Tapas for Two - Twice

I knew that Topher would be working late most nights this week, thanks to the end of federal fiscal year; so I scheduled a few dates with girlfriends (since cooking for one isn't much fun). Not intentionally, both meals ended up being at tapas restaurants in Norfolk - one at a place I'd never been before, and the other at an old favorite.

My friend Beth and I had planned to go to the Boot after work on Monday. But about halfway through the day, I remembered that the Boot is closed on Mondays, so we decided to meet at Pasha Mezze instead. Well, we both drove up about the same time and found out that, yep, it's closed on Mondays too.

So we went around the corner to Bardo Edibles + Elixirs, an Asian fusion tapas bar with a fun (and extensive) menu. We both ordered a few dishes to share, and while everything was good, my favorites were the cocktail and the dessert.

What We Ate:

• To drink: The Alchemist – spiced rum, Chambord, Citronge liquor, Honest Tea, and a splash of sour - very good but could be dangerous: the tea completely masks the liquor
• Eastern Shore edamame (sautéed in butter, Old Bay, green onions, garlic & lemon)
• Boursin fondue, served with crackers & bread
• Steamed lobster & potato dumplings, with Old Bay cream
• Three-Bean Tagine: green beans, black beans, & edamame cooked with tomatoes, chipotle, lemon & garlic, served over sticky rice - more spicy than you would expect! (not a bad thing)
• Potato-wrapped Salmon: maple B&B glazed salmon served over Bardo succotash
• Garlic and soy Brussels sprouts - more soy sauce than you would expect (not a good thing)
• “Dip Sum” donuts with milk chocolate & white chocolate chopsticks, served with three dipping sauces (chocolate, caramel, & raspberry) - as our waitress explained, you stick the chocolate chopsticks into the warm donuts and they "gooify" - yum!

The Scoop:

Bardo Edibles + Elixirs is located at 430 West 21st Street in the Ghent section of Norfolk, VA 23517. They're open Sun-Fri 11am-2am and Sat 5pm-2am. You can find them on Facebook. They're the sister restaurant of Still in Portsmouth, VA.

*****

On Tuesday after work, I met up with my friend Stacy at Crackers on Granby Street. I've been there twice before - once to celebrate Christmas with all of my cousins, and then again on September 30, 2009 to celebrate the end of FY09 with some coworkers. This time we celebrated Stacy's upcoming wedding and move to Charlottesville (I'll miss you, Stacy!).

Crackers doesn't look like much for the outside, and it's not exactly in the trendiest part of Norfolk, but it's a fun place with a cool atmosphere and good specials. Their cocktail menu is a two-page spread, and they offer both hot and cold tapas.

What We Ate:

• Prosciutto wrapped asparagus - not overcooked (a good thing)
• Butternut squash gnocchi with hazelnuts & sage brown butter
• Sesame noodles with bok choy & wild mushrooms - served room temp or slightly chilled, not hot
• Pork & ginger pot stickers with sweet chili sauce & ponzu - fried crispy but not greasy (also a good thing)
• Blackberry swirl cheesecake
• To drink: Magnolia - really wish I could remember exactly what was in this, but it was fantastic; it might become my regular drink there

The Scoop:

Crackers is located at 4226 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23504. They're open Sun-Sat 5pm-2am.

*****

P.S. As you might have noticed, I really tried to get in as many green veggies as possible while dining out this week: edamame, Brussels sprouts, green beans, asparagus, and bok choy!

Still Trying to Eat More Veggies

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a report on trends in fruit and veggie consumption among US adults over the past decade.

"In 2009, an estimated 32.5% of U.S. adults consumed fruit two or more times per day ... The percentage of adults who consumed vegetables three or more times per day was 26.3% ... Thus, no state met either of the Healthy People 2010 targets related to fruit and vegetable consumption among adults."

Several media outlets followed up on the report with articles of their own, including USA Today ("Americans' diets still short on fruits and vegetables"), the Washington Post ("Can the government get us to eat our veggies?"), and NPR ("Americans Are Flunking Easy Goals for Healthier Eating").

But the article that stuck with me the most was one from the NYTimes: "Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries." A few quotes ...

