packet magazine december 2014

$3.95

PMfineliving.com December2014

Your guide to holiday events in our area

• Windows – Fiberglass, wood, and vinyl windows. High efficiency with historical aesthetics. Wide variety of styles, brands, colors and shapes. Installation by in- house craftsman.

• Doors – Fiberglass, wood, steel, and vinyl doors. Door and sidelights double doors, french doors, sliding doors, and atrium doors. Many brands colors and sizes. Doors installed by 30 year experienced installers.

• Siding – Wood, vinyl, aluminum and fiber cement siding. Custom trim from wood, composites, and vinyl. Shakes, clapboard, vertical styles. Many colors and brands. Specialized siding in-house installation crew.

• Decks, Porches, and Arbors - New Installation and Replacement Wood and Composite Decks. Fiberglass Arbors.

• Masonry - Patios, walkways, stone and brick facing retaining walls and more

Free Estimates - Call 609-882-6709www.lawrencevillehomeimp.com

The home of your dreamsdoesn’t have to cost a fortune.

Upgrades add value and beauty to your home. Call Lawrenceville Home Improvement to talk to a representative about your windows, doors, and siding needs. Let our professional installers help you take the first step towards improving your curb appeal.

Serving Mercer country since 1952

� | Packet Magazine | December �014

December 2014 contents

Holiday Occasions: Central New Jersey offers plenty of holidayentertainment for the whole family

All For One, and One For all: The story behind Umbrella

On the Victory Trail: The story of the Battle of Princeton

On the Cover: Santa is coming to town! And why wouldn’t he with all the great holiday events that are taking place in Princeton and throughout the Central Jersey area. See our story on Page 21 to find out about some of the best events taking place in our area. Cover photo by Mark Czajkowski.

21 28

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21

24

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Casual Dining, Formal Dining, Pub Style DiningCele

brate

Fireplace | Relaxed Atmosphere | Delectable Cuisine | Exceptional Service

Limited Social Memberships Available Join Before December 31st & Receive a Passport to Privileges (Valued at $350)

Contact Karen St. [email protected] | 609-466-4244 x120

4 | Packet Magazine | December �014

contents

What’s New: The latest and the greatest

What’s in Store: Shopping in Lawrenceville

Favorite Things: Holiday gift ideas

On the Block: Living large in Princeton

Good Taste: Visions of sugar plums

On the Vine: A trip to Cava’s capital

Social Scene: Out on the town

10

47

4438

07101538414447

pmfineliving.com | �

609-396-8878

Lunch & Dinner Packages AvailableReserve your Holiday Party

511 Lalor Street • Hamilton Township

Major credit cards accepted. Open 7 Days a Week

(Off of Route 129 and Route 1) 10 minutes from Princeton

$10.00 OFFany check

$100 and Over(per table)

$5.00 OFFany check$30-$100

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The Finest Cuisine of Spain and PortugalSPANISH RESTAURANT

What’s New: The latest and the greatest

What’s in Store: Shopping in Lawrenceville

Favorite Things: Holiday gift ideas

On the Block: Living large in Princeton

Good Taste: Visions of sugar plums

On the Vine: A trip to Cava’s capital

Social Scene: Out on the town

� | Packet Magazine | December �014

JAMES B. KILGOREPresident and Publisher

CALhOun J. KILLEEn JR.Editor

CORRInE MuLFORDMagazine Manager

AnThOnY STOECKERTManaging Editor

Contributing WritersFAITh BAhADuRIAn

KEITh LORIA

SALLY STAnG

BERnADETTE SuSKI-hARDInG

STEPhAnIE VACCARO

PATRICK WALSh

nICOLE M. WELLS

PhIL MCAuLIFFEStaff Photographer

JOE KAnASKA MInERVA TRInIDAD

Art & Design

LET uS KnOW! Packet Magazine welcomes your

feedback, suggestions and story ideas about notable

people and places, trendy hot spots and upcoming

events happening in the Princeton area.

Contact us:

E-mail: [email protected]

Mail: �00 Witherspoon St., Princeton, nJ 08�40

Telephone: 609-874-21�9

© 2014 the Princeton Packet Inc.

All rights reserved.

Published by Packet Media Group

�00 Witherspoon St.

Princeton, nJ 08�40

To advertise: 609-874-219�

pmfineliving.com

pmfineliving.com | 7

What’s NewRead all about the area’s latest happenings

By Keith Loria

New Openings and a Milestone to CelebrateA Big Year For Peddler’s Village

t was something of a retail renaissance in 2014 for Peddler’s Village, as nine new shops opened throughout the year — the most in the last decade.

“Of those 10, one was a long-term national (Saxbys Coffee), six were regional entrepreneurs and three were short-term ‘pop ups.’ We are extremely excited to provide an incubation site for the ‘pop ups’ and we anticipate signing one or more of them to long-term leases,” Terry S. Ward, Peddler’s Village COO, says. “We believe the most attractive qualities for aspiring and ambitious merchants at Peddler’s Village are our geographic location, brand recognition, reputation and diversity of enhanced goods and services.”

Most recently, Saxbys Coffee, a rapidly expanding coffee café headquartered in Philadelphia, opened. Other new offerings include Left Bank Home, jaZams, Best Gift Ever, Village Outfitters, Sunflowers, Savory Spice Shop, Greenology Organic Living and Capital Teas.

With 1.6 million guests a year, a remodeled hotel (Golden Plough Inn), family entertainment (Giggleberry Fair), three restaurants, and eight campus wide festivals a year, Mr. Ward says Peddler’s Village offers tremendous appeal to local, regional and national retailers.

“The charm and nostalgia quotient of the village combined with the mix of local, regional and national merchants provides a unique and bustling ecosystem for startups,” Mr. Ward says. “We recognize that Peddler’s Village is many things to many guests, but one inescapable fact remains, one of the major reasons locals and travelers seek out our campus is to shop.”

To that end, Peddler’s Village set out in 2014 to enhance its current unique blend of merchants by energetically prospecting, curating and nurturing a more compelling, vibrant, attractive and diverse mix of shops and stores.

New stores at Peddler’s Village include Best Gift Idea Ever.

I

8 | Packet Magazine | December 2014

“Certainly, the recent upswing in the economy coupled with our competitive rent structures and unique leasing arrangements has helped as retail merchants seek opportunities for expansion and start up,” Mr. Ward says.

And Mr.Ward says more shops will be opening in Peddler’s Village next year.

“We expect to showcase many new merchants in 2015, including Lucky Cupcake Co. and Village Bakery in early 2015,” he says. “Most importantly, our unique blend of 65 merchants represent a much more attractive, diverse and current appeal to the Peddler’s Village guest than ever before.”

Pennington Welcomes New Home Interior Designer For those who wondered what happened to Saums Interiors in

Hopewell, the business was bought out by Lisa Sprague in September and the new owner has rebranded the 50-year-old business with a new name, new attitude and new location.

Sophia Rose Designs, 1 Tree Farm Road, Pennington, offers home interior design and kitchen and bath remodeling.

“When people walk in here the creative juices start flowing, it lends itself to that,” Ms. Sprague says. “We have high-end furniture, wallpaper and fabric and accessories. We also do kitchen and bath remodeling.

Top Center: Sophia Rose Designs in Pennington offers interior design, along with kitchen and bath remodeling. Bottom left: New stores at Peddler’s Village include Left Bank Home. Bottom right: An example of design work by Skillman-based JanMare Designs.


No matter what someone’s looking for, I try to customize for anyone’s budget.”

For Ms. Sprague, the most important aspect of the business is to be dedicated to developing good relationships with clients, and pairing her team members to customers’ personalities.

“I have built a strong team for my kitchen and bath remodel projects. One of my general contractors is a local homebuilder and I also have architects whom I work with in the event that a project requires that,” Ms. Sprague says. “I also have an interior designer named Barbara Shearn on my staff who has extensive experience in this field.”

Additionally, Sophia Rose Designs offers home staging options for realtors and home sellers to assist in marketing properties for a quick and successful sale.

The store will be holding a catered grand opening event at the end of January with many of its vendors on hand.

Designer Expands to PrincetonAs owner and principal decorator of

JanMare Designs, located in Skillman, Janeen M. Conforti provides design services and architectural color consulting to beautify and personalize one’s home.

“I do interior design decorating — everything from furniture layout, furniture shopping, window treatments, lighting and accessories,” she says. “Also, architectural color consulting aids greatly in the decorating process. I help clients select a color palate for their entire design with lighting and architecture of space being designed.”

Although the business has been up and running for about three years, she has just recently provided interior decorating and color consulting to the greater Princeton area.

When a client is interested in her services, Ms. Conforti arranges a consultation in order get a feel for their style, vision and needs. She’ll take photos and do measurements and create a layout and style board of what the room or rooms will look like at the end with fabric and furniture and lighting.

“I also do kitchen and bath projects. I can help people choose their finishes,” she says. “This is a growing market and I’m finding a lot of clients have problems choosing granite or countertops or backsplashes to finish the kitchen. It can be very overwhelming. I help to select finishes with the client with their style in mind.”

Ms. Conforti promises that she can help anyone create a beautiful and harmonious kitchen or bath they will love while staying budget in the process.

“I would love them to know I am a reasonable, practical option to going to a large design firm and can help people cut down on the stress of

design,” she says. “Most people don’t know what they want so I can help them narrow down choices and help them with selections.”

For more information, call 908-783-1417.

Tomorrow’s Heirlooms Celebrates the Big 3-0

The owners of Tomorrow’s Heirlooms at 2 Chambers St. in Princeton are known in the area for being a husband-and-wife design team that create wearable pieces of art. In celebration of their 30th anniversary, the store is holding a special sale.

