Pi Pix

3.14.2010

Today we went out for Pi Day in Princeton. A celebration of math and science. I thought it was a wonderful way to get kids excited about it.

I read recently that between Molly's age now (almost 9) and the time they go to middle school, the interest that children show in math and science dramatically plummets. I am willing to support any local effort to show young people how cool it is!

Several local businesses had specials and displays to mark the occasion. McCaffrey's had apple pies and personal pizzas on sale for $3.14. They were supposed to have an employee look alike contest but, sadly, I didn't see anyone who was participating. There was a pie throwing contest in Palmer's Square and an Einstein look alike contest at the library. I was lucky enough to see one before we left. We took part in a really cool hands on exhibit and demonstration.

The kids loved this guy!

Molly was hungry and I was short on cash so we stopped in at The House of Cupcakes on Witherspoon while we made our way up the block to meet up with Chris at Small World. I'd been meaning to try this place out and they had a sign on the door that let me know I could use my debit card there.

Molly and I took our time looking at the nice selection of cupcakes. Their menu of baked goods consists mostly of tried and true classics such as German chocolate, Oreo and red velvet along with decadent surprises like marshmallow and chocolate truffle. A bottle of milk and a cupcake was less than $5 which is a steal in Princeton!

I was trying to steer Molly towards the Boston cream but she predictably went for the vanilla blast. I ended up with a bite of this bad boy and although I was still lamenting her final choice, I had to admit that the incredibly moist cake and fluffed silken layer of icing made a strong case. This was a seriously amazing cupcake. I didn't get one for myself because I was holding out for something else...

Twist was offering free Cherry Pi filling on top of their signature frozen yogurt today. (Some of you might remember that I love this place.) I was thrilled to see that they were participating in the festivities and I was anxious to support them. Chris and I shared Eurotart and vanilla mixed together and topped with warm cherry filling. It r-u-l-e-d.

You also had the option to partake in some "Genius Dust" for your frozen yogurt. We didn't partake but I thought the idea was adorable.

Despite the gloomy weather, we had a nice afternoon in Princeton. I always enjoy seeing a township come together to celebrate something special about their heritage. The local schools are having various craft shows and school plays. Farmers markets and festivals will be popping up all over the place. Spring is almost here.

Twist Yogurt

64 Nassau St

Princeton, NJ 08542

609-454-3057

The House of Cupcakes

30 Witherspoon St

Princeton, NJ 08542

609-924-0085

Festival Food

Last weekend, we took a much needed vacation to New England for the 20th Annual Milford Pumpkin Festival in New Hampshire! We were lucky enough to be accompanied by the Silver family. Lots of fall fun was had. Foliage, pumpkins, food and even a zombie apocalypse! There was a haunted walk on Saturday night through a wooded area where zombies were on the loose! My kidlet was scared to death but she was still better than I was! I didn't even go in!

I did, however, partake in the food part!! We had all kinds of meals in all sorts of places since we took several day trips from New Hampshire. We stopped in Mystic, Conn on the way up. We took a trip to Salem, Mass on Sunday and on the way back home on Monday, we stopped in Brattleboro, Vermont. Vermont and Mystic will have a separate post! ;-)

For today, I will post about the seasonal goodness of the Pumpkin Festival. We had two special treats in particular that deserve to be mentioned....

Butternut squash bisque with cranberries. This stuff was incredible! The bread bowl really sealed the deal and it made the cold weather much more bearable.

This is cotton candy made out of maple syrup! There was a guy handing out free samples and I bet he snagged a lot of sales! He definitely hooked us! I also bought a bottle of syrup from him for a housewarming gift. When you go to New Hampshire or Vermont, you've gotta bring back some maple goodness!

The food wasn't the only star attraction. There was a giant pumpkin contest.

The winner weighed in at over 1,200 pounds! Wow!

We had so much fun! New England is so gorgeous in the fall and it's an ideal destination for a family trip! We're already talking about going back next year!

Nice Hooter

This weekend is the annual Shad Festival in Lambertville, NJ. I met up with some friends and the Mollster tagged along with me. The festival drew a huge crowd and let me tell you, parking sucked. I finally gave in and parked on the side of Rt 29 along with a bunch of other cars. There was a no parking sign but I figured there was enough of us there that hopefully it would be a while before they got around to ticketing.

Once we trekked into downtown Lambertville, we took a few minutes to find Laura and Harry. It wasn't difficult. We were both able to see the giant, inflatable Geico gecko and we met in front of it. Molly and I were starving so I bought her the very first funnel cake she'd had in her life. I didn't bring my camera with me to the event but I don't think I'll ever forget her sitting on the curb and shoveling the sugar coated fried batter into her mouth like it was going to grow legs and walk away. This is what she was wearing so you can get a better mental image...

My biggest regret is that we saw this huge root beer stand and they were selling frosty beverages in metal mugs....we didn't get any. I thought about it all day yesterday and even part of today. I did find one bit of treasure though! Last year, the same group of friends and I went to the Harvest Festival in Yardley (which was way better than the Shad Fest IMHO). This was the same festival that I had the amazing plantains. Trust me, I looked for that guy yesterday. On that fateful day, I was checking out a swatch that a craft tent had of some vintage brooches. The person who ran the booth was not anywhere to be found. I saw an awesome owl brooch and I really wanted it but I moved on since I didn't see anyone to inquire about it and I figured it was probably overpriced. Well, yesterday I didn't find the plantain guy....but I DID find the same craft tent. They still had him too.

Five bucks for this guy! :-) Almost a year later! I was so happy!

Even though the festival was sort of a dud, I did manage to score that awesome brooch. Molly also got to shake hands with the governor.

Later on, we met up with Chris (he was working) and drove back over towards the same area we'd been to earlier. This time, we crossed the bridge into Pennsylvania and went to Doylestown. I'd heard about it before but never been. It's too bad it was almost 8:30 by the time we got there because a lot of stuff was closed. The downtown was really animated and had a lot of neat looking stores I'd love to check out. We had dinner with Shannon and Eliezer and all of us want to go back when we can spend the whole day exploring. We actually have a bunch of cool things we'd like to do and see in the near future so that should make for some inspired blogging.

BTW: I didn't get a parking ticket yesterday.

Right now, I need to do a little less blogging and a lot more laundry.