Month: August 2018

6

Five on Friday {Slow Down Summer!}

Posted on by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

How is it Friday already?!  Although this week was filled with routine – work, camp for the kids, chores, errands, etc.  it went by so quickly.  It’s crazy, but this weekend is the first weekend ALL summer that we don’t have any set plans. I told my daughter that we’d start some back-to-school shopping, because unfortunately, that time is quickly approaching.  Plus, I know the kids want to relax and have some family game time.  Here are five from this week:

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1. Reading – This week I finished a non-fiction book, Reading People by Ann Bogel.  In this book she explains different personality tests and what you can learn about yourself and others from each one.  I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it if you enjoy learning about yourself.

2. Watching – I finally watched The Bachelorette finale last night.  You would think with social media I’d see or hear spoilers.  Do you know where I saw the spoiler?  On the TV at the library of all places!  Tuesday we were checking out our books at the library and they have a television that was airing the news.  And that is when I discovered who won!!

3. Beach Day – Last weekend my husband and I traveled to my parent’s house in Rhode Island to pick up our kids.  I really wanted to go to the beach while we were there but the weather forecast wasn’t looking so good.  We decided to go early, while it was gray out, but not raining.  It ended up being one of our family’s best beach days.  Earlier in the week my parents had taken the kids to the beach but there was so much seaweed, they couldn’t go in the water.  On our visit the water was warm enough and clear that my husband and kids went boogie boarding. We went rock and shell collecting as well.  And did I mention that there was hardly anyone there?  We had the beach almost entirely to ourselves.

4.  Snacking – I was kindly sent these Pistachio + Plum Chewy Bites from Setton Farms.  I love throwing a couple of these in my lunch bag for a mid-morning snack at work. I love the tasty combo of pistachios and plums.  Plus, these are 100% natural, GMO free, gluten and dairy free and vegan.  Find out more about these snacks on the Pistachio Chewy Bites site! 

5. Cooking – I made these Skillet Balsamic Peach Pork Chops with Feta and Basil from Half Baked Harvest.  I am not a big pork chop eater and I loved these!  It’s such a great combo of flavors.

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Monday I wrote about our visit to the Millbrook Vineyards & Winery.

Wednesday I posted about our visit to Dorney Park.

Thursday I posted a new feature on the blog Your Best Weekend.

Have a great weekend!  Sharing with Friday Favorites.

16

Your Best Weekend {Vol. 1}

Posted on by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

(This post contains affiliate links.  Please read our disclosure policy for additional information.)

Welcome to “Your Best Weekend”.  Enjoy a weekly curated list of ideas for self-care, family fun, date nights and more to help you have “your best weekend.”  We are all busy, but we need to make time to enjoy life!

“Better days are coming.  They are called Saturday and Sunday.”  – Unknown

Celebrate:

National Bowling Day is Saturday, August 11.  Celebrate with a family fun day out at the lanes.  To make it a date night or girls night out, try moonlight bowling.

Also August 11 is National Garage Sale Day.  Map out a few garage sales in your area.  Give everyone a set amount of money and see who can find the cheapest, weirdest and/or coolest items.

Self-Care:

Journal Prompt/Reflection: A weekly prompt to help guide your writing or just get you thinking.
“What do I need more of in my life?”

Exercise: If you are looking for a yoga practice that you can do at home, I highly recommend Yoga with Adriene.  I have linked to the intro of her 30 Days of Yoga.  She also has Yoga Camp, Tru and Revolution, all 30-31 day programs with a different routine every day.  Most videos are 20-30 minutes each that are easy to do in the comfort of your own home.

Shop: If you need a yoga mat, I recommend these Gaiam reversible yoga mats.  Not only are they functional, but they have the prettiest patterns!

Challenge : Start your week off in the right direction by going to bed a half hour earlier than you normally do on Sunday night.  There’s nothing like starting a new week well-rested.

