I took a couple of pics of my preprandial Manhattan yesterday with the TT Artisans 18mm f/6.3 UFO Lens. There’s nothing milky or cloudy about the drink (see the second pic), but again, the weirdness of this lens enchants me.
Epicure
Sunday Serial: Underbrush Gum, Michael Caputo’s Six-Color Apple Stickers, and the Shacket
Now this is some fall weather we’re having! Rhonda and I were happy to get to Bellview after a couple of weeks away. It was packed but we found an iron table near the arbor and packed own provisions. The live music featured a drummer I know personally, and the singer/guitarist is Aaron’s former history teacher.
It’s spritzes while the ribeyes soak in the sous vide tank for a spell.
I have some research to do for our next journey up to see Aaron in a couple of weeks. I also decided to try to fix the leaky toilet in the apartment upstairs, but I can’t get the nuts spun onto the bolts that hold the tank on to shake loose. I hit them with some liquid wrench, so here’s hoping. If that doesn’t work, it’s time for delicate grinder wheel surgery.
Dipping into these kinds of projects always cause me some anxiety: I’ve fixed my share of household problems, but you’re only as good as the last thing you fixed. It’s like a domestic booby trap: one of these days, you’re gonna bite of more than you can chew. I guess it’s all in how you look at things.
Underbrush Gum
I’m generally immune to the bespoke infomercial reels on social media selling products, with one, and now two, exceptions: William Painter sunglasses, and Underbrush Gum. With William Painter, they had a comedian name James Schrader star in breezy, smart commercials for their brand, and they were engaging in the way that the Dollar Shave Club’s ad campaign was. I ended up ordering a pair of the Williams Painters, and I still rock them to this day. I have two pair, in fact.
Underbrush’s commercial is more serious, but I was sucked in by the hand-cut gum and the claim that it can reverse decay. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I wanted to try the gum.
One person who tried a piece said, “I don’t think I’d chew that again,” and Rhonda said it smelled like bug spray on my breath. I’ve enjoyed it, though, and I’m happy with how long both the flavor and texture last chew after chew.
Michael Caputo’s Six-Color Apple Stickers
I saw these on Reddit I think, and it scratched an itch I’ve been carrying for a while now. I’ve always loved the six-color apple logo, as a Mac user since 1993, and an Apple II users since I was a little kid. Only the Studio and phone were spared the sticker treatment.
The Shacket
Whilst trawling Marshalls for things to wear, I found “The Shacket,” which is basically a flannel shirt designed to be worn with an undershirt, and cut straight at the waist, to be worn untucked. It’s a portmanteau of shirt and jacket, which I appreciate in the vein of the spork, and which has generally been reserved to ladies fashion (a la the skort).
I really like the cheap-o shackets I got, and have been looking for the right weather to wear them: we’re not so formal as we used to be at work, and to be frank, I’ve ignored the dress code in favor of my own sense of what looks good. The line between what looks good vs what’s appropriate is fine, to be sure, but I reserve the right to make my own decisions, because I can. I don’t dress like a slob, and serially strive to look composed even when casual.
Anyway, I was thinking about wearing one of the Marshall’s shackets last week, but I never did. I made up for it today, though.
Sunday Serial: Rutgers Parents Weekend Edition
Rhonda and I rolled up to New Brunswick to steal Aaron from his fraternity “learning” this weekend during Parents Weekend. We stayed over two nights in place of our usual trip to Rehoboth Beach, DE, in November, which we’ve been doing for years, punctuated by mandatory quarantine during COVID.
Back in my day, this would have been called “homecoming,” but I guess Parents Weekend fits the bill more, as you can’t assume it’s for alumni only. Aaron reported that the football game tickets were sold out, which was fine with me; we don’t watch football normally.
