Yes yes, I know – it’s the middle of the month, and you’re just getting to this now?!?!? Relax – there’s still plenty of great things left to do to tickle your taste buds. Trust me…and don’t look at me like that; it’s going to be OK.
1) Get to your local farm market…NOW! What a great time to be in Jersey and be able to enjoy locally grown tomatoes, corn, and peaches…and there are even some apples making an early appearance. And if we see any one of you buying a non-Jersey tomato in the grocery store, we will give you a sad clown face. So, WHEN you buy your JERSEY tomatoes, come back and try one of our tasty tomato recipes.
2) You can’t think about salt water taffy without thinking Jersey shore, right? Well, why is that? Answers to questions like that and about other food items that we associate with the shore can be answered by food historian Judith Krall-Russo. On August 17, she will be at the Plumstead branch of the Ocean County Library conducting a Food & Fun Along the Jersey Shore presentation starting at 1PM. It’s a free event, but please call ahead to register.
3) If you’ve been jonesing for some homemade pierogies lately, have I got the event for you. St. Stephen Ukrainian Catholic Church in Toms River is holding its annual Ukrainian Festival on August 21 from 12PM to 6PM. And they’re not just serving pierogies; you can also sample some home cooked borscht, sausage and sauerkraut, and holubsti (stuffed cabbage). You can even get a nice cold bottle of Ukie beer, if you so choose. Just don’t get there too late – the food will go fast!
4) There’s no way to improve on the wonderful fresh fruits grown locally…except maybe to use them in making your own ice cream. And you can learn to do just that at the Long Beach Island Foundation on August 24 by taking their Summer Desserts: Ice Cream & Sorbets class. The class is from 1PM to 4PM, and costs $25 per person ($20 if you are a member of the Foundation).
5) Summertime is slowly slipping away, and many of you will be taking pictures to help remember those fun days at the beach. But what if those pics could get you a free taco? They can, thanks to the good folks at Surf Taco. Send your Jersey shore photos to Surf Taco by August 31, and you will get a postcard that’s good for a free taco at any of their locations. You will also be entered in a contest for a fabbo Surf Taco prize package.
John and Lisa Howard-Fusco Regional Editors, Ocean County. Although they and their two kids call Ocean County home, their John and Lisa Are Eating in South Jersey food blog has them traveling all over the southern region of New Jersey. They and their blog have been mentioned in articles by the New York Times, Courier-Post, nj.com and njmonthly.com. Lisa has written articles and reviews for South Jersey magazine as well as for Ed Hitzel’s Restaurant Newsletter and Hitzel’s Restaurant Magazine. And John could use a Gaetano’s cheesesteak right about now.