Family Fun with Tweens:

Watch on TV: The 2018 Teen Choice Awards this Sunday, August 12, 8 PM on Fox.  You may not know who many of the nominees are, but your kids will!

Dinner Conversation Starter:  A question to spark some conversation during family dinner time.

“If you could trade places with your parent for the day, what would you do differently?”

Back-to-School: While children in some states have started school already, here in New York and most of the northeast, kids don’t start school until after Labor Day.  Help get your kids get ready by shopping now for all of their school supplies.  Kids love getting to pick out new backpacks and lunch bags.  Get everything on the school supply lists (and stock up up on extras, especially pencils!), while stores are having great deals.  Take your kids with you and give them some time to make their choices.

Weekly Recommendations:

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Book Recommendation:  I just finished the book Reading People by Ann Bogel.  This is a non-fiction book where author Bogel explains different personality tests and what you can learn about yourself and others from each one.  She also offers insights and practical applications of each.

Recipe Recommendation:  I recently made these Skillet Balsamic Peach Pork Chops with Feta and Basil.  It makes use of the juicy peaches that have been on sale at the grocery store.  I am not a big pork chop eater, but these were delicious.  It has such a great combo of flavors! This recipe will be made again before summer ends.

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Tween Book Recommendation: I read  The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate with my son.  The book is narrated by Ivan, a gorilla, who lives in a shopping mall.  He’s used to his life there with his friends Bob, the dog and Stella, the elephant. He even has a human friend, Julie, the daughter of the cleaner.  But when Ruby, a baby elephant arrives, Ivan decides that he can’t have her end up living a life like his.  Although it is sad at times, it is also a heart-warming story that was loved by both my son and I. Have your older elementary kids read this book now, as it is being made into an animated movie!  While filming has started, a release date has not been announced.

Family Fun Recommendation: Visit an amusement park!  Our family tries to visit at least one amusement park every summer.  We visited Dorney Park earlier this summer and last summer we went to Six Flags Great Escape.  Summer is almost over, so plan your day at the amusement park now.

Summer Fun at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

Posted on by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

(Thank you Dorney Park for hosting NY Foodie Family.  As always, all opinions are our own.)

Every summer NY Foodie Family tries to visit at least one amusement park.  Living in Westchester County, we have many choices within a couple of hours drive.  It had been several years since we last visited Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania and decided to make a stop on our way home from Lancaster.

Dorney Park is both an amusement and water park.  We visited on a summer day at the end of June.  It was a sunny, but not hot day so we opted not to visit the water park.  When we visit an amusement park, we all get to choose a ride that we “must-do.”  As we walk through the park to one of the rides on our list, we will stop at other rides if the lines are short.

Well, we lucked out on our weekday visit.  The park was not crowded and there were very few lines for the rides.

We love visiting amusement parks now that the kids are older.  Having a 10 and 12-year-old means that they can go on all the spinny rides together, like The Kaleidoscope, while my husband and I watch.

Our family loves roller coasters and Dorney Park has seven of them.  This includes the mild Wild Mouse, which was my son’s ride of choice, and the Woodstock Express, the kiddie coaster in Planet Snoopy.  My ride of choice during our visit was the roller coaster Talon.  This is the tallest and longest inverted coaster in the Northeast and riders turn upside down four times.  This was our son’s first time riding an inverted coaster.  Although he was a bit nervous before riding this, he did enjoy it.

Another favorite ride was Steel Force, which was my husband’s must-ride list. This coaster has a 205-foot drop with speeds reaching 75 miles per hour.  I am not a fan of coasters with huge drops and sat this one out, while my husband and kids rode it.  Unfortunately, the day of our visit, Hydra, one of the other coasters we would have enjoyed was closed.  However, there were plenty of other rides to keep us busy.

For those with young children, Planet Snoopy has a collection of fifteen Peanuts themed rides that are perfect for them.

For thrill seekers, there are many “aggressive” thrill rides that will sure to please.  The kids weren’t quite up to riding The Meteor, pictured above.

