Jersey On My Mind

Everyone who knows me know that I'm from the great state of New Jersey! OK, well I was born in New York, so I guess I'm a hybrid. Anyway, many may say it's unfortunate to be an Italian-American from New Jersey, especially after shows like "Jersey Shore". However, I feel like instead of GTL, my parents taught me the importance of being close with your family. I also learned about the importance of eating and feeding others, which I know is a shocking revelation to many of you.

Andrew ca. 1990 - found this at my grandma's house.

This Labor Day Weekend, I was fortunate enough to make it back to the homeland! Even though it was a packed weekend of seeing family, most everything revolved around food. So what did I enjoy during my precious 48 hours home?

Dinner 1: José Tejas; Woodbridge, NJ

My family calls this place "Joe Eats" because there's a big "EAT" sign on Route 1 and José almost sounds like... Joe? We're Italian, cut us some slack!! Anyway, it's my favorite Tex-Mex/Cajun restaurant, and I always get the same exact thing - chicken fajitas, with all cheese on the side. I swear these are the best fajitas ever - seasoned with Cajun spices on a sizzling platter with just onions. Don't need any of those other veggies - give me some chicken, onions, and cheese in a tortilla and I'm set.

Source: Yelp - I forgot to take a picture (too hungry...)

Dinner 2: Family BBQ; Staten Island, NY

Obviously on Labor Day Weekend you gotta have a BBQ! My aunt had the family and friends over for one in her newly-redone backyard! As with any BBQ, we had burgers and hot dogs (pronounced "dawgs"). However, we also had a HUGE Italian sub, Penne Vodka, Chicken with Prosciutto, and Grandma's Potato Salad, among other things. Admittedly, we cheated a bit - most of it was catered - but hey, we wanted to celebrate! As expected, even tasting a bit of each dish left you overly stuffed. An there's more! Dessert was trays of pastries from the neighborhood bakery, along with a really cool "Jello Pool Cake" made by my fave cuz-in-law, Jamie! She's also quite the baker.

Never an empty stomach at my family's events.

Source: Jamie's Facebook

Dinner 3: Wolfgang Puck's American Grille; Borgata Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, NJ

Another thing known to those who know me is that every now and then I like to try my hand at games of chance. OK I lied - I enjoy gambling. Don't worry, I have restraint, so no need to go all Intervention on me. Anyway, we went down to AC so I could check out the new Revel Casino and maybe win a couple bucks. Unfortunately the latter did not happen, but at least I had a great day with my family! A day of slots and three-card poker left me hungry come dinner time. When I saw pork wienerschnitzel on the menu, I realized if I were to get it in the US, I should get it from Wolfgang. Since I was in Austria last year, I had fond memories, and this lived up to expectations! Crispy but not overly oily, with a light potato salad and arugula salad with pumpkin seed oil, I gobbled up the whole plate.

Just like Vienna!

Oh, and then there was dessert. This was a surprise (and I actually don't know what it was) because my family wanted to sing Happy Birthday to me. Granted, my birthday is not till the 13th (mark it on your calendars!), but they were cute, and I am very grateful :).

Mystery delicious chocolate cake - but I'm not 24 yet!

I even got one of my birthday gifts already! My aunt heard about my pasta-making adventure, so she got me the attachments for my KitchenAid stand mixer! #love - get ready for more pasta posts soon!! I'm told that I have too much baking for a blog called "Pasta for Thought", so I will work on rectifying that.

I guess it's ... PASTA TIME!

Now that I'm back in A2, time to get cooking. Or go to school, whichever comes first...