DJ "THANKS HOLLY FOR MY AWESOME YELP LUNCHBOX!  YAY!" M.'s Profile

I adore pierogies, but have you ever had a homemade pierogi pizza and I am not talking about that mashed potato and cheese mess that you get from the famous chain.

The crust is the perfect thickness and it is so buttery good that I actually ate the outer crust, which I never do, usually this is bird food. The crust was thickly layered with real mashed potatoes, a thick layer of cheddar cheese and sauteed onions smothered the entire top.

I had ordered three pizzas for a group that had accumulated, a pepperoni pizza loaded with extra pepperoni and cheese and the perfect herb infused thick sauce and a buttery thin crust.

The third pizza was loaded with ground beef, sausage, onions, green pepper, bacon, olives and anchovies. It disappeared within minutes of arrival and everyone remarked on the perfect buttery crust and the quality of the cheese, sauce and toppings.

My favorite style of pizza is New York style, thin crust with a perfectly seasoned thick tomato sauce which clings to the dough, a thick layer of real cheese and then plenty of toppings.

The pierogi pizza was a huge treat for me and I wish the Pizza Man would spread it's wings to open shops near me. Then again I would be eating it all the time and look like a pierogi!

In all honesty and I have had pizzas all over this land, these were the very best pizzas I have ever had. by george at the Reading Terminal Market is a greasy thinner crusted different scene, but it rates next on my list.http://www.yelp.com/bi... Casanova's comes in third but it is still a remarkable pie. http://www.yelp.com/bi...

Hey, if you are not into pizza, I for one do not want to know about it, but they do have Italian specialties of pasta, meatball subs, soups, salads, appetizers, wings, Stromboli's, calzones, chicken dishes and sandwiches, the cheesesteak, fried haddock sandwiches and tacos plus so much more.

This will be one of my favorite go to places when in town and I look forward to checking out the homemade eggplant parmesan or the chicken parmesan and many more items, but that pierogi pizza will be a must!

I hold my breath when out of town folks come to visit and I ask, "Where do you want to go, what do you want to see?"  Its always the same things, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, have a cheesesteak or four, but when they say "Oh, I would really love to go to the King of Prussia Mall" I shudder at the thought.

What has happened to wanting to go to the shore, visiting the Reading Terminal Market, the Museums?  You want to go to the mall?  Yep, the mall and why, because it is the largest mall on the east coast and if you take into account retail space, it is the largest in America.  They know how much I hate shopping, malls especially!

This mall is two floors high with magnificent vaulted glass ceilings. Knowing that it was built in 1963 is even more impressive because it is in pristine condition, immaculately kept and it has grown to house over four hundred stores and restaurants.  

This mall holds some of the most prestigious shops and department stores such as Cartier,  Louis Vuitton,  Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Macy's, but you will also find a JCPenny,  then more luxury stores like  David Yurman, Boss Orange, Montblanc, Ralph Lauren, Thomas Pink, Salvatore Ferragamo, Henri Bendel, Michael Kors and Gucci.

Due to the size of the mall several retailers rent more than one space; Bath & Body Works, The Body Shop, Victoria's Secret, Star Buck's, Gamestop, H&M and a lot of your food and cell phone stands.

In addition to over twenty trendy restaurants the mall offers three large food courts and this is where you will probably find me.  I love as you're walking around trying to decide what you want to eat, many purveyors are offering you free food, so I just keep walking around in circles.

The greatest thing about this mall is the many service centers, not only do they offer free wheelchairs and strollers, but they have complimentary baggage and coat check so you do not have to lug packages and winter or rain gear around all day, because yes, it does take all day to tour and shop this entire mall.

Anytime I go anywhere with a group I make a game plan, if we separate we will meet at a certain spot and a deadline time.  When I go with a group to this mall I immediately lose myself on purpose, this way they can shop and walk every square inch while I do my thing.

Kind of cool that this mall employs over six thousand folks. Kind of cool that one quarter of the shoppers are tourists while the rest of them are in and out or have the same game plan as me.  King of Prussia Mall is kind of cool!

Who stops to think of the end price results when walking into a candy store?  Not me that's for sure and it was a dumb compulsive move on my part when my granddaughter saw a colorful candy store and squealed with delight.  Her heart must have been beating fast as her little hand pulled me and her eyes were as big as saucers.

