Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Currently I live on the "Mainline" just outside Philadelphia. I'm originally from DC, but grew up in NYC/ North Jersey and Virginia.

I brine my pork chops and then saute them in a pan until golden brown.
The brine is really simple and makes the pork moist and tasty.

The brine:
3 cups very cold apple juice
1 cup water
1/4 c Kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1-2 cups ice cubes or apple juice ice cubes (if you have the time to make them.)**

Put the water in a pan a bring to a gentle boil. Add the salt and stir until it dissolves. Set the pan aside and let it cool to room temp.

Mix together the apple juice, brown sugar, salt water. Pour into a gallon sized zip top baggie and add the ice cubes and pork chops, squeezing out as much air as you can.

Put baggie in a larger plastic container (to catch any leaks) and stick in the fridge for 2-24 hours.

When ready to cook the chops, heat enough oil to completely cover the bottom of a large pan. Heat on medium heat until the oil pops when you drop a little water in to. Remove the chops from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Carefully add the chops to the pan and saute 4-6 minutes per side (depending on thickness) until done. Let pork rest about 5 minutes and then enjoy.

** if you omit the ice cubes, stick the bag in the freezer. This works best when the brine is really, really cold.

When she was alive, my stepmother had the most amazing of green thumbs when it came to eggplant and zucchini. The first time she grew eggplant, she planted 3 plants and we had so much, we gave it to everyone we knew. The next year she only grew 2 plants and again we had waaay too much eggplant. Every place we went we took veggies with us to pawn off on our friends. (You learn how tolerant people are when you try and give away veggies in church.) There is only so much baba ghanosh you can eat, especially when you're 9. (There was also zucchini bread and zucchini pancakes, which were good, interestingly, with bbq sauce.) The 3rd year she grew only 1 plant and it produced a bumper crop. After that we begged her to never grow it again. She used to slice it and freeze it to use the next summer for baba ghanosh, because she figured that the next crop wouldn't be as good. Strangely she never made eggplant parmesan, or anything else really other than baba ghanosh. When I hear it mentioned, I think of her (fondly), but I still can't bring myself to eat eggplant.

@JerzeeTomato- I'm trapped on the Mainline. According to my husband, the distance is evenly divided between NJ & DE. But our friends live in NJ, so that's where we're headed on Saturday.

@Asado- Disclaimer: PA, not my home state. I've lived here 3 years and I still don't understand the liquor/wine/beer selling system. In all the states I've ever lived in, I could always buy a 6 pack in the grocery store and be set for the next 3 months.

Chiff0nade- I get to decide the menu & everyone else is OK with the lamb idea, but since dear Hubby hasn't ever eaten lamb, I figured it was only fair to make it for him before he declares he hates it in front of his entire family.

Everyone I know raves when I make these. I wish they were mine, but Sugar Hill Inn (in New Hampshire) via Ann Hodgman, beat me to them. Enjoy.

For 12 muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream (I use reduced fat. It tastes the same.)
5 Tbs unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup blueberries, frozen
2 Tbs sugar

Preheat oven to 375F

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin-cup liners. This recipe doesn't work without them. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sour cream until thoroughly combined.

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, met together the butter and the brown sugar. Beat this mixture into the egg mixture. Stir in the oats.

Fold in the flour mixture, and then the blueberries. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. Drop a generous pinch of sugar onto the top of each muffin.

Bake for 25-28 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes, then remove muffins & finish cooling them on a rack.

I always prefer to know about any food allergies or preferrences. It makes things so much easier. (And I with JerzeeTomato re: vegans. Good for you, but I don't get it & don't know how to cook it.)

In the middle of our rehersal dinner, my brother's girlfriend (of 3 years, who'd I'd only met that morning.... No, I don't know why it took 3 years to meet her either.) asked me if there were any vegetarian dishes. There were 25 people at the dinner; we had 10 family members there who firmly believed that a vegetable was something you put on a plate to keep the meat and potatoes company. It had never occured to us that there was a Veggie in the party. I felt horrible. I told her, if I had known, I would have arranged for there to be more veggie dishes and perhaps some fish (since she eats fish.) She said it wasn't a big deal, and she would find something to pick at. I asked my brother why he hadn't mentioned that she didn't eat meat- I didn't want her to go hungry. He had somehow assumed that I knew. (Apparently I'm the Amazing Kreskin bride.) I got him back, though: I made him get up early and usher my wedding the next morning.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I can't wait to try some of these restaurants.

Applegate Farm, in Montclair NJ. Before I found out I'm allergic to milk, I loved their Apple Dutch ice cream (I'm a sucker for anything with baked apple in it) and Egg Nog ice cream. Yum!!
Sometimes, when I visit Montclair I stop by and have some, because I love it so.

www.applegatefarm.com

Cranberry juice. I don't normally drink it at home, but when I was in Britian, I felt very deprived.

I'm allergic to milk and milk products. No cheese, cream, butter, ice cream, or yogurt for me. Not to be confused with lactose intolerance, which I sort of wish this was instead. Then I could take something for it. Oh well. At least soy products are better than they used to be.

I grew up with gas and learned to cook on it (well, ok, scramble eggs on it). I prefer it. We have electric now (rental apt), and it's OK for the oven, but I find I have only 1 decent burner. Drawbacks: 1) the stove/cooktop is level, but the coils aren't and anything I put in my pans slides to one side, 2) when the power goes out (like in the recent Nor'Easter) you can't cook the defrosting food slowly going bad in your 'fridge. When we buy a house, I'm insisting on getting gas.

Q: What do you call a stolen yam?
A: A hot potato.