Unsuccessful Turkey Day

For Thanksgiving, instead of going home to sunny California, I went to Boston and stayed with my cousin and her husband and her 4 month baby. Being my cousin (Stella) and her husband (Joseph's) first Thanksgiving in the East Coast, all three of us did not know that the entire city of Boston basically closes, including the grocery store. In California, all of the markets open on Thanksgiving day until mid-afternoon. The possibility that the markets of Boston would be closed all day on Thanksgiving did not even occur to us, so we waited until the morning of and decided to take a nice walk to the market, seeing an empty plaza. Not surprisingly, the only market that was open was H Mart, a Korean market. Ultimately we had to settle for a Korean Thanksgiving dinner. The dishes I helped Stella make were: Dduk Kalbi, Jap-chae, bacon asparagus rolls, mi-yuk gook, kimchi jjeem, brocolli salad, and shrimp and squid fry.

Dduk kalbi is beef that is mashed/ground up. The beef is then marinated with soy sauce and sugar. The one I ate had pine nuts and walnuts inside as well. The beef is rolled into small bite size balls and then covered with flour. After you must fry it and cook it until the meat is cooked. Then putting it in the oven will make the beef more crispier.

Jap-chae is a noodle dish made with sweet potatoe noodles called dangmyeon. You can add carrots, spinach, beef, peppers, and basically almost any type of vegetable you want. You have to first stir fry all of the vegetables and make sure if you add beef it is all thoroughly cooked. The noodles must be cooked separately and then strained. The noodles are initially clear but through soy sauce and sugar, it turns brownish. Then all you have to do is combine the ingredients and noodles together.

Lastly kimchee jjeem is a Korean dish including Korea's famous pickled cabbage, kimchee. Kimchee is simmered for a very long time. In the bottom of the pot, pork ribs are placed and a lot of kimchee is placed on top. After adding sugar and some soy sauce, all you need to do is simmer for a very long time.

I was still glad I got to have a lot of Korean food that I can't have at Smith. I think it was still a successful feast!

Cookies and Milk? Just Use Washburn's Equation!

Photo Credit: evergraphics.com

We’ve all experienced it. The failed cookie dunk. You submerge your biscuit just a little too long, and away it crumbles into the milk before you can get it into your mouth. So there you sit sadly, your last cookie a gunky mess at the bottom of your glass. How can we prevent such tragedies in the future? According to researchers (I’m not making this up), we should rely on Washburn’s equation, L²=γDt/4η, which relates capillary flow in porous substances (like cookies).

Okay, they don’t really expect us to use this equation, but you get the point. You can read the original story from Wired magazine here (it’s down about two-fifths of the page– "Dunk a Cookie in Milk"). The scientific experts proclaimed that a cookie should be submerged for 3.5 to 5 seconds for optimal cookie + milk experience; this way, the cookie will be soft but won’t dissolve into the liquid. Check out the original story to see what the experts say is the best position to hold your cookie in. It sounds a bit too technical for me, but I think I’ll consider the suggestion for optimal dunking time– even though I think this also depends on the type of cookie you’re dunking. It’s entertaining to see what science says about such trivial things like your bedtime snack!

Hot Pockets!

Today Jen mentioned that her family eats Amy's Kitchen. I was reminded of that exciting day when my parents let me buy one of Amy's Spinach Pizzas in a Pocket, (an organic version of HotPockets). I immediately thought of this comedian, Jim Gaffigan, who has a routine about Hot Pockets and I planned to post a link to it on our blog.

Later, when I went to YouTube to find the video, I was surprised that, when I typed his name into the search box, the first two suggestions to pop-up were routines about food. Jim Gaffigan has routines about escalators, bowling, camping, beds, etc. But the two most popular are about food, specifically HotPockets and Bacon. I then learned that he also has routines about cake, bologna and salad.

This intrigued me, so I began to look for other comedy sketches about food and was overwhelmed by how many there were (see links below).

What does this say about our culture? We eat food, talk about food, think about food, and worry about its nutritional, political and environmental aspects. We are concerned with the quality and sources of our food. Many of our holidays revolve around food, and, apparently, food is comedic material. I think it is safe to say that we are food-obsessed.

Check out these routines:

Jim Gaffigan: Hot Pocket

Cake

Cinnabon

The Waffle House

Bologna

Salad

Dunken Donuts

Vegetarianism

Lewis Black: Starbucks

Brian Regan: Foods and Labels

Pop Tarts

Peanut Butter & Jelly and Donut Lady

Monty Python: Cheese Shop

Self-Defense against Fruit

Portlandia: Is it Local?

Pragmatic Flourless Chocolate Cake

This past thanksgiving I spent my time feeling grateful for the simple pleasures of country living. Having joined my friend Liz, who lives in a super rural town in northern New Hampshire, I experienced the rare joy of living with barely any electricity, free of my daily duties to my cell-phone and computer. My activities reminded me of what it may have been like to live in a rural township say fifty years ago: days and nights consisted of the basics, cooking on an old fashioned wood stove, sewing, reading, and sharing family stories.

