredients:
1 bulb of garlic
Olive oil
Smart Balance or butter
2 slices of good sourdough bread
Shredded Cheddar and Monterrey Jack

Directions:
1. Roast the garlic by following the directions here.
2. Spread Smart Balance or butter on the outsides of the two slices of bread.
3. Spread the roasted garlic on the insides of the two slices of bread.
4. Sprinkle the cheese over one side of the bread smeared with the garlic.  Top off with the other side.  (C'mon, you all know this part.)
5. Toast/grill the sandwich over medium low heat until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is ooey gooey.  Serve with tomato soup, because that's the way it's done folks.

Trenton Farmers' Market and Halo Farm

I've heard a lot about the Trenton Farmers' Market and Halo Farm, a dairy right next to the market.  Today, my lovely neighbors Mike and Lisa knocked on my door and asked if I would like to join them on their trip to both of these places.  Not that I needed anything from the dairy....

The market is a covered one.  Unfortunately, for some reason a lot of the vendors weren't there today, but I was still able to score some goodies for fantastic prices.  I got a pint of blackberries and a pint of cherry tomatoes for $2 a piece.  Then on to Halo Farm...

I was informed this weekend that Halo Farm is known for the best and cheapest ice cream in town and also for their lemonade.  They were out of the regular lemonade, but after picking out 3 pints of ice cream, it's probably best that the diet stuff was the only kind left.  I couldn't leave without getting ice cream after it had been talked up so much.  Plus, it's still 100 degrees F outside.  But, one pint is $2.75 but 3 pints is $5.....
Thus, I returned home with Egg Nog, Peach, and Strawberry Heath, which is Lisa's favorite.  They might have to wait for Brent to get here so I don't eat all of it.  Also, I got a block of sharp cheddar.  I'm still trying to figure out if good cheese exists out here.  I'd kill for some real cheese curds.  I really don't understand why they don't have them here.  Cows? Check.  Cheese makers? Check.  Curds?  Nowhere to be found.

On another note, here is something bizarre to add to my list of crazy New Jersey-isms to tell Brent about when he gets here:
You can't pump your own gas!  You have to sit in your car, roll down the window, wait for the one attendant working to walk over, hand him your card, he slides it for you and fills your tank.  Weird.  On the plus side, it means you can stay out of the rain or snow, but wouldn't you feel inclined to tip the attendant?

The Bent Spoon

As a treat for surviving another week of Hebrew, I marched myself downtown to The Bent Spoon and had some delicious ice cream.  It was only a few blocks from campus, but in 100+ degree heat, it felt like miles.  Lucky for me, a table opened up right as I got there so I didn't have to take my ice cream outside.  I was joined by two lovely ladies from the local professional symphony orchestra for some nice chatting while we cooled off. 

The Bent Spoon is known for their creative flavors.  I spotted sweet corn and cucumber basil.  With so many choices, it could be hard to pick, but I was instantly set once I saw Bourbon Vanilla Sea Salt Caramel made with Jim Beam...I'm a sucker for sea salt sweet anything and bourbon is my second favorite liquor (Jameson being the first).  Even with a small size, you can have two flavors, so I also tried Lavender Mascarpone, made with local organic lavender.  Lavender is my favorite scent, one of the only ones that doesn't send me into a sneezing fit.  Lately, I've taken a cotton ball with a few drops of lavender essential oil and placed it under my pillow at night.  However, I've never eaten anything flavored with it.

Both flavors were fantastic.  The Bent Spoon doesn't mess around... The bourbon was absolutely present in the vanilla and the lavender was light, refreshing, and just simply delightful- not at all like eating dryer sheets, which is how I imagined it might be...

 
My only problem was that it was gone before I noticed what happened!  At $4.50 for a scoop and a cone, this was a bit indulgent, but I know I'll be back within the next few weeks, especially if the heatwave continues.

Here's a couple pictures I snapped along the way:

Trinity Episcopal Church...still hot and hazy today.

Just a shot of the downtown.

I'm so blessed to finally have some plans this weekend.  Some people from class invited me over to the dorm tomorrow night for a movie, and tonight I have plans with some people in our apartment complex.  Everyone has continued to be amazingly kind.  Too bad I have a crazy amount of Hebrew homework, including way too many vocabulary words :(

Princeton Farmers' Market

I went to the Princeton Farmers' Market for the first time today.  I sneaked over between Hebrew lecture and Hebrew reading (more on that later)...
It is located a couple of blocks from campus in the courtyard in front of the public library on Witherspoon Street and runs during the summer and fall on Thursdays from 11-4pm. 
I knew not to have high expectations, seeing as my usual farmers' market in Madison, WI is the largest true farmers' only market in the USA (at least that's how they market it).  Really, I just wanted some fresh produce that wasn't from overpriced Whole Foods.  I'm glad there is a Whole Foods down the street, but I can't afford to shop there all the time. 
I had been looking forward to this day all week and had prepared by signing up for a locker on campus to ditch my books and by bringing along my handy canvas bag to hold my purchases.  Even the 100 + degree heat couldn't deter me!  However, it did deter my picture taking.

Notice the haze!

This does do justice to how it felt.

The market was modest but had several produce vendors and 3 cheese stands.  There were also lots of beautiful flowers, but I was afraid they'd wilt before I made it home and they are considered a frivolous purchase at this point in time.

Pretty much the whole thing. 

Somehow I managed to still spend lots of money.  Here's what I came home with:

I picked up some garlic to roast since it is delicious, gourmet, and dirt cheap.  Also, I don't go to any market or store without buying kale when I see it.  I got a giant loaf of sourdough, which I picked at all through Hebrew reading.  Lastly, I got 1/4 pound of mixed milk gouda.  It cost $7 and felt blasphemous, but I wanted to try some to see if it is worth giving up entirely.  I have to admit, it's pretty decent.
Vendors and price estimates:
Rustic Sourdough $3.50 from Witherspoon Bread Co.
Garlic: ...uh, I forgot this vendor but the garlic was $2 for 2 bulbs.
Kale: $2.50 for one bunch of organic kale from Stonehenge Farm.
Gouda: $7 for 1/4 lb from Valley Shepherd Creamery

Oh, and Magic Hat summer seasonal beer from a store near the market... Gotta get it while I can since Princeton has the most bizarre liquor laws that keep most stores (including Whole Foods) from selling it.

After I went to the market, I had to be back on campus for Hebrew reading.  This session started today and will be every Thursday from 1:30-3:30.  For every hour we attend, we get 1% point added to our final, up to an 89%.  There will be a total of 10 hours.  While I hope I can get a good grade on my own, I am going to go to every hour possible as insurance that I will pass the class.  Today we made it through 2 Sam. 18:9-19 or so...And it took 2 hours!!  This is hard.

Now off to call USPS and file a formal complaint against our carrier for not delivering my mail and not picking it up either.  GRRRRRRRR.