Happy Thanksgiving!

What We Did On Thanksgiving

By:  DIANE

GOBBLE, GOBBLE ! Now that Thanksgiving ( and all the work ) is officially over, I thought I'd show you what I did to prepare for our great feast. First, I bought a 22lb. Shady Brook Farms turkey. Here he is waiting for his bath the night before the big day.

I place my disposable roasting pan ( easy clean-up ) on a large cookie sheet and then place a rack and a lifter inside. I love that lifter.

Here he is taking a nice wash. Got to get him clean inside and out.

This will send Laura running out of the room - innards. I removed the neck and bag of gizzards as Laura yukked behind me.

"If you like it then you shoulda put a wing on it, oh oh oh ..."

We always let the turkey have his day in the sun by placing him in different poses and taking pictures of him. We're a weird bunch.

I like to lift the breast skin from the meat and place several pats of butter there. It really helps keep the breast nice and moist during cooking.

Now it looks like the poor guy broke out in hives.

The bird is in the pan and has been properly seasoned with salt and pepper (or any choice of rubs ).

He's all wrapped in foil and placed in a 225 degree oven to cook slowly overnight. I know I could start him at a higher heat in the morning but I've always loved to do it this way. The bird comes out very moist and the house smells incredible upon awaking.

Good morning ! After a good night's sleep, I check him out. Yep, cooking nicely and now ready to start basting with the juices. At this point I raise the temperature to 325 until he's done. The last half hour I baste him with melted butter to insure he gets nice and golden.

Here are some random little smokies I had heating up for pre-dinner pickies. They're already cooked and I heat them in equal parts barbecue sauce and grape jelly. Yummy.

I'm starting my french meat stuffing by cooking some ground pork till it's no longer pink. Then I'll mix it with my stuffing mix and cook further.

These get used to make my stuffing, always, Bell's stuffing mix plus Bell's seasoning.

This is a picture of two impatient kitties waiting for the bird, our cat Chips (low) and Mallory's cat Bells (high). You'll be pleased to know they both got their own Thanksgiving plates.

Look at this beauty. Believe me, it tasted as good as it looks.

Delicious stuffing ready to go.

Beauteous bounty. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, mashed turnips & carrots, corn, hot rolls, sandwich rolls, chips, pickles, olives and cranberry sauce. For starters, lil' smokies and dip with baby carrots and pita chips. For dessert, apple and chocolate cream pies. Oh yeah, and mints.

All the cooking, cleaning and shopping was a lot of work. But having all the family over to enjoy an amazing meal ....priceless....and I feel truly blessed.

New England Bites hopes every one of our friends and fans had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

P.S. - Mr. Buddy Love still did not get any pie. 

Thanks for the pic, Joy!

Don't forget to check out MenuJoy.com for great area restaurant menus.

Bite of the Week - Stouffer's Corner Bistro Stuffed Melt and Soup

On Sundays, when everyone is just kinda veggin', Laura likes to have an easy meal ready for her lunch. She'll often buy a pre-made salad or sandwich or sometimes a frozen meal. It was in the frozen section of our local Stop & Shop that she saw these new lunch combos from Stouffer's. They consisted of a small bowl of soup and a sandwich melt. What a perfect lunch! We saw three varieties: chicken bacon ranch melt with baked potato soup, steak and Swiss melt with broccoli cheddar soup, and three cheese and ham melt with creamy tomato bisque. Laura chose the latter.  This little lunch contained 380 calories 160 of those from fat. It also had 990 mg. of sodium, 42 g. of carbs. and 15 g. of protein. If you're watching your sugar, it has 13 g.  Laura said it was very easy to prepare and when she was done she found herself fully satisfied. But how did it taste?

THE VERDICT:  Unfortunately it tasted like a typical over-salted frozen meal. It wasn't bad, but you wouldn't confuse it with a fresh-made soup and sandwich. Laura preferred the melt to the soup, which she thought had a weird aftertaste. She found the sandwich soft and a bit more flavorful, but still having that "I've been in the freezer" taste. Would she buy it again?  No, but everyone's taste is different so try it for yourself. I forget what we paid, but it was very reasonable.

Don't forget to check out MenuJoy.com for great area restaurant menus.

Bite of the Week - Phillips Candy House Pumpkin Pie Fudge

Guess what we got in the mail ... again?  We love being famous!

********************

October 27, 2009

It seems that we're getting quite famous! Since Mom and I have started this Web site, we've been offered free meals, been given complimentary coupons to try new items for our weekly Bites, and have even had our restaurant bill secretly reduced by a wonderful fan (thanks again, Liz). This week, the fabulous people at Phillips Candy House, Boston's oldest chocolatier, decided to send us a sample of their pumpkin pie fudge. What a great way to kick off the fall season! Mom and I love all things pumpkin, so when I spotted that obnoxious "sorry we missed you, a.k.a., we are holding your fudge hostage" tag from UPS on our security door, I flew into a rage. To make a long story short, after a few heated phone calls (we were home - they just chose not to ring the doorbell), I found myself standing at the UPS Customer Center in North Dartmouth waiting for our yummy treat. Once I got it home, Mom and I tore apart the adorably gift wrapped box to reveal a pumpkin pie-shaped piece of fudge with a chocolate-coated bottom. Heavenly!

