Whatever Works

Fun times at the Tuckerton Seaport: A recap of the Bluegrass & BBQ festival

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, but all my thoughts, opinions, and love for my day at the Tuckerton Seaport are truly my own.

Tucker's Island Lighthouse

 This weekend my family & I were fortunate enough to be guests of Real Mom Media at the Tuckerton Seaport's Bluegrass and BBQ Festival.  We were able to enjoy the festival with several of my blogging buddies who came in from the Philadelphia area to check out all the Tuckerton Seaport has to offer. 

I have to confess something: I've been to the Tuckerton Seaport probably 30 times since they opened, but I've never actually taken a guided tour.  Because I live within walking distance, my family & I always stop in to play mini golf or play on their huge wooden pirate ship.  Sometimes we take a walk to the top of the lighthouse and see if we can see our house from way up there.  We always check out the NJ Surf Museum and brag that their Hansen 50/50 is the same make our brother-in-law surfs.  

Every Friday evening in the summertime, we pack up our beach chairs and a cooler and head to the Seaport for their free Friday Night Concert events.

We love the Seaport.  But we've never actually walked with a guide.

bluegrass under the tent

 Between listening to awesome bluegrass music by both the staged bands and the vendors plucking cigar box banjos and eating barbeque like ribs, fried catfish, and collard greens, we were able to take a walk around the 46 acres to find out a little more about my town's history.

Fried catfish and BBQ chicken from Blossom's Catering

 We looked at duck decoys and sneakboxes that lined the Hunting Shanty and marveled at the names underneath.  My daughter thought it was super-cool to learn that a few of her friends are related to famous award winning decoy carvers and boat builders like Rube Corliss and Gus Heinrichs.  

 

Checking out the decoys in the Hunting Shanty

 We also got to play about a million different musical instruments including this awesome washboard necktie at Todd's Musical Petting Zoo which was there for the festival: 

 

Wrote a song about it. Like ta hear it? Here it go!

 I was also very happy to be there for the world premiere of Jersey Shore United a film by Jimmy Ward -a local favorite here on the Jersey Shore since Hurricane Sandy.  Jimmy has been making these fantastic videos of himself running through our shore towns after Hurricane Sandy to help show our progress in bebuilding.  But moreso they show our strength as a large community.  It warmed my heart to see him in person and to be able to tell him how great he is for doing what he does. 

 

Southern Regional HS sophomore Jimmy Ward

 We ended our day by making a really cute wooden duck magnet which now adorns my fridge.  The kids did a great job!

Quack!

 Our day at the Tuckerton Seaport was so great.  The kids are eager to go back and learn more and I'm eager to attend more of their awesome festivals.  Up next: the Privateers & Pirates Festival on June 8th 2013! Looking forward to it.  Hope to see you there!

 

Breadless Cheesy Garlic Bread

Just wanted to share a quick recipe that came to me during one of my cravings for good garlic bread only to find that we were out of the main ingredient: Bread.

Instead of putting on real pants and going to the store or bribing my husband in some way to go for me, I thought, "Hmmm, I really only want the cheesy goodness that's on top.  To heck with the bread!"  

I decided to skip the middle man (AKA: the bread) and just put the cheese itself directly under the broiler. The result was fantastic.  Here's how you do it:

 

Breadless Cheesy Garlic Bread

About 1/2 cup shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese

1/8 tsp garlic powder

sprinkling of oregano

1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese

Sprinkle the mozzarella (similar to how you would put cheese on a pizza) into a pan that can be put in the broiler.  Then sprinkle the rest of the ingredients on top making sure they are evenly dispersed.  Stick in under a broiler until it is bubbly and brownish.  Let it cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then remove it in one big sheet.  To easily cut it, use a pizza cutter.

 

 OK, so I know my blog is sorta all over the place. One day it's recipes, another day it's a giveaway, and another day it's a story about my family... I hope it's not too hard to follow.  One of these days I'll organize myself.  Until then it's just Whatever Works. :-)   

Rose Romano's Italian Peppers: A Gourmet Topping - Review and giveaway!

One of the awesome perks of working in social media is that I am often given the opportunity to try new things and write reviews about them.  Sometimes, I am even afforded the luxury of offering a giveaway to you all.  I am happy to report that today is one of those awesome days!

The other day I received this gorgeous package in the mail from Rose Romano's: 

 

Beautiful presentation, don't you think?