By far, my favorite thanksgiving dish was dessert—I’ve got a nasty sweet tooth. Liz’s mom made an effortlessly rich, slightly salted dessert titled “Pragmatic Flourless (Liz has a gluten intolerance) Chocolate Cake.” I liked it so much that I asked for the recipe and she gladly jotted it down straight from memory. I was startled to find that like MFK Fisher’s description of Bertie, whose unique sense of cooking could never fully translate to others, Liz’s mom had an equally innate wisdom about baking that made her methods difficult to trace and comprehend. As an unskilled, overly cautious baker, I found her “common sense” cake instructions to be incredibly cryptic. Still, noting my confusion, she made many amendments to her recipe, allowing for different approaches and alterations. The funniest part of her recipe is her own set of instructions, which she seems to often not follow.

I will copy the recipe just as she did for me:

Pragmatic Flourless Chocolate Cake:

12 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips or bar, chopped (or whatever you have)

1 C + 1 T butter in chunks (or ghee—no milk solids)

1¼ C sugar

6 eggs (I use brown, I usually use 5 eggs depending on amount of other ingredients)

1 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1 T milk

1 T honey (or maple/date syrup)

A smidgen of vanilla extract (or almond whiskey/coffee)

A sprinkling of course salt (or hot pepper, or nutmeg)

Preheat oven 375

Spray 9” springform pan

Line bottom with circle of parchment, spray paper too (or oil what you have, line whole thing with oil and butter)

2/3 of choc (8 oz.) + 1 C butter in saucepan on med low heat (or in microwave)

Stir, melt, blend— Remove from heat

Add sugar, mix well

Add eggs, 1 @ a time, whisk/fork

Sift in cocoa, stir till blended to appropriate state (Although, I always forget to sift)

Pour in pan, bake 35-40 min

Until risen, with thin crust, just firm in center

Cool 10 min, invert on plate, remove pan, cool completed

Chocolate Glaze:

Melt 4 oz chocolate

3 T butter, stir until smooth, add milk, honey, vanilla, cool slightly

When cake has cooled, pour this glaze on center, smooth on top and sides

Chill uncovered (I always cover because I want it to get a bit soggier) 30-60 min before serving

Butternut Coconut Rice

It was so nice to have almost a week off to relax and spend time with some Smith friends who accompanied me to the Cape for five days. What we were the most excited for, though? The food, of course! We were looking forward to a break from dining hall, mass-produced food. My mom made a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, but understandably, she asked us to be in charge of Friday's dinner so she could relax. I was careful to not get any spices on my library copy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's vegan cookbook, Appetite for Reduction, and I decided on Butternut Coconut Rice as one of our entrées. Now, the focus of the book is vegan recipes that are below 400 calories a serving, and each recipe lists the nutritional stats of each. While that can be triggering for people like me in recovery from an eating disorder, I was able to look beyond that information and pick a recipe that just sounded delicious.

And it was! This was the first time I really felt in charge in the kitchen. I made sure to read the directions and not just the ingredients to make sure the recipe was doable and feasible.

Because I don't have the book on me, I'm borrowing The Veg Way's adaptation of it (it's basically the same), and my notes added are marked with an asterisk.

• 1 c brown basmati rice
• 2 c water
• pinch of salt
• 2 lbs butternut squash (*I had some already cooked butternut squash from Thanksgiving-recycle!)
• 2 tsp sesame oil (*I used olive because we didn't have sesame)
• 1 c sliced shallot (*didn't have)
• 1 tbl minced fresh ginger
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 c light coconut milk
• 1/4-1/2 c veg broth (*We ran out of veggie broth so you can just use water if needed)
• 1 tbl freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions for Cooking:

1. Cook rice (add rice, water and pinch of salt) (*it usually takes about 45 minutes)
2. Preheat oven to 400, bake squash for about 45 minutes (*or use any leftovers!)
3. When squash is cool to handle, preheat a large skillet over med-high heat. Sauté shallot in the oil for about 7 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, lime zest, red pepper flakes and salt, saute for 2 minutes, turn heat to low
4. Scoop the flesh out of the squash into the pan, add the coconut milk. Use a potato masher (fork, what have you) and mash into a creamy consistency. Add rice and stir well. Add 1/4 c veg broth (or water) and mix well. You can add up to another 1/4 c of brother to get a creamier consistency if you want. Add lime juice, salt if needed and enjoy! (*Just keep adding as much rice as you want if you want it thicker. I also added a handful or two of canned chickpeas for more body. You can really do anything here)

Sure, the dish looked like baby food, but it was so good. When plant-based dishes are done right, even carnivores can dig them. The dish, with root vegetables and rice, felt very grounding and soothing after a long, hard semester.

Festive Ice Cream for the Thanksgiving Season

Hey all,

Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, there are still three days left in which to enjoy one of the most well-represented forms of festive consumer culture: the seasonal limited edition ice cream selection.

This year, over a dozen brands of ice cream have contributed to the November list for limited edition ice cream flavors. These include, but are not limited to:

Turkey Hill: Presenting, "Turkey Day" a concoction of chocolate ice cream with REAL BITS OF TURKEY covered in dark chocolate and then blended with sweet potato, chocholate fudge, and cranberry sauce. No, I am not making this up. You want an all in one meal that goes heavy on the chocolate side? Well look no further than this bad boy.

