Short-Ribs...

...Halloween Party


Cocktails...

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Friday night we opted to stay in rather than go out (I know, blasphemy right?) We practiced making our cocktail for the next days Halloween party and while of course we are no Catherine Lombardi, we were certainly proud of our repli-cocktail. (sorry guys, no recipe, just head over to Catherine Lombardi, because you'll never be able to make it as good at home!) My Falernum came out great (see previous post), next time I will add a little bit of Ginger though.







Picked up some good short ribs (for a hefty price unfortunately) that I braised (see my other posts about "perfect short ribs" and follow that recipe. It's the closest you can come to being to god, especially with risotto and homemade stock.





Then we went to a Halloween party on Saturday night...





Laurie kind of cheated...and was 'Asian' for Halloween.


We made (and I don't have pictures of) pumpkin tarts, pumpkin hummus, and pumpkin scones for the party along with the honeycrisp apple cocktails...

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Made some amazing Turkey Chili last night for Halloween. Don't ask for the recipe, as I didn't really have one, but it came out amazing. I spent the evening on my front porch on a chair sitting with Laurie passing out candy to the million kids.

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For photo slideshow with bigger pictures CLICK HERE

This Sunday was spent the Timko family tradition of Pumpkin Fest was in full force. This year we indoctrinated a newcomer (Laurie) into the festivities as well as brought a long Grandma Eugenia.

The tradition starts out with a hearty breakfast at the famous Mastoris Diner, known for it's huge portions and complimentary stack of awesome cheese bread.


I had my favorite, Eggs Benedict (Actually my favorite is filet mignon Benedict, but I had steak just 12 hours earlier).


Laurie had an incredible ensemble of various breakfast items. I stole some bacon.



Breakfast did not disappoint. Apologies for the poor pictures, they were taken with my phone as we forgot the camera in the car.

Every year we head to Emmons Dairy Farm for a pumpkin hayride. I found this place when I was in the 4th grade. I used to live in Pemberton and for a short period of time I went to a school called "Newcomb". The bus ride took us by this farm and once suggested, the family has been back ever since. (note to self: Scan photos of first time at Emmons) There are a few reasons we like this place. For one, it's not usually too crowded. It is authentic, meaning they grow there own pumpkins and it is a "real" pumpkin patch (with the exception of 1 year). The prices are also relatively cheap, this year 8 dollars for the hayride and "any pumpkin as long as you can carry it back to the hayride tractor!". Additional pumpkins never exceed 5$ no matter how big.

Some pictures...


























Then we proceed to Mr. McGregor's Garden, on rt. 537 in Jobstown for FRESH, right out of the oven pies! Grandma splurged and purchased about 60$ worth of pies! I made a clean break with 3 "personal" pies...1 pumpkin for Laurie, and a Pecan each for myself and Laurie's mother. No pics of the pies unfortunately. We also swiped a bag of roasted corn...mmmm.

Following fresh pies...we head down 537 a bit to Robson's Farm Market for Mums and any other Halloween porch decorating items.

Last stop, was Cheesequake Farms on rt. 9 in Old Bridge, NJ. SO. CROWDED. Left ASAP after getting some corn stalks. Porch decorating ensued.






Now comes the FUN part!

So, Laurie has always painted pumpkins, never carved. That is like riding a bicycle with training wheels!! We made a bet, the stakes being a massage, the criteria being best carved pumpkin of course. With a brief lesson in pumpkin carving, and some boasting about how I was going to blow her out of the water, she was on her way!







We also baked the seeds, with a lot of salt!


I was going to let everyone else decide on the winner, but...the decision was quite clear...I was giving numerous massages last night as I clearly lost!!! I'm starting to plan for next year already...tough competition!

Laurie's


Mine - I've come to the conclusion it's a deformed FAS skull

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