Notes from the suburbs 🏡

A visit to Stew Leonard’s!! And more!!

Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, we report from the depths of New Jersey. As always, this newsletter is completely unedited by AI or any human for that matter. For pictures and videos, check out my Instagram @fivethingsiate.

I Love Mom Strawberry Soft Cream Cake from Paris Baguette

A seasonal release.

We grossly, grossly underestimated how long it would take to move into our new house, somehow convinced everything would be done and dusted by 5pm (ha!), when in fact, the movers were still lugging furniture at 1:30AM. That’s how we ended up hosting my parents for Mother’s Day, on approximately 5 hours of sleep and 10,000 cardboard boxes deep. Thankfully, Paris Baguette came to the rescue! Not only do they have my Favorite Cake™️which I request every year for my birthday (Strawberry Cream Cake) they have super adorable cakes for holidays that are both decently priced, and more importantly, can be quickly delivered. Originally I ordered the “Triple Chocolate Strawberry Fraisier,” but they were all out, so I ended up with the “I Love Mom Strawberry Soft Cream Cake,” which is what I secretly wanted all along. How could you say no to a heart-shaped, pale ballerina pink, strawberry-cream covered strawberry cake?! Even my mom loved it, which is really the highest praise (and what mattered the most).

Cookies & Cream Milk from Stew Leonard’s

Full list of locations.

I feel like I am the only person in the history of mankind to ever utter this sentence, but Stew Leonard’s was not(!!) as overstimulating as I hoped it would be?! Maybe it is my raging unmedicated ADHD speaking, but when I dragged my husband to take me on a Tuesday evening it was actually pretty empty, and as someone who literally never looks up I didn’t see the animatronics until he pointed them out. We decided it is best described as “Wegman’s meets IKEA,” aka the food selections seemed Wegman’s-esque (maybe not as nice sushi, though), but the structure is like an IKEA maze. I was SUPER excited to see they had the legendary flavored milks, although apparently not the cookie milk which is a limited edition. I decided on a bottle of Cookies & Cream milk, which I thought would taste like Oreos (™) but actually tasted like a really rich, milk-chocolately chocolate milk.

Hot dogs, hamburgers with grilled onions, and corn at home

Supplies from Stew Leonard’s.

As soon as the weather goes above 65F, I’m all about hamburgers all the time. This meal is best grilled but we didn’t hook up our grill yet, so I made do in the kitchen. For the burgers, I cooked them on an extra hot cast iron pan until browned on both sides. For the onions, I thinly sliced a vidalia onion and added them to the burger juices after they were done. For hot dogs, the air fryer does an amazing job – just cut slits first, then cook at 400F for 5 minutes. Lastly, I simply microwaved corn on the cob for about 8-10mins for 5 ears of corn laid flat on a plate.

Super simple crispy chicken cutlets + cucumber tomato salad + rice at home

Recipe from my mind.

I recently discovered how easy it is to make chicken katsu at home, but since it was moving week, I didn’t have any eggs or flour in the kitchen. Turns out, you really don’t need the fuss of the whole 3 plate dipping process to make amazing, crispy chicken cutlets. All you have to do is make sure your chicken breast is pre sliced (or you can cut a regular chicken breast in half, horizontally), otherwise it won’t cook through evenly, pour panko + season with salt into a baking dish (you don’t need too much— 1 cup will do). Heat a large stainless steel heavy bottom pan on medium flame til water droplets sizzle. Pour in a shallow amount of olive oil, then fry on both sides until browned and dry on paper towels. Squeeze of lemon and it’s perfect- crispy and the perfect summer meal, very Italian countryside. I like to serve with cucumber and tomato salad, plus a side of white rice which cooks in the same time it takes to fry the chicken.

P.S. Leftovers make amazing sandwiches, re-crisped in the air fryer with a slice of tomato, mayo, and greens on ciabatta.

Bahn mi pate at Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich Deli

369 Broome St, New York, NY 10013

Of course, I couldn’t stay out of Chinatown for long— my husband had a doctor’s appointment in the city so I jumped on the opportunity to do some errands downtown. Saigon Vietnamese is an iconic place, and on a sunny spring afternoon it’s really a vibe. There’s a few stools inside, a few stools outside, and the R&B track really hits with the smooth and sweet strong iced coffee. I went for #5, which is the Pate Supreme, as I’m a big cold cuts lover. This is an old school spot that is cash (and now Venmo) only, and the total for an iced coffee and huge sandwich came out to be $16. The bahn in is super hefty, and please be aware that it is CRUNCHY. I made a huge crumbly mess eating it. Otherwise 10/10.

Have a good weekend,

Soph