"People know that vegetables can improve health. But they’re a lot of work. In refrigerators all over the country, produce often dies a slow, limp death because life becomes too busy. ... 'Before we want health, we want taste, we want convenience and we want low cost,' Mr. Balzer said."

"Melissa MacBride, a busy Manhattan resident who works for a pharmaceuticals company, would eat more vegetables if they weren’t, in her words, 'a pain.' 'An apple you can just grab,' she said. 'But what am I going to do, put a piece of kale in my purse?' "

As much as I hate to admit it, I can relate to Ms. MacBride's complaint. It's easy to grab an apple, banana, muffin, or granola bar from the pantry and go; but I can't stick leafy greens or root vegetables in my purse. It's much harder to incorporate veggies into a breakfast or lunch on the go without prior planning (i.e. cooking on the weekend for the upcoming work week).

It's equally challenging when eating out at a restaurant. Veggies often are relegated to the status of "side dish" or even "garnish," while the (usually animal) protein takes center stage on the plate - and consequently in our diets overall.

So how can I eat more veggies? At restaurants, I try to find a side order of sauteed spinach or mixed greens or Brussels sprouts on the menu. I try to think ahead, buy the ingredients, and get up early enough to make a green smoothie or a veggie omelet for breakfast. I try to plan lunches that include tomatoes, avocado, spinach or arugula salad, or a quinoa salad with veggies (double benefit: protein from plants, not animals, and green veggies).

But sometimes I simply run out of good ideas. If you've got one, please share! I'm trying to eat the recommended four and a half cups of fruits & veggies a day, but I'm still probably in the 74% of Americans that aren't making it.

End of Summer, Beginning of Fall

Last Friday night Topher & I celebrated the end of summer and the beginning of fall with our friends Randy & Kim. We dined on an entree of fish tacos (a quintessentially summer dish) with a dessert of pumpkin pie (very autumnal).

What We Ate:

• fish tacos: grilled halibut (marinated in olive oil & lime juice), chipotle crema (sour cream + chipotle peppers in adobo sauce), shredded green cabbage, & cilantro - I love Topher's fish tacos (he used to fry the fish, which was great, but I think it's even better grilled), and they work with any white/light fish: halibut, grouper, tilapia, catfish, flounder, mahi mahi, etc.
• jicama salad: julienne jicama, carrots, red onion, & green bell pepper (a variant of this recipe) - since I'd never seen or eaten one before, it took me quite a while to find a jicama at the grocery store!
• refried black beans with a dollop of sour cream, and black rice
• to drink: a paloma
• for dessert: a slice of pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream

Afterwards we watched another film by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman: "Through a Glass Darkly" (1961), the first in his trilogy on faith and God. The film centers on four characters - Karin (who suffers from schizophrenia), her husband Martin, her father David, and her brother Minus - as they try to relate to one another during vacation on a remote island. It won the 1962 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

It's definitely a film of conversations, not events. I must admit that I'm still processing it, but I can say that I liked the music: Bach's Sarabande from Suite No. 2 in D minor. And one of Karin's schizophrenic episodes reminded me strongly of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," a disturbing but good read from 10th grade.

Reading List for September 20-24

1. "Reform on the Range: Cubans Heed the Call to Farm" from NPR

"There's an old joke in Cuba that if education, health care and athletics are the Cuban revolution's greatest achievements, then its three biggest failings are breakfast, lunch and dinner. Government supermarkets — where many Cubans can't even afford to shop — stock imported mango juice from Mexico, chicken from Brazil and butter from Denmark. All could be easily produced locally."

" 'Having a farm means coping with everything — ants, thunderstorms, scratches, hurricanes, waking up at dawn,' Ramos says. 'It's sacrifice and hard work, but somebody has to do it. We can't all be intellectuals, because then there'd be nothing to eat.' "

2. Coverage of the Salmonella - Egg Recall Hearing before a House Energy & Commerce subcommittee
"Wright County Egg's Found Apologizes for Salmonella; Egg Producer Says His Business Grew Too Quickly" from NYTimes
"An Iowa Egg Farmer and a History of Salmonella" from NYTimes

3. "Blackwater's Black Ops" from The Nation
"Another important piece from The Nation: Monsanto hired Blackwater subsidiary (and former CIA man) to spy on critics." - @michaelpollan

4. A few ongoing topics ...
“Critics Call Child Nutrition Bill Counterproductive” from NPR

"Ending childhood hunger by 2015 has been a priority for President Obama, and ending childhood obesity has been a priority for the first lady. The child nutrition bill is supposed to help do both. But some hunger groups say that the way things stand now, the legislation would do neither."

