December 2021 - NY Foodie Family

Five on Friday {Goodbye 2021}

Posted on December 31, 2021 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

*This post contains affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for additional info.*

Happy Friday and Happy New Year’s Eve! It’s been a long two weeks here. Our Christmas plans ended up getting canceled, as my daughter tested positive for COVID a little over a week before the holiday. Fortunately, she is vaccinated and her symptoms were mild. But she was isolated in her room for 10 days and was NOT happy about it! Somehow, my husband, son and I all managed to not get it, which is pretty miraculous. I am actually working today and we will have a quiet night at home. Our New Year’s Eve tradition for several years now has been a dinner of appetizers and snacks and family game night. I don’t even usually stay up until midnight most years! Here are five from this week:

1.Christmas – We had to cancel our Christmas Eve and Christmas plans with family. It ended up being a quiet holiday and makes two Christmases in a row that we have spent just the four of us.

2. Reading – I recently finished reading The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary. I really enjoyed The Flatshare by this author, but didn’t enjoy The Road Trip as much.

3. Cooking – This week I made Crunchy Roll Bowls again. These are so quick and easy to make and are so tasty!

4. Watching – I have been binge watching The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu. I read the book years ago and liked it. We’ve had Hulu ever since the Olympics but I only just recently remembered it was on this channel. I am almost finished with season 2!

5. Eating – We got takeout from Dog Haus Biergarten, a new “craft casual” restaurant that opened in the Cortlandt Town Center. They of course sell hotdogs but they also serve burgers, chicken and sausages. This is a Beyond Sausage topped with wild arugula, avocado, tomato, crispy onions and a spicy basil aioli. It was really good!

6. Puzzles – We were all in a self-quarantine waiting for our COVID test results so a lot of time was spent at home. I ended up finishing two puzzles including this this New York one and this Star Wars one.

7. Shopping – My husband and I managed to make it to Half Time in Mamaroneck. We love this beer store where you can buy singles of almost every beverage they sell. My husband loves getting to try a bunch of different craft beers. I’m not a big drinker but I do like finding new hard ciders to try. This trip he stocked up on seasonal winter beers including Dog Fish Freezin’ Season.

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Tuesday I posted about the new Dog Haus Biergarten opening.

Sharing with Friday Favorites! Have a great weekend!

Dog Haus Biergarten Mohegan Lake Now Open

Posted on December 28, 2021 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Dog Haus Biergarten Mohegan Lake is the newest addition to the Cortlandt Town Center. Dog Haus has locations throughout the country, with the Mohegan Lake franchise being the most recent and only the second New York location. Housed in the former Payless Shoe Store, Dog Haus Biergarten is franchised by Andrew Hamerling and Dave Orth and managed by Steve LaBarbera. The restaurant had its official ribbon cutting ceremony on December 14th and was warmly welcomed by the Town of Cortlandt.

Dog Haus dubs themselves a “craft casual” restaurant. They pride themselves on using quality ingredients and offering a welcoming environment where guest will want to stay and hang out. Wooden tables and booths fill the Mohegan Lake restaurant. Wire caged lights and black pipes and accents give the space an industrial feel.

A large bar area takes up the center of the restaurant and offers over 20 different beers on tap as well as a special craft cocktail menu currently featuring 12 different drinks. HD televisions line the walls and the back of the restaurant has two dart boards and a shuffleboard. In warmer months, expect outdoor seating to be available.

But the most important question to ask is, how is the food? We recently ordered takeout from Dog Haus Mohegan Lake to see how their food measured up. All items are made to order, so expect a small wait time. I like how each carton is labeled with what is inside, so you know you got exactly what you ordered.

With a name like Dog Haus, you know the hot dogs will be good. The restaurant offers 6 different specialty Hausdogs ($7.99 each) and 4 specialty Haussausages ($8.99) all with fun names (e.g. Chili Idol and Reservoir Hog). All of the meat that Dog Haus uses is 100% antibiotic- and hormone-free. They also serve a variety of burgers ($10.99) and chicken (sandwiches, wings and tenders).