Graeter: Presenting, "Pumpkin Pie" a fairly tame version of the real holiday dessert with bits of pumpkin pie chunks though out the quart container.

Dreyers: Presenting, "Apple Pie" close to the Graeter take on Pumpkin Pie, this conglomeration infuses an apple cinnimon base flavor over chunks of apple crust and pie filling mixed in through out its body. Don't forget the whipped cream!

Ben & Jerry's: Presenting, "Pumkin Cheesecake" full of the spice and nutmeg of any traditional pumpkin pie, but with the added twist of tangy cheesecake with the strong after taste of cream cheese. On top of that, a GRAHM CRAKER SWIRL! Gota hand it to Ben and Jerry, they sure know how to mix up the traditional pumpkin ice cream experience.

My Favorite Thanksgiving Dish- Cranberry Sauce

I spent my days with my mom and dad in Sandisfield, Massachusetts where we had a wonderful vacation. For Thanksgiving, my parents and I cooked a chicken, pan fried potatoes, oven baked sweet potatoes, broccoli, stuffing, apple pie, and of course my favorite dish of all- homemade cranberry sauce. I look forward to Thanksgiving every year because this is when my mom makes her first batch of cranberry sauce. This sauce can be sweet or bitter depending on much honey, brown sugar, or maple syrup is added. I like it tangy with just little sweetness. This sauce goes great with anything especially with the Thanksgiving stuffing. Since I love it so much, I made a batch with my mom last night so now I can have a nice snack after dinner. Below is the recipe of my mom's cranberry sauce:

Spiced Apple Cranberry Sauce

12 ounce bag of cranberries
1 diced granny smith apple
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 cup of water
2 to 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/2 cup of orange juice
2 teaspoon of grated orange rine
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a covered saucepan and cook until cranberries are open. You can tell the cranberries are ready when you hear a popping noise because the cranberries are bursting open. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is thick. Transfer to a bowl and let the cranberry sauce cool in the refrigerator or outside.

Photo from: Whelan, Pat. "Cranberry Sauce Recipe." Pat Whelan Butcher. 28 Sept. 2010. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. .

Back to Smith!

After over-indulging for the past week, it was hard to leave home with the understanding that I would also be leaving behind my mom's home-cooking and the Thanksgiving leftovers. Yesterday I compiled a list of dorm necessities that I could buy before coming back. Among them included a single food that I've become somewhat obsessed with since coming to Smith. They look like this:



Babybels have always been a favorite of mine, but since coming here they've been the only refrigerated snack I've had. The problem with this lies in the fact that I don't have a fridge in my dorm...so, I've been mooching for the past semester of off my neighbor who always has the little cheeses in her dorm. It got to the point a few weeks ago where my friend wasn't home, but I still sneaked into her room to steal a Babybel. Feeling guilty, I soon after texted her. And left her a little I.O.U post-it.

So, since my mom was taking me shopping, I thought it would be a good idea to make up for the little cheeses I had "borrowed". I bought my friend 3 bags... 2 for her, one for me. Yum.

Deep Fried Turkey

Although my Thanksgiving seems like the traditional celebration with tons of family coming in sitting around a nicely decorated table eating your typical thanksgiving food, my uncle deep fries our turkey on my front porch to make our thanksgiving just a bit more special. Even though I did not eat the turkey myself, I watched and documented the whole

process. It started of with taking out the giblets, for stuffing, and preparing it for the the deep frier. Then about 3 hours before we were going to sit down to start our feast he put it in the deep frier, checking up on it every once in a while. Hours late

r he took it out, used the electric knife to cut it and soon after he was going around serving the turkey to the family!

(picture goes bottom to top...I could not adjust them right)

A Thanksgiving Tradition

The post-Thanksgiving nap is as central to a successful Thanksgiving as turkey and apple pie. Sleepiness promptly sets in as everyone is taking his or her last bites of dessert. Every year, it’s the same rush of warm drowsiness that slows conversation and signals the end of the meal. It’s not a coincidence that this happens each year; there is actually a scientific explanation! Turkey contains an amino acid called tryptophan, which helps your body produce serotonin. Serotonin is a “calming agent” that induces drowsiness. In addition, the average Thanksgiving meal contains 3,000 calories! So it's no wonder that our bodies' response is to shut down. I hope you all had wonderful meals this Thanksgiving followed by a much deserved rest.