“This is our 30th year in business but it’s also the anniversary of the 20th year my wife has been a breast cancer survivor,” owner Tom Miller says. “We wanted to give back a little and say thanks to everyone. We are offering a 20-percent discount of any purchase of $25 or more from now until the end of the year.”

Mr. Miller and his wife make everything themselves and their beads and jewelry have won Best in Show awards at various shows throughout the world.

“We work with over 200 different gem stones and we have about 2,000 pieces of jewelry in the store,” he says. “Everything from earrings to complicated necklaces and no two things are alike.”

The secret to lasting 30 years, Mr. Miller says, is being able to service customers with what they want and need. Whether you are

shopping for unique jewelry, gifts, or home décor, Tomorrow’s Heirlooms has what you are looking for.

“We offer a unique product that is ageless. Our customers are often delighted to find jewelry made from stones for which they have been searching for years,” he says. “We make classical jewelry that’s ageless and never goes out of style.”

For more information, visit tomorrowsheirloomsnj.com.

Wearable art at Tomorrow’s Heirlooms is on sale as the store celebrates its 30th anniversary.


What’s In StoreWhere to buy and what to buy

By Donna AdinolfePhotos by Phil McAuliffe

Variety in StyleFrom small-town charm, to rural farms

to a bustling business district, Lawrenceville has it all

awrence Township is a tale of three cities, maybe even more.

From the bustling business areas around Route 1 and Princ-eton Pike to the rural farmland on and off Route 206, and its many residential areas, Lawrence has several personalities as do the people who live, work and visit in the township.

Rider University and Lawrenceville School add to the academ-ic atmosphere of the town, while the historic buildings and Main Street-style business area create a hometown feel. Lawrence is even home to Drumthwacket, the governor’s official residence.

And to suit everyone’s tastes and needs, shopping centers and restaurants — from chains to boutiques — offer choices from luxury to economy.

LCheese please: Cherry Grove Farm is well-known for its fromage.

With holiday shopping in high gear, checking out all Lawrence has to offer will not disappoint.

For those who prefer one-stop shopping Lawrence boasts many shopping centers; the largest of all is Quaker Bridge Mall, with its recent renovations and the addition of many nationally known shops and eateries both in and around the mall.

But those who desire unique items and a more intimate shop-ping experience, may have more success in one of the one-of-a-kind shops offering everything from gluten-free cookies to top-of-the-line appliances.

Shopping at independently owned stores not only is good for the shopper, but also for the local economy, says, Debbie Schaef-fer, CEO and president of Mrs. G TV and Appliance, 2720 Busi-


100% Gluten Free Bakery/Cafe

Pies • Bûche de Noël • Gift Baskets

2691 Main StLawrenceville, NJ 08648

609-620-1100

llow us to cater your holiday treats

www.Wildflourbakery-cafe.com

d E L I C I O

USGL

UttEn FrEE

Paul and Janice Tweedly serve up hot dogs and more at Captain Paul’s.

ness Route 1, Lawrence.

“If we can all shift 10 percent of our spending to independent businesses, it would bring an additional $235 million per year to the community’s economy,” Ms. Schaeffer says. “That means better schools, better roads, more support for police, fire and rescue department and a stronger local economy.”

Holiday cooking and entertaining is right around the corner, and Mrs. G has all you need to keep your guests well fed and en-tertained. Mrs. G’s new store, which offers top-notch merchan-dise from kitchen and laundry appliances to bathroom fixtures, is scheduled to open next to Worldwide Wholesale Flooring in Spring 2015.

With the store’s move, Ms. Schaeffer says, “Customers will now have a local hub for home improvement projects. The move, combined with the changes planned for the old Mrs. G site, will revitalize the Business Route 1 corridor and encourage local shopping and support among Lawrence businesses.”

For the holidays, Mrs. G’s offers fresh and locally sourced food baskets prepared by executive chef Mary Beth Madill, known as The Appliance Chef. These corporate gifts will include French macaroons, salted mixed nut brittle, and chocolate truffles, and will be a great gift option for a colleague, a boss, a client, or staff. Additionally, groups can purchase a private cooking party with Ms. Madill in their own home.

For more: www.mrsgs.com

More locally sourced produce, baked goods and even wines can be purchased at Terhune Orchards on Cold Soil Road.

Terhune’s bakers and wine makers are busy during the holiday season serving up everything from cookie trays to homestyle pies to wine baskets. They also offer all you need to make your home festive both inside and out.

Terhune is officially kicking off the holiday season the week-end of Dec. 6-7. Make memories with the family while sampling Terhune’s baked goods, wines, apple butter and cheeses, which are all part of the custom-made gift baskets that are available.

The event also will feature wagon rides, visits with the barn-yard animals, and even Santa Claus will be on hand to make the spirit bright.

For more: www.terhuneorchards.com

After visiting Terhune, add to your farm experience by head-ing north on Route 206 to Cherry Grove Farm (GPS address 3200 Lawrenceville Road) where cheese is produced onsite from milk from the farm’s cows. Shoppers can see cheese being made and can see the cows whose milk goes into the cheese. Cheese varieties vary from season to season. Try the Rosedale cheese which is infused with apple cider from Terhune. Other variet-ies include Lawrenceville Jack and fromage blanc, which is a creamy spreadable cow’s milk variety similar to chevre, made from goat’s milk.

Cheese as well as pasture-raised meats and eggs are sold in the farm market, which has extended hours during the holiday sea-son. Cherry Grove also carries artisanal soups, chocolates and

1� | Packet Magazine | December �014

Mrs. G’s owner Debbie Schaeffer and Mery Beth Madill, appliance chef, look at an artist’s rendering of the store’s new location, set to open in 2015.

lamb sausage from other regionally sourced businesses. It can even ship cheese and gift baskets from their online store.

For more: www.cherrygrovefarm.com

Holiday time means party time, and who wouldn’t want to cel-ebrate the season or ring in the new year with a fantastic cocktail dress and accessories?

The Perfect Dress, 2490 Brunswick Pike, Lawrenceville, offers spectacular dresses in all styles and sizes for even the most for-mal occasion.

This year’s holiday fashions include lots of lace paired with glitzy jewelry, according to Steven Citron, owner of The Perfect Dress, who adds that red and metalics are all the rage this holi-day.

“We carry Montage, Cameron Blake and Yvonne D for our more sophisticated girls, and for our girls who like the modern twist we carry Tony Bowls, Alyce, Jovani and La Femme just to name a few,” Mr. Citron says.

Besides the large selection of gowns, shoes, and jewelry, cus-tomer service is the name of the game at The Perfect Dress, he says.

“I can tell you that what makes our store stand apart from others is definitely my staff,” Mr. Citron says. “We have amaz-ing customer service. We pull out all the stops when it comes to helping our customers and making them happy.

“Our store has an ever-changing selection of gowns that range in size from 0 to 26. We have a very knowledgeable staff that can help you find that perfect outfit from top to bottom for any occasion.”

The store will be holding an Allure Bridal trunk show, Dec. 26-Jan. 4.

For more: theperfectdressonline.com

If all the holiday shopping has you hungry, take a break in one of the eateries in Lawrenceville Main Street shopping village.

For a quick bite with an Italian flair, try TJs Pizzeria and Pasta, 2661 Main St. In addition to pizza, cheesesteaks and sandwich-es, TJs offers strombolis, which consist of savory fillings tucked inside a blanket of pizza dough and baked to perfection. Hoagies are built with fresh ingredients atop crusty, fluffy rolls.

For a more sophisticated Italian dining experience, try Vidalia Restaurant, 21 Phillips Ave.

Raised in northern Italy, owner Salvatore Scarlata brings his experience and training to the tables of Vidalia with his goal of satisfying every guest with perfect atmosphere, food and ser-vice.

The lunch menu features paninis and salads. Lunch entrees include Pollo Saltimboca — sautéed chicken breast topped with prosciutto di parma, mozzarella, and a white wine, lemon, garlic and sage sauce, as well as Salmone Al Forno, baked organic At-lantic salmon served with a lemon caper pino grigio sauce and

pmfineliving.com | 1�

609-896-4444

Find Vidalia on FB,Twitter and Open Table.

21 Phillips Avenue Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

[email protected]

Planning a holiday party?Allow us to cater it...

(On or off site)

Gift certificates available!

Kira Tullio gets fitted for her big day at The Perfect Dress.

sautéed garlic string beans.

Dinner features Vidalia Pasta — fresh fettuccini sautéed with eggplant, fennel sausage, sweet vidalia onions tossed in plum to-mato sauce with garlic and extra virgin olive oil, topped with parmigiano cheese; Pollo Rollentin – hand-rolled, pan-seared chicken breasts stuffed with spinach, Gorgonzola, prosciutto, topped in a cognac mushroom demi-cream sauce, mashed po-tatoes and string beans; as well as Agnello – lamb “lollipops” prepared in a borolo wine demi-glaze, paired with French string beans and white truffle garlic mashed potatoes.

A catering menu also is available.

Gift cards can be purchased online.

For more: www.eatatvidalia.com

If you or your holiday guests eat a gluten-free diet, visit Wild-flour Bakery-Café, 2691 Main St. Wildflour serves breakfast and lunch, and features smoothies, crepes with both sweet and savory fillings, salads, and sandwiches. It also offers a catering menu.

Bakery items including breads, muffins, cookies and tartlettes are available daily. Special occasion cakes and family-size pies can be ordered in advance.

For more: www.wildflourbakery-cafe.com

If you’re entertaining at your home for the holidays, it’s not too late to spruce up the place. Lawrenceville Home Improvement Center, 126 Eldridge Ave., can make your home look spectacular

to wow your guests and make them feel at home.