Friday October 17th
Rhonda and I took a long and languid drive up Route 206, which is an old connector for travelers between South Jersey and Trenton (and parts north). I traveled it many many times from multiple back seats in my youth to visit family: my mom hails from Trenton, and my dad, Milford, by way of the Bronx. Our family, writ large, lived in a band from Trenton to Milford, with frequent visits to Flemington. It’s for this reason that I’ve never considered myself a native of these parts.
Friday’s plan was Stokelan Estates Winery, picking up Aaron, grabbing dinner, and then checking in at the hotel.
Stokelan Estates Winery
I’ve been keen to get here since we found the place on one of our trips to central Jersey, but the only time we stopped before, it was closed. I read good things about their rosé, of which they have two for sale: the Myra 2023 and the 2024. We tried the 2023; it’s billed as lighter than the 2023, but the Chambourcin grape fetched my fancy. (The 2024 is made with Merlot.) I’m happy to report that we stopped on the way home, as well, and tried both the 2024 Myra as well as their unoaked Catspaw Chardonnay.
The 2023, which we tried on Friday, is a nice dry rosé, crisp but with a very berry nose. We ordered the pumpkin goat cheese with bread and the no-utensils required charcuterie board (a phrase I’m loathe to utter unironically). On Friday, en route to Rutgers, we sat outside in the crisp fall weather, noshing and sipping.
Frog and the Peach
Aaron had a fraternity event Friday, but we had time for dinner out before his obligation, and we took the chance to try the Frog and the Peach. Aaron noted a couple of weeks ago that they had bone marrow on the menu, which I take as a declaration of seriousness.
Rhonda and I had the Black Manhattan, which had Averna as an ingredient. It was inky black and delicious. We all enjoyed our dinners; Rhonda and Aaron both had the duck breast, while I went for the prosciutto-wrapped monkfish. Rhonda and I split a dessert, dropped Aaron off for the fraternity event, and headed back to the room for a reprise of My Big Fat Greek Weeding while I downloaded my cameras’ pics to my iPad.
Saturday
I am a traveler who plans his days around meals. Dinner would feature Le Malt Lounge, which I expected would be the show-stopper night out on this trip. We planned to hoof around Rutgers, hit a mall for some shopping (we’re eighties kids, me and Rhonda), and then dinner. Perhaps most adorably, I mentioned to Aaron that our room featured a sofa sleeper, and he remarked that he could stay over. I readily agreed, and he still wanted to do so as we wrapped up dinner. We were so happy to have him join us.
New Brunswick
We picked up Aaron just before noon and strolled (marched? Have you seen me walk?) to the Zimmerli Art Museum for a tour. I took a bunch of pics with both cameras, fodder for a future post.
We then walked up into town, checking the spirit wear at both the Barnes and Noble and Scarlet Fever. Downtown was jammed with parents just like us. We grabbed some drinks at Efes, where Aaron previously tried his first Turkish coffee, and wandered around a bit before having Indian buffet for lunch.
We lit out for the Menlo Park Mall thereafter, and raided the Old Navy there. We ogled the iPhone Air at the Apple Store, and Aaron and I fell in love with the AirPods Max on display, which I think will certainly be on Aaron’s Christmas list. I loved the sound but don’t think I’d use them. But Aaron? He’ll plug right into them.
We had dinner at Le Malt Lounge, which was not at all what I expected it to be, but the food was excellent, and the service pretty good. I had some deviled eggs and a pork chop, both of which were great. Aaron had the pork chop as well, but his was drier than mine. The wine was much more affordable than the Frog and the Peach, and the Manhattan, while more traditional, was excellent. We skipped desert and rolled back to the room after–all three of us.
Sunday
Sunday of course featured checkout, and another teary farewell, but we had a divey bagel experience on the way back to Aaron’s dorm from the hotel. We got Aaron back to the dorm, helped him carry some necessities and new clothes back up to the room, and said our goodbyes
Rhonda and I hit Stokelan again on the ride home, and then it was a long wait for grocery pickup at ShopRite, featuring yours truly going full Karen and asking to speak to the manager. Nice reintroduction to reality; talk about Sunday Scaries.
