Get ready to don your ponchos and set out to enjoy some foodie fun. Stop by the Fordcast Booth on Sunday and say hello to some of the Jersey Biters at the 12th Annual Mercer County Italian American Festival, September 23, 24 and 25th. Mercer County Park. Food Piazza Italian restaurants, wine and beer, Enjoy Italian specialties from many of the area’s best Italian restaurants and vendors. Italian Market Tent Numerous vendors with Italian and Italian-American hand crafted articles for sale.
Westwood Restaurant Week 2011. Starting on Sunday, September 18th and ending on Sunday, September 25th Enjoy Westwood’s finest dining establishments at a reasonable price fix of $20.11.
New Jersey Restaurant Week. Governor Christie and Lt. Governor Guadagno have declared the week of September 18-25, 2011 as NJ Restaurant Week, and New Jersey Restaurant Association, the statewide business organization representing NJ’s eating & drinking establishments is proud to sponsor this statewide event with restaurants in every corner of the State offering multi-course lunch and dinner specials for $19.00 or less and $35.00 or less respectively. Thank you for supporting NJ restaurants this week and everyday!. Follow the link for participating restaurants.
Blooming Hill Farm Fund-Raising Dinner: September 24th, A special dinner, drinks, and dancing to beat-back the losses Blooming Hill Farm suffered at the hand of hurricane Irene. Nearly 40 acres of their crops were completely submerged, and thier farm stand and greenhouse areas were decimated. To help offset some of the economic losses, they will be hosting a special dinner to include a silent auction, drinking, and dancing. Blooming Hill Farm, 1251 Route 208, Blooming Grove, New York 10914. The dinner will be prepared by celebrated chef Amanda Freitag. For those of you unfamiliar with Amanda, she has worked with some of the world’s most prestigious chefs. Reservations are required may be made at the farm stand on weekends. Please note that seating is extremely limited.
Jersey Shore Culinary Classic to benefit The Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. September 19th at the Mill at Spring Lake Heights. Introduced in 1992 to help sustain the FoodBank’s mission, 20 years later it is still considered the original, largest and most widely known tasting event at the Jersey Shore. Big Joe Henry of NJ 101.5 will be the Master of Ceremonies. Tickets are only $75.00… please call 732-918-2600 or click here to purchase online.
Mary’s Place by the Sea is Celebrating their New Home with Paella and Entertainment after a tour. September 24, 2011 Time: 6:30pm-10:00pm Location: 25 Ocean Avenue Ocean Grove, NJ 07756 Featuring an authentic taste of Spain: tapas, paella, sangria and beer Steve Reilly Band and Flamenco Dancing. Rain or Shine, Tickets are Limited, Purchase Today! Tickets: $100 per person. Purchase tickets online at the link below or call 732.455.5345
Farm to Table Wine Tasting Event, Saturday, September 24 Eat and Drink For a Reason is a nonprofit organization that merges the foodie and the philanthropist in us all. Adam & Alicia Winters invite you into their Scotch Plains home for a unique culinary fundraiser to benefit the Children’s Specialized Hospital. Food & Wine to be donated by Savory Spice Shop, Cool Vines and Bayberry Caterers and Alan’s Orchard. Visit website for ticket purchases and information.
The Margate Fall Funfest By The Bay,to be held on September 24 and 25 of 2011, has become Margate’s signature event. The Funfest draws tens of thousands of people to Margate from all over the region. The Funfest provides two full days of excitement and features a variety of entertainment activities, including a juried show of fine arts and crafts, fabulous gourmet foods, live musical entertainment, educational exhibits, carnival games, Ray Scott’s Dock ‘Wetlands Wonderland’and the 14th Annual Dog Show held at Steve and Cookies By The Bay. Last but not least, relax and enjoy a scenic boat ride through the back bays and sandy beaches provided by the Jessie O fishing fleet. Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday.http://www.marvelousmargate.com/funfest.html
Bloomfield Harvestfest, September 24 & 25th, Bloomfield’s biggest celebration. Two food courts serving festival and ethnic food favorites. For more information click here.
Baykeeper’s Annual Clambake September 25th, Fort Hancock Chapel on Sandy Hook in New Jersey. Festivities run from noon to 4pm with registration beginning at 11:30am. Fun in the sun, good food, good friends, music, seining and a toast to some of Baykeeper’s hardest working friends and allies. Click for more info.
Red Bank Guinness Oyster Fest: Sunday, September 25, 2011 Noon – 7PM. White Street Parking Lot. The event will also be a culinary feast! There will be tons of GUINNESS and fresh OYSTERS plusm25 of Red Bank’s favorite restaurants will be serving a variety of specialty menu items including everything from Mini-Ruebens to Lobster Rolls. Wine and lighter beers will also be available for purchase. The after-party begins at 7PM at THE DUBLIN HOUSE 30 Monmouth Street, adjacent to the festival site. The Guinness Oyster Festival is a fundraiser for the Jane H. Booker Cancer Center at Riverview Medical Center, The Cancer Institute of NJ Foundation and Red Bank River Center.
WRAT’s Asbury Park Beerfest Saturday, October 8th. Conventional Hall, Session 1 -12:00PM-4:0PM Session 2 – 6:00PM-10:0PM $25 In Advance $30 At The Door Ticket. $10 Designated Driver Ticket. Click for more information.