“A one-day project like a new front door, patio door or bay window makes a nice project before the holidays,” says Bryan Russo, who co-owns the business with Paul, John, and James Russo. “Holiday guests will enjoy added comfort of new efficient windows and doors. A new front door is a nice way to welcome guests and dress up your holiday decor. There is still enough time to order and install before the holidays. Many products can be installed in as little as two to three weeks.”

Big plans for a new showroom are in store for 2015, Mr. Russo says, but for now, customers are urged to call for an in-home ap-pointment for their home improvement projects.

“Window replacement is our most popular project,” he says. “We carry the three major brands (Marvin, Andersen, Pella) and more. We can make near any shape, size, and color. Our in-house window installation carpenters are highly skilled having installed thousands of windows.”

Lawrenceville Home Improvement has been family owned and operated for over 62 years.

“We take a lot of pride in what we do,” Mr. Russo adds. “We focus on solutions that solve the customer’s needs. All four of the owners of Lawrenceville Home improvement were born and raised in Lawrenceville. We enjoy serving the families of our community and feel we contribute to the honest and hometown feel of Lawrenceville. Each house we improve becomes a monu-ment of our hard work and is the source of our company pride.


Vidalia is one of the many restaurant destinations in Lawrenceville.

Lawrenceville is our home and will be for many years to come.”For more: www.lawrencevillehomeimp.com or 609-882-6709.Lawrenceville Main Street will hold its annual Holiday in the Village celebration, 2-4

p.m., Dec. 7 at Weedon Park, Main Street. The event will feature a tree-lighting, Christ-mas carols, visits with Santa, hot chocolate and treats.

For more: www.lawrencevillemainstreet.comFinally if you just want to pick up a great meal to take home and eat while watching A

Charlie Brown Christmas or eat in, swing by Capt. Paul’s Firehouse Dogs.“We would recommend shoppers take a break at Captain Paul’s because it is a very

pleasant, stress-free, family-oriented and interesting spot to have a delicious sandwich or hot dog, maybe even a hot bowl of Boar’s Head soup,” said Janice Tweedly, who owns Capt. Paul’s with her husband, Paul Tweedly. “Shoppers will leave feeling refreshed, ready to take on more shopping.”

All of the hot dogs and sandwiches at Capt. Paul’s are named with fire, police, EMS and military lingo. The Paramedic sandwich is two chicken tenders, two mozzarella sticks dipped in buffalo sauce, with blue cheese and meatballs and the Army Ranger is a fried hot dog, chili, cheese, nachos, and jalapeno peppers.

For a seasonal dessert Ms. Tweedly suggests the Homemade Apple Pie ice cream, which is served in a cup with warm caramel drizzled on top.

“People should shop in Lawrence because it is a wonderful community, friendly peo-ple, great family-owned places to shop, along with renovated malls and delicious places to eat, like Capt. Paul’s,” Ms. Tweedy says.

U.S. Marine Corps and Santa will be on hand from noon to 2 p.m., Dec. 13 to pick up toys donated by community members and take pictures. Hot chocolate and cookies will be served.

For more: www.captainpaulsdogs.com

Holiday Gift BasketsLocal Artisan Foods & Crafts

Candlelight Shopping til 7pmThu, Fri and Sat thru 12/20

Holiday Gift BasketsLocal Artisan Foods & Crafts

Unusual Christmas Treesand Wreaths

Unusual Christmas Treesand Wreaths

Candlelight Shopping til 7pmThu, Fri and Sat thru 12/20

3200 Lawrence RoadLawrenceville, NJ609-219-0053

Open every day 10am to 5pmwww.cherrygrovefarm.comto shop online

3200 Lawrence RoadLawrenceville, NJ609-219-0053

Open every day 10am to 5pmwww.cherrygrovefarm.comto shop online


Favorite ThingsHey, where’d you get that?

By Sally Stang

Things to be Thankful For

I was thrilled to get my first two-wheel bike when I was 7. It was a little red number with streamers and training wheels , which my brother helped me remove immedi-ately (Training wheels? I don’t need no steenkin’ training wheels!). I taught myself how to fall off of it — and finally ride it — all in one day! Yes, I was a bike savant. All day, I would zip and zoom around until it got dark. I got my last “big girl” bike when I was about 30 and, although you never forget how to ride, my body has lost the will to zip and zoom. At Halter’s Cycles at Montgomery Shopping Center, I was excited to see an “electric assist” bike, the Felt SPORTe-95, for less active people (c’est moi!) This 40-pound bike is powered by a Bosch 350-watt, rapid-charging bat-tery. There are four levels of assist too, plus a gel saddle. Great for short commutes in town, too. Zip! Zoom!

When I saw this, I knew I had to possess it. This cup is the perfect gift for anyone who A) Loves Dr. Seuss; B) Loves a big cup of coffee; C) Is a big old grumpy sourpuss, especially before they have that cup of cof-fee. I am all of the above! I am a Seussian. It is not a religion as much as it is a philoso-phy. I like to look at the world with a child’s eye. And like the good doctor, I say things like “Teeth are always in style.” I get him, he gets me, I “heart” him. This cup is mug-nificent! It holds 18 ounces of hot liquid deliciousness while coaxing me to smile at the mean green mug of Mr. Grinch himself. Pictured on the back is the beleaguered dog Max with reindeer antlers, along with Cindy Lou (who?), and the words “Merry Grinchmas!” Microwave and dishwasher safe. It’s a perfect way to start the day. “To-day is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!”

Queen Elizabeth approves! Free-wheeling! What the Doctor

ordered!

Price: Thin bangle, $124; Wide $156. Ashton-Whyte 250 S. Main St., Pennington 609-737-7171; ashtonwhyte.com

Price: $4,000Halter’s Cycles at Montgomery Shopping Center1325 Route 206, Skillman732-329-9022; halterscycles.com

Price: $12.95Paper Source82 Nassau St., Princeton609-921-0932; papersource.com

The enamel bangles shown here are by a British company called Halcyon Days. The quality is such that they have been given a Royal Warrant, which means that they supply stuff to the queen and her whole darn persnickety family. (Al-though I doubt that Elizabeth wears a stack of these bracelets, it is amusing to imagine all the bangles jangling like crazy as she gives her signature wave to her public.) I think they are quite classy, in that upper-crust British sort of way. With the 18-carat gold-plated brass edging, they bespeak “luxury!” Ashton-Whyte in Pennington has both skinny and wide widths; some are bright geometrics, others bear animal or insect designs. Another nice thing about them? One size fits all. When you are shopping for certain women, that is a good thing to know. Smashing!


Special Advertising Section

LAST MINUTE GIFT GUIDE

You’re all set for the holidays: the tree is trimmed, the lights are up, the cookies are baked and you’re

enjoying an ideal night at home, enjoying a fire on the hearth and a decorated tree.

Uh, oh, you just realized you forgot someone on your gift list.

But no worries, Packet Magazine’s Last Minute Gift Guide is just what you need. These pages are

filled with great ideas for stores where you can go shopping to find that perfect gift, no matter

who you are shopping for.

So take a deep breath, check your list and get ready to find that special gift for that special someone.

And then get back to celebrating.


16 Main St., Pennington, NJ • 609.737.8499www.AmberSpa.com

AMBER SPA

This holiday, give the gift of beauty and bliss,with a Gift Certificate from Amber Spa. Perfect for a post holiday pick me up! Explore our boutique for the

best skin care lines.


32 W. Bridge Street • New Hope, PA • 215-862-2332

www.NewHopeRailroad.com

Join Santa & Mrs. Claus fora host of holiday adventure!

Experience the magic of a round trip journey through historic Bucks County by way of the North.

Sing along as musicians play familiarChristmas Carols. Sip warm cocoa and nibble on Christmas cookies.

Receive a special gift from Santa & Mrs. Claus.

Visit www.NewHopeRailroad.com to purchase

your tickets for the North Pole Express

Lavender products made with our farm-grown lavenderusing 100% Pure Essential Oils.

Visit our Shoppe & enjoy a soothing, stress-freeHoliday shopping experience.

Browse through our unique and original hand craftedproducts featuring Sachets, Aromatherapy Pillows,

Bath & Body, Floral Arrangements,Culinary, Pet Products and much more.

Experience the soothingeffect of Lavender

www.hiddenspringlavender.comLike us on facebook

Lavender Shoppe is open Weekends only 10-4 thru Christmasand Thanksgiving Friday 10-4

Somethingfor everyone

“Stop in and enter to win a Gift Basket full of our products - Valued at $150.00”

1325 Route 206 NorthMontgomery Shopping Center

Skillman, NJ

Rudolph’s radiance:Burmese rubies and emeralds

On Sale NOW 25%OFF

609-252-9797


4048368.1121.7.375x4.812.TomorrowsHeirlooms.Proof.indd

Tomorrow’s HeirloomsHandcrafted Gemstone Jewelry

2 Chambers Street, Princeton, NJ

609-921-9440 | Tomorrowsheirloomsnj.com

John and Peggy are a husband and wife design

team creating one of a kind pieces of wearable art

from over 200 different Gemstones, Necklaces,

Bracelets, Earrings, Pendants, Cuff Links, Rock

Specimen and more.2014 is Peggy’s 20th Anniversary as a Breast

Cancer Survivor and our 30th year in business.

We would like to celebrate by offering a

20% discount when you mention this ad.

40478322.LiliB’s.QP

1378 Route 206Skillman

609.454.3803

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gift

s, c

ards

,

a delightfully curated selection of gifts,

cards, candles, books, rubber stamps, ephem

era, vintage bits & bobs, everything you want

10 east broad street hopewell609.466.2425 (behind nomad pizza)

open every day til dec. 25

�0 | Packet Magazine | December �014

Ashton Whyte250 Main Street

Pennington, NJ 08534609-737-7171

www.ashtonwhyte.com

Flutter Boutique20 S. Main St.

