Ate, Drank and Stank

Up until this fall, I'd never been to the Easton Farmers Market. Parking in the downtown area is not always readily available. It took getting a friend who lives in Easton to guide me before I was finally able to enjoy the outdoor market that boasts being America's "Longest Continuous Running Open-Air Market." Not surprising, given that the market was established in 1752, the same year the city of Easton was founded.

Pictured: balloons at entrance to Garlic Festival
My introduction to the market was at the 2013 Garlic Festival, held this year on October 5-6. The market was filled with the smell and taste of garlic in so many different products, it was difficult choosing which ones to try. I attempted to be adventurous and sampled garlic shortbread cookies, roasted garlic dipped in chocolate, garlic nut tossie, garlic and sugar coated popcorn, garlic lolipops and garlic ice cream.

Pictured: garlic lolipops
I couldn't pass up a garlic filled lunch from Cook's Corner. A small cup of garlic chowder paired perfectly with a garlic kielbasa and sauerkraut sandwich. Sharing (with my husband and friend) an order of pierogies cooked in butter, with onions and fresh garlic, topped off the hearty meal.

Pictured: pierogies with garlic, garlic chowder, garlic kielbasa with sauerkraut
In addition to all of the garlic related products, the farmers market also featured fresh produce from local farms, cooking demonstrations and live musical entertainment. I'm already looking forward to eating, drinking and stinking again at the Garlic Festival in 2014!

Dusting This Thing Off

I've gotten out of the habit of blogging. I still post pictures online, but I do it at my website (http://sharonexner.com). I don't take as many photographs of food as I once did. Instead, my subjects tend to be local festivals, where I can enjoy the fun things the Lehigh Valley has to offer.

So far this year, my husband and I have gone to Bethlehem's Celtic Classic, Oktoberfest and the Harvest Festival. We've also attended a couple of fun celebrations at the Easton Farmer's Market: Garlic Festival and Apple Jam. We hope to go to Baconfest at the Easton Farmers Market, Christkindlmarkt and Peeps Fest, before the year is over. Missing from our list of activities this year are Burnside Plantation's Blueberry Festival, the Historic Bethlehem Partnership Reception (this year, held in conjunction with the reopening of the Kemerer Museum) and Musikfest. A combination of summer hot weather, general disinterest and movies that we wanted to see kept us from attending.

The main vacation my husband I took this year was a one-day bus trip to the Philadelphia Zoo, and the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. With both of us working every weekday (and me not having vacation for the first six months of my new job), it's been hard to get away except on weekends. Hopefully, that will change in 2014. A local bus company has a week-long trip to New England that I would love to take.

Maybe I'll post a few of my favorite pictures from this year, just to catch up a little.

2012 Historic Bethlehem Partnership Reception

Wednesday, November 14 was a night for celebrating another year of membership in the Historic Bethlehem Partnership. For Jay and I, this was our second annual reception. For the partnership, it was the sixth one that they've held. In 2011, the event was held at St John's Windish Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 2012, we had the pleasure of visiting St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in west Bethlehem.

The evening began with an opportunity to view vespers, which is the evening prayer service. Following vespers, guests were treated to a buffet of Greek hors d'oeuvres. These included pita bread topped with hummus and taramasalata (caviar dip), feta cheese, meatballs, sausage, stuffed grape leaves, tiropites (phyllo pastry filled with cheese) and spanakopita (phyllo pastry filled with spinach and feta). While everyone was enjoying their food, we were entertained by a speaker who explained the process of creating Greek iconography. We also took a few moments to celebrate Bethlehem being designated as a historic landmark, which is a fairly rare designation in the United States.

Pictured: Greek hors d'oeuvres

Pictured: Greek hors d'oeuvres

Pictured: process of creating Greek iconography
Guests were invited to visit the cathedral to learn more about the faith and the church. Father Nicholas Palis made everyone feel very welcome as he explained all of the imagery within the cathedral. He informed us how the topmost images on the ceiling told the life of Christ, while the images beneath them related to St Nicholas. According to Father Palis, iconography in earlier times served the function of teaching religious stories to people who couldn't afford a Bible or who couldn't read.