 I was so excited to open it and give the topping a try.  Unlike typical pasta sauces, Rose Romano's is more of a topping to be used as an enhancement to your meal.  You don't need to pour a whole jar on your dish to make it taste good.  A few spoonfuls is all your need to make any dish delicious.  There are both red and green pepper varieties - all locally-sourced, gluten-free and low calorie.  

I'll tell you, I've been putting it on EVERYthing since opening the first jar.  Omelets, sausage & pepper sandwiches... so far my favorite has been using it to make this Italian hot dog (recipe below):   

Italian hot dog using Rose Romano's Italian Topping

 

Italian Hot Dogs

 8 of your favorite hot dogs

8 hot dog buns

1 small onion sliced thin

1 large russet potato diced

1/4 cup water

3 Tablespoons butter & 2 Tablespoons canola oil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

salt & pepper

Rose Romano's Italian Pepper topping to taste

Place potatoes and water in pan on high heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cover for about 5 minutes or until potatoes are almost cooked through.  Drain any excess water.  Add butter & oil, garlic powder, salt & pepper.  Cook a few minutes over medium heat and then add sliced onions.  Cook until potatoes get crispy and onions are slightly brown.

Grill hot dogs to the desired doneness and assemble them on a plate.  Put a hot dog in each bun.  Add a spoonful of the potato onion mixture and a dollop of Rose Romano's Italian Peppers on top.  Delicious! (Serves four- 2 hot dogs apiece)

 

I'd love for you to try Rose Romano's Italian Topping, too.  So I am giving away one of the beautiful jars from my stash.  All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me how you would like to use Rose Romano's Italian Topping.  I will randomly choose a winner on Friday 4/12/13 at 5:00 PM EST.

And don't worry...if you don't win you can still order Rose Romano's online at roseromanos.com or through their Facebook Page: Rose Romano's .  You can also find Rose Romano's at a few Whole Foods locations.  Keep an eye out for them!

Best of luck! Hope you win.

 

I like to call this stroganoff

I love to make concoctions for dinner.  I call them real names, but I don't know if they are technically the correct names for what I make.  For example, tonight I made beef stroganoff.  The only thing I know for sure regarding the right to use that name is that I used beef.  So at least I'm half right.  And since the word stroganoff is so funny, I might even use it more often.  We might end up with chicken stroganoff, veal stroganoff, cupcake stroganoff.  The possibilities are endless.

Here's the recipe.  You can call it what you want, but I call it:

Cindy's So-Called Beef Stroganoff

1 lb top round* cut into 1/4 inch thick matchstick sizes pieces

1 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 clove garlic crushed and minced

1 small onion chopped

1 container of fresh white mushrooms** sliced

3 beef bouillon cubes & 3 cups of water or 3 cups beef stock

Salt & pepper

3 Tbsp flour

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 tsp parsley

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 cup sour cream

butter

Put the beef in a large bowl and toss with the apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and let it sit for about 20 minutes.  Put about a Tbsp of butter in a deep pan and add the garlic.  Brown the meat on medium/high in the garlic butter in batches, taking it out and keeping it warm in a separate plate.  Once all the meat is done and out of the pan, lower the heat to medium and add another Tbsp of butter and the onion.  Cook the onion for about 1 minute and add the mushrooms.  Saute for about 2-3 minutes until you can start to smell the mushrooms.  

Add the beef back to the pan along with the bouillon and water or stock.  Vigorously stir the flour, nutmeg  and cold water in a cup to make a thickening agent.  Stir the mixture into the pan and let the whole thing cook covered on med/low for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally.

When the 45 minutes are up, turn off the heat and whisk in the sour cream a little at a time.  You may not need all of it if your sauce is thick enough already.  Sprinkle some parsley on top.

I like to serve this stroganoff  with buttered egg noodles and some French cut green beans (if that IS their real name.)  

Hope you like it!

*Don't buy top round already cut up this way.  Buy a top round roast and do it yourself.  It will be MUCH cheaper and it's the same exact meat.  Trust me.  I worked for a butcher for 6 years.  I know my meat, people. 

**Also buy your mushrooms whole and cut them up yourself.  They just taste better that way.  

Because Hot Pockets don't have enough publicity

After a week of chasing the crazy cold bug around our house and catching it several times, the kids and I finally felt well enough yesterday to go grocery shopping.  We decided eating all the leftover cheese and crackers from Christmas was no longer "festive" and became much more detestable as the days passed.  So off to the supermarket we went to buy fresh fruit and veg, organic meats, whole grains and fat-free dairy products.

We came home with Hot Pockets.