Pennington, 08534609-737-2236

www.flutterboutique.com

Front Porch24 South Main StreetPennington, NJ 08534

609-737-0071

Garbo Jewelers1325 Route 206 N.

Montgomery Shopping CenterSkillman

609-252-9797www.garbojewelers.net

Hidden Spring Lavender Farm & Shoppe890 Route 601

Skillman609-558-7034

www.hiddenspringlavender.com

Lili B’s1378 Route 206

Skillman609-454-3803

Twirl Toy Shop10 N. Main St.

Pennington, 08534609-737-4386

Holiday Gift Guide Resource


f you’re looking for a special way to celebrate the holiday sea-son, you’ve come to the right place.From concerts to ballet, theater, tours and tree festivals, the

Princeton area offers plenty of fun and entertaining holiday-themed events. Getting out and seeing a show, and joining people for a celebration or event is a great to get away from it all, get the most out of the season and, best of all, create memories that will last forever.

Here’s the lowdown on some of the holiday events coming to our area over the next few weeks.Candlelight tours shed light on NJ’s 305th birthday

New Jersey’s 350th birthday will be the theme of this year’s candle-light tours of Rockingham, the Berrien family manor that served

Holiday OccasionsCentral New Jersey offers plenty of holiday

entertainment for the whole familyBy Donna Adinolfe

as George Washington’s final wartime headquarters in 1783.Tours at the manor, located at Laurel Avenue/Kingston-Rocky

Hill Road (Route 603) between Route 518 in Rocky Hill and Route 27 in Kingston, will be conducted by costumed guides every half hour from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14.

As visitors pass through rooms decorated in 18th-century tradi-tion they also will hear bits and pieces of New Jersey and Rocking-ham’s history, half-century by half-century.

The music of Francis Hopkinson played on an English flute by John Burkhalter of Practitioners of Musick, will accompany guests in the 1751-1800. Docents of the Montgomery High School Live Historians Club also will be on hand.

Holiday treats will be served in the Children’s Museum. The

Lustig Dance Theatre will showcase its Jazzy Nutcracker in Monroe, Dec. 12 and 13.

I

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Museum Store will be open to shop for items such as period toys, honey, books, quills and tricorn hats.

Advance tour reservations are required for admission with a suggested donation of $8 and must be made by calling 609-683-7136. Tours will be offered at least every half-hour, beginning at 11 a.m., with the last tour at 3:30 p.m.

The program is made possible by the Live Historians, Rockingham Association and the Stony Brook Garden Club. For more: www.rockingham.net or 609-683-7132.Holiday Cheer from the American Boychoir

On Dec. 14, from 4-6 p.m., the voices of the Princeton-based American Boychoir will perform its “Home for the Holidays” show at the Richardson Auditorium at Al-exander Hall in Princeton.

“We just finished our fall tour so now all our attention is on the holiday repertoire, and we rehearse Monday through Friday,” says Fernando Malvern-Ruiz, the choir’s musical director. “We had a wrinkle that we can only have one concert this year so if anyone in the Princeton area wants to hear us, they only have one opportunity.”

The Boychoir performs regularly with world-class orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Or-chestra, and the Boston Symphony Orches-tra, and is often featured with such illustri-ous conductors as James Levine, Charles Dutoit, and Alan Gilbert.

The American Boychoir will perform its Home for the Holidays show from 4-6 p.m., Dec. 14, at the Richardson Auditorium at Alexander Hall in Princeton. For more in-formation, visit americanboychoir.org.VOICES holiday concert to feature French, English carols

VOICES will present “Christmastide: Festive French and English Carols, Spiri-tuals, and Daniel Pinkham’s Christmas Cantata” at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 16, at Princeton United Methodist Church, Nas-sau and Vandeventer streets and 3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 20, Hopewell Presbyterian Church, 80 West Broad St., Hopewell, and 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 19, at St. John’s Meth-odist Church, 820 Almshouse Road, Ivy-land, Pennsylvania.

The Chorale and chamber group, Sotto Voce, present stunning arrangements of Christmas carols by Moses Hogan, French composer Gevaert, and American Mack Wilberg. Uptempo Baroque pieces by Schutz and Sweelink, and a contemporary cantata for chorus and organ also are on the program. Featured guest soloist will be

Rochelle Ellis, soprano. For more: 609-737-2976.

Show features update to holiday classic

Lustig Dance Theatre in New Brunswick will present “A Jazzy Nutcracker,” 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, and 1 and 4:30 p.m., Satur-day, Dec. 13, at Monroe High School Per-forming Arts Center.

Graham Lustig’s “A Jazzy Nutcracker” features an original score inspired by familiar melodies, a live jazz band, color-ful sets and costumes, and professional dancers.

Set in the 1960s, the show features a space-age battle scene, a winter wonder-land skating rink and a magical night spent discovering the secrets of “Drosselmeyer’s” department store. An appearance by Santa Claus adds to the holiday spirit and com-pletes this spin on the beloved Christmas production. The performance concludes with a ballet finale complete with tutus and pointe shoes.

Lustig Dance Theatre’s professional com-pany of dancers is accompanied by select students from LDT’s Dance & Wellness Studio and dance students from across the state. “A Jazzy Nutcracker” is based on Tchaikovsky’s original composition and is interlaced with other seasonal melodies producing an entirely original score com-posed by Rutgers University Professor Paul Undreiner and performed by a live jazz band.

Admission costs $30 for adults, $22 se-niors, $15, students/children. For more: lustigdancetheatre.org or 732-246-7300.

A special Santa’s Luncheon will be held at 3 p.m., Dec. 13, at Monroe High School Performing Arts Center with holiday treats, a visit from Santa, and appearances by costumed characters from the produc-tion. Tickets for Santa’s Luncheon are sold separately.Theater to celebrate diversity with holiday show

Crossroads Theatre Company’s fifth an-nual multicultural musical celebration, “Holiday Jubilee,” will be held Dec. 11-21 at Crossroads Theatre Company, 7 Livings-ton Ave., New Brunswick.

The show, appropriate for all ages, is di-rected by Rick Sordelet with musical di-rection by Gail Lou DeSandies. The show brings diverse cultures and communities together to celebrate holiday traditions with audience participation. Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets cost $30, $15 for students; one child under 12 free with adult admission for onstage seat-ing. For more: 732-545-8100 or crossroads-theatrecompany.orgThe Music of Charlie Brown in Princeton

The Eric Mintel Quartet will play the mu-sic of A Charlie Brown Christmas at the Arts Council of Princeton Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, Dec. 14, beginning at 3 p.m.

Eric Mintell will put a jazzy spin on the holidays with a concert at the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts on Dec. 14.


Get in the Christmas spirit during this special afternoon performance featuring holiday classics and original versions of songs by famed composer Vince Guaral-di, the man behind the classic score of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

This family-friendly, interactive concert will include classic scenes from A Char-lie Brown Christmas in addition to classic holiday standards such as “Silent Night,” “Christmas Tree,” and “The Christmas Song.” This concert also will introduce chil-dren to jazz in a live concert setting, giving them the opportunity to get ‘up close and personal’ with professional musicians.

The Paul Robeson Center for the Arts is located at 102 Witherspoon St., Princeton. Tickets cost $10. For more information, go to www.artscouncilofprinceton.org or call 609-924-8777.

Newtown homes open for toursNewtown’s 52nd annual Holiday House

Tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6.

The tour includes six private residences and several public buildings, including the Half-Moon Inn, home to the Newtown Historic Association. Once inside the re-stored 18th-century building, tour goers will be treated to period musical entertain-ment, hearthside colonial cooking demon-strations and refreshments of mulled cider and cheese.

All sites are within the borough and can be easily reached on foot. In the event of significant inclement weather, the tour will be held on Sunday, Dec. 7. Photography and high-heeled shoes are prohibited in the houses.

Tickets cost $25 and can be purchased in

advance at Newtown Book & Record Ex-change, 102 South State St., Newtown, Pa., and online www.newtownhistoric.org. On the day of the tour, tickets can be purchased at the Half-Moon Inn, Court Street and Centre Avenue and at the Stocking Works, 301 South State St., Newtown.

All proceeds from the tour benefit the Newtown Historic Association and its programs dedicated to the preservation of Newtown’s historical heritage.

For more: www.newtownhistoric.org or 215-968-4004.

PSO’s Holiday POPS! ConcertThe Princeton Symphony Orchestra

(PSO) will ring out their personal holi-day greetings in the form of festive music played by soloists from every section of the orchestra during its Happy Holiday POPS! concert at Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University Campus, Dec. 13, be-ginning at 4 p.m.

Conducted by PSO Music Director Ros-sen Milanov, the concert will feature works by Mendelssohn, Robert Shaw, Paul Dukas, Vivaldi, and Mozart. The Princeton High School Choir will join the orchestra on se-lected pieces, performing a cappella, and leading the annual carol sing-a-long, an ar-rangement of traditional favorites by Leroy Anderson.

The program is designed to spotlight mu-sicians of the orchestra as soloists in Fan-fare by Dukas, in Vivaldi’s Concerto for 4 Violins, and in a delightful arrangement for wind octet of the best-loved themes of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. And no PSO Holiday POPS! is complete without Ander-son’s “Sleigh Ride” and its vivid depiction of neighing horses and cracking whips.

Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre will bring its take on The Nutcracker to Kelsey Theatre, Dec. 13.

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Mendelssohn’s “Hark the Herald” Angels Sing and Robert Shaw’s The Many Moods of Christmas Suite II are also performed by the Princeton High School Choir with or-chestral accompaniment.

Tickets cost $40, $25 students. For tickets and information, go to princetonsympho-ny.org or call 609-497-0020.Holiday Shows at Kelsey

Kelsey Theatre in West Windsor offers its tradition of family entertainment during the holiday season, beginning with ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, Dec. 5-7.

