Our lead driver, Rich Fleisher, strides thru the gates of the
Annual Tomato-Tasting Festival in Pittstown, NJ.
Ada, Rich and I left Huntingdon Valley about 2 pm and miraculously arrived at 3 on the dot, the time the festival began. I say miraculously b/c Rich was guided by the firm but kind woman on his GPS.
And, oh, the wandering way she took us! Seemingly out-of-the-way roads that appeared to dead-end, but did not. All I could think of was How will we find our way home when it gets dark!
Reader, dyou think it's possible that the Fleishers and I could taste all them sample tomaters? And then go out for dinner afterwards?
Read on.
Miles and miles of country, unadulterated. Hope they don't find oil or coal underneath.
What a delight it is watching people line up to get in - admission a reasonable $7 - after we had simply strode in by being early. Yes, we're the competitive type.
Each booth was in a tent and Master Gardeners offered us the tomatoes - and other Rutgers-grown fruits and veggies - on toothpicks.
Everything we ate was grown on this farm. And everything was delicious. Most are not available in stores but if you brought some seeds home with you, you could plant em and grow your own
Aunt Ruby's German Green - Ivory Pear - Ravello - Sugar Plum - Sweet Zen and more! The only thing I brought home were the toothpicks and some seeds from black-eyed Susans, which are still in my pocket.
This chef from the Rutgers Club was giving a cooking demonstration. See his home smoker on the right? It had various kinds of chips that gave the tomatoes a smoky flavor.
He was making tomato bisque. In fact, we thought it was made w/bacon, but it was simply the smoked tomato. Is that right, Ada? (She never forgets a thing.)
I was mindful that before my kidney transplant, tomatoes were on my forbidden foods list. High in potassium.
Now I was mindful of my diabetes but I did very well.
Tomato bisque, sprinkled with parm cheese, is served from these tiny cups. Usually I make quite the pig of myself, but we had many booths to go before we sleep.
Who doesn't like watermelon! This golden sweet watermelon - with seeds! - was the best I've ever tasted. The Master Gardener and I agreed we like seeds in our melon. So did the Green Grocer - remember him? the late
Joe Carcione - who used to swallow the seeds.
The be-hatted Ada looks over flowers and ornamental grass. She and Rich both wore very stylish hats. She got hers in Reno, while attending a bat mitzvah; he got his in Montana, while attending a wedding.
Even people in wheelchairs enjoyed themselves on this peerless summer day.
These apples have been growing on this trellis for two years and have produced a luscious crop.
We asked one of the experts if they use pesticides and the answer was Yes.
More flowers near a stone bench. One of my fave articles I wrote when I worked for the Intelligencer was on Spectacular Gardens. I knew them all and simply visited, got a brief story, and Stace Leichliter went out and photographed them. In hideous black and white.
We went thru a CORN MAZE. Could you really get lost? We forgot to bring our GPS so we got a little bit lost but then found our way out.
Did you see the horror movie Children of the Corn? And Sleuth, which I believe took place in a maze in an English country garden. I'll check when I'm offstage.
Can you see the FEET on this corn stalk?
Is it really as high as a dinosaur's thigh? Well, it was purty darn high. The corn cobs grow all over it. Gosh, I felt like such a city slicker, a suburbanite, but I shore loved being down on the farm.
One booth we did not visit was the basil-tasting booth. By now, lines were extremely long.
Goodbye goodbye goodbye.
Off to Frenchtown, New Jersey for dinner.
Our first view of the acclaimed restaurant
The Lovin' Oven in Frenchtown, NJ.
We left the car there and decided to explore the town.
"I'm so glad you guys are adventurous," I said to Ada and Rich as we walked along the road.
Our first stop was right next door.
A clothing shop housed in an old mill. Now there's a beautiful bird bath.
Three people have apartments in the old mill.
We hoofed it up the hill to the quaint town of Frenchtown.
My friend Carolyn had driven me here a few years ago and I remembered a wonderful art gallery of duck decoys and other artwork.
The Decoys and Wildlife Gallery was closed.
Everywhere you looked was something of interest. Look at these huge Caladium!
Ada and Rich bought a bowl for "Matches," their beagle grand-dog. One of Rich's associates told him beagles are stupid dogs. But their Matches is the genius of the species. Perhaps he should be named Einstein?
The Yellow Dog. Flotation devices in boxes outside the shops for when you take your dog over the rapids on the Colorado River.
I revisited
Hector Studio, where Don Hector makes gorgeous stained glass. Biz is good, he said.
In fact, I have his business card in the pocket of my car. Why? Artists are my favorite people.
You may find this hard to believe, but I also have the business card of this famous artist, as verified by the PBS show "History Detectives."
Click here.
Awaiting our meal.
The restaurant is acutely conscious of saving our beautiful environment. Our table was adorned by fresh flowers including this sunflower.
Fresh garden salad that we all shared. The greens were oh-so-tender and nicely drenched in Champagne vinaigrette.
I ordered a bean taco. Rich got linguine and shrimp, Ada got shrimp with a delicious tomatillo sauce and spicy black beans. I made my own black bean dish today, which was scrumptious, except where it burned at the bottom of the pot. Darn!
I asked Nicole, our young waitress, what the green stuff was.
Kale. Absolutely delicious and as healthy as eating a whole box of Special K. That's goat cheese you see. I told Ada and Rich that when I went on a trip to the Lancaster Farmer's Market, I bought lots of goat cheese from a family who raised
nothing but goats.
A baker arrives every morning and makes the dessert. The banana pudding in the middle is quite popular, said Nicole. The Fleishers got the peach and cherry tart on the upper right and I got the Peach Pie on the middle right.
The pies were heated and served with vanilla ice cream from The Bent Spoon in Princeton.
I've had lots of wonderful meals and this one was among the top!
When I got home, first thing I did was get on my exercise bike to lower me blood sugar. I was on there nearly half an hour, made all the more difficult b/c I watched the Republican National Convention.
The good news is in the morning, my blood sugar was fine!
Sounds like a great day! There is nothing like a delicious, fresh from the farm tomato, as opposed to the cardboard-tasting ones we usually get in the supermarket.
ReplyDeleteToday we bought some local ones, as well as my favorite honey crisp apples. I thought it was a bit early for them and was delighted to find them.