My son ordered the Cowboy, a smoked bacon wrapped hot dog topped with cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce and crispy onions. This hotdog was devoured in minutes with rave reviews from the teen.

But what does a family of 3 vegetarians order from a restaurant called the Dog Haus? We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the restaurant has a variety of vegetarian and vegan options. They offer Beyond Meat versions of their chicken sandwiches, so we enjoyed a Beyond Bad Mutha Clucka. The sandwich is made of crispy Beyond Meat “chicken” tenders topped with lettuce, pickles and a miso ranch sauce. The Beyond chicken sandwich costs $11.99, while the regular Bad Mutha Clucka sandwich costs $10.99. Please note that this sandwich is not listed on their in-store menu board or in their paper menu. However, I saw it on the online menu and inquired about it when ordering.

We also had the Sooo Veggie Haussausage. This is a Hot Italian Beyond Sausage topped with wild arugula, avocado, tomato, crispy onions and a spicy basil aioli. This is one of their two Beyond Sausage options, which at $8.99 are priced the same as their other Haussausages.

Finally, we tried one of their 5 specialty Hausburgers ($10.99). For an additional $2.49, any of the Hausburgers can be made vegetarian with an Impossible patty substitution. We ordered the Little Mule since besides, the cheeseburger, was the only other burger that had no additional meat ingredients (bacon, chili, etc.). It had an Impossible patty topped with white american cheese, avocado, pickled jalapenos, cotjia cheese, a fried egg and a chipotle aioli. It was bursting with flavor and was our family’s favorite of the three vegetarian options that we tried.

We did not try any of the Dog Haus “On the Side” menu, which includes fries or tots, with the option of adding cheese and or chili cheese. They also offer sweet potato fries, onion rings, chili, slaw or The Love Boat: fries or tater tots topped with Haus chili and Haus slaw!

The Dog Haus is a great new addition to the Mohegan Lake area. It offers family-friendly dining while also serving the bar crowd with its later hours and its large beer and cocktail menu.

The Details:

Dog Haus Biergarten Mohegan Lake
3137 East Main Street
Mohegan Lake, NY 10547
(845) 915-HAUS
website

Hours: Monday – Thursday 4 PM – 11 PM
Friday – 4 PM – 12 AM
Saturday 11 AM- 12 AM
Sunday 11 AM – 11 PM

*Online ordering coming soon

*Breakfast menu coming soon

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Five on Friday {12-17-21}

Posted on December 17, 2021 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy Friday! I cannot believe that Christmas Eve is a week away! Fortunately, I think we are almost ready for the holidays. Our Christmas shopping is almost done and I think multiple packages were delivered almost every day this week! It was a busy week that included holiday parties and a band concert. Here are five from this week:

1.Girls Night – Last Friday I went out to dinner with some girlfriends. It was a much needed night out! I didn’t take any pictures but it was a lot of fun catching up.

2. Reading – This week I completed my Goodreads challenge of 75 books read for the year! I read One More for Christmas by Sarah Morgan. This was a feel-good holiday read. I’ve read other books by this author and have enjoyed them all.

3. Cooking – This week some of our favorite dinners included this Vegan Meatball Soup with Pasta & Kale (it would taste good with regular meatballs using ground beef!) and Vegan Taco Pasta (which I’ve made many times. I do use regular cheese though).

4. Watching – My husband and I watched Free Guy. I had no idea what the movie was about before we watched it. Both my kids had seen it in the movie theater and had enjoyed it so my husband and I decided to watch it. It ended up being a fun movie that even had me tearing up at the end.

5. Eating – Last Friday a bunch of us from work ordered takeout from Brothers Fish & Chips. While I’ve had the tasting menu at the sit down restaurant, this was my first time having takeout. This fried shrimp and fries was so good!

6. Band Concert – My son had his middle school band concert this week. They did a good job of social distancing the kids and parents and it was nice to finally see/hear the kids play in person again.

ICYMI this week on the blog:

Tuesday I shared my November Reads.

