Eve of the Eve at the Grocery Store

"Good luck in there" was the reaction I faced from a fellow customer when walking into the Manalapan Wegman's last week on the day before Christmas Eve.  I had decided the night before to bake a couple different Christmas cookies to give to both my husband's family and my own when we traveled back to Philadelphia for Christmas.  When I was in middle school and high school, I loved to bake, not cook but bake.  There is something so mathematical about baking.  All ingredients must be added in a set amount and in a set order.  When I went to college though and even in my first couple of apartments after school, I didn't have the kitchen space or utensils to bake.  Now though that we've moved into a house with a bigger kitchen and have gotten all the right baking supplies from our wedding registry, I'm excited to start baking again.  At Thanksgiving I made Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with a Cream Cheese frosting.  For Christmas this year, I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip cookies, Chocolate Chip cookies and Sugar cookies.  Both times though, I decided what to make at the last minute and so had to go to the grocery store to pick up pumpkin puree or peanut butter chips on the day before the eve of the holiday.      

What I have discovered is that possibly the worst times of the entire year to go to the grocery store is the day before the eve of a big holiday.  The store is jammed with shoppers like myself getting those last minute additional ingredients that aren't stocked in their kitchens.  Even though it is approaching the holiday, and one would think that the shoppers would be in festive happy moods, it is a war zone.  Carts are crammed into aisles, making it impossible to maneuver through the store without traffic jams.  Customers are so frazzled with the pending holiday stress of both cooking huge meals that take hours to prepare and minutes to eat and acting as the peacemaker between various family members.  Store employees are constantly balancing restocking the shelves with staying out of the way.  It is true chaos and one big recipe for disaster.

Next year I wish I could know that I wouldn't have to face it again, that I would be prepared in advance, but I know that there will be that one thing I forget, putting me back there with the rest of the stressed and tired customers.  I will just remember to extend the same sympathetic advice to my fellow shoppers that I received last week.  "Good luck in there!"

Finding Philly Steaks in Jersey - A Feat Not for the Faint of Heart

My husband and I have been living in Jersey for the past six years.  During that time, we have lived in Hoboken for a year, West New York for five years and Old Bridge for the last couple months.  It was not until we moved to Old Bridge that we finally found a good quality Philly style steak sandwich in New Jersey.  The ones in Northern Jersey had a number of problems from being made with actual thick slabs of steak to having a roll that became soggy or was too hard.  By the time we moved to Old Bridge, we thought that all hope was lost.  We gave it one last chance though and tried the steak sandwiches at a couple different places in the area.  We have finally found a winner too!  The steak sandwiches at Luigi's in Old Bridge are in the same style as Philly steaks.  The meat is good, not greasy, and the roll is tasty.  They have definitely helped to make us feel at home in Old Bridge!

Sawa Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, Eatontown, NJ

This past Saturday night, my husband and I went out to dinner at Sawa Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi Bar in Eatontown, NJ.  We had an 8PM reservation for hibachi.  When we arrived at the restaurant a couple minutes earlier, we were immediately seated.  Throughout the entire night, we received great service.  Our water and wine glasses never went empty.  The hibachi chef who prepared our food was friendly.  He was skilled with the hibachi tricks (onion volcano, big flames, etc).  When he realized on his own that he had given away the shrimp portion of my dinner to another diner, he quickly summoned a waiter to bring him another portion.  I did not have the chance to miss it.  The manager came over to our table to check on us, and when we left at the end of dinner, he was there to say "Thank You" and "Goodbye."

The service was great, but without good food, that would all have been mute.  The meal at Sawa did not disappoint though.  With each meal came soup and salad.  The soup had a nice flavor to it, and the salad was fresh.  The dressing was the standard ginger dressing.  I also had a salmon roll which had very fresh clean fish.  For dinner, my husband had the "Filet Mignon & 8oz Brazilian Lobster Tail," and I enjoyed the "Shrimp & Scallop."  We passed on the complimentary fried rice and had plain white rice instead.  Our entrees were both delicious with good seasoning.  The two sauces that came on the side of the dishes were not even necessary, since the flavors used on the meat and fish themselves were very nice.  The vegetable side was also well flavored with a good variation.  To drink, my husband had a Sapporo and I had a nice glass of Savignon Blanc (I can't remember the exact name).  We skipped dessert this night.  The overall price for our meal was definitely acceptable for the quality of food and drink.  From the service to the food, we greatly enjoyed our dinner and definitely plan to return.

As always with hibachi style dining, we had "interesting" fellow diners.  It definitely contributes to the experience and makes the evening even more entertaining.  This night in particular, we were seated with a group of three high school boys and a couple on what seemed to be a third date with the man's son in tow.  The high school boys were fairly calm and were seated across the table so we did not hear their conversation.  The couple on a date were very entertaining.  The woman kept trying to relate with the man's son often referencing her daughter who was working that night.  The man spent the night balancing his time making sure his son was happy and his date was enjoying herself.  The highlight has to have been at the beginning of the night when the waitress was taking drink orders.  The woman order watered but then became obsessed with making sure to get a particular brand of water that came in a "beautiful blue bottle."  She insisted that the waitress bring out the different bottles they had so she could find the right one.

In all, my husband and I had a very enjoyable evening with delicious food.  

First Post Ever

This post starts my exploration into the world of blogging.  I always wanted to try but never knew where to begin.  I couldn't narrow down what I wanted to write about and always said that I didn't have the time to be a good blogger.  Today though I am going to give it a try.  My husband and I moved to Central Jersey a couple months ago from West New York, NJ, an urban area on the other side of the Hudson from Manhattan.  Being ten minutes outside of the city, we took full advantage, eating at great restaurants, shopping at the best stores and having access to anything we could ever ask for at any hour of the day.  Moving to the suburbs of Central Jersey has definitely been an adjustment.  From the first few nights where birds, and not trash trucks, would wake us up in the morning to having our new address not being found on Google Maps, there have been many things that have caught us by surprise.  One of the most unexpected was the lack of restaurant recommendations available online.  Not only were restaurant reviews hard to find, but it was also difficult to find advice on where to shop for the freshest food items.  Through this blog, I hope to fill this void by sharing the good places I find during my explorations.  

I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences as much as I do sharing them with you.  Welcome to the Jersey Tomato!