"Some Obama Allies Fear School Lunch Bill Could Rob Food Stamp Program" from NYTimes
"Child Nutrition Food Fight Bumps Up Against Political Reality" from NPR

FDA rules won't require labels on genetically-modified salmon (article and editorial from The Washington Post)

5. "Waiter, There's Soup in My Bug" from NYTimes

"He simmered heirloom tomatoes in duck fat and matched that sauce with plump, raised, umami-bomb gusanos de maguey — expensive caterpillars that have to be painstakingly rooted out of agave leaves. Each course was paired with a Mexican cocktail. (For one, raw cucumbers were hollowed out like cups, filled with mezcal and rimmed with “worm salt” — a pungent powder of salt, chilies and ground-up agave worms.) He told the assembled throng that he wanted to transport them back in time — to a hacienda outside Mexico City in 1600, say, when indigenous and Iberian cultures were colliding."

And for dessert: "vanilla ice cream with a flourish of cayenne-spiced and agave-syrup-sweetened mealworms." Yum?

Bring on the Pumpkin Beverages

Yesterday on my drive to work, the thermometer in my car read 55°F. I could hardly believe it! I like fall, but it's not my favorite season, simply because it means that winter is coming, and I do NOT like winter. But yesterday I decided to celebrate the crispness of the morning with my first Starbucks pumpkin spice latte of the season. I've officially embraced autumn.

That also means that I can start enjoying some of the best brews of the year. There are a few good summer beers (especially Dogfish Head Festina Peche), but fall beers are better by far. And the Washington Post's All We Can Eat blog today reminded me of all the fun pumpkin ales out there.

Some of my personal favorites:

• Southern Tier's Pumking Imperial Ale
• Dogfish Head Punkin Ale
• Sam Adams Octoberfest
• Blue Moon Harvest Moon

This weekend I'll be digging out my jackets and sweaters - and possibly doing some beer tasting. As Topher would say, Prost!

The One That Got Away

There's one meal from this summer that I keep thinking about. We had our friends Jen & Rob (and their two delightful kids) over for dinner, and Topher cooked. I really wish I had snapped a photo of my plate that evening: it was just so colorful, balanced, and delicious!

What We Ate:

• Arugula salad with homemade vinaigrette
• Pork tenderloin with bourbon ancho sauce - not too sweet, not too spicy
• Baked three-cheese macaroni topped with breadcrumbs & nutmeg
• Cabbage cilantro slaw - he tweaked this recipe with lime juice & honey
• Bananas foster with vanilla ice cream - thanks, Jen!
• Orin Swift’s The Prisoner - one of the best wines I've ever tasted (and the same wine we finished off in Grand Cayman)

But I was so excited to taste everything that I missed my photo op. Oh well - I guess that means we'll have to recreate the experience again sometime - preferably soon!

Monday Reading from Vanity Fair

These next two weeks are going to be quite busy for me at work (thanks to the end of the federal fiscal year), so I won't be able to post quite as often. But I'm going to try to give you some fun stuff to read while I'm away.

Here's an article from the October 2010 issue of Vanity Fair about the world's (reputedly) greatest chef: "It Was Delicious While It Lasted."

Enjoy!

Reading List for September 13-17

1. More on Food Safety
In the wake of salmonella scare - egg recall, stories about the safety of our food supply still abound. While one senator introduced new food safety legislation, another senator blocked a vote on the current food safety legislation now before Congress. But some critics complain that legislation won't help anyway: the problems lies in the overlap of (or divides between) the FDA and USDA. In China, they're taking a different approach entirely: calling for the death penalty for food-safety violators.

2. "France's New Battle of the Bulge" from The Atlantic
“Each year brings an average of 250,000 more French people who are considered obese. One nutritionist said France's obesity epidemic is about 20 years behind that of the United States.”

