Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Referenced this post all week when I needed a great place to go for my bday night this past Saturday. None of us had never been there but I trust the serious eaters here so I dragged my crew here. We ordered the chicken kaljabi, Korean meatballs, seafood kaljabi( or sujabi, can't remember) ginseng chicken soup and dimpling soup, we even added some beers and soju to the mix. Everything was fantastic! I dont eat pork but I had to try the dumplings anyway. They were spicy , but not in a hot way. Great taste of Ginger and an ample size. All of the meals were perfect for a chilly night in the city.

I do have to say, the Korean meatballs were the biggest hit. Go figure.

OK, I'll rep for NJ! If you want to experience a cool diner in NJ, stop off at Americana Diner in East Windsor. It's easy to get to from the NJ Turnpike a.k.a. I-95. Here is the website: http://www.americanadiner.com/index.html

Please, please take some fresh baked bread with you! Their breads and pastries are awesome...

An hour and half to eat at Carrabba's of all places. We were taking our grandmother out for her 75th birthday and we waited....in the rain...for Carrabba's. What were we thinking?

We LOVE strawberries every year! I do make sure to freeze some when they are in season to use during the winter when we have a deep craving. I also use them in this great cake recipe that my son is now falling in love with, and it uses up our rice krispie stockpile. Yup, rice krispies baked right in the cake. Yum! Here's the link if anyone is interested:

http://4hatsandfrugal.blogspot.com/2010/04/strawberry-surprise-cake.html

wow, no I don't remember there ever being one in Perth Amboy. Are you sure you have the right name?

I have a few of our favorite recipes adapted into crockpot versions on my blog. You can find them here: http://4hatsandfrugal.blogspot.com/search/label/crockpot%20recipe

It includes our favorite recipe for cinnamon apples, caramelized onions in the crockpot, and a wonderful recipe I call peachy chicken.

To get past the whole "over cooking" in the crock pot, you can always use one of those timers that everyone uses during the holidays to automatically have their Christmas lights turn on and off. When I would work 16 hour days, I used this and set it to "turn on" the crock pot about 7 or 8 hours before I was due home. I did try to put frozen or very cold ingredients in the crock pot before I left home since it would be sitting out for a bit before it was due to start cooking.

Nice ripe strawberries of course. A real woman knows how to eat them just right and cause a commotion in public.

I also have a "thang" for scallops: seared wonderfully on each side but soft,supple and sweet in the middle. *sigh* this is how babies are made, my friends. It's always the food's fault....

I've had a big craving for seafood lately as well(I'm 4 months pregnant and NEED my cravings) so I have been on the lookout for good but inexpensive seafood items.

One that I ran across was frozen calamari. It was between 1.79 and 1.99 a pound every time I checked the price at the grocery store. It defrosts quickly and besides frying it(boring!) you can do so many things with it. I referenced an old Good Eats episode for some great ideas and found a few recipes in my Mom's old Italian cookbooks. Lots of meals for a small price.

cast iron skillet...but the slow cooker is a close second

NY Strip, definitely

Brownies, darling....

Oh boy! Well, my favorite food related thanksgiving story seems funny now but was quite interesting while it was happening.

It was the second year I was invited to my fiancee's(now husband) family's thanksgiving celebration. He had just moved to states to be with me and we were going back to his home state for a grand meal. Little did we know, his aunt had decided to take a trip to New York for the holiday and leave us all in the lurch. She's the main cook and without her, there wouldn't be any thanksgiving.

We scrambled to find a buffet that would do thanksgiving food, and his family thought it was horrible in comparison. I, on the other hand, gobbled down that dry turkey and canned cranberry like nobody's business.

The reason I thought it was the best meal on earth, we found out a few weeks later, is because I was pregnant. Now when I think back on that disgusting food, I laugh at how fickle a pregnant palate can be.

For the past two years, Pioneer Woman Cooks has been my go-to, culinary mecca when I need inspiration and a chuckle. Ree is phenominal and I love whole whole site just as much as I love the cooking section. She is the foul temptress that fills my house with apple dumplings and pan-seared steaks. And I thank her for it.

Serious eats is my second favorite :o)