The last 24 hours were spent...

So we've pretty much run the gamut of places to eat in South Jersey as we've made not one, not two, but THREE stops between Collingswood, Westmont & Haddonfield in the last 24 hoursJ  Our whirlwind 'tour' started when I just happened to mention to Scott that The Pop Shop was offering an interesting milkshake as a special on Friday night...so off to Collingswood, Trip #1 we went!

We'll get to dessert in a sec, but first I'm shocked that I've mention The Pop Shop on here a couple of times, but SOMEHOW I have yet to speak about their INSANE grilled cheese menu.  Well, finally folks...I have two of the current menu of THIRTY grilled cheese varieties to show you! (Just check out their menu!)  First up was Scott's "Frazer" (ps-all of the grilled cheese are named after street in the town.  cute, right??) 

Scott loved the spicy mix of grilled chicken, jack cheese, jalapenos and chipotle mayo on sourdough!  (I was too scared to take a bite...too many jalapenos for meJ)

While I went my normal sweet & savory route and tried the "Dayton," which was a ham & cheese grilled cheese sandwiched between...dun, dun, dun, duuuuuuun:  French Toast!J 

OK...I stuck to one HALF of this sandwich, which was more than enough, but it was hard not to devour the entire thing.  It was just soooo good!  Especially after our sweet waitress offered me MAPLE SYRUP to dip the sandwhich in.  OHHHH yes!  Be still my sweet & savory heartJ

And of course, we had to save room for our dessertJ (as that menu is EQUALLY as insane as the grilled cheese oneJ) I was craving a scoop of Bassett's Peanut Butter ice cream topped with peanut butter sauce (hey, Pop Shop!  Can we call that the "Donna Sundae???"J) 

While Scott indulged in the main reason we were thereJ.  Apparently June is milkshake month at the Pop Shop and every day of the month features a new shake flavor (Chocolate chip pancake milkshake??!!) so we just had to make a trip to try the "Shake of the Day" on Friday. 

ARE YOU READY???

The BACON shake!

Oh yesJ  Insane right???  It tasted like a maple syrup shake studded with bacon bits.  DEFINITELY a TREAT to have ever so VERY RARELY...but totally fun for one night!  (hey...and put those 2 desserts together, and I think you have a Bacon Peanut Butter PieJ)  Just maybe we'll have to visit Pop Shop again in June to try out some more crazy sounding flavorsJ  (German Chocolate Cake??  Salted Caramel??  Sign me up!)

So we started a bit of a more healthier day come Saturday morningJ  For it was trip #2 BACK to Collingswood bright & early to head to the Farmer's Market.... 

Literally...we got there at exactly 8:01! hahahahahahhaa.....

But the early bird catches the...errrr...strawberries! 

There were lots of blooms still to be had... 

 ...but the fresh fruits & veggies are really starting to come out in full force...

We stocked UP! 

So excited to try out some new recipes this week to use up all of these goodies!!  Can't wait to show you what I have in mindJ

Anyway...on our way home from Collingswood, we decided to make a little stop for a caffeine fix at Jersey Java & Tea in Haddonfield...

I actually had to source this photo because there were so many people lounging around the outdoors at the tables and chairs set up around the building that I would have felt funny snapping a picturesJ  It's nice to see a place surrounded by locals just lounging around enjoying the GORGEOUS weather we are STILL having!J

But since we were on go, we took our treats on the road.  Scott got a yummy blended mocha... 

While I got a toasted marshmallow latte  (OH-SO-GOOD!) and an oatmeal with walnuts & brown sugar.  I love, love, love this wave of 'on-the-go' oatmeal that isn't based solely on those sugary processed packets.  Yeah oats! 

And yeah Jersey Java & Tea's!  We'll definitely be heading back there soon.

And also another place that we will return to VERY SOON...our final stop of the day: 

We had driven past Treno in Westmont (smack dab in the middle of Collingswood & Haddonfield) about a thousand times, but what really made us stop and take notice was during the GORGEOUS night that was Friday night, we drove past and noticed a total open area patio seating area!! 

Seriously, how beautiful is this???  All of the dark decor, candlelight and rattan tables & chairs made us feel like we were on vacation right smack in the middle of Jersey.  Can't beat that now, can you??J 

And I must say that the food was just as good as the decor.  Truth be told, it was probably one of my favorite meals we've had out in awhile! 

And Treno does a few things that I absolutely adore:  1.-They have a seasonal, rotating menu, 2.-So many of their items were made in house such as their ricotta & house smoked meats.  If you got those two things goin for you: I am SOLD! J

 We started with an awesome crostini with toppings of HOUSE MADE (LOVE!) ricotta, roasted peppers & eggplant caponata.  Everyone was big fans of this one!  Especially the crusty, smoky bread and creamy, dreamy ricottaJ

And there was also a lot of love to be had for an item that usually isn't associate with wood-ovens....my romaine salad with creamy garlic dressing...