During the summer, Dorney Park offers a variety of entertainment, including meet and greets, music and dance parties and more.  They have a separate entertainment guide with all of the show listings, locations and times.  Since we visited so early in the summer, the only show was Cirque Imagine.  Many compare this show to Cirque du Soleil, as it’s a 30-minute live show of acrobatics and artistry.

The park has a variety of food options where you can get burgers, pizza, chicken, hotdogs and more.  New this year is Burrito Cantina and the Tidal Wave Cafe in the Wildwater Kingdom.  Although there are plenty of food options, we didn’t find any really unique or interesting choices.  We had a late, big breakfast before we arrived at the park and weren’t super hungry during our visit.  At our daughter’s request, we ended up stopping at Chicke’s & Pete’s for some Crabfries.  There are plenty of amusement park treats including cotton candy, fried dough and ice cream.  For those that plan on spending a full day at the park, the park offers dining plans that may be worth considering.

Visitors can see life-sized animatronic dinosaurs in the park’s Dinosaurs Alive attraction. This walk-through experience costs an additional $5 and visitors can travel back in time to learn more about these prehistoric creatures.  The park also has lots of games and an arcade as well, for those looking for some non-ride fun.

Dorney Park is a fun amusement park that kids of all ages can enjoy.  The park is large enough that you can make a full day of it.  You can even spend a couple of days if you want to enjoy the water park as well.

The Details:

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
4000 Dorney Park Road
Allentown, Pennsylvania 18104

Hours:  Hours vary by day and month.  Check the website for specific dates.

Admission:  Ticket prices vary but are cheaper when purchased online in advance.  Daily tickets start at $42.  Check the website for additional info.

Parking:  $20 (credit card accepted)

Tips:

*Buy a refillable souvenir bottle when you enter the park (or purchase online for an additional $2 off).  You get to enjoy free refills on your first visit.

*The park may be crowded the day of your visit and you may not be able to enjoy all the rides and attractions that you want.  Have everyone choose a “must-do” ride to ensure the whole family has fun.

Millbrook Vineyards & Winery

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(Thank you to Dutchess Tourism and Milbrook Vineyards & Winery for hosting NY Foodie Family.  As always, all opinions are our own.)

Millbrook Vineyards & Winery is one of four wineries in Dutchess County.  This was the only winery stop on our recent Craft Beverage Trail visit.  I have to be honest, my husband and I are not regularly wine drinkers and have not visited many wineries.  However, I can see why the Millbrook Vineyards & Winery has been voted “Best Winery” in the Hudson Valley.

As you drive up to the winery, you pass some of the 30-acres of vineyards, as Millbrook grows most of their own grapes.  You can even take a tour of the vineyard and learn all about their grape growing and wine making process.

Because we had so many stops that day, we were limited on time and visited the winery for a tasting only. I was impressed by the elegance of the tasting room.  The tastings are held in a restored 1940’s Dutch style barn, which is bright with two different bar areas.

Millbrook offers two tasting options.  The portfolio tasting, which we enjoyed, includes a cross-section of six wines as well as an olive oil tasting at the end.  Reservations are not required, but space is limited. The winery also offers a reserve tasting, which includes the “upper tier” of their wine portfolio.  Reservations are required for the reserve tasting.

We arrived at the 12 PM opening and, during our tasting, the entire bar was filled with approximately 12 guests.  Since I was the designated driver for the day, only my husband participated in the wine tasting.  The tasting started with white wines and ended with red.  The first wine was a 2017 Hunt Country White. This is a table wine and the lightest and sweetest they offer.  It is also one of Millbrook’s most popular wines and was my husband’s favorite as well.  The next wine was a 2017 Tocai Fritulano Proprietor’s Special Reserve.

We then sampled a 2017 Dry Riesling Proprietor’s Special Reserve. This is produced Mosel-style, in a green bottle. Keeping wine in green bottles helps prevent oxidation, which can make wine taste dull or vinegary.