Sharing with Friday Favorites! Have a great weekend!

November Reads {2021}

Posted on December 14, 2021 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

*This post contains affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for more info.*

The year is almost over and I’m so close to my Goodreads goal of 75 books. My November reads included a lot of holiday reads, a classic and some suspense books. There were even 2 Netgalley ARC reads. I read a total of seven books this month which I’m sharing with Steph and Jana’s monthly Show Us Your Books linkup.

3 stars:

The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward (Fiction, April 2022) (c/o Netgalley) Three teenage boys are best friends and so are their moms. They are spending a summer as lifeguards. But when they end up finding a dead body, it’s every family for themselves. I found the ending of this book to be very unsatisfying. It felt disjointed and I felt like things went unanswered.

The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer (Holiday, 2021) A Jewish girl secretly is a famous Christmas romance novelist. When tasked with writing a Hanukkah romance, she decides she must attend The Matzah Ball. This is the sold out, biggest Hanukkah celebration in the city and she will do anything she needs to, to attend. Even though it’s run by her summer camp archenemy. I think this may be the first Hanukkah holiday fiction book that I’ve read. I felt the author made every Jewish food and culture reference possible, which was over the top. But I did like how the book shed light on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, something I was not very familiar with.

Passing by Nella Larsen (Classic/Historical Fiction, April 2003) The edition of the book I read was published in April 2003, however, the book was originally published in 1929. Passing tells the story of an African American woman “passing” for a white woman. But when a friendship with a childhood friend is reignited, the woman realizes that she wants to be part of her old community. I read this book because it was the first pick of the Netflix Book Club. I can’t say that I loved it but I thought the storyline was progressive for the time.

4 stars:

Always in December by Emily Stone (Holiday, October 2021) Girl meets boy in a literal collision. Neither are looking forward to Christmas and they end up spending the holiday together. But then he leaves for New York and she doesn’t see him again…..until she does several times over the next year. It seems they are destined to be together……While this book looks like a light, romance read, it is not! It’s a well-written, enjoyable but. But beware that it’s a heavier read that had me in tears at the end.

In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer (Romance, 2022) (c/o Netgalley) On the day she’s laid off a young woman is saved from potential embarrassment, due to a subway mishap, by a handsome young man. The two end up becoming a meet-cute internet sensation. Although they never exchange contact info, the two keep running into each other and become friends that may lead to more. I listen to Kate Spencer’s podcast, Forever35, and enjoyed this book a lot.

The Mothers by Genevieve Gannon (Fiction, May 2021) Two women are trying to conceive. One woman ends up getting implanted with the other woman’s embryo, which has tragic consequences. This was a heartbreaking story as I imagined how difficult the situation was for both women involved.

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney (Mystery/Thriller, September 2021) A husband and wife are spending a weekend in Scotland, hoping this time away will help their marriage. I didn’t know anything about this book before reading which I recommend. It’s filled with so many twists and I found it to be a great read. The husband has prosopagnosia (facial blindness), which before reading this, I had never even heard of. I also really enjoyed Sometimes I Lie by this author.

Hersheypark Christmas Candylane

Posted on December 10, 2021 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Christmas Candylane is back at Hersheypark for another season of holiday festivities! Our family has never visited an amusement park during the December holidays, so I thought it would be fun for us to head to Hersheypark during Christmas Candylane.

We arrived at the park at 1 PM and headed for Hershey’s Chocolate World. You can spend an entire day here with the free chocolate tour ride, the 4D Chocolate Mystery Show, Hershey’s Unwrapped Chocolate Tasting Journey, Create Your Own Candy Bar and Hershey Trolley Works. Please note that everything but the chocolate tour ride has an additional cost. It was very crowded and we waited 45 minutes on line for the Chocolate Factory tour.

Hersheypark opens at 2 PM. We exited our factory tour about five minutes before the park opened and there was a huge line of people waiting to get in at the main park gates. We were fairly surprised of the popularity of the park on a chilly day. You should know that not all of the rides are open during Christmas Candylane. Although the website shows 46 rides operating, not all of them were open during our visit. A majority of the rides were for younger kids. Because there are a limited number of rides open, the lines for everything were super long!

