tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31502586605564325262012-05-03T19:20:20.245-04:00Recipes, restaurant reviews, and random thoughts on food...lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-74007212400062971482012-02-14T17:24:00.002-05:002012-02-14T17:47:44.449-05:00

One of my favorite Internet radio stations is Jimmy Bufffett's Radio Margaritaville. It is available on Sirius/XM and also streamed from thie web site at radiomargaritaville.com. It's the "music" that plays in every Margaritaville Cafe restaurant, by the way, and it's streamed live from Orlando's Margaritaville Cafe at Universal Studios. (It also live streams all of Jimmy Buffett's concerts...

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-65384610257398859662011-10-17T19:19:00.004-04:002011-10-17T20:21:37.942-04:00

I consider myself lucky that New Hampshire is fertile ground for local breweries and, of course, the festivals that celebrate the area's finest beers.We have brew pubs like...Martha's Exchange in Nashua, NHElm City Restaurant & Brewery in Keene, NH (the town where Chardonnay went to college)Flying Goose Brewpub in beautiful New London, NHMillys Tavern in Manchester, NHMoat Mountain Smoke House

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-89199842142925023872011-10-06T17:20:00.002-04:002011-10-06T17:23:09.329-04:00

It's autumn in New England. In the northern areas of NH, the trees are starting to show their wonderful colors, and pretty soon those colors will be making their appearance here as well. The weather is getting cooler, and the apple orchards are open for business, selling varieties such as Cortland, Gala, McIntosh, and my family's favorite, Honey Crisp.As much as this blog is mostly about food,

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-10691714497060319532011-08-28T17:54:00.003-04:002011-08-28T18:52:02.769-04:00

One of the great things about being married is marrying into the cuisine of the family of the person you are marrying. I can tell you from experience that I have learned quite a lot about Italian cooking from my wife and her family. One of the nicest surprises was when I had spaghetti and meatballs at my in-laws' house before I got married. It seems that everybody has their own take on Italian

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-71610271240364437962011-08-05T10:15:00.004-04:002011-08-05T11:12:47.461-04:00

Sometimes, the simplest ideas are the greatest. From the simplest bit of inspiration can come an idea whose time has come, especially with the advent of smart phones.This past Wednesday evening, I was a LaLacheur Park, the home of the Lowell Spinners, a minor league affiliate for the Boston Red Sox. (They proudly announce that Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youklis, and others got

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-14645223819752928002011-01-12T09:51:00.003-05:002011-01-12T10:28:55.660-05:00

Can there be anything more American than the classic Spaghetti and Meatball dinner?I know the style is actually Italian, but it seems so ubiquitous in American households that it appears that we've adopted it wholeheartedly.When I was growing up, the pasta meal at our house was actually "American Chop Suey," which was some shaped pasta (my mother like seashell pasta) to which was added some

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-27751420418511241062010-10-06T20:49:00.004-04:002010-10-06T21:28:35.367-04:00

Yeah, I know. Two Beer Fest blog entries in a row, but I guess it's Oktoberfest season, and a good reason to invite people to drink beers.Last year's Beer Fest was great, although the weather was rainy. So rainy, in fact, that everybody huddled within the long beer tent to keep from getting soaked, making the place seem a hell of a lot more claustrophobic than it should have been.This year's

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-90351182972700646912010-09-20T18:46:00.004-04:002010-09-20T19:42:02.195-04:00

Last Saturday, the City of Nashua held its first Beer Fest from 4pm to 8pm. The venue was Holman Stadium, the former home of the Nashua Pride and the short-lived Nashua Defenders. There was a tent erected around the pitcher's mound, and vendors included InBev, Red Hook, Long Trail, Boston Beer Company, and Smuttynose. Each attendee was given ten tickets, each good for a single 3-oz. sample.

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-85956755004270690932010-08-17T12:33:00.009-04:002010-08-19T09:31:34.037-04:00

*I have always loved fast food. It was a part of my childhood, and still remains a means to a quick meal. What's not to like about it? The food is predictable, if uninspirational. You know what you are going to get, even if what you get is mediocre. After all, few fast food places actually aspire to anything more.McDonald's is a classic. To this day, I can order the same thing I ordered as

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-41066604357724862252010-08-07T22:57:00.005-04:002010-08-07T23:18:19.116-04:00

I know it's corny to write "lobstah," but apparently, there is some unwritten law that says that in New Hampshire... er, I mean, New Hampsha... important words that end in -er should be respelled with a final -ah.Well, I'm not one to fully honor tradition, so I'll just use the word "lobster" from here on in, if only to soothe my poor spell checker.My family had lobster infrequently when I was

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-57984876297202473962010-05-03T09:44:00.001-04:002010-05-03T10:00:01.153-04:00

I guess Mexican was the first "ethnic" food that I learned to cook. When I was living in Miami, I was at a party where a co-worker named Nancy Kowalski made a quick and easy sheet of nachos by putting tortillas on a cookie sheet, added a can of Hormel Chili (without beans), some shredded cheese, onions, scallions, and after about five minutes in the oven, she brought out some delicious nachos. I

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-56528933148673726772009-12-05T07:01:00.006-05:002009-12-07T10:21:37.853-05:00

My last post on Chips and Salsa mentioned an old chain restaurant that is no longer in business, Chi Chi's. The brand lives on in supermarkets where you can purchase salsa, taco seasoning, and corn fritter mix, but when it was a restaurant chain, it was among Sandra's and my favorite places despite the fact that it was a chain.What was special about Chi Chi's? The taste. I may have fell in

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-41072463605157430852009-12-01T10:08:00.003-05:002009-12-01T11:17:28.958-05:00

I believe that I've mentioned in the past that I was nearly twenty years old before I truly encountered Mexican cuisine. Before that, I had tacos, having learned to love them at the Jack in the Box fast food chain in my home town of Brentwood, NY. From that humble beginning, I slowly tested the waters, first with Taco Bell in Centereach (I went there with Sandra on a date; I was a big spender

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-88014418889563719022009-11-14T09:43:00.008-05:002009-11-14T10:24:22.150-05:00

Well, for the first time since I got my iPhone last year, I decided to wipe it and restore it from a backup. Why? It appeared to me that the iPhone was getting a bit sluggish. I figured that if I reloaded the operating system afresh and then reloaded from backup, things might go a bit faster.Well, I think I did something wrong. The operating system loaded nicely (it didn't take very long).

