I know in my last post I said that I would continue on about our house buying adventure but I wanted to post this before too much time went by and while it was still relatively fresh in my mind. I will continue on about the house buying adventure in the near future — I promise….
As many of you may know Rachael Ray is from the Saratoga Springs area, at least from some where around Saratoga Springs. Anyway…. she recently came out with a new cookbook — Look + Cook– which features photos for every step in the recipes along with access to online videos minus commercial breaks so that you can see exactly how to make the recipes so its virtually foolproof. Well there are 3 things that I dearly love…. 1. writing, 2. cooking and 3. travel …. so I took the opportunity to combine all 3 of these things by going to Connecticut and meeting Rachael herself at a book signing. I ordered the book online (also got one for my niece Laura who is a HUGE Rachael fan) from R.J. Julia’s website. They held the books there until we got there the day before the signing. We decided to make it a late anniversary trip and got a room in the inn across the street from the bookstore. No way was I going to stay somewhere that wasn’t within walking distance of the bookstore and risk getting lost. The inn was part of a restaurant and bar called The Inn at Lafayette. There were only 5 rooms and were much nicer in the pictures and description on the website. Since it was part of the restaurant and bar, it was very noisy and we were able to hear just about every word coming up through the floor from the bar below.
But it was across the street from the bookstore and Madison Connecticut is a picturesque little town so I was willing to deal with the accommodations. We arrived on Friday night and the book signing was the next day at 2 pm. We got continental breakfast with our room which was served at the coffee shop across the street, stale bagels and muffin and mediocre coffee….but there we heard someone say that people were already lining up for the book signing, so we finished quickly and went to the bookstore. Outside were a man and his mother, then 2 sisters (one had her daughter with her) so we were essentially 3rd in line!! One of the sisters was nice enough to loan us a camp chair that she had in her car, which was a good thing since it was 9:30 and the book signing started at 2! While we were waiting (and freezing) we learned that the man in the front of the line is an avid celebrity hound and used to be a body guard for some pretty famous wrestlers and he has met some pretty famous people among them was Beyonce. During the conversation I found out about Carlo’s bakery in Hoboken, the home of the Cake Boss and Buddy Valastro. He gave directions and it turned out that it wasn’t that far from Madison so we thought that we would try it on Sunday on the way home. But that’s another story…
The time started to pass and the line grew longer and longer. I was really glad that I decided to pre-order my books and get in line when we did. Finally came the time to meet Rachael. Someone from the bookstore came along and asked us who she was to make the book out to, then she wrote in on post it note and put it in the book, the book was then opened to the page she was going to sign. I had planned in my head every thing that I was going to say, I knew I didn’t have much time since there were no photos allowed and I only had 2 books to be signed.
I told her that we drove from Saratoga Springs and she smiled that big Rachael smile and said “Hey neighbor!” The man standing on the side who I assume was some sort of security asked if we were driving back today. I told him that we are staying at the Inn across the street. While she was signing Laura’s book I told her that Laura is a big fan and that when she came to visit we took her to some of Rachael’s favorite places like Oscar’s Smokehouse (then she gave me a high five and said “Isn’t Oscar’s awesome!”) and Hick’s Apple Orchard (which warranted another high five!).
After she was done signing my books I told her “We only waited 4 1/2 hours, no big deal.” After hearing that she grabbed and patted my hand. I told her my hands are cold and she said “I’ll warm them up for you.” and rubbed my hand between hers. It was so nice to meet the person that I watch on tv day after day and find out that she as genuine in person as she is on screen. And yes, it was worth the 4 1/2 hour wait even though our meeting was about 2 minutes long. The one thing that I wished I would have told her was that this trip was to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary! Maybe then we would have gotten a photo with her.