At Stokelan, we tried the 2024 Myra, which remains crisp and dry, with a tart fruit bite. I’d lean towards the 2024 if someone pressed me for a recommendation. We also tried the Catspaw Chardonnay, which is an unoaked version of the varietal. It’s got a salty minerality that I really loved, but a touch of richness that I’d look for in an oaked Chardonnay. Really good.
We tried the Tuscan vineyard platter this afternoon, which has a trio of spreads, some salami, olives, and pita. Rhonda detected some cumin in the hummus, which I’ll have to add to my recipe.
While wining and dining at Stokelan, we agreed to cancel our November Philly overnight (an excuse to eat at Monks Café) and head back up to New Brunswick. I have an Ethiopian recommendation from a colleague, and of course, it’s a chance to try something else at Stokelan.
And best of all? We get to visit Aaron again, before the holidays.
I have more pics and will write up some more granular posts this week if time permits. Thanks as always for stopping by.
Sunday Serial: Fiery Feeds for RSS, Somers Point Brewing Company, and Somers Point
I’m back from vacation in Ocean City, New Jersey. We’ve been going since 2009 for a week or more each summer. It’s a great Disney-esque shore town. I checked email lightly and did some more yesterday and today so that I don’t walk into Monday without a plan. Here are some things to check out.
Fiery Feeds
Andy Baio linked to this post by Molly White a while back, where she extolled the benefits of RSS:
Perhaps you’ve heard of RSS. It stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and it allows websites like blogs, newsletters, and news sites to make their content available in “feeds” for outside services called “RSS readers” or “feed readers”. Far from being the new hotness attracting glitzy feature stories in tech media or billions in venture funding, RSS has been around for 25 years.
I was swimming this week in Ocean City and thought for a sec about how I’ve been using RSS to curate my news for nearly 20 years, and I’m glad the spec has stuck around all that time. I know a lot of people who would never bother with RSS, and that’s disappointing to think about. It’s one of those things I could bother a normal person about with great enthusiasm.
I was doing some reading on vacation last week and I remembered farting around with Fiery Feeds not long ago; I loved the high level of customization available in the app, but didn’t see why I might need to add another to my stable of RSS readers. As it stands, I use, frequently, and appreciate each of these for different reasons:
- Unread
- Reeder (Classic)
- NetNewsWire
- ReadKit
I’ve been working on an RSS reader article for Uncorrected, kind of rounding up the ones I use and cataloging their features and why I like/prefer different apps. Trying Fiery again after hearing Matt or Chris talk about it on The Comfort Zone, I realized how much I like it. And the yearly sub is cheap. It runs great on the Mac, too. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to just stick with one of these apps, and I’m glad to have the variety (even if it’s a bit of cognitive overhead to think about which one I’ll use at any given time). I like the Hot Like and Low Frequency filters in addition to the wild array of UI customizations.
Somers Point Brewing Company
Rhonda and I found this brewery on vacation last year and stopped in for one pint each this summer, we managed to get there twice: once after our date in Atlantic City, and once again while picking up dinner for everyone.
One intriguing sensation that I’ve started to notice is the flavor profile that tends to tied the varied offerings of each winery or brewery we try. I don’t know how to describe or quantify it, but for example, having tried many pints over the years at the excellent Tonewood brewery, I detect a flavor that unifies the brews. I notice this with Bellview Winery’s offerings, too; there’s something that unites their Astraea and rosé on my palette.
Somers Point’s brews certainly share this property, too. I would not say that their beers have roundly been my favorites compared to Tonewood or Bonesaw. I think I’ve settled on their NEIPA as my favorite of their styles, but I can’t wait for a chance to stop in again.