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-91955560627500047912009-11-05T11:39:00.005-05:002009-11-05T12:06:00.396-05:00

A couple of months ago, Sandra had to drive to Lebanon, NH (about an hour and a half away from where we live) to go to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for some Girl Scout meeting (she's a leader of the Girl Scouts in Salem, and the council encompasses both Vermont and New Hampshire, so Lebanon at the western border of New Hampshire probably seemed to be a good "central" place to meet.

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-74122242397232397292009-10-27T10:58:00.003-04:002009-10-27T11:36:16.446-04:00

I've already explained my thoughts about pizza a couple of times, but the Flatbread Company up in scenic North Conway Village has me rethinking things.I've seen the place many times during visits to the mountains. After all, it's right across the street from one of my favorite drinking holes (Houlihan's) and Sandra's and the kids' shops (The Penguin, Zeb's, Beggar's Pouch).One of our family's "

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-65493707111141908562009-06-13T17:15:00.002-04:002009-06-15T09:55:11.354-04:00

When I was a youngster, there were these commercials on television that intrigued me. Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill Wine had a catchy jingle, as did (Cruz Garcia's?) Real Sangria. Alas, these commercials were on the air when I was about thirteen or fourteen year's old; much too young to actually be imbibing in alcoholic spirits.I started drinking wine when I was about twenty. At first, I liked the

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-15324470379868090182009-02-25T09:31:00.002-05:002009-02-25T09:36:23.788-05:00

When I went to the butcher shop this weekend, I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't any andouille sausage; I had really wanted to make some chicken and shrimp gumbo for Mardi Gras this week.Instead, I found a nice package of four pork chops. I immediately thought about a meal I made before the kids were born. I believe I saw the recipe in James Beard's "American Cookery" cookbook, but I know

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-85246348450871721582009-02-19T09:08:00.002-05:002009-02-19T10:10:07.093-05:00

For my fiftieth birthday (yeah, I'm now that old!), Sandra decided to give me one of the best birthday presents I ever received: a ten day cruise to the Caribbean, stopping at five ports of callr: St. Thomas (USVI), Antigua, Barbados, St. Martin, and Tortola (BVI).From New England, we took a ferry from New London to Orient Point, and then arrived at Sandra's father's condo. The next morning,

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-33942997489221037892008-11-02T11:13:00.004-05:002008-11-03T08:45:32.594-05:00

A little over a year ago, I posted a review of one of my family's favorite Asian restaurants, Dynamite Sushi. In that review, I mentioned one of my favorite dishes, a "Hot Stone Bowl" dinner item, whose Korean name is "Bibimbap." It was at Dynamite Sushi that I first encountered this wonderful dish, although I have had it elsewhere (Shira Kiku, formerly Goong Choun on Broad Street, in Nashua).

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-60160955310016313742008-09-08T11:17:00.006-04:002008-09-08T11:41:27.175-04:00

I've always liked the idea of Shepherd's Pie. In it's most basic form, it's a simple stew to make. I've had this in restaurants, and I've made it myself. Sandra likes it as well... up to a point. I'll explain that in a bit.For the life of me, I cannot remember when I first had Shepherd's Pie. I do not remember having it at home as we grew up at all, nor do I recall having it when I was living in

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-78690776571755193492008-09-04T10:20:00.004-04:002008-09-04T10:37:11.157-04:00

I've always loved the idea of crêpes, ever since I heard about them on the Patty Duke television show in the early to mid 1960s. After all, the show's theme song introduces the two characters with with the following:"Where Cathy adores a minuet,the Ballet Russe,and crêpes Suzette;Our Patty loves to rock 'n' roll,a hot dog makes her lose control—What a wild duet!"I must have been four or five when

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-12975033028355203812008-08-11T13:44:00.002-04:002008-08-11T13:46:34.582-04:00

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm coming off my summer hiatus.There will be more food notes and other odds and ends coming soon!Stay tuned!

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-8802775007440185822008-05-12T10:08:00.005-04:002008-05-12T13:58:53.113-04:00

For Mother's Day, Chardonnay and I went with Sandra to Ordiorne Point, which used to be a gunnery emplacement (Fort Dearborn) protecting Portsmouth Harbor during World War II. Before that, it was private land and marsh and today remains the largest strip of undeveloped seacoast on the NH coastline. Ordiorne Point has a few hiking trails and most of them have negligible elevation gain (in other

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3150258660556432526.post-4167360723076508782008-04-14T10:27:00.005-04:002008-04-14T11:02:20.767-04:00

Not too far away from the Salem / Derry line on Rt. 111 is what I would normally call a country club. The place is called Brookstone Park, which encompasses a golf course, practice range, miniature golf, an "ice cream shoppe," and the subject of this blog entry: The Brookstone Grille. (Apparently, the owners just love those quaint silent-e endings).I knew about the Brookstone Grille for a

lar3ryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897534661485705459noreply@blogger.com0