The Kelsey Players’ musical adaptation of the famous poem by Clement Moore fea-tures Kris Kringle, his eight tiny reindeer, some remarkably talented sugar plums, and the cutest mouse in New York City. Tickets cost $12, $10 seniors, students and children.

The Alborada Spanish Dance Theatre returns to Kelsey Theatre for El Sueno: A Cultural Holiday Celebration, Dec. 13 with performance at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Alborada is New Jersey’s premiere Span-ish dance company, and has built a fol-lowing at Kelsey with its unique adapta-tion of the cherished holiday classic The Nutcracker. Set to live music, Alborada’s professional dancers and young artists will perform gypsy flamenco, Spanish regional, and dances from various Latin American cultures. Tickets cost $18, $16 seniors, $14 students/children.

Kelsey Theatre will cap off its holiday season with New Jersey Youth Ballet’s hour-long narrated adaptation of The Nut-cracker, Dec. 19-21. The accessible and family-friendly version includes dancers in full costume performing to Tchaikovsky’s score and taking audiences to The Land of the Sweets.

Tickets cost $16, $14 seniors/students/children; www.kelseytheatre.net; 609-570-3333.

�4 | Packet Magazine | December �014

Fay Sciarra (left) and Linda Sciarra own Umbrella, where home decor meets art.

Umbrella owners Linda and Fay Sciarra ignored the naysayers and made their Hopewell store a success at an unlikely time

By Bernadette Suski-Harding | Photos by Mark Czajkowski

All For One, and One For All


ay Sciarra saw the writ-ing on the wall. When a downturn in the economy

caused a precipitous decline in the sale of her art, she knew she needed to act fast.

So she decided to draw on a lifetime of experience and talent — the storytelling and composition lessons learned as a TV producer in San Francisco, the sense of style honed while decorating her home, and the talent that had lain dormant until her artist mother encouraged her to paint — and take a leap of faith.

That was six-and-a-half years ago, and sometimes, even she’s surprised by the suc-cess of Umbrella, the home decor store she co-founded with her sister-in-law, Linda Sciarra, the only person she ever consid-ered for the job.

“There’s a great level of trust and respect. It can be a difficult thing to have a partner, to find somebody you really work well with and complement,” Fay says. “I wasn’t going to do this by myself because I still wanted to make my art, and I couldn’t think of anyone else to ask.”

At the beginning, Umbrella was a tiny, 300-square-foot space, not more than a landing at the top of the stairs. Today, Um-brella is 4,000 square feet larger, taking up the entire second floor of The Tomato Fac-tory in Hopewell, and offering a carefully curated and artfully arranged selection of mid-century modern, antique and vintage pieces. And, of course, a selection of Fay’s paintings and mixed-media art.

In that landing, which is still part of Umbrella, hang a pair of oversized Chi-nese symbols, relics from a restaurant and recent additions to the inventory, wishing good luck to all who enter.

Except in the case of Umbrella, luck had nothing to do with its success.

Driven by passionOK, maybe there was a little bit of luck

involved. There’s something to be said, af-ter all, for timing and location and success-fully tapping into a need when opening a new business of any kind.

“People may, in an economic downturn, stop buying art, but they still need a sofa, they still need dining room chairs,” Fay says.

But mostly, what drives Umbrella’s suc-cess is the passion of its partners, Fay and Linda, sisters-in-law who’ve always been tight. They finish each other’s sentences, answer questions in unison, and under-stand and utilize each other’s strengths to keep Umbrella thriving and growing. Lin-da, drawing on 18 years of experience as a

special needs teacher, is highly organized and takes responsibility for the books and the taxes. Fay, ever the artist, focuses her efforts on social media and e-blasts.

Both scour antique shops, estate sales and flea markets every chance they get — from the Golden Nugget in Lambert-ville to Brimfield in Massachusetts to fa-vorite places in Cape May — to acquire the unique pieces they stock.

And when they vacation together, as they

have in Maine and Belgium, chances are they’ll find treasures along the way.

But they also understand that they can-not do it all alone. Part of the secret to their success is that about 70 percent of their stock doesn’t belong to them. It belongs, Fay and Linda tell me, to carefully selected antiques dealers with whom they’ve de-veloped relationships based on trust and good taste.

They are quick to point out, however,

A showroom at Umbrella in Hopewell.

This area is decorated for the holidays—Umbrella style.

�� | Packet Magazine | December �014

Fay Sciarra and Linda Sciarra have something for every one in Umbrella.

that Umbrella is not a co-op. There’s a Three Musketeers ethic in play here: All for one, and one for all. If one of the dealers watches over the shop when Fay and Linda are away, that dealer won’t steer shoppers toward his or her pieces only.

Likewise, when Fay and Linda have a cli-ent whose wish list they can’t fill, they are quick to reach out to their contacts to see if someone else can.

In a space that is always changing, there are pieces that remain favorites.

A pair of Regency-era mahogany arm-chairs, probably from the 1860s, speak to Fay, as do a pair of 1970s tulip chairs, cream leather in the front, brown leather in the back.

A vintage folding screen, embellished with Gracie hand-painted wallpaper, makes Linda catch her breath. A gorgeous hunt board from the 1860s, and a desk inspired by Nakashima and built by a protégé, en-amor them both, as does a mirrored side-board that’s a find of one of their dealers.

In the landing, a pair of 1940s French distressed leather club chairs beckon. And nearby, an oversized antique scale from England, its trays filled with chunks of an-tique cement fruit, takes center stage on a table from Old Good Things.

This is the place to shop when you’re looking for something you won’t see in ev-eryone else’s home, or in other home goods stores. The price range is wide, too. You can find a unique vase for $35, or a period piece valued at $10,000.

Lessons LearnedThere are lessons Linda and Fay have

learned along the way.Lesson One: Don’t listen to the nay-

sayers.“When we opened the business,” Linda

says, “the economy had taken a terrible hit. People often said to me, ‘You girls are cra-zy. I can’t believe you’re opening a business now.’ No one was really spending money, the stock market was terrible. I just never played into that, I never listened to that. We had a business model we felt would work, and we had each other to bounce ideas off of.”

Fay agrees. “You almost have to put blind-ers on, or build a protective field around you,” she says.

Lesson Two: Be willing to adjust your expectations.

“We had a couple dealers we were work-ing with at the beginning. They were say-ing, ‘Oh my, business is so terrible, I can’t believe how much we have to lower our prices.’ They got out of the business,” Fay says.

“They kept saying ‘back in the day.’ Yeah, well that was back in the day,” Linda says. “This is today.”

“Be here in the moment and figure out how to be successful,” Fay says. “Look at things as the ‘glass half full, not empty.’ So what if you have to mark the prices down, as long as you’re still making money? You don’t have to be greedy. You don’t have to mark things up 10 times, or whatever they did in the old days.”Lesson Three: Celebrate the victories.

“We get so excited when something sells,” Linda says. “It could be this candle-stick (she picks up the one that’s gracing

the table we’re sitting at), and I’ll be like, ‘We sold the candlestick today!’ I’ll text my people and say ‘Ooh, your vase sold today!’ and it’s just $95.”

Lesson Four: Serve your customers.“Be of service to the customers, and give

good customer service, so you have repeat people and there’s follow up,” Fay says. “If we don’t have what someone needs, we’ll reach out to our contacts and say, ‘we have a customer looking for a modern rectangu-lar dining table. Anybody have anything?’

“Answer the phone. Help them move something to the car. Help them with ship-ping quotes,” Fay adds.

Lesson Five: Keep an open mind. “Six years ago, when we had the little

landing space, if Linda had said to me, ‘Someday we’ll have this whole floor,’ I would have laughed in her face,” Fay says.

In the years since, Umbrella has been invited to sell on the website 1stdibs.com, which has led to customers in Austra-lia, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, London and France. And, Linda and Fay are thinking they might someday rent space in New York City and San Francisco.

And, when something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to change. “We had a space in Connecticut, but it wasn’t profitable enough and it was splitting our focus, so we closed it,” Fay says.

Lesson Six: Work with what your client has, and within their budget.

Often, when Fay and Linda meet with a client, they start by getting rid of the clut-ter, and then moving things around.

One client had a collection of old camer-as boxed up in a closet. “We took those out and did a grouping of them on a console in the living room, and they looked so cool,”


Fay says. “It was an interesting personal thing they had that you’re not going to see in everybody else’s house.”

For another client, when Linda and Fay saw an art deco armoire hidden away in a bedroom, they said “‘Oh no, that’s too beautiful. That has to come downstairs.’ So we hired a handyman and it was this mas-sive project, moving it downstairs to the

formal living room. But it was amazing,” Linda says.

And, because they often load their cars with finds from their shop, they are re-spectful of a client’s budget.

“We don’t bring over a $5,000 mirror if we know their budget is $350,” Fay says.

But when a big budget happens along, they’re happy too, like when set designers

for the TV show Madame Secretary spent about $20,000 on a gray sofa and select other items.

“I got a call from a friend who told me she was watching the show,” Linda says, “and at the end of the second episode, Tea Leoni and her daughter are having a conversation on a sofa. It’s gray. That was ours!”


On the Victory TrailThe story of the Battle of Princeton

By nicole M. Wells

warfed by the treeline of Princeton Battlefield State Park, looking out over the gently sloping, uninte-

rupted expanse of lawn, it’s easy toimagine yourself stepping out onto the field and into 1777 — the year of theBattle of Princeton, deceptively so with the historic Clarke house in the foreground. Except for one thing.

“Those weren’t here,” local historian and author Michael Goldstein says, refer-ring to the trees hemming the battlefield. “This is 1851.”

Mr. Goldstein is the author of the e-book, Guide to the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, which is available for free download at his website Hidden Trenton (www.hiddentrenton.com). The site iden-tifies itself as “a highly opinionated guide to worthwhile things in New Jersey’s capi-tal city.”