3. A rose by any other name ...
The members of the Corn Refiners Association are trying to improve their image (and bottom line) by changing the name of high fructose corn syrup to the more innocuous-sounding "corn sugar." They've already started a new marketing campaign, and on Tuesday, September 14, they filed an application with the FDA for permission to use the new name on food nutrition labels.

Even Marion Nestle has weighed in on the change. My favorite comment on Nestle's blog post comes from a reader named Sheila: "Added sugar is added sugar…we don’t really need most of the added sugar found in a lot of processed foods, regardless of the origin of the sugar or what that sugar is called." Here, here!

4. "Can a school lunch overhaul beat junk food?" from Marketplace.org via NPR
In the next several weeks, Congress is "expected to pass - and the president is expected to sign - the School Nutrition Act. It's a $4.5 billion plan to get healthier food into school cafeterias. ... The new money should mean more fruits and vegetables to compete with all the pizza and chicken nuggets you find in school lunchrooms. But what about competing with the pizza parlor right across the street?"

5. The Debate over Food Trucks
As food trucks are becoming more popular (and serving better food), some urban areas - like Washington, DC, Chicago and Los Angeles - are finding the mobile cafes to be controversial.

What do you think: Do you have food trucks in your area? Do you like them? Do you think they should be allowed?

More Food for Thought: Bad Habits Are Hard to Break

I recently heard the following statement (or something pretty close to it) in the middle of a story on NPR's Morning Edition: "For some people it’s just as hard to stop eating badly as it is to quit smoking."

I'd never really thought of the problem that way: bad eating habits are just as hard to break as smoking. Most good habits are learned when we’re children, and healthy eating is no different. If kids are raised on junk food, they’re going to eat junk food as teens and adults too, partly because it's what they know and partly because it's what their bodies crave. If you typically eat high-sugar, high-fat, high-sodium foods, meals and snacks that are low in sugar and sodium are going to taste bad simply because your body isn't used to them.

You’re going to eat what you have in the pantry or the fridge, so if you buy junk, you’re going to eat junk. But if you don’t buy it, it won’t be in the house to snack on when the munchies hit. For example, if you spontaneously grab a bag of chips and a box of cookies at the store, that's what you'll eat at home when you're hungry. But if you buy carrots, bananas, yogurt & honey, apples & peanut butter, avocados, or trail mix (dried fruit & mixed nuts) instead, then that's what you'll have on hand and that's what you'll eat.

(Confession: I hardly ever drink soda, unless I'm eating pizza. But last Friday my husband bought a six-pack of Coke for a guys' movie night at our house. A few bottles were left over, so I grabbed one on my way out the door yesterday morning and drank it on the way to work. Why? Because it was there.)

So don’t get distracted at the grocery store. Plan ahead: how many nights this week are you going to be home for dinner? Choose a healthy meal for each night you’re going to eat at home, and make a list of the ingredients needed for those meals. Do the same for lunches and snacks. When you get to the grocery store, stick to the list.

And keep a food diary. Initially, this might sound a little obsessive, but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to calculate calories or grams of fat & carbs (unless you want to); just write down what you eat. Every once in a while, look over it. Are you eating enough servings of fruits & veggies? Are you drinking too much, caffeine, or alcohol? Are you drinking enough water? How often do you eat dessert? How often do you eat, period?

There are a limited number of people in the USA, and each of us can consume only so many food calories per day, week, or year. Thus, we usually spend a (relatively) set amount of money each week, month, or year on groceries. (For more on this, check out Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma.) Food marketers are literally fighting for us to spend our money & calories on their products, which results in some not-so-honest advertising and packaging. We get duped into thinking that some things are healthy (or at least not unhealthy) when that’s far from the truth.

It's best to stick to the perimeter of the grocery store: not only is there less packaging (aka distractions), but the foods are usually fresher, less processed, and more nutritious.

Further Reading:
"Americans Are Flunking Easy Goals for Healthier Eating" from NPR's Health Blog (Sept 2010) - the article that inspired this post
"CDC: Americans' diets still short on fruits and vegetables" from USA Today (Sept 2010)
"Low-carb Diets May Negatively Affect Health" from HSPH (Sept 2010)

"The bottom line is that not all low-carbohydrate diets are created equal,” said Frank B. Hu, a professor of nutrition at the School of Public Health and the study’s principal investigator. “The original Atkins diet, which was loaded with animal fats, is certainly not ideal. Versions of low-carbohydrate diets that are high in vegetable protein and fats are significantly healthier.”

