Readers,

I am going on vacation. This means that Nosh On probably won’t be feeding you nuggets of food thought for the next week. Please try not to be sad. I plan to have lots of fodder for the coming weeks from my foray to New Jersey and Manhattan. Think of all of the possibilities! Pastrami. Pizza. Bagels. Hot Dogs. Cheesecake. Steak. Pasta.

The first thing we did last time I arrived in New Jersey was eat pizza. Seriously, I got off of the plane, Brian’s family greeted me, we grabbed my bag and then was treated to “the best” pizza in the state. It was good. I enjoyed it a lot. This time, they plan to take me to eat Chinese food after disembarking from the plane. I’ve had great Japanese food, excellent Thai food, fantastic Pho, but honestly I’ve never had good Chinese food. We’ll see what happens.

Being from (East) Wenatchee and having worked at the family fruit stand for years, I think I have a few sensational foods of my own to share with my hosts. My big plan after we made the decision about when to go, was to bring fresh cherries to share. The plans were dashed as spring continued to feel like late autumn and cherry trees suffered frost damage and cool-weather-related pollination problems. Usually by this time in the year it isn’t hard to find cherries. Now, I’m afraid I’m going to have to do something else, or God forbid, buy cherries that come from the Yakima area.

I had also considered making a side trip to Pike Place Market for some salmon on the way to the airport. However, that seems like quite a hassle for our airport-dropper-offer and my future-brother-in-law Justin. As it is, we’re asking him to drive 40 minutes to Sea-Tac and back. I don’t think he knew what he was getting himself into by asking to marry my sister.

No matter what, I’ve vowed to bring something from Washington to New Jersey, even if it’s one of those Chukar Cherries gift boxes from the airport gift shop.

While I’m gone, enjoy a few of my favorite food blogs: Bitten, DavidLebovitz.com, Orangette, Gluten-Free Girl, 101 Cookbooks