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question519.htm

Not So Thanksgiving

When I think of Thanksgiving I think of a house full of people, awkward dinner conversations, and a day long event of cooking and eating. For my family, Thanksgiving isn't exactly like this. We have a small family and no one is confident enough in their cooking skills to tackle Thanksgiving dishes. We have been fortunate enough to go to a club ever year where they cook your turkey and all the sides for you. This year, to my surprise, my mother announced we would be having Thanksgiving at home. I was so excited! I pictured the turkey cooking in the oven for hours, the house smelling great, and being in the kitchen all day. This excitement was short lived. Our neighbors down the street happened to be having a small Thanksgiving dinner as well. My neighbors also happen to be very good entertainers and cooks and my mom had the genius idea of combining forces. So what did we make for Thanksgiving? Mac and cheese. Everything else was provided by the other family. It was a great meal and I left completely stuffed. But still, things felt off. I came home to a house that didn't smell like Thanksgiving nor was my fridge full of leftovers. My family spent the morning exercising and eating very little to prepare their stomachs for the big meal ahead. Thanksgiving doesn't mean much here and the more I think about it the more I wonder whether this is because my family doesn't really engage in all the Thanksgiving cooking. Everyone was so busy playing tennis or going for walks that no one even stayed in to watch the Macy's Day Parade! Though I left my neighbors house with a full stomach I couldn't help but have some empty feelings.

Food Coma

After our national eating extravaganza, it was inevitable that the following days would be spent in our PJs, eating leftovers and playing boardgames by the fireplace. Oh, and having pumpkin pie for breakfast!

Here is a dish which I have been making for years. It may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, but it sure tastes good.

Leftover Sandwich

Ingredients:

1. A dinner roll, sliced in half, (horizontally)

2. Left-over turkey, (in pieces no longer than the dinner roll's diameter)

3. Cranberry sauce

4. Gravy

In a pot heat up the gravy with the turkey pieces. Toast the rolls.

To assemble: spread cranberry sauce on each half-roll, then place the gravy-coated turkey slices on the bottom half.

Put the other half-roll on top, eat and enjoy!

Cooking with What You've Got

Photo Credit: myfridgefood.com

This weekend I came across a new food website called My Fridge Food. I'm not sure whether it was in this class that someone spoke about this concept, but I remember hearing it from someone else: the idea is that you check off the things you have in your kitchen and the site will provide you with recipes that use only those ingredients, so you can prepare a meal without having to go out and buy more. The home page proudly proclaims that MFF is for those "who look into a freshly stocked fridge and end up eating string cheese because we don't know what to do with the rest." My, they know me so well!

Although I haven't tried using any of the recipes so far (there wasn't really any need over Thanksgiving), I tested out the search engine by checking off a few of the things that are always stocked in my kitchen at home: beans, butter, eggs, flour, honey, ketchup, mayonnaise, pasta noodles, salt and pepper, milk, peppers, rice, shortening/oil, sugar, tomatoes, tuna, vegetables, and vinegar. The resulting list of recipes was endless. I could filter the results by maximum calories, category (breakfast, entrée, soup, etc.), and group (CollegeCorner, Diabetic, Vegetarian, etc.). Each recipe (all of which are provided by site users) listed the time needed to make the dish as well as basic nutritional information. Although some recipes called for more ingredients than what I checked off at the beginning, they bolded the missing ingredients so it's easier to see if you can still make it.

When I shortened my fridge list to seven dorm room staples, the recipe list was still endless, and most recipes sounded delicious. The next time I find myself staring helplessly into a fully stocked fridge and reaching for the potato chips, I'll be sure to find a new recipe on this site!

Tipe!

Browsing through travel photos from the chef of Tartine* in San Francisco, I was struck by this dish pictured below.

Reading its description, I learned that the main ingredient was non-other than our old friend, Tripe!

Who knew tripe could look so appetizing!

The tripe is grilled and served with fennel, cabbage and coriander.

*Subject of a future post -- best bakery!

What they eat in a week

A friend of mine just posted a link to a webpage called "What They Eat in a Week."  It's in French, but Google Translate will do a nice job, if you open it in Chrome.

I was especially struck by the huge line-up of Coke bottles along the back of the Mexican family's display.  Otherwise things are pretty healthy looking, but that Coke sits back there like a warning. 

Cauliflower Lovin

This year, we're hosting our family for Thanksgiving. This means my house will be the only house cooking; the favorite meals of my mom, dad, brother and me will be the ones that make this year's menu. With this, my mom had us pick one or two of our all times favorites. I've been struggling all week with this, as Thanksgiving for me is just a haze of delicious food and a little too much wine.

It occurred to me yesterday my all time favorite food, not meal, is my mom's roasted cauliflower. It's delicious- soft yet crisp on the edges, salty, and lightly spiced. I probably could eat an entire tray for Thanksgiving and be satisfied. The best part is that they take little effort to prepare.

Here's (roughly) my mom's recipe, from memory:

Ingredients:

1 medium cauliflower head, cut into mouth-able pieces (about one inch)

Enough extra-virgin olive oil to lightly cover the cauliflower pieces

1/2 teaspoon, or so, of salt

" " pepper

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

(optional: 1/4 teaspoon red pepper seeds finely chopped)

Preheat oven to 450º F.

Toss the chopped cauliflower in a large bowl with the other ingredients.

Place into a large, shallow baking pan and roast, stirring/turning occasionally for 20-30 minutes, depending on your preference for crispiness (for me, the crispier the better).

This will be the end product, and what will be my contribution to the feast this Thursday.

