Isot Mediterranean Cuisine

Tomorrow, my parents, my husband, and I are going our separate ways, so we all had dinner at Isot Mediterranean Cuisine, a place my husband found on Yelp. It was really excellent.

We started with the Mix Meze appetizer, a combination of
abugannush (charbroiled eggplant and tomatoes with thinly
sliced green peppers, garlic, and parsley in a pomegranate
sauce); acili ezme (finny chopped tomatoes, green pepper,
onion, garlic, and parsley in a spicy sauce); haydari (fresh
dill with strained yogurt and garlic sauce);  saksuka
(fried vegetables topped with tomato garlic sauce);
hummus; and Russian salad (boiled potatoes, carrots,
peas, pickled jerkins, salt, and black pepper with mayo).

We also shared Kalamar Tava (tender calamari)...

...and Mani (Turkish ravioli stuffed with ground beef mix,
served in a strained yogurt sauce). 

My parents and husband each ordered the lamb kebab,
which came with bulgur, grilled veggies, and Antap salad.

I had the Kasap Kofte (ground beef and lamb mixed patties
marinated with fresh parsley and Turkish spices). It too came
with bulgur, grilled veggies, and Antap salad.

And for dessert: Kanafeh, a cheese pastry soaked in syrup. 

Of course we had some baklava.

Spatoro's Cheesesteaks

My parents came down to see my husband and I today, and because Reading Terminal Market was so close to our hotel, we went to Spatoro's Cheesesteaks within the Market for lunch.

My mother, ever the individual, had the tuna salad sub with
onions and peppers.

I had the cheesesteak with American cheese, onions,
and mushrooms. 

We also all shared some fries.

Ocean Harbor

I'm in Philadelphia for the MLA Convention, and my husband was able to come with me (although he gets to enjoy some time off, as opposed to hearing some teaching nerds geek out). Our hotel is in North Philadelphia, and we're about half a mile away from Chinatown and the Reading Terminal Market, which means we'll be eating very well for the next few days. Tonight we went to Ocean Harbor for dinner. Apparently they're well-known for dim sum, but that might be a weekend thing because we ordered from the menu.

We shared the House Special Seafood Thick Soup.

The pan-friend dumplings were excellent - the best part
of the email.

My husband had some scallops. 

He also had the chicken lo main. (He was hungry, apparently.)

I had a hot pot: diced steak with black pepper sauce. Pretty good!

Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market

My father and I went back to the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market this afternoon; I wanted to pick up some treats for my father-in-law, whom my husband and I will be visiting for a couple days before flying home later next week. Aside from getting him some walnut tossies and walnut and Lekvar kiffles from the Kiffle Kitchen Bakery and a nut roll from the Country Cottage Bake Shop (we had picked some up last week for our own nefarious noshing purposes), we picked up a shoofly pie for my father-in-law as well, but got some treats for ourselves, too.

cinnamon sticks from the Amish Village Bake Shop

apple fritters (bottom) and blueberry fritters from
the Amish Village Bake Shop

whoopee pies (top), shoofly pie (lower right), and
funny cake (left) from Mary Ann's Donut Shop

Thai Thai House Restaurant & Lounge

Father's Day isn't for another couple weeks, but since my husband and I won't be in town to celebrate with my dad, we took him to Thai Thai II for dinner tonight. (This was an excellent back-up choice, by the way; our original choice, Gregory's Steakhouse, had burned down.)

appetizer: Golden Rings (calamari)

appetizer: spicy Asian hot wings

appetizer: beef satay

My husband ordered the shrimp pad Thai.

I got the Holy Basil Duck (excellent!).

Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market

It's been years since I went to the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market, and I somehow managed never to take my husband, so we planned a visit during lunch this afternoon, and made special stops at Foods of the Mediterranean, Dan's Bar-B-Que, Gdynia Polish Market, the Kiffle Kitchen Bakery, and the Country Cottage Bake Shop.

My husband had a gyro from Foods of the Mediterranean.

pierogies and onions from Dan's Bar-B-Que

a corn pie from Dan's Bar-B-Que

meat pies & spanikopita swirls from Foods of the Mediterranean

spinach and feta pies from Foods of the Mediterranean

one of the huge pitas from Foods of the Mediterranean

two of the sausages from Gdynia Polish Market; I wish I
knew what types they were, but all the signs were in Polish

part of a nutroll, also called a kolach, 
with English walnut filling, from Country Cottage Bake Shop

kiffles with Lekvar (prune) filling and walnut filling, and
walnut tossies from the Kiffle Kitchen

strawberry kiffles and different tossies (I wish I remembered
which flavor!) from the Kiffle Kitchen

Lin's Garden

My husband and I are here in eastern Pennsylvania for a couple weeks visiting my parents. Tonight's plan had included grilling, but the weather put the kibosh on that, so, with nothing else planned for dinner, we ordered dinner from Lin's Garden.

We were so hungry we started with two orders of
fried dumplings.

the shrimp roll (bottom) and a spring roll (top)

I ordered the dragon and phoenix, which included shrimp
and General Tso's chicken.

My husband went for the General Tso's chicken (but had
ordered a few other things as well).

And of course, the requisite fortune cookie, which predicted
that "Good healths will he yours for a long time."

Fiesta Olé

My husband and I spent Christmas with my parents, who live in Pennsylvania, and my father-in-law, who drove up from Virginia on Saturday and drove home Thursday morning. Tonight was our last night with my parents, so the four of us went out to Fiesta Ole for dinner.

I meant to order the shrimp nachos,
but wound up accidentally ordering the Nachos Ole.

My husband ordered the Burrito California, a burrito filled
with steak, grilled onions, refried beans, and sour cream,
topped with melted cheese and mole sauce.

My entree was the Tacos de Carnitas.

McCarthy's Restaurant

Downtown Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is a beautiful area to shop during the Christmas season. Main Street is decorated really beautifully: decorated Christmas trees everywhere, and of course, the famous Moravian Stars are everywhere. (And in fact, my husband and I had had our wedding reception at the Hotel Bethlehem, which is at one end on Main Street.) 

My mother, father-in-law, husband, and I did some shopping at the Moravian Book Shop, which has many, many Christmas ornaments (some of which are really interesting and unusual), as well as, of course, the Moravian stars. We then stopped off for tea and lunch at McCarthy's Restaurant, which is part of Donegal Square, an Irish and British Isles store.

My husband and I shared a large pot of Cream Irish Breakfast tea,
while my mother had a small pot of decaffeinated Irish Breakfast tea.
Even my coffee-drinking father-in-law got a pot of tea!

My husband, my father-in-law, and I each had the Irish Fry,
which included two eggs (I got mine over easy),
white pudding, black pudding, a pork sausage link,
bacon, and delicious brown bread.