Pictured: image of Christ in dome

Pictured: sanctuary behind the iconostasis

Pictured: chapel iconography
The final treat of the night, after a brief visit to the small chapel adjacent to the cathedral, was the dessert table. Of course, there was baklava. Other desserts included karythopita (walnut cake), katafifi (a nut-filled pastry that looks like shredded wheat), galatopita (baked semolina pudding), kourabiethes (sugar almond cookies) and koulourakia paschalina (Easter cookies). We listened to another speaker telling us about the history of the Greek Orthodox church.

Pictured: Greek desserts

Pictured: Greek desserts
It was the perfect conclusion to a wonderful evening. We're already looking forward to next year.

More photographs from the evening can be found on my webpage dedicated to 2012 events in the Lehigh Valley.

Colors of Fall

I love the maple tree in my front yard during the month of October. The tree looks its best in fall, when the leaves start changing color. Not even the terrible pruning job done by the township can diminish its beauty. In fact, it almost makes the tree appear to be two trees instead of one.

Pictured: maple tree
The pathway between the front yard and the side yard doesn't look as clean as it did in summer. I picked leaves out from between the stepping stones this weekend, but more have already fallen since then. The magnolia on the side of the house still has plenty of leaves yet to drop.

Pictured: pathway along side of house
The lilac tree has been dropping a lot of leaves, but so far the dogwood has just been changing colors. It's too close to the house and should be removed, but I'll get as much enjoyment out of it until that happens.

Pictured: dogwood on side of house
The colors of fall never cease to impress me. It's a shame that the colors don't last longer, but it gives me a reason to look forward to next fall.

2012 Oktoberfest and Bethlehem Harvest Festival

Last Saturday, October 13, was a busy day in Bethlehem. Oktoberfest was still going on at SteelStacks, and the Bethlehem Harvest Festival was in full swing on Main Street. It was a great opportunity to sample a lot of different foods. I was a little limited in my choices, since I'm still eating a meatless diet, but I still managed to enjoy myself.

We started our afternoon at Oktoberfest. While Jay was eating a hotdog, I had a childhood favorite prepared just the way mom used to make it: pierogies with butter and onions.

Pictured: Jay enjoying a hotdog at Oktoberfest
We left Oktoberfest and walked from SteelStacks to Main Street, via the Fahey Bridge. After walking all the way up to the Sun Inn, we stopped long enough for me to get one last ear of roasted corn for the season from Aw Shucks.

Pictured: eating Aw Shucks corn at Harvest Festival
After walking back to SteelStacks, we stopped back into Oktoberfest long enough for Jay to get chicken bites and for me to get funnel cake. It's the only time I've had it this year, and after walking 6 miles for the day, according to my Fitbit, I didn't feel guilty for the indulgence.

Pictured: funnel cake at Oktoberfest
For pictures of the actual festivals, I have additional photographs on my 2012 local events webpage. It really is nice to combine the two festivals on one day out. They're so different from each other, but they both have a lot of great aspects to enjoy.

The Last Couple of Months...

It probably seems like I've abandoned this blog, but I haven't. I've just been busy the last couple of months with family issues. Specifically, with my husband's health. Jay was hospitalized twice in August. The first time was due to gastroenteritis; the second time was due to another stroke.

Jay's doing better now. He's back to work as of today, and I can see the improvements he's made since August. The only bad news is that he can't drive until at least January, which means we won't be going many places since I'm not fond of driving.

Also of note, I had poison ivy for three very long weeks. I've had to take over all the yard work while Jay has been recuperating. This is the first time I've had a reaction to poison ivy since I was a teenager. I hope I never have to deal with it again.

One place we did go before Jay got sick was Musikfest. We only got to go one day, but it was enough for me to discover a new love: Aw Shucks roasted corn.

Pictured: enjoying Aw Shucks corn
It was the best corn on the cob I've ever tasted. I can't wait for summer of 2013 so I can have it again!

Upcoming Events in Late Summer/Fall/Winter 2012

There are a lot of fun festivals in the Lehigh Valley beginning in July and lasting until the end of the year. In order to keep track of them, I'm posting a list (with links, where possible) here.

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER

Musikfest (August 3-12)
Muhlenberg Hospital Festival (August 15-18)
VegFest (September 8)
Celtic Classic (September 28-30)

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OCTOBER

Oktoberfest (October 5-7 and October 12-14)
Easton Garlic Fest (October 6-7)
Fall Foliage Festival (October 6-21, weekends)
Bethlehem Harvest Festival (October 13)
Just Desserts (October 19)

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NOVEMBER-DECEMBER

Christkindlmarkt (November 15-December 23)
Christmas City Village (November 23-December 23)
Peeps Fest (December 31)

2012 Burnside Plantation Blueberry Festival

One of my favorite local events to attend is the annual Burnside Plantation Blueberry Festival. I love blueberries, plus I like supporting an historical site in the Lehigh Valley. It's also fun going there to remind myself of the happy years I spent working at Martin Tower, which is now used as a parking area for visitors to the festival.

