Pre-Birthday Picnic

It was a beautiful evening in Princeton, so Mac and I decided to ditch our softball game and have a picnic at the Princeton Battlefield. It was a relaxing way to spend the evening and a nice start to a wonderful Birthday weekend. We had olive tapenade, feta stuffed olives, almond stuffed olives, celery and carrot sticks, pita crackers, fresh bread, herb butter, brie, and amazing fresh raspberries. It was quite a spread for being as impromptu as it was.

After the picnic we met up with some folks from the softball team for drinks - our team won, even without us, so I didn't feel too bad about ditching the game.

Appel Farm Arts & Music Fest

Mac and I went to the Appel Farm Arts and Music Festival this past weekend. It turned out to be a pretty good day. One of the highlights was getting to make a mosaic tile that will become part of the border of an outdoor mural that will go on the camp's dining hall. We only got one ticket to do this, so we had to work together, which was really fun. The mirror swirl was already there, Mac did the red tiles and I did the blue, green and purple tiles. We did this during the sunniest, hottest part of the day and it was so nice to sit under a shaded tent and feel the breeze.

After eating some lunch and making the tile, we headed back to the blanket that we had put down when we first arrived to see an afternoon packed with music. Thankfully the sun went behind some clouds and there was a nice breeze for most of the afternoon. Sadly, the beer tent ran out of beer before we could get any of the local Flying Fish brews and we had to settle for a late-afternoon Sierra Nevada instead.

The first act that we saw was Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. They are a great funk and soul band and Sharon Jones is quite the energetic leader. She did a great song showing off all of the classic soul moves including the Funky Chicken, the Mashed Potato, the Soul Train, and others. It was really an energetic set.

After Sharon Jones, Buddy Miller played a short set to open for Patty Griffin. He's a great singer/songwriter, but I have to admit that Patty Griffin was the star of that show for me.

And finally, the whole reason I wanted to come to Appel Farm was to hear Patty Griffin! She is one of my favorite performers and she didn't disappoint. She is not only a great songwriter, but a talented guitar player as well. She always puts on a great live show. Here she is singing on a song with Buddy Miller:

And here she is rockin' out on guitar on one of her own tunes. Note the amazing shoes. She always has wonderful shoes, and has even written a song about shoes. And her one love song, Heavenly Day, which she played, was actually written for her dog, but it's a truly beautiful song. I highly recommend going out and seeing her if she comes through your town.

The last band to play was The Avett Brothers. I wasn't as familiar with their tunes as with Patty Griffin's, but they were very energetic and clearly passionate about what they were doing. They seemed to have a good time and their fans were really into it, too.

We ended up leaving before their set was over to beat the crowd and because sitting in a field all day was not helping our allergies at all. After packing up the car and turning on the A/C we headed out of Elmer and straight up to Collingswood, NJ to have dinner at The Pop Shop! I first heard about this place on the Food Network when Bobby Flay did a Grilled Cheese throwdown here. And let me tell you, the grilled cheese was outstanding! I had the East Zane grilled cheese which was brie, grilled asparagus and pesto on a french baguette. Mac had the Cajun Benedict (they serve breakfast all day) and was not disappointed. I'm looking forward to going back sometime soon.

Garden update!

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting up with my old friend Matthew who was in Philly for a conference. We ended up going to the Reading Terminal Market and I found this great little gnome to hang off of my basil pot. Isn't he cute?

The herbs on the front porch have been going like gangbusters. There was a little moment of distress after a strong pop-up thunderstorm that beat everything down pretty good, but after some nice weather, everyone seemed to recover nicely. You can see from the labeled photo below that I've added some herbs to the original collection and I'm looking forward to using them. I've already clipped some of the basil to go with some (store-bought) tomatoes and I'm looking forward to making basil aioli and some herb butter later this week.

The community garden has also had its ups and downs. One of the big ups is that I got my hands on a Sungold tomato plant and it's doing great! It already has some little fruits on it. I had a Sungold last year and was so happy with how sweet and plentiful the crops were that I went out of my way to track one down and get it in my garden. I can't wait for these little guys to ripen.

One of the downs is that the green beans only came up here and there. I'm trying to make this a "glass half full" moment by re-planting the parts of the row that didn't come up and therefore extending my green bean picking season. I planted my beans fairly late last year and still got quite a good crop. Here are some of the healthy beans that you saw sprouting in the last blog post about the garden:

Another "up" is that the husk cherries seem to be doing well. They have these neat little flowers and you can see the little lantern shaped husks that the fruits will grow in to. This is a new plant for me, so I'm excited to see how it progresses.

The bell peppers and cucumbers seem to be doing well, as you can see in the photo below (cucumbers on the top and right, peppers on the bottom and left). You can also see in this photo that the weeds are quite strong and abundant this year. I've been picking around the plants as much as possible, but I really need to get in to the open spaces with a hoe and knock some of that back. It's tricky when I don't get to the garden every day and sometimes I go before work just to get everyone watered, which doesn't really leave time for weeding. Maybe this weekend...

I also planted a different kind of lettuce than what I've grown before. This also came up here and there, so I might re-plant the open spaces in the row with some arugula.

I also planted some carrots that seem to be doing OK, but I'll have to wait a little longer to see how many of them come up. Thankfully you get TONS of carrot seeds in each packet and it shouldn't be a problem to re-plant some of those as needed, too. So far I would give my garden plot a B-, with plenty of room for improvement. Hopefully the new beans will take, sunflowers will straighten up and grow tall, and the weeds won't quite take over the whole place. I'll post more photos as the season progresses.