Being Julia

Julia Child had something special, some quality that captured American audiences, and made them think "sure, French cooking in the home kitchen, that's doable." Maybe it was her height, her cooing accent, her boisterous laugh, or her ability to make boning a chicken look like an easy task. Or maybe it was her determined, willful personality; I'm not at all surprised that she was a Smithie. After the movie Julie & Julia came out, women all around the country, myself included, went through a Julia Child craze: whipping out the boeuf bourguignon, trying to poach an egg, and saying things like "you can never have tooo much buttaaah!!"

My favorite Julia story goes like this: It was my eighteenth birthday, and my mother spiritedly presented her special gift to me, a first edition of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." It was worn and a bit stained, and had a solid feeling to it, like maybe Julia's magic was bestowed in those pages, waiting to be unleashed. There is a special wisdom that cookbooks hold, in their grease-spotted pages; they've been there with you through the good times and the bad, watched your culinary dreams soar and plunge. It's something that try thought they may, internet recipes can't live up to.

After reading through its pages over and over again, my mother and I decided to start with something simple: Crêpes Suzette. My mom knows how to make a killer crêpe, but I wanted to try it Julia's way, just to see. Despite my mother's protests, I insisted that we separate the yolks from the whites, like the recipe called for. Julia's word was law. It felt as if any alteration to the recipe would be disservice to her memory. However, my resolve started to slip when I realized some of the astringent details in Julia's recipe e.g. let the crêpe batter sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

The end product was a rich, buttery plate that we couldn't keep ourselves from gobbling down right away, so we didn't set them on fire, kind of defeating the whole purpose, since that is one of the defining features of Crêpe Suzette. But we were hungry, and when it comes to recipes, unless you want to tear your hair out, most of the time you just need to treat them like guidelines. Order them in a restaurant to get the kind of flair that setting them on fire provides, yes, but doing it at home on a Sunday morning? No. We de-thawed some of summer's frozen strawberries to finish the dish off, and whalla! Even though our end product probably didn't resemble too closely Julia's, it was she who brought us together in experimenting over a new dish. Otherwise it would have just been my mom whipping up her usual (delicious) crêpes, rather than the two of us fussing over how to do it right, then laughing about how silly the whole process was while we licked our orangey-buttery fingers.

Here follows the recipe: try at your own risk!

crêpes:
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
3 egg yolks
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
3 Tbs. orange liquer, rum or brandy
1 cup of flour
5 Tbs. melted butter

Place ingredients in a food processor in the order they are listed. Cover and blend at top speed for 1 minute. If bits of flour adhere to sides of jar, dislodge with a rubber scraper and blend 3 seconds more. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight (ha!).

orange butter:
1/2 cup sugar
peel of one orange
2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter
1/2 cup orange juice
3 Tbs. orange liquer
(be warned, this recipe makes enough butter to last you a very, very long time)

Blend together, until creamy. Put it in a chafing dish, and heat until bubbling. Proceed to cook your crêpes and then dip both sides in the orange butter. Fold and sprinkle with sugar. Next comes the fire part: Pour more liquer over them and then avert your face while you ignite the liqeur with a lighted match. Shake the chafing dish gently back and forth while spooning the flaming liqeur over the crepes until the fire dies down... or you could just stop with the sprinkling of sugar (powdered if its going to be decorative). Add fresh fruit if desired.

♥ spiced apple cider

This recipe is so yummy! You should all try this out during thanksgiving :)
It'll be a perfect drink/dessert when you chit chat with your friends and family.
All you need is four to five cups of apple juice, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon,
1/4 teapoon nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, and apple slices for decoration.
3 ounces of spiced rum is optional!
In a small pot heat the apple juice, spices and rum (if using)
over low/medium heat. Stir often while the mixture is heating
so the spices will blend into the juice (you don't want any spice clumps).
Once it's hot pour into two mugs and garnish with apple slices and
cinnamon sticks. Serve warm :)
One thing I really like about this recipe is that you don't have to add sugar. enjoy!

Pyramid Audacious Apricot Ale

This past summer I went up to Vancouver with my best friend for the weekend. After checking into our hostel we went out in search of some hot food and ended up at a place called Rogue.

My friend likes wine, whereas I prefer a good beer. I have grown used to the endless selections of fine wines offered at restaurants, accompanied by a small selection of local drafts. Rogue's drink menu consisted of three pages titled: "Taps...", "More Taps...", "And...More Taps..." and "Even More Taps...." Located in the right corner of the page titled "Even More Taps..." and below the "Or Grab A..." was a short section titled "Don't Care Wines" with a line which read:

red or white... that's all you need to know

Then a section titled "I Do Care Wines"

"many other "you care" wines are available, ask your server for our list".

This was the place for me! Each of their brews was accompanied by tasting notes, brewing location and a short quote. Some of the choices were:

Central Raspberry Wheat Ale, Surrey, BC

"The easiest brewery on our list to visit....only 19s stops away on the skytrain...say hi to Gary for us"

Tasting Notes:

infused with raspberries from the fraser valley, this wheat ale is crisp and clean with a soubtle fruitiness.

$5.75 sleeve/ 18.25 pitcher

Crannog Backhand of God Stout, Sorrento, BC

"Ever felt the back hand of god?...it has a coffee cocoa presence."