"Controlling the American Appetite" from NPR's On Point (July 2009)

Rainy Day Brunch in Brooklyn

View of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Promenade

The second day of my weekend in NYC was not nearly as pretty as the first: it was chilly, rainy, and foggy for most of the afternoon and evening. But that didn't stop us from venturing out. We visited a church that Anne was interested in, then stopped for brunch at Le Gamin Cafe on Vanderbilt Avenue (recommended by blogger Jessica of What I Wore).

It might not look like much from the outside, but this little place is adorable. French posters and advertisements adorn the walls; the water is served in elegant blue and green glass bottles; and, there's a shaded courtyard out back that would've been perfect in better weather. The small wooden tables and plastic wicker chairs are packed in pretty close together, but we didn't really mind. We were too busy enjoying the delicious meal.

Oddly we were both in the mood for goat cheese and ratatouille - maybe the weather made us want something rich, savory, and filling. But whatever the reason, after perusing the menu we were eying the same two dishes, so we decided to order one of each and split them. But we ordered our own mimosas - no sharing there.

Afterwards we wandered around Park Slope for a while, poking around in Unnameable Books and finally landing at Heights Coffee Lounge for a much-needed afternoon hot cup o' joe.

What We Ate:

• Oeuf Gamin - poached egg on a goat cheese potato cake, served with homemade ratatouille
• Vegetarien Gamin - herbed polenta stuffed with goat cheese and smothered with ratatouille
• To drink: coffee and mimosas

The Scoop:
Le Gamin Cafe is located at 556 Vanderbilt Avenue (between Atlantic Ave & Pacific St) in Brooklyn, NY 11238. They're open for breakfast, lunch, & dinner; reservations are not needed. You can reach them at 718-789-5171.

Broadway and Bacon Ice Cream

This past weekend I flew to New York to see my dear friend Anne, who's currently living in Brooklyn. Her birthday was two weeks ago, and since I couldn't visit then, we celebrated on Saturday night instead. Our evening consisted of dinner at the fabulous Union Square Café, a performance of "Promises, Promises" at the Broadway Theatre, and drinks at Flatiron Lounge.

Dinner
Union Square Café was recommended to me by my friend Jen, who works with Topher. A New York native, Jen declares that she's never had a bad meal at USC, and after my experience there, I believe it: the meal and the service were close to impeccable.

USC gets a lot of its produce and meats from the Union Square Greenmarket, a huge open-air farmers' market (open 8am-6pm on Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat) that's just around the corner from the restaurant. Many of the menu items feature the name of the farm that supplied the ingredients: Eckerton Hill Heirloom Tomatoes, Sycamore Farms Sweet Corn, 3-Corner Fields Feta, Anson Mills Polenta, Four Story Hill Farm Rib-Eye ...

Anne has a gluten allergy, so I called ahead to confirm that they could accommodate her. Sure enough, upon being seated we were brought a basket of gluten-free wafers instead of bread, and our waitress was prepared to answer all of Anne's questions about the menu - what dishes she could have, and what dishes could be altered to be gluten-free. Yay!


What We Ate:

• My appetizer: "Savory" Kabocha squash bread pudding topped with bacon ice cream, sliced apple, frisee salad, & sherry vinaigrette - This is one of the best dishes I have ever tasted! My entree was good, but for me, this dish (shown above) was the real stand-out of the evening. I never wanted it to end ...
• Anne's appetizer: Black Pearl Salmon Crudo with Cucumber Gazpacho, Crème Fraîche and Steelhead Trout Roe - Anne let me taste this, and it was one of the best pieces of salmon I've ever put in my mouth. The freshness of the cucumber gazpacho perfectly balanced the raw fish. (Check out pictures of this dish and USC's other summer specials here.)
• My entree: Grilled Lamb Chops Scotta Dita, Norwich Meadows Swiss Chard and Potato-Gruyère Gratin
• Anne's entree: Pan-Crisped Duck Confit, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Mission Figs, Chanterelle Mushrooms and Chicory
• My cocktail: USC Cooler (San Pellegrino orange-flavored Aranciata, Campari, fresh lime juice, and an orange slice)
• Anne's cocktail: I can't remember :(
• Our wine: half bottle of 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Ladera, Napa Valley

The Scoop:
Union Square Café is located at 21 East 16th Street, NYC 10003. They're open for lunch every day, noon-2pm; dinner is served Sun-Thurs 5:30-10pm and Fri-Sat 5:30-11pm. Reservations (highly recommended) can be made online or by calling 212-243-4020.