A 2016 Chardonnay was next.  Several restaurants in the Hudson Valley serve this wine.  Then the reds were served which included a 2016 Pinot Noir. Of the two red wines sampled, this one was my husband’s favorite.

The tasting ended with the Hunt County Red.  All of the featured wines are available to purchase by the glass, bottle and/or case.

 

The winery has made many award-winning wines and the ribbons and medals are proudly on display in the wine shop area.  There are also other locally made products available for purchase.

The winery is beautiful and is set up for guests to stay and enjoy the afternoon.  There is an approximately one mile vineyard walking trail.  The route leads through the vineyards up to the top of the estate.

The vineyard also has a volleyball net and corn hole boards set up in the front of the winery as well as plenty of seats for those that just want to sit back and relax.

The Vineyard Grille is located next to the winery. The tented outdoor space is open on the weekends and serves burgers, sandwiches, salads and more from local catering and gourmet shop, Slammin’ Salmon. Everything is reasonably priced from $8-$15 dollars.

There are several ponds on the property as well, which help create a tranquil environment. Throughout the summer, the winery hosts several different events including Friday Night Food Trucks and Jazz at the Grille Concerts on Saturday evenings.   Millbrook Vineyards & Winery is a beautiful location here in the Hudson Valley.  If you are looking to visit a local winery, we highly recommend stopping here.

The Details:

Millbrook Vineyards & Winery
26 Wing Road
Millbrook, NY 12545
(800) 662-WINE or (845) 677-8383
Website:  www.Millbrookwine.com

Hours:  Open daily 12 PM – 6 PM, Saturdays 12 PM – 7 PM

Prices:  Portfolio Tasting – $12.50/person (includes a souvenir wine glass)
Portfolio Tasting and Tour – $15.00/person
Reserve Tasting – $25.00/person (includes souvenir wine glass)
Reserve Tasting and Tour – $27.50/person

 

2

Five on Friday {Happy August!}

Posted on by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy Friday!  I probably say this every week, but I can’t believe how quickly the summer is flying by.  After work today, my husband and I will be heading to Rhode Island to pick up our kids.  My parents have been a huge help in watching them this summer while my husband and I worked.  Plus, we’ve gotten more date nights and quality time together then we have in ages!  Win-win for everyone.  Here are five, mostly adultish things that we can’t do with kids, from this past week!

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1. Reading – I have just started reading The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll.  I thought her previous book Luckiest Girl Alive was just okay.  So, I’m not going into this book with high expectations.

2. Watching – This week my husband and I watched Somebody Feed Phil for the first time this week on Netflix.  I can’t believe it’s taken us so long to watch this show.  I didn’t realize that Phil Rosenthal, creator of “Everybody Loves Raymond” is so goofy!  We find the show humorous and it appeals to us as travel and food lovers.

3. Eating – I love a good tasting menu.  Actually, I pretty much like any tasting menu.  It’s fun getting to try lots of different dishes.  I recently discovered that a local seafood restaurant had a summer tasting menu.  My husband and I went there this week and it was so good.  The portions were humongous and each of the five dishes was delicious.  Above is the octopus and lobster mushroom risotto that was one of our favorites.  But if you want to see all of the dishes we had, check out my Instagram post!  I hear the chef changes what he serves…..so, we may have to make a return trip soon!

4. Trivia Night – My husband and I enjoyed a date night first.  Although several different restaurants and bars host trivia nights, we have never had the opportunity to go.  Since we were childless this week we went to a trivia night at a local coffee house.  My husband is amazing at trivia.  For first timers, we did pretty well, I think coming in 3rd or 4th out of seven teams.

5. Craft Beer Shop – I discovered a localish craft beer shop.  We visited Brew & Co. and had such a fun time perusing all the different beers and ciders they carry.  We each picked out three to try and decided that this may have to be a monthly trip for us!

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Monday I wrote about Blue Collar Brewery.

Wednesday I posted about The Melting Pot.