My husband and daughter rode Candymonium. This is one of the newer rides at Hersheypark and is also the tallest, longest and fastest roller coaster in the park. They got on line as soon as we entered the park and still waited almost an hour. But they both said it was a great ride.

While they were on line, my son and I rode The Howler and Wild Mouse. Then we all rode The Whip.

We waited on line for almost 90 minutes to ride Laff Trakk and almost came within sight of getting on the ride. Then the news circulated that the ride was broken and they didn’t know when it would be open again. Cutting our losses, we moved off the line to other areas of the park. By that time, it had gotten dark and every ride had over an hour wait time.

We grabbed pizza at Dispatch Pizzeria. Dining options are limited in the park, so again, there was a bit of a wait for food. If you want a sit down meal, visit the newly opened The Chocolatier restaurant.

In my opinion, one of the biggest draws of Christmas Candylane is the lights and holiday decorations. And Hersheypark goes all out! There are over 5 million lights throughout the park which is so beautiful to see once it gets dark.

Some of the rides even have themed holiday lights.

As you walk along the path connecting Pioneer Frontier to Midway America you will see the 12 Days of Christmas in lights!

A stop at TREEville at the Boardwalk is a must. There are more than a dozen decorated trees to view and several pretty photo ops. While we were walking around we noticed a cocoa and cookie crawl taking place. We learned that you could buy tickets at the park entrance for $20. There were several booths set up around the Boardwalk serving cocoa and different cookies. You could visit each booth and they’d punch your card.

Little kids will want to visit Santa at his workshop. They have a socially distant couch set up for pictures and he is there through December 24th. You can stop at Santa’s Reindeer Stables to visit his reindeer.

Due to our poor planning and a lack of time we missed the Noel light show. The show, presented by UGI, features more than 250,000 flashing lights synchronized to music. The show plays every half hour starting at 5 PM.

Hersheypark Christmas Candylane is a sight to see for the holidays! Experiences may vary based on the day you visit. However, I recommend that you be prepared for large crowds and long waits. You can make a weekend out of your visit by staying at a Hershey resort or one of the many nearby hotels.

Hersheypark Christmas Candylane
100 W. Hersheypark Drive
Hershey, PA 17033

Open: now through January 2, 2022

Weekdays: 5 PM – 9 PM
Weekends: 2 PM – 9 PM

Tickets: $47.95/person (age 3+) when purchased online

Parking: Free during our visit

Hershey Sweet Lights: $22.15/car in advance, $39.15/car at the gate

Tips:

*Download the Hershey app. This will be your guide for your visit. It has a map and shows you the open rides and wait times.

*Arrive earlier than the opening. You’ll have to wait on line but you’ll be near the front. Then head to the ride that you REALLY want to go on for the shortest wait time.

*Don’t plan on being able to do everything in one day. It’s very crowded and the lines are long for EVERYTHING!

*If you really want to try to do all the rides and attractions I recommend adding Fast Track to your ticket. Fast Track allows visitors to skip the regular line once on featured rides. With Fast Track Unlimited guests can skip the regular lines on the featured rides all day long. Prices fluctuate by day.

Five on Friday {12-10-21}

Posted on December 10, 2021 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Hello Friday! I know I say it every week, but I’m so ready for the weekend. I’m exhausted! I blame it partly on it getting dark earlier. I just want to come home from work and put my pajamas on. But it was also just a long week. This weekend is being spent Christmas shopping and being a chauffeur to the kids, who both have a bunch of things planned. Here are five from this week:

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Hersheypark – Last Saturday we took a drive to Hersheypark for Christmas Candylane. We had never been to a theme park at Christmas before and thought it would be fun. The park was decorated beautifully for the holiday but it was really crowded. Fortunately, it wasn’t super cold. Check out the reel above to see some of the holiday lights!

