I have made mini cupcake size using deli turkey breast to make the crust. Press the turkey slice into the cup and I fill it with the same spanakopita mixture of spinach feta lemon and dill that I would use for traditional spanakopita. I got the turkey crust from a kraft recipe a few years ago. Surprisingly your mind thinks it is a traditional crust and not turkey

pignoli cookies
http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com...

Years ago I was told it was brick cheese which I believe is a mild cheddar American cheese. When I make Old Forge style pizza at home I use Sargento pizza double cheese which is a blend of cheddar cheese and mozzarella and while it is not quite NE PA style it comes close.

I am making a double batch tonight for tomorrow.

Louie's serves Italian and is not too far from Emmaus and Fiesta Ole serves Mexican and is pretty close to the High School. Both have good food and are reasonably priced.

Frackville Boilo
2 cans Ginger Ale
½ lemon
1 tsp caraway seed
16 whole allspice
2 oranges
3 cinnamon sticks
10 whole cloves
16 oz Honey
1 fifth of Four Queens Whiskey (FLAMMABLE)
An additional empty fifth bottle since the batch will give you two bottles of finished boilo

In a large stockpot combine ginger ale, oranges and lemons quartered, cinnamon sticks, caraway seek, cloves and allspice.
Bring to a boil.
Cover pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add the honey and bring back to a boil.
Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally

Away from any open flame CAREFULLY ADD THE WHISKEY as it is highly flammable.

Return to heat and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils remove from the heat.

Strain the mixture into another pot to remove the fruit and spices. Press all the juices out of the fruit in the strainer to recover as much liquid as possible.

Place ½ stick of the cinnamon into each fifth bottle you are filling.

It is terrific warm and we add it to tea when we have a cold. Better than NyQuil

some say you can take the boy out of the coal region but you can't take the coal region out of the boy. I grew up in Scranton and since moving to the Lehigh Valley have often referred to myself as a coal cracker. I recently hosted a Boilo party for the guys in the neighborhood and we served coal region food and beer while we whipped up the batch of Boilo with our 100 proof Four Queens Whiskey. The one recipe missing from the site is Porketta. The mines and the mills supported the many ethnic groups that brought recipes from the old country and adapted them. The jobs didn't pay well so they learned how to stretch a piece of cheap meat into a couple of meals. Lew Bryson recently published a book on Pennsylvania Beer and regional food. The region had some unique sayings that are listed in the dictionary part of the coalregion.com website such as "I am goin up da line to the corpse house" which meant you were going to a funeral home in the Northern part of the Valley and the H is pronounced "hach".

We have made these several times - can't remember where I originally found the recipe - I usually add some cajun spice and cut back the salt if I do them as an appetizer

Potato Bites
2 lg. eggs
1/4 c. canola oil
3 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. salt
1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
1 small onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbs. crisp bacon bits
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/4 lbs. baking potatoes
paprika

Preheat the oven to 400F. Spray or grease 36 mini-muffin cups.
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, flour, salt, black pepper and baking powder. Grate the onion on the large holes of a grater and whisk in to the egg mixture along with the minced garlic. Peel and quarter the potatoes and chop finely in a food processor. Add the potatoes to the batter and stir well to combine. Spoon a rounded tablespoon of the potato mixture into each prepared mini-muffin cup. Sprinkle with paprika and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Definitely Old Forge - where pizza is a "tray" not a pie and it is served three ways: red, white or fresh (which has fresh tomato slices and cloves and cloves of crushed garlic). The family favorite is Revello's for Red and Arcaro and Genell's for White. My personal favorite is Colarusso's which has several locations in Northeast PA but none in Old Forge. We still travel an hour a couple times each year to get "Old Forge" pizza

-----
Revello's Cafe
502 S Main St, Old Forge, PA 18518

Bagna Cauda - warm dip for vegetables with olive oil, garlic, anchovy

Lee Chizmar - Bolete, Bethlehem, PA

We had heard wonderful things about it for years and finally tried it this past summer. It certainly was crowded the night we were there. The service was friendly and if you like your seafood fried or cooked in lots of butter it was nicely done. Maybe my expectations were too high because of the hype we heard before or maybe it is because we weren't born and raised in the Lehigh Valley but I was wasn't wowed. It was good but I expected great.

Amigo Mio is by Good Shepherd

-----
Amigo Mio Cafe
545 Cleveland St, Allentown, PA 18103

The first time I made the soup it was too thin for my liking so since then I flour the meat a little and the broth is slightly thicker and heartier. It doesn't change the taste just the texture. You could easily not flour the meat

I have been making this beef adaptation of a mushroom barley soup for a few years. I use short ribs because they add the best beef flavor. I wish I remember the original source of the basic recipe but I don't

MUSHROOM BEEF BARLEY SOUP

3-4 short ribs or stew meat
1/3 cup dried mushrooms like porcini
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound white mushrooms, washed, trimmed and coarsely cut
1/2 pound shiitake, cremini, portobello or other mushrooms, washed, trimmed and coarsely cut
1/2 cup pearled barley
6 cups no-salt-added beef broth or stock
3 tablespoons dry sherry
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon wine vinegar.

1. Cover dried mushrooms with 1 cup hot water, and set aside for 20 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. Finely chop mushrooms.
2. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed deep pot. Coat the beef in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper. Brown the meat on all sides and remove from the pan. Sauté onions and carrots over medium heat until onions begin to color. Add garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds.
3. Add fresh mushrooms, and sauté for 5 minutes, until they begin to release liquid.
4. Raise heat and add barley; sauté until it begins to color. Add broth and sherry. Strain mushroom-soaking liquid and add to pot along with reconstituted mushrooms. Add the beef back into the pot. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for about 1 hour until the beef and barley are tender.
5. Remove the meat and and cut into small bite size pieces and then return to the pot.
6. Stir in vinegar; adjust seasonings and serve.

this is supposedly a clone of the Stouffer's Creamy Mac and Cheese and it doesn't require a roux.