Linking up with Friday Favorites.  Have a great weekend!

Fondue Fun at The Melting Pot

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I can’t believe that I haven’t written a review of The Melting Pot until now.  This restaurant has become a family favorite and is frequented annually for one, or sometimes even both, of our kids’ birthdays.  The restaurant is a chain, with locations throughout the United States.  While my husband and I aren’t huge fans of chain restaurants, we both enjoy the The Melting Pot as much as the kids do.

For those unfamiliar with The Melting Pot, it is a fondue restaurant.  Dining here is a fun, interactive experience for the entire family.  One of the best parts of The Melting Pot is that you can customize your menu.  If you only want to do appetizers and dessert, you can.  For our family of four, we usually order two 4-course experiences and share between the four of us.  They do have a children’s menu, but we have found that there is enough food for all of us, sharing the two adult entrees.  The kids do love the special kid cocktails they offer.  Be warned, they are very sweet!  We usually water them down.

The 4-course experience begins with your choice of cheese fondue.  Our go-to choice (and a signature item) is the Wisconsin Cheddar.  This fondue includes Aged Cheddar, Emmenthaler, Sam Adams Boston Lager, garlic and spices.  You get a board loaded with veggies, different types of bread (including our favorite, pretzel bread) and apples.

The second course is a choice of three different salads.  The kids usually share a Caesar salad and my husband and I share this California salad.  It’s super tasty with mixed greens topped with candied pecans, Gorgonzola and house-made raspberry vinaigrette.

The third course includes a choice of three different entrees.  I believe that different locations of the restaurant may offer different entree options.  We always opt for “The Classic” which includes Certified Angus Beef Sirloin, shrimp and Herb-Crusted chicken breast.

For our second entree our go-to is “The Pacific Rim” which includes dumplings,  duck, shrimp and Teriyaki marinated sirloin.

With the entrees you also get a bowl of veggies that includes potatoes, broccoli and mushroom caps. The fun of this restaurant is getting to cook the food yourself!  Every person gets two colored cooking forks.  The colors are different so it’s easy to keep track of whose fork is whose.  Your server will tell you cooking times, but it’s approximately one to two minutes for seafood and additional cooking time for other other proteins.

And we can’t forget about the sauces!  There are six different sauces that you can dip your cooked foodinto including a Green Goddess sauce (my fave), cocktail sauce, Gorgonzola sauce and a curry sauce.

The restaurant thinks of everything.  The plates have special compartments for you to scoop your sauce into.  As you can see, you will be eating your main entree in stages.  Since you only have two cooking utensils, you will be continuously cooking and eating the main entree.  You will also get a “Search and Rescue” slotted spoon, because inevitably, some food will fall off your cooking fork!

Of course, the kids’ favorite part of the meal is dessert! Since we most recently celebrated my son’s birthday, we let him choose the chocolate fondue, since there’s only one per table.  This time, he chose the Flaming Turtle which includes milk chocolate, caramel and and candied pecans.  There’s a splash of rum which is added and set on fire, thus the “flaming” part of the turtle.

When you arrive at the restaurant, they ask if you are celebrating a special occasion.  We mentioned to the hostess and our waiter that it was our son’s 10th birthday.  When our waiter brought us our dessert, he also brought this fun, colorful plate.

The Melting Pot is a fun restaurant that is great for celebrating special occasions, a date night or just a dinner out with friends.  When you dine here, you will have a memorable, interactive experience.

The Details:
(Please note that The Melting Pot has locations throughout the United States.  Check the website to see if there’s a location near you.)

The Melting Pot White Plains
30 Mamaroneck Avenue
White Plains, NY 10601
(914) 993-6358

Hours: Monday – Thursday 5 PM -10 PM Friday 5 PM -11 PM, Saturday 12 PM – 11 PM, Sunday 12 PM – 9 PM

Parking:  Street Parking

Price:  $$$ (Four-Course dinner for two plus cocktails approximately $100+)