THE VERDICT: The aroma alone was enough for us to fall in love with this fudge. Besides the wonderful smell and adorable look, Mom was thoroughly impressed with the texture. Usually when you cut into fudge, it has a tendency to crumble apart, leaving you to pick out which oddly shaped sliver you would like to eat. This was NOT the case with this handmade brand. The fudge was just as smooth and creamy to cut as it was to eat. It wasn't overly sweet, which is great because Mom starts choking to death when she eats abnormally sweet candy (she's such a handful). The dark chocolate coating on the bottom - which I was afraid would be too overwhelming - was actually thin and crisp. Both Mom and I were amazed that the taste of the fudge was almost exactly like an actual piece of pumpkin pie instead of a candy. It was nicely spiced, with ginger being the most outstanding flavor. We were very impressed with the Phillips Candy House fudge, and I can't believe that they've been around since 1925 and we're only trying them now. Mom and I cannot wait to try some of their other goodies. Please visit their Web site for more information.

The Best Of: Pizza

Pizza, pizza everywhere but not a slice for me. Sigh. At least that's how I felt last week when I wanted a slice and there was none to be found. That got me to reminiscing about great pizzas we'd consumed in the past. So, to cheer me up, and maybe tease you a bit, here are some pictures of our favorite pizzas. Don't forget to click the link to see where to locate these masterpieces.

Cosi's Flatbread Cheese Pizza

Yia Yia's Greek Villager

Carmella's White Pizza

Cousin Mike's Bacon & Pineapple Pizza

Elisabeth's Feta Pizza

Blue Point Restaurant's (Kelly's) Marguerita Pizza

Fay's Restaurant's Blonde Greco

Leo's Ristorante's Feta Florentine Pizza

Riccardi's Southwestern Tex-Mex Pizza

Pa Raffa's Spinach Pizza

Spumoni's Four Cheese Pizza

Minerva's III Pizzeria's Linguica

Hope this didn't drive you crazy (or to the nearest pizza parlor or phone), but what the heck - what's a day without pizza? Go try one of these or one of your own favorites. Or, make your own. But if you do, please send me a slice. I'm sitting here completely surrounded by NO pizza.

Check out our friends at MenuJoy.com for great restaurant menus.

New York System Wieners

A Tail Tale of Two Dogs

No, not those dogs.  These dogs ... 

Photo credit:  Roadfood.com

November 13, 2010

As often happens when similar type eateries lay claim to being the first or the best, each builds up a legion of fanatic fans. We have this in our own city (Fall River) with two great sub shops:  Marcucci's and Marzilli's Bakeries. Their loyal followers will fight to the death to protect the reputation of their favorite place. That's why when our fans wanted us to try Rhode Island's famous New York System Wieners (or is it Weiners?), we had a dilemma. Which one? There were several, but the ones mentioned most were the Original (c. 1927) and the Olneyville (c. 1946) New York Systems. What follows next is our night-hunting quest to get the answer to the question:  Which one is best?

********************

Original New York Systems

424 Smith St.

Providence, RI  02908

(401) 331-5349

On Saturday night, around 6:15 p.m., after seeing a great movie (more on this later), Laura and I drove to Providence to try the Original New York Systems. This little shop on Smith Street opened in 1927 and indeed was the first of its kind in the area. The neighborhood is a little seedy but Laura found the shop inside clean and bright and the man behind the counter very friendly. She also noticed lots of "Best of Rhode Island" signs on the walls. She ordered one plain for me (I wanted to taste the dogs without anything for a taste-test) and one with the works for Laura (so she would get the full-effect). We also got what everyone has to get with their dogs - coffee milk - so we ordered two large.  Our total cost was $9.50. We ate them in the car, lol.

Works

Plain

THE VERDICT:  Delicious! I found my plain dog to be of good quality. It tasted very meaty with no hint of fillers. It was also nicely spiced. The bun was steamed perfectly, so was soft and warm and not wet. Laura's works consisted of meat sauce, mustard, chopped raw onions, and celery salt. She also found it delicious and we would have had more but we had another place yet to try. The coffee milk was ice cold and so much tastier than making it with syrup at home (which I often do). It tasted like a coffee milkshake without the ice cream. It came out of one of those old-fashioned metal containers that all diners used to have. All in all, a great little meal and I now know where to come for a really good dog.