Walls and rows and bins of candy, chocolates, chewy, hard, sours, nuts, mints, pucker powders, sugar free, taffy, jawbreakers, jelly beans and gummy bears!  Holy heck and all for one unit price!  My dear sweet, precious granddaughter and I were giggling with delight as we loaded up our bags with a little of this and a little of that and wallah we racked up a grand total of 4.65 pounds of candy all at $11.16 per pound for a grand total of $51.90!

If you're not thinking, like I was not thinking, you see that quarter pound price which is posted everywhere.  They got me!

I could have bought the same things at Acme for ten dollars, give or take. Oh well, I guess I'm not the only fool around as the Sweet Factory claims to be the " Candy Authority" and growing at a rate of five percent a year and they are only located in high traffic areas.  Each American will consume an estimated twenty five pounds of candy every year, contributing to a twenty four billion dollar industry.

Some more trivia that I learned while handing them my wallet, marshmallow Peeps are produced by Just Born, a candy manufacturer based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

So sweet Sweet Factory, now that I know where you are located and what door not to enter the mall and then what corner not to turn, oh heck, who am I kidding I'll be back, I'm a sucker for maple nut goodies.

Our table was perfectly situated one level up and off from the semi open lounge and piano bar. Our young and very personable, good looking waiter Jonathan, who comes from Delaware and ended up in Johnstown when his father's job transferred him, was everything a server should be. He was very knowledgeable of the wines and bar menu, he was able to advise us as to what were some of the better choices from the dinner menu. He was attentive, charming, right on cue and his bright white smile, jet black hair and blue eyes could launch any ones heart into returning just to enjoy his service again.

They have an extensive martini and cocktail menu, my sister in law had a Cosmopolitan and I had a Dirty Martini, both of these were served in a very large chilled cocktail glass. They were seven dollars and change each and were 99% alcohol, powerful stuff and it made me realize once again how weak and over priced the drinks are in the area in which I live.

My brother in law had a glass of Shiraz while my sister in law had a Seven Daughter's Syrah blend from California and I had an Italian chardonnay; Pio Cesare L'Altro Piedmont 2007. We were all very pleased with Jonathan's recommendations and he was even kind enough to write them down for us.

Harrigan's' has a new tapas menu and it is the only one in town. We were all very excited about this, even though Jonathan was trying to tell us that for sharing we should consider ordering appetizers from the restaurant menu instead, we chose to go with the tapas menu anyway. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

Our choices to share were the garlic shrimp which were five large "sauteed shrimp in a garlic olive oil, chipolte peppers and deglazed with brandy". Not even close, they were very bland with none of the flavors coming through and it was almost like they had quickly poached cocktail shrimp. The marinated sirloin beef and manchego cheese were both dry and uneventful. Last we had the crispy breaded white anchovies that were over fried and to the point where no anchovy taste came through at all, a very small portion.

The tapas were only served with a basket of rolls but we all agreed they were some of the best rolls we ever had and I enjoyed spreading the roasted garlic on mine. I would love to have the recipe for those rolls.

I was still stuffed from lunch and the tapas with two rolls pretty well filled me. The stiff over sized cocktail followed by the glass of wine wasn't helping, plus Jonathan had brought me another full glass of wine that he thought I might like, three of us each had one sip and left the rest sit. I don't think any of us can drink the way we used to.

I had a bowl of the lobster bisque with tarragon essence for my entree, which was a large portion and quite good along with another roll I was happy. Hubby had the filet mignon and said it was one of the best steaks he has ever had and he normally does not order filet. My brother in law had the Chef's Veal ravioli of the day and raved about them. My sister in law had the shrimp and crab newburg with mushrooms and gruyere cheese, I got to sample the newburg and it was prepared differently than I have ever seen, it was loaded with shrimp and crab, not heavy at all on the sauce and cheese and it was outstanding.

They had dessert and I snitched bites, I was still finishing my drinks and bisque. They ordered the pear cheesecake with homemade apple cinnamon ice cream, you know the pear cheesecake was good, but very subtle in pear flavor, the apple cinnamon ice cream was outrageous.  I have a feeling my taste buds were drunk, the carrot cake was exactly the way I like it and the peanut butter and cream cheese pie was my favorite.

I give Jonathan five big stars, I give the restaurant and it's menu four to five stars as well as the awesome wine list and the amazingly large potent cocktails. The food is fabulous, but skip the tapas here folks, it is not their forte.