Memorial Day with the Fam

And when I say "The Fam" I mean the entire family. Everyone was present and accounted for: Grammy, Mom and Dad, Dan and Mo and their kids and even Mo's mom, John and Jill and their kids and Me and Mac. It was quite a full pool! Dan and Mo had just arrived from their trip with John and Nathaniel out to the Indy 500, Mom and Dad were finishing up a weekend "Mini Grammy-Gramps Camp" with Sebastian and Liam and everyone else was just enjoying the long weekend and the unofficial start to Summer!

It was a beautiful day, hot enough to go swimming, but nice enough to sit out on the back deck and enjoy a grilled dinner. It was also nice enough to enjoy the breeze in the hammock, play some wiffle ball and catch up with each other. It really turned out to be the perfect relaxing day for everyone.

Princeton Pride

Over Memorial Day Weekend, Princeton celebrated Reunions, where all the classes come back to celebrate all things Princeton. I attended Reunions this year, where as last year I avoided it like the plague. I had heard all kinds of stories about tons of drunk people and crazy old dudes in their funny jackets and decided that I didn't need to see it. But this year, I decided to brave the crowds and the crazies and see what all the hubbub was about.

What it's about is having some serious school pride. The oldest alum was 103 and celebrating his 85th Reunion. That's right, he's from the class of 1925! That is some serious dedication. If you look closely in the above photo you can see the banner for the class of 1925, behind the banner that reads Old Guard, this refers to any classes celebrating beyond their 65th reunion.

And yes, there were plenty of funny jackets. As you can see in the above photo, each class has it's own print, this is obviously the class of 1981, and I was amazed when this guy reached into his inside pocket, to see that the lining of the jackets is actually covered with the names of all of your classmates. From what I understand, you don't get a "dinner jacket" until your 20th reunion. Before that you just have what's referred to as a "beer jacket", a much more casual jacket with your class year written huge across the back.

The above photos were all taken during the P-Rade. Really, it's a parade where all of the classes march through campus. All of the Old Guard get their own golf carts for the P-Rade, otherwise people mostly march as a class in big groups and there is a theme for each major year celebration (reunion years that end in 5 and 0). Tons of people line up along the P-Rade route and drink beer and cheer on all the other classes. That's about it. And it takes 4 hours for this to go from start to finish.

One of the best parts of Reunions, for me, was the lawn concert and fireworks display. The Princeton Orchestra performed some great, classic tunes and then the fireworks display was outstanding. It was synched to music and turned out to be quite a show.

After the fireworks, Mac and I and a bunch of other folks visited the different tents to partake of the ever-flowing beer and great music and dancing. It was like having 7 different weddings to go to in one night, all within walking distance. The bands for each reunion-ing class reflected that year's tastes, so there was everything from swing dance music in the 50th Reunion tent to DJs in the 5th year reunion tent.

At the very end, Mac and I decided to attend an Arch Sing where members (past and present) of different a capella groups come together to sing in one of two arches on campus. It was pretty amazing. There was an open keg in the middle of the arch, so as the groups decided what song to sing next, they all refilled their cups. And at the end, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE started singing the Alma Mater, including the drunk guys walking through campus. And they all knew the proper hand motions to go along with it. It was just another indication of how dedicated these alums are to Old Nassau.

One thing I've always heard about Princeton is how dedicated they are to the Undergraduate Experience, and Reunions goes right along with that. Once a member of a class at Princeton, always a member of that class. And I have to say, I'm glad I experienced Reunions if for no other reason than to get a better understanding of how this place works. It has it's quirks, that's for sure, but it's obvious that people love it.

Alex in Beauty and the Beast

Kim's son Alex has done it again! Not only is he great at sports and a straight-A student, but he can also sing and act! This year he was Gaston in his middle school's production of Beauty and the Beast.

He did a great job, and since he is finishing 8th grade and heading off to high school (!), this was his last performance on this stage. I can't wait to see what he does in high school.

It was also super-fun to be in the Official Alex cheering section that was 19 people strong on closing night. It was great to catch up with Kim's family and good friends. Here are a few of us after the show with Alex:

OK, I'll say it again: ALEX is going into HIGH SCHOOL!?! How did this happen? I have known him since he was born, literally and it just amazes me how time flies and kids grow up. It's been awesome watching Alex grow up through the years. He is truly one of the most talented, smart, kind kids I know (besides my nephews, of course!).

Successful Sorbet!

I recently purchased an ice cream maker. This may seem silly when I live in a town with unbelievably good gourmet ice cream shops, but I wanted to make some of my own. I find myself being more and more sensitive to massive amounts of dairy and was hoping to make some non-dairy ice cream and some great sorbets with summer's bounty of fruits. The first attempts at Cardamom Rice Milk Ice Cream were less than successful, but then I made amazing strawberry sorbet from local strawberries. I also recently made peanut butter ice cream (with real half and half) and banana sorbet, which was SO easy, I can see it becoming my go-to solution to slightly over-ripe bananas.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with some healthy frozen treats, too. Reducing the sugar in some of the recipes, opting for non-dairy milks, trying some savory frozen treats (basil sorbet?). One recipe I'm looking forward to trying is avocado ice cream. So far, I'd say the machine has been worth it, even though I have no extra space for things in my kitchen, this is one little appliance that I'll make some room for!