*****

The show we saw - "Promises, Promises" starring Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked) and Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) - is based on the same story as "The Apartment," the 1960 movie starring Shirley MacLaine & Jack Lemmon. Like most musicals, it was a bit cheesy but a lot of fun. And, as much as I like Kristin Chenoweth, this was definitely Sean Hayes' show!

Drinks
Afterwards we went back to down to Chelsea/Gramercy for cocktails at Flatiron Lounge, a swanky but unpretentious place that Topher & I visited last fall with our friends Adam & Meredith. On that trip we went before dinner, closer to opening time, so it was quiet and not very busy. This time Anne & I arrived a little after 11pm, and it was much more crowded/noisy. But the service was still good, and we were able to get a table. I liked their version of a mint julep so much last time that I ordered it again; but their menu is full of unique, culinarily-inspired concoctions. I'd definitely like to visit again!

What We Drank:

• My first drink: Mint Jules - Makers Mark bourbon with muddled mint and smashed limes
• Anne's first drink: King Rose - gin, strawberries, & lime, garnished with a large basil leaf
• My second drink: A Bird in the Heart - raspberry jam, smoky aged rum and egg white foam - the flavors come in stages, so it's a little strong at first with more fruit at the end
• Anne's second drink: Miss Lynn - vodka, cucumber, Pimm's, and Chartreuse

The Scoop:
Flatiron Lounge is located at 37 West 19th Street (between 5th & 6th Avenues), NYC 10011. They're open Sun-Wed 5pm-2am and Thurs-Sat 5pm-4am. You can reach them at 212-727-7741.

Breakfast at the Greenmarket

This past weekend I flew to NYC to visit my dear friend Anne for a couple of days. When I landed on Saturday morning, she was working; so I took advantage of the glorious weather and walked the Brooklyn Bridge.

Afterwards I hopped on the subway and rode up to the Flatiron District to visit the Union Square Greenmarket, a huge outdoor farmers' market ...

... with dozens of stalls for local & regional producers selling everything imaginable - tomatoes, peppers, apples, pears, carrots, turnips, mushrooms, lettuces, herbs, baked good, cheeses, seafood, poultry, meats, fresh flowers -

... all right in the middle of downtown Manhattan! It's so strange to smell such fresh, earthy odors, then to look up and see skyscrapers & high-rise apartment buildings.

For breakfast, I picked up a blueberry banana cinnamon muffin and apple cider from Red Jacket Orchards.

Reading List for September 6-10

1. "A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powders" from the NYTimes
An article and photo gallery on what (and how) troops eat when they're deployed:

"Each year, among the countries with troops in Afghanistan — the current number is 47 — tens of millions of dollars are spent researching how to fit the most calories, nutrition and either comfort or fun into a small, light package. The menus and accompaniments are intended not just to nourish but also to remind the soldier of home."

The Atlantic published an accompanying article, "Eating Alone: What Soldiers Eat in the Field."

2. "Reforming Meat," an editorial from the NYTimes

"New rules proposed by [Agriculture Secretary Tom] Vilsack aim to restore the balance between independent livestock producers and the industrial behemoths."

3. "Filmmaker Shines Spotlight on School Lunches" from the WSJ

"[A] documentary short called "Lunch" … examines what children are eating through the National School Lunch Program and advocates for healthier meals in schools."

4. "Is Organically Produced Food More Nutritious?" from NPR
TIME magazine published a similar article a couple of weeks ago: "Health Checkup: Who Needs Organic Food?"

5. "Who Put the Whiskey in My Milkshake?" from the NYTimes

"In a culinary landscape teeming with art-directed burger joints and endless fancied-up takes on mac and cheese, maybe it’s time to welcome a new kind of “fusion” cuisine: childhood fusion. … Ice cream. Plus liquor. Together. In a big glass. Could there be a better emblem of the sort of juvenilia-with-a-wink that defines the current food aesthetic?"