So yeah...that great smokey flavor from the wood oven?  Yup...you could taste it in the salad!  Are you melting yet??J  SO. GOOD!

And since I could NOT pass up another chance to try something from the ovens:  I had to go with the prosciutto pizza topped with fontina & arugula (dare I say "Pizza Salad"???J) 

This seriously could NOT be more flavorful.  The salty prosciutto & fontina with the spicy arugula and chewy wood burnt crust = phenomenal!  Could not have loved this pizza more!

So when I tasted the white pizza Scott had gotten, I thought "There's no WAY this one could be as good as the prosciutto pie"...and what do you know, I was quite wrong! 

Roasted tomatoes, melty smoked & fresh mozzarella topped with a drizzle of pistachio pesto.  Simply TO DIE FOR!  This is simple ingredients DONE RIGHT 101, for sure.

And talk about simple ingredients done right....I sorta thought my friend had missed the mark when she was the sole hold out of the pizza fans and decided to go for the simple spaghetti & meatballs... 

Well, you can imagine that when I tasted this and realized it was GENUINE homemade pasta, I nearly fell off my chair.  It was just SOOOOO good!  As phenomenal as the pizza was, it's going to be tough to pass up the pasta the next time we pay Treno a visitJ  If you ever want to get spaghetti & meatballs, aside from your Grandmom's kitchen, this is a good place to try it out.  DONE. RIGHT!

And since we were in foodie heaven anyways, we thought we'd cap off the night by sampleing a few of thier dessertsJ.  I had the milk chocolate "budino"...which was a luscious chocolate mousse layered with salted caramel and cookie crumbs (the top layer of salt was an extra added bonus) I was in sweet & salty heaven...againJ 

While Scott tried the Cappuccino sundae made of vanilla & espresso gelato and topped with cinnamon foam...YUM!!

The crowd favorite, however, was the fried zeppoles.  Although even though 2 orders of them were placed I somehow failed to take a picture of them.  I will next time as I'm SURE no one will pass a chance to have them again!  They were like AIR!

So obviously, Treno's gets two HUGE thumbs up from everyone!  I couldn't have been happier with the meal OR the atmosphere!  We lounged around for almost three hours...it was just THAT relaxing and nice.  DEFINITELY try it out if you're ever in the Westmont area!

And I must say...Collingswood is STILL coming into play even today, as we picked up a treat from DiBartolo's Bakery's stand at the Farmer's Market yesterday for our Sunday morning breakfast... 

HAPPY SUNDAY INDEED!!! 

Hope you guys are having a great weekend and enjoyed a little virtual trip down to South JerseyJ  It still amazes me how many fantastic restaurants are available SO CLOSE.  Gotta love the tri-state area!  We know our good eats and we PACK IN as many as we can! hahahhahahaha...

I'm going to an ALL DAY YOGA RETREAT tomorrow at Romy Yoga (SO EXCITED!), but hopefully I'll be able to squeeze a blog in there for ya as I know we'll be in the kitchen tonight whippin up some of that fresh produceJ Have a great day, everyone!!J

2 PERFECT Summer recipes!

Sorry about my delayed post!  Yesterday just COMPLETELY got away from me!  Bonus for you, though:  I have not one, but TWO super easy, under 30 minutes, healthy and cool summer recipes for you today!  (Happy FridayJ)

The first dish received RAVEEEEEE reviews in our house on Wednesday night...we made Kristen's version of PF Changs Chicken Lettuce Wraps!

I had scanned for several "swap recipes" online, but her recipe got big bonus points for being healthy AND quick.  These took about 20 minutes to whip upJ

And were oh-so-cool and delicious.  I just LOVED all of the textures from the crisp lettuce, water chestnuts & chopped peants.  Scott proclaimed that "PF Changs had NOTHIN on this dinner!" hahahahaha....a side of garlic noodles & we would have been all setJ

But instead of noodles, we sided the dish up with some fresh cut watermelon, which I was so TERRIBLY delighted to find out that this one was SUPER SWEET!  YEAH!

OK, OK...and these wraps were so good that MAYBE one more had found it's way to my plate.  I consider this the 'slider' version of a wrapJ

And to cooooool off from the SUPER hot day that was Wendesday, I figured it was pretty appropriate to break out that VERY difficult recipe of frozen banana custard....

1 frozen banana whipped into a frenzy (with a handful of butterscotch chips throw in for good measure) and the banana turns into the creamy consistency of ice cream.  It still amazes me every. single. time!

