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What I love most about Spring is the range of weather. You can leave in the morning with a thin sweater, strip down to a sleeveless shirt at lunch and still need a light jacket as evening draws near. Along with the variety of clothing options, it creates food options as well. I’m not very […]
After being blessed with such an early harvest last year, everything feels late. It’s like spring will never come. Of course, there’s greens (there’s always greens), but I wanted real spring. Asparagus, garlic scapes, strawberries. I religiously follow GrowNYC’s twitter feeds. It’s honestly the best way to see what’s at the markets right now. When […]
It just isn’t spring without asparagus. I slept in a little last Saturday. I knew I had to get to the greenmarket early to guarantee the freshest produce, but with the weather being extra soggy, I figured an extra hour wouldn’t really matter. Boy was I wrong. Note to self: Greenmarket shoppers are hardcore. Rain, […]
I’ve been quiet the past few days, I know. It’s been a busy week/weekend/month/life. More than anything I’ve enjoyed some time cooking and not having to think about how the dish comes out, how well it will photograph, or well I can optimize a post and tags. Because that’s what we do as bloggers. We’ve […]
I’ve noticed a trend lately of risotto like dishes that skip the traditional main ingredient of Arborio rice. In restaurants I’ve seen creamy orzo cooked down with greens. The blogs and Pinterest fill with barley or quinoa options. In my eyes risotto is a creamy rice dish, slowly simmered with broth and/or wine, onions and [...]
A few weeks ago I went to visit my friend, Cristin, in Baltimore. It was a beautiful weekend in early April. Baltimore being only a few hours south of New York, I’m still always surprised by the weather difference. Magnolia and Cherry Blossoms were already in full bloom, with New York’s spring still a few [...]
Last weekend was my mom’s…29th Birthday. Somehow time has reversed and it’s gotten to the point where I’m actually a year older than her. I’m not an expert, but I’m fairly certain those numbers don’t quite add up, but we’ll let it slide. So my family came to Brooklyn for dinner. Food is always a [...]
I took a chance this year. I submitted my blog to Saveur’s Best Food Blog Awards competition in March. I knew it was a long shot—there are SO MANY amazing blogs out there and competition is steep. Yet as much as I already knew I probably wouldn’t place among the finalists, I was still a [...]
Happy Foodie Penpal reveal day everyone! Oh wait, you don’t have a foodie penpal? Well, that’s certainly something we need to fix. First I’ll tell you all the wonderful goods I got from my penpal and make you green with envy. Then I’ll hook you up with the details, introduce you to Lindsay, the [...]
It’s a little late in the night, I know. I’m here sipping on the last of my fizzy violet cocktail. Not so fizzy anymore. We hosted my family yesterday for my mom’s birthday, with a good deal of violets and some foraged field garlic. Dinner consisted of roast lamb stuffed with Swiss chard and Merguez [...]
I’m always a little hesitant when it comes to making jellies. (A) they’re a lot more work than jam. You need to collect the juices of whatever fruit (or in this case flower) you’re using, then cook the liquid then add the pectin, then reduce it… It’s just a lot of steps. Where as with [...]
How about some foraging projects this weekend? The weather is BEAUTIFUL here in Brooklyn, as was last weekend. With a little chilliness in between. But with the fantastic weather last weekend, I tested the foraging skills I learned on a tour with Leda Meredith. I came home with several quarts of violets, two quarts of [...]
My knowledge of foraging was pretty much nonexistent. Sure, I knew there were some types of wild mushrooms you could collect and eat. I also knew some types might kill you, so I never really tested the idea. I knew violets were edible and used to pick them in my backyard as a kid and [...]
I already had burgers on the brain. Why, I’m not sure. There were small signs that combined to form one giant burger craving. Walking by Burger Bistro practically every day on the way to the gym (isn’t it amazing how gyms only seem to exist next door to the greatest, guilt filled food spots?), wandering [...]
Most people fantasize about crisp asparagus, stalks of tender rhubarb or sweet, juicy strawberries as spring draws near. I might be the only exception. As soon as the weather starts to warm and greenmarkets gradually switch their produce offerings from cellared root vegetables and apples to bright greens that signal Spring is here to stay, [...]
There are times when you have no idea to cook. You go through your collection of cookbooks (in my case, several dozen books) without coming across even the slightest inspiration. You curse your collection, wonder why you spent so much money on all the wrong books and turn to the internet with even less success. [...]