I just made cream puff shells and the coconut vanilla custard to fill them, the dark chocolate butter cream frosting takes five minutes to make. Won't hubby be thrilled when he comes home, but while making these I kept thinking about The Meadows frozen custard, not really but I wanted to envision you all drooling over your keyboards.

The Meadows is a very small franchise that claims to be the first to serve frozen custard, since 1950. For over fifty nine years they are using the same family recipe at all nineteen locations. The original Meadows is still family run in Duncansville, PA. it Is considered a tourist trap and still has lines of people waiting for the ice cold frozen custard.

This location that I am reviewing has a small inside area for eating your treat and a drive through window, they also feature an 18 hole champion miniature golf course. They are open year around and have been voted best of Johnstown two years in a row.

Each day they offer two flavors of their creamy frozen custard in addition to chocolate or vanilla. The vanilla yogurt is nonfat and no sugar added and all the flavored yogurts are nonfat. They have a nice variety of Italian Ices, sundaes including peanut butter and hot fudge, strawberry shortcake, banana splits, floats, milkshakes, swirls, fluffs and pints to go.

On a recent trip to our home town, we pass The Meadows several times per day. My Mom has been in the hospital more than she has been out this year and in the most recent month she is just not eating the pureed food they are serving her. I think of a zillion different things that I can take to her in luring her to eat.

The Meadows has been my number one go to place and Mom loves the thick milkshakes and swirls but her absolute favorite is the root beer float. Hubby and I have to have our treats as well and my favorite is the custard with peanut butter and hot fudge.

Okay now you can wipe off your keyboards and don't forget your chin!

I love the paver stone look, so when we needed to have our front sidewalk and porch replaced we turned to Gasper's because of all the great recommendations for their quality workmanship and award winning creative designs. They offer unique ideas but I have a set mind of my own and I knew exactly what I wanted, so they worked with me in designing my own pattern which has attitude and flair and I love it.

My house is white stucco with red bricks laying flat as trim for the bottom of the windows, the front of the house also has a built on house flower bed of white stucco topped with red brick so I wanted to keep with the red brick theme.  The old cement porch and sidewalk was completely torn out and hauled away and the new porch and sidewalk took over one week to put in because they cross all of their T's and dot all of their i's.  

They dug several feet deep for both the porch and the sidewalk and filled it with stone, gravel and cement.  The porch has sides of white stucco which matches the design of the stucco on the house perfectly.  Each step and the landing had real bricks laid to my specifications for the outcome that I was looking for.

My sidewalk is the coolest sidewalk in town!  They used a multi red, black and white paver stone that was flat and shaped like a brick that you are used to seeing to trim the entire outline of my design.  They filled in my design with fan shaped pavers that fill in the designed areas.  

I started with the sidewalk going full circle into the driveway and this large circle is filled with a swirled design, off from this is wide and curvy design of straight brick looking pavers which meets another very wide half circle of the fan shaped pavers right in front of the porch, off to the other side of the porch continues the walkway into my side yard and gardens.

They never use sub contractors, their own staff is trained on design and installation.  You've never seen a swimming pool like the ones Gasper's designs and they also will design the walkways, patios and landscaping to tie it all together.  Their work is simply breath taking and will add tremendous value and eye appeal to your property.

You name it they do it, be it masonry work, decks, driveways, a spa, sheds, sun rooms, additions, arbors, pergolas, gazebos, ponds and more.  Ah to win the lottery and have it all, but until then I love my designer sidewalk and my new front porch.  

My only gripe and why they are not getting five stars is because of the place they use for the wrought iron company which installed the railing on the porch.  The railing was not treated properly and started to rust almost immediately and as it bled through it stained the red brick and ran down the white stucco sides of the porch.  I owed a couple of hundred on the entire job until completion of the projects, they wanted their money and I wanted the railing replaced or completely cleaned, treated and repainted and the bricks and stucco cleaned.  They continued to call for the balance and I continued to ask to have the problems fixed.  I have not heard from Gasper's in well over a year.

I guess we both lose on this one, but I am still loving my designer walkway and I'm torn between three and four stars.  By the way, this is not a picture of my pool but of a pool they have designed and I want it so bad I can taste it.

Don't cut library funding! Act now http://www.surveymonke...