Original New York Systems is open year round, but always call ahead for hours.

******************** 

Olneyville New York Systems

20 Plainfield St.

Providence, RI  02909

(401) 621-9500

www.olneyvillenewyorksystem.com

After leaving the Original New York Systems, we drove approximately six minutes to their rival - Olneyville New York Systems.  This place, serving hot wieners since 1946, seems to get more of the attention from media and has more of a razzle dazzle reputation. Hey, even Guy Fieri came here.  And they have a web site (click here). But the important thing to me is ... how did they taste?

Arriving in a similarly unappealing neighborhood as the first place, Laura ran in to get our second dog of the night. We got them the same way: me - plain; Laura - the works. We still had our coffee milks from before. This place seemed to be a bit busier than the first with people going in and out with great regularity. It lived up to its popular reputation. However, all the police cars and sirens zooming by was a little nerve-wracking.

Laura returned with our wieners (again, we ate in the car) and gave me her report. She found this place was a little dingier than the first and the guys behind the counter a little gruff. Our total for two dogs was $4.50 ... but what about the taste?

Works

Plain

THE VERDICT: Not bad ... but not as good as the first place. My plain dog had a snap to it due to a thin casing. I'm not a fan. Plus, I found it a tad fattier and not as beefy as the previous one. The bun was fine 3/4 of the way through but was very dry at the end. How was Laura's works?  Wet!  This wiener was so wet from the too chunky sauce that she couldn't even remove it from the wrapper. She admitted the taste wasn't bad, but it was much too messy. She'd have also liked the sauce to be less chunky meat and more smoother paste. Laura also agreed the dog was fattier. It's amazing how 2 such similar products can taste so different. Not necessarily good verses bad ...but just different.

Olneyville is open every day till late night but call for exact hours.

********************

OUR FINAL VERDICT

We have to buck the trend and infuriate their and our fans by choosing Original New York Systems over the Olneyville wieners. Let's see, Original was cleaner, had a friendlier staff and tasted better; there was no contest. Now this is solely our opinion and experience, so please don't send us rotten wieners or tell us where our taste is located. Just go to whichever one you prefer and enjoy a nice hot wiener and a cold coffee milk. We will!

PS - You can get these same wieners in Fall River, but they're called "Coney Island Hot Dogs".

Don't forget to check out MenuJoy.com for great area restaurant menus.

Bite of the Week - Nasoya TofuPlus

I used to go to the gym.  No, really!  My friend worked at a gym, and I used to visit him there (you didn't actually think that I exercised, did ya?).  One of his duties was to make protein shakes, and I always got a kick out of the peanut butter one because it contained tofu.  My friend told me that it gave the shake an extra boost of protein, so when the kind folks at Nasoya sent us some coupons for their new TofuPlus, I decided to whip up this protein-enriched shake for myself (and Mom, of course).

Mom found a recipe online.  It called for the following ingredients for one serving.  Since Mom and I both wanted our own shake, we simply doubled up on everything:

• 1/2 cup of soft tofu
• 1/4 cup of creamy peanut butter
• 1 banana (cut in chunks)
• 2 tablespoons of honey or 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 3 ice cubes
• *1 cup of skim milk

*This wasn't in the original recipe, however, the ingredients failed to spin in the blender without the added liquid, so we threw in some non-fat milk.

STEP ONE:  Drain the tofu (NOTE:  Since we bought the tofu prior to finding the recipe online, we did not get the right kind.  We used extra firm instead of soft, and no one died).

STEP TWO:  Add the tofu, peanut butter, and banana(s) to your blender.

 (Good job if you noticed that we switched PB brands halfway through the recipe.)

STEP THREE:  Add the honey or sugar (honey is healthier), vanilla, ice cubes (the recipe called for one or two, but we used three), and the milk.

STEP FOUR:  Put the cover on your blender and process for about 30-60 seconds until the shake is smooth and creamy.  Use the pulse feature to make sure that all the ice has been broken up.

THE VERDICT:  Fabulous!  I can see why this particular drink was the most popular at the gym.  I believe it was called the "bodybuilder special" because it was more like a meal replacement than a drink - this baby has 700 calories per serving!  Because of the tofu, you really won't be looking for anything else; this drink is enough food to last you a while.  The best way we could probably describe the tofu is that it does not have a taste, therefore, can be added into any meal as a meat substitute or for some extra protein.  Mom and I can't wait to see what else we can secretly sneak tofu into.  My dad, who was against all things tofu, really enjoyed this shake ... even after we finally revealed the secret ingredient.  I think that all you tofu-haters out there should try this recipe, especially if you enjoy peanut butter and banana, because that's all you're going to taste.  This drink was very thick and creamy, and we would make it again.  Thanks Nasoya (click here to see an earlier review of their products)!

Don't forget to check out MenuJoy.com for great area restaurant menus.