Have a great weekend!

Pork Belly and Bergman

This past weekend was my first experience with the films of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. On Friday night, Topher & I ordered pizza, drank Trader Joe's meritage, and watched "Wild Strawberries." It's about an elderly man who spends a day traveling through Sweden (from Stockholm to Lund, where he's being given an honorary degree), and along the way he revisits many of his memories and life's regrets.

Then on Sunday evening we had dinner with our good friends Randy & Kim and watched "The Virgin Spring," a story of tragedy, revenge, and atonement set in medieval Sweden. It was pretty intense but very good. To commemorate the occasion, the Raines served up a delicious, Asian-inspired feast.

What We Ate:

• appetizer: miso soup with dumplings and extra firm tofu - the "extra firm" is key here (at least for me), and I really liked the idea of putting the dumplings in the soup
• entree: seared scallops, sauteed bok choy, rice noodles, pickled daikon radishes, sauteed maitake mushrooms, and pork belly, all drizzled with gochujang sauce - honestly, I don't even know where to start ... this meal was amazing (and I learned quite a bit about Asian cuisine), but my favorite part was definitely the pork belly!
• dessert: lemon tart with homemade raspberry compote
• to drink: Marquis Philips Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (quite jam-my and not nearly as oaky as most cabs) and a few others

WRPC Community Garden Update: Fall Crops

It's after Labor Day, so I feel like it's okay to talk about fall ... although I don't want to rush summer away! But whether you're looking at a calendar or not, it's easy to tell the change of seasons by walking through a garden and looking at what's still producing and what's not.

The WRPC Community Garden was incredibly successful this summer, and for that I'm truly grateful. It's been an awesome ministry to be a part of: through it I've met so many neighbors, fellow church members, and long-time Suffolk locals.

A couple of weeks ago, our director wrote to us: "The Community Garden has thrived in its first year thanks to volunteers and community participants. ... The goal of the garden is to give people an opportunity to work and earn money to provide for their families. Thanks to all of you who have made that goal possible!"

With the change of seasons comes the change of crops, and our garden is no different. A few weeks ago we pulled up the yellow squash, zucchini, & cucumber plants - they just weren't producing any more in the late summer heat. Thankfully, the tomatoes and bell peppers are still going strong (we've got more bell peppers than we'll ever be able to use, so we're making pepper jelly!). But soon we'll need to make room in the garden for our fall crops.

What are we growing this fall, you ask? Well, we've already planted broccoli, onions, butternut squash, pole beans, and collard greens, and we're hoping to grow potatoes, kale, Swiss chard, cabbage, 2-3 kinds of lettuce, leeks, beets, and radishes. And we'll still be selling both on Saturdays (at the Suffolk Farmers' Market) and Sundays (at WRPC between services).

Let the bounty continue!

Note: The photo above was found here.

My Fall "To Dine" List

Here are a few places that I want to try this fall. Watch for reviews to come!

• The Chef's Kitchen - a restaurant in Williamsburg set up stadium-style, so you can watch the chefs prepare your meal and learn as you go; this one is leftover from my summer "to dine" list
• One Fish Two Fish - a seafood restaurant in northern Virginia Beach; also a leftover from my summer "to dine" list ... sort of ... to see what I mean, check out this post (it's a funny story)
• Boot - a "local kitchen & wine bar" in the Ghent area of Norfolk, specializing in locally grown foods
• Union Square Café - in NYC; uses meats & produce from the nearby Union Square Greenmarket; highly recommended by our good friend Jen

Actually, my "to dine" list is quite long, and it just keeps growing as I get recommendations from family & friends (which I love, by the way)!

Where are you dying to eat this fall? Do you have any suggestions for me?

Reading List for August 30 - September 2

1. "Is This the End of Cheap Food?" from The Atlantic
A round-up of recent articles concerning the modern food industry: "Now, then, seems like a good time to revisit that debate: do population growth, energy costs, and safety concerns really mean the end of 'cheap, abundant food'?"

