Grandmom's 88th Birthday Lunch!

Sunday we made homemade pizzas topped with portobella, arugula, fresh mozz, tomato, garlic, and basil. My sister brought a roasted veggie pasta salad and my Aunt Deb provided the rustic greens with grapes and cranberries. Super fresh, super delicious, and a mighty fun time with Grandmom!

Where's the incentive?

You may (or may not) remember a post I did in the beginning of the month on the fabulous coffee shop, The Pulp & The Bean. P & B quickly became a morning main stay for me because they were one of the few coffee shops who honored guests with their own mugs! Seventy five cents would get your reusable cup filled to the brim with your choice of milk and a smile from the friendly staff.

Yesterday, however, my heart broke before me.

It seemed to be a normal morning. I was greeted as normal and handed over my cup with a cheerful, "the usual please!". As I moved to the register with Pablo, I gave him a dollar expecting a quarter back, INSTEAD he said "it's a $1.50."

"No," I replied slightly confused, "when I bring my cup in it's only $.75."

"Oh, well we changed it. Now it is $1.50 no matter what size."

WHAT?! I took my coffee, gave him the extra change, and gave my "have a great day". What I should have said was "have a great life!".

I think it is very sad and wrong that they ended such a great incentive... and lost such a devoted customer.

some photos from Edible's Winter Warm Up...

Neal Rosenthal on Terroir

It was 6:30pm at Astor Center and we were pouring our first three wines for the evening: Chaumes, Champs Gains* & Caillerets. All three are Chardonnay; all three are from the village of Chassagne-Montrachet; all three were produced by Jean-Marc Morey. However, all three were grown on different plots of land (the Chaumes was the northern most vineyard and Caillerets the southern most) and displayed incredible differences.

Neal Rosenthal poetically leads us through Burgundy with terroir, geography and history pulling the cart.

My friend, Jenna, and I sat there entranced as our senses danced from glass to glass. Rude de Chaux, Pruliers*, Vaucrains, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru '04*, Les Bressandes '04, & Les Bressandes '05.

"We are the stewards of the vine to wine process," Neal said romantically. "It is a very spiritual, very poetic process".

I took detailed notes focusing on nose, flavor & texture. Color was secondary as we made sure to be conscious of the minerality and earthiness the wines offered to us.

The beauty of Burgundy, I've discovered, is beyond the perplexity of senses. My vocabulary and underdeveloped pallet cannot even distinguish a tenth of what is going on - but you have to think beyond "wine logic". Burgundy allows us to venture into our memories. It allows us to create new ones with those whom we are sharing the treasure with.

Everything from rich morning dew on my grandmothers farm (particularly condensing the berries and wheat) to the sea to animal scents to Ramapo College on a fall morning all appeared before me last night.

Burgundy wines, I now believe, are mirrors to their homeland that reflect the memories of our soul.

*my prefered wines of the evening.

My photos are online!!!!

Hooray!!! One of my favorite food magazines, Edible, has published my photos online!!!!

This past Sunday, Edible Queens hosted an event in Long Island City which I volunteered at. Leah McClaughlin, our fabulous editor, handed me her new camera and let me have at it! Please follow the red velvet cake (I took this one too!) to take a peek. I took all except for the last one.

Cheers!

Fighting Starvation

Here is an exerpt from the New York Times article, Fighthing Starvation, Haitians Share Portions:

"It is not, after all, just homes that fell when the earth shook on Jan. 12. Supermarkets have collapsed to rubble. Butchers and bakers are dead.

At the Dimino bakery in Bourdon, a middle class area in the foothills above downtown Port-au-Prince, five people died when the ceiling fell in. The ovens are now buried in dirt. On the floor, plastic foam cakes lie overturned, their cheerful messages made invisible.

A few doors down, Elsie Perdriel cooked up what little she could. Her one-story home with maroon trim survived the earthquake, making her one of the lucky ones. But now she has 20 mouths to feed instead of four: seven children, including her grandson, a few extended relatives, and neighbors who lost their own homes.

Ms. Perdriel, a no-nonsense cook with her hair pulled back, displayed a pot with half of a chicken cut into pieces. “This should be for two people,” she said. “Now it will have to do for 20.”

Many other Haitians, while shouting for help in ever louder voices, are finding ways to share. In several neighborhoods of Carrefour, a poor area closer to the epicenter, small soup kitchens have sprung up with discounted meals, subsidized by Haitians with a little extra money. At 59 Impasse Eddy on Monday, three women behind a blue house stirred a pot of beans and rice, flavored with coconut, spices and lime juice.

They started cooking for their neighbors the day after the earthquake. On many mornings, they serve 100 people before 10 a.m."

Kimchi for lunch

Sunday afternoon snack, last night for dinner and today for lunch: Kimchi. Over arugula or straight out of the jar, kimchi is rich in both nutrition and cultural history. The Korean side dish is, most basically, cabbage which is "pickled" with aromatic heat spices.

I've had this several times at the awesome restaurants in Flushing. While walking around Fresh Fanatic on Saturday, I saw a jar in the produce fridge and decided to give it a try. Glad that I did!

If you get a chance... take a chance. Here is a recipe I found online that I am certainly going to try.

1 large Chinese or Napa Cabbage
1 gallon (4l) water
1/2 cup (100g) coarse salt

1 small head of garlic, peeled and finely minced
one 2-inch (6cm) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce
1/3 cup (80ml) chili paste or 1/2 cup Korean chili powder
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1-inch (3cm) lengths (use the dark green part, too, except for the tough ends)
1 medium daikon radish, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon sugar or honey


1. Slice the cabbage lengthwise in half, then slice each half lengthwise into 3 sections. Cut away the tough stem chunks.
2. Dissolve the salt in the water in a very large container, then submerge the cabbage under the water. Put a plate on top to make sure they stay under water, then let stand for 2 hours.
3. Mix the other ingredients in a very large metal or glass bowl.
4. Drain the cabbage, rinse it, and squeeze it dry.
5. Here's the scary part: mix it all up.

Some recipes advise wearing rubber gloves since the chili paste can stain your hands and can cause after burn if you touch your eyes or your pee-pee. If you have rubber or latex gloves, you might want to wear them.

6. Pack the kimchi in a clean glass jar large enough to hold it all and cover it tightly. Let stand for two days in a cool place, around room temperature.
7. Check the kimchi after two days. If it's bubbling a bit, it's ready and can be refrigerated. If not, let it stand 1-2 more days, when it should be ready.
8. Once it's fermenting, serve or store in the refrigerator. If you want, add a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds over the kimchi for serving.

Storage: Many advise to eat the kimchi within 3 weeks. After that, it can get too fermented.