2. Reading – This week I finished reading Such a Good Wife by Seraphina Nova Glass. This was an okay suspense book.

3. Cooking – This week’s menu included Mediterranean Veggie Wraps, Crispy Gnocchi with Roasted Honeynut Squash, Cherry Tomatoes and Ricotta and Sheet Pan Cauliflower Fajitas. Sadly, there are no pictures this week.

4. Sugar Wish Select – My received a holiday gift from Sugar Wish Select. He was able to choose a candy, cookie, popcorn, snack or coffee/tea box. He knows how much I love popcorn so opted for the popcorn box. There were over 50 flavors to choose from and he was able to select three. We chose pizza, peppermint bark and wing night (buffalo and blue cheese mix). The popcorn is really tasty and it was packaged so nicely.

5. Baking – Thursday we had a birthday celebration at work for a colleague and I made these Italian Ricotta cookies. I like that the recipe makes a lot and the ricotta makes them so moist.

Sharing with Friday Favorites. Have a great weekend!

Five on Friday {12-3-21}

Posted on December 3, 2021 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving! We spent the holiday at my sister’s in Maryland. My parents and brother were there and it was so nice to have the family together again! We have a fun weekend planned and are taking a little road trip. Catching up on two weeks so here are more than five from this week:

1.Birthday weekend – To celebrate my husband’s birthday we stayed at the Truman Gillett House Bed & Breakfast in Granby, CT. This is a historic home built in 1805 and was conveniently located to everything we wanted to do.

We had an amazing dinner at Present Company. Each dish was seriously delicious and so picturesque! This was black cod in sweet miso crust with seaweed succotash and a yuzu béarnaise!

And then Saturday we visited the New England Air Museum. My husband really wanted to visit here (he’s a huge history fan and enjoys building model airplanes). So we built his birthday trip around visiting the museum. It was neat that you were able to sit in some of the planes and helicopters.

2. Reading – This week, just in time for Hanukkah, I finished reading The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer. It seemed like she made reference to every single bit of Jewish food and culture which was pretty annoying. However, there are not many, if any other Jewish holiday books that I am aware of. I also read Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney which was a good suspense read!

3. Cooking – This week some of our favorite dinners included these Swedish Meatballs which I served with mashed potatoes and gravy and roasted green beans. We made them vegetarian by using Impossible grounds. I also made Thai-Inspired Tofu Rama in Peanut Curry Sauce and Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Vegetable Soup (but not in the slow cooker – she gives stovetop directions).

4. Watching – I watched Love Hard on Netflix this week. This romcom about catfishing was, eh. However, I did like that an Asian male was one of the main leads.

5. Dining Out – On our way home from Maryland we enjoyed lunch at Veganized in New Brunswick, NJ. This is an all vegan restaurant. This Mash-n-Gravy, made with crusted tempeh was tasty!

When we arrived in Maryland we made our annual Thanksgiving Eve visit to Aberdeen Korean Restaurant. I had my usual tofu bibimbap.

6. Hanukkah – we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah with homemade latkes and lighting the menorah.

7. Family Game Night – While we were in Maryland we played a bunch of games. I played Picwits with my nieces. We have this game too and it’s always fun to play. We also played Lord of the Rings Monopoly. As someone who has never read the books or seen the movies I didn’t really understand the details. We actually finished playing a game though, which rarely happens! My nieces had previously taken the playing tokens out to play with and couldn’t find them. So one of my nieces gathered up different toy figures for us to use (including that blue figure with the troll like hair on the board in the picture!). We also played Liver Pool Rummy. This was a card game that I played with my grandparents so it’s fun that my kids are learning to play. Card games are great multi-generational family games.

8. Maryland Hike and Waterfall – My husband and I did an early morning hike the day after Thanksgiving to Kilgore Falls. This is one of the highest waterfalls in Maryland. While it was pretty, it sadly doesn’t compare to all of New York’s beautiful and tall waterfalls!

ICYMI this week on the blog:

TuesdayI shared my updated Winter Outdoor Dining in Westchester County Post.

Sharing with Friday Favorites! Have a great weekend!