The old library was in a small room, in an old building and at the top of the stairs  The hours of operation were short. With one small old wooden door you were possibly able to walk through and browse the small selection of books, because the room was tight and it held very few people. Remember the old dark library with the stern "SHHHH" lady checking in and out your books, so dark and dreary!

Our new library is massive with over fifty thousand books available, if it is not in the library you can order it on line and they will call you when it is in. http://Www.buckslib.org. They have magazines and newspapers, books on tape and CD, videos on VHS and DVD.

They have an awesome selection of music on CD such as jazz, classical, pop and so on. Special collections for young adults, large print, beginning readers, Russian literature and local history. PC's for public use as well as wireless accessibility.

The building that you see in the picture is only half of this library so go ahead and double what you're looking at. It is bright and cheerful and they are focused on the community. They have children's story hours and programs for toddlers 18 months and up. They have adult happy hour, no just kidding but they do have adult programming.

Some of the other programs that they have are a Tweens and Teens group where they can get together and make new friends. They also have Diaper Days for an adult and babies from 12-24 months which has stories, rhymes, crafts and snacks. Preschool lunch hour with an adult, bring a brown bag lunch and enjoy stories and crafts. Another program is the Tot Time with an adult offering stories, songs, crafts and snacks.

Children may come in pajamas for bedtime stories with an adult other than stories it offers snacks and crafts. They have a family fun night and a daddy and me program, grandpa or uncle may substitute but no mom's are allowed!

Twice a month they have a Book Discussion Club for adults http://lower-southampt... The Friends of The Library helps with funding outside of the libraries budget to promote literacy in our community. They also do motor coach field trips such as the one coming up to DC.

I love how I can go on line, order my books and they call and let me know when they are in although most of the time they are readily available. My house is full of books from years of buying them so I have made the decision to utilize this library a bit more and some of the money that I am saving can go to them to help benefit those less fortunate and to keep the library going strong.

There are very few ways to enter my home town of Johnstown, Pa. and entering Bedford County and driving up over the Pleasantville mountain is the most convenient and direct route for us. The Cow is located on this same route 56 and they have been there since I was a very young girl, so we are talking many moons ago.

They started as a roadside soft serve ice cream stand and they have added on and grown to become so much more than soft serve ice cream.  You could always get some of the creamiest, dense and best tasting soft serve in the way of a cone, a sundae or a milkshake.  This ice cream is real, nothing plastic or artificial tasting about it.

Today, you name it, they have it in the way of ice cream treats, smoothies, yogurts, dipped or swirled and the varieties of flavors are so numerous compared to the chocolate or vanilla choices that we had as kids.  Their huge windows are plastered with pictures of all the treats they offer that you could spend an hour deciding which treat to have and then in what flavor.

Attached to this ice cream building is another building which has a lengthy menu of burgers, hot dogs, rib eye sandwiches, fish sandwiches or fish and chips, chicken, fried shrimp, fries, fried veggies, salads and so much more.  Their food is tasty and much better than you can get at a fast food chain.

Dining is to go or eat at one of the outside tables and if you do grab a burger and fries first, for heavens sake leave room for ice cream.  This last time that we did not drive by I had a vanilla orange swirl, the ice cream is beyond rich and creamy and the orange swirl made it taste better than any orange creamsicle I have had.  They have many flavor combinations for the swirl cones and I am so glad that I asked for a small because she built me a filled cone with a six inch top.

Holy Cow, well honey I may as well just have smeared that right on my hips, but it felt so good going down.

The large blue, red and yellow building draws you into the wide open lounge and bar. Decorated with mostly wood and turquoise you will find bright colors of shocking pink, greens, blues and yellow all adding their cheerful displays from the napkins to the hanging lights.

The Boulevard screams nostalgia and history, knowing the booths in the lounge were once in an old Philadelphia Hotel and the doors that you enter through are from an old Woolworth's and the other set from an old Synagogue http://blvdgrill.com//...  

The walls are adorned with framed old stock and bond certificates and a wreath made from wine corks. The bar offers draught and bottled beers from Ireland, Belgium, England, Germany, Domestic and more, most selections are available every day although they do have a rotation menu and they take their beer very seriously.

How seriously you may ask, walk past the large lounge up a few steps and into the game room where you will find show cased displays of beer taps and old collectible beer cans. The game room has an old cigarette machine where you can purchase a pack for $6.25, although you can not smoke these pricey babies while shooting pool.

