January 22, 2021

This Friday we played one of our favorite games Overcooked 🙂 We went on to the third part and we did not work well together. Colleen wanted to do it only her way and I wanted to do it only mine. While she wasn’t paying attention I switched to the next part. To despite me, she started putting only rolls on the plates. I said fine and worked on the hamburgers. We ended up getting a really high score! It broke the ice and we tried to better our score. The mad round was our high score. Colleen would like it if we get three stars but now we settle for two. If we get stuck, we can go back to the lower parts and they should seem easier, I hope. I’m just glad that the game worked the whole time.

Colleen’s list for the top ten restaurants of 2020:

Honorable mentions: Turning Point, Molino’s, and Shake Shack for giving a tasty reprieve from the Corona Virus when it was badly needed.

10. Tommy’s Tavern: best pizza. Delicious toppings over a crisp barely existent crust.

9. Aunt Butchie’s: Chicken Tortellini Soup and Chicken dishes never disappoint.

8. Fiddlehead’s unique combinations of ingredients, not seen in other restaurants.

7. Yardville Inn: something about the coziness of this place. Don’t miss the crab cakes.

6. Cuzin’s Seafood Restuarant: good quality of food and service. Lobster Bisque Soup is an item not to be missed.

5. Spanish Tavern: quality of food and service superb. Especially enjoyed soup and Day Boat Scallops Spanish Tavern Style.

4. 618: Can’t beat their meatballs and Short Rib Ravioli. Also, memories of other years’ Angry Shrimp and Grits. (They offer both the angry shrimp and grits, but not together anymore. I really wish they were together, it’s a winning combination!)

3. Costa Verde: gets the number three spot for having the most flavorful paella against which all other paellas are measured.

2. Liberty House: gets the number two spot for the combination of ambiance, service, and quality of food.

Shady Maple Smorgasbord: gets the number one spot for variety and quality of food.

Next week is my top ten list.

February 21, 2020

This Friday, we were delighted to have Colleen’s mom join us. Her mom is so cute!!! We went to the Spanish Tavern in Mountainside. After we went to the Christmas Tree Shop, where I got some new (victims), cough cough….I mean plants. I know my picture is going to be posted at all nurseries, as a Plant Murderer. There was a lady who was kind enough to give me her coupon and saved me ten dollars! Thank you!

Pea Beef Noodle Soup
A man goes around gives everyone a bowl soup. It is really good with many complex flavors. We all loved it.

Day Boat Scallops Spanish Tavern Style
We shared our meal. This was excellent!

Paellla Valencia
We shared this, too. This was my first time having Paella, it was really good!! I’m pretty sure this restaurant will make our top ten this year. From the outside you would not guess what was inside. The service, the food and the decor are excellent. Really, we couldn’t ask for anything more.

If you read this blog, you may have noticed we have an obsession with soup. For many years, if you asked if I wanted soup, I would’ve said no. I thought of it as water with salt and some noodles. It wasn’t until I tasted the Soupman’s (of Seinfeld fame) vegetable soup, that I became a fan. In our nearby mall, the Soupman had opened a soup stand. He was expanding his soup across the state. The first time I tried the soup it was love at first bite. I would get the vegetable soup and half a sandwich with homemade lemonade and Lindt chocolate. He converted me into a soup fan. I introduced Colleen to the vegetable soup and soon she was a fan too. The recession hit and soon many of his soup stores closed. There was one last in our area in Red Bank. It just so happened that on Wednesdays my daughter and Colleen’s daughter had classes in the area. Every Wednesday night we would meet and the owner would have the vegetable soup waiting for us! I loved the little Brussels sprouts and the broth was so full of flavor. YUM! Sadly that restaurant has closed too. Now I feel like I’m on the search for something as delicious or even better. I guess you can say I’m a soup junkie. 🙂

January 10, 2020

This Friday we went to my sister Joann’s house in Pennsylvania. We then went Shady Maple Smorgasbord.

The lobby of Shady Maple, it is looks very elegant inside.

This a large 3D picture in the lobby. There are many smaller ones around the room.

This is just one of the buffet tables. There is a east and west wing. Every time you go to the buffet tables you see something new.

Some of our plates. There are so many choices, even picky eaters are sure to find something. Colleen tried to eat have a bite of everything that looked good. Her favorites were the crab pasta, peas, kielbasa, scalloped corn, ham vegetable soup and potato pancake. I think my sister enjoyed the shrimp and bread. I really liked baked beans and lemon meringue pie. We spent two hours eating!

There is gift shop downstairs, which we didn’t have time to see. Here is a quilt at the entrance. I don’t think this picture does it justice. From far away it looked like lace. Up close it’s perfect.

I spotted a cloud that looked like an elephant.

People often think of the USA as one nation. Some may think of it as east coast or west coast, others as north and south. Each state is its own little country, each with its laws and quirks. New Jersey is good at moving people. All you need is for one lane of the highway to be closed and you will see how many people travel the road. As I understand New Jersey is the only state with jughandles. Jughandles you use to make u-turns and left turns. You have to stay right and near the traffic light will be a sign to tell you where you can make the turn. The shape is often a jughandle, but sometimes they can make you go around a block. It seems dangerous to me to make a left turn off the highway or even an u-turn. The left lane here is the fast lane, it’s meant for passing slower cars. Everything is quick here, moving people in and out. We have many people in a small area. Take too long to put your receipts in your wallet and someone will say something. Pennsylvania seems much slower, I think that is part of the reason my sister moved there. Also, she likes the rolling hills. It is very beautiful. In Pennsylvania, my sister tells me her town doesn’t have a police officer. Meanwhile, in Englishtown, a town of less than a square mile, there are two police officers on duty at all times. One day I would like to spend some time in each state to experience the pluses and minuses.