Presidents' Day Eve

In other words, Jungle Jim Day for our family!

Each February my aunts, uncles and cousins make the trek out to Route 4 to find the oddest ingredients to make up some pretty good recipes. This was Meredith's first experience out at Jungle Jim's and I have to say that she rather enjoyed it, if only because she walked away with a special biscuit treat from the UK. Yum!

Some highlights of the menu:

• stuffed clams
• rotisserie-style pork heart (it was Valentine's Day!)
• baby squid salad
  
• crickets (dead, sans chocolate)
• broiled eel
• Blue-Point oysters
• more kim chee
• something that I was not able to identify (I'm guessing I don't want to know)

(The heart--I wasn't kidding.)

Some things are made more for shock-value, to see who is willing to put it into their bodies, but there were many "normal" things made as well. For instance, Aunt Jane made bruschetta, which isn't so exotic, but it tastes so much better when made with fresh basil, tomatoes and mozzarella from this great market! (Jungle Jim's makes many of their own cheeses in house.)

Cousins Susie, Jill and Denny
(They made a delicious guacamole and a I'll-have-to-get-the-recipe creamy cheesy corn dip)

Our main contribution was "wonton bowls." I wanted to do something for the Chinese New Year (year of the tiger--rarr!), but I'm thinking that the recipe might be a little more Japanese than Chinese. Regardless, it was very easy to make and I think I might make it again. What was great is that I could try it out on everyone there, get honest reviews, and next time I'll be able to perfect it. (There was too much ginger in the beef mixture and not enough wasabi powder in the mayo.)