Organized Crime, Fine Dining, Baseball and Laughs at Trenton Thunder Stadium. “The Falsetto’s Murder” dinner theater on October 15 at 7:00 pm in the Yankee Club & Conference Center at Waterfront Park. Tickets are $49 each and include a gourmet dinner menu and a performance of the regionally-renowned show. Seating is limited and can be reserved by contacting the Thunder 609-394-3300 ext 116 or tickets can be purchased online right here. LIMITED SEATS REMAIN
Coming Soon:3SquareDeals.com, Where Deals Make a Difference in partnership with The Community FoodBank of New Jersey. Register today to Enter to Win an Overnight Stay and Dinner for Two at Harrah’s Resort!
Veronique Deblois, Food & Wine Chickie Veronique is a food and wine blogger based in Morris County, NJ. As the author of the popular blog, 
The Party Bluprint Girls are at it again. It just goes to show these ladies find party potential in everything. Today they are offering up some Emmy award winning party planning tips and recipes including special drink recipes like The Prohibition in honor of Boardwalk Empire and its nominees, Steve Buscemi and Kelly Macdonald.
The Shannon Rose Irish Pub in Clifton and Woodbridge is ‘calling all Arthurs’ and Guinness fans to join in the global Arthur’s Day celebration on Thursday, September 22. Anyone in the community named Arthur or whose name starts with “Art,” with proper identification, will receive a free Shannon Rose Burger (value of $7.99), voted “Best Burger” in Clifton. 
I am by no means a wine expert, but I like to think that I drink enough of it to know a thing or two about it. People travel the world in search of great wines, crossing the globe and touching down in France, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and here in the United States. But you don’t have to trek around the world or across the country to savor the perfect glass of wine.
Four JG’s Winery is a family-owned and operated vineyard located on over 60 acres of prime farming land amidst bucolic horse farms. Founded in 1999, the winery is named after its owners, John and Janet Giunco and their children John (known to most as “Bert”) and Jill. With a focus on good farming practices and a careful selection of rootstock suitable for the soils of Monmouth County, Four JG’s produces award-winning wines that are bold in character and rich in fruit. All the wines are grown, produced, and bottled at their Colts Neck location. Four JG’s prides itself on being a family business with 3 generations participating in every aspect of the growing and producing of the wines.
While at Four JG’s, I had the opportunity to sample some of their award-winning wines. I was not disappointed. I sampled the Cayuga White, a semi-dry, light and fruity wine. This wine is produced using the Cayuga grape, which is popular in the eastern United States primarily for its productivity and resistance to disease. I also tasted the Chambourcin, a rich wine with intense purple color and spicy, herbal flavors. It is produced using the Chambourcin grape, a late-rippening French grape that is suitable for Eastern growing seasons. Lastly, I sampled a favorite of visitors to Four JG’s, the Frappé Vino, a frozen wine prepared using Four JG’s Monmouth Blush varietal and a prepared Frappé Vino mix (available for purchase at Four JG’s). It’s simple to prepare. Combine the Monmouth Blush and the powdered mix. Stir well until the powdered mix completely dissolves. Freeze for 3 to 4 hours or until slush consistency is achieved.
Four JG’s is open to the public throughout the year for special events. Consult their Web site for specific dates and times. Since fall is the harvesting season, Four JG’s has several events planned in the coming weeks. Wine can be purchased on site or from several retailers throughout the state. If you plan to purchase directly from the winery, call ahead for hours of operation as strict town ordinances in Colts Neck limit the hours during which the winery can sell to the public.
John Howard Fusco, Mud City Crab House in Manahawkin is pretty much a given on anyone’s To Do List when they plan to spend any time in or around Long Beach Island during the summer. Don’t believe me? Fine – just try and get table. You’re going to have a bit of a wait. Is it worth it? Once you’ve tasted their baked garlic clams or their award-winning jumbo crab cakes, you’d be thrilled with a wait as long as it was that time you camped out for Genesis tickets in the bitter cold back in 1987. Well, OK – maybe not all of you would have done that back in ’87, but trust me on this one: the food will more than make up for the time it takes to get a seat. And if you can’t hold out, you can always order some crab claws along with some wonderfully pristine scallops while you sit outside and admire the view.”
From Red’s you loop back around to Channel Drive and visit Jack Baker’s Wharfside Restaurant or the very casual Patio Bar next door. The restaurant is not a place many of the locals will go to stand in line, but for that big vacation night out, its probably one of the most popular destinations. Next door at the Patio Bar, you’ll find many a local sipping on cocktails (or chugging them) and listening to live music while the boats go by. I personally prefer a quieter setting. One of my favorite places to enjoy excellent fish is at The Shipwreck Grill right across the bridge in Brielle. The Shipwreck was the
Originally published in the Princeton Packet on September 9, 2011
The next stop was the two reflecting pools and the bronze planks with the names of all the victims engraved into them. What really stands out to me, besides the size and the amount of names, is the care given to the construction of this section of the memorial.
Asbury Park Oyster Fest, September 9th – 11th. Stretching over three days and turning water-lined Lake Avenue into one long funway of oysters, restaurant samplings and non-stop music. With children’s rides and amusements, over 100 crafters and gift vendors, cold beer and wine stops, Oysterfest connects Asbury’s two exciting shopping & dining districts; the downtown and beautiful oceanfront boardwalk. 
Morris County was hit pretty hard by last week’s devastating storms and ongoing aftermath. This week, Arthur’s Tavern in Morris Plains is holding an impromptu fundraiser to benefit the Red Cross and, hopefully, some of its own friends and neighbors.