Macaroni & Cheese
1 cup skim milk
5 teaspoons flour
2 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese or 1 cup velvetta and 1 cup shredded cheddar
2 teaspoons margarine
½ tsp salt
1 ¾ cups cooked elbow macaroni (about ¾ cup uncooked)

Whisk flour into skim milk in a small saucepan and place over medium/low heat

Add cheese margarine and salt and stir until the cheese begins to melt.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every couple minutes.

Boil the elbow macaroni according to package directions. Drain the pasta well and combine the pasta and cheese sauce and serve.

I have made this recipe several times - I usually add a little more vinegar and a little more old bay
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

I don't know if either place is open on Thanksgiving but
Tap and Table is in Emmaus
Liberty Street Tavern is in Allentown
You can't go wrong with either

it seems complicated but it is not - the most time consuming part is rolling tiny meatballs the size of a big grape. My family prefers spinach to the more bitter greens.

Italian Wedding Soup

12 cups Chicken stock
1 cup Baby Carrots sliced thin
1 Cup Chopped Celery
1 T Basil
1 T Oregano
1 heaping tsp minced Garlic
2 small scallions sliced thin or 1 T chopped dried Chives
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp lemon juice

As you are bringing it to a boil.

Mix
3/4 lb Very lean hamburger
3/4 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground veal
Or 2lbs of what some stores call “meatloaf mix” which is a mix of the three
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk & 1/4 cup water (or) 1/2 cup water
Bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated cheese (Romano or Parmesan)
salt
pepper
2 tsps chopped garlic
Sprinkle of Basil and Oregano
The mixture should be moist.

Roll the meatballs about the size of a grape and drop in the pot. The stock should be hot but it does not have to be boiling yet. If it isn't stir it occasionally to loosen the meatballs from the bottom.

Once it is boiling, turn it down to a slow boil until you are finished rolling the meatballs

After the meatballs cook for about another 20-30 minutes add
2/3 - 3/4 cup of Acini de Pepi pasta
1/2 package chopped spinach (defrost and squeeze out excess moisture)

Simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally, and taste. Add more seasonings or lemon to your taste as needed.

Not completely....don't misunderstand me it still tastes great just doesn't look as good after being refrigerated and reheated. I think the vinegar you add using the recipe that Black Rose & I referred to, and the vinegar in the Frank's and Tabasco react with the butter fat as opposed to the fat in the margarine. Or maybe it is the acidity of the peppers.

when you use butter it is fine with immediate use but if you refrigerator leftover sauce it looks broken or splotchy. The margarine stays more emulsified with the other ingredients. I always have butter in the house but I only keep margarine for the wing sauce.

I have used the recipe you attributed to the Anchor Bar from the Ladies Home Journal for years. Although the bottle sauce the Anchor Bar markets now does not have the same flavor as the above recipe. When I was at the Anchor Bar a few years ago the sauce was better in the restaurant. Whether authentic or not it is the best sauce I have had.

I agree with ina4ever about Thai Thai II in Bethlehem but you can also consider the Cafe in Bethelehem or SoGo in Easton. I have heard only good things about Asia but I have not been there. Planning to try it but my family is stuck on Hunan Springs for their Chinese fix.

-----
Hunan Springs
4939 Hamilton Blvd, Allentown, PA 18106

Thai Thai II
509 Main St, Bethlehem, PA 18018

matafan
or
matafan aux pommes

I found this in my search or several recipes in French
http://kitchen-notebook.blogspot.com/...

I like Sette Luna on Ferry St. Not far from Crayola. There are other great places but I am not sure they will meet your defiinition of moderatley priced

-----
Sette Luna
219 Ferry St, Easton, PA 18042

For Italian, in addition to Louie's, Bellisimo or for a BYOB Mama Nina

There are several steakhouses I would recommend but they aren't won't most consider medium priced - Shula's, Emeril's Chop House or Blue

-----
Emeril's Chop House
77 Sands Blvd., Bethlehem, PA 18015

Mama Nina
546 Main St, Bethlehem, PA 18018

http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival....

This is the link to all of the winners. Congratulations to all of the winners but a special kudos to the Pennsylvania winners -Troegs, Triumph, Stoudts, Weyerbacher, McKenzie and Bullfrog.

I often replace the salt and pepper with powdered ranch dressing or lemon pepper. If I use lemon pepper I sometimes finish the vegetables with fresh lemon juice while still in the hot pan. Not enough to make them soggy but just to flavor.

I agree with cwdonald about Bolete being at the top. In addition to your other choices, Savory Grille, Glasbern Inn, both also farm to table. River Grille in Easton, Grille 3501, Ocean, Sette Luna for wood fired pizza. I could easily go on if you need ethnic recommendations (thai, greek, brewpub, gastropub, asian, portuguese)

-----
Grille 3501
3501 Broadway, Allentown, PA 18104

Sette Luna
219 Ferry St, Easton, PA 18042

Bolete
1740 Seidersville Rd, Bethlehem, PA 18015

Savory Grille
2934 Seisholtzville Rd, MacUngie, PA 18062

There is a pretty decent restaurant/bar called Hops Fogelsville Hotel that is within a 1/2 mile of the Rt 100 North exit off of Rt 78 at the western edge of the Lehigh Valley. Homemade pierogies and the burgers, particularly the FogelBurger, are pretty good. The wings are crisp. It is quick and cheap. While some of the food is atypical I am not sure it is unusual.

-----
Fogelsville Hotel
7921 Main St, Fogelsville, PA 18051