Somers Point
Speaking of Somers Point, I would recommend it to shoregoers looking for a break from the food in Ocean City. If you don’t mind heading off of the island for takeout, I can recommend that you try these spots:
- Cazadores (Mexican)
- Shen’s (Sushi)
- Gyros and Greens
Shen’s was Jing’s, and it was better when it was Jing’s, but this is still good if you need a sushi fix. The sashimi portions are huge. Cazadores seems new but the staff were super-sweet and the food was really good.
I’ll see your OCNJ and Raise You a Wildwood
We’ve been making jaunts to Wildwood during our annual Ocean City vacation for years. Wildwood is the closest approximation of the canonical Jersey Shore in parts southerly. It’s a baudy, ribald place compared to more Disney-esque Ocean City or Stone Harbor. For a 14-yer-old, it’s a revelation; to young parents, a hive of scum and villainy.
Pizza
There are a few things to say about Wildwood. First: pizza. Pizza is a big deal down here. The king in Ocean City in Manco & Manco, which fumbles off the tongue of local pizza cognoscenti. It was, and perhaps always shall be, Mack and Manco. Due to a family squabble, there’s Mack’s in Wildwood, and Manco in ocean city.
There’s a famous/infamous pizza reviewer who I won’t comment on other than to say that he weighed in. And he really liked Sam’s in Wildwood. We’ve tried it both before and after Dave’s seal of approval and I will say I considered it fine but quotidian before the big review, but enjoy it more now. It’s got a more crusty, firm undercarriage. I did have Manco earlier this week and I liked it more, though.
Fries
Wildwood and of Ocean City both have great French fry spots. We always hit the curlys in wildwood on the boardwalk near Morey’s because there’s a bar there and we can always get a Tonewood on draft. They serially have the Parkway to Paradise which we really like every time we have it. Back to Curly’s-They’re a thicker-cut fry than I prefer, but they’re good and have a sheen of historicity. (For the record, I like the hand-cut fries at the Promenade.)
The Local Flavor
Wildwood is a bawdier affair than Ocean City. I naturally gravitated towards it from the ages of 13-20ish, but the ideal of the boardwalk as a cozy family place always took root. Think vape shops, lousy pizza, and barkers.
Somers Point
We did manage to squeeze in another pint at the Somers Point Brewing Company. It has nothing to do with Wildwood but there it is.
OCNJ Date Nite
The date itself did not occur in OCNJ; the vacation prompted us to alight for Atlantic City, which is a town with a vibrant dining scene. (I’ve never been one for casinos.) We did our own surf n’ turf at the Knife and Fork, ordering a ribeye and the lobster thermidor, and split them. The waitress caught onto our design and the kitchen helpfully divided the steak into two serving dishes. It’s a small thing, but not to have to ask for it was classy.
We skipped dessert but ended up at a local brewery for a quick pint. Great night.
Freshman Orientation is for Parents, Too
Aaron had an overnight orientation last night; retrieved him and a friend this afternoon from Rutgers. He had a nice time it seems! I think these toe dips are helpful to anxious parents too. It’s really dawning on both of us that he’ll be away so very soon.
I did a little research and found John and Molly’s as a possible stop on the way home. It was a good mid-journey break. They have really good mussels.
On Shaken, not Stirred
Richard Goodwin:
Only shake cocktails with fruit juice in them. It’s a simple but more or less binding rule. Certain international super spies occasionally break it cough James Bond with his ‘special Martini’ cough tosser. However, it will serve the rest of us well. When you break them down, there are essentially two kinds of cocktail. Aromatic cocktails contain only alcoholic ingredients. Sour cocktails that contain citrus fruit (or occasionally other fruits, cream, egg, coffee, etc).
The former kind (which are often dry, aromatic and occasionally bitter) should be stirred with ice, which results in even dilution and a smoother texture. The latter kind (which are often tangy, fruity and occasionally creamy) require shaking, which results in more amalgamation, more dilution and a slightly altered texture.
I am increasingly likely to ask for my cocktail made in a specific way because, despite the parsimony of the fundamentals, many bartenders don’t know them.