2. New research: drinking water before meals helps with weight loss
"Want to lose weight? Drink water" from The Washington Post
"Obesity: Drink till you drop" from The Economist

3. "Overloaded from Your Garden? Just Can It" from NPR

"Canning — the source of jams, pickles and relishes that can seem tied to the last century — is on the upswing. There is a debate whether the trend stems from the tight economy or the local food movement, but its fans say the results are delicious."

4. New research: dark chocolate is heart-healthy
"Chocolate in Moderation May Help Heart" from NYTimes
"Dark chocolate can be good for the heart, study says" from BBC

5. Just for fun: "Baby carrots take on junk food with hip marketing campaign" from USA Today

"Just in time for the battle over what's gonna be in millions of back-to-school lunches, Bolthouse Farms and nearly 50 other carrot growers today will unveil plans for the industry's first-ever marketing campaign. The $25 million effort sets its sights on a giant, big-spending rival: junk food."

Happy reading, and I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend!

Missing the Harms

The jury is still out on exactly what effects we're going to see from Hurricane Earl, but I can already say that it's messing up my weekend.

I was so excited that our friends Amy & Marty and their two kids were coming from Wisconsin to Hampton Roads this weekend for a visit. (When they lived here, we were in community group together, and Amy served as one of our wedding coordinators.) But Hurricane Earl has thwarted their travel plans, and they're not going to make it. Boo!

We haven't seen them since their visit to Hampton Roads last December, when we hosted a dinner party for them (Topher played chef again). A small group of us was planning to do dinner with them tonight, but since that won't be happening now, I'm revisiting last December's dinner in their honor.

What We Ate:

• Southwestern scallops with avocado puree and jalapeno pesto, served on blue corn chips - the two sauces on this were amazing!
• stuffed mushroom caps
• carnitas tacos with pineapple salsa
• salad with applewood smoked bacon and poached pears
• mini beef Wellingtons, served with three-cheese macaroni & cheese - hearty dishes for a cold winter night
• dessert: pumpkin pie bites and cheesecake
• sparkling red wine - such a fun beverage, but it'll rename nameless here so we can stay family-friendly

We miss y'all, but I hope you have a fun & relaxing Labor Day weekend at home in Wisconsin!

Headed to Market

While I was in DC last week, my husband Topher went to Columbus, OH for work, and he brought back pictures from North Market near Goodale Park and the Greater Columbus Convention Center. He went there for lunch one day and got a crepe with Balsamic, tons of fresh spinach, red peppers and goat cheese from Taste of Belgium - they make crepes to order, both savory and sweet. Sounds yummy to me!

He was also impressed with their poultry & game menu: whole fryer rabbits, and duck confit & foie gras! (I wish he'd had a cooler to bring some home, but I doubt it would have traveled well on the plane.)

Topher said it reminded him of Reading Terminal Market in downtown Philadelphia, a place I loved to visit when I lived in Philly. I would often meet friends there for lunch during the week, and we'd split two crepes from Profi's Creperie - one with chicken, spinach & tomato, and one with bananas, stawberries & nutella. For lunch they also offer mediterranean & Middle Eastern (at Mezze and Kamal's), Southern (at Delilah's and the Down Home Diner), Pennsylvania Dutch (at the Dutch Eating Place and the Grill at Smucker's), and of course hoagies & cheesesteaks.

Reading Terminal Market is also a great place to buy fresh flowers, produce, meats, seafood, and Italian breads & pastries. It can get a little crowded and crazy, but it's such a fun place to walk around, especially on weekends when farmers from Amish country come into the city to sell their stuff (especially cheese!). And if you want to learn even more, check out the Taste of Philly Food Tour.

North Market also reminded us of West Side Market in Cleveland, Oh - a place we visited while we were dating. (I lived and worked in downtown Cleveland for three months, and Topher came to visit me a couple of times.) One weekend we did a tour & tasting at Great Lakes Brewery, then stopped by West Side Market to get groceries for dinner (veal piccata!) at my studio apartment. While we were there, I got sidetracked at a candy shop: they were selling chocolate-covered jalapeno peppers!

The Scoop:

Reading Terminal Market (Philadelphia, PA) is on Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter.

North Market (Columbus, OH) is on Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter.

West Side Market (Cleveland, OH) is on Yelp.