Only a few days ago we were dealing with a spring heat wave with temperatures in the 80s. Yet today, we’re back to rainy and soggy, as I consider breaking out my winter coat for (hopefully) the last time this season. That’s the thing about spring: it’s fickle. Just like any relationship, it can entice [...]
I love garlic bread. Well, I love anything garlic, so I guess that’s no surprise. Roasted garlic, garlic pesto, garlic ice cream (well, haven’t tried that one yet). But seriously, who doesn’t like garlic bread (carb dodgers do not apply). Split a loaf of French bread sandwich style and serve it open face. Warm gooey [...]
The American food system is broken. I don’t exactly know when exactly it happened, but at some point along the road things went wrong. Horribly wrong. Our values are mixed up. We subsidize all the wrong crops–corn (so much corn), soy, wheat–when what we should be focusing on is fresh produce at the peak of [...]
Cooking for family is stressful. I don’t know if it’s because they put too much pressure on me, or I put too much pressure on myself, or if it’s just all in my head. But when it comes to cooking for family, there is undeniable failure. I forget everything, it’s as if I’ve never cooked [...]
A few days of warmth followed by so so temperatures. April is often one of the most disappointing months for me. I understand March being wishy-washy with its temperature decisions. Spring, winter, spring, winter. It’s in transition. But April. We are now in full-fledged spring. There’s no excuse for cooler temperatures. I expect sunshine and [...]
I know, the last day of March came and went, and you spent all day on the edge of your seat continuously refreshing my blog to see what awesome goodies I got from my foodie penpal this month. Sorry to make you wait an extra day, but Lindsay over at Lean Green Bean who [...]
Being a New York Locavore means not only eating locally but drinking locally too. Which means spending ample time sipping local wines. New York has three major wine regions–the North Fork of Long Island, the Finger Lakes and the Hudson Valley. We get out to the North Fork a few times a year. A quick [...]
I always knew getting married would mean compromises, especially when it came to family.Ever since I was a little kid, missing Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter was a big no-no. Birthdays could be shifted around a bit, and long periods of non visiting were acceptable (particularly when I lived in Philly) but nothing was more important [...]
I have a tendency to hoard food. There’s no basis for this habit. I’ve always been well fed (too well fed as my scale sometimes notes) and never gone without, but for some reason I have this anxiety that if I eat it all, I can’t get it again. Maybe it happened when I started [...]
Last Wednesday was the first day of Spring. Here in Brooklyn, unless you double checked the calendar, you’d never know. I swear in the past few days it’s actually gotten colder. During a trip to the Union Square Greenmarket on Friday, I saw one farmer selling buckets of tulips and it gave me hope. At [...]
There are some recipes you come back to, month after month, year after year. You’ve perfected them, they are comforting and homey or sometimes just plain easy. But for whatever reason, they may somehow fall out of that regular recipe rotation. You might get sick of them. When I was a child, we had pancakes [...]
I know what you’re thinking. Your read the title and automatically interpret one word–FATTENING. Well you’re wrong. There isn’t an ounce of cream in the stuff. Cheese, yes, but not an overwhelming amount. Mostly healthy veggies, milk and a dash of Parmesan. I made this recipe as part of my “let’s make Brussels Sprouts a [...]
By now you should be very familiar with Smitten Kitchen and her glorious Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes. If not, you may be living under a rock or are not seeking enough creative ways to get your daily servings of booze. Both are unacceptable. I was first introduced to Smitten Kitchen and her boozy cupcakes at [...]
St. Patrick’s Day causes a frenzy of leprechauns, shamrocks, green beer and everything Irish people can get their hands on. I’ve lived in the same building for almost 7 years and while I don’t know everyone, I don’t think we have any Irish, yet I can the scent of corned beef and cabbage is already [...]
I’m not Irish, not in the littlest bit. A pure bred Polish girl is what you’re looking at. But when my mom remarried over a decade ago, she chose an Irishman, with roots from Northern Ireland, just outside Belfast. I met his family for 5 minutes when they came for the wedding in 2001. When [...]
I’m not usually one to judge, but sometimes there are recipes SO EASY that people don’t even think to try. It drives me crazy! So today, I’m going to be a bit judgy. If you’ve never made your own croutons, and don’t do so regularly, well, I might think a little less of you. And [...]
How do you eat your chickpeas? Most likely it’s in hummus. If you’re really fancy, you might roast them with a little curry or chili powder. But aside from that, really when do you have chickpeas as a feature ingredient of a meal? I keep dried chickpeas in my collection of mason jar beans and [...]