Walking upstairs takes you to a semi enclosed atrium with garden plants and I was a bit envious that we had not chosen to dine here as it was a beautiful day and very inviting. Off from the atrium is another large dining area which hosts a coffee bar offering lattes, espresso, cappuccinos or a nice variety of a dozen or so laced coffee drinks, such as the coffee nudge which has coffee liqueur, vodka and dark Creme De Cacao.

They have a nice selection of wines by the bottle although the selections by the glass could be greatly improved. They feature a Chef's tasting menu which is paired with wines from around the world. While enjoying a comedy act, "Shakespeare" or live music such as jazz in either the Grill or the Warehouse you can order anything from the full menu.

Frank greeted us when we walked into the Boulevard and invited us to sit wherever we would like. A good looking pleasant young man who was the bartender and serving the guests. We chose a high backed wooden booth which was amply padded and very comfortable, however knowing we were in town my sister in law and brother in law called us and asked if they could join us, so we moved to a larger table.

The menu is awesome and the food is so very good that if I lived in town I would make this one of my favorite places to go. Hubby is still talking about the huge bowl of seafood bisque that we ordered. Delicately laced with sherry and swimming in cream were tender baby sea scallops, shrimp and lump crab meat. It is good that we decided to share this amazing bisque as it was a meal in itself. Truly one of the best bowls of soup we have enjoyed in our life. They also offer an Italian Wedding soup.

They have a long list of inventive appetizers plus familiars like steamers, pick and peel shrimp and various wings. Knowing we had dinner plans later in the day we decided to not overload. Their fries are fresh hand cut and you can go with either the waffle cut or the standard cut which is what I did along with my cheeseburger.

Not sure if this owner is from the Philly area but all over the menu you see "proudly offers Amoroso bread and rolls". They also offer the Philly cheesesteak done several ways, but the menu also has "Pittsburgh style" sandwiches as well as Chicago, so maybe he is just nation and state friendly.

I had a Black Angus half pound cheeseburger which was char grilled and just how I love them, along with the hand cut fries, the burger was huge and the portion of fries were for sharing. My sister in law had the cup of seafood bisque and since we had already ordered and they came when our meals arrived, I offered her half of my burger and fries and she accepted.

Hubby had the 'Coney Island Nathan's" hot dog, which surprised me since we had been to Coney Island the weekend before and had pigged out on these. My brother in law seeing his ordered the same thing and they both got a side of the red skinned potato salad. The hot dogs on long buns were the size of two Coney Island hot dogs that you would find at the original site and dressed the same with the sauce and mustard but they use a red onion instead of the minced white.

I noticed neither ate more than one bite of the potato salad and for hubby not to finish potato salad is odd indeed, so I had a bite. The salad was good but there was absolutely no seasoning other than dill, it greatly needed salt and pepper and then it would be dynamite.

Now what we ordered did not pay homage to this restaurant, because they offer fabulous sounding homemade raviolis, pasta dishes, steaks, sandwiches, wraps, chicken and veal dishes as well as many vegetarian and seafood entrees and appetizers.

The service was friendly, the food was fabulous, the decor and concept is amazing and I would not hesitate to return.

I needed mums to replant my gardens and large pots, so I ran down to the corner, Bridge In Season Corner that is.

Better known as Bridge's to the locals, this is a seasonal outdoor nursery which is open Spring throughout the Fall.  I have numerous nurseries in my area and feel compelled to divide my business between them, since they are all family owned and they all offer a nice selection of quality grown plants, shrubs and trees, plus very friendly service.

Some offer more in the way of ornamental plants, larger hanging baskets and lawn decorations. Bridge's also supports the local farmers by selling their corn and some other produce for them.  

We have a squirrel feeder and we try to keep it full at all times so they leave the birds food alone.  At the end of the Fall season they allow hubby to come down and pick all the leftover corn from the unsold stalks.

I have been slowly cleaning out my flower beds and I love to plant mums here and there for the season. This is the second generation of running this business and they have grown to provide more and more services.  They now deliver truckloads of varied mulch or stone at a reasonable price.

I like to buy my mums here because they are field grown, they often will come back the next year because they have good strong roots, plus I am then supporting the farmer's and Bridge's.  I decorate everything all year long and if you stand still long enough, I will decorate you too, just ask hubby.