Tasting Notes:

Lean in body & powerful in flavor, back hand of god stout has won three consumers' choice awards. This dry stout is easy to drink, rich and inviting. It is extraordinarily smooth & mildly hopped with a distinct coffee & chocolate presence.

$6.00 sleeve/ $19.25 pitcher

Granville Island Lager, Vancouver, BC

"The same clean, refreshing taste that put us on the map in '84 still makes this one a local favorite"

Tasting Notes:

Light and malty with hints of grassy hop aromas and a crisp hoppy bitterness, combining all-natural ingredients to produce its distinct hop flavour."

$5.50 sleeve/ $17.25 pitcher

Most of the brews were from Canada, but there were a few from California, Washington, Oregon, England, Ireland, Belgium and Scotland. I was a little overwhelmed by their extensive selection of award winning brews, so I asked the waiter for assistance. He directed me to a wheat beer from Seattle by a company called Pyramid: "Apricot Audacious Ale". According to the menu: pyramids = cool, apricots = tasty. Pyramids + apricots = audacious.

Tasting Notes:

"boldly combines the taste & aroma of fresh apricot with the smooth finish of wheat malt. Its unfiltered character & fruit flavor make it an ale worth savoring." It was $6.75 a sleeve. I was intrigued and love apricots so decided to give it a try."

The color was just amazing: an orange-gold. The restaurant was darkly lit, but the drink seemed to glow. It was cloudy and smelled strongly of yeast and apricots. I couldn't wait to taste it. The initial bitterness melted away to reveal a complex fruity flavor which permeated my mouth. It was just slightly carbonated and the apricot taste lingered. It was fantastic, I kept wanting to take another sip so that I could experience the burst of apricot.

Although I tend not to like wheat beers, this was something I would order again (and did). I would like to try it with some sausages cooked with apples and served with rustic bread, and maybe some stone-ground or spicy mustard. It went well with my chicken salad, (but we were very hungry and not very picky).

Definitely an ale for people who like sweet, wheat beers, but I would recommend ordering on tap.

Websites:

Pyramid Breweries

Rogue Kitchen and Wetbar

Homemade Broccoli and Cauliflower Pasta Recipe

Given that I live in Tenney, the small vegetarian co-op on campus, I’m accustomed to cooking dinner at least once a week for the other members of my house. Of course, I prefer this style of home cooked meals to the dining hall bulk dinners, but cooking for a co-op is quite different from the concept of cooking for say a group of friends. Living in a house of 14 requires one to recognize that serving size in recipes must always be altered to adjust for the number of mouths to feed. Also, one must be conscious of cooking on a budget and trying to make use of all the available house ingredients. However, I think this style of living has made me more confident in the kitchen, as I have come to understand that cooking should be less reliant on exact guidelines and measurements, and more reliant on the importance of consistency and flavor.

Last Tuesday I decided to make a pasta dish with sautéed cauliflower and broccoli. I looked up a Sicilian cooking blog online in order to give me a rough idea of what ingredients I would need to balance out my desired flavors for the dish. While the recipe had a mixture of great savory seasonings, I felt that it might be even better with a hint of sweet, such as the bulk raisins that nobody seems to want to finish. I ended up creating my own concept of serving size and ingredients and I am happy to report that my entire house found the dish to be a success.

If I were to recreate my recipe, it would probably resemble one featured in an old fashioned cookbook, calling for the reader to make their own interpretation of what say a dab, pinch, or smidgen might represent.

Ingredients:

A couple bunches of broccoli, trimmed and cut into desired sizes

A few heads of cauliflower, core removed and cut as desired

Some white onions, sliced into thin pieces

Many cloves garlic (Tenney House loves garlic!), finely chopped

A generous pinch of saffron

A generous dab of pepper flakes and salt

A smidgen of fresh rosemary

A truck load of
olive oil (not really, but a lot)

A bunch of golden and red raisins, so that each bite will contain an equal amount of at least the main ingredients of pasta, broccoli, cauliflower, and raisins.

A couple handfuls of walnuts and almonds, sliced if desired

Freshly grated Parmesan

Two large bags of pasta, some gluten-free options available

Cooking:

Slice the broccoli stems into desired sizes. Cut cauliflower into similar sized pieces as the broccoli. Heat a large heavy saute pan or skillet over moderate heat. Pour in a generous amount of olive oil, then add cauliflower and broccoli to same pan. Add raisins throughout, let simmer and allow heat to drain the sugar into other savory ingredients. Then add garlic and onions (always later so as not burn but caramelize with sugary raisins). Stir-fry until all items in the veggie dish are tender and browned in spots, adding more oil if needed and seasonings for taste. Simultaneously, cook pasta and drain. Then add stir-fry to pasta and serve.

Around the World in 80 Meals

The Ukita family of Kodaira City, Japan surrounded by the food they eat in one week.

Photo Credit: time.com

I remember looking at this photo essay from TIME magazine last year, but it's stuck in my head since then. The idea is intriguing– to photograph what families in various countries eat in one week and see how it all compares. These images and many more are compiled in Hungry Planet, a book by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio.