And even though Scott & I BOTH would have been happy with lettuce wraps for 2 nights in a row, I now bring you the BONUS round of this post:  Dinner #2...and with another nod to summer & quick dinners, I present the Asian Turkey Kebobs....

Another under 30 minute wonderJ  Scott mixed up the ground turkey with some panko, soy sauce & diced scallions and rolled them into meatballs.  Meanwhile, I diced up a pear and MORE scallions to get ready to kebab...

1, 2, 3...a sprinkle of sesame seeds and DONE! 

While the kebabs were cooking on the grill, I got to work on the basting/dipping sauce....

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• And 1/3 cup of the secret ingredient:

I know!  Weird, right??  But for whatever reason, the Sprite works wonders with all those lovely flavors.

Baste the kebabs with the soy sauce/Sprite sauce and grill until the meatballs are cooked through....

Love, love, love these...all of the flavors of the savory meatballs, sweet pear & crispy scallions go so well together.  And of course...can't forget a dip in the pool of the Sprite sauceJ

And I just could NOT pass up another night of swwwweeet swwwweet watermelonJ  It just HAD to happen.

But what DIDN'T happen again last night?

Banana custard.

Why???  Because I was oh-so-excited when I came home and found a box addressed to me sitting on my dining room table.  And what was in that box??

A gift from my Jersey blogger buddy at "Our Italian Kitchen"!  Aren't they adorable????

And they tasted as good as they looked!!!   Thanks a million, Amanda!  You made my day!J

OK and one last little thing I had to show you guys that I thought you might likeJ  So Penny was wandering around me a lot this morning while I was working out (guess she heard Bob Harper say "Downward Dog" one too many timesJ) and I had to CRACK UP when I got up from my savasana at the end of my workout and found this...

Those toys all surrounding me made me smileJ  Needless to say she got lots of kisses when I was doneJ Hahahahahaha....

Alright...well, that DREADFUL humidity finally broke and we are enjoyin some GORGEOUS (dare I say: FALL LIKE!) weather here in Jersey.  Please, please let it last because I was about to buy 2 one way tickets to the West Coast (land of no humidity) the other dayJ  How do you folks in the South stand it??  Seriously, I gots to know! J

Anyway...hope you guys have a WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!!!



PS-I have updated all of the recipes, travel & food finds in my links at the top.  Have some fun and try out something newJ

The dinner that almost wasn't...

Sooo...let's break this down:  It's June FIRST and I've already met my heat & humidity quota for the year!J  It was just SO. VERY. HOT. OUT yesterday...and the worst part it is that it all just seemed to come out of nowhere.  Spring has alluded us this year entirelyL

ANYWAY...I say all this to show that I was in NO MOOD for warm food AT ALL last night, therefore COLD SPRING ROLLS with "Thai" cole slaw were perfect-o for the eveningJ

I started these the same as last time, with the only true cooking of the night:  A quick stir fry of the shrimp and some sesame seeds for a few minutes until they were cooked through:

The rest of the meal came together via lots of chop, chop, chopping on the cutting board.  I laid out carrot curls (done with the vegetable peeler), diced scallions & avocado, bean sprouts and lettuce.  I wrapped up all of the ingredients, along with the shrimp, in the wrapper and got to rollinJ

Part 1 of "how this dinner almost didn't happen" was a MAD SEARCH of my kitchen for the elusive spring roll wrappers!  I almost thought we were going to have to have "spring roll salad" J  But thankfully I was able to "wrap" just in time...

These are just about one of the most refreshing dinners you can have.  It tastes soo good on a hot day to bite into these crunchy & cool little shrimp/veggie bundles.  We might just be havin these a FEW times in the next few months....

And part 2 of my 'troubles' of the evening was that we were flat out of Thai peanut sauce!!  So necessity being the mother of invention that it is:  I quickly whipped up my own....

A whisked together a little peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar & a few drops of sesame oil and mixed it all together along with my cole slaw mix, diced red pepper, diced scallions & chopped peanuts...

I think I almost liked this one better than the one mixed with the "bottled" peanut sauce.  This one had alll the creamy flavors withOUT the spicy kick = Me likesJ

Me likes it all so much that I packed up some leftovers to take with me for lunch today... 

(along with my breakfast/snacks of a Vitatop, strawberries, blueberries & a 2% cheese stick.)

So...for all you summer folks out there:  Hope your enjoyin these days because it's CERTAINLY Summer out there for sure!  I hear we're suppose to get a break towards the end of this week and that will make me SUPER happyJ  I can only deal with high 90's in August when I know the season is ALMOST OVERJ

Alright, alright, alright...ENOUGH complaining from me!  Hope you enjoy your Wednesday! (and stay coolJ)