Weekend Cooking is a weekly feature hosted by Beth Fish Reads linking up food-related posts. Click here to check out Weekend Cooking posts from Beth Fish Reads and other blogs.
Last weekend was the end of our vacation and we took a little trip to New York City to visit our daughters on Friday. From there, we drove down to Scranton late in the day on Saturday, and came back home on Sunday.
This is an unusual August for us, because it’s the first year in over twenty that we haven’t been getting ready for at least one child (usually at least two) to go back to school. Our work here is through – in that respect, at least.
In celebration, I thought I’d share some food-related photos for Weekend Cooking from our empty-nesters road trip last weekend, starting with the delicious, gluten-free, and vegetarian dinner our daughters made for us in their shared apartment in Washington Heights.
Saturday morning we visited the farmers’ market near Fort Tryon Park, where everything from fresh duck to bee pollen was for sale.
Along with fresh fruit, we bought a couple of small wedges of cheese from a cheesemaker to eat as part of our picnic on Liberty Island, but I didn’t think to snap a photo of all of the varieties of cheese that were available. We tried a few samples before making our choices and they were all delicious.
After taking a ferry ride out to see the Statue of Liberty up close and then taking the subway back uptown from Battery Park, we got in the car and headed south to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where my husband was attending the annual meeting of the Anglican Use Society the next day.
On Saturday night, in Scranton, we went to the opposite extreme from vegetarianism and ate at the Ipanema Grille, a Brazilian steakhouse or churrascaria where you can order the rodizio. That’s where you can get your choice of side dishes from the buffet and get slices of different types of grilled meat cut for you right at the table until you can’t eat any more.
Along with dinner, we tried Brazil’s national cocktail, the caipirinha, a sweet-tart rum and lime drink that came with a sugarcane stirrer. I still can’t pronounce the name of it, but the drink was so good, we had two each! After my first sip, I did remember to take a picture.
Hmmm. Does the U.S. have a national cocktail…?
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Like the sound of that Brazilian steak house.
Cool that your daughters cooked such wonderful things for you!
It was great having you, Mom! Hope we can cook for you again soon. Nice post. 🙂
Thanks, Molly! Next time I see you I’ll make you a capirinha to try. Rum is gluten-free!
Yes, it was a good one!
It was very nice! All I did was chop half an onion and trim the green beans!
My husband and sons love Brazilian steakhouses. They always make it a stop on their guys’ golf outing.
I don’t know if we have a national cocktail, but I think whatever it is would have to include bourbon!
I did a post on the caipirinha awhile back…it is a delicious drink.
We had a Rodizo restaurant here near Tallahassee and it was fun to go to, but wow, what a meat fest! I like your idea about a national drink!
I looked for it on your blog, but couldn’t find it! I do remember reading some of your other cocktail posts (Pimm’s Cup, shandies, etc.) The caipirinha seems a pretty easy drink to make if you have plenty of limes on hand. Which, as it happens, I do!
I haven’t developed a taste for whisky, somehow, but it’s one of those things I think I might do someday!
Turns out there’s a whole Museum of the American Cocktail (http://www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org) so I guess it would be too hard to pick just one?
Oh I must tell my GF friend about the zucchini crust idea — I know she misses pizza. Sounds like you had a great trip. I’ve never heard of Brazilian rodizio but will have to check it out. Now I’m off to find out what’s in that refreshing-sounding cocktail.
We have a Brazilian restaurant in our town, but the one in Scranton was definitely more upscale!
Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend, and I love the look of that vegetarian meal your daughters cooked for you – what a treat. I’m intrigued by the zucchini crust – I have come across a cauliflower crust pizza doing the rounds of the bloogoshpere, but haven’t come across zucchini before. I must check that out in readiness for the summertime zucchini glut to come in the next few months.
Looks like a great weekend!
What a wonderful weekend!! We have a Rodizo steak house not too far away… it’s amazing.