It's surprising to see that other nationalities don't eat as healthily as we assume– some seem to eat just as much junk food, if not more, as the typical American. But what's by far the most surprising is how much money it costs for a week's supply of food in certain countries– for example, the Chadian family, though clocking in at six members, spends only $1.23 on food each week. Of course, we have to consider that much less food in rural Africa comes from the supermarket than does food in America or other Western countries. In Ecuador, a family with seven children gets by on $31.55 a week for food; meanwhile, a family of four in Germany spends $500.07 for their meals. Obviously differences in commercial food prices play a large part in these disparities, but it's important to point out nonetheless.

How would your family compare to those photographed, both the foreign and the American? I think I would be surprised at what I'd find if I actually made a food log of my family's meals for a week and took a picture of it all. I just hope that fruits and vegetables would outnumber the processed foods! If you find this photo essay interesting, you can look at part II and part III of this "What the World Eats" feature.

A few weeks ago, I took my first trip of the year to Northampton’s Green Bean. It has been a favorite since my first year in school, but I only let myself indulge in a big, expensive brunch on special occasions. Those of you who have been there can attest to the cozy interior, the ever pleasant and helpful wait staff, and the delicious and filling brunch menu. The place is beautifully decorated as well. All of these factors contribute to a fantastic experience, but what really sets the Green Bean apart from other brunch places in Northampton is the coffee.

When you first enter the Green Bean, you almost always have to wait for a table, but you are welcome to walk up to the coffee counter and pour yourself a cup to sip while you wait. The eclectic coffee bar features a brass, tree shaped stand on which a variety of old mugs hang. Pick your favorite mug and chose between either regular or decaf coffee, which sit in simple coffee urns on the counter.

Also, feel free to head back and get more during your meal! The first time I drank coffee at the Green Bean, I had no expectations, but I was so surprised at how rich and flavorful the coffee was. Who would have thought that such quality could be stored in the same coffee urns one usually finds in college cafeterias? I’m such a fan; it’s that cup of coffee that really makes your trip to the Green Bean worthwhile.

Those New York City Food Adventures

Last week I spent the weekend in the City that Never Sleeps. I wish I could have stayed longer to try the millions of different restaurants, bakeries, cafes I saw on every bustling street. I had a couple meals in my friend's dining hall at NYU, but for the others, my friends and I ate out at three restaurants: Max Brenner, Le Pain Quotideon, and Shakeshack. Every single one served delicious food, but Max Brenner was by far the fanciest, most expensive treat of all. Although it does serve entrees, the restaurant is known for its chocolate pastries and desserts, especially the chocolate fondue. Among other pastries, pizza, and a salad, we ordered hot chocolate and three chocolate fondues: white chocolate, caramel, and milk chocolate, which came with a plate of fruit. It was so absolutely heavenly, I almost passed out from such rich flavor. If you haven't gone to Max Brenner, I strongly recommend it, even though it did do a fair amount of damage in our wallets once we saw the bill.

Of course, when fine dining pains us financially, we find comfort in a quick and easy solution for food: a Halal Food cart, many to be spotted on the corners of New York. The one dollar hot dogs didn't appeal to me, but a couple of my friends ordered the gyro, a Greek sandwich. The gyro consists of a pita bread filled with meat, usually lamb or pork, and tomatoes, onions, and a special chicken dressing. "Gyro" is probably the most mispronounced food, with many people calling it "jai-ro" or "gee-ro." I remember my mom once asked the man at a Gyro sandwich shop how to properly say it and he informed us that the correct pronunciation was "yee-ro" so I proudly imparted this fun fact to my friends who kept repeating that they would like a "jai-ro."

During the weekend, I set out to find the perfect red velvet cupcake. I had been craving one, and I figured why not try a red velvet cupcake in the Big Apple -- I was sure that there would be thousands of high end bakeries selling their elaborate pastries. I probably should have planned the location better, but when my friends stumbled upon this one pastry shop in Greenwich Village, they told me that it sold red velvet cupcakes here. I decided to buy one because most cupcakes I have had in my lifetime, even the Stop and Shop brand, weren't bad at all. Ha...Worst decision of my life. The topping on the cupcake was a tasteless whipped cream, not a sweet cream cheese that one usually finds on a red velvet. It was clearly a small private business and the only people occupying it was my friends. Maybe I should have judged the pastry shop better by the looks of it...

Next time I go back to the city, I am definitely going to find the great red velvet cupcake I dream of. The chocolate fondues, oven roasted tomato pizza, hard chocolate cake, gyros, gazpacho, smoked Atlantic salmon Tartine -- everything I ate that weekend met my high standards, even the cheap Hallal food and $1.50 pizza from Sam's. But I will never forget that first bite into the horrendous, vapid cupcake, which disappointed me tremendously. Learning from experience, I've already made a list of New York bakeries for the next visit! Where art thou, delicious red velvet cupcake?

The Pleasure of a Hot Cookie...

I was in 7^th grade when I first discovered “Hot Cookie.” Centered in the heart of San Francisco’s flamboyant Castro district, this bakery is truly one of a kind. When I first stumbled upon this gem, I had a completely skewed interpretation of its tagline.

