I get to escape this weekend! I'm fortunate enough to get two mini vacations this year and this weekend is one of them. I'm heading down to New Jersey while PJ stays with Mom and Dad. It's a good thing for all of us I think. It gives Mom, Dad and I a break from each other, it gives PJ some alone time with them (and he can do little projects I haven't had time to get to) and after it's over it makes us all appreciate the situation as it normally is!
Aside from seeing friends and driving by old haunts, driving down to Jersey really can mean only one thing...food shopping. That's right. As much as we all love Maine, the slower pace of life, less people, no humidity, yadda yadda, is just as much as we miss certain things found in abundance down there. Namely ethnic foods, bagels and pizza. You can order just about anything you want off the internet, except Oscar Meyer's Braunschweiger Liverwurst or Pechter's rye bread (two of Dad's favorites). The liverwurst is specific to certain markets and the rye bread I've only seen sold in ShopRite in New Jersey. Sure I can drive to Morse's European Delicatessen in Waldeboro and buy Schaller & Webber German sausages imported from New York City (heck you can even get Taylor Ham there), but I'd just as soon go to Kochers in Ridgefield New Jersey and pick them up fresh, along with some sauerkraut.
For weeks now we've been making our list (or I should say I've been making my list) of all the things we want that we can't get up here. So far I'm hitting up a German butcher (sausages, stollen, mustards & sauerkraut), an Italian deli (dry cured meats, cheeses and breads), an Asian market (real ramen noodles, spices, dried chilies), ShopRite, a bagel place and a pizza joint. I've got a seasoned veteran to maneuver me in and out of the congested byways and highways that are New Jersey, a chest freezer in Maine begging to be filled and one weekend to get it all done.
Aside from seeing friends and driving by old haunts, driving down to Jersey really can mean only one thing...food shopping. That's right. As much as we all love Maine, the slower pace of life, less people, no humidity, yadda yadda, is just as much as we miss certain things found in abundance down there. Namely ethnic foods, bagels and pizza. You can order just about anything you want off the internet, except Oscar Meyer's Braunschweiger Liverwurst or Pechter's rye bread (two of Dad's favorites). The liverwurst is specific to certain markets and the rye bread I've only seen sold in ShopRite in New Jersey. Sure I can drive to Morse's European Delicatessen in Waldeboro and buy Schaller & Webber German sausages imported from New York City (heck you can even get Taylor Ham there), but I'd just as soon go to Kochers in Ridgefield New Jersey and pick them up fresh, along with some sauerkraut.
For weeks now we've been making our list (or I should say I've been making my list) of all the things we want that we can't get up here. So far I'm hitting up a German butcher (sausages, stollen, mustards & sauerkraut), an Italian deli (dry cured meats, cheeses and breads), an Asian market (real ramen noodles, spices, dried chilies), ShopRite, a bagel place and a pizza joint. I've got a seasoned veteran to maneuver me in and out of the congested byways and highways that are New Jersey, a chest freezer in Maine begging to be filled and one weekend to get it all done.