According to Mr. Goldstein, the Ameri-

D can soldiers and British regulars at the Battle of Princeton could see Nassau Hall on the Princeton University campus and the post road (present-day Route 206) from their positions on the battlefield be-cause the trees that now obstruct the view didn’t exist then. In 1777, nearly all of the land had been cleared for farming.

“You could see the armies on the road and that had a huge impact on the battle as it played out,” he says.

But to get to the Battle of Princeton, we need to backtrack a bit.

From its sorely needed victory at Tren-ton, following the now-famous Christmas Day crossing of the Delaware, Washing-ton’s army stole away in the night, leaving behind about 500 men to put on a show for the British scouts keeping tabs on them.

Skirting the tiny hamlet of Sandtown, which was located at today’s Five Points in Hamilton, the army marched all night

through fields until it came to the original bridge structure that Quakerbridge Road takes its name from.

Flanked by increasingly bare trees and Stony Brook on the right and the muted browns and dove grays of the fields to our left, we follow the curve of the road until a gravel afterthought of a parking area comes into view. Having apparently ar-rived at our destination, we pull off of the road.

“This place for example,” Mr. Goldstein says, stepping out of the car. “Who knows what this place is?”

Unlike several sites in the vicinity, no granite obelisk or roadway sign draws at-tention to the historical significance of the low-slung, recently redone bridge sitting before us.

“There was a footbridge over Stony Brook,” Mr. Goldstein says. “It had been built to allow Quakers from this side of

Re-enactors play the role of British troops during a program at Princeton Battlefield State Park.


the county to get to the meetinghouse. So Washington’s army got here basically and then discovered that they couldn’t cross because it wasn’t going to support the weight of the artillery.”

Undaunted, they waited for several hours while the army’s engineers hastily cut down trees to construct a temporary bridge that would allow them to cross. Washington reportedly used the time to organize his army.

It was January 3, 1777.Upon crossing Stony Brook, the army

marched along the road, to just before the Quaker meetinghouse, before it split into two divisions. The left wing was a small division under the command of Nathanael Greene. The right was John Sullivan’s re-inforced division, which contained the main body of the army.

The Sons of the Revolution marked the location of the army’s split with a roughly finished granite obelisk in 1914. Slightly weathered, the marker still stands today.

“The main body of Washington’s army — about 5,000 men — went this way,” Mr. Goldstein says, gesturing toward the fields

to his right, “and about 500 men followed the path along Stony Brook. And the idea was they would hit the post road, which is now (Route) 206.”

The battle plan was essentially the same as the one they had used in Trenton: split the army in two and have the smaller group enter by the obvious way, with the larger group attacking by surprise via the back way.

The best-laid plans of mice and men, however, often go awry.

“Somewhere around here some Brit-ish cavalry had noticed reflections,” Mr. Goldstein says. “It was a bright, sunny day and this was wide open so you could have seen something going on.”

Riding out a little further to investigate, the cavalrymen caught a glimpse of one column of the Continental army.

By this point, Greene’s division had already moved down the road so Wash-ington dispatched a message to him that Sullivan’s wing had been spotted.

The commander of the British column, Lieutenant Charles Mawhood was leading roughly 600 infantry and between six and

eight artillery pieces down the post road to reinforce Cornwallis in Trenton, who was stationed there in anticipation of destroy-ing the American army.

Hearing that the Americans were mov-ing in the opposite direction 10 miles from where they were supposed to be was likely a shock to the British commander.

The greater shock though, was yet to come.

“They had spotted Washington’s main body headed toward Princeton,” Mr. Gold-stein says. “They hadn’t spotted Greene’s division marching up this valley. So when Greene’s division stuck its nose out on the post road, that was a surprise to every-body.”

Recovering himself, Mawhood imme-diately reversed course and attacked the Continental troops. Because his men were strung along the post road in a column, es-sentially all they needed to do was turn 90 degrees left to form a battle line.

Treading the narrow strip of Quaker Road that tumbles down to meet Route 206, it’s hard to imagine that Greene’s men marched over even steeper and narrower

A view of Princeton Battlefield. The fenced-in tree was planted from an acorn of the famed Mercer Oak.

�0 | Packet Magazine | December 2014

terrain than this.The contours of the land today are steep,

but in 1777 they would have been steeper, as the track along Stony Brook followed the streambed more closely.

“Think of it as walking along a hiking trail,” Mr. Goldstein says, as leaves crunch beneath our feet. “It was about that qual-ity. Probably just wide enough for a cart. So maybe half the width of this (the cur-rent roadway).”

In such a narrow space, the Americans had no choice but to march single file; there wasn’t any room to do otherwise.

Washington’s rider reached Greene in time to warn him that the British oc-cupied the post road. He also conveyed an order that Greene was to “deal with them,” while the main body of the army continued down the Saw Mill Road, which ran through the fields behind the Clarke house.

With the more easily defensible high ground behind them, and realizing that they were in for a major fight, Greene’s men struggled up and out of the ravine piecemeal, running across the battlefield to get into formation. Facing an already

formed British battle line, the Americans attempted to form a line of battle in dribs and drabs as the British advanced on them.

Today, the developed hills of the Park-side Drive neighborhood bear no trace of the meeting engagement that occurred at their location some 237 years ago. The fields and orchards of long ago have since been replaced by 21st century signs of civi-lization: winding asphalt roads, power lines and mailboxes. The harsh condi-tions Washington’s men must have surely endured seem out of place in the suburban setting.

An American soldier at the Battle of Princeton would have carried his mus-ket and heavy pack, possibly barefoot or bloodied from ill-fitting boots. Addition-ally, he would have walked all night to get there, and it may have been his second sleepless night in a row.

Fighting their way back toward today’s delineated battlefield park, the two sides fired fiercely at each other, with the Amer-icans initially gaining the upper hand.

As more of Mawhood’s infantry joined the exchange, however, the tide began to

turn in favor of the British, and Greene’s division began to suffer heavy casualties.

Mawhood then ordered his men to charge bayonets — standard issue for British infantry — into Hugh Mercer’s brigade, which had been at the front of Greene’s division. Mercer’s men were not equipped with these deadly weapons.

As the charge began, Mercer’s gray horse was shot out from under him, with Mercer being subsequently hit. As he went down, he ordered his men to retreat and was caught as they fell back.

He refused to surrender and was bayo-neted multiple times before falling next to a large oak tree. The tree was known thereafter as the Mercer Oak and survived until the first decade of the 21st century.

The fenced-in tree growing on the bat-tlefield today is an offspring of the Mercer Oak, having been planted from an acorn of that tree. It was planted next to the original Mercer Oak.

According to the Princeton Battlefield Society’s website, Mercer was taken to the Clarke house, which had been turned into a hospital, where he died of his injuries nine days later.

pmfineliving.com | �1

Commanding a small battery of Phila-delphia artillery was Captain Joseph Moulder, whose guns helped steady the American lines after Mawhood’s advance and the bayoneting of Mercer. As Greene’s division was fragmenting, Moulder’s two long-barreled 4-pounders fired grape shot and canister, effectively stopping the charging British infantry.

Seated atop a white horse, Washington himself arrived on the scene to rally his men and lead them into the heart of the fight. He is reported to have said, “Parade with us, my brave fellows. There is but a handful of the enemy and we will have them directly.”

Vastly outnumbered and in danger of being surrounded, the British line broke, with most of the routed British escaping west, along the Stony Brook ravine.

Mawhood fled north to organize the continuing defense of Princeton, ordering the artillery originally intended to rein-force Cornwallis to head for Princeton and then continue to march toward Somerset and Brunswick (New Brunswick today).

He then ordered the 55th Foot regiment,

which had been guarding the artillery on a hill east of the battle, to join with the 40th Foot to delay Sullivan’s division long enough to allow for the escape of as many men and supplies as possible.

While Washington was leading the charge on the Clarke farm with about half of his original division, Sullivan had been advancing east with the other half.

The British made their final stand in de-fense of Princeton at a place called Frog Hollow. You won’t find it on any modern map, as Frog Hollow goes by the name Springdale Golf Club these days.

“Of course this area’s been extensive-ly landscaped, but what you had was a stream and a very steep embankment,” Mr. Goldstein says, as we stood studying the course.

With the manicured green of the fair-way below, visualizing the more natural 18th century hollow proved a challenging undertaking.

Although the geography of the land conferred them with an advantage, the two British regiments were forced to sur-render after Sullivan’s artillery knocked

out a dam that undermined part of their breastworks.

An officer reportedly came out from be-hind the fortification with a white hand-kerchief on the point of his sword.

From Frog Hollow, Sullivan’s men ad-vanced to Nassau Hall, where the artil-lery, reputedly under the command of Alexander Hamilton, quickly ended any further resistance.

The battlefield continues to be a site of controversy, even today.

In 2012, the Princeton Planning Board voted to allow the neighboring Institute for Advanced Study to build 15 faculty-housing units on part of the battlefield, which it owns. The housing units would be situated on land where Washington staged his counterattack, according to Battlefield Society President Jerry Hurwitz.

The Battlefield Society is suing in state court to get the planning board’s approval overturned. The society is also challeng-ing the planning board’s early November decision to allow the institute to decrease the lot sizes of the housing units.


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On The BlockBuying...selling...just looking

By Stephanie Vaccaro

hen Randy Mehrberg accepted a new position in New Jersey in 2008, he and his family left their Chicago apartment with a lake view and relocated to 25 Hageman Lane, Princeton.

“This house stood out to us, unlike any other,” Mr. Mehberg says of the five-bedroom home. “I’ve lived in nice places, and it’s the nicest place I’ve ever lived. And it’s the nicest place I will ever live in. I don’t think I’ll ever have that experience or that opportunity again.”