There seemed to be more Moravian-inspired demonstrations at the 2012 festival. My husband and I saw women cooking, a man making beer and a blacksmith. It's possible that we just missed them in previous years. We also happened to be at the festival when a group of young Irish dancers were performing.

Pictured: Moravian women cooking

Pictured: Moravian beer maker

Pictured: fresh local produce for sale

Pictured: mosaic artist

Pictured: concession stand
Besides walking around and looking at the various crafts, we bought a few blueberry pastries and enjoyed cold smoothies, which were a welcomed treat on the hot day. My favorite pastry was a soft pretzel from Stations Cafe that had blueberries baked into the dough. It was a yummy treat that wasn't super sweet.

Congratulations to the people at Burnside Plantation who made this festival possible. It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I hope to see even more crafters and local produce sellers there next year.

Roma Ristorante

I've long been a fan of Taste of Italy, on Catasauqua Road in Allentown. The same family that runs that restaurant also operates a more upscale Italian restaurant on the other side of Airport Road, in the new shopping center. The new restaurant is Roma Ristorante.

Pictured: front of restaurant
One of the most fun things about Roma is the fact that guests are greeted by a statue of a Roman soldier, standing outside of the restaurant. The inside of Roma is beautifully decorated in tones of blue and brown, creating a very relaxing and sophisticated environment in which to enjoy delicious food. A beautiful glass wave divides the bar area from the dining area.

Pictured: inside of restaurant
I ordered fettuccine with garlic and oil for my meal. Before my pasta arrived, I snacked on fresh baked bread that was served with olive oil and spices.

Pictured: fettuccine with garlic and oil
The portion was huge. I ended up taking 2/3 of it home. It tasted wonderful at the restaurant, and even better when I had it again a couple days later. I'm pretty sure there must have been some butter melted in with the oil. My pasta had a fantastic buttery taste to it. It was perfect with the large pieces of garlic that were generously mixed throughout the pasta.

Would I order this again? Absolutely! I think I actually prefer the garlic and oil over red sauce.

Vintage Restaurant and Bar

One of the nicest places in the Lehigh Valley for dining with a great view is Vintage Restaurant and Bar, part of the The Club at Morgan Hill in Easton. You don't have to go there to golf in order to enjoy the fine food in the restaurant. Just bring your appetite and a camera, because you'll want to take pictures of the Lehigh Valley. The views are spectacular!

Pictured: outside of restaurant

Pictured: entrance to dining room

Pictured: inside of dining room

Pictured: tomato soup and grilled cheese

Pictured: cheeseburger and fries with bacon and cheese sauce

Pictured: incredible view of the Lehigh Valley

Pictured: another view of the Lehigh Valley
The day was perfect for looking down into the valley. The views in the opposite direction were stunning too, but I didn't feel like walking back up the huge hill to take any photographs.

Pictured: coolest sticker on a car, ever!
The Star Wars fan in me thinks the owner of this car is awesome!

The Gyro Company

I'd never had Greek food before, so I decided to be adventurous and ask my husband to take me to The Gyro Company, which is located in the new shopping center on Airport Rd. We've often thought about going there, but usually end up at Zoup, instead.

The restaurant isn't super fancy, but it provides a good atmosphere for casual dining. The people working there were helpful to me, answering questions about ingredients in the dishes and being very friendly.

Pictured: outside of restaurant

Pictured: inside of restaurant

Pictured: seating area

Pictured: grill

Pictured: veggie gyro with basil pesto sauce

Pictured: Sharon, with painting of Zeus in background
I'm still not eating meat, so I chose one of the vegetarian options, a vegetable gyro with basil pesto sauce. The gyro had carrots, squash and green beans topped with lettuce, tomatoes and onions, all rolled up into THE most delicious bread. It was a bit messy to eat, but I loved every bite of it.

My only regret is that I didn't try the baklava sundae, which has baklava and ice cream layered with chocolate sauce and topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. I'll make certain that I sample that next time!