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of dining at RoCCA, a quaint Italian restaurant in Glen Rock, NJ. After devouring my meal, practically licking the plate, I was sold that this was the new “it” restaurant. You can imagine my surprise when I later learned it has been around for almost 9 years. [...]
I’ve already admitted to cheating the locavore thing with a few bananas a week. It’s just so easy to grab on the go and really fills me up. If I have a bagel with cream cheese in the morning I’m usually not hungry again until mid afternoon. Somehow a tiny banana has a very similar [...]
When you tell someone you’re having sirloin with a port reduction sauce, it sounds fancy, and something you shouldn’t attempt on a weekday night. Yes there are meals that you slave over for hours, days sometimes, and serve to a small dinner party. Complements fly, you graciously accept them responding with things like, “oh it [...]
Last Friday was particularly cold and grey. It had been a long week and I didn’t have much intention of doing anything besides writing a bit and cuddling up with a good book. Around 3pm the intercom buzzed announcing the postman was here with a package. Package? I didn’t remember ordering anything (an uncomfortable withdrawal [...]
Last month I was finally able to attend my first BK Swappers’s event. I learned about BK Swappers last fall from my friend who blogs over at Becoming Brooklyn. But Fall was busy, and then came Christmas…finally when BK Swappers announced their January meetup, I RSVPed immediately. Then proceeded to panic for the next two [...]
One of my fall habits has been to pick up a butternut squash (or two) with every trip to the Farmer’s Market. A trip every week, or even every other week over the course of several months equals a whole lot of squash. I’m great at bringing it home, roasting it, pureeing it and freezing [...]
Sure the title’s a mouthful, but you can’t say every one of those words doesn’t make your mouth water. Well, maybe the white part but it is quickly followed by chocolate and cookies. Not that awful. Another recipe I put together for my foodie penpal this month. She can only eat white chocolate because milk [...]
No title could ever be more true. Life IS better with chocolate. Lot’s of it. Dark especially. There was a point in my life when any old chocolate would do the trick and dark chocolate was a gourmet treat. But I’d like to think my palate was always pretty advanced. I was probably about 6 [...]
First I have to apologize for the lack of step by step photos of this recipe. I had no idea it would turn out as good as it did and I was pretty jaded going into the recipe preparation. The recipe was from of my long owned cookbooks, Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Recipes for [...]
The last time I worked with the Bay Ridge Food Coop’s distribution, I was stocking the produce and made an off comment that I didn’t like cabbage. I was working with two other members and both their heads turned. “How can you not like cabbage?…It’s so healthy?…I love cabbage…I guess you’re not very Eastern European” [...]
My foodie penpal (who’s name I will NOT reveal yet) this month can’t eat any type of chocolate besides white because it gives her horrible headaches. I was both horrified and heart broken when I learned of her misfortune. I’m not a fan of white chocolate at all, so for me a diagnosis like that [...]
Success! The nontraditional heart and chocolate Valentines Dinner was a success! If you happened to be seated at our dinner table, and didn’t know you would be eating heart, you probably wouldn’t be any the wiser. Beef heart (at least went slow cooked and smothered with mole sauce) tastes a lot like tender steak, think [...]
When I think of Valentine’s Day, like most people thoughts of hearts and chocolate flood my brain. While I like to think of myself as a romantic, I tend to lean more towards reality. And sometimes my sweet gestures might come with a bit of my sarcasm. Like Valentine’s Dinner. When we ordered our quarter [...]
I was a bit sad that my Foodie Penpal this month was a reader so I didn’t really get to read about her reaction to the goods I sent her. Sure, she sent me a very sweet thank you, but it’s just not the same as reading a public thank you full of pictures and [...]
After my experiment with gourmet sea salt, and past experiences with infusing alcohols, olive oil was the next logical step. At least to me. I love when Italian restaurants line their shelves with huge bottles of olive oil filled with floating peppers, sun dried tomatoes, herbs and spices. Without fail you can walk into some [...]
Be honest. You go to fancy places like Dean & Deluca or William Sonoma or [enter fancy grocery store here] and ogle their gourmet products. Chili infused olive oil, black truffle oil, lavender sea salt. Sometimes you’re even crazy enough to shell out the big bucks for a thimble sized bottle of the good stuff. [...]
It might have warmed up outside (a bit) but my apartment is still cold as ever, a drastic change from our last place. We used to live across the hall in the same building in a one bedroom apartment. I mean, literally right across the hall. Open our door and our old apartment is right [...]