This Princeton home has everything you could want

Princeton house promises to be the perfect home for living, and entertaining.


Top Center: Rooms in the house receive plenty of natural light. Middle Left: The kitchen is a cook’s dream. Middle Right: One of the bedrooms at 25 Hageman Lane.Bottom Left: The home’s theater is a big draw for kids and their friends. Bottom Right: The home’s features include a luxurious bathroom.


“We think it’s beautiful,” Mr. Mehrberg adds. “The finishes were all extraordinary stones, different nice stones everywhere you went. We liked the land and trees and the privacy.”

In their eighth-floor apartment in Chicago, they never had to close the blinds. “Here, because of all of the trees and because of the amount of land, we never had to close our blinds and we got all of the sunlight.”

Everybody in his family had a special connection with the home. “The house really gave the whole family a lot of joy,” he says.

When his daughter came home the first time from college for a weekend with some friends, they camped out in the theater watching movies and recovering from their exams. “They stayed in the movie theater for three days, they never left. They slept in those reclining chairs,” Mr. Mehrberg says.

“For our middle child who was in high school at Princeton Day School, it was a place to be because we didn’t have this in Chicago,” he continues. “It was a place where people could congregate. So, after school his friends would come over and they could play pool or foosball or go swimming or watch movies or play video games or play basketball.”

One night he visited a neighbor watching the NCAA finals and returned to the house at midnight and found that all of the lights were on and his son and friends were playing basketball in January. There was enough privacy that they never bothered the neighbors.

“For our little boy, we had his birthday parties there, and we were able to have all sorts of competitions, whether they were swimming competitions or basketball.”

The playroom upstairs became a place where his children, whose ages ranged broadly, came together.

Other parts of the home facilitated that family togetherness as well. “There’s a breakfast room with windows on three sides,” he said. “Every morning we had bright sunlight to start our day.”

“For me, it was putting the hammock next to the pool next to the waterfall with the koi pond, reading ‘The New York Times,’ listening to the waterfall and watching the koi fish.”

Every year, Mr. Mehrberg’s parents and siblings came for Thanksgiving, though it had previously always been hosted at his mother’s home. “Everybody just loved being there, it’s such a great family place,” he says.

“So, my wife became this amazing cook, just because she enjoyed being in the kitchen because there was light on every

side,” he says. “There was space for everything. I think it was the openness, the airiness, the size, the space, the fact that there were two giant subzero refrigerators…a six-burner gas stove. Sunday mornings she’d make pancakes on the gas griddle.”

Something his wife appreciated when entertaining is that the kitchen can be closed off because it’s not attached to a family room, thus preventing people from gathering in the kitchen during parties. So, when they hosted fundraisers, they were able to have caterers in the kitchen and close it off, and people would gather in the living room and dining room. They also volunteered to host school potluck dinners as well as parties for sports teams. “All of the kids would go downstairs and play games and watch movies, and the adults would be upstairs, and it just gave us that ability,” Mr. Mehberg says.

It was a special home for every member of the family, even the dog. The home sits on 4.28 acres and has an invisible fence and a doggie door. “To my huge surprise, the house even has a dog room with a shower, so you could bathe the dog in this tiled room without making a mess everywhere,” Mr. Mehberg says.

The home was designed by architect Max Hayden and built by Lewis Barber. “They worked as a team here,” Mr. Mehberg says. “They just used the best materials, and the workmanship is really nice.

“We’ve got this beautiful wood-paneled office. The office is actually two rooms. One of them, I had four chairs set up with a fireplace, the other has the desk and bookshelves and looks out on the waterfall. They did a really, really nice job.”

The family has relocated to Boulder, Colorado. Their Princeton home is available for rent for $8,500 per month. “We decided as a family to move to the mountains,” he says. “I love it here, I really do, but thinking about the house sometimes makes me want to go back for it. It just was joyful for the family.”

“The colors in Princeton, and particularly that part of Princeton, and the landscaping that, candidly, wasn’t done by us but the people before us, what amazed me when spring came around, every week there’d be different colors of flowers around — the Dogwood trees, the flowering trees, the pear trees. What inspired me was seeing the wash of different colors every week through the spring and then again through the fall, and then having the ability, because it backed up to preserved land, to enjoy that.”

That, he says, makes the whole area special, not just the house.

“This house had everything you could ever want,” he said.


Good TasteThe finer side of dining

By Faith Bahadurian

Visions of Sugar PlumsGet in the holiday spirit with these tasty and sweet treats

Clement Clarke Moore’s beloved 1823 poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” — more commonly known as “The Night Before Christmas” — has planted an indelible image in our minds.

According to Barron’s Food Lover’s Companion, a sugar plum is “a small confection, often consisting of fruit such as candied cherry or dried apricot covered in fondant” a simple sugar, water and cream of tartar frosting. It might not sound like much to today’s jaded children, but yesterday’s tots were quite happy to receive gifts of these sweets. Remember, back then a fresh orange was an expensive treat that was out of the reach of many.

By the 16th century in England, when sugar became more widely available, the technique for preserving plums and other small fruits in sugar had been developed. And the period

Sugar Plums are real, and can make for a special holiday treat.

he children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads...

between the 17th and 19th centuries gave rise to dragées, sweets made of sugar hardened around a central seed or kernel in successive layers. (That once laborious process called “panning” is today mechanized to make things like Jordan almonds and M&Ms.) Some sources say the first sugar plums were really those dragées, coated coriander, cardamom, or caraway seeds, similar to components of mukhvas, the digestive spice mix near the exit of many Indian restaurants.

But eventually, confectioners used almonds or dried fruits as the core, and the ovoid form clinched the descriptive word “plum.” Eventually, the term came to have a vernacular use, as in a worker getting a plum assignment, or good fortune falling in someone’s lap.


And is it “sugar plum” or “sugarplum”? Even culinary websites don’t agree on that debate.

Over time, recipes for sugar plums came to consist of minced dried fruits combined with spices, and maybe even a dash of liqueur. Since the exterior is sticky, it is finished by rolling in coarse sugar, which gives a sparkly effect, or powdered sugar resembling snow.

Much like fruitcake, sugar plums are not popular today, having been eclipsed by fancier (and often mass produced) sweets. But for those of us looking for something a little more old-fashioned, and maybe with a veneer of healthfulness, the sugar plum is just the thing. As a bonus, it is a no-bake treat, except for the last recipe here, which uses fresh plums — decidedly not traditional, but the makings of a nice dessert when served with crème fraiche or good vanilla ice cream.

Adapted from Alton Brown, foodnetwork.comAbout 80 1/4-ounce balls

6 ounces slivered almonds, toasted4 ounces dried plums (prunes)4 ounces dried apricots4 ounces dried figs1/4 cup powdered sugar1/4 teaspoon anise seeds, toasted1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted1/4 teaspoon ground cardamomPinch kosher salt1/4 cup honey1 cup coarse sugar for rolling

Put the almonds, plums, apricots, and figs into the bowl of a food processor and pulse 20 to 25 times until the fruit and nuts are chopped into small pieces, but before the mixture becomes a ball.

Combine the powdered sugar, anise seeds, fennel seeds, caraway seeds, cardamom, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add the nut-and-fruit mixture and the honey and mix using gloved hands (because it’s sticky) until well-combined.

Scoop the mixture into 1/4-ounce portions and roll into balls. If serving immediately, roll in the coarse sugar and serve. Otherwise, put the balls on a cooling rack and leave uncovered until ready to serve. Roll in the coarse sugar shortly before serving.

The sugarplums may be stored on the cooling rack for up to a week. After a week, store in an airtight container for up to a month.

Adapted from Saveur Magazine, saveur.com Makes about 75

Sugar plums tend to absorb the powdered sugar, so re-dust just before eating, if you like. — F.B.

2 cups whole blanched almonds, toasted at 400 degrees for 10 minutes

1⁄4 cup honey2 teaspoons grated orange zest1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon1⁄2 teaspoons ground allspice1⁄2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg1 cup finely chopped dried apricots1 cup finely chopped pitted dates1 cup confectioners’ sugar (or sanding or sparkling sugar)

Finely chop almonds in a food processor, but don’t process them into flour.

Combine honey, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl. Add chopped almonds, apricots, and dates and mix well.

Pinch off rounded teaspoon-size pieces of the mixture and roll into balls. (Wear latex gloves or rinse hands often, as mixture is sticky.) Roll balls in sugar, then refrigerate in single layers between sheets of waxed paper in airtight containers for up to one month. Their flavor improves after ripening for several days.

Sugarplums

Sugar Plums


Adapted from bbcgoodfood.com

Makes a dozenYou’ll have to look for out-of-season plums for this one, but

it would make a lovely dessert, maybe with some rich, vanilla gelato or crème fraiche. — F.B.

Butter for baking dish2/3 cup white granulated sugar1/4 teaspoon cinnamon1 large egg white12 red plums, washed and dried

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a baking dish large enough to hold all the plums in one layer, not quite touching.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Whisk egg white in another bowl, then roll the plums first in egg white and then the cinnamon sugar until very well coated in a sugary crust.

Space plums apart in the buttered baking dish, then bake for 15 minutes or until the plums are crusty, cooked through, and starting to exude juices. To test, poke in a cocktail stick; if it goes in easily, they are ready. Cool to room temperature (or somewhat warmer) before serving.

Faith Bahadurian blogs at http://njspice.net(also Twitter @njspice).

From The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, Julie Rosso and Sheila Lukins with Sarah Leah Chase, Workman (1984)

Makes about 4 dozen If you don’t want to use dyed cherries, try pressing a piece of

candied citron or orange peel into each cookie instead. You could even use orange-y Cointreau in place of cognac, and decorate with orange peel. — F.B.