Now onto the cookbook itself. The title is Look + Cook and is perfect for the novice cook. There are 600 photos that take you step by step through every recipe. I’m not a novice cook but I still tried the recipes and found them to be easy and quite tasty. My husband and son are fans of Rachael’s recipes as am I for the flavors and ease of preparation. My only complaint is that some of the ingredients can be pricey and a little difficult to find. I’ve tried a good portion of the recipes in the cook book, among those that are favorites are Knife and Fork Burgers with Stewed Vegetable Gravy (p. 201) which is a frequent request. Double-Bacon-Beer-Braised Cheeseburgers (p. 218) also known as the Adirondacker. Bocconcini Stuffed Meatballs with Tomato-Pesto Sauce (p 181) which is a favorite of mine. Like Rachael says: “What’s better than big roasted meatballs wrapped around fresh mozarella cheese?” There is also Crispy Curried Fried Chicken (p. 151), Pork Chops Pizzaiola (p. 147) Crispy Parm-Crusted Fillet of Fish & Buttery Bow Ties with Peas (p. 136), French Onion & Wild Mushroom Soup (p. 86) Steakhouse Chili Pot (p. 76) and Paprika Chicken with Egg Noodles (p. 41). Those are only the ones I’ve tried so far!
To sum it up, I love the cook book, the recipes and Rachael! The only thing that would make the cookbook perfect would be for it to be spiral bound so that it lies flat to make it easier to follow the photos.
Since our move from the Midwest to the Northeast we’ve been able to so many things that we wouldn’t have been able to do before, among them: meeting celebrities such as David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Frasier and also from Saratoga Springs and of course Rachael Ray) traveling to some beautiful places like just about anywhere in Maine or Rhode Island, and seeing historic places like Plymouth Massachusetts and eating at restaurants owned by celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay. Which brings me to the second part of my post. My mother in law came and stayed with us for Christmas. We decided that since there isn’t a direct flight to Albany that it might be best for her to fly into Newark Airport (not a great idea but it worked out fine in the end). When we took her back to the airport for her return flight we decided to try Bobby’s Burger Palace in Paramus New Jersey.
Surprisingly the restaurant owned by a celebrity chef is in a strip mall but doesn’t look like your usual fast food joint. The decor was very modern with long counters instead of tables and modern light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. The colors also were not like you would find in a fast food restaurant — orange and green. When you walk in the line splits in 2, one for dining in and one for take out. The menu is large on the wall of the dining in side — burgers of course, but gourmet burgers like Bobby Blue Burger (which is what my husband selected) Philadelphia Burger with provolone cheese, grilled onion and hot peppers, Buffalo Burger with hot sauce, blue cheese dressing and watercress and the Miami Burger (my choice) which is a pressed sandwich with ham, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and mayonnaise. When you order they will tell you that medium is more like medium rare and medium well is more like medium. I ordered mine medium well which was perfect. My husband ordered his medium which was still mooing. The burgers are $7.50 a piece except for the Palace Classic which is a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and red onion. That is $6.50. Fries are $2.50 and sweet potato fries and beer battered onion rings (which we got and split) are $3.00. We also decided to splurge and each got a shake ($5.00 each), mine was Mango which I thought would compliment the Miami burger and my husband got a black and white which looked like a chocolate shake. The shakes were rich and thick, almost like pure ice cream. So thick that the straw looked like it was a half inch around! While sitting at one of the long counters I heard someone say that the line is usually out the door so getting there around 3 pm on a Sunday was a good idea.
My husband and I split our burgers so each of us could try the other which was a good idea. I do have to say that I think I liked the Blue Cheese burger more than the Miami especially if it would have been cooked more. Bobby Flay is the sauce guy so of course there are squirt bottles of different sauces including burger sauce, chipotle ketchup and hot sauce along with regular old ketchup.
The complete menu and more information about Bobby’s Burger Palace can be found on their website www.bobbysburgerpalace.com
Now on to the 3rd part of my post — My New Crush…… Michael Symon, restauranteur and iron chef. What is it about him I’m not really sure. Maybe its his brilliant smile, his contagious laugh or that beautiful bald head. Or it could be his ease in the kitchen and the way that he instructs on “How to Cook Like an Iron Chef”. Whatever it is about him I like it and I like it ALOT! So when we go back to visit family in the midwest his restaurant will be the one I want to try as we drive through Ohio. Not sure when that will be so maybe I just settle for a t-shirt!
Next time: Carlo’s Bakery is it worth the trip?