Yes, we got all the other stuff, too.  But the kids were eyeing the pocketed goodness so contently and sweetly I figured, eh, what's another Christmas present?  So I got them two boxes: Four Cheese Pizza and Philly Steak & Cheese.  Since we don't really eat conventional meals (popcorn for breakfast, eggs for dinner, etc.)  I figured they might make a good quick breakfast on the days when the kids are WAY more awake than I am.  Today being one of those days, I popped in a couple of those Steak & Cheese babies, watched them swirl around the microwave and then waited the necessary 2 minutes for the molten lava innards to cool down to a respectable level.

The kids were as psyched as Jim Gaffigan when I plopped the HP's in front of them and they realized they would be eating their breakfasts out of little silver sleeves.  They even made Oooo and Ahhh sounds.  They turned their plates around to examine the treats.  They picked them up and marveled at the perfect little satchel of "meat" and cheese.  They cringed at the smell they gave off.

They both reluctantly took their first bites.  My daughter, being the bright cheery optimist she is, told me they were delicious! - except for the crust part and the inside part.  My son is a realist and flat out said, "No, I don't like this and I'm not going to eat it."

Both sat there in complete conflict with themselves.  They knew these little food-like pouches were bought for them as a special treat and they looked fun, but they tasted terrible and weren't at all what they thought they would be.  I think they thought their first bite would release rainbows and sprinkles into their mouths or something.

Admittedly, I was in conflict with myself, too.  I always tell them to eat what I put in front of them and yet this thing I put in front of them was barely even food!  We have such a hard time getting them to eat their meals lately, I felt I had to be adamant about them finishing this one.  So there I was, sternly telling my kids to finish their Hot Pockets. 

My daughter made it through about 1/3 of the thing. My son stuck to his guns and left the entire pocket untouched except for the tiniest mouse nibble on the corner.  Time ran out for breakfast and I ended up taking their plates away.  Thankfully they had eaten a bowl of blackberries each and I knew they wouldn't starve until lunchtime.

So now I'm sitting here arguing with my son about why he can't have a snack...wondering why I'm not letting him...thinking about what I could possibly use the other box of Hot Pockets for...

Maybe they work like Magic Erasers at getting out stubborn stains..?

I've got the moves like Martha

The last couple weeks, I've given myself a challenge.  Since Christmas is coming, we've been tightening the belt in other areas of our family life around here so we can scrape together some gifts for the kiddies.  I decided that I am NOT going grocery shopping (except for the essentials like milk, produce, liquor and eggs) and will be making up meals with strictly what I can find in our pantry and freezer.  Of course, it started out wonderfully...Shrimp Fra Diavalo, crusty Italian bread and a lush garden salad with croutons. Now we're down to reheated McDonald's fries and tap water, but at least we have food in our bellies.   Here are a few things I've learned on this journey:

- When you add corn starch and water to cooked frozen spinach, you get the slime they used on You Can't Do That on Television.

- Karo syrup isn't  good for anything except making candy or pretending it's snot. 

- I don't remember EVER buying that can of coconut milk.

- Strawberry jelly mixed with Italian salad dressing is delicious.

- Putting on the Nightmare Before Christmas during dinner (more specifically during a scene with the brown guy who constantly oozes and drips) will make any meal you give your family look more appetizing by comparison.  That's a good night to try that Tupperware container of stuff you found in the WAY back of the freezer.

- The frozen peas that were used as icebags after surgery don't taste much different than any other frozen peas.

- Giving the kids an extra multi-vitamin when they ask for more at breakfast doesn't count as "more breakfast" to them.

- Even after two weeks of doing this, we STILL haven't touched the quinoa I found on the top shelf.

- We have a bottle of Jagermeister in the freezer.

- My kids love hot dog buns with butter.

- My kids love hot dog buns without butter.

- My kids love butter by itself.

- My kids think margarine IS butter when we run out of butter.

- I can't trick my kids with butter flavored Pam when we run out of margarine.

-Popcorn is a fine breakfast cereal substitute.  It's whole grain and has less sugar.

- You CAN get sick of pasta.  Especially when you run out of the good stuff and are stuck with the whole wheat kind you bought back when you thought being healthy was going to happen.

- There are still the same amount of dishes after dinner no matter what you cook.

I've never appreciated my status as a Price Plus card holder more than I do right now.  It has been a long couple weeks, and I am ready to run full speed, jump directly into ShopRite's beef display and make a snow angel.   Beef, it's for dinner tonight!  ...with shots of Jager on the side.