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips1/2 cup sugar, plus additional for coating1/4 cup light corn syrup1/3 cup cognac2 1/2 cups finely ground vanilla wafers1 cup finely chopped pecansCandied red and green cherry halves (garnish)

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar, corn syrup and cognac. Off heat, stir in the wafer crumbs and nuts to make a paste like mixture.

Roll into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in additional sugar. Press a red or green cherry half into the center of each ball. Store in an airtight container; they improve with age.

Real Sugared Plums

Cognac Sugarplums

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On the VinePouring and pairing wines near and far

By Patrick Walsh

A Trip to Cava’s CapitalA perfect pour for the holidays

here are many reasons to visit Barcelona, but one of the best is not in the city proper. A half-hour’s drive south of streets thronged with tourists and dotted with Gaudi’s architectural delights lies the village of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. In a way, this quiet town in the Penedés region fuels fun throughout Spain and around the world: it’s here that cava is made.

Barcelona is Catalonia’s capital, but Sant Sadurní d’Anoia is the capital of cava. As you pull off the Autopista, your eye is immediately drawn to a huge building with an equally robust sign atop its roof announcing, “Freixenet,” Spain’s biggest cava producer and makers of a distinctively black-bottled bubbly.

Most farmers in the region — over 8 percent — sell to the big commercial cava makers, like Freixenet or its close rival, Codorníu. But unlike in other countries, where farmers sell their harvested grapes, such as France’s negociant system, Penedés farmers first make wine out of their grapes and then sell the juice to the big guys. This old tradition removes a great deal of control over the process since vinification has already occurred; all the large operations can hope to do is make a fairly harmonious blend from the various wines they receive.

The author discovered some wonderful wines for the holidays during a visit to CastellRoig in Barcelona.


Which is why the best cava comes from smaller producers, such as CastellRoig, who oversee the whole process from start to finish.

Recently, I visited Marcel Sabaté Coca at his ancestral home, Can Serra, at the CastellRoig vineyard. Marcel is a third-generation winemaker, but unlike his father and grandfather, he bottles and sells cava under his own label.

As we toured his winemaking museum full of antique plows and hand-cranked irrigation pumps, or bomba, Marcel described Spanish bubbly basics. Cava is made the same way as champagne, only with different grapes. Traditional cava is a blend of native white varietals Macabeo, Parellada, and Xarel-lo. Some producers also use chardonnay and pinot noir. Xarel-lo is cava’s heart and soul, providing the wine’s structure along with Chablis-like minerality. Macabeo plays foil to Xarel-lo’s heft with its lighter body and floral aromas. Parellada contributes a fruity nose and high acidity.

Like Champagne, the soil in the Penedés region consists mainly of limestone and chalk — ideal for growing grapes. The climate is ideal too, since hills and elevation shield middle and upper Penedés from the Mediterranean’s intense summer heat and humidity.

After the tour, Marcel showed me a small lab in which he is working on a detailed soil analysis map of his estate. I thought this transition from antiquity to high-tech neatly captured Marcel’s place among the new breed of great winemakers — one-third farmer, one-third scientist, and, as I realized after sipping his cava, one-third artist.

We descended into the cool, crypt-

like cellar, or cave, where rows of tilted bottle racks line the walls. The bottles sit pointing downwards at a 45-degree angle to allow sediment from the still-fermenting cava to settle in the necks. After a demonstration of disgorgement (whereby the sediment is removed) and the corking process, it was time for the best part of the tour: uncorking some bottles in the elegant CastellRoig tasting room.

Marcel started us off with a bottle that he’d pulled at random from the cellar racks. Before disgorgement, the bottles contain geyser-like pressure, so he stepped outside to open it. As the energetic liquid had shot from the bottle, so too it raced up the sides of my glass despite a careful pour. With still-active yeasts and sugars, the wine is truly alive! Its super-charged effervescence filled the room with a bouquet of springtime flowers. Up close, citrus and green apple notes vied with the classic baked bread smell of the yeasts. On the tongue, I immediately noticed a little sweetness owing to sugars still in the process of turning to alcohol. Tasting cava that hadn’t fully fermented allowed me to better appreciate the finished product’s evolution.

And so Marcel popped a bottle of Brut Cava, his basic cuvée. Where before there was unruly foam, now I encountered pinpoint bubbles, lively but well-mannered. I was also struck by the cava’s elegant metamorphosis. The yeasty notes had receded to a faint, pleasant whiff of brioche that melded harmoniously with more prominent scents of white flowers and fruit. And I noticed something else: the cava’s distinct stony minerality.

Nodding knowingly, Marcel said, “There are only 40 cava makers who produce a wine made entirely from grapes they have grown — only 40 cavas that have any real personality, that are authentic expressions of terroir.” The delicious cava I had in front of me amply proved that CastellRoig is among the very best!

And now for the most amazing thing about cava: it’s half the price of Champagne. CastellRoig, for example, is a sparkler to rival any non-vintage Champagne — Veuve Clicquot, Perrier Jouët, Moët & Chandon — and it’s $15 a bottle! Another reason to visit Cava.

CastellRoig Brut Cava is available at the Princeton Corkscrew, 49 Hulfish St., Princeton, at $15 per bottle.

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New Oral Treatment FDA approved for the treatment of psoriasis

Health

On the heals of its approval for the treatment of Pso-riatic Arthritis in March, 2014, Aprimelast, manufactured by Celgene under the trade name Otezla, was FDA ap-proved for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis in September, 2014.

Otezla is the first oral medication FDA approved for the treatment of psoriasis in over 25 years. The other last oral medication to be approved was cyclosporine, which was found to be effective surreptitiously when it was used to prevent kidney transplant rejection in some-one with psoriasis. Not only did cyclosporine prevent the kidney to be rejected, it also cleared the individual’s psoriasis. This observation ushered in the present-day understanding that psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are immunologic diseases. The arthritic component occurs in about 25 percent of individuals who develop arthritis. It tends to develop after the onset of psoriasis. It’s symp-toms are: stiffness of fingers and toes upon awakening, swelling of an entire digit, pain on the bottom of the foot or behind the ankle.

“Over the past 12 years there have been three “biologic agents “ approved and self-injected. Humira is adminis-tered every other week, Stelara is administered every 12 weeks. They are extremely effective in clearing the skin by 75 percent or more, 80 percent of the time. The major difference between the two is that Humira is more effec-tive for psoriatic arthritis.

The safety profile for humira involves it being given to more than 750,000 patients since 1997. It also is ap-

proved for treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and Juvenile idiopathic arthritis down to the age of 4. It has revealed itself to be remarkably safe in carefully selected and monitored patients.” The major adverse event is an increase in infection rate by 1 to 2 percent that may require antibiotic therapy. In fact there is no increase in cumulative toxicity be it to infection rate, nor to malignancy. The same safety profile holds true for Stelara.

Otezla is different, it’s taken orally, and must be taken twice a day to be effective.

There is no increase in infection rate and there is no need for blood monitoring, i.e. it’s safety profile looks ex-tremely promising.

It’s efficacy however is less than the biologics. At week 16 about one third of patients are doing well and by week 48 about 60 percent are doing well. Hence in the patient who is risk adverse, Otezla may be an appropriate op-tion.

In 2015 there will be a new biologic of the IL-17 class that clears 50 percent of people with a 75 percent or more improvement in 90 percent.

Fortunately the quality of life continues to Improve for psoriasis sufferers. — Jerry Bagel MD

If you would like to be treated by a Board Certified Der-matologist or participate in a clinical trial please contact Sunny Holman, practice manager at 609-443-4500, ext. 1602 or [email protected].

Windsor-Dermatology59 One Mile Road Ext, Suite G | East Windsor, NJ 08520 | Phone: 609-443-4500 | Fax: 609-426-0530Email: [email protected] | Web: www.windsordermatology.com

Participants with psoriasis needed!

If you are interested in making a difference by participating in a clinical trial please call Sunny Holman at 609-443-4500 ext. 1602.


Social ScenePacket Magazine goes out on the town

Cherry Valley Celebrates 25 YearsCherry Valley Country Club in Skillman recently hosted

its 2�th anniversary jubilee.

herry Valley has a long history of member traditions, fun and family experiences. When ClubCorp purchased Cherry Valley last summer, it saw even more of

an opportunity for the Club to serve as the hub of the community for many years to come.

Located at 125 Country Club Dr. in Skillman, near historic Princeton, the Country Club recently underwent a $3.6 million renovation to ensure that it continues to provide a first-class country club experience to its members.

“The club completely updated the main club house, added an upper terrace with fire pits, added a patio, and created an eating area called The Bunker,” says Karen St. Angelo, membership director of the Cherry Valley Country Club. “Even the furnishings and design layout were redone. Everything has changed to make it more aesthetically pleasing.”

The club also recently hired a new general manager, Alex Evans, and chef, Chris Carpenter, with the gala giving Mr. Carpenter the opportunity to share his culinary creations.

CCherry Valley Country Club offers fine dining in beautiful settings.


Top Left: Dessert was just part of the festivities during Cherry Valley Country’s Club celebration of its 25th anniversary.Top Right: Chris Carpenter is the new chef at Cherry Valley Country Club. Bottom Left and Right: Dining at Cherry Valley offerssuch creations as fish and the club’s famous bread.

Tel: (609) 285-2955www.rickysthai.com

Village Shoppesat Montgomery137 Route 206

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EntreesOver white rice (excludes noodles dishes)

Choice of Chicken, Beef, Pork or Vegetables & Tofu(without egg) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.95

Squid or Shrimp . . . . . . . . . . 8.95

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18. Gang DangRed curry with coconut milk, basil leaves, bamboo shoots, onions & bell peppers.

Lunch SpecialsMonday – Friday: 11:00 am to 3:00 pm

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Fu n T i m e

packet magazine december 2014

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