It was a cold, rainy day in March and all I’d been craving was to treat myself to a glass of milk and a warm, homemade, chocolate-chip cookie. Riding my daily bus route, I suddenly saw a neon, hot red sign etching the phrase “Hot Cookie.” I simply could not ignore the inviting sign and immediately jumped off, knowing that this was the answer to my greatest desire of the week. However, upon entering, I found a different depiction of my ideal “hot cookie.” I should have known that “hot,” especially in the Castro district never refers to temperature… Instead, the featured “hot cookies” were gigantic, phallic decorated delicacies. To balance out the vast array of dark chocolate covered dicks and meaty macaroons, many milk containers resembled the shape of breasts and required you to squeeze them in order to pour yourself a glass.

I distinctly remember the guy behind the counter telling me than “in any other place ordering a penis (or two, or three) would result in an arrest by an undercover cop, but here at Hot Cookie, all that gets you is a chocolate covered baked good.” And heck, it was still as warm and tasty as I’d imagined. Truly, this is a one-time experience and so long as you're comfortable with your sexuality, I highly recommend checking out their goods; for either the aesthetics or the taste, they’re both bound to trigger some sort of satisfaction…

Sunday Brunch

This weekend I enjoyed what has been hailed as one of the greatest of college traditions: the Sunday Brunch. I'm not talking about dining hall brunch, oh no... I mean the Real Deal: greasy homefries, fluffy french toast, scrumptious omelets; whatever your tune, it is so much sweeter when enjoyed in a jam-packed diner with steel counter-tops and a fry cook calling out orders in the back. We set an ambitious date for ourselves of 9:30 on Sunday morning. As the deadline rolled around, we batted our eyes dimly at the blinking alarm clock, and sent a blurry-eyed text message postponing it until 10:30. Finally, we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and made our way to greet our fellow diners. It took another half an hour to rouse them from their cozy beds; some snuggling ensued. Finally, we made it to the diner. Time: 11:15 AM. Location: O'Rourke's Diner in Middletown, CT (oh yeah, I was visiting my friend at Wesleyan by the way). There were easily 20 people in the line ahead of us, and it wasn't moving at a breakneck pace, so we squatted on the pavement outside the diner and engaged in such mature activities as telephone and tying each others shoes together. We told riddles, we held dramatic readings from a book on the history of the Connecticut River (trust a Wesleyan student to bring his homework to brunch... breaking the cardinal rule of brunch, which is that one must postpone any thought of work for its duration), and we eyed the door hungrily. Just as we were about to start complaining, the matradee brought out a platter of home-made poundcake to pass around to the waiting guests. Brilliant timing. Slowly, over the course of the next half-hour, we inched toward the door, and before we knew it we were inside!

Brunch is in its very nature a slow-moving, lethargic activity. It is both too early and too late to be eating. Your mind is stuck in sleep-in mode, so you feel like it's early, even when it's fast-approaching noon. By the time we placed our orders we were starving, but the food arrived speedily, and with plenty of panache. My friend and I both placed orders for an omelet daringly named "Omelet of my dreams." Inside it was a creamy pesto of carmelized onions, gooey provolone cheese, and drizzled over top was a thick hollandaise sauce. It came with crumbly Irish brown bread and a satisfying heap of homefries. O'Rourke's has a reputation of serving up hearty, classic brunch food, but also offering a surprisingly gourmet range of specialty dishes. Other things on the menu included the house "duck-hash," an autumn themed pumpkin-bread french toast with spiced apples and ice cream, and the Beanie Baby combo, which included 1 pancake, 1 sausage, 1 egg and 1 Beanie Baby (hopefully served separately).

Overall it was a splendid meal that ended with our stomachs happily bloated, and our minds, finally fueled, beginning to race ahead toward the mountain of work that would be the rest of our day. But the burden of that work seemed somehow lighter seeing as we had enjoyed a few hours of unhurried, unworried company amongst friends.

Hungry Ghost Pizza

This weekend, I ordered Hungry Ghost pizza with some of my housemates. We decided to head over to Hungry Ghost from Dawes House and enjoy a wonderful meal. We brought two different types of pizza home: margherita and onion. It smelled great and fresh and when we opened the box we discovered that the pizza dough was oddly shaped. It did not look like a traditional circle pizza but looked more like an oval. This added character to the meal because it meant that the dough was fresh. Of course, the dough was the famous bread from Hungry Ghost! The margherita pizza was complied of tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil while the onion pizza had mozzarella, fontina, and caramelized onions. My friends said the margherita pizza was cold, but it still was tasty. I ate 3 onion slices with my HC and we both agreed that the bread was warm and moist. The cheese was fresh and the onions were fantastic. I felt completely satisfied and I would order from Hungry Ghost again.

You can only order take-out from Hungry Ghost Pizza and you have to pick it up yourself.

Hungry Ghost Menu:

http://www.hungryghostbread.com/media/HUNGRY%20GHOST%20BREAD%20pizza%20Nov%207.pdf

Try it, you'll like it!